In 2014, Brown Brothers Engineers celebrates 20 years of continuous operation in Australia. Here, we take a look at the company’s history and the impact they’ve had on the Australian market.
Brown Brothers Engineers (BBE) Australia established a sales office in Baulkham Hills, Sydney late in 1994 after being invited by Goulds Pumps to be their distributor in NSW for Lowara, Hydrovar and Goulds Pumps. At this time Goulds Pumps owned Lowara who were headquartered in Montecchio, Italy. BBE was no stranger to Goulds Pumps as the company had already been their industrial distributor in New Zealand for over 20 years and remain so today some 20 years later.
By 1996, also at the behest of Goulds Pumps, BBE had opened a sales office in Dandenong, Melbourne as their distributor in Victoria and Tasmania.
In 1997, Goulds Pumps was acquired by ITT Corporation and a long-term association was born between ITT and BBE.
In January 2000, John Inkster moved to Melbourne after spending 14 years in BBE New Zealand’s Christchurch office, and Melbourne became the Head Office for BBE Australia.
In May 2004, BBE Australia acquired Kelair Pumps Australia and in 2005 acquired Rob Laine Pumping Solutions in Melbourne. Today, Rob Laine is incorporated into Kelair Pumps.
In May 2007, BBE acquired Lowara Pumps Queensland and today is the sole distributor for the Eastern Seaboard of Australia for Lowara, Goulds Water Technology, Vogel and Hydrovar.
These leading brands are all part of Xylem, a spin-off of the old ITT Corporation which split into three separate entities in late 2011. BBE Australia is also the national distributor for Sakuragawa, Layne Bowler, Hitachi and DG Flow.
The company employs 42 staff with sales offices in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. All branches have dedicated workshop facilities; Melbourne has a test rig built to AS2417-2001-Div2 standards using real time data logging with motor capabilities up to 150kW, flows up to 720m3/hr and heads up to 40 bar, plus a balancing plus a balancing machine and five tonne overhead crane, as larger builds are carried out in Melbourne.
BBE Australia has its origins in New Zealand, being a sister company to BBE New Zealand, a company which was founded in 1908 by Alfred E. Brown and his younger brother Phillip H. Brown. In the early years, the company specialised in electrical engineering and was one of the first suppliers of electrical power to Christchurch.
In 1926, BBE New Zealand was appointed as the first Briggs and Stratton agent outside of the USA and held the agency for over 60 years. In 1990, BBE NZ was appointed national distributor for Lowara by Goulds Pumps, and has enjoyed a long and lasting relationship with Lowara since then. ◊
Today BBE NZ is one of the oldest pump companies in New Zealand and is a recognised leader in the pump industry with over a hundred years of experience and as in Australia is the sole NZ distributor for Lowara, Vogel, Hydrovar and Goulds Water Technology. Additionally the company is the national distributor for ITT Goulds, Viking, Sandpiper, Sakuragawa, Layne Bowler, DG Flow and Pioneer.
Both BBE Australia and BBE NZ are part of the Mace Group of Companies headquartered in Christchurch New Zealand. The Mace Group is a diverse third-generation family owned business
The company was founded in 1952 by Mr Bill Mace; Bill’s son Ted is current Chairman of the Board of Mace Group, having only recently retired as Managing Director earlier this year, and Ted’s daughter, Dr Michelle Mace, is Managing Director.
Mace Engineering has large facilities in Christchurch, catering for heavy precision machining in NZ, servicing marine, hydro-power, energy and waste industries. The company manufactures power components for NZ’s electricity generation industry and has extensive experience in the manufacture of Kaplan, Francis and Pelton turbines up to 600MW.
Mace Engineering has long been recognised as a company that can do what other companies cannot. The company routinely manufactures to recognised international standards.
BBE Australia has made significant achievements in two decades and has much to be proud of; particularly excelling in engineering capability and value add capability. The company also has a strong focus on customers, with a mantra to be not just customer focused but customer driven. BBE Australia is committed to using their technical expertise and industry experience to continue to deliver quality pumping systems and services.
BBE Australia is ready for the next 20 years, and the company is continuously evolving in response to the ever changing needs of a varied and expanding market. BBE Australia would like to take this opportunity to thank their loyal and valued customers – without their support the company could not have achieved all that it has.
