The past year has been a busy one for safety systems manufacturer and APPMA member Axelent Australia. The company moved into a new facility, it is hiring new staff, and bringing new products to market.
Axelent makes equipment that deals with the safety side of manufacturing, distribution and storage. It makes barriers that can go around hazards, manages pedestrian traffic, keep products secure in locked enclosures, or protect facilities and products from forklift damage. Axelent Australia offers a complete safety concept for the Australia and New Zealand markets.
Drew Hoxey, Axelent’s national sales director for Australia and New Zealand tells PKN that the move to the new, 1400-square-metre facility doubled Axelent’s storage capacity after the company relocated about 18 months ago.
“In our old facility, the packaging and despatch business was working at 110 to 115 per cent capacity,” Hoxey said.
“After moving into the new facility, and having modern pallet wrappers, the workload for the guys came down to around 60 per cent. This is mostly because the workspace was more user friendly, and everything they need is ready at hand. These efficiencies have given us a lot of room for growth in productivity.”
Scan it in
More productivity gains are also on the horizon. Hoxey said in the coming three to six months everything in the warehouse would be electronically scanned on and off the pallets. “This will optimise stocking, and also ensure everything turns up to a site exactly as ordered,” he said.
Another bright spot for Axelent Australia has been sales volumes, which have been on the rise.
“Our sales have, in the past two years, gone up by about 80 per cent,” Hoxey said.
“So, to help keep the upward sales trending going, we put on two new business development managers – one in New South Wales (Rob Quinn), and one in Victoria (Matthew Peacock). They both took up their roles in December.
Hoxey said the company is also looking to hire a business development manager in Queensland.
“The idea behind creating these roles is to have local representation in the areas to not only grow sales, but also to give back-up and support to our customers,” he said.
New products
Hoxey said the company is developing a detachable door that can be moved completely away from its opening.
“The door is mounted on a platform with wheels, which is fully removable. So, you can detach the door from its hinges, and then you can wheel it to wherever you want to store it,” he said.
“One of the advantages to having a detachable door is you only need a small amount of space to take it off and wheel it somewhere. With conventional doors, you need an area for it to swing open, or somewhere for it to slide into.
“The idea behind the detachable door is that you can have a maximum opening with a minimum amount of fencing,” Hoxey said.
Safety and security are important in any operation. Axelent Australia is continuing to deliver innovative barrier solutions that help industry stay safe and secure.
