Migrant imported entire company from homelandNATHAN CROSS Ray Wales calls his products the “silent workhorses of the technological age”. His Mawson Lakes firm at Technology Park Adelaide, AmbiLogic, makes user-programmable electronic controllers for automatic machinery, building services (lighting, airconditioning, security access control) and industrial processes. He set up AmbiLogic 18 months ago after moving here from Britain. He and his wife holidayed here eight years ago to catch up with their backpacking daughter and to look up an old friend in SA. “We had been here for a week and we looked at each other and said we have really got to live here”, Mr Wales said. “We came (back) on a business visa to set up AmbiLogic, which is a management buyout of my previous company in the UK”. The major challenge was getting used to the cultural differences in the way business is done. “An awful lot of communication is done by networking in SA because it is a more compact society than in the UK, whereas in the UK you have to go through the more formal methods of marketing”, Mr Wales said. Another challenge is to be taken seriously in comparison with bigger rivals. “Our business provides much closer and more focused support than the giants can provide and our flexibility enables us to produce semi-custom control solutions in a timley and economical manner”, he said. He said his strategic goals were to expand his product range and sales interstate, to offer more choice, and allowing the AmbiLogic controllers to be used in a wider range of applications. “Once we have Australia-wide marketing, we will develop overseas representation and licensing to open up a global market”, he said. “Our vision is that within five years we can employ 10 or so staff and be turning over around 8 million”
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