When a Collins-class submarine or aircraft carrier need to be completely wrapped in protective plastic for shipment, or Peters in Malaga wants to keep making ice creams without dust entering the plant, Greg Owens and Warwick Richards are the men to call.
The co-founders and managing directors of Intercept Technology Australasia said interest had build slowly since they introduced their corrosion protection and secure packaging technology to the Australian market.
“You could say we’re a five-to-10-year overnight success,” Mr Owens said.
Part of the business’s growth strategy has involved educating the market about its products, most notably its unique technology that allows items such as vital spare parts to stave off corrosion but still be safely opened for inspection.
“Seven per cent of the value of large projects like Ichthys or Gorgon are held in spares. Companies are starting to realise how to protect those assets,” Mr Owens told Business News.
Intercept is now looking to wrap up the wider Asian market as it appoints agents in South Korea, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
It has also grown its core resources, maritime, and defence clients to include the automotive industry, museums, the Royal Australian Mint, small business and individuals looking to protect camera equipment, computers and jewellery.
Mr Owens left a mining career to join Mr Richards in realising the potential of Intercept products. Together, they turned the Bibra-Lake based business into one of three global distributors of Intercept products and the licensed agent for Australasia.
However it wasn’t until they convinced Komatsu, Woodside Petroleum and Hitachi to use their technology that the business began to pick up pace.
“There’s two ways you can protect from corrosion; there’s the old school, which is World War II technology, and then there’s the Intercept, which is much safer, greener and reusable,” Mr Owens said.
He said many companies had yet to use Intercept because they had long-standing partnerships with competitors.
“There is massive scope for it, but it’s an education thing,” Mr Owens said.
A case in point was when Chevron needed to transport large amounts of equipment to Barrow Island – a Class-A nature reserve – for its Gorgon liquefied natural gas plant without breaching quarantine requirements.
Intercept Technology provided a number of services, but not as many as the company had hoped.
Mr Owens said the Gorgon project shook up the market, encouraging several new entrants, many which had since left as the large project wound down its construction phase.
“Now we’re getting back to normal. Most of our work now is wrapping for a reason, not just for quarantine,” he said.
“Mine sites especially can’t afford a shutdown, they are realising they should have done it 10 years ago.”