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Technology in Australia 1788-1988Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering
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Table of Contents

Chapter 12

I The First Half Century - The Initial Struggle

II The Second Fifty Years - The Start Of Expansion

III The Third Fifty Years - Federation And The First World War

IV The Fourth Period - Second World War To The Present
i General Conditions
ii Iron and Steel Production
iii Aluminium Technology
iv Innovative Copper Refining Process
v The EDIM-4WD Load-Haul-Dump Vehicle
vi Copper Rod Production
vii Copper Wire and Cables
viii The Diecasting Industry
ix Automotive Components
x Whitegoods or Consumer Durables
xi Hardware
xii Some Recent New Industries
xiii The National Measurement System
xiv Manufacturing Industry in this Decade
xv Acknowledgements

References

Index
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Other rubber and plastic components

Bridgestone Australia Limited, of South Australia, whose history dates back to 1939, can claim to have been the first Australian producer in at least eight areas, namely automotive steering wheels; flexible magnetic gaskets for refrigerators; polyurethane upholstery foam; continuously vulcanised automotive door seals and windshield weather strips; vacuum formed plastic instrument pads; production of steel radial-ply tyres; vacuum formed acrylic spa baths; P.V.C. window frames and insulated brick-faced wall panels. The company continues to operate in South Australia with a workforce in excess of 2300 and has the benefit of a driving chief executive who has been the motivating force in the company for more than forty years. Bridgestone owes its origins to the formation of the South Australian Rubber Mills in South Australia in 1939. The war years saw a rapid expansion of this small company, based on latent ingenuity that was released in time of demand. In a very short period, the company was producing self-sealing petrol tanks, 25 pounder shell fuse rings, torpedo and mine water seals and oil sealing systems for the undercarriages of the Beaufort Bomber aeroplane.

South Australian Rubber Mills gained the contract to supply all the rubber parts for production of the first Holden car in 1947, and thereafter continued to be a major supplier to the developing automotive industry. A new plant in Dandenong Victoria, was the first to produce polyester/polyurethane foam in Australia -an industry which has grown significantly over the years. Steering wheel manufacture was also commissioned at the same plant.

The new technology of vacuum formed A.B.S. parts for the automobile industry such as seat valences, crash pads and moulded arms was introduced in 1956. Throughout the fifties and sixties, rapid growth in the automotive industry produced a strong demand for an increasing range of rubber and plastic products to be made for the first time in Australia. The Company was awarded the Prince Philip Design Award for the introduction of the trickle irrigation system in 1970.

A tyre factory was opened in 1963 in conjunction with the U.S. Rubber Company which initially owned 15 per cent of the operation. In due course, the American company changed its name to Uniroyal Inc., and increased its equity in the Australian operation to 51 per cent. Uniroyal underwent a major fiscal rearrangement with the Bridgestone Tyre Co. of Japan acquiring 60.4 per cent of the equity of the company that was previously owned by Uniroyal of America.

Hella-Australia Limited was part of the world-wide group of Hella companies whose headquarters were in Germany; the parent company began exporting to Australia in 1934. The growth of the business after the war prompted the parent company to begin manufacture in Australia in 1961 and soon Hella began making 'flasher' units for motor cars. The Company has held the major share of the Australian market for these units ever since. Automotive lamps were the next target of the company and today, the company is the major supplier of almost all cars made or assembled here.

A technical innovation of importance to Australia was introduced by Hella with the construction of the first plastics electroplating plant in the Southern Hemisphere. Vacuum metallising was also introduced with the facility being made available to other industries not connected with the main Hella production stream.

The company has vigorously sought liaison with the major car makers and have more than six co-operation agreements in place with the object of making the Australian supply of automotive components a stable and vigorous local industry. The company merged with Lucas in 1984 and continued to expand vigorously to meet the government's plans to strengthen the automotive industry through a co-ordinated industry plan. This led to the construction of a plant to manufacture for the first time plastic headlamp reflectors which brought to the country the latest technology in motor vehicle headlamp manufacture.


Organisations in Australian Science at Work - Bridgestone Australia Ltd; Hella-Australia Ltd; South Australian Rubber Mills

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© 1988 Print Edition pages 905 - 906, Online Edition 2000
Published by Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, using the Web Academic Resource Publisher
http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/884.html