WAM Australia has officially opened a new 8,000-square-metre facility in Dandenong South, marking a major expansion of its local manufacturing footprint and strengthening its position as a regional hub for the Oceania market.
The site at 3/10 Abbotts Road was unveiled on 21 November at an event attended by industry leaders, partners, APPMA, and the Consul General of Italy, underscoring the company’s longstanding Italian heritage and its growing investment in Australian industry.
The development represents a full operational transformation for WAM Australia, replacing its former Kilsyth premises and shifting the business from a predominantly sales-office model to a manufacturing, warehousing and customer-support centre.
Local manufacturing investment
At a time when many multinationals are streamlining or offshoring production, WAM Australia is significantly expanding its domestic capabilities. The new site includes a purpose-built manufacturing hall capable of producing up to 40 custom screw conveyors per year, enabling shorter lead times and increasing responsiveness to local demand.
A major warehouse expansion allows thousands of items, spare parts and components to be held in stock, supporting faster delivery and continuity of supply for customers across industries.
The facility also includes two dedicated product showrooms – one indoor and one outdoor – covering the company’s broad portfolio of bulk solids handling equipment and wastewater treatment technologies. Purpose-designed training rooms provide space for customer and staff education, with hands-on interaction with WAM equipment.
Guests at the opening toured the production floor to see the new capabilities firsthand.
“We are proud to be going against the tide,” said WAM Australia managing director Alex Rebecchi. “While others look to move production offshore, we have chosen to invest here in Victoria. This facility allows us to combine the excellence of Italian engineering with the agility of local manufacturing, providing faster, more tailored support to the Australian market.”
Growth trajectory and market expansion
Since its establishment in 1997, WAM Australia had operated primarily as a sales office working through distributors, supported by a team of 15 and annual turnover of $5–7 million. Over the past three years, however, the company has transitioned to a direct-to-market model, bolstered by its acquisition of Bulknet two years ago.
WAM Australia now employs nearly 60 people – including 15 sales staff – and reports revenue exceeding $18 million. Alongside its Victorian operations, it also maintains a trading office in Sydney to support customers nationally.
Serving a diverse industrial base
The company now supplies equipment across building and construction, feed and food, plastics and chemicals, heavy industries, quarries and mining, environmental and wastewater, and recycling applications. Its portfolio comprises more than 150 components and systems, including screw conveyors and feeders, valves and rotary valves, level and pressure monitoring systems, loading bellows, mixers, farming and biogas equipment, dust filters, pneumatic conveying systems and bulk solids dischargers.
Italian heritage acknowledged
Reflecting WAM Group’s origins in Modena, Italy, the inauguration event featured a culinary showcase by Melbourne’s Trattoria Emilia, serving dishes inspired by the Emilia-Romagna region, where the group’s global headquarters is located.
Founded in 1968 by Vainer and Adriano Marchesini, WAM Group has grown from a small Modena-based workshop producing screw conveyors to a global leader in bulk solids handling, biogas and farming solutions, and wastewater treatment technologies. The company remains family-led, employs more than 2500 people, operates 60 trading subsidiaries and 20 manufacturing plants worldwide, and reports annual turnover of approximately €420 million.
