Pedders Spring Into 3D Metrology

The Pedders organisation began back in 1950 when owner Roy Pedder opened Pedders Die-Cast Welding Service in Hawthorn Road, Carnegie and soon after moved to Claremont Ave, Malvern. Roy, an ex-RAAF welder, began the business by fixing general household items and with his skills in welding die-cast materials found his niche in the automotive market in smash repairs and shock absorbers.

Pedders moved with demand and its reconditioning work gained wide acceptance. In 1964 Pedders were literally mass producing its own brand of shocks by simply modifying overseas designs to suit local needs. In 1972 Roy's eldest son Ron took over the company and in 1974 Ron took the next significant step and utilising what the company had learnt from reconditioning other's shocks began designing its own. To support this radical step Ron Pedder saw that the only way to ensure good distribution of his product was to open Pedders own stores.

Today, Pedders is headed up by Ron Pedder's eldest son Mark who took on the role as Managing Director in early 2006. Pedders now has over 120 locations Australia wide, many of which are franchised, and has recently expanded its export markets to now include shipments to distributors in Korea, Mauritius, Thailand, Indonesia, Kenya, South Africa, Malaysia, China, Cyprus, United Kingdom & the U.S.A. Collectively the Pedders group employs over 500 people Australia-wide.

Recently the decision was made to invest in 3D scanning technology and an exhaustive evaluation of potential suppliers was embarked upon. With local support being a high priority for Pedders and given that Hi-Tech Metrology has a number of engineers providing not only initial training but also ongoing technical support around Australia, the decision was made to purchase a ROMER SI scanning arm. This decision by Pedders was made even easier when they also factored in that Hi-Tech Metrology maintain their own in house repair and calibration facility thus dramatically lowering the ongoing cost of ownership.

Pedders prides itself on manufacturing its quality range of products to exacting tolerances and with the use of the ROMER SI scanning arm they are able to identify critical design features and ensure their total conformance across the design and manufacturing processes.

Time to market for Pedders is another feature that sets them apart from their competitors. With the implementation of a ROMER SI scanning arm significant time and cost savings are being realised through streamlined R&D and manufacturing processes, all helping to ensure the shortest possible time to market.

The PolyWorks software and training, also provided by Hi-Tech Metrology, has helped Pedders to realise many additional ongoing benefits such as quick and efficient analysis of tooling, compliance with GD&T principals and traceability of measurements amongst others.

The investment in such a leading edge technology may have been unimaginable when Pedders Die-Cast commenced operations in Hawthorn Road over 60 years ago; it is however symbolic of Pedders continued commitment to quality and technology that has seen them evolve into the great Australian company they are today.