The origins of Motion Asia Pacific stretch back more than 100 years, firmly rooted in historic family businesses – each with their own strengths and expertise.
Officially, the journey started in 1954 with the founding of Consolidated Bearing Company Pty Ltd (CBC). Founded in NSW by the father-son partnership of JJ Martin-Weber and RJ Martin-Webber the CBC Business would develop into the cornerstone business which would eventually become Motion as we know it today.
Step by step
According to Stephen Forbes, Executive General Manager – Motion Fluid Power Solutions, this steady and focussed growth has allowed Motion to evolve and expand without compromising the family values at its core, all the while diversifying its offering for customers along the way.
“For most of our history, we’ve operated as a group of family-owned companies, with heritage brands that we still trade under today,” he says.
“The oldest of these is Webster BSC – which can trace its origins back to Hobart in 1831, others include BSC (Bearing Service) from 1921 and Hardy Spicer was established in 1949.
“Through the second half of the 20th century, CBC functioned as the flagship business which acquired these other businesses over time.”
From the 1960’s, CBC expanded beyond NSW, growing its portfolio and customer base through acquisitions over the coming decades, on its way to becoming Australia’s largest distributor of bearings, power transmission products, and associated technical services.
This was punctuated by several key milestones along the way: forming a joint venture with NTN Corporation in 1971, acquiring BSC in 1983, and Hardy Spicer in 2002.
Moving Together
The organisation streamlined its structure under the name Inenco Pty Ltd in 2003. It continued growing and diversifying across Australia and South East Asia until 2017, when it entered a strategic partnership with Genuine Parts Company (GPC), with a 35 per cent shareholding. This evolved into a full acquisition two years later, on July 1, 2019. A year later, the Inenco name was retired in favour of the globally aligned Motion Asia Pacific.
“Inenco, and subsequently Motion Asia Pacific, had built up this mini conglomerate of different businesses, all in the broad industrial supply and services space,” Stephen says. “But these were still all pretty much run as their own separate entities, going to market with their own brands.”
Stephen states that Motion Asia Pacific is now in the process of consolidating its branding under the Motion banner, but stresses that this will not come at the expense of the small business mindset that has served long-term customers well for so many years.
“It’s still vital that we have branch and team members with strong local connections and knowledge,” he says. “But as part of Motion, they also have access to our extensive network of expertise, which will help them deliver the right solutions and advice to their customers.”
Galvanising solutions
Today, Motion Asia Pacific employs around 2000 people, spread across more than 200 branches, with a strong nationwide presence in Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, and Singapore.
“In Australia, we’ve set ourselves up along three main lines of business, aligning with our areas of expertise,” Stephen explains.
“We have Motion Engineering and Services, which encompasses workshop and repair facilities, on-site application engineers, as well as technical engineers with the capacity to design components, systems, and assemblies – everything from crushers to movie sets.
“Then there’s Motion Fluid Power Solutions, specialising in hydraulic hoses, industrial hoses, mobile service units, and general fluid power componentry, such as cylinders, valves, and filtration products.
“And finally, there is our Motion line of business which provides a broad range of industrial products, solutions, and expertise. These incorporate our legacy business offerings such as bearings, power transmission, and mechanical drive solutions, as well as other expanding categories important to our customers.”
Motion New Zealand adds an additional line of business with Conveyance, which specialises in conveyor belt and transmission supply, with fabrication capabilities for custom belting accessories.
Crucially, Stephen says, being a customer of any one of these divisions means customers can benefit from the resources and experience shared between them.
“Customers can take advantage of our whole offering,” he says. “They have access to a high level of choice backed by a high level of expertise.”
The Motion of tomorrow
So, where to now for Motion? Heath Fitzpatrick, Chief Executive Officer for Motion, says that there is plenty of room for the business to grow and evolve, both in terms of geographical coverage, and range of solutions.
Heath expresses his enthusiasm about the future, stating: “Our line of business approach aligns seamlessly with our five-year strategy to expand solutions offerings, tailoring them for current and future customers.
“Over the next five years, we have a clear plan to significantly grow our business across the entire Asia Pacific region, both organically and through strategic acquisitions.”
Heath says Motion is always looking for opportunities to extend its capabilities to cover any gaps in its offering.
“We are also very conscious of exploring emerging technologies such as renewable energy,” he says. “Additionally, we are looking to invest further into our e-commerce capability to better enable customers to access the entire Motion offering.”
Motion Asia Pacific timeline
1954 – Consolidated Bearing Company Pty Ltd (CBC) founded.
1960 – CBC expands beyond NSW.
1971 – CBC forms joint venture with NTN Corporation.
1983 – CBC acquires Bearing Service Pty Ltd (BSC).
2002 – CBC acquires Hardy Spicer.
2003 – Martin-Weber Holdings becomes Inenco Pty Ltd.
2015 – Inenco expands into South East Asia.
2017 – General Parts Company (GPC) subsidiary Motion Industries acquires 35% of Inenco.
2019 – Inenco and GPC’s strategic partnership evolves into full acquisition by Genuine Parts Company.
2019 – Motion Asia Pacific acquires Cram Group and Advanced Industrial Products.
2022 – Motion Asia Pacific acquires New Zealand’s BGH Group, including Bay Engineers Supplies, and Hose Supplies businesses.
2022 – Motion Asia Pacific acquires Linindo in Indonesia.
2023 – Motion Asia Pacific acquires Powell Industries.