Manufacturing has undergone some significant changes in Australia over the last 70 years. When Headland began operations in Burwood, Victoria in 1949, it started out as a small machine and specialist parts supplier, selling and servicing machine tools and spare parts to the local manufacturing sector.

Fast forward to today and Headland provides leading-edge technology solutions to Australian clients such as Cochlear, Sistema, RUAG and Qantas – to name a few.

It may be tempting to say things have changed a lot at Headland, but the fundamentals remain unchanged. Headland remains a family business where technological innovation and a solutions-based focus has always been and remains central to the way it does business.

Before taking over the business in 1979, current Headland Director Peter Kloé worked as a Product Engineer for Siemens in Germany and Production Manager for the Ford Motor Company in North America. A pioneer of women in manufacturing, Co-director Dianne Kloé began writing machine software in 1981 when computer science was still in its infancy. The tradition of drive and innovation has continued with the Kloé children. Joint Managing Directors, Richard and Annaliese, have overseen Headland’s continued expansion and exciting diversification into software solutions.

A focus on technological excellence and manufacturing solutions has always been central to Headland’s business model. That focus on technology solutions continues today with Headland’s significant investment in information technology and the development of its NextService software, a software package that allows for next-level field service excellence, operations management, inventory control, drag-and-drop scheduling, and real-time monitoring.

Whether it’s been the latest machine technology from Europe in the 1970s, becoming an exclusive Trumpf distributor in the 1980s, an innovator in 2D and 3D laser in the 1990s, or 3D printing, advanced CNC, or the creation of the Advanced Manufacturing Division in the last two decades, Headland has been at the forefront of technology solutions provision in the domestic and global manufacturing sector. Headland is more than a provider of machinery and technology, it is a solutions-oriented organisation where understanding client needs and roadblocks inform the technology solution offered. It’s an approach that is not only hard-baked into Headland’s original ethos, but one that remains integral to its growth vision.

Headland Machinery Pty Ltd will be exhibiting at Autech 2019, at Stands 910, 960, AM15.

www.headland.com.au