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Acma Industries, 71 Montgomery Crescent; polyurethane manufacturers
History
HistoryAlan Bowmar was born in Huntly in March 1946. He left Wanganui Technical College at 16, to work at Feltex in Upper Hutt, and in five years progressed from a tyro laboratory technician to factory manager. He also studied for a new Zealand Certificate in Science at Petone's Central Institute of Technology, where he met Margaret. After completing a Bachelor of Science in chemistry and economics at the University of Canterbury in 1969, he married Margaret and returned to Feltex in Upper Hutt, and was soon general manager. John was born in 1971, Vanessa in 1973.
He founded Acma with his wife and partners George Peters and Eric Evans in 1978, after leaving Feltex (not named in the August 1988 article).
The firm originally supplied polyurethane arm and head rests to car assemblers, and branched out as car assembly declined.
The February 11, 1985 'Leader' reported that a leather-look polyurethane headrest for Toyota Corolla GT cars had achieved an outstanding exhibit award in the motor-industries section of the American Society for Plastic Industries annual technical marketing conference.
By 1987 only half of their output was going to motor-vehicle assembly plants.
An August 23, 1988 article pictured Alan and his factory manager of six years, Richard Brown, inspecting seat cushions.
Australian companies had been supplying motor-vehicle plants, and had not branched out into other areas.they had seven Australian contracts, and consignments could exceed $1 million in value. Acma was supplying a Sydney company which had previously used German sources. They were expecting to be shipping one or two containers a month, containing 4000 seat cushions with arms and fam bodies for chairs.
Acma won the 'other products' award from the Plastics institute of New Zealand in 1988, for their 'Zaf' chair. In 1989 they won the same award for a lifebuoy buoy made for Hutchwilco Ltd; it had a rigid polyurethane foam in an orange polyethylene covering.
In 1992 they were exhibiting Kessler "plastic" saddles for horses.
In 1994 the company secured a lucrative contract with a California-based furniture manufacturer to produce seat, back and armrests for a heavy duty chair. They hoped to produce and export enough polyurethane to make 10,000 chairs each year.
John joined Acma in 1995
In 1996 Acma exported $2m a year from its existing product range. They had 60 employees, ran two shifts a day, and exported 40% of their output.
In 2003, with New Zealand firms no longer assembling cars, Acma's main field was public-transport seating; about half their output was exported. Alan was pictured in a chair, with one foot on a'roto-moulded' ottoman.
They had also produced plastic weapons and armour for the 'Lord of the Rings' movies.
The March 2, 2005 'Leader' printed a photo of a 'Motorman' robot, installed late in 2004, producing masks for Fisher & Paykel sleep-apnoea masks.
Alan was elected president of the Upper Hutt Chamber of Commerce in June 2004, succeeding Lane Cottam, who had been president for two years, but was not standing.
Alan had been head of the now-defunct Upper Hutt Economic development Agency.
Acma Industries was inducted into the Wellington Region Business Hall of Fame in 2015.
Alan died on January 1, 2017; an obituary was printed in the January 25, 2017 'Leader'.
A newly-established carpet-underlay factory burned down on January 27, 2017; the other three buildings survived. Only three staff were affected. Pictures in the December 28 'Dominion Post' and February 'Leader'. The firm went into voluntary liquidation in September as a result of cashflow pressure, but would continue to trade while administrators assessed whether it could be saved.
He founded Acma with his wife and partners George Peters and Eric Evans in 1978, after leaving Feltex (not named in the August 1988 article).
The firm originally supplied polyurethane arm and head rests to car assemblers, and branched out as car assembly declined.
The February 11, 1985 'Leader' reported that a leather-look polyurethane headrest for Toyota Corolla GT cars had achieved an outstanding exhibit award in the motor-industries section of the American Society for Plastic Industries annual technical marketing conference.
By 1987 only half of their output was going to motor-vehicle assembly plants.
An August 23, 1988 article pictured Alan and his factory manager of six years, Richard Brown, inspecting seat cushions.
Australian companies had been supplying motor-vehicle plants, and had not branched out into other areas.they had seven Australian contracts, and consignments could exceed $1 million in value. Acma was supplying a Sydney company which had previously used German sources. They were expecting to be shipping one or two containers a month, containing 4000 seat cushions with arms and fam bodies for chairs.
Acma won the 'other products' award from the Plastics institute of New Zealand in 1988, for their 'Zaf' chair. In 1989 they won the same award for a lifebuoy buoy made for Hutchwilco Ltd; it had a rigid polyurethane foam in an orange polyethylene covering.
In 1992 they were exhibiting Kessler "plastic" saddles for horses.
In 1994 the company secured a lucrative contract with a California-based furniture manufacturer to produce seat, back and armrests for a heavy duty chair. They hoped to produce and export enough polyurethane to make 10,000 chairs each year.
John joined Acma in 1995
In 1996 Acma exported $2m a year from its existing product range. They had 60 employees, ran two shifts a day, and exported 40% of their output.
In 2003, with New Zealand firms no longer assembling cars, Acma's main field was public-transport seating; about half their output was exported. Alan was pictured in a chair, with one foot on a'roto-moulded' ottoman.
They had also produced plastic weapons and armour for the 'Lord of the Rings' movies.
The March 2, 2005 'Leader' printed a photo of a 'Motorman' robot, installed late in 2004, producing masks for Fisher & Paykel sleep-apnoea masks.
Alan was elected president of the Upper Hutt Chamber of Commerce in June 2004, succeeding Lane Cottam, who had been president for two years, but was not standing.
Alan had been head of the now-defunct Upper Hutt Economic development Agency.
Acma Industries was inducted into the Wellington Region Business Hall of Fame in 2015.
Alan died on January 1, 2017; an obituary was printed in the January 25, 2017 'Leader'.
A newly-established carpet-underlay factory burned down on January 27, 2017; the other three buildings survived. Only three staff were affected. Pictures in the December 28 'Dominion Post' and February 'Leader'. The firm went into voluntary liquidation in September as a result of cashflow pressure, but would continue to trade while administrators assessed whether it could be saved.
Photos
Details
Date established1978Location71 Montgomery Crescent, Clouston Park, Upper HuttGeotag[1] The factoryFunctionProduction of polyurethane foam and related products.
Location71 Montgomery Crescent, Clouston Park, Upper HuttGeotag[1] The factoryFunctionProduction of polyurethane foam and related products.loading google map....
Acma Industries, 71 Montgomery Crescent; polyurethane manufacturers. Upper Hutt Libraries, accessed 03/05/2026, https://uhcl.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/26233