PROFILE
IN THE FOOTSTEPS
OF HEROES BY CHARLENE GATT WHAT sums up a man? Ask Redmond Repetition Engineers owner John Redmond and he’ll tell you endurance, sacrifice, mateship and courage. The words are tattooed on his left leg and stand as a testament to his work ethic and another thing close to his heart: the two tours he has done of the Kokoda track.
Marlene would run the machine at their Hoppers Crossing home, and John would come home from a 12-hour shift working for what would become his opposition and work about four or five hours a night to get the business started. “It was mainly the desire to succeed. The desire to try and be the best you can possibly be at whatever you do,” he said.
Two big collages of the 2008 and 2009 treks take pride of place in his Hopper Crossing office to give a daily dose of perspective.
Over 1981 to 1983, the pair bought second-hand equipment and opened a small factory in Williamstown.
“You just sort of think about what those kids went through and what the kids of today take for granted,” the passionate Carlton Football Club member said.
They then moved to their current Industrial Avenue site and designed and built their first plant.
“These guys gave their all and gave their life at 18 and we’ve got 18-year-old kids that want the best Nike runners, want the best outfits, want the best of everything, and they’re very impatient. “You just put things into pictures like that, and it motivates me every day. When it gets tough out there, you walk in and say ‘well, that’s not tough out there, that (Kokoda) was tough’. When you do walk that track, you come back with a different set of beliefs, a different set of priorities. “Mentally, it was very tough, because there was torrential rain for so long. You really appreciate what they did over there. “A very close friend of mine, ex-Hawthorn coach and Carlton coach David Parkin came and gave a presentation to our first group, and he said the Kokoda track was 70 per cent mental, and 30 per cent physical. I agree 150 per cent.” It’s not a new concept for the 62-year-old. Mr Redmond originally wanted to be a pastry chef, but said he was “pretty hopeless at it” and fell into engineering. He and his wife Marlene started up Redmond Repetition Engineers 37 years ago with one machine in his backyard and $2000 in his bank account.
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BUSINESS WEST
Today, he owns a 4500-square metre factory that produces precision components for some of the biggest global brands in military, aviation and automotive. Like many companies today, Redmond Repetition Engineers does its part for the environment. The company recycles all its waste material, and its factories are heated by redirecting the heat off its index machines through the roof. “We’ve set the benchmark in industry. We’re not just an engineering shop, dirty and smelly and oily. It can be state of the art and attractive and appealing for the people that work here,” he said. In 1999, Redmond Repetition Engineers was awarded Wyndham Business of the Year. His company has an annual turnover between $7 million and $9 million and he employs around 40 staff. Two of those employees are his daughters Jenny and Kerry, who are both dentists by profession. Wife Marlene is now retired, but still pops in to see how the company is running. One of his apprentices, Ricky Parker, was recently shortlisted for an industry Apprentice of the Year award. And Mr Redmond is a man who is not afraid to get his hands dirty.
“I don’t class myself as a boss really. I just class myself as one of the guys working here. It’s nothing for me to get out there and drive a forklift or unload a truck,” he said. “I was unloading a transport truck in the driveway once with a pair of jeans on and a potential customer came in and said ‘excuse me, can you show me where John Redmond is?’ and I said ‘you’re looking at him’. He expected a guy in a suit, but I don’t like wearing them. I wear them to the football, and that’s about it.” Last year was a turning point for Redmond Repetition Engineers, with the company going back to basics to recover from the Global Financial Crisis. “We made the company grow, sometimes too fast,” he admitted. “I think when a recession hits, it pulls you back to the basics of what you were doing right 10 years ago, and you reassess everything in your life.” When the recession hit, the company went to a 38-hour, four-day week to cut operating costs and retain the entire workforce. It’s a lesson learnt the hard way, but learnt nonetheless. “I think in all facets of business, the four magic words – endurance, sacrifice, mateship and courage – comes into it,” he said. “You need endurance to stay in business, you need to make sacrifices, which is your family, the mateship is the mates that stick with you in the tough times and support you when there’s a recession, and the courage and the balls to just get out and have a go.” And there’s no signs of slowing down, with Mr Redmond saying there wasn’t “a hope in hell that I could retire”. The proof is in the pudding. Five years ago, Mr Redmond announced he would take Fridays off work and spend some quality time with his wife. That lasted two weeks. [BW]