The company, which has expanded sales tenfold over its first decade, has moved this year to new 1000 sq m premises at Seaford in Melbourne’s south-east to cater for the rising national and international demand for its cost-efficient high-strength thermoplastic technology.

The move will provide enhanced service and turnaround for clients throughout Australasia and South Asia producing light, strong and corrosion-free products, including materials handling and product processing systems, says FHS’ Director Darren Poynton. The move is being driven by rising demand across the industrial spectrum for high-integrity products such as polyethylene tanks, pipelines, manifolds and materials handling and process equipment to be used by industries extending from automotive, construction, chemical, food and beverage processing to wide-scale irrigation, geosynthetics, mining, quarrying and petroleum resources development.

“At the same time as global plastics welding technology has advanced to the level where weld strengths are virtually inseparable from original pipe strengths – more than 99.9 per cent original strength, for example - our plastics welding and fabrication customers have experienced an ongoing surge in demand from companies taking on plastics as alternatives to metals.

“And as industries appreciate the OHS and low-maintenance benefits of easily-installed plastic systems, the surge in our fabrication customer business has also been complemented by a surge in demand for in-house plastics welding and maintenance skills,” said Mr Poynton, whose company distributes nationally and throughout the Asia-Pacific such leading brands as Munsch extrusion welders, Forsthoff hot air welders, Omisa butt welders, FHS plastic bending bars, accessories and its own Superfusion brand weld rod.

FHS is already Australia’s leading producer of plastic weld rod, with Superfusion production to expand further at the new Martha St, Seaford, plant. It will also expand its butt welding and extrusion welding capabilities. FHS is a leading Victorian supplier of poly pipe engineering services, including fabrication work and in-house and on-site welding of pipelines from 20 mm - 800mm diameter.

“We have experienced a big surge in business as a result of the resources boom, which has widely expanded demand for pipe welding equipment in the field as well as for plastic welding equipment in resources workshops to cater for new, plastics-intensive processing plants.

“Our own poly pipe engineering business here in Victoria is getting strong business from water and sewage authorities as well as power and gas authorities looking for strong, hygienic and cost-efficient alternatives to traditional materials. We know that the complementary poly pipe engineering business we supply in other states are experiencing exactly the same demand, because they are the ones to whom we supply the plastics welding equipment.”