From a back bedroom in Bendigo to a leading control solutions partner.

Where it began

Steve Weeks moved his wife and five sons from Pascoe Vale in Melbourne to Bendigo, and started Midlec Industries from a single back bedroom of a repurposed house.

Electrical engineering ran in the family: Steve’s father was an engineer at CSIRO and his great-grandfather an engineer at English Electric.

The early work was commercial appliance repairs, coffee machines, dishwashers and ovens, alongside contract manufacturing of power distribution panels for the Australian Department of Defence.

First factory

Needing more manufacturing space, Steve built a factory nearby, just over the road from where we are today.

Electrical manufacturing expanded into power distribution panels, defence-spec lighting boxes and cabling.

And yes, that Holden Camira could tell a few stories.

A new capability

Metroid Electrical Products was acquired, bringing the manufacture of brass and copper earth and neutral bars into the business, and the Metroid name with it.

Into control panels

We started building basic pump controllers and motor starters, simple relay-logic boards with DOL starters, first designed in Excel!

It was the beginning of the control work Metroid is known for today.

Doubling the plant

More space was needed again, so a factory extension doubled the size of the manufacturing plant.

We designed and built our own semi-automated machines to streamline brass and copper manufacturing.

The next generation, bigger projects

By now all five Weeks sons had joined the business, some having worked elsewhere first to gain experience. Projects grew larger and more complex, including our first PLC-programmed systems.

Diving into water treatment

The Weeks brothers dove deep into industrial and mining water treatment, partnering with water treatment OEMs to build, program and commission a wide variety of UV, UF, MBR, MBBR and SBR plants across Australia.

Critical infrastructure projects

Completed our first project for ExxonMobil: two large incinerator plants in Papua New Guinea, covering design, build and programming.

Quality, certified

We achieved ISO 9001 certification for our quality management system, formal recognition of the systems and discipline behind every board we build.

Purpose-built lean manufacturing plant

Out of space once more, we built a new manufacturing plant over the road.

Moving in was the moment to rethink how we build: we rolled out Lean Manufacturing across the whole production process, reworking the flow end to end to greatly streamline how work moves through the factory.

Expanding into municipal switchboards

We expanded into municipal switchboards for councils and water authorities across Australia, strengthening our ability to comply with a wide range of specifications.

Fabrication comes in-house

Frustrated at being let down by sheetmetal subcontractors, we brought lasercutting, folding and welding in-house, taking control of quality and lead times on the metalwork behind every board.

WireSys, and the Sys family is born

We launched WireSys, the first of our in-house ‘Sys’ software family. It guides wiring on the factory floor, board by board and wire by wire, greatly increasing accuracy, efficiency and consistency.

CADsys, and a growing software suite

Next came CADsys, a proprietary software that integrates with AutoCAD Electrical to semi-automate schematic design, greatly increasing accuracy, consistency and speed.

In the years following, a myriad of further Sys systems followed, across quoting, fabrication, programming and project delivery, an in-house software backbone that has become one of our real competitive advantages.

Powdercoating comes in-house

We brought powdercoating in-house too, completing our end-to-end control of the build.

From metal to finish to wiring to programming, it now all happens under one roof.

Larger mine projects

Took on large MCCs for Rio Tinto mine sites, further building our capacity to comply with stringent mining specifications. By this point we'd designed and built control solutions for over 20 different mining companies.

Scaling capacity

We extended the manufacturing plant by a further 40% to make room for continued growth.

The next generation takes full ownership

Steve retired and his five sons took full ownership.

A certified great place to work

Metroid earned its first Great Place to Work™ certification, and has been certified every year since.

Safe and sustainable, certified

We achieved ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 certification, formal recognition of our commitment to environmental responsibility and to the health and safety of our people.