The Tricky Brothers and Silvan Pumps

The Club’s meeting on ANZAC Eve was a vocational visit to the Silvan works in Dandenong South, hosted by our very own John Tricarico. Silvan was started in 1962 by his brother Michael Tricarico; John joined the company soon after leaving school. It has always been a family business and a very successful one at that, Michael is still very active in day to day operations although his son and John’s nephew and Godson Is now the CEO.
The “brotherhood”’ John and Michael hosted the visit; they are clearly very close not just in a business sense but also as family. They are extremely proud of what they have built as a family business together. Club members
were very impressed by the number of staff who have stayed with the company for decades, no doubt a testimony to the management style and appreciation of the work force that the brothers have for their staff.
 
On arrival we were welcomed by John and Michael and were introduced to John’s nephew who is now the Chief Executive Officer of the Company.

Currently the organisation is spread over three locations although a building, also in Dandenong South has recently been leased and the logistical planning to bring all three sites together, under the one roof, is currently taking place. Over the three sites there are just over 100 employees however when the busy times come, generally around spring and the growing season, their machinery comes into high demand and the work force can rise to as many as 160 employees.
 
CEO Michael told his very interested audience that his father had early on in the Company’s life, travelled to Italy to source precision pump equipment that was not available here, a relationship that continues today and whilst in a sign of the times some less technical items such as moulded plastic is coming in from China, they are very proud of the fact that all the construction materials along with the design work of new or modified machinery is all Australian and they aim to keep it that way.

Silvan’s have over 3000 resellers in Australia and New Zealand, ranging in size from giants such as Bunnings, Costa Fruits and Treasury Wines to smaller hardware stores and farm equipment suppliers.

A major line in recent years has been Sherlock wheelbarrows that are sold exclusively through Bunnings stores and are assembled at Dandenong in the thousands throughout the year. Their range of equipment is huge from the big machines and pumps that can spray orchards with trees to a height of metres down to the smaller hand sprayers that we all see for domestic use.Silvan’s export to over 20 countries, with 500 containers a year going out from the three sites. The office takes upwards of 60,000 calls a year and it “goes crazy” in spring.

The evening wound up with a lovely BBQ tea put on by the Tricaricos and President David expressed the gratitude of all for the very informative talk and pleasant social end to the night that the Silvans had provided.