Q. What is your Company trading name?
A. Successful Endeavours Pty Ltd
Q. Where is your main location?
A. Berwick, Victoria
Q. How many people do you employ?
A. 2 full time staff, lots of contractors and partner companies
Q. Are all the products/services you provide 100% Australian?
A. We develop electronics and embedded software products specifically focussing on Australian manufacturers who want to keep making their products in Australia. We also provide whatever level of manufacturing support is required.
For those who want to receive a fully finished product without having to manage all the details themselves we can also arrange subcontract manufacture in Australia. This can be either fully finished subassemblies or completely finished products ready for sale. The key here is in Australia. We firmly believe Australia is a fantastic place to live and very well placed to have globally competitive industries, especially in higher technology and niche marketed products.
As far as Australian content goes, the actual electronic components themselves are mostly imported since Australia does not have a significant electronic component or semiconductor manufacturing industry. But all the development is done here and all the profits stay here. So the Australian content percentage is above 95% for our part of the process.
Q. Why should people use your products/services in lieu of other alternatives?
A. Differentiating yourself in the market can be difficult. There are many electronics development companies listed and the same words are used even if the actual offerings or results are very different. We have shown time and again that by aiming to deliver a profitable outcome rather than just narrowly focussing on the engineering, that we can get the total cost of a product down to as little as 30% of what it would have been. That’s a very large difference. And it’s not just about the technology. It’s about a mindset that focuses on a commercially viable position. How we do this is by paying attention to all the following aspects of a project:
- The cost of the engineering and tooling effort - sometimes referred to a NREs (Non Recoverable Expenditure)
- The cost of the parts that must be purchased in order to make and assemble the product
- The cost of the labour and energy required to make the product
- The cost of production rework for product that doesn’t work first time on the production line
- The cost of warranty returns, loss of reputation and loss of customer confidence when the product doesn’t work correctly
If you think this sounds exhausting, then it can be a challenge, but this is what delivers outstanding results. And many of these factors aren’t costed into the product opportunity budget. This is way more than just the cost to get a PCB designed or some software written. It is the total cost to get to a commercially viable outcome. Looking at the whole picture makes it possible to determine the best position for a product and to tailor the feature set to match the price point. We are really tired of seeing missed opportunities because the product wasn’t given the best chance for success in the market place. So we do everything we can to ensure we maximise the products likelihood of success.
Here are some of the links that describe how we go about this:
Finally, our client’s should feel that we are part of their cheer squad and not just an unavoidable expense. We really do want them to succeed.
Q. What is your website address?
Q. Do you have any additional comments and information?
A. Here are some statistics you might not be aware of:
- In 1946, 90% of all the manufactured products used in Australia were made in Australia.
- In 2006, 10% of all the manufactured products used in Australia were made in Australia!
- 50% of Australian companies go under within 2 years of starting. It’s 85% at 4 years and 96% at 10 years.
How does all this apply?
Firstly, we have been around since 1997 making this our twelfth year. So we have demonstrated the ability to run a successful business ourselves. We have also just moved to larger premises and continue to grow even during the current downturn. If someone wants to help you succeed, you should look at how successful they are before decided to invite them on board. Our own track record is a good reference for new clients.
Secondly, as shipping costs have fallen and manufacture diversified, manufacture has left Australia. But what we have really exported is our future. Yet we are ideally placed to do much of this manufacture here. And there are some excellent businesses doing that right now. With no effective government support (Federal, state or local), restricted access to finance and no import protection or export subsidies (did you know China has a 40% import tariff on all manufactured goods and that Italy subsidises tomato exports to Australia?) we are still growing viable manufacturing industries here.
I was recently at National Manufacturing Week in Melbourne
http://www.nationalmanufacturingweek.com.au/ and it was very encouraging to see a lot of interest and activity. We will continue to deliver outstanding results for our clients because at the end of the day, that’s what counts. One of our clients is Robert Bosch Australia and they make millions of automotive electronic control units each year and export them from Clayton in Victoria to Europe, USA, Japan and other Asia countries. They can do this because they understand that intelligent design and appropriate automation at the manufacturing level means that they get the quality they want at the price they need to do it here.
There are huge advantages to doing this in Australia.
Q. Would you be prepared to offer any discounts or special offers to people who mention that they saw your business promoted on “madedownunder”?
A. Absolutely. We would be pleased to offer a 20% discount on the first phase of any development project for a new client who saw us on “madedownunder”.
For more details contact:
Ray Keefe
Successful Endeavours Pty Ltd
Suite 4, Level 1
34 Paternoster Lane
P.O. BOX 242
Berwick, 3806
Australia
p: (03) 9769 4460
f: (03) 9769 4665
m: 0418 173 052
