Above: Product styling technician Ana Bzovsky tests the viscosity of a floor coating.
By Shaun Inguanzo
While shoppers tread every day on Armstrong Industries’ vinyl flooring, the innovative company has been working hard to reduce its own footprint.
The Braeside-based company manufactures and sells vinyl flooring to a variety of common places around Australia.
Supermarkets are not the only places to have the resilient vinyl flooring installed – TAFE colleges, schools, universities, call centres, libraries, clubs, airports and other mostly public buildings have also been given the Armstrong treatment.
And while millions of people use the vinyl products without a thought as to how they’re manufactured, Armstrong Industries is this month celebrating its induction into the Victorian Manufacturing Hall of Fame.
Armstrong vice-president Michael Jenkins said he believed the company had been inducted for its innovative environmental approach that saw it recycle plastic bags and scrap from products to make its vinyl flooring.
“We are the second-largest user of recycled PVC in Australia,” Mr Jenkins said.
“Our number one issue is our environmental footprint, and we have won seven awards relating to our low environmental impact.”
Mr Jenkins said Armstrong employed 240 people with a strong representation from Greater Dandenong’s ethnic communities.
Like most 21st-century manufacturers, Mr Jenkins said Armstrong had technical staff who tested and analysed the vinyl flooring to ensure it was of high quality in both design and appearance.
