Our Story
Our goal is to ensure that our product and service is the benchmark by which the competition is measured.
Based in South Australia, REDARC has 40 years’ experience in the research, design, development and manufacture of a range of electronic voltage converters and associated products, inverters, power supplies, battery chargers, brake controllers and trailer braking products.
In 2015, REDARC acquired Hummingbird Electronics. Hummingbird is renowned for their bespoke product development, unparalleled specialist knowledge and importantly for quality customer service. REDARC and Hummingbird are highly complementary with comprehensive product portfolios, industry-leading technological and innovative excellence together with outstanding staff.
Hummingbird brought new capabilities to the business, becoming REDARC's specialised sensing, measuring, and monitoring brand.
In 2019, REDARC celebrated its 40-year anniversary and launched REDARC Defence Systems.
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Our Story
REDARC Electronics was founded in August of 1979 by electronics engineer, Robin (Bob) William Mackie in South Australia. Bob started the business by designing and manufacturing vehicle ignition systems and voltage converters. In fact, the name REDARC is believed to have come from the spark developed in the first ignition system having a “red arc”.
In 1997 Anthony and Michele Kittel along with Michele’s Father, Denis Brion purchased the business following the premature death of its founder.
Denis Brion retired in 2002 and Anthony and Michele purchased 100% of the business at that time.
Becoming a world-class manufacturer
Under the current ownership, REDARC has grown from these humble beginnings to become a world-class, advanced electronics manufacturer, servicing both domestic and international markets
Through rapid growth, REDARC has had to move premises several times. In 1997 they were operating out of a tin shed in Lonsdale, South Australia. At the time, they only had 8 employees.
Milestones
In 2014, REDARC were announced the Telstra Australian Business of the Year and in 2015 it acquired Hummingbird Electronics, located in NSW.
In 2016, REDARC announced a major expansion of its Lonsdale facility, which will see them almost double their workforce over the next four years. The upgrade has seen REDARC capitalise on new market opportunities and house new state-of-the-art equipment to enhance their manufacturing capabilities.
In 2017, REDARC established its modern NSW branch at the Aerospace Centre in Williamtown.
In 2018, REDARC officially opened their expanded headquarters at Lonsdale, South Australia.
In 2019, REDARC launched REDARC Defence Systems to advance the group's defence portfolio in Australia and globally and celebrated its 40th year in Australian manufacturing.
In 2020, the Company founded REDARC Corporation in the USA, and partnered with the Australian Made Campaign.
In 2021, REDARC opened its Victorian branch at the Auto Innovation Centre in Mulgrave, Melbourne, signalling a new era in the company's national expansion.
REDARC Group today
Today REDARC Group (REDARC) operates in a state of the art advanced manufacturing facility, employing over 250 people nationally and internationally, of which 50 are full time engineers and includes REDARC Electronics, Hummingbird Electronics and REDARC Defence Systems. Together the Group brings over 40 years' experience in advanced electronic design and manufacturing for defence, automotive, marine, medical, mining, and industrial applications.
The head office is based in South Australia, at REDARC's advanced manufacturing facility with branch offices in New South Wales and Victoria. The Group is fully integrated and shares the in-house recourses including the advanced manufacturing and testing facilities and has staff based across Australia, New Zealand, North America and Europe. REDARC take their domestically proven products into international markets across the globe.
A bright future
Over 100 specialist jobs will be created in Adelaide’s southern suburbs during the next five years, following the opening of REDARC’s expanded headquarters at Lonsdale on 30th November 2018.
The expansion of REDARC’s Lonsdale facility has added 3,000sqm of advanced manufacturing space. The $22 million development will enable REDARC to increase its manufacturing capacity by a staggering 250% and significantly increase productivity. The additional space now houses state of the art equipment such as a new Surface Mount Technology line for loading electronic components, an Electromagnetic Compatibility chamber and a Vibration test lab that enables highly accelerated lifetime testing of products that can simulate 10 years of life in just two days. Three new Universal Collaborative Robots ‘Cobots’ have also been purchased.
During the last year, REDARC has also installed a 100kw solar power plant on the roof of its Lonsdale plant and a Tesla Battery bank. This involved the installation of 370 solar panels capable of generating 140 megawatt hours of energy per year.
REDARC has been able to “buck the trend” against the offshoring of manufacturing in Australia through a program of significant reinvestment into research & development, staff development and training.
Explore the REDARC facility in 3D
