From a humble beginning in 1977 when a small manufacturing enterprise was established in Ararat, the company has come a long way through the good times, challenging times and a number of name changes. However the spirit and passion of the people associated with the business has been the cornerstone to our longevity and success.

Initially known as T.C.T (Gene Travaglini, Peter Carthew, Barry Tyrell), the company had hit hard times early and in 1978 Barry Tyrell resigned and returned to Melbourne. After much reviewing and calculation by Peter Carthew, it was decided there was a future but there need to be some renovations.

The first move in 1979 was a new company name, CTA (an acronym for Carthew Travaglini Australia), and new processes introduced that turned the business around overnight. By 1982 there was a need for bigger premises and CTA moved into a new factory at 18 Gordon Street, Ararat. The company thrived through the following decade as other wiring harness businesses disappeared.

In 1988, the company set up a plant in Melbourne to offer a service centre closer to their customer base. In 1989 a partnership was struck with General Motors in America and a joint venture namely CTA Packard commenced trading in January 1990 through to 1992, when Gene Travaglini returned to Melbourne.

In June 1992, again starting from scratch, Peter Carthew established Ararat Manufacturing Enterprises, which was later changed to AME Systems Pty Ltd. With a $1.5 million facility, 26 employees and competition from offshore, the company drew on their contacts in the industry to re build the business.

Since then, under the helm of Peter Carthew the company grew steadily, meeting numerous challenges along the way and in 2010 established its first formal Board of Directors which meets monthly. In June 2015, as part of a corporate restructure AME Systems Pty Ltd wholly transferred the business to a new company, AME Systems (Vic) Pty Ltd.

AME Systems is a multi- million dollar business employing more than 250 highly skilled and dedicated staff at both our Ararat and Melbourne plants.

Nick Carthew is in charge of the day-to-day running of the business as Managing Director. Together with a proactive team, the company focus is on building our capability as a globally competitive manufacturer of world’s best electrical wiring harness, power and signal distribution systems.

AME Systems has a long history of local business and community involvement and this ongoing relationship still forms the backbone of the company today. Some families have had three generations represented in the workforce over the years.

With a commitment to safety, continuous improvement and investment in both staff capability and new technology, AME Systems continue to lead the way in the electrical harness industry. Our long term relationships with a number of large industry clients such as Kenworth, is also testament to our capability, reliability and sustainability.