The Baldini™ Floating Axle
In 1986, John Baldini was a Tasmanian
bee keeper suffering a strain injury to his back. Faced with
the prospect of having to give up his beloved bee keeping,
John invented a floating axle for his trolley, which could
greatly reduce effort required to operate it. His back injury
subsequently improved and John was able to continue with his
business. He had a school teacher friend, Craig Storay, who
was so impressed with the OH&S benefits of this invention that
he offered to find investors and commercialise it. They were
joined by engineer, Peter Schnackenberg, who refined the axle
mechanism. Craig found companies in Australia, USA and Japan
which were very impressed with the strain reduction and
productivity benefits of John’s invention and were
subsequently licensed to manufacture trolleys / hand trucks
incorporating the Baldini™ Floating Axle.
OH&S Award
In 2002 these products were entered in a competition
run by the Queensland Government. The competition being for
innovations which improved work place safety and productivity.
Austec Innovations received a manufacturer’s award of Special
Commendation for its trolleys fitted with the Baldini™
Floating Axle. |
|
| |
| |
| |
|
|

Moving Australia by Design
School teacher turns businessman
Not satisfied with the quality of products initially produced by the
Australian licensee, Craig Storay decided to set up a manufacturing
business himself first called Australian Technology Products P/L and
later shortened to Austec Innovations P/L. It then became the exclusive
Australian licensee of the Baldini™ Floating Axle. Craig decided to
develop a niche market by manufacturing trolleys to an exceptionally
high quality standard, with greater load capacity than competing
products. He developed user friendly frame designs and accessory
products, such as TROLLEY PAL™ trolley pallets, and the DRUM HANDLE™
tool to further improve work place safety and productivity. All products
quickly became sought after in a market inundated with cheap, low
quality trolleys which were not suited to our industrial conditions.
Our Factory
All
fabrication work has been carried out by highly skilled tradesmen, in
our associated Thai factory since 1997. Assembly and final quality
checks are completed in Australia before sale. We use a zero fault
quality management system to ensure our customers get the highest
quality products at world competitive prices. We are very pleased to
say, also, that all the factory workers enjoy modern working conditions.
In fact, their working conditions are better than many similar
engineering works in Australia.
|