MTM Pty Ltd

PRECISION AND STRENGTH

Driven by the desire to pursue comprehensive functionality embodied in simplicity, MTM Pty Ltd’s automotive innovation prioritises ease of assembly. Mark Albert, CEO, tells us more about the global automotive supplier

Writer: Lily Sawyer | Project Manager: Thomas Arnold

As a key player within the global automotive market, MTM Pty Ltd (MTM) has historically manufactured a wide range of vehicle products.

This broad portfolio includes handbrakes, electrical switches, door handles, automatic transmissions, steering columns, and door checks, the latter of which has surfaced as a stand-out innovation.

“In response to the industry becoming more quality-focused, we’ve started to narrow our range. As such, door checks are now our main product for the automotive market,” opens Mark Albert, CEO.

Headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, and with a direct supply into the US and China, MTM’s products are exported globally.

“Of course, due to our international presence, which includes distribution to Mexico and Canada, our products must be able to perform in all markets

and environments,” Albert details.

Therefore, MTM engages in rigorous testing when supplying well-known international brands such as Cadillac, Chevrolet, Toyota, Jeep, MG, and Roewe, to name a few.

In addition, MTM’s recent foray into non-automotive manufacturing has expanded the company’s repertoire to include a broader range of products, from external lighting systems and slide-out kitchens to electric skateboards and electric delivery vehicles.

“Customers in the industry view us as a true one-stop shop, so we’ve been able to involve ourselves in a vast range of projects,” outlines Albert.

Having ventured outside of the automotive sector in 2015, where it continues to expand, MTM is focused on seeking new customers whilst continuing to cultivate and fortify its strong existing partnerships.

STAND-OUT PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

A company that prides itself on its first-rate, quality products, MTM places high importance on perfecting its operations and processes so that it can deliver excellence every time.

“We take immense pleasure in producing products that can perform in ways that none of our competitors can. To achieve this, we spend time working closely with the customer to make sure we achieve their end goals; this is our main aim,” Albert outlines.

In addition, MTM boasts a team of dedicated and skilled professionals who seek to provide expertise to customers.

“All of our staff are experts in their respective fields. Having an excellent staff base makes it a lot easier to meet customer requirements,” he posits.

In this way, MTM is confident in its

“ALL OF OUR STAFF ARE EXPERTS IN THEIR RESPECTIVE FIELDS. HAVING AN EXCELLENT STAFF BASE MAKES IT A LOT EASIER TO MEET CUSTOMER REQUIREMENTS”

– MARK ALBERT, CEO, MTM PTY LTD

ability to advise on the feasibility of customers’ projects and ideas. For example, the company is currently working on a novel product that has never been seen before on the market. In this case, the customer sought out MTM due to the company’s candid and forthright approach to project approval.

“That’s the level of trust this brand new customer has in us. If we say we can do it, we do it; if we can’t, we say we can’t –it’s as simple as that,” Albert outlines.

PROGRESSIVE PARTNERSHIPS

Having worked closely with a number of prestigious brands over the years, MTM today is proud to partner with Cadillac, Chevrolet, MG, Jeep, and Toyota.

MTM’s relationship with the latter is particularly noteworthy. Previously, when Toyota left Australia to move overseas, MTM had not yet won an export order with the company.

However, upon receipt of a letter of recommendation from Toyota’s President, MTM realised how much

support the global automotive brand provided.

“The level of support we’ve had from all of our customers and suppliers locally and globally speaks volumes of the faith that they have in us,” Albert reflects.

In the case of Stellantis, meanwhile, trust and confidence was established early on due to MTM’s historical reputation as a trustworthy supplier and automotive name, resulting in a new contract.

“Stellantis witnessed our products in the marketplace and therefore sought us out. To gain the recognition of an industry leader and household name such as Stellantis speaks volumes of the positive reputation MTM has built for itself within the industry,” he enthuses.

As a company that prides itself on not only supplier partnerships but also customer relations, MTM is able to benchmark its success based on an ability to meet their needs and the con tinued positive feedback it receives.

“When we go overseas, customers are so complimentary of what we do. We’ve found that North America especially often commends us highly for doing a good job, which is lovely,” he affirms.

WHAT ARE DOOR CHECKS?

As MTM’s central focus, door checks are an understated yet essential feature of any vehicle.

A VAST RANGE OF PROJECTS

A nondescript component, the door check holds a car door open in a predefined position, making it easier to get in and out.

In addition, door check technology is able to stop car doors from opening too far or closing too forcefully, preventing vehicle damage.

Although door checks are MTM’s bread and butter, the company’s foray into less familiar territory has historically provided room for growth, development, and a diversified base of customers and clients.

For example, the company recently worked on manufacturing the Tomcar, a purely off-road vehicle for the Australian market.

MTM became involved in the project as the company that contracted the Tomcar obtained the

rights to manufacture it but was not well informed about the ins-and-outs of the industry.

“We completed the whole timeline in around 18 to 24 months,” he reveals.

With a simple, reliable, and uncomplicated design at its core, the Tomcar followed the mantra that ‘the simplest thing to break is the easiest thing to fix’.

However, the exciting project never came to fruition, despite MTM producing around 200 vehicles.

BASF Australia posted sales of about €441 million in Australia and New Zealand in 2023, serving key industries in the agriculture, coatings, manufacturing and mining sectors. As of the end of 2023, the company had 370 employees and operated six production sites for manufacturing, agricultural solutions, performance products and functional materials and solutions. BASF has been active in Australia for more than 100 years, and around 60 years in New Zealand. Throughout these years we have supported the plastics industry, supplying locally compounded performance materials in the early local manufacturing growth periods, until today. BASF continues to drive innovation and help local manufacturers achieve a global market presence with regionally sourced materials from our state-of-the-art production facilities.

BASF Performance Materials can be of service to customers no matter where in the world their production is located. We also offer vital design and development technology services allowing our customers to reduce design time, allow for faster tooling manufacture and thereby speed to market through unmatched virtual failure simulation technology.

The key engineering plastic products in our Performance Materials range:

• Ultramid A / B – Polyamides

• Ultradur – PolyButylene Terephthalate

• Ultraform – Polyoxymethylene/Acetal

• Elastollan – ThermoPlastic Urethane

• Ultrason – Polysulfone (PSU/PESU/PPSU)

Empowering customers to innovate

BASF has long been inventing, innovating and developing engineering plastic materials for use in a multitude of markets and applications. The Ultramid® family have a long and very successful history in metal replacement. The BASF polyamides (PA) have allowed lightweight and high-performance parts to be used in many different applications, from the automotive and the E&E industries to mechanical engineering and consumer goods. In recent years, the challenges for plastic parts in these fields have increased drastically by trends such as further miniaturisation of parts and systems, e-mobility and

accelerated electronics, increased contact with chemicals and sophisticated flame-retardant systems - all leading to higher functional integration. These trends call for new plastic materials which can succeed under demanding application conditions and enable customers to develop new parts for future applications.

Plants all over Asia enhances our supply chain reliability

Community engagement

• BASF runs an annual Kids’ Lab programme to encourage interest in science from an early age by conducting fun, hands-on chemistryrelated experiments. The programme is conducted in partnership with universities around Australia and New Zealand, with previous events held in Melbourne, Perth, Kalgoorlie, Mandurah, Sydney and Auckland.

• BASF sponsors the education of disadvantaged children through independent, national children’s charity, The Smith Family, investing over A$727,000 since 2004.

• BASF is proud to sponsor Science Gallery Melbourne’s Mediator program. Comprised of a team of science students and recent graduates, the Mediators are the public face of Science Gallery and play a vital role in hosting visitors through the thought-provoking artmeets-science exhibitions.

“As client confidentiality is paramount to us, I’m unable to divulge more about the project. I can, however, confirm that this was an exciting time, and our team were able to utilise its manufacturing expertise, in addition to the soft skills that they’ve honed over the years,” Albert notes.

SUSTAINABLE SYSTEMS

Being in the plastics industry, MTM is a company continually seeking to reduce its waste output.

“We recycle almost 100 percent of what is produced from a plastics perspective, which is a great achievement compared to where we were years ago,” Albert outlines.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF MTM

MTM was founded as Melbourne Tooling Co in 1965 by Albert’s father, Max. The company quickly expanded to include comprehensive manufacturing capabilities before moving into component design and specialising in complex, value-added automotive and non-automotive components.

MTM’s innovation is driven by the desire for comprehensive functionality embodied in simplicity, with ease of assembly and a reduced number of components being key considerations.

As a recognised supplier of high-quality parts, MTM originally supplied five local customers for over 30 years, namely Ford, Holden, Nissan, Mitsubishi, and Toyota. More recently, Ford, Holden, and Toyota have utilised a wide variety of MTM products, including windscreen washer nozzles, door handles, automatic transmissions, and steering columns in their vehicles.

In 1997, after seven years of global market exploration, MTM began exporting door checks to Cadillac in North America. This, in turn, led to further business with other customers and countries.

Now, MTM’s products perform in all markets where vehicles are sold.

“WE OF COURSE WANT TO GARNER ATTENTION OUTSIDE OF THE AUTOMOTIVE MARKET, SO WE’RE CONTINUALLY LOOKING FOR NEW OPPORTUNITIES WHERE OUR MANUFACTURING OR DESIGN CAPABILITIES CAN BE UTILISED”

– MARK ALBERT, CEO, MTM PTY LTD

In addition, each of MTM’s manufacturing plants features solar panels. As a result of this sustainable infrastructure, each plant is selfsufficient in terms of its energy usage.

“We’ve noticed many original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) asking us about clean energy in recent years, so we’re pleased to be able to inform them we can generate enough power to run our plant, in addition to many of the homes around us,” he prides.

MTM is also acutely aware of the economic benefits that accompany its sustainable practices. However, it equally acknowledges that long-term, company-wide sustainability has ultimately been implemented for the benefit of all.

“When we introduced these sustainable practices within the business, it was done with a long-term perspective, as opposed to a shortterm approach,” Albert recalls.

FUTURE PLANNING

As a company that has grown exponentially in recent years, MTM hopes to continue its international expansion going forward, especially in terms of the presence of its door checks in less familiar markets.

“We would like to become more prominent in Europe than we currently are,” Albert expands.

prominent in the Australian market, which has recently moved away from an emphasis on automotive manufacturing.

“We of course want to garner attention outside of the automotive market, so we’re continually looking for new opportunities where our manufacturing or design capabilities can be utilised,” he details.

As such, MTM’s focus for the future will be developing strong client and customer relationships outside of the automotive space.

“There are very few companies that have such a broad remit to provide high-quality solutions for a global marketplace. At MTM, we hope to leverage our expertise as a one-stop shop for manufacturing and design to serve a broader range of sectors,” he concludes.

MTM’s other key target is winning more business in the nonautomotive space to ensure it remains Tel: