Guiding them through the early stages of their Australian expansion.
01.
THE CLIENT
WITRON Group is an enterprise-level logistics and supply chain company headquartered in Germany. They design, implement and operate innovative logistics solutions and material flow systems that generate sustainable competitive advantages for their clients.
With a global footprint, WITRON has been servicing many market-leading enterprises throughout Europe, North America, Australia and Asia for many years now. With a large extent of their customer base (80%) being return customers, WITRON proves that customer satisfaction is at the forefront of all that they do.
And this is due in large part to WITRON centralising all decisive key elements under one roof: the logistics design, the information and control technology, the mechanics design and mechanics production, service and operation as well as the functional responsibility to act as general contractor for logistics.
Founded
1971
HQ
Parkstein, Germany
Company Size
1,001 – 5,000 employees
Industry
Logistics & Supply Chain
Specialties
Logistics Design, Information & Control Technology, Mechanics Production02.
THE CHALLENGE
A European company headquartered in Germany, WITRON recently closed a landmark deal with major Australian retailer, COLES, in order to set up two automated logistics centres in Australia.
But delivering this project, of course, would mean operating in Australia and, eventually, hiring staff under local laws. All of this without any in-house knowledge about or experience in the local Australian market.
For WITRON, a cookie-cutter approach would not suffice to meet their specific needs and intentions around the upcoming project.
Not having the right advice and expertise when setting up and employing can present major liabilities down the track. With a DIY approach, WITRON understood that they could be putting themselves at risk. So, they decided to partner with us at Polyglot Group to get expert local support and advice on the Australian employment and business market.
03.
OUR SOLUTION
To ease their expansion into the Australian market, we partnered with WITRON and delivered a multi-faceted package of services tailored to their specific needs around Human Resources.
Knowing they would soon need to hire staff, WITRON were determined to set themselves up as an attractive, supportive – and, of course, compliant – employer in Australia. As such, we gave them the rundown on the HR and business market in Australia, providing expert guidance on best practice and strategies to become an employer of choice.
Taking a holistic approach with the expansion, we also undertook various HR processes to manage WITRON’s local relations. The company knew they would require highly technical, skilled staff to manage areas such as Maintenance, System Operations, Engineering, and more to fit out their local distribution centres.
As a result, we took the preparatory steps to give them more insight into the Australian talent market and its legislations. This began with us conducting salary surveys on five key positions that they intend to hire across NSW and Queensland.
In addition to this, we carried out our popular Modern Award determination and interpretation services. Investigating the relevant Modern Awards for their prospective employees provided a clearer understanding of required working conditions in Australia.
04.
THE RESULTS
Whilst still in the preliminary stages of their Australian operations, WITRON were able to confidently begin operating under their local subsidiary (WITRON Australia Pty Ltd).
Our targeted, tailored HR services provided them with a solid foundation for their work in Australia, as a company that was committed to being not only compliant but caring for their future employees and operations in the Australian market.
Pleased to know that we offer a whole range of A-Z services for local setup and growth, WITRON Australia intend to continue partnering with us for their Payroll and Talent Acquisition outsourcing. We are thrilled to be part of their continuous growth in Australia as they deliver this historic national project.
