AUSTRALIA’s  manufacturing sector was given a boost recently when Nordon Cylinders’ innovative new manufacturing facility was officially opened in Brisbane.

Operating under the banner Friction Welding Australia, Nordon’s new plant is the first to make available locally a friction welding service for products including hydraulic cylinder shafts and drill rods. These products are heavily utilised in machinery for the resources sectors. 

The core of the plant’s efficiency is $2.5 million in new friction welding machinery which can weld components together in under five minutes. This process used to take up to four hours using traditional welding methods to complete the same job with the same quality.

“While the manufacturing sector is facing challenges and is undergoing a transformation, we continue to see innovative Australian manufacturers like Nordon Cylinders find new ways in which to grow their business,” Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry, Bob Baldwin said.

Mr Baldwin officially opened the site on behalf of the Prime Minister, saying the new plant would build on what was already a $30 million operation in Queensland and NSW, currently employing 54 people.

“This plant’s opening is good news for Australia’s mining companies,” Mr Baldwin said.

“This service, which ensures machinery needing repair is again safe and compliant with engineering standards, is now available locally, where previously it has only been offered overseas.

“The government, through its National Industry Investment and Competiveness Agenda, is working with the manufacturing industry to develop better policy frameworks to assist Australian industry as it moves to take advantage of new global opportunities.”

Co-owner of Nordon Cylinders, Fay Vogelzang said manufacturing in Australia was tough but in no way dead and there were many opportunities still available if companies were willing to innovate, invest and believe in their operations. 

“Last year we were able to rescue Australia’s oldest cylinder manufacturing operation located in Dubbo (NSW) and save everyone’s jobs because we saw what no one else saw – quality local services, that needed to better promoted,” Ms Vogelzang said.

“The opening of Friction Welding Australia represents two years of planning and the next stage of growth for Nordon Cylinders. Over the next few years we expect our operations will expand to other areas Australia, creating more jobs.

“This new service we offer to the mining sector is a huge opportunity for us to contribute locally to the growth of the resources sector and create Australian jobs.”

Nordon Cylinders was founded by Norm Johnson on October 13, 1972, at Geebung in Brisbane.

The business was conceived as a hydraulic service business originally in the mobile equipment field with earthmoving equipment and later embracing industrial hydraulics across a variety of industries. The repair of cylinders exposed Nordon to a wide range of designs and their corresponding strengths.

With the knowledge gained from repairing and servicing cylinders, Nordon developed quality cylinder manufacturing. That side of the business gained momentum, which led to the decision in the early 1990s to make the transition from service and manufacture to full time manufacturing.

Now located at Brendale, since 2006 Nordon has developed the industry-leading and internationally-known NI Industrial range of cylinders. This range is the only industrial roundline welded cylinder product that offers a complete range of standard mounting and accessories to provide clients with limitless range options.

Nordon Cylinders is an alumni member of  Queensland Leaders, the organisation developing the next generation of leading companies in Queensland.

www.nordoncyl.com.au

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FORESTERS Community Finance Ltd has established a strategic partnership with innovative Australian mid-market corporate advisory firm, InterFinancial Corporate Finance Ltd. to develop and manage impactful socially-focused Australian investment products.

Foresters chief executive officer, Sandra Nugent said the aim of the partnership was to create and enhance an innovative range of “impact investment products” for the Australian market. 

“As a socially-focused financier and fund manager, we believe that impact investment products are part of a growing global market trend delivering wholesale investors with an opportunity to use their capital to generate social, environmental or cultural outcomes, while generating an investment return,” Ms Nugent said.

“The partnership with InterFinancial was the first phase in a broader capital strategy to expand the scope and scale of Foresters mission and vision of helping people and communities to help themselves.”

The organisations met through Queensland Leaders, the organisation fostering Queensland’s next generation of leading companies. Foresters is an alumni member and InterFinancial is an industry expert partner with Queensland Leaders.

Foresters achievements in the emerging impact investment sector are growing strongly with close to $1 million of micro-credit loans, and $5.3m in enterprise loans to 26 non-profit organisations and social enterprises in Australia.

“It is now time to leverage what we know with a partner that brings skills and knowledge in the corporate finance and investment space,” Ms Nugent said.

InterFinancial managing director, Sharon Doyle said the relationship represented an opportunity to deploy core skills and experience  into a sector that aligns with InterFinancial’s core values. Ms Doyle said Foresters was “an inspiring business partner in this sector”.  

Ms Nugent said, “Together, Foresters and InterFinancial are committed to developing a strong impact investment market and will continue to seek further partnerships in order to achieve this goal.”

With a history dating back to 1855, Foresters is one of a few Australian credit unions, banks and philanthropic societies exploring innovative social and community investment strategies in the modern Australian economy. Foresters can trace its origins back to the 19th century Friendly Society Movement body known as the Ancient Order of Foresters, founded in 1855, and the Australian Natives Association of Queensland Friendly Society, established in 1885.

The Foresters ANA Friendly Society was established in 1996 which, in 2008, re-emerged as Foresters Community Finance. Ms Nugent said this was the modern form of the organisation which continues to uphold the principles of self help and mutuality found in its origins.

www.foresters.org.au

www.interfinancial.com.au

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CORPORATE advisory and stockbroking firm Morgans has identified that the Australian economy is in the early stages of recovering from what it calls a ‘growth recession’.

Morgans’ research suggests this means economic growth without employment growth indicating business is working through productivity gains – but is also negatively impacted by Australia’s relatively inflexible labour markets. 

“What this means is that although the Australian economy has been growing it has been growing below the historical trend growth rate, of circa 3.2 percent, needed to generate net employment,” executive director for Morgans Corporate Advisory division, Philip Lee said.

“Hence, unemployment has been increasing despite economic growth in absolute terms. We forecast economic growth should accelerate to around 3.0 percent this calendar year.”

Mr Lee said this would be up from the 2.7 percent growth mark of 2013.

“Which suggests that the recovery in Australia will be what other countries call ‘a jobless recovery,” he said.

Mr Le said any recovery “will inevitably create opportunities and threats for Australian businesses” however a jobless recovery effectively suggests improved productivity.

“Businesses continue to suggest to us that one of the biggest challenges to Australian growth at present is its relatively inflexible labour markets,” Mr Lee said.

“In time this will likely lead to some form of Government intervention but in the meantime businesses will need to adapt and focus on productivity initiatives and innovation.

“Business confidence is key to support and accelerate growth. As the saying goes, success breeds success.”

What may positively surprise Australian economic forecasters is better than expected growth from its key international trading partners, Mr Lee indicated.

“The United States economic growth is being driven by improved consumer spending, a better market for housing, and stronger export growth,” he said.

“China purposefully continues to transition from export driven growth to domestically driven growth, which is forecast to remain well above 7 percent.

“Europe appears to be at the beginning of a modest recovery following its sovereign debt crisis, and the UK is coming off a low base but is expected to grow faster than Germany over the next two years,” Mr Lee said.

“As a result, opportunities will arise for Australian companies directly and indirectly leveraged to these key trading partners.

“A collateral benefit of stronger trading partners is a likely depreciation in the Australian dollar improving the global competitiveness of Australian businesses but likely impacting our importing companies.”

Mr Lee said Morgans analysts were expecting 2014 to present businesses with a plethora of productivity and growth opportunities.

“However, typically the pursuit of these growth opportunities, particularly if being driven by international demand, can be expensive and capital hungry,” he said.

“Access to debt markets remains a challenge for most emerging companies and ‘merger and acquisition’ opportunities are becoming more complex and expensive,” Mr Lee warned.

“Equity markets typically lead economic improvement by 12 to 18 months and as such will, in our view, become a more readily available and cost effective source of funding for emerging companies in 2014.”

Morgans, a long-term Industry Expert member of Queensland Leaders, recently struck a strategic alliance with CIMB Securities International Australia for research and cooperation on corporate advisory and capital markets in Australia. The alliance initially gives Morgans customers access to highly ranked research of CIMB Australia provides CIMB Australia with Morgans’ distribution platform of more than 300,000 customers for equity capital market transactions.

www.morgans.com.au

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LIKE the ANZACs it is named after, the Gallipoli Medical Research Foundation is involved in an audacious attack – in this case on an affliction that often hits returned soldiers and others in the community.

A particular area of focus for the medical research foundation at the moment is post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) which has afflicted many returned servicemen, including those from recent combat zones Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as others in community roles such as emergency services. 

The Gallipoli Medical Research Foundation’s motto is ‘remembrance through research’ and it sums up how the organisation is fighting for curative success in the area of PTSD right now.

The foundation, originally set up by the late philanthropist Paul Ramsay’s Ramsay Health at Greenslopes Private Hospital, is also battling to find successful new treatments in areas as diverse as liver cancer, respiratory, opthamology and wound management.

Gallipoli Medical Research uses an innovative and audacious approach in both its research and fund raising activities.

“Ambition can be a taboo subject in the not-for-profit sector however working for the ‘greater good’ shouldn’t purge you of ambitious drive,” Gallipoli Medical Research Foundation CEO Miriam Dwyer said.

“The archaic belief that ‘charities’ should act conservatively does not serve any cause. Pioneering thinking and innovative partnerships will reap far more dividends.”

Ms Dwyer said about one million Australians were known to suffer from the debilitating illness that is PTSD, including a high prevalence within the veteran community.

“Indeed, it is frightening to think that, in 2001-2009 alone, more US veterans committed suicide than were killed in Iraq or Afghanistan,” Ms Dwyer said. “Our PTSD Initiative was born out of a desire to help forge a pathway to recovery for our veterans and all Australians suffering with the impacts of PTSD.

“Given the enormity of this problem, we know we have to grow this project, aim big and deliver results for our stakeholders – just as any major corporation must do to satisfy its shareholders.” 

The inaugural PTSD study commenced in March. Now the foundation is working to get greater business involvement in supporting it. Part of that process is Gallipoli Medical Research Foundation’s involvement in the Queensland Leaders program as an Executive Member this year.

“The focus is now on how this research can be developed in the next phase of the Initiative,” Ms Dwyer said. “What role can business play in driving forward a project such as this?”

I feel strongly that a corporate partnership needs to reflect the values and aims of both partners. As we form relationships with our Gallipoli 100 partners, we look for organisations whose goals and desired achievements align with ours.

“In the lead up to the Anzac centenary in 2015, we seek to partner with organisations that believe we owe it to our servicemen and women to conduct this research. Partners who believe in state-of-the-art, cutting edge technology and who understand that the complex results of this research must be translated into outcomes that are accessible to all Australians,” Ms Dwyer said.

“I am certain that, when given the opportunity to partner with the best in the corporate sector, charities can drive change forward with professionalism and focus so that corporate partnerships with the not-for-profit sector will be seen as opportunities, not obligations.

“In return, the corporate sector stand to gain a level of engagement with stakeholders – as well as insider access to inspiring breakthroughs – that they might not find in many other working relationships.”

www.gallipoliresearch.com.au

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