Webforge’s business spans across 10 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, employing a staff of over 1,000. While access systems form 90 per cent of what Webforge does, the company also offers civil and safety systems. Already a leader in the market, Webforge is always pushing to provide better services and products. We take a look at what the company can offer its customers, and where it's headed in the future.
Part of Webforge's strength comes from its huge global supply chain. Rather than outsource certain processes, or relying on other companies to produce products and materials, Webforge is involved at every step in the chain. Tony Karadaglis, General Manager - Access Sales for Webforge, describes how this lets the company work at the scale it does.
"We own all our factories, we don't buy from a third party, we don't import from a third party. We own the factories in China and throughout Asia and we can utilise that supply chain, along with the biggest footprint in Australia and NZ, to deliver any range of projects. We're not constrained by capacity."
Not only does Webforge have the largest portfolio of products for the access market, but the quality of these products is backed up by fully engineered and certified product development. Webforge has its own testing laboratory, accredited by the National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA). This in-house quality control means everything Webforge produces and uses is up to scratch. According to Mr. Karadaglis, it's a level of care that's necessary to maintain the company's reliable high safety standards.
"We've just released a new product called Monowills Link, and when we compared it to other products on the market, we chose to offer different products for certain situations, in order to meet the Australian Standard requirements. It meant that we actually changed the design of our product so that we could meet that criterion.
"That's the sort of process we go through as a large business. We have a responsibility to make sure that the products that we're selling are supported by testing and a level of specification - that it's not just a random imported product, it's imported through a channel that we control from end to end."
Webforge is currently focusing on integrating more closely with sister company Locker Group to provide customers with shorter lead times and faster end results.
"Webforge and Locker are the two strongest brands in their respective markets," Mr. Karadaglis says. "Coming together and being able to leverage the strengths of both those brands will further support the market and make it easier for our customers to get the products they need when they need them."
This means consolidating the two companies' sales teams and streamlining the purchasing process. This year, Webforge products will be available through Locker's e-commerce system, 'Connect,' which means customers won't need to deal with the two companies separately. Mr. Karadaglis says this is an important part of reducing lead times for customers.
"What we're seeing, coming off the high of the mining boom, is that lead times are the number one driver of the market. So it's really important that we help our customers reduce their overall lead time," Mr. Karadaglis says.
"It's really about leveraging up the strengths of these two businesses in the markets they operate in. It improves access to all our products.
Whatever the scale of your next project, Webforge can supply products and parts for anything from small additions to full fit-outs.
