Custom Steel Frames Shares Its Success
03 December 2008
Custom Steel Frames in Dubbo - New South Wales' largest steel framing company - has developed a highly successful steel framing business and workplace management system, which has been snapped up by three other steel framing businesses in New South Wales and Tasmania.
Aus-Truss in Mittagong, Steel Truss in Newcastle and Eco-Fab in Hobart have all adopted the Custom Steel model that utilises the same machinery, software, principles and processes - all of which Custom Steel Frames has developed over the past 25 years.
"My intention with this initiative was to expand my product within the marketplace," comments Arthur Hosking, owner of Custom Steel Frames. "The steel framing market has continued to grow over recent years so I thought a shared resource pool would help me and others meet this demand."
Each framing business remains independent and retains their autonomy but at the same time is able to tap into a greater resource, which according to Andrew Fowler, Managing Director at Aus-Truss, has huge benefits for all.
"The capacity to work as a group not only facilitates best practice but also allows for increased cost effectiveness due to better purchasing power through consolidating orders. We are also able to outsource work to another plants if needed to take on larger projects or avoid high transportation costs," explains Andrew, whose company was the first to join the model back in 2003.
The Custom Steel model also allows Arthur to share all the things he has learnt in the business with smaller companies to help them grow. Mike Pearl, Director at Steel Truss, believes this has been the key benefit since they joined nine months ago. "Arthur has been doing this for 25 years so we have been able to draw on his expert knowledge. He also has a great team of employees that have trained our staff in all aspects of the business from quoting to drafting and factory assembly," said Mike.
The steel framing market is still accelerating due to the many benefits it offers builders, designers and homeowners alike. These include its strength and durability, design flexibility and the fact that it is termite proof. This system is therefore ideal as it allows even the smaller businesses to profit from this market surge due to the capacity sharing element which can help cope with the increased demand. Aus-Truss saw a 30 per cent growth per annum over four years and was able to expand from one to 26 employees due initially to referrals from Custom Steel Frames.
Dean Baker, Managing Director at Eco-Fab, started production in 2007 after spending a year talking to and training with Arthur. "I did a lot of my own research before starting Eco-Fab and after travelling around Australia looking at how different companies built steel framed houses and at the houses being built, I soon realised that Custom Steel had the best business model and engineering product," said Dean.
"This has helped Eco-Fab to win a mining camp building contract in Zeehan, Tasmania. The contract was for a 100 person camp and because of our factory production capacity (100 houses a year) and quick build methods we won the contract and successfully completed it on time," added Dean.
Arthur believes that the success of this model has been down to having forward thinking businesses on board. "For this model to be successful it requires the right people who all share the same work ethos. I looked for enthusiastic people with a strong building or manufacturing background and each of these three businesses are successful in their own right and operate at the same sophisticated level as Custom Steel. We have a shared code of practice and quality standard and are all working towards the same goal – a productive and cost effective framing business that is able to adapt to the constantly evolving house framing industry demands and trends."
The sharing of knowledge, new ideas and workload has seen each business experience rapid growth since adopting the model. Steel Truss has contracted some 40 jobs since joining the Custom Steel family less than a year ago representing more than 120 tonnes of TRUECORE® steel.
Mark McCarthy, Business Development Manager at BlueScope Steel comments: "The Custom Steel model is hugely successful for all involved. Arthur and the team have a really strong building background so they really understand the framing needs of Australian builders."
Custom Steel Frames is always looking for opportunities in other geographical areas for potential manufacturers to adopt the Custom Steel model. If you are interested please contact Arthur on 02 6884 2266.
For further information on TRUECORE® steel, call BlueScope Steel on 1800 022 999 or visit www.truecore.com.au
