How was 2022 for Aussie Pumps? What were the highlights? What were the challenges?
2022 was a breakthrough year for Aussie Pumps. COVID alerted the industry to the need for improved training and cleaning products capable of dealing with everything – from flood clean ups to health epidemics. We learnt a lot from the readers of this magazine!
When we look back at the last 12 months, we see huge gains in what we’ve accomplished. We’ve doubled our production to keep pace with the demands of the market. We’ve conceived, designed, and built revolutionary machines that are giving very positive benefits to our customers and, lastly, we’re not influenced by a board of directors or shareholders, who may be in another country. In other words, we are feeling a sense of freedom Australian manufacturing delivers to us.
When we started the company, almost 28 years ago, we had to make decisions about the type of gear we produce. The concept of high-pressure cleaners, and auxiliary items like steam cleaners and vacuum cleaners, that were built to higher performance standards was our target. Being a small company with only a handful of people, we knew one thing was for sure, we didn’t want to spend a lot of time apologising to customers for failures or breakdowns.
Rather, we would design those issues out of the machines, so that they were super reliable and able to deal with the harsh realities you find in some major cleaning projects. Our new product development program is a manifestation of a fanatical approach to high quality products that offer real advantages to the user.
Since first launching we have made a mark, not only on the Australian and New Zealand markets, but also throughout Southeast Asia and even Africa and Europe. Our machines are widely used in Japan and our export department is focusing on the other Southeast Asian ‘tiger’ economies.
What learnings has Aussie Pumps taken from the last 12 months?
We took the COVID challenge, not only with our cold-water machines, using foamers to deliver germ killing disinfectants to public facilities, outdoor BBQs in parks, and thousands of other applications.
We also turned our attention to high pressure hot water, bearing in mind, its ability to also kill germs without any chemical disinfectant or detergent. According to WHO, water at temperatures of 60°C and above will kill COVID germs.
We designed a revolutionary machine that runs a four-pole electric motor, a slow speed 1,450 rpm pump, delivers 1,800 psi pressure and does it at 80°C. 80°C melts grease, removes chewing gum, some graffiti, and we wrapped all this in a stainless-steel cover, steel chassis frame with four wheels with flat free tyres for ease of movement.
We called it the Sizzler and the sales did ‘Sizzle’. The product is now a fixture in the market, popular not only because of its capacity to perform but its reliability is extraordinary. We built into it a wide range of features to protect both the operator and the machine.
COVID also made us realise there was real demand for portable engine drive machines that could be mounted on the back of a ute, truck, or trailer for mobile steam cleaning. We called it the Aussie Heatwave. It’s a gift for the cleaning industry and for companies who run mobile cleaning units. The machine will also run cold water, operating very effectively with a turbo that gives it an impact of over 6,000 psi.
Are there new products in the pipeline for Aussie Pumps in 2023?
We’ve perfected a number of new design features over the last 12 months. The result was a 5,000 psi Class A (no operator certification required) Jetter range that can clear a blocked drain in minutes, not hours.
Key victories were the introduction of what we call the MKIII Aussie Cobra Jetter range. The compact design, strong stainless-steel frames, and user-friendly features are everything. The machines feature a unique new ‘no sharps’ design that is OH&S friendly. They produce flows up to 16 lpm for the Class A machine, matched to a 5,000 psi pressure capability that really gets the job done.
Turbos, flat surface cleaners, as well as drain cleaner nozzles can all be used with this same machine. If the cleaning contractor installs one of these on the service vehicle you can do a myriad of tasks from unblocking sewer lines to flat surface cleaning or, blasting barnacles off the side of the boat. Best of all, the machine features stainless steel reels, matched with a portable reel that could operate up to 60 metres from the unit.
2023, with the flood clean up being the first challenge, will be just as exciting. We thank all the cleaning industry for realising the value of Australian designed products, built right here in our 2.5-acre Castle Hill factory complex.
Do you have a message for the industry?
We believe 2022 was the year of the ‘executive cleaner’. By that we mean way the industry is maturing and the realisation, particularly in periods of extreme stress where every second of the day counts, the need to be mindful of the most vital commodity of the industry –time.
Everybody talks about how difficult it is to get additional staff. There is loads of work to do and not enough people to do it. The ‘executive cleaner’ finds ways to achieve their goals without hiring more staff, but rather simply being more efficient.
That’s where our philosophy comes in. At Aussie Pumps, we are never focused on the low discount end of the business. We believe the professional cleaner deserves the best gear and therefore, gets the best efficiency.
Using light weight machines from a big box hardware store chains will never give the cleaner the same result in terms of efficiency or quality, that you’ll get out of a professional machine, designed for professional users.
This first appeared in the January/February 2023 issue of INCLEAN magazine.
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