Business Review Australia - December 2017

GEOVERT | GLADSTONE | ROY HILL |

December 2017

w w w.businessreviewaustralia.com

TODAE SOLAR’S LANDON KAHN Dynamic factors in solar

Exclusive interview with Peter Adcock, Digital Realty’s APAC vice-president, design and construction

IKEA AUSTRALIA Affordable, sustainable

THE

CONNECTED DATA HUB FOR

A S I A PACI F I C TOP10 Australian fast food franchises

The source of value

Procurement executives across the globe continue to see the potential they can unlock throughout the supply chain. They understand that business today is about engaging, collaborating, adapting instantly to evolving needs, and finding new sources of value. Getting that value, however, can prove a challenge.

FOREWORD HELLO AND WELCOME to the December edition of Business Review Australia and our final issue of 2017.

This month’s cover story features an in-depth interview with IKEA Australia, revisiting our conversation from last year on all things sustainability. Kate Ringvall, Country Manager for Sustainability, reveals how the company has made significant strides in several areas.

Another sustainable focus can be found in an interview with Landan Kahn of Todae Solar, who discusses the company’s continuing work in placing Australia on the global solar

power map. Todae Solar has seen an 80% increase in activity over the past 12 months, and will be keen to build on this momentum going into next year.

Other exclusive insights can be found in the digital report section, which features Gladstone Area Water Board, data centre specialist Digital Realty, and mining industry players Roy Hill Holdings and Swanson Industries.

Finally, this edition’s top 10 charts the most prolific fast food franchises operating in Australia.

www.businessreviewaustralia.com

www.bizclikmedia.com

Enjoy the issue!

3

CONTENTS

F E AT U R E S INSIGHT

06

38

Gladstone Area Water Board

IKEA Australia: Affordable.

Sustainable.

TECHNOLOGY

16

The perfect storm – dynamic factors in solar TOP 10 LIST

Headline for 26 00 the article Top 10 Australian fast food franchises

78

Geovert

C O M PA N Y PROFILES

52

First Solar Pty Ltd

60 Digital Realty

ENERGY 38 Gladstone Area Water Board 52 First Solar Pty Ltd d

TECHNOLOGY 60 Digital Realty 78 Geovert

MINING 88 Roy Hill Holdings Pty Ltd 98 Swanson Industries, Inc.

FOOD & DRINK 106 Criniti’s

98 88 Roy Hill Holdings Pty Ltd

106 Criniti’s

INTERVIEW

IKEA Australia Affordable, Sustainable.

Wr i t t e n by N I K I WA L D E G R AV E

IKEA is known as the king of flat pack furniture and tea lights, but Dr Kate Ringvall, Country Manager Sustainability, tells Niki Waldegrave how being green is at the core of everything it does

INTERVIEW

IKEA HAS INVESTED $2.25 BILLION IN RENEWABLE ENERGY SINCE 2009 ALMOST 1% OF all commercially harvested wood goes into IKEA products. But it’s trying to change this with an impressive 2020 goal of 100% renewable energy, producing as much as it consumes in operations, and that its wood, paper and cardboard will be sourced 100% sustainably.

Leading the its Australian stores into the future is Dr Kate Ringvall, IKEA Australia’s Country Manager Sustainability, who has had an esteemed environmental career for more than 20 years, including at Local and Federal Government levels.

8

December 2017

“Having come from outside of IKEA, I’ve had a really good insight into what makes us different,” says Dr Ringvall, who relocated from Perth to Sydney in February for the role.

“And the key is that sustainability has been at the very kernel and DNA of IKEA since its inception.”

Ingvar Kamprad founded IKEA in 1943 at the age of just 17, with the premise you could do more with less. Now, it serves 915mn customers every day globally, and Dr Ringvall says Democratic Design is part of the core design principle

IKEA

Kate Ringvall IKEA Country Manager Sustainability

“People want to live more sustainable lives, but they’re unsure how to” – Kate Ringvall, IKEA Country Manager Sustainability

I have more than 15 years practical and academic experience in the three areas of sustainability – social, economic and environment. This unique understanding has enabled me to provide advice and analysis across a broad range of topics within the Sustainability and Environmental fields.

I am passionate about integrating sustainability principles and practices into everything organisations do.

My specialties: Energy Efficiency in building design and Sustainability of suburb design, Transport/ Land Use Planning; Sustainability in Urban and Regional Planning, Sustainable Housing; Research/ Analysis; Local Greenhouse Action; Policy Development/Implementation; Problem Solving; Innovative lateral thinking; Interpersonal Skills; Liaison/customer focus.

9

INTERVIEW that runs through everything.

“It’s about creating products with sustainability at the heart,” she explains. “The five key principles of IKEA’s Democratic Design are form, function, quality, low price – or cost consciousness – and sustainability. Nothing gets produced unless it meets the rigorous criteria that sits within that.”

As well as having key considerations for how and where products are made, and by whom, IKEA also considers

IKEA HAS A 2020 GOAL OF 100% RENEWABLE ENERGY, AND THAT ITS WOOD, PAPER AND CARDBOARD WILL BE SOURCED 100% SUSTAINABLY 10

December 2017

what will happen to products at the end of their life, and now recycles all mattresses via social enterprise Soft Landing, which provides jobs and traineeships to help people out of poverty and into lasting employment.

“We’re moving to do the same with sofas and other furniture,” adds Dr Ringvall. “We’re in the 21st century and our research shows that people want to live more sustainable lives, but they’re unsure how to.

“We can help them to do the small things or swaps, like LEDs, water efficient taps and other sustainable products. It’s really simple stuff and doesn’t have to be expensive.”

She says one of her goals is to talk about sustainability within IKEA more, adding: “The challenge is ensuring we’re using less resources, and reusing as much as we can making products that are not hurting the earth.

“The future means we have to start thinking about circularity. It’s a continual challenge for all companies, but particularly for us, because that’s one of things we feel is very important.

“Yes, it might be a low price, but it’s not low price without compromise – it’s low price without costing the Earth, literally.”

IKEA Australia - When a Soft Toy Dream Comes to Life

IKEA

IKEA SERVES 915 MILLION CUSTOMERS EVERY DAY GLOBALLY Globally, IKEA has invested $2.25bn in renewable energy since 2009 and has committed to investing another $900mn. It also owns and operates 327 offsite wind turbines, and has installed 700,000 solar panels on IKEA buildings.

The store now only sells LED lights, and the renewable SOARE range of place mats, made from water hyacinths in Vietnam and Southeast Asia, are a huge hit. As is Kungsbacka, the new range of kitchen doors and drawer fronts

which launched in February, made from recycled PET plastic bottles and reclaimed industrial wood.

“It’s really pushing the boundaries of what sustainable products look like,” Dr Ringvall adds. “It’s a funky kitchen front that looks amazing and is made of recycled wood and PET.” IKEA is also phasing out EPS – oil-based expanded polystyrene – which used to be found in flat packs, and replacing it with fibrebased, fully-recyclable materials.

11

INTERVIEW

“IKEA talks the talk and walks the walk” – Kate Ringvall, IKEA Country Manager Sustainability

12

December 2017

IKEA

Another major change is becoming multichannel – being able to order online – and to that end, the furniture behemoth has forged partnerships with Airtasker and GoGet cars. It’s also establishing pick up points and, to date, has 18, mainly in regional centres.

“If you’re in far North Queensland, you can order your kitchen online and it will be delivered to your pick-up point in your town,” she adds. “Every store has GoGet cars available, and they’re discounted if you’re an IKEA family member.

“Essentially, you can just book a car, go and pick up your stuff, take it home. Then come back, swap your car and that’s it. We’re connecting with whole other community groups, so our reach is far-expanding.

We’ve opened up how we meet the customer – that’s where the future is.”

Urbanisation is another key issue, both here and worldwide. Australia’s population is set to grow from 24mn to 70mn over the next hundred years, and when IKEA Australia shared its glimpse of tomorrow at Sydney’s Millers Point in August, unveiling a co-living community complete with a shared dining 13

INTERVIEW space, people were blown away.

The brainchild of IKEA’s innovative future-living lab, Space10, in Copenhagen, Denmark, it also boasted a fully functional Growroom – an open-source urban farm pavilion showing how cities can feed themselves through shared food-producing architecture.

“Space10 is taking some of those concepts and doing lateral thinking about what can be done in smaller spaces,” explains Dr Ringvall. “We recognise we need to live differently and adapt to an urbanised future, and what that might look like.”

The plans for the Growroom, which are available for free, have already been downloaded 20,000 times, and

700,000 SOLAR PANELS HAVE BEEN INSTALLED ON IKEA BUILDINGS 14

December 2017

received significant interest from local government, which is desperately investigating affordable, sustainable housing in some of Australia’s largest – and massively overpriced – cities.

“Having worked in local government, where the old saying is ‘the rubber hits the road’, I can vouch for that,” she says. “It absolutely does.

We’re going to have less space and Local Government recognises that, and also the fact that so many people are isolated, or lonely – and connection is what they’re seeking.

“And it’s not just individuals – it’s families, couples, multi-family units, school communities and community groups. The Growroom is a connector as well, meaning people can share resources in a way that’s really connecting them, and also back to nature.

Tying in to this tangent is Food is Precious, one of the major current global IKEA initiatives aiming to cut food waste, certainly in food preparations, by 50% by the end of 2020.

“It’s becoming more of a focus, because of the amount of food that’s wasted could, literally, feed the world,” she adds. “We absolutely need to

IKEA

IKEA OWNS AND OPERATES 327 OFFSITE WIND TURBINES

IKEA - The IKEA Australia Shared Dining Experience be doing things differently. We have to be innovative and think totally differently to what we have in the past, so we can use less resources, but meet the needs of the people that we want to connect with.”

Dr Ringvall says IKEA “talks the talk and walks the walk”, revealing she finds it inspiring and heartening that the big multinational has held on to some of the quintessential Swedish cultural values.

“Togetherness, working together and caring for each other,” she adds. “Those are really important values that are getting lost. But IKEA employs through its values.

It’s a company that immediately saw the level of experience and education that I have, and valued it.

“It’s very empowering and they’re constantly saying, ‘What else would you like to do?’ I’ve yet to hear someone say, ‘We can’t do that’.”

15

TECHNOLOGY

THE PERFECT STORM Dynamic factors in solar

Todae Solar’s Head of Marketing and Strategic Initiatives Landon Kahn reveals how the company is riding the solar coaster Wr i t t e n by N I K I WA L D E G R AV E

TECHNOLOGY

Todae Solar 94.5kW Solar Installation Club Sapphire, Merimbula NSW

AS OF JULY 2017, Australia had over 6,216MW of installed photovoltaic (PV) solar power, of which 814MW were installed in the preceding 12 months.

Award-winning commercial solar installer, Todae Solar, has been a significant conduit in this, boasting an 80% increase in the last 12 months. The company has the most experience of multi-site tenders in 18

December 2017

the country and has rolled out more than 50MW of installation across various industries and companies of all sizes since its inception in 2003.

“In the last three months alone, we’ve been responding to numerous multi-site tenders,” says Todae Solar’s Head of Marketing and Strategic Initiatives, Landon Kahn. “They’re from tier one organisations, with three

TODAE SOLAR

“Companies are looking at multi-site roll-outs, because it’s just getting a better bang for their buck” – Landon Kahn, Head of Marketing and Strategic Initiatives

to 10 sites and between 5-9MW. “It’s the perfect storm for organisations to really look at solar on a larger scale.”

The company was formed in 2003 when CEO Danin Kahn acquired a smaller sustainability company.

With a strong ethos to sustainability and delivering innovative solutions, the company has grown from 19

TECHNOLOGY a team of three to over 75. down so dramatically – 90% in the last Some of Todae Solar’s multi-site 10 years ¬– so there’s been a whole projects span healthcare, social shift in thinking from organisations, assistance, aged care, agriculture, from saying ‘we’ll do one site and manufacturing and retail – including see how solar goes’, to ‘what is a mammoth installation for aged going to be the best return for the care provider Aegis Care, with organisation? Let’s do 20 sites?’”

3.2MW installed across 26 sites.

The first commercial solar system The solar giant has also rolled Todae Solar installed in 2006 was at out 2.6MW for Aldi Stores, AU$12 ($9.19) per watt and 2.8MW across 16 sites now, depending on the for St Vincent’s Health path of installation, and almost 2MW area etc, it’s Todae Solar was across two sites for anywhere between founded in Australian Vintage.

AU$1.30-AU$1.60 Todae Solar ($1.00-$1.23) has carried out for a roof mount and now has thousands of installation. installations across “Because these the country and Kahn costs have come staff says with the increase of down so considerably, energy costs, plus the decrease basically what you’re finding in solar costs, it’s a no-brainer is soft costs,” Khan adds. “So: for businesses with numerous installation, engineering, project locations to get in on the action. management. Those costs are “The Australian market is growing now taking up a greater portion of significantly,” he says, “and the main the total overall project value. reason why large organisations “And when you can leverage those are choosing multi-site projects is costs across a portfolio, you’re able because of that cost reduction. to bring them down, and therefore “Solar components have come get those economies of scale. That makes a very big difference, and that’s

2003 75

20

December 2017

TODAE SOLAR

“We’ve always ensured that we want to give the best value to our clients, but we also want to be sustainable business and grow organically” – Landon Kahn, head of marketing and strategic initiatives, Todae Solar why the companies are looking at multi-site roll-outs, because it’s just getting a better bang for their buck.”

Khan says businesses now investigate the levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) over 20 years, which is how the actual cost per KW/hour of electricity is delivered, and how the larger, sophisticated, international markets like the USA, UK and Europe look at solar.

Australian organisations are now following suit because it gives a more sophisticated understanding of what the actual costs are going to be, and compares them to the current and future costs.

Of course, with all these major

shifts, for companies to go down the multi-site route they need ‘safe hands’, and Kahn says that’s where Todae Solar differentiates itself.

“Multi-sites can be particularly difficult because you might have installations in Western Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria,” he explains. “All of them have different costs associated, different requirements, and you’ve got to manage installations concurrently. So, you need a lot of experience and capability.

“But we’re more advanced than the majority of the market, and that’s our point of difference.”

21

TECHNOLOGY

“In the last 12 months, we’ve more than doubled in terms of size” – Landon Kahn, head of marketing and strategic initiatives, Todae Solar

He claims another growing trend is storage, and cost in the last 12 months is coming down as much as 60% percent for certain manufacturers, which means that within the next 18 months to two years, business cases for storage will completely change.

“It will be much more viable,” he adds, “and that will see solar shift 22

December 2017

again, because you’ll be able to look at certain things that solar couldn’t do before, like in terms of things affecting network charges, which was traditionally very difficult to forecast what that would look like.

“We envisage a progression to small scale behind the metre ‘utility projects.’ We’re already talking with organisations about

TODAE SOLAR

aggregated systems between five to 20MW systems. This will become more common (as we’ve seen internationally) as organisations max out the capacity of their property portfolio and still have significant energy usage remaining. So, we’ll see a shift towards (potentially aggregated) small-scale utility projects to cover the rest of their usage.�

Because Todae Solar is enjoying a major growth phase, and is set to see it continuing over the next few years, it can throw up resourcing challenges, and sometimes be a gap in the skill sets. Todae Solar has addressed these challenges by encouraging staff development up-skilling employees and potential hires from other industries in a similar curve.

23

TECHNOLOGY

The first commercial solar system Todae Solar installed in 2006 was at AU$12 ($9.19) per watt “We have had internal staff that when they first started working with us, were working on the smaller projects, so 30KW, 100KW,” he says, “and we’ve worked at developing their expertise and skills.

“Now, they’re project managers and engineers, with experience in delivering megawatt scale projects across the country, and we’ve ensured they’re able to now deliver those projects effectively.”

The business has won more Clean Energy Council (CEC) Awards for Best Design and Installation than any other installer and has been awarded Largest Commercial Installer nationally for the last two years.

While Todae Solar prides itself 24

December 2017

on having “the biggest and best client portfolio in the country,” Khan says it’s rewarding to still be acknowledged by the industry body for the quality of the work.

“It shows testament that we are leading the industry,” he says.

“Solar systems are meant to last 25 years, but a lot of companies said, ‘well, we’re just going to sell solar as cheap as possible and we’ll reach scale and then we’ll be okay’.

“But because of the solar coaster, that just wasn’t a realistic possibility.

It’s about getting the best solution and the quality solution, and being recognised and awarded for that, for us, really exemplifies that it’s important to focus on quality, and ensure that

TS Fly Over Echuca

you are providing that to clients.”

While many commercial solar companies have failed in the last few years, Kahn says that this quality, and investment in staff, are the reasons Todae Solar has outlasted many rivals.

“We’ve always ensured that we want to give the best value to our clients, but we also want to be a sustainable business and grow organically,” he

reveals. “In the last 12 months, we’ve more than doubled in terms of size, maybe an 80% increase, and I can see it more than doubling again.”

25

TOP 10

0 1 p n a o i l T ustra OD A

O F T s S e s A i F nch a r f

A look at the top 10 fast food franchises in Australia, based on the number of locations they have around the country Written by OLIVIA MINNOCK

TOP 10

The Portuguese Obsession

10

Oporto is an Australian fast food restaurant with a Portuguese theme.

The original store was founded in 1986 in North Bondi, New South Wales, by an Australian of Portuguese descent, António Cerqueira, and was originally named “Portuguese Style Bondi Charcoal Chicken,” before the much snappier title was adopted.

Franchising begun in 1995 and the chain is now owned by Craveable 28

December 2017

Brands, with 134 stores in Australia.

Many of these are still located in New South Wales, but expansion has reached Queensland, Victoria, the ACT, South Australia and New Zealand, including a range of smaller restaurants called Oporto Express.

Oporto opened its first IK store in London in 2009 and entered the US in 2011, but its US stores were converted to Feisty Chicken Grill in 2013.

Story of Zambrero

09

Zambrero is an Australian quickservice restaurant (QSR) – a name many ‘fast food’ services prefer nowadays – which serves Mexican food. It was founded in 2005 in Canberra by Sam Prince, and has a strong ethical aim. For every bowl or burrito purchased at a Zambrero

outlet, one meal is donated to the developing world. In addition, for every product purchased from Zambrero’s retail angle, a meal is donated to an underprivileged Australian. Zambrero aims to donate a billion meals by 2025 and currently has over 150 restaurants across the country.

29

TOP 10

Nando’s ‘MangoGate’

08

Nando’s was founded in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1987, and entered Australia in 1990 when the first restaurant opened in Tuart Hill, Western Australia. Nando’s specialises in Portuguese style chicken with various marinades and now has over 1,000 outlets in 30 different countries. There are 264 Nando’s locations currently 30

December 2017

operating in Australia. The chain sells Halal chicken in all of its Australian restaurants and the chicken does not come into contact with any non-Halal food items. However, alcohol and bacon is sold in some restaurants.

Further expansion is planned in Australia over the next few years.

Pizza Hut: Footy Feed

07

Pizza Hut was founded in Kansas, US, in 1958 and franchising began the following year. In total, it now has over 12,000 restaurants in over 80 countries and is part of the Yum! Brands group which also owns KFC. Yum! Brands has a total of 40,000 locations worldwide in over 125

countries. Pizza Hut claims to be the largest pizza chain in the world, and in 1985 it developed Pizza Hut delivery in order to compete with the delivery market – an element that is still successful today. There are 270 Pizza Hut branches in Australia.

31

TOP 10

The Portuguese Obsession

06

Red Rooster is a home-grown chicken franchise, founded in Western Australia in 1972, specialising in roast chicken served quickly. In 2002, Red Rooster was purchased

by Western Australia company Australian Fast Foods, which also owned the competing Chicken Treat.

Both franchises are now owned and operated by parent company Craveable Brands which also owns 32

December 2017

Oporto. There are now 360 outlets across Australia. Red Rooster has big plans, stating it will grow to 500 stores as it franchises in Asia and the Middle East, and is also launching a delivery service. On top of this, it is introducing a series of “Reggie� storefronts, smaller stores with a capacity of between four and 20 people, which will focus mainly on deliveries

Story of Zambrero

05

Hungry Jack’s is a franchise of the international Burger King Corporation and has operated in Australia since 1971 when it opened its first store in Perth. Within 10 years, it gained 26 stores. Then, in 1986, the company purchased 11 stores from Wendy’s Hamburger chain in Victoria. In 1990, the franchise agreement changed to allow Competitive Foods to franchise Hungry Jacks as an independent

business. At this time, Burger King was opening its own company and franchised HJ’s under its own trade mark, but the strategy was later reviewed and it was found the single brand of Hungry Jack’s would work best given its 30-year history in Australia. This strategy was clearly a success: there are now 390 Hungry Jack’s outlets across the country.

33

TOP 10

The Portuguese Obsession

04

Domino’s Pizza Enterprises is the exclusive master franchise for the Domino’s brand network across Australia, New Zealand, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Japan and Germany. Across these markets, DPE has over 1,900 stores, 600 of which are located in Australia. Domino’s is the largest pizza chain in Australia in

34

December 2017

terms of both network store numbers and network sales, and DPE is the largest franchisee for the Domino’s Pizza Brand in the world. In May 2005 the company became the first publicly listed pizza company in Australia. Its first store opened in Queensland in 1983 and was the first pizza maker in the country to offer home delivery.

The Portuguese Obsession

03

Since entering Australia in 1968, when it opened its first store in Sydney, fried chicken giant KFC now has a total of 612 stores in the country.

It serves around 2mn customers every week. Around the world, KFC has over 180,000 outlets in 115 countries. Of its Australian stores, it owns and operates 160, with the

remainder owned and run by individual franchisees. The company claims it employs a total of 30,000 Australians.

KFC began in Kentucky, US, in 1930 and is now owned by Yum! Brands.

The chain prides itself on offering customers freshy prepared food with a unique taste and most recently entered Laos and Albania in 2016.

35

TOP 10

Macca’s Behind The Counter | Back of House

02

McDonald’s has over 900 stores in Australia, having opened first in Sydney in 1971. Across its restaurants and management offices, the company employs 90,000 people across Australia and entertains a million customers each day. More than 66% of McDonald’s restaurants in Australia are owned and operated by individual franchisees, with the remainder owned and run by the company itself. On a global scale, McDonald’s serves over 50mn people each day and the fast 36

December 2017

food giant has most recently entered Bosnia and Herzegovina and Trinidad and Tobago. On the whole, McDonald’s has over 34,000 restaurants in 118 countries. In Australia, the chain is affectionately known – and marketed – as Macca’s. When sponsoring the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Macca’s introduced the McOz burger which included an Australian favourite, beetroot. The company first started reducing the sugar in its buns in Australia before this caught on overseas.

01 AU Sub of the Day 15sec TVC

Australia was the first country outside North America to have over 1,000 Subway outlets The first Subway opened in Connecticut in 1965 and it has now spanned to 44,304 locations in 112 countries. Subway first entered Australia with an outlet in Perth in 1988. The chain took over 10 years to really grow in Australia and in the early 2000s had around 130 stores, but then fresh, healthy food began to take off

and Subway proved the alternative Australians were looking for. The franchise has grown to number 1,413 Australian outlets. Australia was the first country outside North America to have over 1,000 Subway outlets. Even in 2008, the chain accounted for 14% of visits to quick-service restaurants (QSR’s) in Australia.

37

THE

JOURNEY TO TECHNOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATION AND DIGITAL

DISRUPTION Written by Niki Waldegrave Produced by Glen White

Gladstone Area Water Board has embarked on the cloud journey and is moving towards a digital future. CIO Kiran Kewalramani discusses how...

G L A D S T O N E A R E A WAT E R B O A R D ( G A W B )

W

ater – it’s one of the world’s oldest resources, it’s not the kind of thing you’d usually associate with being at the cutting edge of technology.

But Gladstone Area Water Board (GAWB), which supplies raw and potable water to major resource-sector industries, powergenerating organisations, and the Regional Council in the central Queensland region, is going through a digital transformation.

Leading it is Chief Information Officer Kiran Kewalramani, who has been kicking goals since he joined GAWB in June 2017.

A results-oriented executive, Kewalramani has previously assisted companies to define, develop and deliver their information and communications technology (ICT) strategic and operational initiatives, including at the NSW Rural Fire Service, Telstra and the NSW Police Force, delivering benefits the organisations can reap time and again.

His latest challenge is to transition GAWB from its traditional ICT delivery model to a Cloud Delivery model

40

December 2017

– sounds easy for self-declared digital transformation champion, right?

“Not quite,” he laughs. “Part of the ICT strategy is to transform GAWB into a digital company, replacing all appropriate manual processes with digital processes and digital workflows.

“Up until a few years ago, we had very traditional ICT, where most of our infrastructure was housed internally.

There were minimal automated workflow or centralised repository around that, and the processes were predominantly manual.

“Now we’ve started replacing them with digital processes and workflows.

So, rather than manually processing things and keeping records in their personal diaries, from a governance perspective, we are starting to leverage the benefits of an overarching compliance system that generates automated reminders.

“The processes are very transparent and are allowing us to remove any duplication. I like to

ENERGY

Kiran Kewalramani Chief Information Officer

An executive with extensive experience in the roles such as CIO, CDO, PMO, Project Leader/Director within public and private sector organisations in Australia.

Kewalramani has assisted companies to define, develop and deliver their ICT strategic and operational initiatives, and moved to Gladstone five months ago so is fairly new into GAWB and to Central Queensland. He has more than 16 years in IT, has a Bachelor in computing engineering and also completed an MBA and then Public Administration, another post-graduate degree.

G L A D S T O N E A R E A WAT E R B O A R D ( G A W B )

think I’m reasonably well process-oriented, and have that nous to pick up areas that may not have process optimisation.”

“I Smart software strongly About a year or so ago, GAWB embarked on believe implementing an enterprise resource planning (ERP) GAWB is a leader solution and chose to partner with the enterprise software TechnologyOne. This has been a in our region, and I successful implementation for GAWB. “Whilst we are still in transition, the will do whatever it organisation is starting to see some of takes, from the the benefits of moving into the cloud already – high availability, scalability, technology and digital agility and flexibility – just to name perspective, to take GAWB a few,” Kewalramani says. in the new digital era” – Kiran Kewalramani, Chief Information Officer, GAWB

ENERGY

Environmental release from Awoonga Dam

GAWB is the first water service provider in Australia – and the second in the world – to achieve ISO 55001 certification for its asset management system.

Leveraging off some of the cuttingedge technology that GAWB vendors offer such as TechnologyOne and SharePoint, Kewalramani recently implemented Microsoft Dynamics as its CRM proof of concept solution. The solution integrates well with GAWB’s corporate application (Office 365) suite.

“That’s been another huge success for us,” Kewalramani reveals. “I would like to think we’re leading the way in the Central Queensland area. I’m cognizant of the fact we’re not based in a metro, which brings its own challenges, but I see our organisation becoming digital at a very envious rate.

Confronting challenges When it comes to challenges over the next 18 months, Kewalramani says the main ones are implementing ICT service effectiveness and closer integration

w w w. b u s i n e s s re v i e w a u s t r a l i a . c o m

43

Gladstone Water Treatment Plant

ENERGY

GAWB holds an allocation of 78,000ML per annum from Awoonga Dam on the Boyne River of ICT and business strategy.

ICT at GAWB is also well placed to transition from a traditional model to a more value-added model.

“As part of our transition plan, we are implementing a fit for purpose service delivery management framework. We are investigating automation in our operational technology network. We are investigating facets of Internet

of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence and analytics and how it can better support GAWB in its decision making.

Cost optimisation and running ICT like a business is another focus area for me. So, that whole transition is one of my major focus areas.”

He claims another challenge is better managing GAWB’s information as an asset. “Effective electronic

w w w. b u s i n e s s re v i e w a u s t r a l i a . c o m

45

G L A D S T O N E A R E A WAT E R B O A R D ( G A W B )

“We have on-field staff, and we have now made them digitally enabled. They now have a capability to get their regular maintenance schedule, and associated business instructions on a mobile device” – Kiran Kewalramani, Chief Information Officer, GAWB

46

December 2017

ENERGY

content management is pain point for GAWB at the moment, and ICT is working with its partners to deliver an effective solution for GAWB.”

and secondary sites. This allows GAWB’s network to automatically switch to a secondary internet link, should the primary internet link fail.

It also automatically reverts once Goalkicking the issue has been resolved.

“Whilst we do have some confronting “From the user’s perspective, challenges in front I can’t be prouder they don’t know about it at all. The of GAWB and its successes. For an whole experience is transparent organisation of the size of GAWB, to them,” Kewalramani boasts. we have kicked some really GAWB has transitioned good goals, in a very some of its key short span of time,” applications in the says Kewalramani. cloud, such as GAWB employs “Gladstone is in TechnologyOne, an enterprise riska cyclone prone Office 365 and management system region, on the east is looking at that is based on the shores of Australia. transitioning its risk ISO 31000:2009 Since ICT and management solution international standard operational technology – Cura, into the cloud are pivotal parts of water as well. To augment that, delivery, keeping them operational GAWB has also developed a during emergencies is crucial.” clear, structured strategic roadmap In partnership with Nexon, a cloud to transition to an enterprise wide, fit and managed service provider for purpose cloud transformation. operating throughout Australia “I want to take it to a level where and the Asia Pacific region, GAWB we can leverage off all the benefits of has recently implemented a multibeing in the cloud,” he explains. “And vendor, fully redundant internet if something needs to be kept in a network link between its primary hybrid model, sure we do that, but we

w w w. b u s i n e s s re v i e w a u s t r a l i a . c o m

47

G L A D S T O N E A R E A WAT E R B O A R D ( G A W B )

“Whilst we are still in transition, the organisation is starting to see some of its benefits of moving into the cloud already – high availability, scalability, agility and flexibility – just to name a few” – Kiran Kewalramani, Chief Information Officer, GAWB

48

December 2017

make that as an informed decision.”

Kewalramani says the technology within GAWB is “two-pronged”.

There is the corporate network, ICT, and operational technology, which is predominantly around the telemetric network and the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) network. The company has partnered with Schnieder Electric and Nexon to assist with the delivery of these technological elements.

Enterprises also have a huge appetite for mobility solutions, and GAWB is no different.

“We have on-field staff, and we have now made them digitally enabled,” Kewalramani explains.

“They now have a capability to get their regular maintenance schedule, and associated business instructions on a mobile device.” The solution is fully integrated with TechnologyOne, which means once the on-field staff updates their schedule, it’s updated in real-time on the ERP system.

Gathering momentum Over the next 18 to 24 months, Kewalramani says he sees GAWB

ENERGY

Lake Awoonga Recreational Area

becoming more digital and wants to lead that change process.

“I also see us managing our information as an asset,” he adds, “where our content management is structured, our record management is structured, and we continue to maintain our compliance with the Queensland government requirements. The information is a streamlined, and getting any requested information is a smoother journey. There is less reliance on people and more reliance on the systems.”

He claims the whole utilitybased industry is starting to embrace technology a lot more.

Those utilities that are not doing it proactively will be left behind in

the game. “Not embarking on a technological transformation for any utilities based organisation will be fatal,” Kewalramani says.

“Nowadays, it’s an unsaid expectation from the business, whatever business you’re in, that you’ll provide a digital service to the customer, because if you don’t, someone else will and they’ll take your market share.

“It’s a do or die situation, pretty much for all the industry. But the good thing is that GAWB has acknowledged that and it’s already started. We’re well on the journey.”

Kewalramani says educating the workforce in the new digital capabilities is something he enjoys, and compares himself to

w w w. b u s i n e s s re v i e w a u s t r a l i a . c o m

49

G L A D S T O N E A R E A WAT E R B O A R D ( G A W B )

Lake Awoonga Recreational Area Ironbark Gully

50

December 2017

Pretty Face Wallabies are a common sight

ENERGY

once-in-a-lifetime Australian cricket coach John Buchanan, who led the Australian cricket team to win the World Cup three times in a row. He coached the likes of Ricky Ponting, Glenn McGrath, Adam Gilchrist, and Shane Warne.

“I was not a very good soccer or cricket player, but I am a good manager/assistant coach,” says Kewalramani. “I help bring the best out of people.”

As well as managing his nineyear-old son’s football team, Kewalramani has been a business coach for many people. He has motivated them to drive their business and their lives forward.

“As a business coach, when I approached my new clients, my first question usually was ‘how do you think the business is doing?’ They would say either ‘good, bad, ugly’, and I’d ask, ‘by the way, did you know that your accountant said you made a profit of $20,000 this month?’

“They would look me in the eye going, ‘what? I don’t even have $2,000 in my bank account. My accountant’s smoking some really

good stuff’. They didn’t know the difference between a profit on your profit and loss statement, versus what cash-flow means. He coached these business owners, allowing them to gain financial mastery in their business. “A number of my clients won small business category, in their annual council awards ceremony.

A few even got nominated for the prestigious, Champion of Champion Award,” says Kewalramani.

“My proudest moments are where I’ve helped bring the best out of people, both professionally and on a personal front.”

With GAWB fully cemented on the digital path, and Kewalramani very much in the driving seat, it’s now extremely well placed as a successful water service provider in Central Queensland region.

“I strongly believe GAWB is a leader in our region, and I will do whatever it takes, from the technology and digital perspective, to take GAWB in the new digital era,” he claims.

DELIVERING

SOLAR TO AUSTRALIA

An economically attractive alternative to fossil-fuel electricity, large-scale solar electricity is booming in Australia Written by Niki Waldegrave

FIRST SOLAR

T

he sixth largest country in the world, Australia boasts the highest average solar radiation per square metre of any continent.

And its growing rapidly, thanks to the Renewable Energy Target (RET) – a government scheme designed to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases in the electricity sector. It also encourages the additional generation of electricity from sustainable and renewable sources.

American solar panel manufacturer, First Solar, entered the Australian market just seven years ago. Now,

54

December 2017

it’s acquiring, developing, financing, operating and maintaining some of our largest renewable projects.

It’s supplying 203 megawatt (MW) modules to two largescale PV projects Queensland, the Kidston Solar Farm and Sun Metals solar farm, and building the $230mn, 48.5MW Manildra Solar Farm in New South Wales.

Originally established to just supply the technology, the company saw a gap in the market and ramped up a capability to construct projects.

The last 18 months have certainly yielded for the company. Federal government agency, the

ENERGY

Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), intended to fund and support about 200MW of largescale solar. It ultimately ended up awarding approximately 450MW to 12 developers, including First Solar.

This is down to First Solar’s delivering capabilities and unique core technology, Cadmium Telluride (CdTe).

This is thin film technology whereby the semi-conductor material that goes in-between the glass converts sunlight to electricity. First Solar is the only company globally that manufactures this technology at commercial scale.

Over the next 18 months, First Solar will launch new products,

FIRST SOLAR

FAST FACTS First Solar is a leading global provider of comprehensive photovoltaic (PV) solar systems using advanced module and system technology. Here are some key facts about the company: • 17+GW of modules sold worldwide • $14.5bn – First Solarfacilitated project financing • $3bn – 2016 revenue • Around 5,400 employees stationed around the world • First Solar technology delivers 7.5% more usable energy per nameplate watt than competing technologies

55

FIRST SOLAR

‘Over the next 18 months, First Solar will launch new products, including its game-changing, next generation Series 6 module, which utilises a new production methodology, employs a larger glass size, has lower capital expenditures and is more cost effective’ 56

December 2017

ENERGY

The most sustainable solar PV Technology including its game-changing, next generation Series 6 module, which utilises a new production methodology, employs a larger glass size, has lower capital expenditures and is more cost effective.

First Solar is also building and supplying Australia’s largest solar project, Sun Metals solar farm Queensland, with 140MW over a 12 to 15-month timeline.

The construction of the project is being managed by its construction

partner, RCR Tomlinson Ltd. The business is also a major supplier on the Genex Power-owned Kidston Solar Farm in Queensland, providing 63MW DC of advanced thin-film photovoltaic (PV). The technology will produce approximately 145,000MW of electricity in its first year alone.

First Solar and RCR are also working together on the NSW Manildra Solar Farm, which was awarded $9.8mn of grant funding from ARENA. It will utilise approximately 466,000

w w w. b u s i n e s s re v i e w a u s t r a l i a . c o m m

57

FIRST SOLAR

Greenough River - Australia

IXL Solar is part of the 160 year old Australian owned IXL Group, a tier 1 supplier to Caterpillar, Toyota, BHP and many others. IXL Solar design and manufacture solar framing solutions for ground mount and large commercial roof top solar installations.

LEARN MORE

IXL Solar - Australia’s solar frame manufacturer

46-54 Cheviot Rd, Salisbury South, SA 5106 +61 8 8380 1400 scott.jenssen@ixl.com.au

www.ixlsolar.com.au

ENERGY

First Solar thin-film PV modules to produce 120,000 MWh of electricity in its first year of operation, producing enough energy to power 14,000 homes and displace more than 91,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually.

The company is also enthusiastic about commercial industrial procurement. There’s a global campaign to promote 100% renewable energy use in the business world, with behemoths like Google, Amazon and Apple investing in solar and wind energy.

Sun Metals is a prime example of this. It is a large zinc refinery and the first large-scale solar farm to be built directly by a major energy user in Australia.

Cost has been the primary driver of this. Over the last 10 years the cost to produce each panel has been streamlined and efficiency has increased, and First Solar’s plan is to continue promoting utility scale solar projects and reduce costs. The future certainly looks a bright one for the company and the industry at large.

‘American solar panel manufacturer, First Solar, entered the Australian market just seven years ago. Now, it’s acquiring, developing, financing, operating and maintaining some of our largest renewable projects’

59

The connected data hubs for Asia Pacific Written by Niki Waldegrave Produced by Glen White

Peter Adcock, Digital Realty’s APAC vicepresident, design and construction, talks about the company’s growth plans, and why he won’t be totally relying on driverless cars anytime soon

D I G I TA L R E A LT Y

D

igital Realty is the world’s largest full-scale data centre provider offering colocation, interconnection and cloud services.

It has more than 150 data centres in 11 countries, servicing more than 2,300 companies of all sizes in 33 global markets across its secure, network-rich portfolio of buildings located throughout Asia Pacific, North America and Europe. Equating to more than 26mn sq ft of Data centre space across the world.

For more than nine years, the business has delivered a portfolio of data centre solutions – including Digital Realty has announced a joint venture with Mitsubishi

62

December 2017

colocation, Cloud services, business ecosystems, Turn-Key Flex (TKF), and powered base buildings (PBB) – with a record of 99.999% uptime, unmatched by any other data centre provider.

In October, Digital Realty announced it has entered into a 50/50 joint venture with Mitsubishi Corporation to provide data centre solutions in Japan.

The joint venture, named MC Digital Realty, will benefit from Mitsubishi’s local enterprise expertise and established data centre presence in Tokyo, as well as Digital Realty’s global client base and industry-leading track record of

I T / R E A L E S TAT E

data centre operational excellence.

Digital Realty will contribute its recently completed data centre development project in Osaka, while Mitsubishi will contribute two existing data centre facilities in the western Tokyo suburb of Mitaka.

Collectively valued at approximately 40bn Japanese Yen – or approximately $350mn – the three assets will build a meaningful platform to serve the broader Japanese market, with the potential to significantly expand its scope over the next several years.

And in September, Digital Realty, which turns over $2.7bn annually,

‘FOR NINE YEARS, DIGITAL REALTY HAS DELIVERED A PORTFOLIO OF DATA CENTRE SOLUTIONS WITH A RECORD OF 99.9% UPTIME, UNMATCHED BY ANY OTHER DATA CENTRE PROVIDER’

w w w. b u s i n e s s re v i e w a u s t r a l i a . c o m

63

Based in Sydney, Australia, Greenbox delivers innovative data centre architectural design services to clients throughout South East Asia.

Resilience is at the core of our philosophy.

Resilient buildings don’t just sustain the required functionality but evolve alongside it – a symbiosis of structural function, operational needs and style.

LEARN MORE

WWW.GREENBOXARCHITECTURE.COM

I T / R E A L E S TAT E

announced the commencement of new data centre SYD11 – its fifth in Australia – which is being built in Erskine Park in Western Sydney.

The facility will be adjacent to the company’s existing SYD10 facility, and this signifies huge expansion in the AUS market, adding to the other three Australian facilities in Digital Realty’s Australian portfolio – SYD 12 in North Ryde, and the two data centres in

Melbourne, MEL10 and MEL11.

Once operational, SYD11, located across 16,360 sqm, will be a 14MW facility and the build, which will employ around 500 contractors, is expected to take 12 months.

APAC vice-president, design and construction, Peter Adcock says Sydney – which has the biggest tech start-up ecosystem in Australia – is crucial to the Digital

“We’ve got the potential to pretty much double our APAC footprint in three to five years” – Peter Adcock, Digital Realty’s APAC Vice-President, Design and Construction

w w w. b u s i n e s s re v i e w a u s t r a l i a . c o m

65

D I G I TA L R E A LT Y Realty’s ambitions in Asia-Pacific.

It also has award-winning sites in Singapore, Hong Kong and Osaka.

“We’ve got the potential to pretty much double our APAC footprint in three to five years,” he says. “Australia – and Sydney particularly – is an ideal location to be a hub. There’s a lot of demand from a whole range of companies that want to establish a presence and provide a low latency service in the country in Australia.

“Sydney’s ideally placed on the Eastern Seaboard, with the fibre

‘THE ACQUISITION OF TELX IN OCTOBER 2015 UNIQUELY POSITIONED THE BUSINESS TO PROVIDE A COMPLETE RANGE OF DATA CENTRE SOLUTIONS ON A GLOBAL SCALE’ 66

December 2017

optic backbone that runs up through Brisbane and Queensland, and down to Canberra and Melbourne.

It picks up a large part of the Australian population, and is sitting on submarine fibre cables too.”

The company is currently working on its latest state-of-the-art, trademarked 4.0 Architecture POD (performance optimised data centres) design, and will install it at the new

I T / R E A L E S TAT E

facility. Its unique trademark has been developed from the knowledge gleaned through the construction of more than $2.5bn worth of data centres globally, and uses a modular methodology to build-out raised floor data centre space using standard power and cooling building blocks for cost-effectiveness, design flexibility and energy efficiency.

It will boast the same cooling solution

that’s being adopted at its larger scale facilities in the US, which have a pumped refrigerate economiser cycle on it as well, ensuring excellent annualised Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) without any water usage, which can be quite excessive in large data centres.

“We’ve got the lithium ion battery technology as well that we’re adopting,” Adcock reveals, “which gives a better performance than traditional lead acid. And on the monitoring side, we’ve got the data

“Australia – and Sydney particularly – is an ideal location to be a hub” – Peter Adcock, Digital Realty’s APAC VicePresident, Design and Construction

w w w. b u s i n e s s re v i e w a u s t r a l i a . c o m

67

158 2300 +1.9million data centres worldwide

MW critical power

sq.m. white space

Adding value to your project – every step of the way • Over 40 years’ experience providing cost and general consultancy services to the global construction industry • Working across sectors such as Commercial, Data Centers, Education, Healthcare, High-Tech Industrial, Hospitality, Life Sciences and Retail • Providing faster project delivery, greater cost efficiency and maximum value for money • Working for the biggest search, owner-occupier and colocation providers in the world

If you have a construction project in mind, please contact

Sydney Singapore Shanghai

New York San Francisco

London Manchester

linesight.com

Strategy | Management | Consultancy

John Carleton Director, Australia/New Zealand john.carleton@linesight.com +61 2 8278 9500

Dublin Cork Limerick

Paris Dusseldorf The Hague Tel Aviv

Bahrain Dubai Riyadh

John Butler Managing Director, Asia Pacific john.butler@linesight.com +65 6801 4540

I T / R E A L E S TAT E

centre information management of more than 20mn people and has (DCM) product, which is a digital a GDP of approximately 80trn yen. proprietary. It gives the team in the “The Digital Osaka 1 Data Centre US head office global visibility of the was the big one that really got the whole portfolio around the world. attention of the guys back in the US,” “That works off the same model adds Adcock. “That was 95% sold database as the BMS system which before it was opened. It started out is a Schneider Struxuware Building as an easy stepping stone for a lot of Operation (SBO), Power Monitoring the American companies, working Expert (PME) unit. This means with an S&P 500 company they we can log in and find the know, and provided utilisation of all our a product they’re properties around familiar with because the world in different it’s consistent around locations, giving us the the world, barring information to manage any legislative or Number of and fine tune operation code differences.” employees at and performance.”

Osaka is a melting Digital Realty The significant pot of many industrial investment into SYD fields, a broad 11 and the Asia Pacific cross-section of businesses, construction plan over the last 18 universities and tech development. months stemmed from the Digital Two cloud social media companies Osaka 1 Data Centre in Japan – its immediately snapped up the space, first facility in the country, which and in May, Digital Realty announced provides 7.6MW of IT capacity. it is building Digital Osaka 2 ¬Data A thriving financial and colocation Centre – which is four times the centre, Osaka is the Silicon Valley of size of Osaka 1 – alongside it.

Japan. A gateway for international It’s in the final stages of design and exchanges, it houses a population will launch next year. The two Osaka

1,400+

w w w. b u s i n e s s re v i e w a u s t r a l i a . c o m

69

D I G I TA L R E A LT Y

“The Digital Osaka 1 Data Centre was the big one that really got the attention of the guys back in the US” – Peter Adcock, Digital Realty’s APAC Vice-President, Design and Construction

70

December 2017

centres will create a Connected Data Centre Campus, which SYD 10 and SYD 11 have been modelled on.

“We always planned to expand in Sydney,” Adcock continues.

“We also originally purchased a block of land next door to SYD 10, and it’s the next iteration of design – where SYD 10 is seven or eight megawatts, SYD 11 will be up to 14.

“That’s driven by the increased density of the computer equipment that’s going on the white space, so that’s gone from a four to five kilowatt per cabinet average up to six, seven, eight – and in Japan we got some of that up to 12 to 15, so demand is driving the density increases as well, which is where we’ve had to become a lot more diligent on the airflow management.”

Earlier this year, Digital Realty CFO for APAC, Krupal Raval, revealed many of its global top-tier clients are looking to expand massively in Australia, facilitated by the Connected Campus of SYD 10 and 11.

Digital Realty Connected Campuses bring all the critical data centre, network elements, cloud

I T / R E A L E S TAT E

Build Here.

Digital Realty.

and connectivity together under a single, secure environment for numerous Australian and international customers. They deliver the on-ramp to the cloud, plus Digital Internet Gateways that optimise customer value through massive network-dense connectivity.

The beauty of the Connected Campus is that even on SYD 11’s first day of operation, there’s already a connectivity-rich environment next door, and because the two data centres are side by side sharing a common boundary, the conduits at the boundary already exist and can be connected in.

“It gives a very strong ecosystem

of customers through the POP and service exchange, and rather than coming in and out of the data centre, they’re actually doing business within it,” Adcock explains.

“If you have a large mix of customers, like we have, they’re all exchanging amongst each other, and once you get the on-ramp to the Cloud, players such as Amazon, Google and Microsoft – Facebook is doing something different – once you get one or two of those companies in, the whole thing starts to multiply.”

In December 2015, Digital Realty announced a partnership with IBM to launch Direct Link Colo, a solution that connects

w w w. b u s i n e s s re v i e w a u s t r a l i a . c o m

71

ŠiStock

Responding to the data centre demands of an ever growing internet world

At Arup our team brings a unique range of technical, design, creative and management skills to data centre design. We know experience is key to delivering best in class data centres that will provide mission critical services on a global scale. Our people have delivered in excess 100,000sqm of technical or white space across a variety of data centres in the Asia Pacific region in recent years. We work closely with our data centre teams in key locations around the world to share knowledge so that we can deliver best and consistent service for our clients globally.

www.arup.com

I T / R E A L E S TAT E

customers its data centres directly to IBM Cloud via SoftLayer’s global Cloud infrastructure platform.

By removing third party carriers, the hybrid eco-system for organisations is easier.

“Some of the companies are so big, they acquire to catch up,” he adds. “IBM acquired SoftLayer and are buying into new digital technology. Microsoft is putting a lot of money to catch up with Amazon, who got an early adoption lead. And Google does its own thing.

Adcock says because the industry is growing so quickly, the biggest challenge is finding employees with the right skillset – and keeping them.

“We’re being asked more frequently to provide remote services in the data centres that we’re working in,” he reveals. “I think that’s just a case of, things are growing so quickly, some of our customers are trying to push more of that onto us, which is something we support.

“But everyone is struggling to find people that are trained. It’s interesting, as we’re actually finding companies that are either evolving the company itself – or groups within the company – to specifically service data centre work.

“It’s quite a unique skill set because, you actually want a high-quality product built quickly to start with, which is challenging itself – but these facilities are never build out 100% day one.

– Peter Adcock, Digital “And we use a modular, POD-type system, so as Realty’s APAC Vice-President, you go back and do those build outs in a live data Design and Construction

“You need tradespeople that are very aware of what environment they’re working in – you don’t want something they’re doing to bring down customers’ operations”

w w w. b u s i n e s s re v i e w a u s t r a l i a . c o m

73

D I G I TA L R E A LT Y

“We’re being asked more frequently to provide remote services in the data centres that we’re working in” – Peter Adcock, Digital Realty’s APAC Vice-President, Design and Construction

Latest stateof-the-art, trademarked 4.0 Architecture POD (performance optimised data centres) design

centre, you need to have tradespeople that are very aware of what environment they’re working in – you don’t want something they’re doing to bring down customers’ operations.

“These have to be very precisely planned and designed and built so that you can shut down sections of

74

December 2017

it, and use your redundancy to do your maintenance without impacting on the customer. So, you tend to build quite strong relationships with very precise people that understand the whole Permit for Work process and are very detailed.”

He reveals another challenge is that

I T / R E A L E S TAT E

whenever anyone wants to start up a data centre, they try to entice staff away from Digital Realty, because they know they’ve been well trained, and the process and procedures in place are industry-leading.

In Australia, co-location growth is predicted at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.4% until 2022, and managed hosting revenues predicted to grow at a CAGR of 14.5%.

But Adcock claims the future of colocation managed services is hard to define over the next few years.

“Now, with your cloud, you’ve got private, public and hybrid,” he explains. “What colocation

does, and always will, is allow the smaller companies as they’re growing a stepping stone.

“But equally, with the Amazon and Microsoft, they’re almost virtualising that colocation process – and to the same extent, we are, through the service exchange. That gives you the chance to connect to a lot of different services, and electronically, where in the past you used to have the physical cross connects.

“They’ll still be around, but I think the business is evolving and virtualising a lot of those features.

I think the big thing is going to be ‘bots’, so rather than speaking to a

w w w. b u s i n e s s re v i e w a u s t r a l i a . c o m

75

D I G I TA L R E A LT Y

Digital Tseung Kwan O - A virtual tour of Digital Realty’s Hong Kong Data Center

ONCE FULLY OPERATIONAL, SYD11 WILL BE A 14MW FACILITY, ACROSS A TOTAL OF 16,360 SQM person, it’s an automated service.”

He uses the analogy of driverless cars, saying a lot of those features are already currently in the background, ditto with aeroplane auto pilots, “but we still have pilots there to step in when something out of left field happens that hasn’t been programed in, and would take some

76

December 2017

time for a computer to adapt.

“There’s always going to be a future there for these,” he adds, “it’s just a matter to what scale they fit in to the whole stepping stone process.”

Data centres are essential utilities, as like in previous centuries, when power, electricity, water and telephone exchanges were. Because data

I T / R E A L E S TAT E

centres and WiFi-type services are provided at the edge, people have got used to having instantaneous content-rich data, which then dictates low latency high bandwidth services – and while they’re an essential utility, the performance they need to operate is at such a high level.

“There’s a lot of talk about edge computing, and really that falls back into where you get demands for low latency,” he adds. “There’s such a data-rich environment demanded nowadays.

“We used to have main frames and desktops, then it was laptops, and now handheld devices are doing the same thing. There’s so much compute power that’s embedded everywhere now that needs to be connected back to somewhere, and the Internet of Things is going to be an amazing opportunity for people who mine that for performance and applications.”

Adcock says he sees DNA genome as one of the major technology breakthroughs, and finds it mapping mind-blowing how you can have bespoke medicines targeted for you based on what genes you’ve got and how they react.

“It used to take years to map the DNA genome of the humans,” he says, “and now they’re offering it as a service which is done in a matter of days. Behind that is massive compute power, so we’ve seen some of the institutional companies investing a lot of money in those analytics.

“Sometimes, you dare not ask what’s happening in some of those data halls. Our POD is typically 1,000 sqm of white space and you walk in there from one end to the other and it’s just rows and rows of computers – and what they can be doing on them now is amazing.”

w w w. b u s i n e s s re v i e w a u s t r a l i a . c o m

77

THE CULTURE OF SAFETY Written by Nell Walker Produced by Jeff Debicki

ANTHONY TEEN, CEO OF GEOVERT, DESCRIBES HOW HE HAS CREATED A POSITIVE, SAFETY-FIRST CULTURE WITH EXPERT LEADERSHIP AND TRUST

GEOVERT

F

or as long as there are areas of difficult terrain in the world, there will be a need for specialised businesses that maintain and construct upon and around them.

Such organisations are relatively few and far between, allowing those who understand the concept of highlevel safety and skill in challenging environments to take the spotlight.

Geovert is one such business.

Founder and CEO Anthony Teen saw a gap in the market and grasped at the opportunity.

“There were no companies around specifically doing what we entered the market to do,” he says. “It’s really a niche engineering market.”

Teen has a great deal of climbing experience behind him, including a variation called ‘big wall climbing’, whereby climbers take on the challenge over multiple days, haul equipment with them, and sleep on the cliff face in hanging “portaledges” at night. As such, he understands complex safety procedures as well as the nature of the specialist

80

December 2017

engineering work Geovert undertakes on a daily basis, and is able to spread his expertise from the top down.

The business itself started small. Now, it employs around 400 people and undertakes projects in Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, and the US. Among the largest projects for Geovert is the Toowoomba Second Range Crossing Project, which is a 41km heavy vehicle route set to transform logistics in Australia. It is funded by the federal Australian government and the local Queensland government, and will ultimately create a safer journey for heavy vehicle drivers and commuters.

“My first involvement in that area goes back to 2012,” says Teen. “The original Toowoomba Range Road was threatened by a huge block that had been identified as a risk, as it was hanging above a bridge. The Department of Main Roads and really didn’t know whether to touch it or leave it. The risk was if they touched it, a several thousand-tonne block

CONSTRUCTION

“SAFETY CULTURE MUST COME FROM THE TOP DOWN AND IS DELIVERED AT THE COALFACE THROUGH THE GUYS” – ANTHONY TEEN, CEO OF GEOVERT

w w w. b u s i n e s s re v i e w a u s t r a l i a . c o m

81

Learn more: www.geobrugg.com/slopes

TECCO® SYSTEM3 made of high-tensile steel wire

FOR SUSTAINABLE SLOPE PROTECTION

Geobrugg Australia Pty Ltd | 14 Century Road, Malaga WA 6090 | T +61 8 9249 9939 | F +61 8 9249 9949 | www.geobrugg.com.au | info@geobrugg.com Regional offices in | Sydney NSW, T +61 400 845 289 | South Melbourne VIC, T +61 488 044 708 | Brisbane QLD, T +61 488 044 003 | Cairns QLD, T +61 408 774 059

HYDRAULIC DRILLING ATTACHMENT For mini and small excavators • • • • •

STANDARD FEATURE OF THE MME

TEI patented Drifter or TEI Rotary Head ACF Aluminum Chain Feed for 3-m Rods Radio Remote Controls with Manual Override MME Mount with 360 - Degree Positioning HCA4 Single Hydraulic Foot Clamp

TEI ROCK DRILLS PO BOX 1309 Montrose, CO 81402 USA (800) 777-3745 www.teirockdrills.com

FOLLOW US

CONSTRUCTION

could have fallen down and destroyed the bridge, shutting the road. “We took our expertise and, along with the General Manager of the Northern Region for Fulton Hogan, I went up there to get a solution in place to protect the bridge and allow the block to be safely removed.�

Closely following the project completion were ferocious storms which impacted the entire region

severely, including major flooding that required significant NDRA funding for repairs. Geovert has continued to assist in the ongoing solution, providing enough security that transport and traffic flow is tackled safely.

In a role like his, one might be surprised to learn that Teen believes official rules and regulations are very much for beginners. Far more

West Angelas Rockfall Protection

w w w. b u s i n e s s re v i e w a u s t r a l i a . c o m

83

GEOVERT

important from his perspective is company culture, and if a team is proving itself to work in an unsafe manner, that culture should centre around seeking better leadership.

“Safety culture must come from the top down and is delivered at the coalface through the guys,” Teen says. “It’s a big push for us, internally, that they really care for each other.”

So, while this lesson is filtered down from management, it is the employees who must implement it.

“Compliance and the education around compliance is important from the company’s perspective in terms of legality but in terms of engendering a culture, that has to come from within the business.”

Creating the right working environment is vital, using simple tools like positive language and a no-blame point of view. There is an internal social media platform to create and expand connectivity across the teams, as they are spread through multiple countries, and it allows them to remain close and discuss projects.

So, what attracts employees to this niche, potentially risky industry?

“We pay massive salaries,” Teen says with a laugh. “But seriously, I could talk all day long about how good the company is and what the staff love about us, but as an example, we’ve just had a young guy start – complete bundle of energy – and he loves it here. The feedback I get

Seaford 3D Animation

84

December 2017

CONSTRUCTION

Seaford 3D Animation

The business itself started small. Now, it employs around 400 people and undertakes projects in Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, and the US. from him is that it’s a totally dynamic environment with a lot going on and a good culture, transparency throughout the business, and people are passionate about what they do.

“Not all of the projects are exciting, but a lot of them allow the guys to travel to interesting places. Some of the more experienced workers have had the opportunity to work elsewhere for more money, and you

think ‘why didn’t you go?’ But their answer is ‘I like it here, it’s dynamic and we are part of building a legacy’.”

Alongside a focus on sustainability, Teen is now concentrating on continuous improvement. While he admits this is not something that evolves dramatically due to the nature of the business, he is working on making some back-office processes more

w w w. b u s i n e s s re v i e w a u s t r a l i a . c o m

85

GEOVERT

“IT’S ONE THING HAVING A SYSTEM FOCUSED ON QUALITY MANAGEMENT – IT’S ANOTHER THING HAVING A TECHNOLOGY ENABLED INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM DEDICATED TO THAT” – ANTHONY TEEN, CEO OF GEOVERT

86

December 2017

CONSTRUCTION

sophisticated, removing administrative components and making things more intuitive and user-friendly.

“We want the technology we do have to be at everybody’s fingertips,” says Teen. “We’re driving the technology that works for us and bringing in software as a service. In terms of continued improvement, we’ve done a lot with the integration of technology, so now if a project manager or engineer logs into the project section of our platform, all the information is there in one tab. Everything can be tracked electronically and all the parts talk to one another.

“It’s one thing having a system focused on quality management – it’s another thing having a technology enabled information management system dedicated to that.”

With all of Geovert’s past, current, and future projects being tackled with an accumulation of the company’s engineering skills and the pool of talent which continues to grow, the business is placed in a position of trust and authority, and will surely continue thriving.

MAINTAINING AGILITY IN MINING Written by Fran Roberts Produced by Josef Smith

With integrated mine, rail and port facilities, which have the capacity to deliver 55Mtpa, Roy Hill is one of the world’s major resource based operations, which will deliver enormous benefits to the broader community for years to come. Barry Fitzgerald, Chief Executive Officer, explains more

ROY HILL HOLDINGS

A Day in the Life of a Truckie

“R

oy Hill is a US$10bn mega iron ore mining and infrastructure operation and Australia’s single largest iron ore mine capable of producing 55mn tonnes of ore per year. Headquartered in Western Australia, we are the only independent iron ore operation with significant local ownership,” advises Barry Fitzgerald, Chief Executive

90

December 2017

Officer of Roy Hill Holdings.

The industry has suffered a difficult time of late, and one set to continue according to HSBC, which predicts that prices will likely correct further in the current quarter, seeing the benchmark price for 62% fines fall below US$60 a tonne over the first half of next year.

As the single biggest player within

MINING

“Our unique and best-inclass integrated demand to supply chain operating, reporting and monitoring system ensures a holistic view across the entire organisation from mine to port” – Barry Fitzgerald, Chief Executive Officer Australia’s iron sector, Roy Hill has understandably taken measures to protect against the negative effects of any market volatility.

“When we set up our business four years ago, market conditions were very different. At Roy Hill, we regularly review our business strategy and work within the parameters of the changed market environment. We act,

refocus and maintain our agility so we can adapt and respond to market changes,” Fitzgerald comments.

“Our unique and best-in-class integrated demand to supply chain operating, reporting and monitoring systems ensures a holistic view across the entire organisation from mine to port. We maintain constant contact with our customers on

w w w. b u s i n e s s re v i e w a u s t r a l i a . c o m

91

The perfect partner; Knowledge, responsiveness, innovation & complete solutions

Schenck Process Australia Pty Ltd Ground Floor, 65 Epping Road, North Ryde NSW 2113, Australia T+ 61(0)2 98 86 6800 Australia Wide: 1300 724 362 sales@schenckprocess.com.au www.schenckprocess.com.au www

It is the many years of experience supporting the mining industry, especially in the Pilbara region, that positions Schenck Process to be supplier of choice; proudly delivering vibrating equipment, including integrated gates, hoppers and feeders to the Roy Hill Mine and Port.

The complete performance solution included our Screenex panels to work in harmony on every Schenck Process vibrating screen.

A highpoint was the Roy Hill Train Load Out. Schenck Process adopted an innovative hybrid technology for this system. The silo and structure were manufactured and delivered to site in large modules to minimise site resources and installation time.

Schenck Process is extremely proud to be part of the Roy Hill project and safeguarding the future success of this operation through our continued service and support.

MINING

Roy Hill is a US$10bn mega iron ore mining and infrastructure operation and Australia’s single largest iron ore mine capable of producing 55mn tonnes of ore per year

matters of product quality.

“As a margin driven business, we focus on innovation and business improvement methodology to foster efficiency, effectiveness and engagement regardless of price. This discipline and drive to recruit people who understand our values of Lead, Care, Think, and Perform positions us well to weather an uncertain market.”

Embracing change Western Australia accounts for about 98% of Australia’s Economic Demonstrated Resources (EDR) of iron ore, which is around 28bn tonnes.

As such, the state government plays an important role in the operations at Roy Hill. “In addition to continuing to drive our costs lower, it is imperative that both the state and commonwealth

w w w. b u s i n e s s re v i e w a u s t r a l i a . c o m

93

ROY HILL HOLDINGS

Roy Hill Launches Second Wave of Pink Trucks in Support of Breast Cancer Research and Awareness

Downer Proud Partner to Roy Hill Downer Mining has been supporting the Roy Hill Project since the commencement of mining on site and is proud to be continuing that successful relationship into the future.

With a broad range of services from mining consultancy through to specialised blasting and tyre management, Downer provides a full and comprehensive service offering in-house.

Focused on delivery of high performance and cost efficiency, Downer is able to deliver consistent results in close collaboration with our customers.

For more information go to downergroup.com

Address: Level 6, 130 Stirling Street, Perth WA 6000 Phone: 08 6212 9500

MINING

governments continue to work with also limited by the capacity of its the industry to reduce compliance leadership to thrive in a world that is costs and the regulatory burden that increasingly volatile and complex. is imposed on the sector,” Fitzgerald It is imperative that organisations continues. “Collaboration with prioritise vertical leadership other companies and engaging with development over horizontal skills government to ensure that policy development,” observes Fitzgerald. shifts occur to support future growth, expansion and investment is key.”

The digital economy The compliance costs and Australia has the world’s largest regulatory burden – Western estimated reserves of iron ore with Australia has enacted 54bn tonnes, 28% of health and safety regimes the world’s estimated that apply specifically 190bn tonnes. As such, to mining workplaces, the country’s majors can which impose strict rules benefit from effectively aimed at establishing a supporting METS high level of safety and (mining equipment, carry significant penalties technology and Number of for non-compliance – services). “Increasingly, Employees at often impact the viability Roy Hill Holdings METS are seeking to of mining projects. adapt and position “The willingness to themselves as relevant embrace change, consider innovation in the digital economy. This is in design and identify modern creating opportunities for them technologies must be improved. to play a more substantive role This approach to improvement and within the value, or supply chains, innovation should be integrated into of majors,” states Fitzgerald. organisational culture. The ability “Investments by METS into research for organisations to transform is and development and data analytics

1,700

w w w. b u s i n e s s re v i e w a u s t r a l i a . c o m

95

ROY HILL HOLDINGS

has the potential to unlock value in the supply chain.” Indeed, supply chain development is seen by many to be key to the future of the mining industry.

“Our integrated operating model has redefined how Roy Hill works day to day. Our unique approach breaks down traditional barriers by realigning everything we do according to five interdependent and interconnected systems (supply, demand, people, improvement governance), allowing us to take a holistic view of our operations,” Fitzgerald elaborates.

“Supply places our maintenance teams as core business and optimises the flow of parts, contractors and Building the Roy Hill Project Time Lapse

96

December 2017

equipment to maximise availability and reliability. We recognise that the digital economy is offering greater opportunity to change the world of work and this has led to improvements in supply chain capability.”

Driving innovation Not content to follow the crowd, Roy Hill has pioneered the use of new practices within its operations. “In a shift from standard industry practice, we have decided to ‘in-source’ our supply system – centralising our maintenance planning and engineering services then housing all supply system functions together to increase collaboration. This is a critical step in

MINING

improving the throughput relationships between our suppliers and our customers,” reveals Fitzgerald.

“At Roy Hill, we have been futureproofing from the start with significant investments in technology and attracting and developing our people.

With technology as a foundation of our business, we have been driving key innovations by collaborating with suppliers to stretch software and services beyond the limit of current thinking, thus providing bestpractice across the business.”

Fe iron ore of which 1.2bt is +55% Fe, enough to sustain a mine life of more than 17 years. With this in mind, Roy Hill is already looking to the future. “We are focused on reaching sustainable 55Mtpa production, and continuing to get the best results from our people and our assets every single day,” enthuses Fitzgerald. “Over the next 12 months, we will bring on another 300 employees, taking our total to around 2,000 employees.”

Sustainable production Roy Hill has a defined mineralisation of more than 2.2bt of +50%

w w w. b u s i n e s s re v i e w a u s t r a l i a . c o m

97

DIGGING

DEEP TO EXPAND ITS MINING FOOTPRINT Written by Niki Waldegrave Produced by Bryan Gilles

Swanson Industries sees a rich future in Australia, with the world-leading mining business continuing to expand and diversify

S WA N S O N I N D U S T R I E S

S

wanson Industries is a worldleading provider of hydraulic cylinder manufacturing, remanufacturing and repair services for mining and mobile industries.

With the global headquarters in the US in Morgantown, West Virginia, Swanson provides a vast array of products and services for several industries globally, including fluid power, mining – open cut and underground – coal

mining, off-highway, and steel.

It also produces hydraulic drilling mining products and mechanical parts and offers machining and plating services from its various sites around the world.

Swanson Australia has been able to benefit from the depth of experience in Swanson WV, and the parent company – which is owned

by AEA Investors LP – recognises the huge potential Down Under.

KEY FACTS ABOUT SWANSON INDUSTRIES • Swanson Plating Company was founded in 1964 • It was renamed Swanson Industries Inc in 1999 • In 2006, Swanson Industries added hydraulic cylinder manufacturing to its services • Swanson Industries’ relationship with international corporations such as Caterpillar Inc. is an example of its global expansion • In 2012, Swanson Industries added AEA Investors as an equity partner in its business

• The partnership allows Swanson to expand and invest in its existing facilities while securing acquisitions that will advance the firm’s position in key global markets • In 2014, Swanson Industries added Jarvie Engineering in Australia to its portfolio of investments • It bought Waratah Engineering in 2016, thus further cementing its Australian footprint

MINING

w w w. b u s i n e s s re v i e w a u s t r a l i a . c o m

101

S WA N S O N I N D U S T R I E S

Swanson Industries / Cylinder Express MINEXpo 2016 Video Tower

Mining Equipment Repairs • • • • •

Certified Repair Facility for Ex Equipment C1/Pre-site Entry Audits Electric Motor Repairs, Overhaul & Sales Pump & Gearbox Repairs, Overhaul & Sales On-site Services: Laser Alignment, Condition Monitoring & Thermography, Equipment Removals, Installs, Testing & Commissioning • ISO 9001, ISO 14001 & AS/NZS 4801 Certified

24/7

Emergency Breakdown Service

4 Muir Place Wetherill Park NSW 2164 T: 02 9609 1655

21 Prince of Wales Ave Unanderra NSW 2526 T: 02 4258 8790

E: sales@rotechaustralia.com.au W: www.rotechaustralia.com.au

MINING

The coal mining industry is buoyant, being Australia’s second largest export earner, contributing, on average, $40bn a year, and the mines that invested in new capital equipment pre2012 now require renewals, repairs or replacements by law.

The acquisition of Waratah Engineering, formerly trading as Kopex Waratah, based in Argenton in NSW when Swanson Industries bought it in 2016, has been an important one.

With Waratah’s suite of capital equipment and its experience in remanufacturing longwall roof support systems and mobile equipment, the

partnership fulfilled another step in a strategy to be a full-service supplier to the Australian mining markets.

To help the smooth transition, executives moved over to help the process carry out as smoothly as possible.

Waratah’s facility specialises in major, on-the-ground mining machinery like hydraulics cylinders, and other large and complex pieces of kit that can take anywhere from three to seven or eight months to build from start to finish.

Due to the acquisition, the workload capacity has increased by three or four times, and Beal expects to continue

w w w. b u s i n e s s re v i e w a u s t r a l i a . c o m

103

S WA N S O N I N D U S T R I E S

that trajectory for at least the next two years.

Swanson is looking to expand and diversify its four sites, three of which are in New South Wales – Lambton, Georgetown and Argenton ¬– and one in Mackay, Queensland, even more to become a full-service supplier to the Australian mining markets and beyond.

The site in Lambton, Newcastle, is a mirror image of the one in West Virginia – diverse, and manufacturing multiple cylinders and shafts for various mines. While it doesn’t do the full repair of that equipment, it removes all the parts that need machining, like shafts from molters to build

104

December 2017

MINING

up and laser clad. It also does a lot of open cut work and deals with the Tomago aluminium smelter.

Swanson Georgetown Chroming Facilities is an area that is expanding, and being constantly being upgraded.

The business recently outgrew its facility in Glenella and has moved to new premises in Paget, the production hub for mining industry.

One of the new site’s major advantages is a gigantic 2,220 sqm workshop and a 6,700 sqm yard.

It should set a new benchmark with regards to hydraulic cylinder overhauls in Queensland, and there is more opportunity to expand in the territory over the next 18 months, with Swanson planning to diversify in Western Australia as well.

The company is looking to target gold and metalliferous mines, open cut and underground, with Western Australia offering an opportunity to execute this vision.

w w w. b u s i n e s s re v i e w a u s t r a l i a . c o m

105

Written by Fran Roberts Produced by Justin Nelson

Serving Italian authenticity to Australia’s culinary market

FOOD & DRINK

Inspired by traditional Criniti family recipes, the menus at Criniti’s combine traditional southern Italian and contemporary Australian cuisine to bring customers a unique range of flavours. Approaching the 15th anniversary of its first restaurant opening, the chain is stronger than ever

B

y 2021/2022, revenues of the Australian pizza restaurant industry are forecasted to reach approximately A$4.12bn, according to Statista. Pizza has been a mainstay Italian cuisine for over a millennium. Written usage of the word ‘pizza’ first appeared in a Latin text from the southern Italy town of Gaeta, then still part of the Byzantine Empire, in 997 AD. Similar dishes existed throughout the Mediterranean for centuries beforehand, although

w w w. b u s i n e s s re v i e w a u s t r a l i a . c o m

107

CRINITI’S

Criniti’s Southern Italian Cuisine Restaurant

modern pizza is believed to have evolved from flatbread dishes in Naples during the early 19th century.

Today, traditional Italian meets contemporary dining at Criniti’s, a multi-award winner of ‘Australia’s Favourite Italian’. Criniti’s was originally established in 2003 in Parramatta, within Sydney’s west by an inspired husband and wife team, Frank and Rima Criniti. At 23 years of age, they were driven by a passion for fine quality food and cultivated success.

108

December 2017

Fine food Whilst fine Italian food conjures up images of pizza and pasta, Criniti’s also does a mean trade in brunches. According to Uber, Criniti’s is the third most popular spot in Parramatta for weekend breakfast. With breakfast bruschetta sat alongside more traditional options like omelettes and pancakes, it’s easy to see why the chain is a popular way to start the weekend.

However, one of the most popular

FOOD & DRINK

Criniti’s was originally established in 2003 in Parramatta, Sydney’s west by an inspired husband and wife team, Frank and Rima Criniti

and traditional dishes at Criniti’s is the Pizza al Metro. The large pizza comes from an old Italian tradition dating back to the early 19th century from Vico Equense located near Sorrento.

The Pizza al Metro phenomenon soon spread throughout Italy and Europe and pizza at Criniti’s restaurants is made from a wood fired crust and is so big it is served on long wooden boards in half metre, one metre, two metre and three metre lengths. The Pizza al

Metro is made to share and often comes with a challenge, such as the ‘2 Mates, 2 Metres’ challenge, where two people have an hour to eat two metres of pizza.

Southern Italian way of life The company’s philosophy since the first restaurant was opened is to provide dishes that convey the southern Italian way of life through the same aromas and tastes experienced by generations of the Criniti family.

w w w. b u s i n e s s re v i e w a u s t r a l i a . c o m

109

A N T I PA S T I

C U R E D M E AT S

& SMALLGOODS

local & glob al pr o duc t s

highe s t s t andar ds of qualit y

de dicate d cus tomer s er v ice

b e sp oke s our cing & manuf ac tur ing

established since 1997

QUA LI T Y {&} S E LEC T I O N

Since 1997 at Visco Selected Fine Foods we are committed to sourcing & manufacturing quality food products for our customers & providing them with the highest level of service.

www.viscofoods.com/register

+61 7 3393 3553

info@viscofoods.com

www.viscofoods.com

FOOD & DRINK

The Parramatta branch was the Winner 2011/2012 for Casual Restaurant & Family Dining at the Entertainment Gold Awards Frank Criniti’s parents grew up in Italy before migrating to Australia in the 1960s, where they continued the tradition of having a vegetable garden in the back yard and making everything they ate the traditional way.

An abundance of tomatoes meant napoletana sauce was prepared daily. Just like those family meals from the early days in Australia, food preparation and preservation remain

central to the Criniti philosophy of establishing traditional Italian eateries.

This Italophilia is reflected in the décor at the eight Criniti’s restaurants in New South Wales and Victoria, with the original Parramatta site featuring a Ducati motorbike on the bar as well as a portrait of possibly the world’s most famous Italian-American, Frank Sinatra. Similar touches can also be found in the chain’s other locations.

w w w. b u s i n e s s re v i e w a u s t r a l i a . c o m

111

CRINITI’S

Impressive growth Although the expansion of Criniti’s was truly cemented in 2009 when the chain opened a second Sydney location, this time in the east, in Darling Harbour, the company’s impressive growth had begun to show some time beforehand. The original 70-seat restaurant in Parramatta was so popular that Criniti’s needed to purchase the adjacent patio to add another 150 seats.

Following on from that, 10 years after launching, Criniti’s made the

112

December 2017

step outside of its home city of Sydney, establishing a restaurant in the Melbourne suburb of Carlton. A smart choice, given Melbourne’s long Italian history, counting Milan as a sister city and even boasting a Little Italy cultural precinct in Carlton.

The Italian community of Melbourne is the second largest ethnic group in Greater Melbourne, second only to the Anglo-Celtic Australians ethnic group. The 2011 Census counted that of the 185,402 residents that were born in Italy who live in Australia,

FOOD & DRINK

Criniti’s Metro Mania Challenge

68,823 lived in Melbourne, which was the highest percentage in the country at 37.1%. The same could be said for the total Australian population of Italian ancestry, with 279,112 of the 916,121 (30.4%) listed as Melbournian residents, which is the highest Italian population in Australia and the Oceanic continent per city.

Moving upmarket ‘When you’re here, you’re family’ – a company motto illuminated on the wall in neon red at Darling Harbour,

and one that illustrates the culture at Criniti’s. The chain is certainly popular with families – the Parramatta branch was the Winner 2011/2012 for Casual Restaurant & Family Dining at the Entertainment Gold Awards – but it also manages to attract a more exclusive clientele. Criniti’s has locations in some of Sydney’s trendiest dining precincts, such as Woolloomooloo Wharf and Manly.

The opening of the Woolloomooloo venture signalled a desire by the family to take the chain upmarket, and the

w w w. b u s i n e s s re v i e w a u s t r a l i a . c o m

113

CRINITI’S

Criniti’s Southern Italian Cuisine Restaurant

‘The company’s philosophy since the first restaurant was opened is to provide dishes that convey the southern Italian way of life through the same aromas and tastes experienced by generations of the Criniti family’

114

December 2017

FOOD & DRINK

venue fit-out is as ambitious as the business itself, with, among other adornments, a Ferrari engine in the private dining room and two Ducati motorbikes dangling from the ceiling.

Woolloomooloo certainly attracts an upmarket crowd, with Russell Crowe breaking the Sydney apartment record at the time of A$14mn in 2003

for his penthouse. Looking ahead, Criniti’s is hoping that its success and wide-ranging appeal will translate overseas as the chain looks to expand internationally, with Dubai, New York and Los Angeles rumoured to be the site of the first Criniti’s restaurant outside of Australia.

w w w. b u s i n e s s re v i e w a u s t r a l i a . c o m

115

How do you help to reliably connect people?

You start with two industry leaders. Dow and Prysmian cables. We have been working together for over 15 years designing and delivering cables for power and telecommunications infrastructure that last for decades.

Our strategic collaboration and technology enable us to widely support Australia’s National Broadband Network (nbn). Approximately 70 percent of the cables that connect homes and businesses to high speed broadband are supplied by Prysmian Australia, using DOW AXELERON™ polyethylene compounds.

So, the next time you connect with your loved ones through the internet, you know your broadband connection and speed is of high quality because of the high-performance materials used.

Dow and Prysmian … Together, the elements of science and the human element can solve anything.

Read more about our solutions at:

dow.com/electrical prysmiancable.com.au

™®Trademark of The Dow Chemical Company (“Dow”) or an affiliated company of Dow