Materials & Equipment

Central to our history of quality delivery has been our ability to ensure we have the best quality plant and materials available to complete every aspect of every project we undertake. Our material and equipment planning is built upon our dedication to quality and our supplier management strategies; we manage single source supplier risks and assure quality through a robust review and performance management framework. Our material and equipment resources centre around 3 pillars:

  1. Robust material supply chain management
  2. Rigorous plant and equipment management
  3. Long-term supplier relationships

 



Proactive planning to meet forecasted demand

ABUD implements a proactive material stock management regime which predicts demand and maintains material levels. ABUD determines material needs according to project specifications but also uses our extensive experience to determine a safety factor. Rigorous stock management minimises stock-outs and wastage to ensure continued quality delivery. Material levels are continually tracked and maintained according to forecasts project progress. Minimum material levels are established for our regular clients to guard against the possibility of stock outs and reduce product lead times. This minimum level contains a safety factor of at least 25% above our forecasts to mitigate against unforseen supply chain delays.

STEEL

Steel has unique properties which make it a leading contributor to sustainable construction and to the long-term environmental performance of buildings of all descriptions. And at the end of a building’s life the recovered steel can either be reused or recycled into new steel products.

We source our steel from facilities that are located in Whyalla, South Australia, Melbourne, Victoria, Western Sydney and Newcastle, New South Wales and Brisbane, Queensland. We also source steel from smaller manufacturing and distribution facilities located throughout regional Australia when required.

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Aluminium

Aluminium’s range of unique properties make it the perfect material for a wide range of building applications – meaning that designers and architects can realise their creative and innovative designs for intricate, stable and lightweight structures without concern of warping or high maintenance costs.

Timber

ABUD uses a mixture of Australian hardwoods and plantation pine in our projects (Please see our environmental page for more information). These timber components are coated with oil based stains over water based stains as they provide superior protection for longer periods. Any timber will undergo changes when exposed to the sun and rain. It will lose its natural colour and fade to a silver/grey, its surface will become rough, and splits and cracks could develop if not treated with a protective coat. It is recommended that any protective timber coatings are re-applied to defend against timber deterioration. This should be done every 2-3 years depending on the stain used.

We also use timber treatment process to provide our structures with even more protection.
Our pine products are treated with safe Light Organic Solvent Preservatives (LOSP) to Hazard level 3. This helps prevent and damaged caused by moisture i.e. the growth of mould or fungus. All of our hardwood components are treated with Ammoniacal Copper Quaternary (ACQ) to prevent most forms of timber degradation.

EFC Decking

Originally used in the aircraft, automotive and marine industries “Engineered Fibre Composites” are becoming a more prominent alternative to other materials such as timber and steel.

With EFC’s admiral durability, low maintenance costs, impressive strength-to-weight ratio, and cost effectiveness, EFC products are replacing traditional materials like steel and timber in many types of our structures. These structures include; Boardwalks, shelters and street furniture.