This month it has been twenty years of delivering electronics services for Don Alan. I am not nostalgic by nature but I think the milestone deserves a little reflection.
It was the passion for delivering electronic designs and assemblies that drove me to start Don Alan. When ever I saw a problem that could be resolved by a new or improved piece of electronics I got excited by the challenge. Don Alan is the vehicle for that passion. It is a passion that remains today. It is a little different today in that the passion is about how to build a sizable team of engineers and technicians to deliver with the same enthusiasm and passion that started Don Alan all those years ago.
Our beginnings were very humble. A soldering iron, an analogue oscilloscope and a PC in the shed and spare room started it off. We would repair computer monitors in the morning to make the money to keep the lights on while we developed our engineering customers’ projects later in the day. Things grew quickly and within a year we were both the definitive monitor repair house for Adelaide and fast becoming the go to point for every unstraightforward design problem. A spare office in the local shopping centre accommodated our rapidly growing production.
In 1995 we sold off the monitor repair side and moved to our own premises in Hilton. 120 square metres seemed like luxury then. By the time we left in 2007 it was affectionately known as “the rabbit warren” for how much was packed into it. If you are old enough to remember the “15 Puzzle” made up of little sliding tiles in a 4 x 4 square that came in cereal packets you will have a sense of how packed the place was. Even in these humble facilities we able to develop a 5.8Ghz tollway tag and internationally patented products for the automotive industry.
2007 was a really big year. Not only did we move to our current 500 square meter facility with purpose built production rooms and lab but we also started our intensive research and investigation of China and restructured the management of Don Alan while I also got engaged to be married. Would the Queen have called this Annus Maximus?
Our production manager, Leanne Flaherty, took over the general manager role to free me up for developing our engineering team and new technologies.
Our China interests were given a bit of a boost by being invited by the Chinese government at their expense to explore the electronics industry there – I guess they understood our potential. As is the Don Alan way- exploration and research is good – and we did a lot of exploration and research before placing our first orders a couple of years later. When I knew the Qantas long haul planes by name it was time to secure a local staff member in China. Tingting now handles most of the China matters with amazing zeal.
Building a company like Don Alan with 15+ people, while also looking after our customers has been really hard work. But I wouldn’t swap the rewards of building a team that is as passionate about delivering electronics as I am for anything. Without the dedicated team I could only do a small fraction of what Don Alan does for its customers. We are obviously doing it for our customers – our first engineering customer is still one of our biggest customers after 20 years. Nearly all of our work is by referral.
So to our team and our customers, thank you for 20 of the most rewarding years of my life.
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