RVs have come a long way since their inception. Once little more than a place to sleep, now-a-days they are a home away from home with all the mod cons, devices (be it phones, laptops, cameras, TVs etc) and luxuries you could want. All of these things, though, require power. 

As we have brought more and more devices along with us when we head out to explore, the amount of power needed has grown. To cope with this, many RVs now have bigger batteries than ever before, solar power to keep them topped up when at unpowered sites, and even more complex management devices to keep it all in check.

From power management systems to surge protectors, RVers want to know they can rely on their power systems.

Ampfibian is an Australian company that aims to support RVers with a range of RV-specific surge protectors, power adapters and other electrical accessories designed to protect your pride and joy. To get some of their ideas we chatted to Oliver Kratzer, company director, about their origins, company ethics, the importance of safety and what it means to be Australian made.

Firstly, how did Ampfibian start and how did it get to its current position?

Ampfibian was started in Ballina, NSW, by David Betterride more than 10 years ago. He was working as an electrical distributor and kept dealing with customers who were stumped because they couldn’t connect their new caravans at home. From there he did a little digging, found out what the problems were and ended up studying Australian Safety standards in depth — there are good reasons why a connection can’t be made directly between a normal 10A power point that you have at home and a 15A RV.

With that knowledge he put together the original Amp-fibian AMPF-01 from store bought parts and sold it store to store. Apart from installing a dedicated 15A power point at home, this was the first safe and legal method of connecting a caravan at home.

Initially, it was his wife and mother-in-law making AMPF-01s on the kitchen table, with David pounding the pavement. They soon got sick of that and David and his wife went in search of an industrial designer to create a fully bespoke product.

He found a product design consultancy called Ideal Industrial, which ended up designing the first fully custom designed power adaptor, the Ampfibian RV02.

When we last spoke, you mentioned a German term that underpins the business’s philosophy, for a tight focus on a specific niche. Could you explain that term, what it means for Ampfibian and why you favour that approach?

‘Mittelstand’, literally ‘Middle Stand’ from the German, describes a type of business that is at the heart, in the middle, of the community. These businesses are usually regional, family owned and professionally managed. What sets them apart is their focus on a narrow product niche, to which they bring incredible attention, dedication and a long-term focus. These companies are the opposite of the classic ‘winner takes all’ mentality.

Ampfibian identifies as a ‘central’ company. It is owned and managed by two local families who are all actively engaged in its day-to-day operations. It is regionally located in sunny Ballina in NSW’s beautiful Northern Rivers region, just south of the Queensland border. All staff are local, with professional services and components sourced as close to home as possible.

For Ampfibian this approach is about building long-term relationships and partnerships with our suppliers. It means that if something goes wrong, we can hop in the car and sort the problem out on the spot. It means when we develop a new product, we can tap into their experience because we trust each other. Our success becomes their success, with everyone pulling in the same direction, which translates into better products for our customers.

For instance, the Ampfibian MAX was originally manufactured under contract in Sydney, but the appearance of the new competitor became a watershed moment for the company. A warehouse was leased locally, and production moved inhouse, with all products still being designed and made in Ballina. The release of a cheaper, defeatured (but high quality) product was followed a year later with the RV-PLUS, which was based on research and feedback from our core customers and struck the perfect balance between price and features.

Safety seems to be a big focus for Ampfibian. With the increase in first-time RVers we’re seeing in 2020 and expecting in 2021, many won’t necessarily know when it’s safe to settle for a cheaper product, or which items it’s essential to get the best of. Can you speak to that a little? What would you say are non-negotiable, essential electrical items?

Safety is a funny thing as nobody worries about it until it’s too late — everyone locks the gate after the horse has bolted. You can’t see electricity and it’s well managed in the home because we have excellent safety standards, so it rarely goes wrong. This gives us a false sense of security though, as 240V is deadly.

There is a lot of confusion around standards, terminology and functionality — RCDs don’t protect you from power surges, RCDs don’t stop your house burning down, fuses don’t protect you from electrocution. And homes (and RVs) do not have surge protectors in their fuse boxes. All the gear in your RV copes with far more abuse than in your house. Shocks and vibration from travelling, extreme heat and cold, all in a much lighter framework. It takes its toll.

An RV used to have a kettle, a toaster and a fridge in it. Now they’ve got TVs, Blu-ray players, satellite receivers, induction cooktops, dimmable lights, air conditioners, power management systems, inverters, sophisticated battery management systems, GPS, awning lights, mozzie-zappers, etc, and people charge their smartphones, tablets, laptops — if you were to write down what gets connected to your RV you’d be surprised.

These are all increasingly sophisticated, expensive devices that need good, clean, steady power. That’s readily available in the suburbs, but the further you go from the city — the whole point of owning an RV — the more vulnerable the supply becomes. A dedicated RV surge protector is just such an inexpensive, no brainer, piece of insurance to keep all our electronic goodies protected. We were developing the 15A surge protector and during a chat with a seasoned CMCA member he chuckled about spending too long reversing into a tricky site (with due strain on his marriage…), only to find the power supply busted. So our lightbulbs went off and we immediately added a powerpoint diagnostic into the surge protector. Before doing anything, just plug it into the power pole and if the light is not green, ask for another spot.

That’s such a simple way to ensure you get what you asked for (and keep your marriage intact…)

Your website mentions being proudly Australian designed and manufactured. What’s the motivation behind keeping design and manufacture, particularly, within Australia?

Everyone instinctively knows that ‘Made in Australia’ is good, but it’s more complicated than meets the eye. If you’re paying more for an Australian made versus an imported product, are you supporting an inefficient business?

All things being equal (features, price, quality) the Australian product should be chosen over the imported one, and I’m sure that’s how everyone feels. But what happens when things aren’t equal? What if there is a massive difference in price, quality, or features? What if there is no domestic equivalent? 

Some of our components are imported because there is no domestic equivalent or the price difference is too big — we are very conscious that our customers want value for money. We don’t want to price ourselves out of the market. Manufacturing rewards economies of scale, and specialisation.

This is a great example of how income inequality works: expensive adaptors and surge protectors are out of the reach of people on lower incomes, leaving them at greater risk of incurring greater costs down the road. Selling safety products is not like selling diamond rings. We are very conscious of our duty-of-care to our customers.

When we first started, we bought some components from local firms only to find that they in turn purchased them overseas. International supply chains are very, very tightly interwoven and for a country to be 100 per cent self-reliant is economically impossible.

To Ampfibian, ‘Made in Australia’ means that we are accountable to our customers — it brings more responsibility, it raises the bar. When somebody calls our number, they are speaking to the very individuals that make the products. We are not an opaque importer who doesn’t know their product: we know it inside and out. If you have a problem, we take responsibility. That’s the single most tangible outcome for the customer of buying a Made in Australia product.

Category: Technology
Written: Thu 01 Oct 2020
Printed: October, 2020
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