In 1956 sail maker Cliff Bartlett began repairing tarpaulins in his family home.
It was a natural extension, using the same canvas handling skills honed in providing motive power for sailboats.
But once in the field, Bartlett saw the potential for tarpaulins and other textile products that “protect, preserve, contain and transport”, particularly in military applications where equipment and people only perform at their best if protected from the elements.
Today the business to which he gave his name, C.E. Bartlett, is still a family owned textile fabricator, employing 90 people and providing tarpaulins, flexible water tanks, safety equipment and even a portable altitude chamber for treating altitude sickness, from its three sites in the Victorian regional city of Ballarat.
Australian Army ASLAV armoured vehicle crews have protected their vehicles with camouflaged tarpaulins from Bartlett.
They’ve probably also slept in a Bartlett tent, enjoyed rations protected by a Bartlett tarpaulin and used water stored in one of the company’s self-inflating tanks or collar dams.
Emergency services agencies use Bartlett products to shield a car accident victim while the vehicle is dismantled to aid their escape.
Rescuers are likewise protected by shields over exposed sharp edges in the wreckage.
Bartlett even makes an inflatable portable altitude chamber, like an inflatable sleeping bag, which provides a sealed cell for the victim in which internal pressure is maintained at a higher level than ambient air pressure to simulate a lower altitude.
Like many industries, textile production is one that the layman may believe is relatively simple. Not so; in developing products over 60 years of operation, C.E. Bartlett has often had to introduce new technologies and processes to create products that will survive everything the Australian military, and other customers, can throw at them.
New fabrication and sealing techniques for woven synthetic fabrics have led on to faster, more durable fabric welding systems, making Bartlett a recognised pioneer in the art of making canvas, PVC and synthetic products. Bartlett works closely with fabric producers and has, over the years, introduced many new fabrics specific to product and market needs.
“The challenges are always new but the underlying theme is the same,” according to a company spokesman. “To seek the most efficient, practical and innovative way to combat the elements; to protect human life or precious goods from nature’s forces; to harness the energy of the elements for the benefit of our customers.”
C.E. Bartlett has received various local, state and industry awards as a result of its innovative approach to manufacturing and product development, including being inducted into the Victorian Manufacturing Hall of Fame in 2006 and winning the overall 2005 Business Excellence Award at the CGU Commerce Ballarat Business Awards.