From One Ute to National Reach: How APT Has Grown (and Why It Matters)

You don’t grow a training business just by getting bigger. You grow it by getting better – more relevant, more practical, more focused on what actually works in the field.

That’s how APT’s gone from the back of a ute with a dodgy log splitter to a national training operation trusted by the likes of BHP, Glencore and Komatsu.

Not by chasing scale – but by listening to the people who use the gear, fix the machines, and face the pressure when things go wrong.

From Coaching to Career Paths

When APT first started, we weren’t delivering qualifications. We weren’t even trying to.

We were just helping. Answering calls. Coaching engineers and tradies through problems no one else could explain properly. And every time we did, we saw the same thing:

There was no clear pathway.

If you were a fitter, an apprentice, or even a senior tradesperson – and you wanted to really understand fluid power – where did you go?

So we built it.

From mentoring and custom simulations, to Cert IVs and Advanced Diplomas – we turned experience into structure. Confusion into clarity. We gave tradies a proper path to go further.

And now? That path’s helped thousands.

Hands-On Beats Hypothetical Every Time

The biggest shift in how we train? We moved away from “death by PowerPoint” and into hands-on learning that reflects the real world.

Whether it was building custom prac kits, designing job-specific modules, or dragging in gear from the site to tear it down in class – the goal’s always been the same:

Make it real.

We’re not here to just “tick the box.” Tom (that’s you) doesn’t need fluff – you need training that actually helps you when you’re up at 3am staring at a failed system with a manager breathing down your neck.

That’s why we’ve focused on:

• Custom simulation software tied to real schematics
• Practical training rigs that mimic actual site conditions
• Training delivery that adapts to your context, not the other way around

Trusted by the Biggest Names in Industry

Our growth hasn’t just come from internal hustle. It’s come from trust – built with the biggest names in heavy industry.

✅ BHP
 ✅ Glencore
 ✅ Komatsu
 ✅ …and dozens more sites and suppliers who saw a better way to train their people

It wasn’t easy at the start. We weren’t the safe, government-backed option. But we were the ones who understood the gear, respected the pressure, and built training that made sense on-site.

We didn’t just talk theory – we turned up, got hands-on, and proved ourselves.

And over time? The calls started coming in from everywhere.

Building Kits, Confidence & Capability

One of our proudest milestones isn’t the square meterage of our workshop – it’s what’s inside it.

The training kits we use today were born out of necessity. Back at Angus Place, we needed hands-on gear, so we built it. That same log splitter-powered setup eventually became the seed for Pandora – our most advanced portable training unit yet.

Now we’re taking those same hands-on, confidence-building experiences and making them mobile – so even the most remote teams can train without leaving site.

Because as demand grew, we realised: growth means access. And we wanted every fitter, apprentice, and field tech to have the same shot at levelling up – whether they were in the Pilbara or the Hunter.

Making Training Work in the Real World

Let’s face it: site time is tight.

Managers don’t want downtime. Techs can’t always be spared. And not every site has a training room or clean bench space.

So we built our programs to flex with the field:

• Blended learning models: online where it works, hands-on where it matters
• Custom scheduling: training built around shutdowns, rosters, or windows of opportunity
• Mobile gear: setups that come to you – not the other way around

Growth hasn’t just been about doing more. It’s about doing it smarter.

The Impact That Really Matters

We’ve heard the stories again and again:

• The fitter who saved a 24-hour shutdown by reading the schematic properly
• The apprentice who became a supervisor, then an engineering manager
• The field service tech who finally felt confident saying “yep, I know exactly what this is doing”

That’s the impact we care about.

Not the logos on the website. Not the number of students. But the moment someone in the field takes what they learned… and uses it.

That’s what makes APT different. That’s why we’ll keep growing.

The Next Step: Pandora, and Beyond

Our next evolution is Pandora – a mobile training solution designed to make quality, hands-on hydraulic training more flexible, accessible, and efficient than ever.

Because we’re not done yet.

We’ve got more tradies to train. More sites to support. More careers to launch.

Want to Get Involved?

If you’re ready to train smarter – with gear that makes sense, trainers who’ve been there, and programs built for real life – we’d love to work with you.