A reflective insulation manufacturer has taken out a prestigious national export award, evidencing the continuing strength of niche players in the Australian building industry.
WA-based Air-Cell Insulation won the Building Materials and Product Manufacturers (under $25 million) category at the Master Builders’ 2008 National Excellence in Building and Construction Awards.
The company credited its success to a policy of operating regionally and thinking globally, with established offices and distributor networks throughout Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East, including a dedicated business development manager based in Dubai.
Air-Cell Managing Director Scott Gibson said the award confirmed the success of the company’s aggressive international growth strategy which had resulted in an 8% increase in export revenue in the 2007 financial year.
“Export sales are as much about great relationships as they are about great products and over the past six year period we have developed some valuable relationships across many cultures with our customers.”
As well as long term, robust relationships developed in overseas markets, the company attributes the overseas success to a range of factors.
“We’ve had great success leveraging the assistance provided by organisations like the Master Builders Associations’ various trade missions, and government agencies like Austrade, during initial market research stages right through to distributor screening and selection,” said Gibson.
“In addition, we’re certain that regular participation in local industry tradeshows has also contributed to our success. We’ve exhibited at the Big 5 in Dubai and Indonesia’s Ozbuild expo for the past four years, and have exhibited at Project Qatar in Doha for the past two years.”
Only fours years ago Air-Cell employed a team of just 10 permanent staff. The company now employs almost 40 and has experienced consistent year on year financial growth, averaging 48% compound growth per annum since 1999. Air-Cell’s revenue exceeded $21 million for the 2008 financial year.
“The strong performance in export operations has certainly played a significant role in Air-Cell’s tremendous growth,” said Gibson.
“And credit must also go to our dedicated sales, marketing and technical teams who have put in a great deal of sustained hard work to deliver this success.”
The awards were held at Parliament House in Canberra.