Top 5 Stories For 20 Years

Did you know that APT will be turning 20 this year?

With 20 years of operating the business comes a whole heap of unique stories that really highlights our journey in the business and in the industry as a whole.

So without further ado here are 5 of our top stories that we have pulled together from the past 20 years of APT working in the hydraulics industry.?

1. While APT might be 20 years old, we have a team member that has well over 20 years of hydraulics knowledge and experience. So we thought it was right to share one of his stories to kick us off. One day when Allan (one of APT's owner) was on site providing some training for a client he walked past a group of people looking very seriously at a safety valve that had failed. The group consisted of a workcover inspector and site representatives who were all trying to figure out how this valve had failed and how it had led to such a serious incident. Allan casually told them what causes a failure like the one they were looking at. From there APT was tasked with designing a new valve to solve their specific problem which led to the client winning an industry safety award. Not only did we find a solution but a solution that was above industry standard and ensured the safety of workers onsite. This is the level of expertise that you can expect from our team.
2. Over the years we wouldn't have been able to make APT what it is without all of the helping hands behind the scenes. The photos below were taken by a good friend of ours who helped us out by getting our training trailer back to New South Wales from South Australia. While the journey can be pretty beautiful we didn't have anyone on the APT team who could do this journey for us and it was amazing we had the support to get everyone the training they needed across those few weeks. So, if over the years, you've held out a helping hand to us here at APT we want to say a wholehearted thank you. We wouldn't be making it to 20 years without you and your support.

3. This next story comes from Kyle, another one of our founders. Kyle told us about an experience from around 2007 or 2008, when he and his father Allan returned to the site where Kyle completed his apprenticeship. Despite having completed his apprenticeship five years earlier, Kyle found that people still treated him as if he was a novice. This time, however, he was back as an on-site had designed a conveyor brake system for the site, but its complexity led to confusion. Kyle and Allan took on regular maintenance duties and, during one repair, managed a temporary fix for a hydraulic motor failure that held up production for months. One memorable moment was when a mistake during testing caused a hose to pop, spraying oil everywhere. Although it was a messy situation, Kyle looks back at it as a valuable learning experience. The lesson reinforced the importance of thorough testing and has helped the team avoid similar mistakes in the years since.

4. In the 20 years APT has been providing training, one crucial lesson stands out: to effectively teach students and professionals, it’s essential to first get them on board. This lesson was particularly clear during one of APT’s early major jobs with the team at Angus Place. APT had been requested to deliver basic hydraulics training for the entire team. However, when the trainers arrived, they were met with resistance. Some team members, feeling forced into unnecessary training due to a recent incident on site, crossed their arms and expected a dull, unhelpful session. By lunchtime, everything changed. Those same team members who seemed disengaged initially became APT's biggest advocates. By taking the time to understand their needs and engaging them personally, APT won them over. Soon, they were encouraging others to take the training as well. Reflecting on this brings a smile to the APT team, as moments like these highlight the impact they strive to make on every student, then and now.

5. It hasn’t always been smooth sailing for the last 20 years. In 2020 the pandemic caused in-person training to come to a grinding halt. While we were able to transition to blended and online training options smoothly we realised that this was an issue within the industry that needed to be tackled. You see, pandemics aren't the only reason why people can't access training. Many of our students work in remote locations so finding the time to come seek in-person training can be extremely difficult. This led to us developing a project that we have named Pandora's Box. While this project is still in its final stages, what we can say is that the growth we made during 2020 has given us the ability to put together something that allows hydraulics professionals access to training no matter where they are. With now 4 years of consistent effort being poured into this project we can't wait to change the way training is delivered within Australia and look forward to when we can share more details on this project with you.?

We hope that these stories have given you a little bit of insight into the past 20 years of APT’s journey. And if you have your own memories with APT we’d love for you to share them with us.?

Stay safe.?