Business View Oceania | March 2020

23 24 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA MARCH 2020 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA MARCH 2020 MANUFACTURER & DISTRIBUTER OF FASTENERS & PRECISION TURNED COMPONENTS +61 0402999801 • +61 0426712230 www.kapcomponents.com.au CUSTOM HOT FORGE • LATCHES • HINGES • FASTENERS AGR I FARM IMPLEMENTS have to hire more people,” Brett quips. “There are only six of us now but we pump out a lot of machines. Everything we do is all on jigs and fixtures and it’s easy to manufacture the product. The majority of my guys could put together a machine off a cutting list. It’s a streamlined process; we can build product and get it out the door pretty quickly. We have a local man (literally just five doors away) that does the main machining for all our aerators, etc. with CNC equipment. And we get a reasonable amount of laser cutting done from another Australian company.” In 2015, a large solar system was installed on the Agrifarm shed building to reduce the amount of power usage and provide solar energy for much of the company’s power requirements. That investment has been very effective. As for new product offerings, a big cotton mulcher made not just for cotton but anything from sorghum to rice to wheat was designed and manufactured in the last seven years. The latest Agrifarm machine, just recently finished, is a hydraulic folding aerator. The existing aerators were 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3 and 4 metre fixed machines. The problem lies in transporting a unit that size – 3 or 4 metres is just too wide. So for bigger farms and for customers in the west, Agrifarm’s team designed a hydraulic folding machine. The first one they built is a 6 metre hydraulic folder but they’ll also be able to build 4 and 5 metre units as well. According to Brett, “The export market is where we really want to expand. I’ve had a lot of meetings with government departments but there isn’t much help for Australian companies wanting to export. Unless you want to pay for it all yourself. Things like our cotton mulcher for instance: Australia is tiny in the world market, and if I could sell my cotton mulchers into America where they grow millions of acres… just to find one good dealer that sells in the cotton region. But it’s very hard to do on our own. Companies have done it but getting that initial contact in the American market is the issue. PREFERRED VENDORS n Alford Hydraulics & Engineering Pty Ltd www.alfordhydraulics.com.au Alford Hydraulics & Engineering are an Australian owned and operated hydraulic cylinder manufacturer with an unwavering commitment to manufacturing a quality Australian made product with excellent customer service. With our range of seals, hose and fittings, and repair and servicing options for hydraulic cylinders, Alford’s are your one stop shop for all your hydraulic needs. n Kap Components Pty Ltd www.kapcomponents.com.au “We are very proud that Agrifarm is an Australian made product, started in Australia and still an Australian company. We employ local people and use as much local product as we can. With all of our implements, we don’t build to a price. We know we have to be competitive to sell the product but we’d rather build initially based on features and quality that are not going to break down for people. I’ve had 25-year-old mulchers traded in for a bigger model and I’m paying twice as much for the trade-in as they paid for it when it was brand new. That’s proof of our quality. We’ll also refurbish machines for people and refurbish trade-ins for resale. Most important to know, we make a high quality product that the customer will own for as long as he wants to own it. No cutting corners.”