You often hear about the personal stories of companies that have risen to the top of their game – where they started, how they got their “big” break. But it's stories such as those told by Carlos Broens that has a very personal touch.

Mr Broens arrived in Australia in 1973 as a migrant from Argentina. He began his tool making career in 1979, working from the back of a ute, where Broens Industries was born. Now, almost 30 years on, Broens Industries employs 180 staff including 37 apprentices with an annual turnover of $34 million.

The company is Australian owned, specialising in the design, manufacturing and engineering solutions for tooling, special purpose machine tools, automation, component production, and ground support equipment.  Broens Industries is active in a number of industry sectors including Defence, aerospace, automotive, marine, mining and general precision engineering. In November 2007, Broens also acquired the South Australian based company Static Engineering Pty Ltd.

Mr Broens says that the secret to success can not be pinpointed to any one thing. “It really is a mixture of good staff, understanding the market you are in, and diversifying where needed.”

Broens Industries has also developed a number of strategies to try to address the ongoing skills shortage. These include the ongoing placement of apprentices within the company, an on-site training centre with TAFE, encouraging apprentices to further their education through TAFE and university, and a work experience program offered to high school and university students. “Providing opportunities to our staff, means instilling them with a sense of ownership in their work. This will only benefit Broens Industries and give us a competitive edge,” says Mr Broens.

This commitment to skilling staff has seen the Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Procurement, the Hon. Greg Combet recently announce the signing of a Skilling Australia’s Defence Industry (SADI) agreement that will commit to skilling a total of 80 Broens staff over the next three years. The new agreement represents a joint commitment on the part of Defence and Broens Industries to spend over $2 million on defence-specific professional and technical training activities.

In the Defence sector, most of the Broens Industries work is through larger industry partners working alongside Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Australian Aerospace, BAE Systems, Thales, General Electric, Qantas Defence, and Hawker de Havilland. They have also worked with Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) and various System Program Offices (SPOs) within the Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) as well.

The company also has a strong presence outside the Defence Industry including:

• General precision engineering – offering a specialist precision engineering service including component machining, fitting and assembly, press metal tooling and metal stamping.
• Aerospace - working with Hawker de Havilland and the major international manufacturers, providing tooling and airframe components from the work on McDonnell Douglas Helicopters in the 1980s to the Wing Stringers for Boeing 787 Dream-liner.
• Automotive – producing their own line of machine tools for balancing and testing power steering valves.  Broens also has an automated line of production for the VE-Commodore steering knuckles.
• Marine – the company is also renowned for its specialty in the area of design and manufacturing of high tolerance machined bulbs and keels for the formula one yachting industry.
• Mining - Broens is in the early stages of development in this sector. The company is manufacturing specialised components that can withstand corrosion for drill rods including latches, spindles, caps and tubes.

Mr Broens says Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) involvement in Defence acquisition and sustainment is crucial with the growing globalisation of Defence business. “Many SMEs are at the innovative end of the spectrum with niche capabilities to equip the Australian Defence Force. In a time of need, Australian based SMEs are more accessible and flexible to support Defence priorities at short notice.”

And this niche capability will continue to grow, as the company (as part of the Australian Industry Capability team) undertakes work on the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program.