Machine Tool Automation was founded in 1974 by parent company Hardwick & Tatam Pty. Ltd. – one of the original machine tool rebuilding entities in Australia.
Harry Tatam (pictured) and Reg Hardwick were trained in the UK by the powerful machine tool manufacturing firm Alfred Herbert Ltd, with Harry completing 20 years service at their Coventry manufacturing plant.
In 1947, Harry was asked if he would be interested in a posting to Australia , as part of the Alfred Herbert machine tool installation and support team . At that stage AH was arguably the biggest machine tool manufacturer on the planet.
For Hardwick & Tatam, and later MTA, the future was sealed , with young Harry and wife Doreen accepting the posting, and embracing this new and thrilling adventure .
Forming Hardwick & Tatam Pty Ltd in 1962, Reg & Harry forged careers in the m/c tool emergency repair and service support under their own names.
Audaciously, they rented a small workshop only 2 doors down from the Alfred Herbert Sydney head office, in Taylor St , Annandale, from where they built their brand into the future .
In the mid sixties they took delivery from the UK of the first of 3 large capacity slideway grinding machines, which then transformed their company into a comprehensive machine tool rebuilding force in its own right.
During the 1970’s , a glorious period for manufacturing in Australia , Reg & Harry pursued the direction manufacturing was taking, with machine tool motion control and programmable NC.
Showing true proactive leadership, HT formed Machine Tool Automation, specifically set up for the automation of machine tools, from manual control to programmable automatic mode (retro-fits). This strategic move coincided with the boom years in manufacturing and production machining in Australia, and the first real mass importation of CNC machines from Japan and Europe.
Whether proactive planning, or luck, (we think proactive planning) Harry Tatam had stumbled across the perfect formula, which to this day, 60 years later, is the formula MTA adheres to:
- Company owned comprehensive support workshop facilities .
- Small, tight , highly efficient service team ( no more than 8 personnel )
- Mechanical & Electrical trade capabilities .
- Inbuilt, strong and inherited company culture .
Well into the 1980’s , projects for Qantas Engineering, Goninans (UGL), RailCorp (NSW), Dept of Defence & Comsteel (Molycop) saw HT and offshoot Machine Tool Automation become a major players in the Manufacturing support industry.
The 1990’s saw Harry’s son John , assume more responsibility within the company .
After serving his apprenticeship 1975 -1978, Harry directly took over John’s training, involving mentoring, shop floor instruction, and business acumen.
Instilling all the virtues of the company culture he had built, Harry’s training of John spanned the next 20-30 years.
Harry Tatam’s passing at the age of 99 in 2015, brought about the final chapter in this great man’s life, a life we all thought would never end .
Harry Tatam and Hardwick & Tatam , can take full credit for developing the culture that exists today, the legacy carried on though his son John Tatam , and the Machine Tool Automation team.
