INDUSTRY LEADERS FORUM
Warwick Lorenz Managing Director, Australian Pump Industries What will be the immediate focus for Aussie Pumps in 2021?
How was 2020 for Aussie Pumps? Frankly, we found 2020 extremely stimulating. The challenge of having to face something as dramatic as the coronavirus gave us opportunity to better understand the role pressure cleaning equipment can play in hygiene. We fast tracked engineering developments like our new hot wash Sizzler, conscious of the need for a topquality high-performance hot water machine. Single phase and built like a tank, it was put on the market for under $5000. That was a big breakthrough and we found it sold into a wide range of applications from aged care homes to hire companies, schools, dairies, and food processing plants. We did not really understand the potential until the World Health Organization announced hot water at 60o and above effectively will kill the virus.
How did Aussie Pumps adapt to the impact of the pandemic? Again, the motivation was to help people. To deliver products fast that could effectively help to fight the virus, meant taking radical action to build production numbers up. For example, our AB30 Pocket Rocket 3000psi Honda powered pressure cleaner sales went through the roof. This Australian innovation, conceived, designed, and built in Australia put cheap imports to shame. We simply put more features into the machine and sold it at a reasonable price. Innovations like these are driven by perceived customer needs. That drives our consistent program of surveying customer groups, particularly in the cleaning industry. 24 INCLEAN January / February 2021
For us, the big challenge is beating coronavirus. Although there are touted vaccines, we think this isn’t just an Australian problem but very much one of huge international proportions. On that basis, refining our cleaning range, particularly accessories to use with cold, hot wash, and steam cleaners, that make jobs easier, faster, and safer, is our priority. Our design team is working hard finessing our existing product range and developing new products that are going to not only help us to control the virus but also delivery better results for the folk on the ground. We want customers to be able to carry out pressure washing and vacuuming safely, efficiently, and of course profitably. In fact, the profitability goes up with safety and efficiency. For example, using an Aussir Tele Wand to clean awnings or windows in the exterior of a building with a 6m reach, means no ladders – removing a major potential hazard. It also means the operator is able to reach the job more easily, thus doing a better finish and at the same time, doing it faster and with more convenience.
What do you expect will be the big product trends of 2021? Again, we believe this revolves around COVID. The cleaning industry has evolved over the last 25 years in an amazing way. Although there are some highly professional big operators, the backbone of the industry is the people on the ground who perform a myriad of cleaning tasks. We are in the process of developing a 24-volt wet/dry vacuum cleaner with a Microweb 99.9 per cent filtration system, that can be operated inside a dump truck or any mobile application where only 24 volt is available. That means operators can
clean the truck before a change of shift, again a great precaution against not only dust, germs etc but will play its part in the war against coronavirus.
Looking to the future both short and long term what do you see as far as the adjustments the global cleaning industry must embrace? We don’t think there are any massive new ideas coming out of cleaning. Of course, all of the major manufacturers in the world are working, just like we are, to produce more efficient machines, that get the job done faster, and at the same provide better value for money. Third-world products have flooded the market are often found to be unreliable, poor quality and can also result in real OH&S breaches. That is a big thing as OH&S should be the number one priority of all cleaning operators. When it comes to pressure cleaners, we fully support the new safety standards that require operators to be professionally trained before using high pressure cleaning equipment. We produce a Class A operator training course, which is freely available to everybody in the industry. What we want is safer operation and yet we often see pressure cleaners being operated by folk who have absolutely zero training! Professional pressure cleaners, that’s not the ones you buy at big box stores, are the ones that really get the job done efficiently and safely. Nobody wants to waste time driving a pressure cleaner for 5 or 6 hours when the job can be done in half an hour to an hour with the right equipment. Therefore, training the operator to use those more capable machines in a safer way is so important. Mind you, you can injure yourself even with a big box store special if you are careless and not properly trained.