Confident third generation family manufacturer invests in the future
Third generation family tooling and component manufacturing company in Edwardstown, South Australia has successfully focused on alternative business opportunities in advance of the loss of key automotive business and looks to the future with confidence.
“The writing was on the wall some years back that we would ultimately see a dramatic loss of our automotive business and with this in mind we diversified our product range which is now greater than ever,” said Managing Director Ron Miller. “Whilst we have retained some automotive business our product range takes us into many different industries today such as viticulture, food, building trades etc.,” he said.
Following on from the successful purchase of a Fanuc Robocut Wire Cut EDM Machine from Okuma Australia in 2018, Conma Industries has invested in the latest Okuma CNC Vertical Machining Centre. This is a positive step towards upgrading its tool room with highly accurate and advanced technologies, building a strong relationship with Okuma Australia as it moves into the future.
Founded in the 1970’s Conma today employs some 18 personnel and has a positive policy of training future tradespeople with currently one in apprenticeship training and another due to start,
Ben Miller from the Tool Room commented that the choice of the Okuma machine was a ‘no brainer’ given the great name the Okuma brand has in the market for delivering high end precision and quality machines along with the outstanding service support the company provides. “The new machine has 48 tools installed providing great time saving, speed of output, accuracy and much improved efficiency,” said Ben. “It is the largest investment the company has made and it opens up new opportunities for us to undertake work in other areas such as mining and defence in the future and allows us to further diversify our offering going forward.”
Conma Industries services a diverse range of customers from its home base of South Australia plus Western Australia and the Eastern Seaboard along with some indirect export business via its customers. “There is an air of confidence in the market and we are seeing a number of clients bringing component manufacturing back on-shore,” said Ben Miller. “To take advantage of this and enhance manufacturing in Australia we will continue to invest in technology and automation to keep us ahead in component manufacture and metal stamping through quality and efficiency,” he said.
The investment in the future has provided the staff at Conma with greater job security and all the young toolmakers are keen to get their time on the new machine. This young team is also identifying new product opportunities for product range expansion and with advanced technology attracting new customers, there is a bright future for this family business.
Okuma Managing Director, Dean McCarroll commented “Conma Industries is a relatively new customer with a strong relationship with our company now established. It is exciting to see the enthusiasm from management and the engineering floor staff on valuable new opportunities their first Okuma machine is opening up. It is a large commitment for a family business which occupies a brand new facility and we share their confidence in the future,” he said.
