Engineering to streamline production processes to keep Australian companies globally competitive was rewarded by the Society of Automotive Engineers – Australasia ninth annual Automotive Engineering Excellence Awards.
“These Awards recognise excellence in automotive engineering, manufacturing, product design, and quality to encourage higher industry standards, and to increase public awareness of the Australian automotive industry,” said SAE-A President Max Gillard.
Boss Bronze Award
The 2006 Bronze Automotive Engineering Excellence Award was presented to Melbourne based Boss Polymer Technologies for their entry of the Boss ExWeld self adhesive system – an economic alternative to heat activated pressure sensitive tapes.
The Judging Panel’s comment on the Boss entry said: “Ease of installation and quality of automotive weather seals and polymer mouldings in the automotive assembly process is a perennial problem for automotive manufacturers worldwide. Boss Polymer Technologies locally developed an innovative system that uses inexpensive generic doublesided pressure sensitive adhesive tape bonded to the polymer moulding during the extrusion process.
“This unique manufacturing system has resulted in significant benefits to automotive assembly processes and has flow on advantages to the construction, leisure and white-goods industries. The principal advantages are higher quality, reduced assembly costs and much improved Occupational Health and Safety issues on the assembly line.”
Reducing costs with skilled engineering
In his Awards commentary, Chairman of the SAE-A Judging Panel, David Ford, reflected on recent reports about declining Australian manufacturing and of companies closing, due to the difficulties of competing in the global market. “I believe that this is an unnecessarily pessimistic and negative response, because if that is what you believe, then that is what will happen!” said David Ford.
“Smaller companies, which do not have the required levels of technical, management or entrepreneurial skills, will struggle. The solution for them is not to complain and ask for more support or shut the door, but to go out and obtain those skills and then compete. Experienced professional engineers with business skills are what are needed throughout the manufacturing industry,” said David Ford.
Boss Polymer Technologies engineering partnership with customers is an example of a plastics industry manufacturer responding to the international challenge with new and better products and to join the global market and compete overseas as well as locally.