SMC Corporation is a company that is always finding new ways to innovate. It proved so when supply chain disruptions first hit during the COVID-19 pandemic.
It can be difficult to view the COVID-19 pandemic as a positive for manufacturing companies, but SMC Corporation is doing just that.
The leading automation manufacturer learnt valuable lessons over the past few years. As new challenges now present themselves in the sustainable bus and coach market, the Australian arm of the Japanese company is using its experience to overcome trials.
“The supply chain impact of COVID-19 was a real challenge on the bus door and automation side of our business,” SMC Australia national sales manager for Bus Doors Darryl Wilson told ABC.
“Bus door sales declined and as there wasn’t much passenger uptake, governments pulled back when it came to bus purchases.
“On the bus door side we lost a few big suppliers and our aluminium and rubber suppliers pulled out of Australia, so we had to relook at our supply chain to catch up.”
And catch up it did. SMC began recovering from these issues and found innovative ways of satisfying its customers.
It wasn’t an easy process. Wilson says SMC got to within a couple of days of running out of its rubber extrusions for its bus door products.
“It was a heart in mouth moment for us, because when you change rubber supplies you have to readjust your dyes because each rubber extrudes differently,” Wilson says.
“We use fairly thin-walled rubber to allow for more sensitivity on our sensors, so it was crucial to use just the right thickness. It took a number of tries testing the different rubber supplies over a few months to get it right.
“Through the development and research we did during COVID-19, some beneficial changes were made.”
RELATED ARTICLE: SMC Expo preview
Wilson says SMC switched from importing aluminium from a Chinese supplier to returning to Australian manufacturing, creating a positive out of the pandemic’s challenges.
While the bus door sector of SMC’s production was struggling to source materials, the major part of SMC in its automation side boomed throughout the pandemic. Wilson says many companies unexpectedly decided to begin maintenance works on its equipment and manufacturing returned from offshore to within Australia, giving SMC more customers to satisfy.
Wilson says SMC has never been quite the same since. The company adapted its operations to match lessons it had learnt during the pandemic. Ever since, SMC has increased its efficiency during the pandemic by streamlining operations and relooking premises and layout to ensure a more efficient and productive environment.
NEW DEVELOPMENTS
In moving with the times, SMC has now set its sights on electric doors. Wilson says SMC has recently been working on an electric bus door for its latest product offering.
Wilson says that if a normal pneumatic bus door loses power, the door can still be moved and go into a failsafe mode. Yet, with electric doors, if power is lost then the doors are stuck in place, creating a safety hazard for passengers. SMC is busy working behind the scenes to devise a pneumatic arrangement that complies with safety regulations. Wilson hopes to give the industry some good news on this development soon.
SMC is also constantly looking to improve its existing products. Recent upgrades to the popular quad sensitive edge have made it more weatherproof. Wilson says the changes made to the quad sensitive edge over the past two years have been positively received by customers.
SMC has also changed the bearing mechanism to its new DryGlide system. Wilson says the DryGlide mechanism has now been on the market long enough to prove itself as a very successful option for the Australian industry.
Safety is a key part of SMC’s products. Wilson says its upcoming projects include a range of testing on some of its door offerings to ensure it adheres to changing safety mandates being introduced to NSW.
It’s this high-quality finish in both design and manufacturing that has allowed SMC to rebound from supply challenges. During Wilson’s career at SMC, he says the lofty standards the company holds itself to consistently results in successful products hitting the Australian market.
“I’ve been at SMC for 26 years,” Wilson says. “For me I always notice that the quality of the product is paramount – you can rely on SMC time and again.
“We pride ourselves on our doors and we do the best that we can to make our products as high quality as possible.”