By CASEY NEILL
“THE idea of a structural shelter is to give people hope.”
Corex national sales and marketing manager Marc Aliotti explained that the emergency shelters the Dandenong South company helped Maddel International create provided more than just a roof over someone’s head.
“If you give people hope, they start to help themselves and have a spirit to actually progress and to live and to keep going with their families,” he said.
“What happens with tents is they tend to end up looking like just a piece of cloth over tens of thousands of people and it all becomes very depressing.
“They, basically, need something to grab onto.”
Corex will have the polypropylene flat-pack emergency house on display at the Smart Manufacturing ’16 showcase in central Dandenong on Tuesday 17 May.
The plastics company started working with Maddel on the project in 2009.
The idea started in the Brisbane building industry in the late ’90s and Maddel formed in 2007.
Its focus is on disaster survivors and their ability to rebuild.
Corex came up with a suitable plastic sheet and cut it into shape.
“Corex built the first few huts with Ian Harrison, who is Maddel’s engineer,” Mr Aliotti said.
“What he needed was a bit more of a spine in the product.
“They ended up coming across a business in Dandenong South called Hearthill.
“Hearthill now do the steel fabrication and part of what they call bending or creasing of the sheets, and the actual assembly.
“These flat pack down so they can be lifted by two people and easily transported to isolated locations.
“There’s a lot of thought that’s gone into this. It’s very much a complete unit.
“It’s gaining some serious momentum.”
He said most interest came from the natural disaster-prone Philippines, Fiji, and some areas of the Middle East.
“This, we believe, has a lot of opportunity to change people’s lives,” he said.
Smart Manufacturing ’16 – Dandenong and South East Melbourne on Show is an expo-style event designed to promote the region’s capability and capacity.
Visit www.smartmanufacturing.com.au for more information.
