Geelong-based Industrial Control Technology (ICT), a member of the Advanced Fibre Cluster Geelong (AFCG), has been bought by SAGE Automation.
ICT owners Mark and Meredith Crittenden said they are delighted to have a new home for their team and valued clients with SAGE as they plan ahead for retirement after almost 35 years. All ICT staff will continue to service clients from their Geelong base.
“We see this move as an ideal opportunity for us to continue to be involved in the work that we love whilst ensuring a safe and secure future for our staff and clients,” Mr Crittenden said.
“The sale was a great opportunity for staff while guaranteeing ongoing support for customers. Importantly also it maintains and strengthens our Geelong operations, keeping jobs and lifestyle for our employees in this excellent city.”
ICT Owner Mark Crittenden
With the acquisition of ICT, the entire SAGE team of specialists will be available throughout the Geelong region, with ICT clients gaining access to the 24/7 SAGE Service support network and business services.
“We believe that to best serve our clients, we need to be located where they are, so the addition of the team in Geelong expands our reach to service clients within the region.’
SAGE Automation Victorian General Manager Paul Markwick.
“We are very proud to be part of the next chapter for this great business, thanks for trusting us Mark and Meri. We look forward to working with our new Geelong team, your customers and earning their trust and respect.”
SAGE Automation, which provides industrial automation and control solutions, employs more than 350 staff and has operations around Australia as well as in India. The privately-owned business has revenue close to $100 million a year and services the defence, transport, resources, utilities and manufacturing industries.
Mr Markwick told the Cluster team he was looking forward to becoming an active member of the Cluster as it establishes research and business collaboration among members.
SAGE is part of SAGE Group, founded in 1994, and offers design, software and industrial engineering, as well as site and project management. It also advises on energy efficiency and communications network infrastructure.
SAGE worked on an upgrade to The Sydney Harbour Bridge Electronic Lane Change System (ELCS) and worked with Saab Australia on assembling more than 50 training consoles that will be used by the Royal Australian Navy.
SAGE Group CEO Adrian Fahey says the company’s industry-training arm Skills Lab has seen an increase in enquiries and has been running virtual courses for workplaces and individuals, allowing businesses to continue to upskill their staff during COVID-19 restrictions.
SAGE has redesigned the program to enable virtual and workplace-based training, allowing more than 80% of the customised courses to continue despite the lockdown.
“The flexible training delivery models Skills Lab use to deliver workplace training have become more important than ever.”
SAGE Group CEO Adrian Fahey
A number of SAGE customers across different sectors enquired about automated testing for their systems, something SAGE has completed for a number of projects in utilities and life sciences. SAGE also connected businesses with engineering contractors who were available for short-term projects, ensuring that delivery dates could be met despite restrictions on travel.
SAGE’s Victorian team also worked successfully with South East Water’s engineering team to complete a fully remote factory acceptance test (FAT) at the Mount Martha WRP Sludge Holding Tank Upgrade project via a video call.
Mr Fahey says fully remote factory acceptance and site acceptance testing will continue to be part of SAGE’s offering moving forward and continued resilience of systems is a key focus area.
“Coupled with our remote and live support services, our team are well-placed to service all stages of a project lifecycle,” he says.
May 2020