Parts-makers pick up $6.5m in funding

PART-MAKERS Australian Arrow and Chassis Brakes International (Australia) have each secured a maximum $1 million in government funding in the first round of grants under the $30 million Automotive New Markets Program (ANMP).

Launched in August, the program is jointly funded by the federal and Victorian governments – with South Australia providing administrative support – and is designed to help local components manufacturers compete against overseas suppliers and diversify into products for other industries.

Ten companies, including Bosch and Hella, this week were awarded funding totalling $6.5 million.

With facilities in South Australia and Victoria, Australian Arrow will use the $1 million to commission a “full service local electrical wiring harness” from design and engineering through to manufacture.

Chassis Brakes International (CBI), which was recently set up after the sale of Bosch Chassis Systems to US private equity group KPS Capital Partners, will use its $1 million in taxpayer funding to design and validate automotive braking components for the Asian region.

Left: Victorian minister for manufacturing, exports and trade Richard Dalla-Riva.

This project will also potentially benefit Ford Australia, which produces rotor castings for CBI at its Geelong engine plant before they are machined at CBI’s facility in Lonsdale, South Australia.

Melbourne-based Hella Australia was awarded $500,000 for a high-intensity LED floodlamp, while Robert Bosch (Australia), also with its local headquarters in Melbourne, picked up $500,000 to further develop its Back Over Avoidance (BOA) accident prevention system.

BOA has already reached prototype stage and was recently demonstrated in a Ford Territory SUV at an event marking 20 years of operation of the company’s local chassis systems control division.

As GoAuto has reported, BOA does not rely on a reversing camera but instead integrates a basic ultrasound system with the vehicle’s electronic stability control system.

MTM Automotive, which provides car parts to Ford, Holden and Toyota locally, and General Motors globally, has received $400,000 to boost its fledgling Tomcar compact all-terrain vehicle operations, which are now underway.

Embracing the notion that parts-makers need to find work outside the struggling local car industry, Geelong-based metal components supplier Backwell IXL – established in 1858 – has received $860,000 to “provide Australian-made parts for the installation of the next generation of large-scale photovoltaic solar plants designed for Australia’s remote regions”.

Another Victorian-based firm, precision metal parts-maker Ceramet, was awarded $400,000 for a “solar energy component project”, while Australian Precision Technologies, based in Melbourne’s outer-east, has been allocated $650,000 for the introduction of “leading edge technology for the production of complex components for the automotive, aerospace, defence and mining sectors”.

The ‘Precise Global’ project management division of South Australian parts-maker Precise Advanced Manufacturing was handed $600,000 for the “development of niche services aligned to core capability and commercialisation of own products”, while another South Australian-based firm, Quality Plastics & Tooling, has won $580,000 to purchase electric moulding machines with robotics and automation.

The first round of ANMP funding comes two weeks after the temporary closure of Autodom Limited threatened to bring local vehicle production to a halt, which in turned forced GM Holden and Ford Australia to underwrite the embattled parts-maker’s debt of around $6.5 million.

Victorian minister for manufacturing, exports and trade, Richard Dalla-Riva, highlighted that the funding would see automotive parts-makers’ apply their capabilities to diverse sectors including defence, aerospace, mining and transport and logistics.

“The grants enable our automotive suppliers to build their commercial base while maintaining the capacity to service existing automotive customers,” he said.

South Australian minister for manufacturing, innovation and trade, Tom Koutsantonis, added: “Assisting component makers to diversify and scale up will ensure South Australia continues to have an advanced and innovative manufacturing industry well into the future.

“The initial round of applications made under the $30 million, four-year ANMP has demonstrated that there is a determination in our automotive industry to diversify operations and the strength to make it happen.”