By CAM LUCADOU-WELLS
Three-generation family business Bartlett Equipment’s 70-year history is one of ingenuity.
Since starting in Clayton South in 1946, the truck and trailer equipment manufacturer has evolved from farm machinery, then axles and then towing set-ups for B-double trucks.
In its Hallam workshop, staff build and fit tow bar systems for ABS-enabled trailers on 150 Australian Defence Force 14-tonne 4WD trucks.
Managing director Allan Bartlett, grandson of founder Norm, said the company has always been about designing things.
“We want to be different. We want to be leaders,” Mr Bartlett said.
“We don’t want to be following other people’s ideas.”
The Bartlett ball trailer-coupling system was based on Norm’s prototype and invented by Norm’s son Geoff when he was still studying mechanical engineering in 1964.
The original system is still sold at Bartlett Equipment. It endures even beyond the expiry of its patent and competitors’ cheaper copies didn’t cut it.
Geoff explains the revolutionary snug-fit system suppressed the loud rattles that blighted previous couplings. For the first time, the trailer became an integral part of the truck.
“What Geoff has you can’t bottle it,” said his nephew Allan.
Geoff’s earliest memories were playing with parts, sorting nuts and bolts at the factory as a four-year-old.
“I always preferred being at the factory than studying,” he said.
Another of Geoff’s innovations was an innocuous-looking high-tensile safety chain used for large heavy vehicles.
The light, tiny part, which prevents trailers dismounting from trucks, was a significant upgrade on the bulky alternatives.
Much has changed due to the “power of the computer” which has fast-tracked the design process. Computers can predict the stresses of a towing design, even how its parts will fatigue.
“It used to be done on the run. You’d build it and see how it runs.”
Officially in retirement, Geoff still sits in on production design meetings at the business – which moved to its current Hallam site in 1988.
Bartlett Equipment celebrated its 70th anniversary with trade figures at the Melbourne Showgrounds.
It has also recently been presented with a commemorative certificate from City of Casey.
The Bartletts hold their family and company’s history dear. Allan recently found a rusted welding mask owned by Norm.
It prominently hangs in a rustic framed box in the office oozing with history.
But as with other manufacturers, there’s much to contemplate in the future.
“Manufacturing materials could be coming out of anywhere these days,” Allan said.
“We have competitors copying some of our products.”
Allan said the key to the company’s future is to continue to be “smart” in its designs.
