Injection moulder shows Australian innovation alive and well

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic began, there were plenty of doom-and-gloom stories about Australian manufacturing. But there are some great innovations taking place in the manufacturing sector, with Australian injection moulding and innovation facilitator Holloway Group forging new partnerships to produce a new product for the building industry.

Holloway Group is one of the few Australian-based plastic injection moulding companies that can produce large goods. So when MD and owner Matthew Holloway saw a concrete void filler product that was being imported from China, he contacted the owner to see if they could do business.

“As a growing organisation, we are always looking for new opportunities to expand into new industries and to form new business partnerships. I read about Biax Foundations’ concrete void filler product in an article on LinkedIn and knew straight away that it was something we could manufacture,” said Holloway.

Up until that point, Biax Foundations was manufacturing the product in China and importing it into Australia. The freight costs and blown-out lead times made this difficult to sustain.

“Not only are we manufacturing the Biax product, but we’ve assisted with the improved design of the void filler, and will be assisting with their supply chain and distribution. Our engineers and industrial designers assisted with a finite element analysis (FEA) and were able to simulate the product using CAD and produce real-time data. The second series design that will be supplied from Holloway Group is a much more innovative product, lighter and stronger than the incumbent design.

“The larger of the two moulds for the Biax product weighs eight tonnes and is 1 m x 1 m x 900 mm, which gives an idea of the scope of this product. That mould, which has just been commissioned, will be used in our largest injection moulding machine to produce the void fillers,” added Holloway.

The Biax system is a new product that provides a framework and fills a void for concrete slabs in the construction industry. Made from 100% recycled polypropylene, it is connected using the keystone clips that form a grid. Products made from polystyrene have been used in a similar way in the construction industry for many years.

“The Biax system has several advantages over its polystyrene competitors, including its compact nesting ability for freight and storage, and it is not as lightweight so does not blow around on building sites. When foam is cut onsite it also ends up in waterways and waste streams and the Biax system eliminates this issue,” said Holloway.

The Holloway Group-manufactured Biax Foundations pods will begin rolling off the production line in a few weeks.