Lowrie aims for overseas work

STARTING out in 1991 as a remote area housing manufacturer, Lowrie Constructions has gone from strength to strength since refocusing its business to build electrical switch rooms for resources projects.

The company changed focus in 2002 after finding it difficult to source skilled labour in the regions to install its remote area housing.

General manager Adrian Poyner said that, at the same time, mining companies were discovering the costs of constructing and installing their own switch rooms on site.

“These electrical switch rooms have many millions worth of electrical equipment installed in them,” Mr Poyner said.

“It’s very expensive for mining companies to mobilise 50 electricians to the middle of nowhere; to house them, feed them, water them, entertain them and then fly them back every week.

“If the rooms are built in the metro area and the electricians come here to work it’s obviously a lot cheaper.”

Last month, the Maddington-based firm landed one of its biggest contracts to date – a multi-million dollar deal to supply at least three telecommunications rooms along the inland pipeline route for Papua New Guinea’s $15 billion liquefied natural gas project.

Beating international rivals for the contract, Mr Poyner credits Lowrie’s unique approach to the tendering process for its success.

Mr Poyner told WA Business News Lowrie puts together a comprehensive execution strategy outlining how the company will complete the project, providing a clear plan and ample opportunity for both parties to discuss alternative strategies.

“Execution plans normally come when it’s too late and everyone’s had a falling out,” Mr Poyner said.

“We prefer to do it up front, and that execution plan will effectively be the booklet that everyone is held accountable to.”

My Poyner places the PNG contract, expected to run for about seven months, in the top three of Lowrie’s secured contracts.

The company has previously worked on projects for Worsley Alumina and the Ravensthorpe nickel mine, which Mr Poyner said gave Lowrie a competitive edge.

“We’re the only switch room manufacturer in WA that has handled projects of that size,” My Poyner said.

The PNG project is part of the company’s strategic move into the lucrative Asian market.

That move is led by the establishment of a manufacturing facility in Brisbane that will give Lowrie better access to growing markets in Asia.

Mr Poyner said the company hoped to establish its new facility by the middle of the year, with the PNG contract boosting Lowrie’s international profile in the meantime.

He admits the company had been through a bit of a dry spell in between completing the Worsley contract and securing the PNG deal.

In the interim, the decision was made to keep all staff on the books to avoid losing skills and experience it has taken years to build up.

“You have to make the decision; you’ve got good guys, you’ve spent a lot of money training them, and they’re very experienced,” Mr Poyner said.

“It’s very difficult to let that experience go, and once it’s gone, it costs tens of thousands of dollars to get it back.

“You just can’t win a 10 million or 15 million dollar contract and then go, ok now we need to find the staff. You’ve got to have the staff there already.”

Lowrie has 45 permanent staff, and about the same number of regular subcontractors.

After almost a decade specialising purely in switch rooms, Lowrie has branched out to fill what it sees as a gap in the market – secure on-site cyclone shelters that can withstand a category five storm.

One year into production, take-up has been slow so far, but Mr Poyner said it was just a case of making companies aware of what’s on offer.

“If you have 200 guys on a mine site and you get notification that there’s a category five cyclone coming, you have to evacuate and shut down the site,” he said.

“Every lost day of production is measured in millions of dollars.

“So we’ve developed this shelter so that if they get notification, they don’t have to leave the camp, they can go into the lockdown shelter, lock themselves in until the storm has passed, and as soon as the storm has passed they can go back to work.”

Adelaide-based Paragon Private Equity bought Lowrie two years ago with the previous owner of the business staying to advise as a consultant and director.

Mr Poyner said that, while the day-to-day operations of the company hadn’t changed, there was an increasingly corporate culture forming at Lowrie.

“The new owners are prepared to invest in the company and take the company forward,” he said.