Tsubaki Australia: Helping Australia to keep on making

Originally a bike chain maker, Tsubaki has grown from humble beginnings to become one of the world’s largest industrial chain manufacturers.  

Commencing its Australian’s operations in Australia in 1987, Tsubaki Australia manufactures a wide range of industrial use power transmission components and equipment for Australia’s mining, timber, food, beverage, sugar and automotive industries.

Tsubaki Australia’s Sales Director, Gary Griffiths, said, “We feel very privileged to be able to service some of Australia’s major manufacturers.  Many of our chains are used at sawmills enabling them to transform logs into finished timber products for their customers. We also create chains that are used in Australia’s food manufacturing industry for chocolate and other food products. Our chains are also an integral part of fruit sorting equipment, and we have strong relationships with many regional customers using our Agrituff chain designed for their agricultural equipment.”

Tsubaki Australia’s mission is to ‘Advance the art of moving beyond expectations’. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they did just that. Tsubaki Australia’s local production of crucial machine components allowed many manufactures around the country to keep on producing essential items for Aussie consumers.

“Most of our customers are Australian manufacturers producing food sorting equipment, glass bottles, abattoirs, timber for houses, food, sugar and mining companies. Manufacturing in Australian allows us to be flexible and operate with quick turnaround times and keep other businesses manufacturing. The importance of this became even more evident this year when shoppers started panic buying, for many stretched manufacturers, downtime was not an option,” Mr Griffiths said.

“Local manufacturing is vital to insulate our economy and prevent supply shortages. Australia has the capacity and knowledge to manufacture products for Australian demands. I think it has been a massive comfort to Australians knowing we don’t have to entirely rely on any other country. Outside of extraordinary circumstances, like the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia has the resources and talent with world-class skills and knowledge to manufacture products that perform on a global scale.

We must support Australia’s manufacturing industry now to ensure it is there for the next generation; not only for the jobs the sector creates, but also to enhance the creativity of our children and allow them to learn how products are made. Our domestic manufacturing industry also helps us to innovate, look at ways to improve processes and invent new, globally competitive products.”

Manufacturing at Dandenong South in Victoria, Tsubaki Australia is a proud licensee of the Australian Made Campaign and makes over 2,000 different chains each year.

Mr Griffiths said, “The Australian made logo is an extremely powerful marketing tool which in turn can result in sales growth. When consumers see the Australian Made stamp of approval, they automatically have confidence in the product’s performance and know it’s been made to Australia’s high standards.

Tsubaki Australia decided to certify our locally manufactured products with the logo to show our customers we are in this together with them – Australian-made products supporting other Australian-made products. We take great pride in seeing the iconic Australian Made logo on our quotations, stickers and on our locally manufactured products.”

In addition to creating quality products, Tsubaki Australia is committed to preserving the environment and have adopted many of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals into its manufacturing centres. They have also committed to supplying products in an environmentally responsible manner and joined the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation in 2017.

“We are passionate about creating a sustainable pathway for packaging, and we want to help keep packaging materials out of landfill. By 2025 we hope to have 100% of our packaging reusable, recyclable or compostable.”

For more information on Tsubaki Australia, please visit https://tsubaki.com.au/