History of a significant Australian manufacturing company.
For more than a century and a half Ludowici has been a prominent player in the Australian manufacturing scene. From its beginnings in the 1850s as a leather tanning enterprise it has developed into a multi-divisional company that now employs the most sophisticated modern technology. Its output ranges from food and other packaging, through mining, earthmoving and power transmission equipment to automotive and aircraft components that are important to Australia's industrial life and defence requirements.
Throughout the company's history, and especially since World War II, when there was a major diversification into new areas, Ludowici has demonstrated a remarkable capacity for adaptation and innovation. Ever responsive to changing conditions and new technologies, the company has, through progressive research and development programs, itself been a significant instigator of change.
Management of Ludowici, vested until relatively recent times in members of the founding family, has been characterised by a keen eye for business opportunities allied to sound financial management. These have seen it successfully weather such crises as two world wars and two depressions and the inevitable pressures and vagaries of market forces. Through good times and bad, Ludowici has demonstrated a sensitive and generous concern for the welfare of its workers, a policy that is reflected in the loyalty and long service of many employees.
Audrey Tate's history of Ludowici offers penetrating insights into the workings of a significant industrial enterprise. In doing so, it also sheds valuable light on the entrepreneurial spirit as it has operated and evolved in this country.
