Despite all of the grim news headlines about job losses and new taxes, Javac is upbeat and determined to maintain a positive outlook.
The refrigeration process technology specialist's managing director, Andrew Davies, believes hype and negativity is a cancer that spreads throughout the industry.
“Yes, times are tough but that’s when the men are sorted from the boys,” he said. “To sit back and do nothing is failure, and that word is not in our vocabulary.”
Davies firmly believes in the “build it and they will come” philosophy and is currently in the process of moving Javac to a new facility in the Stamford Business Estate in Rowville, Victoria, that is 40 per cent larger than its current location.
“We have put our money where our mouth is, investing in property, facilities, equipment and most importantly people,” he said.
Javac is moving to a 5500 square metre building which features a showroom and training facility and has dedicated areas for production, development, warehousing and administration.
The new design includes plenty of windows for the factory staff to enjoy a lot more natural light.
Davies said 18 full-time staff will relocate to the facility at the end of this month.
He said the company is actively looking to expand and is searching for more service and sales staff to meet demand, although he does admit Australia’s manufacturing sector is under enormous pressure.
“But to stay ahead of the pack globally we must innovate; become faster and smarter than our international competition,” he said. “Javac is here for the long term; we must build a solid foundation for the next 20 years.”
This optimism is partly due to recent export opportunities in Malaysia and Thailand. These markets are driving exports but Davies also predicts plenty of growth locally with the release of Reco GT.
Javac says the Reco GT unit is the world’s only dedicated refrigerant recovery machine for the emergency pump down of building chillers.
He expects big demand for this product for both new buildings and the retrofitting of existing buildings.
In Western Australia recently a Reco GT unit detected a leak and shut down the chiller, leading to the recovery of several hundred kilograms of refrigerant and substantial savings for the client.