Ute-tray quality drives Norweld’s expansion
DEMAND from customers outside of Cairns has prompted a local aluminium ute tray manufacturer to open its second southern site in 12 months.
Norweld general manager Jaime McIntosh said 70 per cent of the Hartley St firm’s work came from outside the region.
A year after opening its first Brisbane site, the company will employ one staff member to run a site at Chipping Norton, which opened last week in Sydney.
“The Brisbane site was quite successful and then we did the Sydney 4WD show and there was a lot of interest and a lot of potential customers who knew of us and wanted to buy our products but the logistics kind of held us back,” Mr McIntosh said.
“We have increased production by 37 per cent over the last 12 months, we have established a distributor in New Zealand and have sent our first shipment over and we recently sent our fifth 40-foot container to the USA.
“The 4WD market is growing and we’ve got the product right now. We do twice as many trays as canopies – they are a high-quality product that looks good.
“People are prepared to pay for something that looks good and is good quality.
“Being from North Queensland and making the trays for our conditions, means there is that reputation of quality.”
Staff numbers have gone from 34 to 47 in the last 12 months as well and Mr McIntosh now employs nine apprentices.
“We’ve grown quite quickly, so we have had to train guys to our standards, so that’s why we employ apprentices,” he said.
“Trays are made in two to three weeks. A canopy can take four to five weeks. We’ve got the production down pat.
“Everything is made here and we still send to Western Australia and Victoria. We are just not fitting them there, someone else fits them.
“Next year we are definitely looking at opening in Melbourne.”
Norweld also recently partnered with All 4 Adventure supplying their trays and canopies and added 700 sqm of shed space to facilitate expanded production.
Mr McIntosh said lean manufacturing initiatives had been implemented to increase production and the business had purchased a new CNC press to improve the quality of the product. He said more than 1000 hours of research and development had gone into refining designs and production techniques recently.
The business began 47 years ago and Mr McIntosh started at Norweld in 1987, working casually in the school holidays. After taking over the company in 2001, it has grown threefold because of his willingness to expand into new markets.