Hayman Reese turns 70

Hayman Reese celebrates 70 years

2021 SEES HAYMAN REESE CELEBRATING ITS 70TH ANNIVERSARY AND A HISTORY OF INNOVATION IN A COMPETITIVE INDUSTRY

Hayman Reese designs, manufactures, tests, and distributes vehicle towing systems, including towbars, weight distributing hitches, sway controllers, cargo barriers, and a wide range of accessories.

Leading innovations in vehicle-to-trailer wiring applications include its ‘SmartClick’ connecting wiring add-ons. Hayman Reese accessories include brake controllers, power harnesses, tow balls, trailer ball mounts, pintle hooks and mounts, hitch pins, battery monitors, and wiring looms.

In the late 1940s, post-war Australians were starting to explore the country in increasing numbers in ever more reliable vehicles.

A friend asked Eric Hayman to build him a tow bar to tow his newly acquired caravan. Hayman built two, one for his friend and another which he quickly sold at a country agricultural show. He could not have dreamed that it would be the first step towards building an Australian icon.

Eric Hayman was not new to manufacturing, he had been making bicycle spokes in a small South Melbourne factory for some time. The tow bar business quickly became the focus of his attention and he set about making them in earnest.

In 1972 a large American towing products company by the name of Reese, on the lookout for global partners, decided Eric Hayman was the kind of partner they were looking for. Seven years later Hayman Reese was formed and Eric Hayman was appointed its first managing director.

Hayman Reese introduced several key pieces of technology to the Australian market, including weight distribution systems and compatible towbars. The latter was the 50mm ‘square-hole’ Hitch Receiver tow bar. Until that time, most tow bars had been custom fabricated with fixed mounting points and were not easily detachable. The 50mm square tow bar hitch was a gamechanger and remains the Australian industry standard today.

The same year, the company left South Melbourne and moved to a larger facility in Dandenong. The Hayman Reese business is now located in a state-of-art engineering, manufacturing, and warehouse facility in Keysborough. With more than 200 on-site staff, they design, test, and manufacture a wide range of products under one roof in Australia’s largest facility of its type.

Now part of the locally owned AutoPacific Group, the Hayman Reese DNA remains at the core of the organisation.

“Hayman Reese has been a keen participant in the Australian automotive aftermarket since the FX Holden went on sale,” says AutoPacific Group chief executive officer Jason Kieseker. “Since the 1950s, our products have been helping Australians and later New Zealanders on worksites and on their weekends. It’s a great achievement and something we are extremely proud of.”

Hayman Reese’s long history means it can still build towbars that have not been offered for decades. Alongside its capability to produce towbars for every current towing vehicle the company still houses the original drawings and tooling for the classic family cars and utes of the past.

While the local automotive manufacturing industry might have gone, Hayman Reese is proud to remain one of a few local manufacturers of automotive components.

“It’s a challenge we have successfully overcome through a culture of consistent improvement,” says Jason Kieseker. “Having a local manufacturing capability is central to our business.”

HAYMAN REESE MILESTONES

1951: Eric Hayman starts manufacturing towbars, as Eric Hayman Pty Ltd, located in South Melbourne. 1971: Hayman Reese Pty Ltd is formed in partnership with USA-based company Reese Products making standard towbars, hitch receivers, weight distribution hitches, protection bars, and products for the caravan industry. 1972: The manufacturing base moves to new premises in Dandenong. Reese Products increases its equity in Hayman Reese Pty Ltd to 100 percent. 1989: Hayman Reese acquires the Thetford toilet product range for distribution in Australia and New Zealand. 1994: Hayman Reese moves to Dandenong South, before becoming a division of TriMas Corporation Pty Ltd in 1996. 2012: Hayman Reese moves to new premises in Keysborough. 2017: Hayman Reese launches as a manufacturer and distributor in the New Zealand market. 2018: Launch of X-Bar recovery tow bar. 2019: Hayman Reese becomes part of AutoPacific Group.

The company’s quality management system was certified in 1994 to ISO 9001 and was QS9000 accredited in 1999. Its testing facility has been certified as a NATA accredited laboratory to AS ISO/ IEC 17025 (1995). The company’s environmental management system has been certified to ISO 14001 (2001).

For more about the Hayman Reese Range, or how to become an installer, contact Hayman Reese at info@haymanreese.co.nz, or call 0800 MY T BAR.