Technofast – Innovating and succeeding in challenging times

Technofast – Innovating and succeeding in challenging times While the economy officially entered recession in September, there are plenty of manufacturers who are holding up well. One example is Technofast Industries, a Crestmead-based manufacturer of specialised industrial fasteners.

“Technofast has been fortunate in that and has the ability to manufacture the company was positioned to be able to take advantage of opportunities Recent wins for Technofast include work on the Kingsford Smith Airport control tower. under standards set by DNV, Lloyds, ASME, and the American NRA generated by various government 10CFR50 Appendix B (for nuclear agencies in both domestic and export applications.) markets,” explains Matt Blundell, Technofast describes its product Technical Solutions/Sales Manager offerings as grouped under Standard at Technofast. “The company’s base Products (“me too” items such markets such as those of mining and as hydraulic bolt tensioners and quarrying have continued to operate hydraulic nuts where the company’s at near-normal levels, which has been products compete directly with of huge benefit to the company’s aims those from other manufacturers); of retaining its best assets in its staff Custom Products (variants produced throughout the challenges thrown up to conform to certain application by the COVID-19 crisis.” requirements where products of Levels of mining investment (up ‘standard dimensions’ would not be 1.3% in the quarter, versus a sufficient) and Innovative Products. 6.9% decline among non-mining The latter incorporates novel features businesses) have been a positive for to permit use in unconventional or manufacturers working within the demanding applications. mining equipment, technology and “For example, the EziTite TR hydraulic services (METS) sector. Blundell cites nuts can be produced to operate in sales of Technofast’s Outer Shell Nut extremely hot environments in excess for mining crushers, along with the of 600°C,” says Blundell. company’s HP4 Head Nut and large EziTite nuts within the sugar mill industry. Other recent wins include work on the Kingsford Smith Airport control tower, and some successes in entering the crusher market in the US. Manufacture and finishing of its product range is, Blundell adds “almost exclusively performed inhouse, with the exceptions being specialised processes such as heat treatment of alloys and machining of oversized pieces too large for the Crestmead facility”. Technofast currently employs 17 staff in Australia, with the addition of a new engineer in late August. It operates sites at Brisbane (covering sales, distribution, tech support, rental and manufacturing) and Rockingham, Western Australia (sales, tech support, and rentals.) As well as manufacturing, it provides training, equipment hire, contract engineering and laser marking. Since its official founding in 1992, Technofast has earned industry recognition including at the Endeavour Awards and Telstra Business Awards. It has described its success as based on finding its niches through innovation and development of intellectual property, arguably a winning approach for Australian manufacturing SME. Its product range is focussed on hydraulic fastening solutions, providing time-saving, productivity and safety advantages, and where it has contributed world-first innovations. Hydraulic tensioning is very accurate compared to mechanical tensioning, as the resultant tensile forces are simply calculated from the responsive hydraulic pressure area (HPA) of the hydraulic nut or bolt tensioner being used. Using digital technology, engineers can provide the Its research & development program involves “a number of prospects running at any given time”, with R&D expenditure accounting for roughly 5% of company revenues. This is guided by challenges to customers, which include a host of multinationals wanting to be both smarter and faster in their maintenance, reducing the downtime of critical equipment while removing potential hazard sources such as hot works for bolt removal. highest standard of calculated bolt loading, thereby avoid many There are countless other examples of manufacturers powering of the losses and dangers associated with other methods of ahead despite the challenging economic conditions, and the sector tensioning fasteners. is being targeted by policymakers to help drive the economic Technofast has its origins in founder/owner John Bucknell’s work in recovery in the wake of COVID-19. engineering for agriculture. The son of a broadacre wheat farmer, For Technofast, long-term growth will continue to be driven by Bucknell developed the original hydraulic nut, enabling tensioning, delivering engineering breakthroughs that answer client challenges removal and repair of plough gangs in the field, operated using a around industrial fastening. handheld grease gun. This was a godsend for maintaining heavy “Yes, the COVID-19 era has presented challenges, especially to agriculture equipment such as plough disks, which would often feel our export sales, which are important to us and were growing the brunt of below-ground tree stumps. The invention was followed handsomely before the outbreak” says Blundell. “But like any by a screwed locking ring in the late-1980s, with engineering input serious manufacturing business, we’re here for the long term, and from University of Queensland. we’re investing accordingly. For all the talk of the new normal, the Along with mining, Technofast today serves markets including old normal of innovating to help your customers work safer and oil & gas, power generation, nuclear power, steelmaking and smarter is here to stay.” shipbuilding. It operates an ISO 9001 quality management system, www.technofast.com