Over the past 12 months, Andromeda Industries has continued to make significant inroads in the local lifting and rigging industry. Experiencing significant growth in almost every state Geoff Bower, Andromeda’s Customer Relationship Manager, highlights the reasons for the continued momentum.
“The last 12 months have been very good for the business, and we have definitely experienced a significant upsurge from a number of our resellers whilst others are generating a steady flow of business for the factory.
“With all the activity in the resources sector, Western Australia remains very strong for us, and although we have seen a slight dip in demand from Victoria, Queensland has increased in activity to fill this void. Traditionally, Victoria has been our second largest market and although it has quietened down, all signs are it will bounce back early next year,” said Geoff.
Although Andromeda Industries services the market via a network of 100-plus distributors that includes major nationals as well as independent family businesses, all specialising in rigging and lifting equipment, Geoff and the team understand the importance of increasing the profile of the Andromeda brand and product range directly with end user customers.
“This year we exhibited at both LiftEx Gold Coast, organised by the Lifting Equipment Engineers Association (LEEA), and The Crane Industry Council of Australia’s (CICA) National Conference and Exhibition in Adelaide. Both were very successful for Andromeda Industries and our brand. We’ve already received concrete orders from attending the events,” said Geoff.
“LiftEx and the CICA Conference and Exhibition attracted different audiences. At LiftEx we were talking to our distributors who were either exhibiting or visiting, as well as a number of large crane hire businesses and Tier One construction companies.
“The CICA Conference and Exhibition was more focused on end users and again we spoke to most of the large crane hire companies as well as smaller family-owned businesses. We generated all sorts of enquiries, and it was good to reinforce that our products are designed, engineered and manufactured in our facility just north of Tamworth, in the New England region of New South Wales,” said Geoff.
Although the enquiries were right across the Andromeda Industries range of products, it is the Dean-O Sling that has proved to be most popular with the crane sector.
The Dean-O is a sling produced by Andromeda Industries especially designed to provide a single lifting point under Ramshorn Hooks on large cranes.
These slings can be made very short and creates a single point load to be attached and still maintain centreline loading.
Unbalanced loads can cause the Ramshorn Hooks to skew on the rig centreline, potentially damaging the block assembly and wire rope. Andromeda manufactures the Dean-O Sling in capacities ranging from 11 tonnes up to 165 tonnes.
“The Dean-O Sling has been around for a couple of years, but it’s only recently that we’ve started pushing it. We had it properly displayed at the CICA event and it drew a lot of attention from some of the major national crane companies and also smaller crane hire businesses from all over the country.
“Companies we spoke with are really keen on it and with capacities ranging from 11 tonne to 165 tonne, the Dean-O Sling covers most applications. There are already a number of the Dean-O Slings operating in WA with the large crane hire companies. We also have some large tower crane companies using them on the east coast,” said Geoff.
The demand for the Dean-O Sling is being driven by the dramatic increases in crane capacities and by the construction industry moving down the path of modular construction says Geoff.
“The construction industry is moving to modular construction methods where elements of new buildings like bathroom and kitchens are built in offsite facilities, transported to site and then lifted into place. With infrastructure, the components in bridge construction for example, are getting so much bigger and heavier requiring these large capacity cranes.
“The Dean-O Sling was a concept designed by Raymond McLaren, the founder of Andromeda Industries, many years ago. He saw the benefit of a centralised lifting point utilising the Ramshorn Hook, rather than having multiple slings or Master Shackles with soft slings and a massive rigging configuration. Basically, we were able to utilise our Double-Ended Strops with a specialised Cast Steel Thimble that we designed and developed in-house to create a central lifting point for Ramshorn Hooks,” said Geoff.
“Basically, you can keep the Dean-O Sling on the Ramshorn Hook and interchange the rigging gear. If you are lifting with a 110 tonne capacity Ramshorn, you can fit smaller shackles and rigging gear to lift a one tonne crate, for example.
“The Dean-O Sling concept also originated because there were so many new people coming into the industry. It was designed to simplify the rigging configurations using the Ramshorn.
“Crane companies have said you don’t have to interchange your hooks, which is time-consuming, labour-intensive and comes with a number of work safety-related associated issues. As with everything we do, safety must be paramount,” said Geoff.
Andromeda Industries has been designing, engineering and manufacturing large steel cables since 1972, providing some of the largest locally manufactured steel cable in Australia, as well wire rope lifting devices and a range of rubber and livestock products.
“Both events have been good for us because there are big lifting companies using our products, and obviously they’re doing that through our 100-plus resellers which is what we want, but they don’t always put two and two together,” said Geoff.
“For example, our flat-woven slings are very popular for roofing applications. Our roofing slings are extremely popular in Victoria and Queensland, however they are not as well known in NSW, so it was great to be able to showcase the range.
“We had plenty of visitors to the stand saying, ‘So you are the guys that manufacture these products,’ which is great, because they are starting to put pieces of the puzzle together. The market is understanding that Andromeda Industries products are Australian designed and manufactured,” he said.
LiftEx and CICA’s National Conference and Exhibition provided Geoff and the Andromeda team an ideal opportunity to confirm to the market that there are two distinct aspects to the business.
“Obviously we are recognised for our lifting and rigging products, but we also operate a rubber division and it would appear not many people outside of our local area know this,” said Geoff.
Andromeda Industries’ Rubber Belt division is Australia’s leading supplier of re-purposed rubber belt and rubber matting products. Repurposing used belts minimises the environmental impact of ‘hard-to-dispose of’ materials, whereas recycling uses much more energy.
The main product from this Division is SPLITBELT which is created by the process of mechanically splitting the rubber belt using specialised machinery developed through Andromeda’s engineering division. The resulting SPLITBELT rubber matting is very strong and durable, whilst remaining lighter and easier to handle. With over 100 plus different applications, SPLITBELT is available in various lengths, widths and thicknesses.
re-purposed rubber belt and new
rubber matting products are not as
well-known as its lifting products, but there are so many applications for them.
“Our re-purposed rubber belt and new rubber matting products are not as well-known as our lifting products, but there are so many applications for them. They are being used by large crane companies as Friction Coefficients for ‘steel on steel’ contact surfaces which is now an important issue for the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator. Increasingly crane companies are recognising our rubber products are exactly what they need,” said Geoff.
“Our rubber mats are ideal for support trailers transporting counterweights or supporting hook blocks and other heavy lifting equipment. The mats sit between the steel surfaces adding to the stability of the load as it is being transported. Once again, a simple product that is designed with safety in mind for such critical industries.”
“Our rubber products also make a positive contribution to a sustainable future because we are positively repurposing very durable rubber products which are manufactured for tough environments and notoriously difficult to recycle or dispose of. There’s no need for either with our rubber products, they are ready for a new life in these types of Friction Coefficient applications. We are proud of the fact that our overall wastage is down to just 0.4% and we are continually working to reduce this further, ensuring a sustainable future,” he said.