Person welding together two large I beams.

Why Australian Made Is Important

Posted by Chas on

We’ll start this post by admitting we’re pretty biased in our opinion here. After all, we are an Australian commercial construction company. So naturally we’re going to prefer Australian businesses and Australian made products. We get it though, when we have a choice of what to use for building supplies, using foreign made materials can be tempting; but we’re not willing to compromise quality just to save a few dollars, so we’re always careful when sourcing materials.

So why, exactly, is buying Australian made important and why is it in a customer’s best interest to support Australian businesses? Let’s explore.

It Helps Create Australian Jobs

The most obvious and often sited reason for going Australian made is that it help create and encourage Australian jobs. More Australian jobs means a better Australian economy and that’s better for all businesses. For us, if we support Australian businesses, we find that it comes around and helps our business as well. It’s as simple as that!

You Have Quality Guarantees With Australian Made Products

A big advantage to buying local is that you have some pretty good assurances of quality. That’s not to say that a product will be good just because it’s Australian, but if the quality of an Australian product is lacking, it’s easier to follow up with the company that made it. If you’re not satisfied after that, Australian consumer law will likely be on your side.

Take pallet racking, for example. We supply and install a variety of both new and used pallet racking brands, but we often recommend Australian made Colby pallet racking. For warehouse mezzanines, we often use Colby products or Australian made steel. We also custom fabricate anything else we need in our own Australian based factory. What this means for our customers is that we’re easily contactable if there’s a problem with any of our work or with something we supply. We’re located in Dingley Village and work with clients across Victoria. Customers know who we are and we can fix a product if a mistake is made. It doesn’t often happen, but it does give customers peace of mind.

Australian Products Also Adhere To Australian Standards

Staying with pallet racking, it’s important that any racking installed at a business in Australia adheres to relevant Australia Standards like AS4084. As an Australian based company, we know AS4084 and other standards well and can guarantee and certify that anything we build and install adheres to the relevant standard. If it doesn’t, it’s on us to fix. If, for example, a business orders pallet racking from an overseas supplier that only says that the racking adheres to standards, there’s little recourse if it turns out that it doesn’t.

Adherence to the right Australian Standards is the same for everything else we build or custom fabricate, whether it’s a mezzanine for an office, custom fabricated racking, or anything else. And you just can’t get that sort of guarantee with something made overseas.

 

Pallet Racking Installation

Can You Install Your Own Pallet Racking?

Posted by Chas on

Here at A1 Precision Solutions, we both supply and install pallet racking. We understand that for many businesses, pallet racking can be a significant expense. Because of this, a lot of businesses look to save money where they can when it comes to their racking. For some this may mean buying used pallet racking. Used pallet racking can be a good option for businesses on a budget, although it can sometimes limit what’s available when it comes to warehouse storage.

Other businesses often look to install their pallet racking themselves, and we often get the question “can we do this?”

The short answer is yes, you can install your own pallet racking. However, there’s a “but” to consider.

Although installing pallet racking isn’t a difficult job, there are a few challenges that businesses may face in the installation process. Firstly, making sure the business has the right tools to install the racking. This may not be a challenge for some businesses, but for others, they may not have the right equipment to properly secure the pallet racking to concrete floors (for example). For smaller racking set ups, self installation may not be a problem, but as warehouses get bigger, more pallet racking is required, and often higher pallet racking. Installing something like this requires special equipment like scissor lifts and safety concerns about working at height, something a business may not be able to do.

The True Limitations Of Installing Your Own Pallet Racking

Even if a business has the required equipment to install pallet racking themselves, the true limitations in the self installation may not be immediately obvious.

Firstly, a business needs to consider how good a job its own team will do at installing pallet racking themselves. A business may have top notch warehouse staff, but how much pallet racking installation experience do they have? Pallet racking installation isn’t a complex job, but like anything, experience helps. Workers with lack of experience may take longer and make small mistakes that need to be corrected in the future. Additionally, while workers are erecting pallet racking, they’re not doing other tasks required to keep a business operating, so in a lot of ways, a business owner is paying for workers time to put up the pallet racking and then paying them again to catch up on their regular duties. The savings can quickly go away.

However, the biggest issue when it comes to pallet racking self installation is ensuring it’s certified for safety in line with relevant Australian Standards, notably AS4048:2023. Not only does AS4048:2023 say that a pallet racking inspection needs to happen at least once a year, it also needs to be certified as safe once it’s put up. If a company puts pallet racking up themselves, how is it supposed to be certified? Many companies won’t certify pallet racking if they know nothing about the installation itself, making it cost more time and money finding a company that will. With that in mind, if a business installs pallet racking themselves without completely understanding the Australian Standards, they may make mistakes that need to be fixed or rectified before the pallet racking can be certified; again, costing more time and money.

Get Your Pallet Racking Professionally Installed

Although it’s certainly possible for a business to install pallet racking itself, it’s usually not the best idea to do so. There may be some initial money savings, at least on paper, but those savings can quickly go away when you consider taking staff away from their other duties and their experience. At best, the pallet racking will be installed properly, but getting it certified may be difficult. At worst, the pallet racking won’t have been installed correctly, which will require even more time and money to get it fixed.

If you need help with your pallet racking installation, contact us today.

A good looking office fit-out.

Is It Time For An Office Refurb?

Posted by Chas on

Regardless of what your business does, it’s important to have a good office. An office needs to be comfortable for employees and look professional for when clients come in. Because of that, an office can’t just be a big room full of desks; it needs a professional office fit-out in order to look good and be presentable.

That being said, even the best office fit-out can become dated or worn out after 10 years or so. Styles and fashions change over time, which may make a modern office space look old. With that in mind, high use areas of the office like entrances, receptions, break areas, and toilets can quickly suffer from wear and tear issues that need repair or replacements.

These issues are often a slow process and difficult to notice. Because of this, business owners, facilities managers, and employees often don’t see a problem with their office fit-out until things get quite bad. When this happens, it’s often easy to jump straight to wanting a full office fit-out. While this can be a good idea, it can be an option that has businesses put off the work because of the expense and the time it will take.

An option that doesn’t go quite as far as a full fit-out is an office refurbishment or upgrade. The scope of a refurbishment (or refurb for short) completely depends on what’s needed/wanted, a business’ budget, and project timelines. An office refurb can be used to buy time until a larger fit-out is done, or simply to update and office and fix some worn out items.

The scope of an office refurbishment can vary depending on what’s needed, and sometimes this scope is narrowed to only a few things. That’s fine; whatever it takes to create a more modern and comfortable office for everyone.

What Parts Of An Office Should Be Part Of A  Refurbishment?

What parts of an office should be part of a refurbishment really depends on what’s needed: what needs to be modernised or what has worn out? We have some ideas for more common areas that often need a refurbishment.

New paint throughout the office can go a long way. Fresh paint can brighten an office and, with a different shade of colour, can really make an area feel brand new. This can be combined with new carpeting to create an even more dramatic change in the office. It’s simple, but it’s also a big change that will make the office feel new again for everyone.

Kitchen and break areas are another good area for refurbishment. These areas are often high traffic, so suffer from earlier wear and tear than other areas of an office. In addition to this, although employees usually spend most of their day at their desks, having a good break area is often more important to them. So having a clean a modern kitchen area with a great place to take a break is a good choice i