Leading Australian plastic welding equipment supplier Fusion Hire & Sales Pty Ltd (FHS) and training organisation Polysmart Pty Ltd have expanded their operations with a new branch opening in Hemmant, Queensland. An official open day was held in the first week of April to celebrate FHS and Polysmart’s newest venture, which comes in response to an increasing demand for polyethylene welding equipment and training in Queensland, particularly from the coal seam gas and mining markets.

Taking over business from previous Queensland based company and customer of FHS, Mining Industrial Plastics (MIP), Darren Poynton, FHS and Polysmart director, said the opportunity to expand was too strong to ignore. “We’d been dealing in Queensland already for quite some time and the opportunity arose. With the coal seam gas and mining markets in Queensland there was a really strong driver to expand our presence and open a facility locally,” Poynton said. “It was the next biggest growth area for us and a new milestone for FHS as well as Polysmart.” 

The FHS and Polysmart Hemmant facility is located approximately half an hour from the Brisbane airport and just fifteen kilometres from the city centre, making it an accessible location for Queensland based customers. 

Marking the company’s official takeover from MIP as well as the official opening of the newest branch in the FHS family, the open day saw members from a range of industries including civil, mining, quarrying, gas, construction and others attend throughout the day to network and see firsthand FHS’s latest technology on offer. 

With over a million dollars of extensive equipment on display from leading high quality brands such as Ritmo, Munsch, Forsthoff and Caldervale, attendees were offered the chance to submit their business cards to go in the draw and win one of two high-quality Forsthoff QL welders. The winning entries were drawn by special guest and Ritmo representative, Andrea Muraro, who was in the country demonstrating Ritmo’s latest technology on the market. 

Michael Axisa, FHS Queensland’s Technical Sales Representative, found the support of FHS Queensland to be very impressive, and the open day as a valuable way to show their Queensland customers what they have to offer. “It was a great way to build relationships with former MIP customers as well as cement existing ones,” said Axisa. “People love to touch and feel these machines rather than just look at pictures in a catalogue, so we found that the open day was a great way to connect and strengthen our range.” 

Customers appreciated the invite to the newest FHS and Polysmart facility and found the relaxing set up great for networking. Brad Clarke from Australian Poly Specialists thought the day was a great way to connect with people he had already been dealing with for years. “It’s so often that you meet people in this industry on the phone, so offering that opportunity to meet your suppliers face to face really enhances that relationship,” he said of the open day. 

FHS and Polysmart director, Darren Poynton, says FHS and Polysmart are always looking to grow and expand their operations further, with an aim for operations to be set up locally throughout other major states Australia-wide in the future. “We’re slowly building our presence throughout Australia,” he said. “We’re always looking for new products, services, technologies and the best practices to help us achieve this goal.” 

FHS is the largest polyethylene pipe fabrication workshop in South East Australia with a large range of plastic welding equipment and services available across civil, mining, plumbing, automotive, irrigation and industrial industries. Operating since 1995, FHS’s main headquarters are based in Seaford Victoria with a large variety of equipment to suit all plastic welding needs. Operating since 2011, Polysmart provide nationally accredited polyethylene welder training in butt welding, electrofusion and extrusion welding to a large variety of industries using plastic welding equipment, as well as Quality Control Assurance (QCA), inspection and weld testing services. 

For information on the latest range of polyethylene welding equipment and services visit www.fhs.com.au or phone 03 8770 5770 (Australia wide) or 07 3393 9367 (Queensland only). For information on Polysmart training and services please visit www.polysmart.com.au or phone 1300 36 7659.