Manufacturing News

Aalborg Industries appoints new Managing Director

Aalborg Industries Denmark has announced the appointment of Graham Roach as Managing Director of their Australian subsidiary, Aalborg Industries Pty Ltd, based as North Wyong.

He succeeds Jack MacDonald who was one of the founders of the company, (formerly known as Gosfern Pty Ltd, bought out by Aalborg Industries two years ago) and retired on 30 June.

Mr Roach has worked in various companies within the construction industry and the oil & gas industry. Besides Australia, he has worked in New Zealand, the Fiji Islands and China where he has demonstrated his managerial competences within international and technical complex business activities. He comes from a job as managing director and CEO of the Australian company Orient Resource Holdings Ltd which offers engineering solutions for steel pipe protection, steel & reinforced concrete structure and equipment in marine environments.

Mr Roach said Aalborg Industries’s Head Office in Denmark had given him a mandate to grow the business and to establish a new Research and Development Department within the company at North Wyong to develop new products and which would be funded from Denmark.

Aalborg Industries' North Wyong operation in FY2008 saw a turnover of AUS$25 million, all of which was export, and Mr Roach said that he is aiming to increase that by 50% over the next three years. They employ a staff of around seventy people.

“One problem that has always faced the company and one which continues to concern us is the availability of skilled staff in the engineering trades,” Mr Roach said. The company presently employs five apprentices.

Minister opens Warnervale wristband manufacturer

RFID n Print Pty Ltd has relocated their specialist wristband, label and tag manufacturing business to a larger 150sqm factory and office to Warnervale Business Park. The move became necessary to accommodate the installation of the first Hewlett Packard digital press with HP Smart Label technology in Australia and only the third in the world presently in use.

RFID n Print was originally established at Morisset three years ago and today exports a range of hi-tech wristbands to venues overseas. Managing Director Bruce Hegan said that the move to Warnervale had been made for two reasons. Firstly, the new press has a considerable power demand when in use and this could not be supplied at Morisset. Secondly, RFID n Print competes in a market which demands fast delivery. “Morisset is in the Newcastle transport area which means all freight destined for Sydney has to be delivered from Newcastle and this takes an extra day. From Warnervale we get a faster air delivery service which is important to our customers." he said.

"RFID’s product range has been created to support the specialised areas of control and security for wristbands and tags. We are determined to provide products that are made in Australia, and lead the way for security, marketing, advertising and promotions." he said.

RFID n Print have recently developed an innovative new laser wristband offering full colour, database, barcodes and even individual names that can be added to each band. One customer, Atlantis Theme Park in the Bahamas, buys two million wristbands per year which are used for access control to their various venues and provide a cashless payment system for visitors. Among other customers they are the sole supplier to SAI Global for product certification tags.

The facility was opened by the Minister for State & Regional Development, The Hon. Tony Kelly MLC in early August.

New business to manufacture peanut and nut free bakery products

Tammy Portelli-Alon and Claude Portelli have established a new bakery business manufacturing peanut and nut free cakes, tortes and biscuits to cater for people with peanut and nut allergies.

The new business will market products under the brand name NO PEANUTS NO WORRIES® and wholesale to cafes, restaurants, functions, day cares, schools and private homes from a new factory in the North Wyong Industrial Estate.

Mr Portelli is a pastrycook with extensive experience in the cake industry. Mrs Portelli-Alon said that the idea to make and market a peanut and nut free bakery product stemmed from their experience with their 6-year old son who was diagnosed, at the age of 2 years old, with a peanut and nut allergy. “We buy only products that are safe to our son. We discovered that cakes and cookies that are “clean” from nuts and peanuts, are really hard to find. This problem led us to the idea of producing cakes and biscuits that will be not only good quality but also free from peanuts and nuts," she said.

Back Send us your comments