By Casey Neill
A family business in Dandenong South is helping to build one of the world’s most advanced fighter jets.
This project and other international achievements earned AW Bell the Manufacturing Award at the 37th Governor of Victoria Export Awards, presented on Thursday 6 October.
CEO Sam Bell’s grandfather Alan William Bell started the business in Oakleigh in 1952.
“He was a pattern-maker by trade,” he said.
“The company started off as a pattern shop and tool room.
“My father (Geoff) took over in 1983.”
AW Bell moved to Dandenong South in 1997.
“My father has retired three times,” Sam said.
“I took over in November 2014.
“Now he’s as retired as I’ve ever seen him.
“Some weeks don’t see him at all.
“I think he’s happy with the way things are going.
“It’s great to have that resource available to us. We still get him to come and look at jobs.”
Sam explained that the company had two main business streams.
“One is producing investment and sand castings that we machine in-house,” he said.
“That’s probably about 80 per cent of our revenue.”
In the investment arm, they make parts from wax, coat them in ceramics and resins, and melt the wax out to form a mould.
They pour liquid metal inside, break off the mould and clean up the finished part.
Sandcasting involves building a tool from wood and covering it in sand that sets hard to create a mould.
The other is AW Bell machinery, which is entirely export-based.
“We design and supply equipment to the investment casting and sandcasting industries worldwide,” Sam said.
“Sixty per cent is North American. The rest spread between South America, Asia and Europe.
“In North America we are the name that comes to mind when you think of grinding equipment.”
“This year, most likely 15 per cent of our money will come from exports to North America.
“Next year that’s going to grow even further.
“In 2017-‘18 we’ll see about 40 to 50 per cent.”
AW Bell has grown its name in the US by doing the obvious – going to the US.
Sam even spent a year there.
“The only way we can break down those distance barriers is getting in their face and becoming another local supplier,” he said.
He said the travel was also an opportunity to see what the industry was doing.
Geoff saw the writing on the wall for the auto industry in about 2006.
“We started actively chasing more work in the defence industry,” Sam said.
They eyed a more skilled and complex market.
“The type of work that isn’t going to go to China and India, or low-cost countries,” he said.
“It was a lot longer road than what we expected to break into it.
“Normally we’re producing parts within about 18 months.
“It was about seven years to break into the defence industry in the US.”
AW Bell is now producing parts for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
“We are still more competitive than their local sources on the highly complex products,” he said.
“We get face-to-face and help them to solve their problems.
“They don’t see that collaboration with their local suppliers.
“That astounds me.
“To me, it’s just good customer service.”
The F-35 project has opened other opportunities in the defence supply chain.
“We’ve proven ourselves on this project,” he said.
“Normally we come onto a project that’s running behind schedule and with quality issues and turn it around.
“It’s really exciting to see a company based in Melbourne doing what we’re doing, providing high-quality, complex castings for the most technically-advanced fighter jet.
“That’s going to be our platform to really grow the business now.”
Commercial director Vinesh Karan said the company had a US-based broker.
“She’s looking for new opportunities and doing a lot of follow-up correspondence,” he said.
“They feel like they can deal with someone locally.
“In the next five years we’ll need a full-time AW Bell sub-employee over there or a foundry, a replica of our business here.”
