Directors Message
A lot has happened since our last newsletter; Australia went to the polls divided after a somewhat interesting election campaign period by all major parties; the resource sector went through an uncertain period with the introduction of the ‘Mining Super Profit Tax’; and the global market is still adjusting from the Global Financial Crisis. Now we have a female Prime Minister and there are definitely some emerging signs of recovery in some sectors. It looks like an exciting time ahead!
While the economic condition remains tough, SCF Group has managed to increase the rental business, with strong growth from our Tank Containers team. There is also good news from our Container Rooms division with increased presence in the mining and defence sectors. We are excited about our 40’ side-door containers too. Our customers are currently trialling the prototypes and have provided helpful feedbacks and suggestions which we value highly.
Internally, in early September, the SCF Board made an announcement to all staff detailing some important changes to SCF’s management structure, effective immediately.
• Richard will be the company’s Chief Executive Officer;
• Lindsay will take up the newly created position of Executive Director, responsible for Special Projects. Lindsay will also become the Company Chairman;
• The Board is also actively recruiting a Chief Financial Officer, who will be responsible for running the finance function. This new role will report directly to Richard.
This new management structure will have no impact on customers or the long-term strategy of the business. We, together with the rest of the executive team, will remain highly committed and motivated to drive the business forward into its next growth phase.
We are very grateful for all our staff and customers’ contributions this past year, and recognise that it is the staff efforts and continuous support from our valued customers that have enabled SCF to develop into the market-leading business it is today.
We are very proud of SCF’s achievements, and look forward to engaging our staff to continue to grow and improve the business, and working closely with customers to find better solutions to meet the changing needs of our businesses.
Richard Sykes CEO
Lindsay Carthew Executive Director (Special Projects)
IFW AWARDS FINALIST
IFW Awards entries were placed in front of an esteemed judging panel that had the difficult task of choosing the shortlist and overall winners. With a record number of entries received this year it was going to be a very difficult decision.
The SCF Group has proudly been nominated in two following categories
• Finalist in the 2010 IFW Technological Innovation Award
• Finalist in the 2010 IFW Customer Care Award
The prestigious and hotly contested awards ceremony is taking place at the Hilton on Park Lane, London on Thursday, October 28, 2010.
National Operations
The end-of-year busy season is fast approaching and SCF Group is planning for it to be exciting. In our commitment to supply all of our valuable customers, SCF has been building stock and positioning containers around the country in preparation for this time. This preparation has been key in the current marketplace as new build container prices are at an all time high and production availability in overseas factories is extremely tight. These issues are largely attributed to the global trade and shipping recovery after the GFC which continues to show an unprecedented level of growth. In addition, the lack of supply has taken all the major leasing and sale stock around the country limiting the availability for sourcing extra equipment.
As usual SCF will be working closely with its customers to ensure needs are met at this time. For all requirements please contact your sales representative as soon as possible to discuss stock options, and they look forward to working together with clients during the busy season.
RWTA Brass Monkey Cup
SCF Group team members
Richard Sykes, Matthew Harris, Kym Dunn & Kym Russell |
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SCF group attended the annual Brass monkey Golf day held at the prestigious Kooyonga Golf club in South Australia. It was another wet day on the course for the SCF Group team consisting of Richard Sykes, Kym Dunn, Matt Harris and Kym Russell but the worthy cause far exceeded the poor conditions. All proceedings from the day went towards the Coopers Brewery Foundation. The foundation aims to improve and protect the quality of life for Australians by supporting organisations focused on medical research and health care. For more information on the Cooper brewery foundation please visit http://www.coopers.com.au/corporate/foundation.
Staff Profiles
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Simply Containers Melbourne
Kyle Ferreira
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Hi my name is Kyle Ferreira and I am the new Sales Representative in the Melbourne office. In my spare time I like to get to as many footy games as possible watching the Mighty Blues and when we actually get some nice weather in Melbourne love taking my dogs down to the beach for a run and a swim. The best thing about working for SCF is I no longer have to work weekends!
My favourite food would have to be my wife’s lasagna. I would say the best holiday I have been on would probably be at Brampton Island. I went there over the week of New Years Eve 2008 and got the chance to snorkel at The Great Barrier Reef, which was awesome. My Favourite movie is Pulp Fiction, and I would have to say my greatest achievement in life so far is buying my new house last year.
COMMUNITY
The SCF Group is the major sponsor of the Roxby Downs Junior Football Association. SCF’s main involvement has been to supply the guernsey’s for U/12s and U/16s and also supply the cup for their major carnival (known as the SCF Group Cup). The company also sponsored their grand finals with awards for the best player in teams, polo tops and vouchers for the juniors and seniors as well as the Miners Cup fixture against Broken Hill. 
This is SCF’s second year having an involvement in the Woomera & Districts Football League and it is working closely with the town and community in providing a quality service with the football program.
Further to this, the weekend of September 11 and 12 was the Riverland Football League Grand Final as well as the Mallee Football League Grand Final. These Leagues are also sponsored by the SCF Group and are part of the West Adelaide Football Club ‘Country Zone’.
Richard and Jo Sykes travelled to the Riverland town of Waikerie for the Grand Final and were invited into the sponsors’ marquee as guests. Richard presented the Best player awards to the second’s players after their match Allan Brand presented the U/13, U/15, U/18 and A Grade awards during the day as well as covering the main game on local radio.
Leukaemia Foundation
SCF Group Casual Day Supports the Leukaemia Foundation
Every Friday SCF Group head office staff support casual day by making a donation of $2. The team has proudly donated close to $500 to the leukaemia foundation and working to hit the $1000 mark in the not too distant future.
Life Be In Corporate Cup 2010
It’s that time again and the SCF Group has two teams entered into the Adelaide Life Be In It Corporate Cup; Team 1 The Tortoise’s and Team 2 The Hares. With a generous amount of competition between both teams, there is still eight weeks to determine the better team.
OZ Lantern
Each year, Adelaide hosts the Oz Asia Festival; the only Festival of its kind in Australia that brings Australian-Asian diverse cultures together, offering a vibrant mix of events throughout the Festival. This year’s main theme is Korea, next year will be Japan.
The Moon Lantern Festival is described as the soul of the Oz Asia Festival. This event traditionally brings friends and families together across Asia to celebrate the mid-autumn harvest and eat moon cake together. Celebration is on the 15th day of the eight lunar month of the Chinese calendar. In Adelaide, local community groups and businesses present traditional and contemporary music and dance performances, followed by the stunning parade of signature lanterns at dusk.
In its 4th year, the event is growing stronger with business and community supports. Continuing SCF tradition to support local community events and youth development, and with strong ties to Asian manufacturers and suppliers, SCF is proud to join Santos in sponsoring this year’s Moon Lantern Festival with a commitment to provide transport and storage for all the magnificent lanterns.
Social Club
SCF Group social club has enjoyed a few different functions over the last few months. The Benjamin on Franklin Hotel was a popular venue with drinks and nibbles in the fantastic court yard.
A few brave social clubbers enjoyed a very long day out deep sea fishing and these pictures speak a thousand words.
A total of 20 SCF socialites turned up for a relaxing evening dinner at the Tivoli Hotel in Adelaide with some partying on till the early hours of Saturday morning.
Baby Boomers
2010 is the SCF Group baby-boom year with new parents and grandparents growing by the minute.
Matthew and Alicia Hancock delivered beautiful Lily Mai Hancock on May 27, 2010.
Matthew and Rose Harris proudly brought into the world Korbin Davis Harris on September 13, 2010.
Lindsay and Pandie Carthew became proud grandparents of Ella Grace Andrews, and Kym Dunn became a granddaddy to Charlie Joe Madden.
Congratulations all round!
Simply Containers Perth Grand Opening
SCF Group in Perth recently officially opened the gates to its new 10,000 square metre depot, its biggest in its nine-year history.
For the head office staff who attended the launch in August this was the first time they had seen the completed site and were suitably impressed. Perth has had three depots previously but the new site at the Perth Airport is the first completely bitumised yard and the improvement in productivity and efficiency is marked.
The layout and additional space has allowed staff to minimise the double handling of containers, with the additional benefit of reduced forklift wear obtained from the reduction in operation and dust free environment. The additional space has also allowed a dedicated display area to showcase SCF’s products, safely away from machinery and truck traffic, and also there is an undercover workshop area allowing repairs and modifications to continue no matter what the weather.
The Perth Airport site is part of a new development, carved out of Commonwealth land set aside for the future requirement of a third runway. Negotiations on the land commenced in February 2008 and after many delays, flooding and postponements, over two years later the move finally took place.
All staff (sales and depot) are working out of SCF’s own Container Room products – Karingal and Akora including the Akora Ensuite block –giving clients the opportunity to see our products in use and highlighting their functionality.
Other than some IT hiccups, the new yard has been a resounding success and all the staff in Perth are to be commended on their efforts in getting it to this stage.
Ag Show Toowoomba Queensland
After missing last year’s Toowoomba AgShow, Simply Containers Brisbane decided to participate this year after Brett Carthew assured head office that he would make the attendance a success.
The show ran for three days from August 30 to September 1 and the weather helped maintain a reasonable attendance rate.
The Simply Containers site attracted a lot of visitors who showed particular interest in our non standard products – ToxBox, MiniMate and Container Rooms. More often than not the team were all busy with potential customers, answering questions and handing out brochures, resulting in one of the best immediate results we have had at an Ag Show. The final tally of sales was excellent and we only had to take two or three containers back with us to Brisbane, and it looks as if there will be many more sales as a result of Simply Containers attendance over the next six months.
Growth in the Resource Sector
Mining companies and contractors in Australia and overseas have responded strongly to the locally manufactured temporary accommodation and SCF Group has tapped into these multi-million dollar markets.
Container Rooms recognised a gap in the market for this type of highly durable and rapidly transportable accommodation, and in less than a year of manufacturing it has generated more than $7 million in sales.
Mithril Resources Managing Director Graham Ascough said his company was using the housing units for a project at Indiana Station in the Northern Territory.
“Container Rooms worked with my team to design and deliver a small remote camp. The units are great quality and offer flexibility in design and mobility,” he said.
Container Rooms also worked with Marmota Energy to establish a temporary camp at its Junction Dam site near the Honeymoon uranium mine where extra workers have been needed on an extensive drilling campaign. SCF was able to customise the layout of the accommodation units to meet the specifications and budget of Marmota Energy.
Container Rooms has products that range from full turnkey camps to individual ablution units that include crib rooms, kitchen and dining facilities, recreation and first aid rooms.
The Container Rooms team work directly with the customer to design the units based on individual needs and requirements. The division specialises in rapid deployment units with minimised footprints and can provide feasibility studies, maintenance and relocation analysis.
The need for a low cost, high quality and durable product is bigger than ever. SCF’s team of engineers and managers has been working on designing a product that meets these needs. It certainly is a challenge to design a product that does not steer away from SCF’s views of quality and perfection and towards inferior parts and finishes. All it requires is smart thinking and innovative ideas. Container Rooms is hoping to put the Akora I.Q out on trial within the next few months
Prototype for the DTEI
A very exciting tender has been awarded to Container Rooms by the DTEI. After six months of ongoing design and development we have secured a deal for a prototype bunkhouse to replace the DTEI fleet of remote caravans. The project involves creative thinking and practical placement of equipments. The model itself should it be successful will be replacing an estimated 70 caravans. This is a great project for the team who are looking forward to working with the DTEI.
Remote Camps
Container Rooms recently won its first big deal with the Australian Defence Force (ADF). As part of the ADF’s Project Hamel the SCF Group was asked to assist in the set up of three remote camps near Townsville Queensland. The camps which are expected to run for a three month period and cater for just over 1000 soldie
rs not only required suitable showering and laundry facilities but also a suitable water storage solution. With only 9 weeks to prepare Container Rooms was able to build and deliver ten shower blocks and five laundry units. With the assistance of the Tank Containers division, SCF Group was also able provide 23 tank containers. As well as providing the portable buildings and tank containers the SCF Group was able to set up a complete water solution for the camp. Using pressure tanks and submersible pumps they were able to design a system which not only prevented water wastage but also mimicked a stationery building with a mains water supply.
The Australian Defence Force has so far been extremely impressed with the solution and service which the SCF Group has been able to provide. They are now in the process of discussing future projects.
SCF Unveil the world’s first 40’ polymer side door container
After more than five years in development SCF have unveiled the world’s first 40’ side door container with light-weight polymer doors. The new container was unveiled to staff and Directors of the SCF Group in Adelaide in July and to a group of very interested customers shortly afterwards.
This container is designed to replace 40’ curtain side containers which are notorious for high maintenance and repair costs and for issues with cargo security. By using the polymer material, specifically designed for this purpose, SCF can now supply a container with minimal maintenance costs on the doors, and the added security of a solid wall instead of the curtain. Not only that, but if the side wall is damaged it is easily and quickly replaceable at minimum cost, with the whole process taking less than one hour with no need to send the container off site for repairs.
The industry has been asking SCF for this container for many years and it has taken more than five years of building prototypes and testing alternative materials to come up with this design which is registered and patented to the SCF Group.
Richard Sykes, who led the design team that created the polymer doors, said the container would revolutionise the industry and the operators of these containers would reap immediate benefits from reduced maintenance and repair costs and improvements in handling and cargo security.
There is already considerable interest in these containers as the two prototypes make their way around Australia, and SCF will building the first production run of these containers within the next two months.
If you are interested in finding out more about this container please contact Jonathan Coad, General Manager of Rail Containers on 0414 500 775.
Tank Containers Goes Offshore
The Tank Division continues to grow and has had a strong start to the financial year. The team is working hard to meet the increase in demand for tank containers and has started to supply the growing Australian offshore oil and gas industry with DNV 2.7-1 Tanks.
DNV (DET NORSKE VERITAS) is an independent foundation with objectives of safeguarding life, property and the environment, at sea and onshore. They also undertake classification, certification, and other verification and consultancy services relating to quality of ships, offshore units (like Tank Containers) and installations.
DNV 2.7-1 is the standard certification for Offshore Freight Containers and was prepared because current regulations at the time did not cover off shore containers. The Standard for Certification is base on three phases of transport of offshore containers those being; shore side, supply vessels, and lifting to and from off shore installations. Off shore containers are susceptible to a higher rate of ‘Normal Wear and Tear’ but containers designed to meet the DNV regulations should be able to meet normal operating conditions and not suffer from failure if subject to extreme loads.
Tank Containers has updated its fleet with a number of 7500L DNV Rated tanks designed to carry hazardous and non-hazardous liquid cargo. They are specifically designed to transport to and from offshore installations and ships.
Features of these tanks include:
• Up to 7500L Capacity per tank
• 3” Bottom outlet valve, with cap and chain
• 4 x Pads fitted with wire rope (slings)
• Hinged man lids with swing bolts
• PV Valve Vent
• Document Holder
• Empty Fork Lift Pockets and ISO Corner Castings
Tank Containers can also supply other sizes of DNV rated tanks from 4000L up to 20,000L to meet any requirement you have. Equipment can be supplied on a short term or long term hire and transport can be arranged to deliver the tanks to your depot if required.
Solving the Ullage Mystery – Smart Tanks are the key
SCF Group will introduce a new 26,000 litre tank design into the fleet early next year called the Smart Tank. The new tank will allow a maximum fill of 25,480L without the 80 per cent minimum fill ratio of 20,384L. This will be done by putting three partitions or surge plates into the tank making four separate compartments of 6,370L each.
The new design will provide flexibility when transporting products, as the new minimum fill ratio will be zero, from when the tank is empty to a maximum of 98% full, (0 to 25,480L). This will solve a few key issues within the transport industry, the main one being ullage* of the tank when transporting smaller loads.
The Smart Tank can be utilized for different types and amounts of cargo on the return journey rather than transporting the tank back empty. There will be no need to get a smaller tank for the return journey so costs will be reduced.
The features of the Smart Tank are:
• 316 stainless steel construction
• Four bar working pressure
• Insulated
• Steam tubes fitted
• Three partitions or surge plates fitted internally
• Safety handrails and walkways
• Approved for hazardous and non-hazardous liquid
• Fully compliant with ISO, IMO and IMDG Standards
• Bottom discharge and top loading
Don’t forget Tank Containers services and delivers to all parts of Australia with depots in Melbourne, Darwin, Brisbane, Perth, Sydney and Adelaide. If you want more information or are interested in the Smart Tank please call us today, limited stock will be available.
*What is ullage and why does it matter? The ullage is the unfilled space in a tank container after it has been loaded with cargo. The fill ranges between a minimum of 80 per cent and a maximum of 98 per cent. Filling ratios must never be less than 80 per cent for tanks not partitioned into compartments of less than 7,500L. If you do not fill the tank properly it can cause the centre of gravity to shift from side to side or surge fore or aft. When the tank is correctly filled this should not affect stability.
Tanks Containers, A Division of SCF Group –Phone: 07-3718-7050, email: info@tankcontainers.com.au
Bright Sparks
We welcome any bright ideas for new products or suggestions for product improvement.
Please email us and share your thoughts.
Contact Us
Unit 3/Level 1,
1 London Road, Mile End, South Australia 5031
Phone 08 8208 0900
Fax 08 8208 0901
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