New facility doubles Norweld production

AUSTRALIAN off-road canopy and tray manufacturer, Norweld, has opened the doors to its new factory on Brisbane’s northside proving Australian manufacturing success stories are still possible.

The new facility is located in Brendale, Queensland, which has become a hub for the manufacture and distribution of aftermarket 4x4 parts and accessories - home to powerhouse Australian companies like TJM and, now, Norweld.

“Brendale is where it’s all happening in the 4x4 space,” said Norweld director, Jaime McIntosh.

“This is our first time fabricating outside of Cairns, but Brisbane is our biggest market.”

The facility covers 2367sqm and, while much of that space will be used for production purposes, the site will also serve as Norweld’s head office and flagship showroom location.

Norweld staff hosted tours of the new factory across the day, which is structured around an innovative new low-waste manufacturing line that is production ready. State-of-the-art machinery, like a high-speed CNC and press brake, was on show for visitors touring the factory.

A large number of partner companies turned up with their latest off-road builds and products, with displays from Pro Touring Concepts, Mick Tighe 4x4 & Outdoor, Patriot Campers, Maxtrax, ARB, JMACX and more.

“The turnout is awesome and the guys did an awesome job organising it all,” Jaime McIntosh said.

“And the same goes for our partners that have shown up. We like to have good partners and to help foster Australian manufacturing together.

The manufacturer’s heavy-duty trays will be produced at the new site, as part of a phased production plan, while canopies will continue to be built at the Cairns factory.

“Our phased plan gets us up to 40 trays per week out of here,” Mr McIntosh said.

“We will also take on more staff too and will probably be at 40 people here by full production.

Since 2015, Mr McIntosh says he has gone from six staff to more than 120, and that number is set to continue growing as production ramps up at the new facility.

“We really started focusing our energy on it in 2015, but we’re doing 1000 trays and canopies a year and because they are built to last - most are still out there,” he said.

The new factory will double current tray production but Mr McIntosh says his customers often want to upgrade existing trays or fit them to different vehicles, which will also be possible at the new facility.

“That’s the beauty of these, if you move from a HiLux to a Ranger, all you have to do is a set of mounts and a fuel filler kit,” he said.

“We’ve started to do quite a few more of those.”

A major announcement on the day was an all-new heavy-duty tray, displayed on the well-known ‘Bull79’ Landcruiser.

While the new tray design was teased at the grand opening event, Mr McIntosh also hinted at a new canopy design that could be modular allowing buyers to build their own dream setup.

“We’re looking at different options for canopies, potentially even modular fitouts” he said, without giving too much away.

The sky is the limit for the Queensland-based manufacturer with unprecedented output potential at its new facility, as well as the new tray design and modular canopy system on the horizon.