South Australian based manufacturing firm, Castech, has just delivered its first order of specialised castings to defence ship building organisation, ASC.
ASC is Australia’s largest specialised defence ship building organisation, with naval design and engineering resources unparalleled within Australia’s defence industry.
Castech continues to work closely with ICN in South Australia (SA) to identify and broaden its exposure to procurement officers in the Australian defence sector.
‘Five years ago, the defence sector for us was unexplored territory,’ Castech Business Development Manager Jeff Green said. ‘ICN, in particular Defence Industry Supply Consultant, David Land, were instrumental in opening the right corporate doors for us’.
ICN have been working closely with ASC to identify capable Australian supplier for part of their Collins Class Sustainment Program.
The new castings will be fitted to the Collins Class submarines at the ASC Osborne facility with two more orders now in progress.
Castech is a privately owned company that has forged a reputation as a leading supplier of castings to its traditional markets in mining and engineering. They are now in the midst of one of the most exciting growth periods in the company’s 67-year history.
format_quote We didn’t dip our toe into the defence sector. Instead we were given the opportunity to dive right in with this major submarine contract. But before we took the plunge, we worked closely with ASC to ensure all our processes and systems met the highest possible standards and their specific requirements.format_quote
‘Up until now we’ve been a silent achiever and relatively unknown outside our more traditional sectors’, said Jeff.
‘ICN is helping get us on the radar of major national and international defence companies and there are some very positive developments on the horizon both in maritime and on land’.
The ASC contract was a major win for Castech. Because of this, they now have access to a new sector and have a strong long-term growth outlook.
‘Thanks to the support of ASC, we are now in the thick of the action with our first major defence contract and a long-term growth outlook’, said Jeff. ‘The strong partnership with ASC has given us the opportunity to maintain profitable business growth as well as give our local sub-contractors ongoing work’.
The rigorous standards required, in being a defence industry supplier, have also given Castech the opportunity to review and improve their own operations. The results are technical improvements and process improvements as well as workforce upskilling, putting Castech in good a position for future work.
‘This has generated even greater benefits to the business – not just for our defence prospects, but also right across target industry sectors. It’s been a very thorough process but we’re now on an expansion path that previously was not open to us’, said Jeff.
‘With the improvements that Castech have made in their processes to meet defence requirements and the experience that they will gain from supplying to ASC, I believe the next stage is for Castech to grow their defence business and then look at export markets in the defence sector’, said David Land.
Castech are in discussions with other major companies and see defence becoming a key market for them in the coming years.
‘With the downturn in the mining sector and in general engineering, the subsequent reduction in demand for our castings meant that the ASC contract could not have come at a better time for us and it has given us a firm direction for our future at Castech’, said Jeff.
