In this FTMA Principal Partner article, Pryda shares how one of the busiest frame and truss plants in Melbourne increased its production output by 20%, while prioritising a safer working environment for its team, customers and suppliers.
Since Melbourne Truss opened its doors in 2005, its journey has been characterised by community upliftment, loyalty, lots of hard work and an ambition to continuously flourish.
This year, Melbourne Truss celebrates its 20th anniversary. From its origin as a furniture business to one of Pryda’s largest single-site truss plants, today Melbourne Truss has a team of over 100 staff based at Somerton in Melbourne’s northern suburbs.
Many of Melbourne Truss’ customers and suppliers, including Pryda, have been there from the start and supported each other through numerous hurdles and obstacles such as the pandemic and material shortages. Even now, it’s common to see builders and supplier partners pop in for a casual chat or their legendary Turkish breakfasts.
As Owner Faruk Ozkan says “To us, our customers and suppliers are like family. There has always been a strong partnership between Melbourne Truss and Pryda since we started. Pryda has always helped us to grow.”
L – R: Faruk Ozkan (Owner), Tahir Yavuz (Owner), Emre Ozkan (General Manager) and Harun Sahin (General Manager).
With double digit growth year on year, the challenge was to increase capacity on its existing footprint.
“After the pandemic, our customers and jobs grew significantly,” says Harun Sahin, Melbourne Truss General Manager. “We realised we wouldn’t be able to catch up production.”
Over the past 12 months, Melbourne Truss, in partnership with Pryda, embarked on a project to address bottlenecks in the factory, improve productivity, efficiency, and enhance its safety environment and culture.
Working with Pryda
“The initial consideration was what worked best for the future needs of the plant,” says Ian Currie, Pryda’s Business Development Manager Frame & Truss. “Whilst the original layout grew over time, it was evident that it needed a serious rethink to suit the growth plans, process flows through the full site and increase site safety.”
Upgrading the production site involved meticulous planning and the Pryda team visited the site multiple times to validate the works and ensure a smooth implementation.
Central to this was an upgrade of existing machines and adding new machines to an already busy factory. A new Pryda AutoSet Plus machine was added together with an upgrade of an older Roller Press to modern day automation. Additionally, the existing Pull Saw automation and Vekta Linear Saw & Wall Frame machine were upgraded.
Updating the site layout required a staged approach of relocating existing machinery, upgrading it and then placing the new machine opposite, all while minimising downtime.
“The upgrades occurred from Thursday to Sunday, which was highly appreciated,” says Harun.
“So, it was just two days that were stopped for production instead of four. During the machine upgrade process Pryda tested everything thoroughly to make sure everything was running well and ensured there were minimal impacts on production.”
Creating instant results
Several months on, the upgrade has had an overnight impact on Melbourne Truss’ production capability, with the site producing a 20% increase in roof, wall and floor jobs per day.
Harun says the excitement was palpable when the new and upgraded machines were up and running.
“Everything is like brand new,” says Harun. “The specialist automation software is more useful. A machine that we were going to use for 10 years we can now use for 20 years.”
The new layout has had a significant impact on safety and productivity as well. All machines are next to the roller doors, which ensures the finished product can go straight out into the timber yard. Utilising the factory floor in a more free-flowing manner, including newly painted walkways, has enabled better control of product throughout the entire production process.
“Previously when the boys were working inside, we had to stop production and move timber,” says Harun. “Now there is a conscious effort to minimise forklifts going inside the factory. This ensures minimal disruption to production and creates a safer working environment.”
The safer working environment extends to outside the factory too. Melbourne Truss has just installed racking in its timber yard for finished products, plus designed a new traffic management system to clearly distinguish forklift storage, loading areas and unloading zones, ensuring a smooth traffic flow.
While the increase in production capacity and productivity has been immediately evident, Faruk beams while talking about the safety outcomes.
“Everyone coming here has noticed a big change,” says Faruk.
“It’s good for everyone. Everyone should feel that this is a place that you can come and be safe. WorkSafe Victoria just came here and said we had gone above and beyond with our safety.”
Always hungry to keep growing, the Melbourne Truss team are already in the throes of planning for their next upgrade and have an additional Pryda floor truss machine on the way.
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