As transport continues to create big opportunities for manufacturers across the country, Brisbane-based manufacturer HC-ATM Group is assisting Australian and international truck companies through innovative design and know-how. By Carole Goldsmith.
HC-ATM prides itself on manufacturing high-quality truck, trailer and tooling aftermarket parts for the heavy transport industry. Trading under the name of Australian Truck & Trailer Parts, it is regarded as an essential supplier to Australian distributors and major transport brands, and has experienced an increase in demand for its products during COVID lockdowns.
Directors Peter Henderson and Greg Hudson first acquired the business’ assets in 2010 from a Brisbane manufacturer that was closing. Both Henderson and Hudson had worked together in IT, before creating Australian Tool Manufacturers, as the business was known then. Henderson and Hudson are still the majority investors in the business, and together with Murray Curti running daily operations, they form a team that has been able to implement advanced manufacturing concepts with their key staff. The wide range of products made in their factory can compete with imports both on price and quality.
Henderson says that when Curti came onboard, it was to help them develop and streamline the manufacturing design and operations side of the business: “Murray, who’s our Operations Director, is a trade-qualified boiler-maker and certified welder, and he’s very talented in finding alternative, cost-saving solutions to manufacture and solve existing problems with OEM parts.”
Curti adds: “My previous working history required me to go into companies to problem-solve and implement solutions to existing problems. When I came onboard at HC-ATM, we invested in advanced manufacturing technology and machinery, which we continue to do today and for the foreseeable future.”
“We are a problem-solving manufacturing company, number one,” says Henderson. “Murray is contacted daily by transport operators, so he goes out to help them with suspensions and other components. He offers a solution to their problems, then comes back to redesign it in-house, and then manufactures a prototype for trial. We sell worldwide and are very competitive in price, against the imported variants coming in from Europe, China and elsewhere, as many of parts don’t stand up to the Australian conditions and roads.”
Speaking on one issue that they solved recently for an international truck manufacturer, Curti explains: “When their V8 trucks were pulling heavy loads up the hills, they had a lot of problems with the manifold cracking. The manifold is an important keg in the truck’s exhaust system. Every six months they had a costly manifold replacement, plus the trucks were off the road, being repaired.
“The manifold was cracking because of casting limitations, so we redesigned and machined a new manifold that takes away any limitations that manufacturing previously had, by making it from a billet of steel on our Okuma five-axis machine. The transport company is very happy, as the manifold we have made for their trucks will last for many years to come. There is now a high interest in this manifold and the potential to make other manifolds for different brands and purposes in other industries.”
HC-ATM has conducted a lot of R&D and one area of focus is in the redesign of rubber engine mount suspension systems for its customers.
“We were contacted by a large cleaning and rubbish removal contractor that had started buying their trucks from an international truck manufacturer,” says Curti. “The two original rubber engine mounts that were supplied in those trucks became faulty quickly. The cleaning contractor sent the truck manufacturer to us to solve the problem. They were using a rubber engine mount on the engine, which is not suitable for Australia’s climate. I redesigned it using a strong polyurethane polymer instead of rubber – it’s been a great success for all concerned.
Business is good HC-ATM at the moment. Currently the company is struggling to keep up with the demand for its products and services. It will be increasing employee numbers from its existing team of 16 people in the near future.
“Our biggest problem is securing our raw advanced material, most of which comes from Europe, so there are delays on the docks, because of COVID restrictions,” adds Henderson. “However, COVID has been very good for our business as a lot more clients are now buying our Australian-made components, because of the delays in getting imported parts into this country. So that’s a positive for our company and for Australian-made.”