2019 FINALIST
BUSINESS:
AERIAL FIRE CONTROL PTY. LTD
PRODUCT:
AERIAL HELICOPTER LIFTED FIRE FIGHTING BUCKETS
AWARD CATEGORY:
Product or Service Design
INDUSTRY SECTOR:
Products - Special Purpose Equipment
DESIGN:
CHRIS BLACK / GRANT TINNEY
EXPORTING to:
USA, BANGLADESH, CANADA, SWEDEN
1: BRIEF DESCRIPTION:
Aerial Helicopter Lifted Fire Fighting Bucket
2: DESIGN CHALLENGE:
To be globally competitive the units had to: 1. Be Multi Drop and Variable Drop capable as standard which the competition does not. 2. Have Low profile to minimise drag/allow increased speed of Helicopter 3. Have lower overall weight than the competition to allow more volume of water to be carried than the opposition 4. Have zero leakage / loss of water between load and drop. Competition loses up to 25 litres per minute 5. Incorporate quality materials and design allowing for a minimum of 10 years life. 6. Be simpler to set up and pack up than the opposition
3: DESIGN SOLUTION:
Design Engineer firstly spent many hours with potential clients discussing and analysing problems with existing competitors offers and discussing customer requirements. Thus, all materials, composite, stainless steel and Kevlar reinforced fabric so quality and long life was the design starting point. We needed to incorporate very precise control of the outlet valve from within the Helicopter with zero loss of fluid. This was required to be a major differentiator to competition. Many outlet designs were prototyped and tested statically as well as on Helicopter to arrive at the final design
4: DESIGN IMPACT:
Customer feedback on our website provides good testimonials.With new funding, targeted marketing, and the excellent referrals we have received, the export market for this product is looking very bright with significant inquiries now being quoted weekly. The rapid expansion of the export sales will have immediate and sustainable benefits for the local economy and communities that will grow with Aerial Fire Control
5: OTHER KEY FEATURES:
Feedback from export destinations has been very positive and is listed on our website in detail however a typical comment is "For the last 2 years over 75% of sales have been derived from offshore. This trend will continue as we push to appoint local distribution in key markets such as the USA. Exports over past two years have been to Bangladesh, USA. Over recent months we have quoted more for the above but also New Zealand, Canada, India, Norway, Portugal and Italy. Export success targeted over first 2 years will lead to an additional 6 direct employees with over $1.0m being
subcontracted into local manufacturers, with $1.5m of export revenue coming into SA.