ACL Newsletter Issue 28

A FOCUS ON ACL BEARING COMPANY
NEW BEARING COMPANY GM SEES
ENORMOUS POTENTIAL THROUGH
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
Following the retirement of Bob
Panitzki in September, Jim Degnian
has been appointed General
Manager of ACL Bearing
Company; having been General
Manager of ACL Gasket Company
from 1997 to 2003. Jim is not
completely new to the Launceston
operation as he undertook a project
earlier in the year to help implement
a continuous improvement program.
outcome from our processes - and I’m talking
about all of our processes not just those in
production areas. Process Control is a risk
management methodology for continuous
improvement of the quality control tools used
at each and every operation.”
“I find that the term Continuous
Improvement is often quite misunderstood,”
said Jim.“To me it is a process of chipping
away at the problem - do something today
at relatively low cost and effort that will
help you see the problem in a different light
tomorrow - then make another small change
tomorrow.In the last edition of ACL Reporter,
Alan Smith told us about his activities to
reduce the set-up time within one of our
Bearing machine lines. Alan has become a
great supporter of the small step improvement
philosophy. Alan and his team have made
many hundreds of small, and not so small,
improvements to the same machines - and
there are still many more hundreds to go.”
‘ACL Reporter’ asked Jim: Now
that you have a permanent role at Bearing
Company, has anything changed in your
approach? “No, my understanding is that in
the past when Bearing Company has tried to
implement systems like this,it was introduced
into one small area at a time and wasn’t
integrated well with other business systems.
It then tended to lose momentum and stop.
The important thing is to make sure that
continuous improvement activities are
integrated into our everyday activities so that
the improvement does not stop. The twin
approach of Process Flow and Process Control
is part of what we call Management Review
- it’s about the way the business is being
managed and continuously improved - striving
to reduce waste in every part of the business.”
“Complementing this is a process called
Leadership Review - planning and creating
the future that we collectively want for the
company.”
“The difficulty,” says Jim,“is that everyone
within the company will see the future
differently; from a different perspective. So
what do we do? Well I see my role being to
provide the clear direction in which we need
to move - the road we are going to travel on.
The next important step is to then try and
develop some ‘shared vision’of what we want
to create. It’s pointless my saying:‘this is my
vision and therefore this is now our shared
vision’. It won’t work. The management
team has started and will continue to meet
regularly to talk about these issues. In the
near future we will start holding employee
forums to try and understand what other
people see for our future.”
“Clearly people in this business see
a need for change, and clearly there are
opportunities for improvements.With everyone’s
help we’ll get there.”
ACL Bearing Company
General Manager, Jim Degnian
he continuous improvement program
‘‘T focused on the two management
principles of Process Flow and Process
Control,” said Jim.
“Process Flow is just another way of
looking at Lean Production. Making processes
flow faster is all about doing things in smaller
and smaller batches.The faster the flow, the
more problems are uncovered - remove the
problems - faster flow - reduce the waste.”
According to Jim:“The word ‘quality’ is
all about getting a predictable and repeatable
Bearing’s Leadership Team (L-R Rear) Chris Brooks, David Midgley, Peter Smith, Phil Dowl, Nathan Lawson, Mal Matthews and Jim
Degnian. (L-R Front), Lee Chadwick,Yvette Saunders, Ian Coulson, Darren von Stieglitz. Absent on annual leave was Mike Lambert.

TONY KEEPS AFIRM GRIP
ON MAINTENANCE
T
ony Hannan is ACL Bearing Company’s
Maintenance Team Leader, who has the
responsibility of looking after Plants 1 and 3
and planning for all plants.There has been an
overhaul of the maintenance administration,
which has seen an increase in safety hazards
being exposed.
“We now have five different coloured
forms when maintenance is required,”
explained Tony.“Blue for mechanical. Pink
for electrical. Yellow for safety. Green for
environmental, and white covers suggestions
for improvements.
“Anybody can raise a form, and they
fill out the plant number, machine number,
the machine name and the area.They include
their name, the date it’s raised and the
problem.This then goes to the supervisor.
He assesses it and it’s allocated a priority
depending on production needs.”
Tony said that can be either low,medium
or high and the date it needs to be fixed.
“From there it comes to me and I allocate it
to a fitter,electrician or contractor.I also check
to see if any safety plan is required and this
is printed on the reverse side of the form.
“If a safety plan is required, we indicate
that and put it into my maintenance database
and assign a database number. If it goes to a
contractor, I review the job with them and
go through any company requirements.We
detail what’s required and when, and list
any appropriate Workplace Safety or other
safety standards that the contractor must
comply with.”
At this point Tony said the contractor
indicates what he will do to protect ACL
personnel.“This covers his employees,and our
equipment and if I deem it necessary,I involve
the Safety Officer. If the work involves some
danger, they have to fill out what protective
measures they’re going to take.”
MSD’s have to be submitted prior to
any work being carried out, and the safety
rules take the place of a lot of the safety
permits previously used.“I think it’s a good
thing that they are displayed on the job-sheet.
They let everyone know what action is
required prior to the job being started,”added
Tony.“On an average day, I get up to 30 of
these forms and that’s only for Plant 2. In the
short-term, the flow will be high until we
get on top of them.Some of the problems we
knew about; others have surfaced through
risk management, and because machines are
being looked at more closely than previously.”
RACE SERIES
NOW AVAILABLE FOR
AUSSIE MARKET
The Australian domestic engine rebuilding
market will be able to enjoy what their
American cousins have had for a while.
“While we have had Race Series on the
Australian market for some time, we’ve
actually improved the performance with new
design and improved metallurgy,” revealed
Product Engineer, Bruce Williams.
“The new bearings have higher specs.than
we’ve had before,and have been designed for
Ford and Holden and gives us an extra string
to our bow here in Australia.We haven’t been
terribly strong in this area before, so now we
have a range that can compete with imports.”
Bruce said the bearings had been released
in New Zealand in September, and there
had been small releases in Queensland.“This
new series will eventually replace the series
in the re-build kits.
“In the metallurgy, the main improvement
was the conrod bearings where we
created a harder steel backing,to improve their
strength.We also improved the chemistry in
the overlay.We’ve been able to put a higher
fatigue strength overlay on the bearings, by
changing our processes.”
He said the improved range gave ACL
Bearings what was called three-quarter
grooving across the range, where previously
it was featured on just Australian domestic
engines.“As well as extending the range,we’ve
added some additional undersize bearings,
to expand the range for high performance
rebuilders,so they have a choice of clearance.”

A FOCUS ON ACL BEARING COMPANY
The team responsible for the introduction of the Kanban system into the Powder Metallurgy plant (L-R) - Paul Johnstone, Graham Milbourne, Maureen Cadman and Phil Dowl (absent Peter Longman).
KANBAN SYSTEM INTRODUCED
AT BEARING COMPANY
To explain what the recently adopted
Kanban system means to production,
we asked somebody who has been involved
in introducing the manufacturing system
to a number of Australian companies.
ACL Bearing Company’s Planning &
Procurement Manager, Darren von Stieglitz,
said:“Kanban is a visual planning system
built around a ‘pull system’ of manufacturing
rather than a ‘push system’.
“Customer demands pull the system
and that in turn necessitates production of
parts. It’s a replenishment system based
around issues such as delivery lead-time,
batch quantities, production capacity, set-up
times and production cycle times. It all
starts in the warehouse, and is based upon
a pre-determined order point calculated
on demand for the product/ parts. Once
a part is called up, it triggers a message
(“Kanban”) for the up-stream work centre
to replenish the product/parts taken.”
Darren said Bearing Company’s Kanban
system was a hybrid of the pure Kanban
method due to implications relating to
available technology, machine capacity and
set-up times.
“OEM’s for a long time, have worked
with Kanban and it’s notable that car
companies were among the first to adopt
the system in Australia. It works and is a
proven planning/replenishment technique.
Gasket Company has had the system for
some time, although you can’t exactly
replicate what they do up there, as every
operation is different.
“Jim Degnian came down from
Brisbane in February with the vision to
introduce Kanban at Launceston.We had
been working an MRP system (Materials
Requirement Planning), which is a push
system based on forecast. And we know
how forecasts can be wrong.With Kanban
you don’t even have to be involved in the
production to see what’s going on as the
status and visual nature of the Kanban
cards tell you.”
Plant 3 was chosen as the initial
operation for the introduction of Kanban
into Bearing Company due to the compact
size and stand alone nature of the powder
metallurgy production process.The majority
of Plant 3’s customer base are also OEM
customers. “One of the complexities we
face is that we have a number of product
lines which are make to stock items which
Kanban controls very well, but equally we
have other products which are made to
order,” he said.“We’re targeting 72 make
to stock items to get them up on Kanban,
while the made to order items will remain
MRP driven at this stage to ensure visibility
of long lead time raw material
requirements.”
Darren said the advantages of the
system are that it’s visual; it eliminates waste
and associated costs; it’s pull rather than
push which reduces lead times and reduces
overall inventory levels. This also helps
reduce the risk of product obsolescence.
“Kanban was physically introduced into
Plant 3 during June of this year and I believe
it will be operating to expectations by
Christmas. Some preliminary work in the
Bush-Line section in Plant 2 has commenced
in readiness for the introduction of Kanban
into this plant in the near future. At the
end of the day, Kanban will create a higher
level of customer satisfaction due to us
having finished product available when
they need it.”
Production Scheduler, Graham
Milbourne, added that it’s a system that
reveals the problems rather than covering
them up.“With this system, you only make
what your customer buys, as opposed to
making a lot of products in expectation of
selling them. In the old system the more
you made the cheaper the unit cost but
you then had to hold the stock.”

NEW ALCOHOL AND OTHER
DRUGS POLICY OUT TO HELP
et’s be clear,” explained Andrew Flood
‘‘L when discussing Bearing Company’s
new Alcohol and Other Drugs policy with
the ACL REPORTER,“we are not out to
police our employees.While we have had a
policy for some time that alcohol can’t be
consumed on the site, we realised that this isn’t
sufficient to ensure those attending work do so
in a safe environment.It’s not only a safety issue
for themselves but for their fellow employees.”
An agreement was reached with the
unions in a previous Enterprise Agreement,
that ACL would explore a policy of promoting
the importance of having a drug and alcohol
free work environment.The Bearing Company
Safety Committee established a sub-committee
composed of representatives across all plants.
“Rob Hodgetts from the Tool Room
chaired the group, and besides myself, we
also had Shirley Schroeter our occupational
health nurse on the committee. We also
had input from Dr Alex Thompson the site
consulting doctor, who raised a few issues
and contributed,” said Andrew. “What we
didn’t want to move to, was random alcohol
and drug testing.
“The time we would generally test for
this type of thing would be pre-employment,
and if there was an accident or near miss on
site, where drugs or alcohol might have been
a contributor. But if it was clear that nothing
Members of the Drug and Alcohol Committee (left to right) Robin Cocker,Andrew Flood, Robyn Harrison,
David Dornauf and Rob Hodgetts (absent Shirley Schroeter and Ross Stevens).
of the sort had caused the problem, we
wouldn’t test.The only other occasion would
be if there was a report.”
Andrew said through education and
promotion,it was hoped that should someone
attend work under the influence of alcohol
or other drugs,other employees would realise
the potential risk, and report the matter
to their supervisor.“We are introducing the
programme by Team Communications at
each Team meeting, and through this we
hope to explain that it’s other employees
health that can be at stake.
“We currently have no procedures in
place if somebody does attend work and
looks intoxicated. We need something so
everybody understands the serious consequences
that an affected worker can cause.”
TAEKWONDO CHAMP SETS HIS
SIGHTS ON AUSTRALIAN TEAM
W
hen you’ve been part of the
Launceston martial arts community
as long as Jason Cassidy, you quickly know
who’s good and who’s not.
A trainee machine setter at ACL
Bearing Company, Jason’s ambition is to
be part of the Australian team competing
at the World Taekwondo Championships
in Seoul next year.
“At the moment, I’m training 5-6
times a week but hopefully by next year
I’ll be doing 10 sessions a week,” declared
Jason. No newcomer to the sport, Jason
has been competing for the past 16 years.
He was a national champion from 13 to 18,
and attended the World Juniors in Barcelona
where he won through to the top 16.“I was
picked to be in the Australian team for the
Athens Olympic trials held in Korea; a group
made up of 4 men and 4 women. Unfortunately,
I hurt my back and also had to
give it away for a year to help my feet heal.
Competition consists of two 3-minute
bouts and from the semi onwards, there
are three 3-minute bouts.“You score points
by landing punches on the body, and
comparing Taekwondo to other martial
arts sports, Taekwondo is like amateur
boxing.You don’t try to kill each other.”
Jason also represented Tasmania in a
Taekwondo tournament in New Zealand,
where he won the New Zealand Open,
against teams from New Zealand and the
Pacific Islands.“I’ve been doing it for so
long now that training and competing are
part of my life,” he said.
Best of luck Jason for the competition
ahead.

GASKET COMPANY
ACHIEVES FIRST WITH
REPORTING CHANGES
FORMER
FORKLIFT REP.
HAS HIS FEET
FIRMLY
ON COMCORK
FLOORING
New Sales Manager at Comcork,
Secondo Gastaldello, has sold
forklift trucks for some of Australia’s
leading companies. These days, his feet
are firmly on the floor selling Australia’s
best-kept secret - Comcork flooring.
“What appealed to me about this
position was the challenge of trying to
push the product forward,” revealed ‘Sec’.
“It’s a niche product that nobody else in
Australia makes, and it really is one of
the best-kept secrets I’ve come across.
“Being made from rubber and cork
offers users real benefits. In the short
period I’ve been with the company and
visiting architects, I can see the benefits
of offering an economically sustainable
product. It’s really creating a lot of interest.
Architects are driven by the market, and
the market is saying we want products
that are good for the environment.”
He said he’s confident that in the
future, more and more people specifying
flooring, will be using Comcork Walk
Easy and other Comcork products.In the
period ‘Sec’s’ been with the company,
substantial new sales have been made
across a number of areas, with more in
the pipeline.
In his spare time, it’s soccer and golf
for the married Sales Manager, who plays
centre mid-field for the Pascoe Vale soccer
club,which has won its divisional competition
three times in a row.
The Financial Team (L-R):Terry Witham, Lorraine Foran, Graeme Fraser, Bob Jackson and Margaret Blake.
The end of month reporting process has
been turned on its ear as ACL Gasket
Company streamlined the way it undertakes
the function. Gasket Company’s new General
Manager, Steve Smee explains.
“Traditionally it has taken us 3-5 days to
do the end of month accounts. So steps were
put in place, and through some very good
work by our financial team with Smartlink
journal processing assistance from Lyette at
MAHLE-ACL, we have reduced that time
to around a day.
“We now have our reconciliations being
done on a daily basis in many areas, and this
has given us tighter control over our financial
performance. It has also paved the way for
us to move towards a one-day processing of
end-of-month journals, and profit results.
Which in turn has enabled us to complete our
end of month reports faster & with greater
confidence. So the process improvements
we’ve made have been fairly significant.”
Steve said the team consisted of Graeme
Fraser as Team Leader and Terry Witham,Bob
Jackson, Margaret Blake and Lorraine Foran.
Lorraine, said Steve had been instrumental
in bringing forth the changes and
reviewing the way things were done.“It has
been a good implementation to our visual
management programme,” he said.
Lorraine said reporting for ACL 2 (the
company accounting package), formed the
basis of the balance sheet, and everything
was pivotal to this.“This has to balance and
reconcile.What we are getting away from is
doing the journals, balance sheet, and ACL
Reports, and at the end of that the general
ledger reconciliations. We decided to pull
the reconciliation forward so that when we
did the journals, and reconciliations we’d
know the balance sheet is all reconciled.
“This means you have a high level of
confidence in your monthly performance
results and balance sheet. Processing the
information daily means you can see a
problem earlier, and any out of balance areas
are corrected as you go.We’re not waiting
until the end of the month to find problems.
Another benefit is we don’t have to wade
through pages of print-outs - we have converted
them to downloads which go on to a
spread sheet, so it’s a lot more automated.”
The team then split the ACL2 into sections
showing cash, receivables, stock, debtors,
creditors etc. Prompts have been installed in
the system, which call for Yes answers and
verifies that everything is correct.
“Any daily problems are highlighted and
resolved then and there,” added Lorraine.
“They’re signed off by the accounts person
and checked by our Financial Controller.
The new system has saved a lot of time and
doesn’t cause a backlog for the next month.
Not only do you get the end of month
accounts completed quicker, but you have
greater confidence that they are correct.”

ACL - SELLING AROUND THE WORLD
A BUSY YEAR IDENTIFYING
MARKETS BRINGS RESULTS
The International Team (L-R):
Gregory Tait, Antony Pearse and
Shemek Wisniewski
ACL, like many Australian manufacturers has to look beyond
Australia’s shores if it is to maintain jobs here and grow the
company. Antony Pearse, President of ACL International, and
his team scan the world for business opportunities.
CL REPORTER” caught up with
‘‘A Antony and Shemek Wisniewski
ACL’s Regional Manager for Europe and
the Middle East, prior to Antony’s quick
visit to Malaysia, Singapore, the UK, France
and the USA. We asked him for his
assessment of 2003 in terms of selling
ACL products internationally.
“The best way to summarise our
international trade position in 2003 is to
say it’s been a year with a lot of change -
created by the world economic situation.
While the international terrorism problem
hasn’t had a direct impact on automotive
part sales, it does have a ‘knock-on’ effect
as far as people’s confidence goes.This has
been particularly true of the US economy.
“We export and sell to, in excess of
fifty countries around the world.And while
bearings are certainly the door opener for
us, when we’re speaking to potential customers
we can also discuss other parts of
the business like pistons, rings and gaskets.”
Antony said in a number of markets
ACL has had good success selling gaskets,
pistons and rings which hadn’t been
possible in the past.
The Middle East - an emerging market for ACL
He said over the last twelve months the
company had concentrated on improving
and emphasising its quality, particularly in
North American markets.“We have some
unique products that other manufacturers
don’t offer. Examples are bearings for
particular applications, and short runs on
products that other companies haven’t been
interested in manufacturing.”
He explained that ACL had obtained
some significant business in the US, purely
by following through and finding out the
customers’ requirements and developing
a bearing to meet that need. “However,
it is a very competitive market. In one
instance, after all the testing was done on
the bearings we supplied and which proved
successful for the application, our competitors
are now bending over backwards in
an attempt to obtain that business.”
ACL faced stiff competition worldwide
and this depended on the market
location.“Our greatest competitors in the
US come from local manufacturers, and
that’s the same for Europe.
“This year we’ve done an incredible
amount of travelling visiting customers,
and there are a number of markets where
we have very strong distribution.There are
other markets which present a challenge
to ensure stronger representation.”
Antony said promoting ACL’s product
range often comes back to the efforts of
the distributor. Often he said, it doesn’t
need millions of dollars in support.“We
recently saw it in South Africa where the
difference between our bearings - which
are bored and competitor’s bearings, which
are broached - was strongly identified.
The market there has a strong preference
for an aero bored bearing because of the
quality and that wasn’t achieved with a
million-dollar promotion but unique selling
proposition.”
He believes Europe offers some very
good prospects for 2004 and some old
prospects have been revitalised.“The US
has some very interesting opportunities
which we are working on. Furthermore,
the Middle East has been outstanding for
us over the past year.We’ve really built on
that because of what Shemek has done
through identifying customers.”
Las Vegas - Location of the recent US Trade Fair

ACL - SELLING AROUND THE WORLD
GREAT PRESENCE EVERYWHERE
IS SHEMEK’S AMBITION FOR 2004
Agoal of having ACL product recognised
in 80-90% of the countries of Europe
is what Shemek has set his sights on for 2004.
“I think we shall see stronger sales across
Europe and I’d like to see sales in markets
we haven’t sold to in the past.
“I handle Europe and the Middle East,”
he said,“and in the Middle East, our brand
wasn’t as well known as in Europe. However,
sales are occurring faster there than in Europe,
once the product is on the shelf and the
customer can see it.Over the last six months,
we have seen a very large number of inquiries
coming from the Middle East areas we are
selling in.
“Australia’s vehicle export drive has
helped,” he said,“Because the market knows
vehicles are coming from Australia, Australianmade
products are being sought after and
these are sold through distributors. We are
currently selling to countries like U.A.E.,
Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon,
and we’re looking at surrounding markets,”
he said.“These have similar requirements for
the range of cars and engines available there.
“The presence of our competitors in
the region for over thirty years means that
introducing a new brand is difficult. Japanese
manufacturers have particularly well established
brands and are determined to hold their
market share by offering very low prices.”
Shemek believes good opportunities still
exist in Central and Eastern Europe.“I have
just come back from Russia, and there is a
large and expanding market with potential
for us. However, there are a lot of competitors
evident and over the next few months we’ll
have a better understanding of the market.
“Some of these European markets are
fairly small and are serviced by the customers
we already have. For instance, customers in
Poland look after export to some of the
surrounding markets. Hungary, whom we
also sell to, looks after smaller customers in
other countries.”
APPRECIATING DOLLAR AFFECTS SALES
ACL Regional Sales Director Tan Kit Long (right)
with Mr Chiam Eng Huat (left) and Mr Ng Seng Keen (centre) both from SK Auto Parts Sdn Bhd, Kuala Lumpur
The currency fluctuations during the
past twelve months have had a serious
affect on sales in South East Asia. The
Australian Dollar appreciated 30% against
Malaysian Ringgit while other currencies
increased by 10-15%.ACL’s Regional Sales
Director Tan Kit Long - an employee with
more than ten years experience selling
ACL products - said the strong Australian
currency and the slow down of sales in
Asia had all taken their toll.
“There’s a difference between the
countries I cover, in the way I sell our
products, the way we have to declare the
goods, and the forwarding requirement
of each country,” Kit Long said, when
reviewing the challenge of selling to
Malaysia, China, Indonesia, Viet Nam,
Singapore, the Philippines, and Bangladesh.
“I try to visit all of them every two
or three months, and the most popular
product range we sell are ACL Bearings.
It’s very tough selling pistons and gaskets,
although we sell gaskets into Indonesia.
Kit Long said brand awareness has
continued to increase amongst the distributors,
and these distributors supply engine
parts to engine rebuilders and retail outlets.
The ASEAN Free Trade agreement
is fourteen months away and this will
reduce the tariffs on imported vehicles
and parts. Because of the uncertainty of
what this will do to vehicle prices, many
Malaysians are choosing to keep their old
cars until the picture becomes clearer.
“This is good for ACL,” said Kit Long
“as these cars will need extra servicing
and parts. We face stiff competition in
China where competition is very tough
and where we now have to find suitable
distributors.
“There are a lot of joint ventures there
with European companies supplying the
technical know-how. The most popular
car in China, the VW Santana, has about
2 million units on the road”.

DIVERSITY IS KINGIN
LATIN AMERICAN MARKETS
If you ever thought that the
countries within South America
were similar, then you haven’t
spent time talking to ACL’s
Regional Manager for Latin
America, Raymond Rondon.
Raymond, who’s been with the company
for almost six years, said that while
many of the nations that make up the South
American continent have historical roots from
Spain or Portugal, their automotive parts
markets are totally diverse.
“All the nations that make up Latin
America and the Caribbean are highly dependent
on how the government performs
economically, and these governments
influence sales,” explained Raymond.“The
economy has a flow-on effect for sales. In
the past,Venezuela had a strong economy
but since the change of government the
economy has experienced a downturn.
“The countries where things are moving
The sales team at Rehispana/ACL
well include Colombia, Chile, Guatemala and
El Salvador which have all had good growth.
Brazil continues to be a powerhouse, and
it’s an important market for us. It’s a highly
competitive market,with local engine bearing
manufacturers holding strong positions in
the market.”
Raymond said he spends between 30 to
40% of his time travelling to visit customers.
Within the region,ACL distributes through
wholesalers as well as retail outlets and chains.
“These chains are very specific for engine
parts and today the biggest competitors are
the Japanese manufacturers.When you add
the Mahle group’s Brazilian production you
can see it’s a very competitive environment.”
(L-R): Mr Hugo Duarte, Rehispana Salesman, Bogota Colombia, Mr Jorge Mora,ACL Rehispana ( Colombia) Agent,
Mr Luis Discamargo, Colombian ACL Customer, Bogota Colombia, Raymond C. Rondon,ACL Regional Manager.
“The markets are different for each
country you sell to,”said Raymond.“Venezuela
is a US vehicle market. 50% of its car population
comprises American vehicles. Another
50% is represented by Japanese and Korean
cars with a high preponderance of Hyundai
and Daewoo. Some of the Daewoos in Latin
America are fitted with the Holden Family
2 engine.”
“Colombia’ market consists of Japanese
makes with larger type vehicles.In Argentina,
Chile, and Brazil there are mainly European
vehicles, with Japanese and Korean makes
supplementing the market.
“Bearings,” Raymond explains,“are the
most important product he sells, with gaskets
being a much slower mover because of the
strong competition from the US and Europe
as well as local manufacturers.
“We do sell some pistons and have
undertaken customer education nights, given
away T-shirts and supplied catalogues, but
we need to do more. Brand image is a very
important factor in Latin America, and we
need to address promoting the brand more
aggressively, in order to counter Chinese and
Japanese manufacturers.
“ACL’s quality stands up exceptionally
well against other brands and has an excellent
reputation. Our problem is that the counter
salesmen don’t know the brand, and that’s why
we need a program which involves gradual
reinforcement of our brand and products.
We’re always looking for new business and
are constantly receiving enquiries from new
customers.We ARE penetrating the market
but it’s not a one-day deal.”
Left to right: Dr. Miriam Moreno de Mora - Assistant Manager
Rehispana, Sonia Perez - Rehispana/ACL Sales Coordinator,
Hugo Duarte - Rehispana/ACL Salesman,
Astrid Manrique - Rehispana/ACL Sales Coordinator and
Edwin Jimenez - Rehispana/ACL Salesman.
ACL agent Rehispana recently celebrated their 30th Anniversary.
Enjoying the occasion was ACL Regional Manager Raymond
C. Rondon (second from left) with the Rehispana team.

MAHLE’S FREE FLOWING
INFORMATION POLICY ASSISTS
AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING
years,Nigel unashamedly admits that starting
with the Repco Company and being part
of the Repco Brabham racing car project,
were two of his career highlights.
“I was lucky to work for the Repco
Brabham team in a junior capacity, and I
have looked after both the Repco Brabham
BT19 and Matich SR4 cars for many years
with continuous involvement with them
longer than anybody else. I started out as a
cadet and had the least contribution of
anybody, but made my intentions clear once
I knew they were building racing engines,
that I wanted to be part of it. Luckily Repco
‘broke the rules’and let me start in the engine
laboratory rather than in a factory as was
the custom with cadets.”
ACL’s Chief Engineer - Nigel Tait
he association between ACL and
‘‘T MAHLE has been fantastic,” declared
ACL’s Chief Engineer, Nigel Tait, when
asked how the new factory and relationship
was working out.“It’s brought a new level
of technology to us. Previously, we’d only
been involved in licensing agreements for
one product, now we’ve strengthened that
relationship to a joint venture.
“We have complete access with no
limitations for both pistons and rings, to a
degree we could never have contemplated
before. We’ve never had such a complete
open-door policy, and MAHLE’s technology
is by far the best in the world. Ian Veale and
I and many others here have visited various
MAHLE facilities and know what they’re
developing,and we know they’re ahead of the
rest.The new venture here with MAHLE has
allowed us to get the new Holden HFV6
business, and getting that business necessitated
our moving to a greenfield site in order to
better house the new MAHLE casting and
machining plant. Anybody who worked at
Maidstone has witnessed the huge improvement
we’ve had in working conditions.
“Mahle has a huge R&D capability in
Germany as well as a considerable resource
in America. MAHLE Technology Inc. (MTI)
in Detroit has in excess of 100 working on
pistons, bearings, and ring development.
That’s just their research lab.At their plants in
Mexico, Brazil and Tennessee, they undertake
research as well. So it’s an enormous R&D
Ian Veale
capability and it will provide MAHLE-ACL
with a wonderful opportunity for taking on
more ambitious projects in the future.”
The new ACL Technical Centre currently
being built at the MAHLE-ACL Laverton
site, is still owned by ACL.“The reason for
this,” explained Nigel,“is the continuing need
to provide ongoing engine and components
testing capability for ACL Bearing and
ACL Gasket Company projects as well as
for MAHLE-ACL Piston Products. With
Maidstone closing, the company felt the best
place to build a new technical centre would
be in Melbourne, as it’s the centre of the
Australian automotive industry. There was
sufficient room at the new MAHLE-ACL
site, so we’re building a facility that offers us
the same capacity and which will be up and
running before the commencement of 2004.”
Having been with the company for 38
The Repco Brabham BT19
Another milestone for the highly
experienced engineer, was when he was
sent to the UK to work a short time with
Brico, and Glacier Bearing Company, both
licensors of Repco manufacturing companies.
He was involved with development of a
petrol injection system at Brico, and bearing
design and testing at Glacier. “The experience
of working in an overseas environment and
with engineers at companies licensing us
was invaluable and paved the way for some
long-lasting and special relationships.”
When the Repco management buy-out
occurred in 1986, Nigel was invited to join
the fledgling ACL as one of the nine in the
buyout group and has held the position of
Chief Engineer for the past seventeen years.
“We’ve always agreed on everything, so it’s
been a terrific and good relationship,” he
said. “As far as management buy-outs go,there
aren’t too many that survive more than 3-4
years let alone 17 years. I have the greatest
respect for everyone I’ve worked with over
those years.”

MAHLE-ACLPP EARNS
ENVIRONMENTAL AWARD
With the guidance of Russell Flanders,
MAHLE-ACLPP Environmental
Co-Ordinator and his team, MAPP has
been accredited with the much sought-after
ISO14001 accreditation.
Nata Certification Services International,
the accreditation auditors, conducted the
assessment audit in late September. MAPP
passed the audit with flying colours and
now has the certificate proudly displayed in
the foyer.
Russell said he would like to thank,
Phil Warren from Bearing Company and all
MAPP personnel for their assistance during
the development and implementation of the
system.
He indicated that MAPP is fortunate in
that it is now in a new factory and many of
the environmental issues have been addressed
in the Laverton site’s design. “The most identify our environmental risks by reporting agement system now in place, we are well
significant environmental aspects, are the and controlling any issues that may arise. positioned to abide by all government
possibility of spills and contaminated storm Cleanaway have built and now operate our legislation and minimise our impact on the
water, leaving the site and the treatment of effluent treatment plant which allows us to environment.This will ensure that we contribute
to the well-being of our environment
chrome plating discharges.
concentrate on other areas of the plant.”
“MAPP has set in place procedures to With the ISO1401 environmental man-
for now and future generations.
THE HSV6 POWERCELL EMERGES
FROM LAVERTON NORTH PLANT
It was something of a “red-letter day” when the first HSV6 Powercell was
finally assembled and ready at MAHLE-ACL North Laverton plant.
The engines, according to Group
Leader, Simon Parker, will go into
part production this year with a 3.6L
version for export to Mexico for a Buick
cross-over vehicle. Mid next year, volumes
will increase to 600 units per day when
the engine is also introduced into the local
Holden Commodore.
“MAHLE in America and Germany
undertook the design work for what has
been a lengthy program,” explained Simon.
“Here at Laverton we are involved in the
casting, machining and assembly of the
Powercells utilising new equipment that
was supplied from MAHLE in Germany.
“The pistons are made locally while
the actual assembly is a bit of a United
Nations effort, where we made the pistons;
the rings for the export versions came
from MAHLE COFAP in Brazil and the
rods were supplied from MAHLE Mexico.
Next year for the local program, we will
also be manufacturing the rings.”
Simon said the awarding of this order
a couple of years ago resulted in the move
to the new site.“We believe the contract
will go for a minimum of five years and
over that time, there will be other models
coming to fruition. At the moment there
are three engine types, a 2.8L, 3.2L and
3.6L and with possibilities of other variants
for the future.
He said the order will fill the capacity
of the new plant which will be working
a single shift until March next year and
from then progressively add a second and
third shift to fulfil the requirements.
“At that point, we’ll certainly need
more employees and we’ve already started
to recruit new people with two engineers
joining us, and we’ve plans to expand the
production areas as volume increases.”
Simon Parker (right) with Terry Spiteri

COMCORK SAILS INTO SYDNEY
Comcork WalkEasy White has made a grand appearance at the Sydney Opera House when it was selected
to be the flooring for a gallery within the giant complex.While called the Opera House the building of sails
is a lot more and acts as the venue for opera, ballet, drama, plays, musicals, and exhibitions.
General Manager Daniel DeDomenico
said that the Opera House installation
was one of a number of installations the
company had successfully tendered for
over the past six months.“The prestigious
nature of the job makes everyone pleased,
but we are also laying flooring in a number
of large installation, at Port Melbourne
Library; Melbourne Grammar School;
Woolworth’s trolley bays, and the QV
Building complex in Lonsdale Street
Melbourne, which is on the site of the
old Queen Victoria hospital, and which
will be a city within a city.
“Our first shipment for the USA has
left Australia, and with increased marketing
being done over there by our distributor
and ACL Marketing, we’re hoping a lot
more orders will be following.”
PHIL MAKES IT A DATE IN ROTORUA
The picturesque central North Island
tourist destination of Rotorua is also
the location of a Repco branch which is
particularly successful in selling ACL product.
Branch manager, Des Wenmoth, promotes
an annual trade sale/special day, featuring
the attendance of selected key suppliers, such
as ACL.
ACL General Manager Phil Anderson
was seen representing the ACL range, with
performance and heat shield a major focus.
Visiting apprentices were particularly interested
in development of the RACE range with
the new ‘H’ type bearings, and the increasing
possibility of a range of forged pistons.
The promotional part of the day began
at 3.00pm, finishing at 8.00pm, which ensured
that a trip to the geothermal splendours of
Rotorua were not purely ‘thermal relaxation’
for Phil.
Repco trade counter specialist Bella, on extreme right,
discussing RACE product with customers.
An automotive apprentice(left) discussing the finer
points of performance bearings with Repco’s Ellen & Katie.
These ladies know there stuff!
ACL General Manger, Phil Anderson (right) talking with a trade customer.
YOUR CONTACTS ARE:
Paul Greentree ......................Gasket Company
Briony Gardner......................................... MAPP
Yvette Saunders.................. Bearing Company
Warren Dick...............................National Parts
Phil Anderson........................................ ACNZL
Daniel De Domenico............. ACL Comcork