MORE MARINE SEATS from Modern Motor Trimmers

In the mid 2016 issue of MMT News, we introduced you to our new range of Marine seats. These custom seats were based on the ISRI 6830KM/880 Pod Seat designed for both the recreational and commercial environment.

For those of you who read the article, they also featured air suspension with built-in compressor, adjustable armrest, high backrest, IPS air lumbar support, anatomically shaped cushion and backrest foams.

With summer just around the corner, we’re proud to bring you our second offering in the Marine Range.

Over the last year we have built on our original work to take the marine seating concept a step further within our business, by bringing you an additional marine seat from our Bronze Series. This seat is targeted at those with a budget in mind. While this seat is more affordable to some, it still retains the same style as our higher end models. As we said before, “there’s no point spending hours looking after your prized asset, only to have a drab looking seat front and centre.”

Our new seat is based on the renowned features of the ISRI® 6000/517, incorporating all 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 Bronze Series Marine Seat is wrapped in the same smart looking heavy duty vinyl as the 6830 version. This vinyl has specifically been chosen to withstand the elements.

The seats are rated from 50kg to 130kg, are fully reclinable and can be customised to suit your specific needs.

HISTORY | OKtoberfest

With this year’s celebrations of Oktoberfest at Modern Motor Trimmers, we thought we’d better take a quick look at the origins of the event.

The first Oktoberfest took place on October 12, 1810 with the marriage in Bavaria of Crown Prince Ludwig, who you may know as King Ludwig I, to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen.

Five days after the marriage took place, a large fest (festival, party, good excuse to eat and drink) took place outside one of the gates leading to Munich, called the Sendlinger Tor. It seems that this started a tradition, and Oktoberfest was borne. Some of the activities that have come and gone were horse races, that lasted until 1938 and an agricultural fair.

But the event most of us know Oktoberfest for was added in 1818 - Pubs including performers. This proved to be a great tourist attraction, and so it continues to this day. In terms of the beers (or biers) that are consumed these days, they tend to be lighter in color and body than the traditional style.

The actual dates for the modern event betrays its name, the annual 16 day “fest” starts in September beginning on a Saturday and always ending on the first Sunday in October. 

The MMT Oktoberfest promotion also starts in September, but we will cheat a little, and extend out throughout the whole of October.

HISTORY | The History of ISRI

As anyone who has dealt with Modern Motor Trimmers over the years knows, we have become famous not only because of our service, but because of the “ISRI” - ISRINGHAUSEN seat that we supply and fit.

To borrow some “marketing talk”, Isringhausen is the “global market leader in the development and manufacture of innovative seating systems for commercial vehicles, with a product range used in trucks, buses and construction equipment”.

To make these seats takes some effort, and to do so ISRI need 49 plants across 20 countries in order to generate the number of product required to satisfy worldwide demand.

But this hasn't been a short journey to where they are today. The company first commenced operations in Bielefeld in 1919, when it began as a manufacturer of bicycle seats and springs, the same year as the German made Kalkhoff bike was sprouting into existence. These were the times when bikes such as the Raleigh Model D Roadster, promoted as the “All Steel Bike” were in vogue in the UK.

At the time Bielefeld was a town that was well known for manufacture and steel works, so it was a good place for ISRI to get off the ground.

Moving forward some years, it was a good 38 years later that the company moved to Lemgo, also in Germany. Lemgo had been founded in the 12th century by Bernard II, Lord of Lippe at the crossroad of two merchant routes. This geography proved helpful for early companies moving product from their manufacturing facilities into customers hands. It was during this period in Lemgo, that the production of ISRI seats for construction machines began. This proved to be a pivotal point in the company’s history.

In the following decades the ISRI range expanded to include the production of seats for other commercial vehicles, including buses, vans and trucks. It was during this timeframe that major innovations such as the height-adjustable integrated three-point belt were manufactured which further established the company as a world leader. Fast forward to 1972, ISRI designed the first automatic self-levelling air suspension seat for commercial vehicles, which further solidified it’s market standing.

Now you will see the ISRI seat being specified as equipment of choice by many of the big name truck, bus, train and van manufacturers including Volvo, DaimlerChrysler, MAN, Scania, IVECO, Ford, DAF, Citroen and Renault.

Being the month of October, and given the German history of the company, we have been celebrating Oktoberfest here at Modern Motor Trimmers, so we hope you’ve got into the spirit as we reflect back on where this all started from.

We can’t wait for two years time when ISRI turns 100.

PRODUCTS | World Class seat belts to ensure your safety

Modern Motor Trimmers have recently been awarded the distributor rights for Klippan Seats Belts, through its relationship with APV Safety Products. This relationship goes hand in hand with our existing product offering, to enable us to offer just that little bit more to our customers.

APV Safety Products are currently viewed as a market leader in providing safety restraint and seat belt systems for Coach, Defence, Industrial, Fork Lift, Motor-Sport sectors and the Automotive Aftermarkets. With a commitment to innovation, quality and customer service, the company has grown into the largest aftermarket seat belt supplier in Australia.

For those of you who are not familiar with the Klippan name, the company’s philosophy is provide drivers and occupants with functions for safe driving and high living comfort. They have a focus on 3 main products lines – bed systems, cargo storage solutions and restraint systems which are supplied to most of Europe’s leading truck manufacturers as well as safety nets and belt products to many first tier suppliers in Europe.

The company started in 1877 as a rope works in Sweden. It took another 76 years for the company to introduce the car safety belt in 1953.

Grant Van Elyswk, Sales Manager of MMT, says the APV partnership and having access to the Klippan product, ”will just keep that customisation mentality ticking over, both with us and in our customers minds.”

”This new product will allow us to offer just that little bit extra. Anytime we can find a good product, that fits in with what we already do, that we can get to our customers quickly, it’s really a win-win for everyone. To be able to get a seat build done to a specific request, by having access to our own quality seat belts, it's going to translate to an even better service.”

While seat belts are not a front of mind product, Grant rightly points out their importance. ”Seat belts are one of those things, many people only start making assessments of them after something has gone wrong. So it’s up to us to make sure we’ve done this work before any incident arises, to make sure our customers are safe.” says Grant.

COMMUNITY | Off Road Riding Club

At MMT, the community in which we operate is very important to us, and as such we like to support these communities where possible.

As we had touched upon in our last issue of MMT News, this support is exemplified in supporting local baseball clubs, to corporate entities such as the Chamber of Commerce and various other well known and established organisations.

To continue this philosophy of supporting those extending beyond our immediate business network, we are heavily involved in the Off Road Riding Club of WA. This club which is attended by over 200 kids, provides the opportunity for those aged between 4 to under 23 yrs to get together and ride motorbikes.

“Offroad Riding Events are the perfect way for riders aged 4 - U/23 years to enjoy the sport of off road motorcycle riding in a fun, safe and friendly environment”.

Now while riding bikes are fun, the purpose of the club is provide much more than just that. The club provides a forum to bring parents and kids together through riding together, it provides and fun outlet through which families can spending time together and achieve something together, kids get to test themselves, and learn that their own ability is greater than they first thought. Importantly the club teaches kids resilience, if you come off, just dust yourself off, get back on and just keep on riding.

Garry Spouge, Managing Director of MMT says, ”as with all of the sponsorships we get involved in, its good to see young people challenging themselves, learning and getting better. Bike Riding is a great way to do this. You see some young kids start off and struggle with their bikes, to grow and come out of their shell a short time later. It’s what the club is all about.”

All club events are held on private property within 1-2 hours drive from Perth, usually on country farms. This allows everyone the opportunity to make a great family weekend of it by camping overnight.

Garry feels this is an important part of what makes this club and sponsorship work so well, ”This club provides a whole lot of benefits not only for the kids, but the parents and the family unit as well. It’s something we’re sure to stay involved with for a long time yet.”

PRODUCTS | Seat Customisation for greater productivity

Over the years we’ve seen plenty of improvements being made to earthmoving machinery, be that advances in guidance systems, to telemetry, diagnostics, through to the refinement of cab ergonomics and seat comfort for the operator.

As the cabs in the machines within our industry change, so does our approach and our thinking. We are always on the lookout for how we can apply our expertise to make the operator experience that little bit more comfortable. We continue to get many requests for customisation to existing product for many of the units we supply to the mining, construction, transport and trucking industries.

Take for instance the Hitachi Seat. The Hitachi range of excavators have been a staple in the mining and construction industry for many years, from ex-1900s to ex-5500s with thousands of these units having 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. So this got us thinking, in keeping with our Safety First Philosophy, why don’t we design our own seat specifically to capitalise on this capability.

Based on the ISRI 6830/880 pod seat, we came up with the MMT “Hitachi seat”. This unit can accommodate the mounting of the Hitachi Excavator controls directly onto the seat mount, which 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.

Once we had this unit made, we didn't stop there, we have now gone on to put together a similar seat for Komatsu Wheel Loaders as these models also had the ability for the ‘seat mounting’ of the operator controls.

Based on the ISRI 6830/880 pod seat, the MMT “Komatsu seat” was designed in a similar vein to the Hitachi model, that being with the mounting of the Wheel Loader controls directly on the seat mount. Another feature that we incorporated for ease of maintenance was an adaptor plate that bolts onto a riser and back to the original hole centres. This allows quicker replacement of the seats - just those 4 bolts.

Both these seats have helped increase operator productivity, in addition to mitigating fatigue and injury.

Grant Van Elyswk, Sales Manager of MMT, says these new products are just the start of what we can offer our customers. ”There are so many developments happening in and around our industry that we see it as our duty to try to figure out how we can play our part in customising what we offer for an even better customer outcome.”

“So far we’ve had really good feedback on both of these products, and as always, if anyone has any other ideas as to how we can make a product better, we’re always happy to listen.”

COMMUNITY | Supporting the Knights Tee-Ball Team

At MMT, we feel we have a corporate responsibility to support the communities that support us.

This is seen through our support of various industry events over the years including the Chamber of Commerce, Safety Awards, Leadership Matters and Local Government events to name a few. We believe that our support should extend beyond our immediate business network and reach into the communities where we live.

As part of this philosophy, MMT are currently supporting a group of young Tee-Ball players, the Under 11s Knights Tee-Ball team who are affiliated with the Yangebup Knights.

This club was formed in 1996, after ‘securing’ a number of players from the Melville Braves. In the first season they competed in 'C' Grade, however with greater interest, the club has grown both its senior and junior team involvement.

Garry Spouge, Managing Director of MMT says, ”it’s a great feeling giving back to the community, especially a group of kids. I remember back as a youngster looking forward to the weekend just to get to play sport. It’s good to know in some way we’re helping the next generation do the same”. 

Darryl Green, parent to one of the Knights players says, ”the support of companies like MMT is greatly appreciated, as it helps us with uniforms, competition fees, and equipment. A lot of parents would struggle to put their kids into these sports without them.”

PRODUCTS | Teaming up with ALL EARTH GROUP

Modern Motor Trimmers have recently teamed up with All Earth Group to add a range of stabilisation products to its range.

Diamond Grids are a ground surface stabilisation system that provides erosion control, stabilises soil and improves drainage.

Given that many of our existing customers have a need for or currently use similar systems, this partnership provides an opportunity to provide an even better service to everyone who walks through the MMT door.

In a similar vein to our partnership announced with Midland 4WD Centre last issue, if you have an existing account with All Earth Group, that's great, you can keep sourcing your product directly through them. For those of you who don't, or you just find it easier to deal with us, then let us know what you need and we can take care of supply - for exactly the same price, saving you the hassle of running around town.

Grant Van Elyswk, Sales Manager of MMT, says this partnership will expose the Diamond Grids system to a wider audience. ”Both MMT and All Earth Group, while operating in and around similar industries, have different relationships with different customers. We think by working together we’re going to be able get in front of alot more people, and “solve alot more problems” that people may have".

For those of you who like technical detail, the following provides a bit more information.

How Do They Work?

Diamond Grids create a multi-layered drainage system that drains water from the surface, reducing erosion and eliminating compaction of the substructure. The result is a surface that is solid, dry and secure even with constant use and in heavy rainfall.

The Grids are durable, having a load bearing capacity of over 1,000 tonne/sqm once installed, meaning that they will not wear through even with constant use.

Specifications

Crush Resistance (filled with gravel/road base) – 1,000+ tonne/m2*

Permeability - 96%

Average Compressive Strength (of only 4 Grid Cells) - 25Mpa

Source : http://www.allearth.com.au/stabilisation

PEOPLE | Meet the Team | Introducing Kelly Buckler

Over the course of the last few issues of MMT News, we have introduced staff members who were either new to our business or who may have not been as well known to you all. This issue we like to introduce Kelly Buckler who look after parts and deliveries.  Kelly has had a diverse professional life to date having worked as a production scheduler at Cadbury Schweppes, 8 years at Ansett Airfreight, working in the stores at WesTrac up at Mt Keith and their Sth Guildford branch, and being employed by Thiess Pty for over 10 years in procurement and logistics for the mining and civil construction sides of the business. Bringing with him that diverse work-life experience, in addition to having some experience around the mining and construction games, will be beneficial as Kelly takes on the role of streamlining and improving our parts system. The result of Kelly’s works will be the ability of our production team to get customer jobs out on time, with the availability of parts at the right team being critical in maintaining workflow. Kelly says, ”I’m really keen to be able to get in here a make a difference. Having just starting exploring some of the things we can do, I’m confident using some of my background experience we can streamline what is already in place.” Already Kelly can feel a good vibe about his new workplace, ”Sure I haven't been here long, but so far this place is great to work at. It's just like a big family environment to be honest, and it makes you even more motivated to get in there and get the job done.” Chris Bush, General Manager of Modern Motor Trimmers is glad to have Kelly on board. When asked what specifically Kelly will bring to the business, Chris replied succinctly, “that’s simple, being able to access the right part, for the right job at right time.”

PRODUCTS | What's new in Cribbing

​In August of 2015 we first introduced you to our range of Cribbing Blocks, products manufactured from recycled tyres that are used for stabilising heavy loads while at the same time optimising operator safety. Given almost two years has passed, we thought it was time to provide an update as there have been a number of developments since our last communication. Over the last two years we have had a number of conversations with customers about their exact needs when it comes to the cribbing product. This has allowed us to add to our range with a customer need firmly at the front of mind, while even offering​ customised solutions. Recently we had a request to modify existing product, while at the same time ensuring the integrity of the cribbing ​was maintained. Our customer needed a custom fit to a specific width and depth in order to use the cribbing within a set of jacks. These jacks were being used to hold up some large motors, so it was critical that we got the job right. Trevor Hutchinson, MMT’s resident cribbing specialist ​said, "the cribbing we put together worked great and importantly the customers was really happy." Trevor reckons that ”cribbing is actually a really important OHS tool. It is much safer to use this product than to use large heavy sleepers. I guess it’s just about taking the time to look at it with a long term view."​ Trevor also knows that justifying the cost of buying cribbing is the first thing that comes up when he is first talking to a prospective cribbing customer. “Again the long term view is important here, sure you can buy some wooden blocks cheaper, but with replacement costs and the like over a number of years, the cribbing product will always come out on top.” Keep an eye out for our new cribbing catalogue due out in the next few weeks, featuring our current range that includes : Cribbing Locking blocks Wedges Storage Blocks and Gluts Cog and Step Chocks Cable Hose Covers Car Wheels Stops Coil Pads Hose and Cable Crossings

PRODUCTS | Teaming up with MIDLAND 4WD CENTRE

Modern Motor Trimmers have recently teamed up with Midland 4WD Centre to offer an even greater product range for all of our customers.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Midland 4WD Centre, they offer a wide range of 4 Wheel Drive products and accessories as they are the home of Opposite Lock Midland, Roof Rack City and M4C Tuning.  Some of their range includes bullbars, lighting, winches, canopies, suspension products, all sorts of towing hitches, fridges, camping products, communications, roofing and exhaust systems.

M4C Tuning is a WA based tuning company doing varying work including fleet management, ECO Tuning, REV Limiting and Power Tuning.  They are able to remote on site work as companies require to provide DPF and AD Blue solutions.

Many of our customer’s love getting into their 4WD’s and heading bush for the weekend.  We’re excited that this partnership allows us to expand our product offering for those customers, which in turn helps us develop an even stronger relationship with them.

If you have an existing account with Midland 4WD Centre, that's great, you can keep sourcing your product directly through them.  For those of you who don't, or you just find it easier to deal with us, then let us know what you need and we can supply anything that is in the Opposite Lock catalogue - for exactly the same price.

This also saves you the hassle of running around town.

Simon Ash, Director of Midland 4WD Centre, says he is excited about what this partnership can bring to his business.  ”This partnership will allow us to not only expand our customer base, but it will expose us to different people, different businesses and possibly differently ways of doing things.  The great thing about that, is it helps us to get better, innovate and seek out more solutions that will in the long run, be of benefit to the people we already deal with.”

Garry Spouge of MMT agrees.  ”By now having the ability to offer such an additional range of products, this helps us engage new people and just get into conversations that we may not have had before.  This will in all probability open our eyes to new things which I reckon will reinforce our mantra of being problem solvers.”

Both Modern Motor Trimmers and Midland 4WD Centre want to continue offering the very best service for all of our customers, so let us know what you think.  In the meantime, have a look at the current Midland 4WD offering you can now get from us.

www.midland4wdcentre.com.au