GO WITH THE FLOW
A SHOWCASE of a Geelong company’s unique metal bending technology was on display at its official product launch on Friday.
FormFlow has developed worldfirst technology that allows sharp bends to be formed in corrugated iron without damaging the metal or its coating.
At the launch at its state-of-theart industrial research and development on Friday, founder Matt Dingle said interest in the FormFlow Bend had been encouraging with its order book steadily growing.
“We have quoted a very large infrastructure project which will begin next year and keep us busy for 12-18 months,” Dr Dingle said.
“And we are in the middle of negotiations with a large strategic partner who will work with us to scale up production and bring our ideas to national and eventually international markets.”
Based at ManuFutures, the startup is a collaboration between FormFlow, Geelong engineering firm Austeng and Deakin University, and it has been hailed for its potential to revolutionise the use of corrugated iron with its seamless bends transforming it from a utilitarian product to a stylish product which offers fire safety and environmental advantages.
FormFlow is planning to add value to its existing products and commercialise new technologies and develop associated production systems at its R & D studio.
“When a new product has been developed, we will begin lowvolume production and sales from this facility until we get it right and then we will look to spin out or partner with others to scale up,” Dr Dingle said.
Dr Dingle paid tribute to Professor Peter Hodgson in leading Deakin research in advanced materials and paving the way for he and Matthias Weiss, who heads up the metal forming research group at Deakin. He also acknowledged the research conducted in the ‘80s by friend and mentor John Duncan and his cousin, also John Duncan.
“They discovered the mathematical theorems of forming inextensible sheet materials (origami). Identifying the mathematical rules governing the development of these shapes has enabled us to use the theory to find ways to form high-strength metal sheet such as roofing steel into the shapes you see in our bend.”