Glidepath Limited is a privately-owned, New Zealand-based company that began manufacturing baggage conveyor systems for airports in the 1970s. The Company quickly acquired a considerable number of projects, and by the 1980s, was able to expand its offices from Auckland, New Zealand, to Australia and Southeast Asia.

Glidepath completed its first large scale project, in 1995, by working on the expansion of the Brisbane International Airport baggage handling system. Upon completion, the Company was awarded a number of additional large-scale projects, including baggage systems at Auckland International Airport, Sydney International Airport and Qantas domestic ports in Sydney and Melbourne.

In 2000, the Company saw further offshore growth, to Santiago, Chile and Canada. Glidepath successfully completed multiple projects at Vancouver Airport for Air Canada, and then Pearson International Airport Toronto, which is the largest project for the company to date—worth $60 million USD and took five years to complete. Glidepath Group General Manager, John Fitzgerald, explains, “From 2001, the company continued to gain market share in Canada. It picked up good sized project work in the U.S., and continued to expand its operation in South America.”

The Company, now a multi-million dollar global business, opened a second manufacturing facility and full service office in Texas, USA to handle engineering, project management and sales for the U.S., Mexico and Canada markets. Fitzgerald says, “We have other offices around the world, which are primarily sales and project-based. These offices include Santiago, Chile; Lima, Peru; Shanghai, China; Mumbai, India; Sydney, Australia; Durban, South Africa.” Glidepath recently completed another large-scale project in Durban, South Africa to accommodate the 2010 Soccer World Cup. The Company generates approximately $100 million annually,
and since opening its doors in the 1970s, Glidepath has completed around 600 projects throughout 61 countries. “The amount of work we have received is quite substantial,” says Fitzgerald. “Some projects are small, and others are quite large and involve a hefty team of people for a long duration.”

John Fitzgerald has been with the Glidepath for 12 years. Having started off as a System Design
and Commissioning Engineer in 1998, he worked with the Control Systems Team, writing
and organizing sub-contracts for the design and installation of software for electrical control
systems. Fitzgerald was promoted to Engineering Manager in 2006, and then to Group General
Manager in 2009.

UNIQUE PRODUCT DESIGNS

The parts and products that go into a baggage system are generally very similar from company
to company. Fitzgerald says, “It’s like selling cars, one could be blue and one could be green,
but they both work exactly the same way.” Glidepath offers its clients something different—
alternative designs to provide the client options that can improve efficiency and reduce
costs. “Often a client will see the need for a new system, or a modification to a system and
will employ a consultant or engineer to suggest a new design and go to tender based on that
design,” says Fitzgerald. “Glidepath will price that design, but also offer various alternatives for
clients which add value.”

Additionally, out of the top six companies of this kind in the world, Glidepath is one of the
smallest, yet still involved in nearly every market around the globe. The Company can offer its
clients a part of the Kiwi culture, meaning they form positive working relationships a lot easier
than its larger competitors. Glidepath has the ability to work quickly and efficiently, in addition
to providing clients with its forward-thinking designs. The Company’s quality service speaks for
itself—“We utilize word of mouth marketing. “Our existing client references are often what
helps us obtain new clients.”

ENHANCING INTERNAL SYSTEMS

Glidepath adheres to a LEAN process in every aspect of the business. “We look at everything for
continuous improvement,” Fitzgerald says. “Most recently we have been looking at improving
not only our factory processes but our processes through engineering design.” Currently, there
are three separate departments of engineering disciplines. The goal is to break down invisible
walls between each of the departments, and cross correlate the engineering disciplines.
“We have improved the flow of information as we run through system design,” explains
Fitzgerald. “System design now works as a circular motion between all different disciplines
involved. The design stage is in a very fluid state until everyone is happy and a design can be
released.” In the past, the process was very structured—each group would look at the design
in a specified order, which was at times inefficient and time consuming. “We’ve seen huge
improvement in recent times” says Fitzgerald.

In the year 2000, the Company invested in a software system to track project information,
such as costs, employees’ time and labour and project data. As the database is now nine years
old, Glidepath has taken measures to update and improve the system to match the changes
made in the processes. Originally, the system was developed based on a department structure,
whereas now since teams are formed based on projects, project information is recorded on a
project by project basis.

New processes are being implemented within the manufacturing facility as well. In an effort
to improve the way products are delivered around the world, the goods are created in
specific orders, flat packed, numbered, stacked in order and then loaded onto the appropriate
container to ship to the project location. The shipments are now managed via a reconciliation
report as well for greater efficiency.

NEW ZEALAND BRAND IMAGE

Many employees want to work for Glidepath as it offers an exciting atmosphere. With the
global presence of the company, travel is often required for all staff. Young engineers enjoy
the idea of working in a fast-paced New Zealand-based company that caters to the global
market. “We are an exciting company. We work around the world and people get to travel
quite a bit,” says Fitzgerald.

SUPPLY CHAIN

Glidepath has recently hired a Global Purchasing Manager, and established a dedicated team
of three to handle all of the purchasing on a global front—one team member is responsible
for quality control. Previously, the project managers would handle their own purchasing for
projects, which was less than efficient when it came to managing all the individual components
that go into project development. Now, the control is under one centralized purchasing
scheme, and vendors have one point of contact to simplify the process. The newly dedicated
team works to keep costs down, as well as ensures that purchasing decisions are uniform.

FUTURE

The goal for Glidepath, for the future, is to maintain a corporate presence in New Zealand, and
further expand project and sales operations out into the market areas the Company serves ,
including Australia, India, China, South America, Southern Africa and Southeast Asia. “We are
already beginning to regionalize our efforts, we have small offices in Mumbai and Shanghai, but
we want those offices to grow,” says Fitzgerald. “It’s going to take a number of years, but that is
the direction we are heading.”