PRODUCTS | Sunblinds | Reduce glare and increase Operator Comfort

Modern Motor Trimmers are well known for providing world class seating options to our customers operating across a range of markets from the mining industry, to road builders and construction workers, truck drivers, and the like.

While the ISRI seat is front of mind when the MMT name is mentioned, one product we are particularly proud to supply is our range of sun blinds. As you've heard us say before, we like to think of ourselves as problems solvers. We talk to our customers on a regular basis, so if they've got a problem or some issue, we like to see if we can fix it. Sometime that seems such a long time ago now, we were out on a mine with one of our customers just doing our normal thing in relation to ISRI seats. While we were there, a customer mentioned a complaint from an operator who wasn't having much luck shielding himself from the sun while carrying out his day to day operating duties. This got us thinking and importantly it got us to work. From this first thought, we came up with our first set of sunblinds and installed it a short time later. That was the start of providing a number of both block out and see through blinds for excavators, trucks, wheel loaders, and any other equipment our customers happen to have. We are proud to supply a range of sunblinds which we have refined over the years and are manufactured to the highest standard. The MMT Sunblind has become renowned for reducing glare and maximising protection against damaging UV rays. We have designed our range from full block to semi-transparent. They are easy to install using standard mounting points, which eliminates the need to drill additional holes in the cab of your truck or equipment. We’ve also made sure that our blinds are easily adjustable, so you're not wasting time in the cab away from the job you're there to do.

CUSTOMERS | Helping maintain a safe & efficient working environment

MMT has been supplying BHP a range of ISRI seats for their mining trucks and excavators since 1999 starting on the Whaleback site at Newman, WA. From fitting that first ISRI 6000 series seat, this relationship has grown over the years were we have supplied a wide range of ISRI models installed in various brands and types of equipment within the BHP fleet. Not only does the supply of new seats form an important part of our relationship within BHP, but we regularly service and recondition existing seats to either get just a little more life out of them, or to make sure that they are in tip top working order. This relationship has helped BHP maintain a safe and efficient working environment for their operators, while at the same time, holding in check costs that are associated with a new seat replacement programme. Grant Van Elswyk, Sales Manager at MMT says, “BHP has been such a loyal customer of ours for so many years now. When dealing with them, we have to consider the different sites they work at, the different seat configurations that each site may need, and any other nuances that can arise. This keeps us sharp in making sure we’re on the ball, and delivering a high quality service.” This translates to a more efficient all around service for all MMT customers. As we say at MMT, we consider ourselves to be problem solvers. We hope to help BHP maintain a safe and efficient work environment for their equipment operators for many years to come.

HEALTH | Endometriosis Sisterhood of Support Perth | Living with Endometriosis

In last month's edition of MMT News, we introduced Monique Alva, who has taken up role within our Sales Support Area.  To recap some of that article, Monique is heavily involved with the Endometriosis Sisterhood of Support Perth, as the name suggests, a group specifically established to offer support to women living with Endometriosis in Western Australia.

We thought it would be a good idea to expand on some of this information as we feel this is an important issue in the health of so many of our co workers and customers lives.

Endometriosis is a painful condition that physically affects a woman's reproductive organs and can spread to other internal organs. In simple terms, the condition occurs when tissue similar to the lining the uterus, grows outside of it.  

With an average 7 to 10 years for diagnosis, once women are diagnosed they may have many questions about the cause, symptoms, diagnosis process and what options may be available to them in terms of treatment.  Management of the disease can include medications, procedures, therapies and lifestyle adjustments to bring the condition ‘under control’.

Just like any condition, people afflicted with endometriosis often have many questions and benefit by seeking support.  

“Knowing where to go for advice and support is important, and reading and listening to the personal stories of women who have endometriosis is helpful too, particularly the importance of not giving up hope.”

Ref: https://jeanhailes.org.au/health-a-z/endometriosis

Endometriosis Perth Sisterhood of Support is peer based support group that may be able to help. As we touched upon last issue and as the name suggests, this group offers support to women living with Endometriosis in Western Australia.  With over 500 members there is a considerable body of knowledge, good resources and many shoulders to lean on within the group.

Monique Alva, the group’s co-leader, is a passionate advocate of sharing knowledge and spreading the word.  “Having more knowledge always helps, whether that’s in the form of biology, proven health tips, or just having someone available that you can talk too.  Within this group we have built a body of knowledge & support that is growing every day.”

Hearing the stories of others only reinforces how important these forms of support systems are to people struggling with these conditions on a daily basis.

“...from my personal battle, the advice and suggestions I received in the group has helped me work out who I needed to see in order to help me live my life with endo.  They were supportive, helpful, and honest and let me be me. If I had a thousand questions, they would do their best to answer. If I was scared, they would soothe me. I can honestly say without this group; I would not be where I am today”.

If you suffer from this condition or know of someone who may need some help, visit the Endometriosis Perth Sisterhood of Support through the links below, or contact Monique through MMT.

Website - http://www.endoperthsisters.com/

Public FB Page - https://www.facebook.com/endoperthsisters/

Private FB support group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/162918547233318

THE ZERO G SYSTEM from Modern Motor Trimmers & Safety Mits

For those regular readers of MMT News, you’d know we are heavily invested in helping our customers be safe at work, both from an operational and ergonomic perspective. You may remember our work with Biosymm, one of WA’s premier workplace health services providers in understanding the challenges of setting up a seat properly for the safest and most comfortable operation. In continuing on with this safety first ethos, we’d like to present a new product available from Safety Mits - the Zero G Tool Handling System. The Zero G system is an ergonomic tool interface which supports the weight of heavy tools in order to help prevent muscular skeletal injuries. The Zero G system requires no expensive inputs such as compressed air or electricity and has been shown to significantly reduce the workload on users of the system. Through a significant reduction in worker fatigue due to the Zero G system taking the majority of the tool weight, reduced injuries and increased productivity have been seen in the workplace. The Zero G arm is fully articulated, modular, and can be adapted to suit almost any tool and application. It is important to note that this system allows workers to engage with the tool as they normally would. The Zero G system is capable of holding tools weighing up to 19kg and 38kg respectively. It is fully balanced allowing the user to freely, safely and accurately manoeuvre the tool in any direction. Call us if you’d like more information or want to get in touch with Safety Mits direct.

CAMOUFLAGE SEAT COVERS from Modern Motor Trimmers

Bringing nature to your business With the ever expanding footprint of the Modern Motor Trimmers customer base, we are constantly meeting new people with new interests. This always leads us to ask ourselves, “how can we help these people?”. After all as we have said before, we like to think of ourselves as “problem solvers”. Recently we have had many customers grab 4WD seat covers from us to kit up their vehicle as they head bush to get away from the stresses of work. We had noticed they had plenty of camouflage gear in their kit, so we thought, why not offer this ourselves. More and more people are looking for a wide range of seat cover designs, it's not just the standard grey canvas that we get asked for. With this thought in mind, have a look at our camouflage range of seat covers. These stylish seat covers will help keep your seats clean, no matter what you are up to in the great outdoors. Made from 12oz canvas, our camouflage seat covers are suitable for a wide range of vehicles and can handle whatever you throw at them - literally. We can even embroider your own logo on them if that’s what you’re after. So, if you're getting outdoors, don’t let your seats suffer. Get a set of MMT Camo Seats Covers and bring some nature back to your business.

MEET THE TEAM : Monique Alva

We’d like to officially introduce Monique Alva to all of our MMT customers. Monique joined us just over three months ago and works in our Sales & Customer Service Area, so we’re sure you’ll have some contact with her soon. Previous to joining MMT, Monique worked with a number of car dealerships including John Hughes, AHG & BMW auto classics to name a few. Amongst a number of roles that Monique carried out, she was highly involved in the areas of licensing, stock control and fleet costings, and it's some of these ideas that are already proving highly beneficial for our business in our quest for continual improvement. Monique says moving to a new industry and new company has been highly enjoyable. “While I’ve only been working here for a short time, I can safely say this is the best place I have ever worked. It has a great team environment which makes it fun to come to work each day and be a part of.” Grant Van Elswyk, Sales Manager of Modern Motor Trimmers says Monique is just the sort of help the business needs to provide an even better service to customers. “Having Monique on board has been great, she brings with her some great ideas from her days within the car industry, and she just gets in and gets things done, and customers love her too”. Outside of work hours Monique is heavily involved with the Endometriosis Sisterhood of Support Perth, as the name suggests, a group specifically established to offer support to women living with Endometriosis in Western Australia. With over 460 members, this worthy cause takes up a fair bit of Monique’s time. “There are so many people who are in need of some more knowledge, health tips, or just someone to talk to. This group is a vehicle by which suffers can provide support to each other. It’s something that’s pretty important to me.”

CUSTOM HITACHI SEATS from Modern Motor Trimmers

The Hitachi ex-range of excavators have proven popular over the years with a range of mining and construction companies using them as a mainstay of their production fleet. From ex-1900s to ex-5500s, thousands of these units have been sold worldwide.

One of the great features of these machines is the ability of the operator controls to be ‘seat mounted’.  This capability helps increase operator productivity, in addition to mitigating fatigue and injury.  In keeping with MMT’s Safety First Philosophy, they have designed their own seat specifically to capitalise on this capability.

Based on the ISRI 6830/880 pod seat, the MMT “Hitachi seat” can accommodate the mounting of the Hitachi Excavator controls directly onto the seat mount.   This setup allows for a clear floor space in the cab allowing not only plenty of operator legroom, but better entry and exit capability.

This seat-mounted control configuration has been stated as being ergonomically superior to locate critical machine functions at the operator's fingertips.  The integration of the operator interface with improved ergonomic design into the machine controls has evolved substantially over the past decade, and MMT is happy to play its part in ensuring this continued development.

With a weight range from 50kg to 130kg, this ISRI seat is fully reclinable, features 24 volt electric / air assisted controls and can be further modified for your specific needs.

Call us for more details, or ask us to design something that will suit your specific requirements.

CUSTOM MARINE SEATS from Modern Motor Trimmers

Should a seat that you put in a boat be any different from a seat you would put in a bus or truck? After all, it's just a matter of a person sitting in front of controls and steering. Or is it? When in comes to boating to answer is a resounding no. First of all, you want a seat that’s stylish. There’s no point spending hours looking after you prized asset only to have a drab looking seat front and centre. What about functionality? The marine seat will be subjected to a range of conditions that other seats don't have to worry about. Exposure to the fluctuating elements across the changing seasons, dealing with saltwater, possible corrosion, wind and dirt are all issues that the natural environment will present on a daily basis. In addition to this, being able to withstand the different forces going through the boat in rough weather conditions, all plays a part in putting the marine seat to the test. At MMT we have a range of custom marine seats based on the ISRI 6000/5170 seat designed for both the recreational and commercial environment. Based on the renowned features of the ISRI® 6000/517, this custom seat incorporates the standard ISRI® seat technology to ensure maximum safety and comfort. Featuring a high backrest, mechanical lumbar support, anatomically shaped seat cushion and backrest foams, the MMT Marine Seat is wrapped in smart looking heavy duty vinyl to withstand the elements. These seats are rated from 50kg to 130kg, are fully reclinable and can be customised to suit your specific needs. Call us for more details, or ask us to design something that will suit your specific requirements.

MEET THE TEAM : Paul Skelley

Modern Motor Trimmers would like to welcome Paul Skelley to the business working in the Trimming Department. Born and bred in country Victoria, Paul made the move to Western Australia just over 8 months ago to take up this opportunity within the MMT business.

Paul has been in the trimming trade for around 30 years, and in this time he has applied his skills to boats, cars, furniture, both domestic and commercial, in addition to trucks and heavy equipment.  

Paul says his favourite part of the job is the creative side, where he can start with nothing, come up with a design and create something that wasn’t there before.

“I’m pretty passionate about anything with custom work in it.  I just like to be able to create something that wasn't there before, dream up an idea, figure out how to make it work, then stand back at the end of the job and say yeah, I’m pretty happy with that.”

This is currently being put to good use with a number of customised underground and marine seats being recently manufactured by Paul using existing ISRI specifications.

“Those underground seats were enjoyable to make, just to help in providing something different the company can now offer.  It’s good that I can make some sort of difference out there.”

These creative tendencies extend into his love for customising hot rods in his spare time, in addition to fishing and prospecting. “I used to do a lot of prospecting back in Victoria.  I’m hoping to buy some more gear over here, and try my luck out this way once I get settled and know where to go.”

Look out for some of Paul’s work on MMT’s facebook page.

CUSTOM UNDERGROUND SEATS from Modern Motor Trimmers

Underground trucks and equipment are designed specifically for the environment that they are working in. Miners regularly consider not only the space available for a piece of equipment to operate within, but all other ‘spaces’ that the machine may need to venture through to get to its place of work. In addition, hanging ventilation or mine-service structures will also play a part in defining the physical size restrictions at play when selecting suitable equipment.

Mining underground is different, not to mention difficult and challenging.

We know that safety is of paramount importance in all mine environments, and more so underground. The underground operator needs to wear and have access to rescue packs, devices that are physically worn around the waist with straps or harnesses. Sometimes referred to as self-contained self-rescue devices (SCSR), these are portable devices that provide an oxygen source for those times when the surrounding atmosphere is either contaminated with toxic gases, or when immediate oxygen levels are low.

But how does an operator sit comfortably on a normal seat with these units strapped to their waist?

You wouldn’t put a normal piece of earthmoving machinery in the underground environment, so why would you do the same with seats? On a standard seat the normal supportive ‘wings’ would get in the way, leaving the operator vulnerable to back injury due to being forced to sit in an unnatural, uncomfortable position.

At MMT we now have a range of custom underground seats based on the ISRI Mining/Construction range. These seats feature a cutaway section designed especially with the SCSR in mind. With six options of seats available, we can offer seats rated up to 150kg, either air assisted or with manual controls. All seats are fully reclinable and can be further modified for your specific needs.

Call us for more details, or ask us to design something that will suit your specific requirements.

MEET THE TEAM: Tony Mobilia

We’d like to welcome Tony Mobilia to MMT who has joined us working in the Sales & Customer Service Area. Many of you may have bumped into Tony before, as he has over 24 years experience within the industry.

Having worked with other brands during the course of his career, over the last few years Tony has been keen to expand his horizons and get involved with the ISRI product.

“I have known the MMT people for a while and I had always wanted to work with a more modern product, which can certainly be said of the ISRI range.” says Tony. ”When the chance came up to work here I jumped at it. The ISRI range is a technologically more advanced product than what I had been previously working with. So I just reckon this opens up a great set of applications which will be pretty exciting to be involved in.”

Garry Spouge, Managing Director of Modern Motor Trimmers says Tony’s skill set will allow the business to grow even further. “We just think with Tony having been exposed to different sets of people and circumstances, he will allow us to open our eyes to different opportunities that we may not have focused on before.”

Tony hopes this sentiment is correct. “ I hope to be able to bring a few new ideas into the business, and use some of the contacts that I have made over the years to open a few doors. For myself I’m looking forward to getting involved in the mining industry and learning a few new things myself”.

Tony’s favourite part of the job is to get out and meet customers, so there’s a good chance that you’ll see him out on the road sometime soon.

MAINTAIN YOUR OWN BODY : Invest in yourself

Every day as we drive around our great state, we see a whole range of different cars on the road.  For the most part they look in pretty good shape.  It seems like people are doing a good job at keeping up regular maintenance schedules, whether they are doing this themselves or sending them out to the dealer.

It only makes sense to be looking after your investment.

This not only prolongs the life of the car, it helps you maintain your warranty, it helps the car hold it’s value, not to mention reducing the long term costs you will incur.  Overall, this just gives you some peace of mind.

If we’re so pedantic with our cars, why don’t we look after ourselves the same way?  The last two issues of MMT News featured ways in which you can help maintain your health at work by setting up, maintaining and changing out your seats at regular intervals.  If you don’t get this right, you end up uncomfortable, tired and may have back problems.

In continuing this theme, we want to ask - why not make an investment in yourself?  To have a reliable body, you need to maintain your back. Sitting in an uncomfortable and un-ergonomical seat all day could lead to future problems for your body.

Make sure you know how to set up your seat properly, keep up regular maintenance, and change them out when required.  Your back and family will thank you for it. 

INVEST IN YOURSELF

REGULAR MAINTENANCE
BENEFIT	Car	YOU
Prolong Life	Yes	Yes - certainly quality of life
Maintain Warranty	Yes	The healthier you are, the easier it is to get health cover
Holds Value	Yes	A sore back would certainly reduce your ability to contribute at work and at home
Long Term Cost	Yes	A healthier you reduces your medical bills
Peace of Mind	Yes	Healthy body - Yes

PHYSIOTHERAPIST'S VIEW | HEALTH & SAFETY IN THE WORKPLACE

As we had mentioned in our December 2015 newsletter, MMT have partnered with a Western Australian physiotherapist to help our customers have an even more comfortable ride during the day. This will get them home to their family in the same good condition that they left.

To recap our December article, there are three major anatomical/physiological factors which need to be considered in sitting posture: 

• the posture of the spine, in particular the configuration of and pressure within the spinal discs; 
• the type and amount of muscle work required to maintain work postures (static and active) and individual fatigue levels;
• compression of the tissues (most particularly the blood vessels and nerves) at the back of the thigh and behind the knee.

Addressing these issues is Biosymm, one of WA’s premier workplace health services providers who specialise in identifying and manage risks in the workplace to minimise injury and time away from work.  The team at Biosymm have seen their fair share of sore backs, necks and shoulders in the Mining and Construction game.

Mining News	:	What are some of the most common issues you see out there that are causing back pain in drivers and operators?
BIOSYMM	:	Operators are our most treated group on site. They make up to 50% of our case load and account for greatest number of work related physiotherapy treatments required onsite. The main issues are postural related neck, wrist and lower back pathologies.
Mining News	:	How much of this problem is within control of the operator themselves?
BIOSYMM	:	The operator is in control of their seat setup, posture and to an extent how regularly they can take micro breaks and stretches. If educated correctly in the use of their seat and the brace position, a number of injuries we have seen could have been avoided or at least reduced in their severity.
Mining News	:	How long should a person go without moving or at least doing some form of movement - even if still seated?
BIOSYMM	:	I’m not aware of any hard and fast rule - basically it comes down to the fact that we are not made to sit still for long periods of time. It can negatively impact a number of system’s within our body including the musculoskeletal system. The more you move and get out of a seated or sustained posture the greater the benefit. Once per 1-2 runs if you are in a haul truck is a good goal to set.
Mining News	:	We have seen in some work coming out of the UK that absence from work because of back pain is six times higher for drivers who are at the wheel for more than four hours a day  - so this certainly has some ramifications of employers within the transport, construction and mining industries - in terms of productivity.
Mining News		Now we understand that there may be other factors at play which can lead to or at least exacerbate back pain in an operator or driver - poor design of machinery or trucks controls making them difficult to operate; reduced visibility, so the operator twists and stretches to get a better look out the window; and other personal factors - fitness and general health. With that in mind, what is the number one piece of advice that you could give our customer to at least help them on the road to maintaining healthy back, neck and shoulders - either at work or at home.
BIOSYMM		The nature of your job will not change -  an operator will always have to sit for long periods of time as it is essential to their job. What they can do to offset some of the risk effects is to regularly change position and take breaks to get out of their seat. Even if it is for 20 secs it will go a long way to improving circulation and reducing injuries. For haul truck drivers, learning to use the seat suspension and brace when being loaded is the most important.  I see some nasty injuries that could be avoided if they were in a better posture or seat position when a jolt/jar occurs during loading.

If you would like to speak to any of the team at Biosymm to find out more, don’t hesitate to give us a call and we’ll put you in touch with them.

CUSTOM SEATS by MMT

A few of our friends are known to be constantly drawn in by the car restoration / modification artform.  Either buying old cars and doing them up to pristine condition, or just adding a bit more polish to their existing ride.  

From the aesthetics of adding tinted windows, spoilers, neon lights, customised license plates to the more substantial modifications of lowering the body and adding some more grunt to the engine, to the even more substantial restorative work of finding parts and piecing a car together, all of these activities bring the car enthusiast to a state of joy when they step back and examine their work.

Getting in the cab you’ll see the amount of work put into the headliner, carpets & dashboard in addition to the attention to detail in relation to sound insulation, chrome work and the general look of the interior.

We’ve seen more and more of these enthusiasts wanting to finish of their good work with a set of custom seats. Why would you meticulously restore a GTS, and then slap on a pair of generic car seat covers over a stock standard seat?  Have a look at the photos of the custom seats we have just done for a few happy customers.   

The colours match the overall feel of the car, with the logo at the exact size that the customer wanted.

If you’re restoring a vintage car, looking to modify your existing vehicle or would just like a new seat exactly how you want it, look us up.  We enjoy this type of work, and enjoy even more when we see a happy customer walking away with one of our custom jobs.

TRIMMING at MMT

Going back to the original name of our company - Modern Motor Trimmers, our business grew on the back of offering Trimming services to both the automotive and marine industries here in Western Australia.  As some of you would know, as the years went on we saw an opportunity to also service the mining, transport and construction industries through our position as the WA ISRI Dealer and the rest as they say is history.

While the company has seen tremendous growth over these years, we haven't forgotten our roots, with some customers still referring to us as Moderns, so I guess they haven't either.  

These days we still do a lot of trimming work, whether that be general seats repairs, custom automotive work, designing, manufacturing and fitting clears on boats, providing ram covers, canvas seats and general trimming services.  With demand increasing lately, we’ve just put on a new Trimmer - Paul.   If you’re in the area, don’t be shy to drop in and say hi to him, or any one of us, we’ll be happy to have a chat.