Bends, brakes and guillotines form new fencing technolo

Modular Wall Systems, which produces versatile, stylish walls with a rendered appearance, consulted Maxitec not just for appropriate equipment to expand its capacities but also for ongoing technical support.

Such has been the success of this arrangement, Modular Wall Systems is selling its product into various industries including roads and construction, mining, general industrial in and around factories as well as the lucrative commercial and domestic building sectors.

The key is in the upright metal posts which link modular sandwich panels.
Although manufactured from just 1mm Sheet metal, the product’s strength is purely down to the bend profile which gives these posts maximum strength and a long life expectancy.

Sales and Marketing Manager for Maxitec, Mr Andrew Bentrup, says this is a case of client working closely with supplier to achieve an outcome.

“Selling press brakes and guillotines is one thing, the key to success is always an ongoing technical arrangement to ensure the technologies we sell are use to their maximum potential," said Mr Bentrup.

"Our bending technology used by Modular Wall Systems is fast, accurate and provides the repeatability this specific client requires.

"Once we had engineered the ideal bend profile for their wall posts, the press brake locks in coordinates for each bend sequence and the client can produce these over and over again, know how long each takes to make, and therefore can act with full cost breakdowns for each job.”

Generally, these 1mm gauge posts are 4.5m high and sit directly in the ground. Posts taller than 4.5m use an internal sleeve rather than a concrete base.

The company has worked hard to perfect the steel posts for optimum strength and also worked heavily on maximising rust prevention.

The product line is industrial-strength yet so lightweight and simple to use that the paneling in particular can be handled by just one or two people

By developing this unique walling system, Modular Wall Systems has eliminated the need for bricklayers, renderers, earthmoving equipment, strip footings and basically has made messy construction a thing of the past.

Despite being lightweight, both the composite panel technology as well as steel uprights can expect a long lifetime and good rigidity.

Mr Nicholas Holden, director of Modular Wall Systems, and says uptake of this technology has been fast mainly because it counters some of the long-standing problems suffered by traditional methods in building walls and partitions.

“It has become very difficult to go into difficult terrain expecting to build walls out of bricks or concrete because heavy materials make the work environment relatively dangerous," said Mr Holden.

"The mining industry for example is one where you are rarely dealing with nice, level, safe surfaces, so the advent of lightweight modular sections has made this area easier to handle.

“We proved that recently in doing a partition project for Newman Mine where the only significant piece of machinery required was a small digger.

“Composite panels account for the majority of our product, but all the structural work is done by the support posts.

“In market sense, perhaps the greatest attribute is the product’s solid core wall which performs like a heavy duty item yet it is a lightweight wall.

“There is huge cost effectiveness in the simplicity of installation as there is no heavy lifting equipment and no cranes etc, therefore, major OH&S advantages are gained.”

Mr Holden believes the greatest potential area to growth is in general factory partitions, such as the cost effectively supply of workstations for physical separation as well as noise separation.

“We source all our sheetmetal gear through Maxitec as well as their after sales service and technical support.”