News for ‘Oakdale Industries’

What we buy today will determine the Australia we live in tomorrow.

That was the message Victorian Stephen Gately was trying to get across when he first launched his BuyAustralianMade website in 2009.

Aimed at keeping business, employment and money in Australia and providing a more positive future for the Australian manufacturing sector, BuyAustralianMade provides consumers with a website listing Australian companies, to make it easier for them to identify, support and use Australian made products and local manufacturers. Stephen said the website was about giving people the chance to make an informed decision about what to buy.

“Shoppers and business certainly need to be aware that they can make a difference by buying Australian made products, Australian grown produce and Australian delivered services,” he said.

“BuyAustralianMade makes it easy for shoppers and businesses to find Aussie made things so then at least then a choice can be made as to whether they buy the Aussie made or the imported [product].”

Stephen and the BuyAustralianMade website have been supporting OAK Tasmania since 2009, by listing its five Australian Disability Enterprises for free. For OAK Tasmania, these listings have provided a constant stream of sales enquiries and business opportunities.

Oakdale Industries superb range of products feature in the BuyAustralianMade television campaign.

For Stephen, a former disability sector manager, the chance to support Australian ADEs and OAK Tasmania is something he is thrilled to be able to do.

“[During my time with the Disability Sector] I had the opportunity to identify the issues holding back many of the ADEs I came in contact with,” he said.

“One of those issues was promotion and exposure of what they do and what they are capable of. I have been contacted by some of the ADEs we promote who say that they have secured contracts directly as a result of being promoted by BuyAustralianMade and others that have online stores are getting regular sales”.

Stephen said he was still thrilled with the success of BuyAustralianMade and keen to continue to grow the number of businesses and consumers that used it. He said he still continued to be surprised daily by new products that he did not know were made or built in Australia.

“There are thousands of businesses who would benefit from being promoted by BuyAustralianMade and being featured alongside hundreds of other businesses proudly making products or delivering services in Australia,” he said.

BuyAustralianMade has also hit television screens, with a major SBSTWO advertising campaign featuring many of its businesses launching earlier this year. OAK Tasmania’s timber manufacturing division Oakdale Industries will feature prominently in the May national advertising campaign.

Employees at Oakdale Industries will be enjoying the one day cricket match between Australia and Sri Lanka today, thanks to the generosity of the Lord’s Taverners.

The Lord’s Taverners assist people who may be experiencing disadvantage to take part in sport through the provision of sporting equipment, facilities and sporting opportunities.

Divisional Manager John Hollis said Oakdale Industries have enjoyed a long relationship with the Lord’s Taverners and its Tasmanian President Paul Sheahan.

“When cricket events come about the Lord’s Taverners through their President Paul Sheahan, offer us tickets from time to time, and we are very grateful of the tickets they supply to us.

“The Lord’s Taverners have donated 11 tickets to us (for today’s match) and we have shared them around our employee group. The guys love it, and it’s great to be able to give them tickets at no cost to themselves.”

Some of the group attending today’s match at Bellerive Oval were putting in a bit of practice this morning before today’s game. Some superb bowling by John Hollis helped wicket keeper Nick Freeman bring Geoffrey Forsyth undone on the third ball of the over, much to the delight of the team at Oakdale Industries.

Batsman Geoffrey Forsyth is stumped by wicket keeper Nick Freeman off the bowling of John Hollis, much to the delight of Will Rogers, Neil Fletcher, Andrew Wood, Damien Witt and Chris Bowerman.

OAK Tasmania’s business divisions have developed an unusual and innovative use for apple bins.

Produced for the apple industry at Tahune Fields Nursery at Lucaston, the bins have taken on another use as warehouse shelving for Tasmanian home styling service Shift By Design. Shift By Design Director Adam Luttrell was first drawn to the idea of the bins as an easy and dust free means of storing the huge amount of home furnishing stock his business carried. The great attraction of the boxes was that they could be used upright, rather than products being stored on top of one another in regular boxes. This led to a much greater storage capacity in the company’s small warehouse.

“The boxes have easily doubled our capacity,” Adam said.

“We don’t have any lost space whatsoever.”

While Adam initially purchased the bins and added his own shelving and lining, Oakdale Industries soon came up with a plan to fit and line the boxes, freeing up more of Adam’s time.

“I am certainly not a carpenter by trade,” Adam said.

“The time and effort it took me to fit out the boxes far outweighed the costs of outsourcing it and getting it done by Oakdale Industries.”

Adam Luttrell (left), and Oakdale Industries' Will Rogers (right), with the modified apple bins.

Shift By Design now houses 20 upright, custom fitted apple bins as storage which not only provide good ventilation for fabrics, but can also be attached to walls or have tubing added to them to house the company’s floral stem inventory. Adam said it was fantastic to be able to access a product custom fitted to his business needs.

“We are extremely pleased with the end product,” Adam said.

“It just means everything is so much easier for us.”

He said setting up and packing away jobs was now also a lot quicker as there was no fumbling through flat boxes to find or store stock. The custom-made storage also increased the life span of the businesses’ stock, which included fragile artworks, cushions and other home wares. And being able to pack and unpack products more quickly made for greater business efficiency.

“When our stock comes back in here it is chaotic,” Adam said.

“We have furniture everywhere and removalists need to be able to easily put things away.”

Adam said it was also fantastic to be able to use a local organisation like OAK Tasmania to cater for his business needs.

“We are utilising a local resource and not buying shelving in from China or anything like that,” he said.

“My partner Donielle and I are also really pleased that we are supporting a local, not-for-profit organisation like OAK Tasmania.

“We are an early adopter in this industry so we don’t have a lot to give back to the community,” he said.

“But what we can give back is through buying locally and supporting a very worthwhile organisation such as OAK Tasmania.”

Oakdale Industries Divisional Manager John Hollis has been awarded the title of Vanguard by the Australian Timber Flooring Association (ATFA), at its annual Awards for Excellence.

The status of Vanguard is only awarded to those who annually provide:

• a considerable contribution to the timber flooring industry;

• demonstrate a commitment to ongoing training and professional development, and

• who demonstrate a level of experience commensurate with attaining such an award.

Although John is never one to take credit, his many years of experience combined with the level of care he has for his employees has made Oakdale Industries into a true social enterprise success story.

John also presented Lee Hollis (no relation) with the ATFA Apprentice of the Year Award. The Award is sponsored by Oakdale Industries. 

Congratulations from all of us here at OAK Tasmania!