More Custom Products in 2019

Over the last few years we've made it a focus to use our expertise to make the operator experience that little bit more comfortable.  

In this respect we have been able to customise a number of seats that are used daily within the mining, construction, transport and trucking industries.

Have a look at the Hitachi seat, specially developed for the Hitachi range of excavators.   As we had pointed out in earlier articles, our customisation provides the operator controls in a ‘seat mounted’ position. This capability helps increase operator productivity, in addition to mitigating fatigue and injury.

We have applied this same philosophy to the Komatsu seat, with the mounting of the Wheel Loader controls directly on the seat mount, the Rail Seat and also the Underground Seat.

We don't intend to stop there, and in 2019 we have plans to continue along the same line of providing solutions that will help our customers get their work done in a more efficient and safe manner.

Grant Van Elyswk, Sales Manager of Modern Motor Trimmers, says these new products are providing popular with customers.  ”These products have been beneficial to our customers with reports coming back saying  - you guys are on the right path, these custom seats are helping operator productivity."

With so many different equipment types operating within our industry, Grant has plans to increase the custom range next year.  "We've got a number of plans to continue our customisation programme in 2019 starting with a special seat for Dozers".

Don't use a BBQ plate to repair your seat.

We've recently seen a seat repair carried out using a 10mm BBQ plate welded to the top frame. 
The heat from the welding caused the seat to distorted.

Why should I service my Seat Properly?

OHS Compliance
Modern Motor Trimmers work hard to ensure that our seats comply will all industry regulations.

Operating within the Mining and Construction industries demands high standards.  We currently work closely with some of the major mining companies in Western Australia such as BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, and dealers such as WesTrac, & Komatsu to ensure that our seats are of the very highest standard.

Efficiency and Comfort
Regular servicing of your ISRI seat will ensure you maintain the performance and comfort characteristics of the seat for the life of the product. Based on the highly successful NTS platform, ISRI construction seats raise the industry standard . Within this platform are vehicle air, compressor air and mechanical suspension seats, as well as static non-suspension seats and breathable, wear resistant textile covers.

Extend Life of Seat
Regular maintenance of your ISRI seat will allow you to not only extend the life of your seat, but to maximise levels of operator comfort throughout the duration of the seats commissioning. This translates to greater operator performance.



Why should I use Modern Motor Trimmers?

Industry Experience
Modern Motor Trimmers have vast industry experience.  We understand your business. Our staff operate within the Mining and Construction industries on a daily basis which means we not only understand seats repairs, we understand the procedures that need to be adhered to in getting the job done.

Quality of Repair
Modern Motor Trimmers are committed to carrying out repairs to the highest standards in the shortest possible time. We only use quality parts and we stand behind every repair that comes through our workshop. Don’t risk the safety of your people by gambling on anyone else.

Safety
Being an award winner at the Worksafe Awards WA, Modern Motor Trimmers are committed to achieving the highest possible standards from a safety standpoint and achieving best practice. This means you can rely on this same attention to detail when it comes to seat safety and OHS compliance.

Protect your Vehicle

Protecting your vehicle from dirt, sand, mud, or whatever you're working in and around is something we all think about.

But those who work in and around their vehicle on a daily basis have even more reason to invest in a set of durable seats covers, floor mats, even a boot liner.

One of the main elements you are trying to protect your seats against is the sun. While impossible to completely block out, the sun's UV rays can cause damage to your seat in a short space of time.

Then in winter, well some types of seats are just cold, so a set of seat covers just makes things feel that little bit better.

#problemsolved #mmt

Get Comfortable in your Truck

For our customers out there on long haul trucks, not only are the long hours a challenge to your back, but so to is all the “other stuff” you’ve got to do in a day's work. What about loading, stacking & handling freight, these are all activities that can have an impact on the body.
So what are some of the things you can do to reduce the risk of injury? Let's start in the cab. Most of you out there on the road are well aware that sitting in a truck isn’t like sitting in a chair. With the vibrations of the truck, bumps in the road, and wear and tear on the seat over the 1000’s of kms, poor posture can exacerbate any ill effects. You've heard us say this before, but setting up your seat is critical to making sure you get the best chance of getting home and feeling in reasonable condition.

Most of you out there are well versed in these tips, but they are worth repeating.Adjust the backrest so your arms are at a slight angle while you’re holding the steering wheel.

• Adjust your seat so your feet can comfortably reach the accelerator pedal, brake, and clutch.
• Your entire back should lean against the backrest.
• Instrumentation should be easy to see.
• You should be able to see all of your mirrors without slouching or twisting.
• If during your journey you find you can't see your mirrors, you are probably slouching. Situp. Don't re-adjusting your mirrors.
• Your thighs should be completely on the seat.
• The back of your knee should be no more (or less) than an inch away from your seat cushion.
• Change your position in the seat at least once or twice an hour. Small adjustments really do help.
• Move your hand position frequently.
• Don’t grip the steering wheel too hard for too long.
• Check your seat suspension. You don’t want it to be too soft or too hard.

We’ve got a whole list of tips for setting up your suspension seat, so if you need any more information, please give us a call.

It’s also important to take care of yourself out of the truck too. Stretch slowly and carefully after you get out of the cab. Exercise to keep yourself in good shape. Watch your posture in and out of the truck. Do these things, and you’ll substantially decrease your chance of injury while on the job.

Not any ground breaking stuff in there, just the basics.

We look forward to seeing you out there, doing your stretching routine next to your truck, next time we’re passing by a truck stop.

#problemsolved #mmt

Setup your Seat properly

Research shows that sprains and strains are heavily influenced by exposure to what is loosely termed ”rough rides”, whether that be in a Wheel Loader, Off Highway Truck, Scraper, Road Train or any other vehicle.

When an operator is exposed to this condition, the negative flow on effect are issues in the neck and back region (pain). This is where proper seat setup plays a major role.

Most of you know that your weight and height are critical factors at play when getting a seat ‘setup’ properly. If the seat is not specifically set up for your requirements, then it cannot possibly do the job of not only being comfortable, but fulfilling its role of preventing injury, through ‘control’ of this rough ride. That is why you’ll see MMT staff out in the field showing you how to setup your seat properly. While it may seem like a fairly straightforward task, getting it right is so important. Safe Work Australia in their publication, “ERGONOMICS FOR THE CONTROL OF SPRAINS AND STRAINS IN MINING” state, There are three major anatomical/physiological factors which need to be considered in sitting posture: 1. the posture of the spine, in particular the configuration of and pressure within the spinal discs; 2. the type and amount of muscle work required to maintain work postures (static and active) and individual fatigue levels; 3. compression of the tissues (most particularly the blood vessels and nerves) at the back of the thigh and behind the knee. MMT are always keen to ensure our customers get a comfortable ride during the day and get home in the same good condition that they left their family in. Get in touch with us for a few simple tips on how you can eliminate any back or neck pain you may be experiencing operating your trucks, bus or even your car at home.

#problemsolved #mmt

Why ISRI Seats?

ISRI® seats have been sold in Australia since 1977, building on history that started twenty years earlier in Lemgo Germany.

Tens of thousands of Australian drivers place their trust in the quality of ISRI® products, to not only ensure a comfortable ride, but to ensure their health & safety through proper ergonomics. But what goes into an ISRI seat to make them so special? One of the keys to the ISRI® story is the company’s commitment to research and development that takes place on every product line going to market with the ISRI® badge. At the Isringhausen Head Office and factory in Lemgo, Germany, approximately 140 people are engaged in the product research, design, testing and development process. This process focuses on ensuring every seat will stand up and perform in the field. In the Lemgo measuring and test laboratory, ISRI® seats are placed under extreme stresses that are unlikely to ever occur in the real world. It’s only when the seat passes these tests, that the ISRI® product is released for customer use. The end result is seats that meet or exceed internationally recognised ergonomic and safety standards. The company itself is certified to the ISO9001 and QS9000 Quality Standards. So next time you’re sitting on an ISRI® seat marvelling at the comfort, you'll know a bit about what goes into ensuring your smooth ride. #problemsolved #mmt

COMMUNITY | MACA Ride to Conquer Cancer®

At MMT we are proud to play an active role in supporting the community, both in the form of charity support and supporting the communities and people that support us.

Sponsorship, being a visible form of community support, allows us to stand behind the communities and people that support us. These include sponsoring footy clubs in the North of our state to other sporting organisations throughout Perth.

Recently we have pledged support to the MACA Ride to Conquer Cancer® cause through sponsoring a number of riders. This event, running over two days and covering 200 kilometres provides benefits to the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research.

This institute is one of Australia's leading adult medical research centres, where a team of world-leading doctors, researchers, scientists and clinicians work hard to fight against major diseases that impact our community.

The MACA Ride to Conquer Cancer® specifically directs funds to "support cancer research, acquire new equipment and facilities, and retain experts to lead this vital work."

For more information how you can get involved, click on the links below.


http://perth.conquercancer.org.au/
https://www.perkins.org.au/

#problemsolved #mmt

Soundproofing your Vehicle

We've talked about ourselves being "Problem Solvers" for a while now, and we are still living up to that moniker.

When a customer recently brought in their Toro Groundsmaster 4700-D and asked us, "Can you make it quieter in the cab", it was a job that we jumped at as we hadn't worked with lawnmowers before. With the number of cars that we had stripped and refitted over the last 25 years, we knew we’d need to employ a similar approach, it's just that working with such a different vehicle would make the job more interesting. To get the result our customer was after, we stripped the cab and put in 3mm Dynamat sound absorption material all around the interior. Once we finished the cab, we moved outside the vehicle and affixed a skip plate underneath the unit, in addition to installing Dynamat material on the engine cover. This reduced the overall noise being experienced at the operator’s ears by 50 dB, which is what you would expect to hear from large electrical transformers at 100 feet, or if that example is too obscure, think of the sound of a fridge at close range. As decibels are measured in a logarithmic fashion, small increases in measurement can be huge in the real world. Consider the difference between an alarm clock at 80dB and an ambulance siren at 120 dB. For our customer, and the operator, a reduction of 50 dB is significant over the course of a working day.

#problemsolved #mmt

Seat Covers working to facilitate Airbag Deployment

There are three main reasons why people buy a seat cover for their car, truck or any other vehicle for that matter.

Maybe it's to afford protection to the seat itself, as some people are in their vehicle for many hours in the day. It could be for comfort, some seat covers provide an extra layer of cushioning and are just made well, which gives you a better ride. For others, they are concerned with the look, the seat covers primarily need to enhance the appearance of their vehicle.

In reality, most people take all three issues into consideration when making their seat cover purchase.

But how many of you think of safety when making your seat cover selection? Many vehicles these days are fitted with side airbags, an important safety feature that has been shown by some studies to reduce the risk of casualties in crashes by 45 per cent. These airbags are designed to protect the vehicle occupants head during a side crash. They have also been noted to offer some protection in a vehicle roll over by forming a cushion between the occupant's head and the window.

So it is of vital importance to ensure any seat cover you choose allows these side airbags to deploy freely. “Normal’ seat covers cannot be fitted in vehicles with integrated side airbags, as they prevent deployment, with the airbags becoming trapped under the seat cover.

Consider how an airbag works. We all know that when there is an accident, the airbags are supposed to fill up with air very quickly. This then provides some cushioning of impact for the vehicle occupant. But for the airbag to deploy quickly, small pieces of electronics called crash sensors are continually monitoring different sets of stimuli, including sudden stopping & increased pressure to tell when the vehicle is in an accident. Accuracy and speed of detection and response are vital.

When the sensors detect an accident, they usually respond with airbag deployment within 25 to 50 milliseconds. If you’d like to think of that in speed over the ground, that is approximately 320 km/h. Now put a seat cover over that seat. Will it have an effect on deployment speed?

You’ll see plenty of seat covers out there being airbag friendly or air bag compatible. At MMT, we wanted to be sure that the design we employ in our air bag compatible seat covers truly do the job. We thought given the reaction times involved in airbags working properly, we would take some of our seat covers and get then certified to see how they really perform. This would not only provide peace of mind to our customers, but to us as well, knowing that the methodology we employ in manufacturing our seat covers really stands up.

We’re happy to say that our seat covers passed the test that involved high speed footage analysis and testing. So we know from independent testing, the products we are sending out to the market is safe.

Before buying seat covers, wouldn’t you like to know that the manufacturer went the extra mile to test the methods they use to put the seat covers together? This means we can safely say in the event of a collision, your seat covers will not hinder airbag deployment.

#problemsolved #mmt