When rubber industry veteran and former banker, Kip Sly, began his latest business venture just three years ago, he had a clear idea of the attributes which the new company would need. Perhaps, not surprisingly, given the raw material with which it deals, flexibility was paramount.

“It’s hard to think of any industry in which rubber does not play at least some part,” he said. “I set up Superior Rubber & Plastics Pty Ltd to meet the needs of customers large and small across the broadest imaginable range of applications.

The company’s output ranges from door stops to heavy duty rubber bearings which will soon carry the weight of concrete road bridges and their traffic on the new M7 Motorway linking Sydney’s north and south.

“We are small enough to take on jobs which other companies might not think worthwhile, but we’ve also got the resources to tackle major projects. In other words we’ve got the flexibility that is essential to succeed in today’s business environment,” Kip Sly said.

With just two forklifts on hand at its western Sydney premises, Superior Rubber & Plastics isn’t in the heavyweight ranks of materials handling equipment users, but its choice of equipment further underscores Kip Sly’s commitment to quality.

The company operates two Linde H18 LPG powered forklift trucks, one at its production facility and the second in a nearby warehouse.

“We began with a single forklift of another brand, but it didn’t meet our needs, so we then decided to try rental vehicles. The business was growing and the rental option seemed to be the best use of our funds at the time,” he said.

That growth has taken Superior Rubber & Plastics from an initial customer base of just one, to its current healthy list of 138 active and regular customers.

The rented Linde forklifts proved so successful for the business that Kip Sly made the decision to purchase two new Linde H18 forklifts. The choice of Linde with its reputation for quality was a good fit for a company which early in its development sought and attained NATA and ISO 9000 certification.

“From our previous experience with the original Linde forklifts at the factory and in the warehouse I expect to get anything up to 15 years service life from these latest two,” he said.

“I must admit that we were a little hesitant about the hydrostatic transmission which also serves as the operating braking system. One of the first things we did when the Linde H18 was first demonstrated to us was to put that to the test.

“The driveway of our factory is quite steep, so one of our operators put a tonne of rubber on the forks and headed off down down the slope. Sure enough when he took his foot off the pedal the forklift stopped on the spot.

“Our operators hadn’t experienced Linde equipment before, but they quickly adapted to its characteristics. They are extremely happy with the stability, visibility and low noise levels of the forklifts ”

The flexibility on which Superior Rubber & Plastics Pty Ltd prides itself has led to production equipment purchases which have severely challenged the available floor space at its factory.

“We have always imported raw materials, but now we are importing finished products as well,” Kip Sly explained. “Our local manufacturing hasn’t declined, it’s just that imports have been growing at an even faster rate.”

That has meant extra work for the company’s warehouse Linde H18 and more challenges for the sister machine stationed at the factory.

“We don’t have a lot of surplus space, so the manoeuvrability of the Linde machines has been crucial. They are equally at home unloading containers, trucks or swapping moulds on our presses.

“When space is limited there can be safety issues, but our drivers have never experienced any problems and I think the confidence provided by the ease of driving the Linde forklifts is a factor there.”

On the subject of customer service, one of the key planks on which Superior Rubber & Plastics was founded, Kip Sly has little to report about Linde.

“We had only one small glitch with one of the Linde forklifts. It was fixed promptly and professionally and we’ve had no problems since then. That’s the way we treat our customers and that’s the relationship we expect with our suppliers.”

For a business which has grown tenfold in just three years, that is a formula for success with which it is hard to disagree.