Aussie Pumps Support “Right to Repair”
Here at Australian Pump Industries we are fanatical about the restoration of Australia’s manufacturing industry. Located on a 2.5 acre site at Sydney’s Norwest Business District, Aussie Pumps is a shining example of an Australian company (which started our in a garage 28 years ago) who is now a major powerhouse of design and manufacture, shipping globally.
Although we appear to live in a world of disposable equipment, we know every time we sell or buy a piece of sub-standard third world gear at a low price we are in fact going to eventually contribute to a monstrous pile of power equipment sitting in tips and waste disposal areas.
The problem isn’t so much the quality of the product. That’s a major factor of course but, one of the key issues is the unavailability of parts, often, with equipment being manufactured from components which are based on “selective assembly”.
By that we mean that the parts are unique to that particular model or serial number unit. The parts you buy to replace them may not necessarily fit.
At Aussie Pumps we see third world pressure cleaners and pumps plus a host of other small engine powered equipment, coming in with “no name” brands sold through dealers looking to make a quick buck. They don’t feel any particular obligation to support the equipment once its sold. We’ve all heard horror stories about the poor guy who goes back to complain about the product and is either given another one or simply thrown out of the shop.
The Aussie Approach
When Australian Pump Industries got started a couple of decades ago, we knew that the company would have to have a philosophy that would appeal to Australians. Building pressure cleaners and pumps in Australia meant much higher costs than third world equipment. On the other hand, we knew that Australians will pay a fair price for a good product.
One classic example is the Aussie Fire Chief firefighting pump. We believe that that pump is the best portable lightweight Fire Pump in the world. It costs more to make, the features and performance it offers are more expensive and yet we can put it on the market at a highly competitive price that is hundreds of dollars less than long established competitors.
Better than that, the pump and Honda engine combination is absolutely repairable. You don’t have to dump the complete product if you just need a new impeller, mechanical seal or even just a body o-ring. These parts are readily available in support of the equipment and, Aussie Pumps goes out of its way to explain the application of the products and how simple it is to carry out repairs!
“We believe buyers of simple “farm machinery” type products like our self priming Fire Pumps, our Transfer Pumps and Trash Pumps and Pressure Cleaners deserve the right to be able to carry out their own repairs provided they are relatively mechanically competent.”
Aussie Chief Engineer, John Hales
With tens of thousands of Aussie Fire Chief pumps in the market already, many of them over 25 years old, Aussie encourages Dealers to carry one or two rejuvenation kits (a handy kit with a mechanical seal and essential elastomers like the body o-ring) in stock. This means that in the event of a failure parts are located close to the point of consumption i.e. where the user actually is.
Huge Benefits
There are manifold reasons for encouraging customers to buy quality products that are supportable.
- Longer warranties available on our product range than anybody else in the business. The Aussie Fire Chief for example, and the entire QP “Quick Prime” Aussie product range has pump wet ends which are guaranteed to be free of faulty workmanship or material for a period of 5 years from the date of purchase. That’s right, a five year warranty that’s backed up by Honda’s 3 year engine warranty!
- “Nobody else does that!” said Hales.
- To provide a product with a 5 year warranty, it has to be good. Ultimately that translates to components that simply last longer and therefore provide much more convenience and a real sense of satisfaction to the user.
- Workshops can either do the repair or provide useful advice on how to carry out simple adjustments. In other words, there is no need to “junk” the machine for lack of availability of parts or procedures or just because the quality of it is not worth repairing.
- Preserving good quality equipment by proper maintenance and repairs over it’s life has a major impact on the amount of waste material we produce.
- We all win when products last longer and don’t turn into waste, we preserve the assets of the planet! Isn’t that what we all want too?
This is worth fighting for!
Productivity Commissions Report
This Commission has called the Government to introduce a ‘repair suppliers’ obligation’ for Agricultural machinery. This also should apply to small power equipment. If implemented, this will require manufacturers to provide access to repair information and where appropriate diagnostic tools to machinery owners and independent repairers. It will also stress the obligation of what professional manufacturers and distributors already know. That is the obligation to supply spare parts in a timely manner for the equipment they sell. It seems pretty straight forward.
That’s what we’d all want if we were buying the equipment! We shouldn’t have to wait for the Government to introduce such an obvious set of rules.
Surely, we owe it to the buyer to provide that elementary support. Here at Aussie Pumps we do it. We support the products we build. We make quality gear. We think even the consumer, if he’s competent should have the right to carry out his own repairs if required. These are fundamentals of freedom and were considered standard 30 or 40 years ago. Let’s not fall for the trap of buying third world cheapies that are tomorrow’s landfill!
Your time is too valuable to waste with dissatisfaction over product failures and or poor performance!
