Darwin Sheetmetal is adding a massive 3D laser-cutting machine to its already formidable arsenal of laser equipment.

“The industry in the Territory is ready to step up to the next level,” says Ashton Simpson, who owns the Winnellie-based business with his wife Trish.

The automated laser cutter, which works with tremendous speed and accuracy, is 22 metres long X 7 metres wide X 3 metres tall – and weighs north of 30 tonnes.

A 1000 square metre shed has been built to help house the colossal German-made machine.

Darwin Sheetmetal has successfully carried out thousands of contracts since it was founded in 1996 — manufacturing everything from relatively simple machine parts and attractive home screens, shims, flanges and brackets to complex projects for the Defence, oil and gas industries.

The company’s vast range of work also includes supplying remote Indigenous houses with fit-for-purpose durable kitchens, robes and commercial kitchens throughout the NT and internal aluminium custom cabinetry for St John ambulances.

Some of its handiwork can be seen throughout Darwin, including eye-catching portraits of Indigenous Territorians on stainless steel panels in Knuckey Street and native animals on the Tiger Brennan overpass.

Darwin Sheetmetal, which only uses Australian-sourced Bluescope steel, is proud that it offers one of the broadest ranges of in-house capabilities in the Territory.

Lasers and precision folding machinery lead to a faster turnaround at a competitive price.

Services include:

• Laser cutting with an accuracy of +/- 0.03 mml
• Smooth finishing without the need for buffing or burring
• Automated sheet-feed systems to complete jobs quickly, without scratching or damaging the panels
• Protective layers remaining on the substrate while it is being cut, so the work can be transported safely and effectively

Capabilities include multiple laser beds with sizes of up to 1500 mm x 3048 mm; mild steel up to 25 mm; stainless steel up to 16 mm; and aluminium up to 12 mm.

All products are made to measure.

Darwin Sheetmetal operates throughout the Territory and across the border into Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland.

“We’ve got a very good customer base,” says Trish. “When they do well we do well.”

The firm has grown significantly since the Simpsons took over the business in 2009 from Trish’s dad, Peter Grandey, who has retired to the golf course.

Darwin-born Ashton completed his first trade at age 21 and had to start a vastly different apprenticeship as a sheetmetal worker at the age of 25 after taking over the company.

“It was scary going into business on our own, but we’ve worked hard and DSM continues to do well. I was in my twenties and found myself in charge of tradespeople much older and more experienced than me.”

The fact that Trish had worked in the company on and off since she was a teenager made the transition easier.

The childhood sweethearts, who met at Dripstone High School, immediately set about modernising the business, including investing in the latest technology.

Darwin Sheetmetal’s workforce grew from five to 20.

Ashton and Trish acknowledge that much of the company’s steady, sustainable growth is down to skilled, reliable, loyal team members.

The Territory has a chronic labour shortage, so the company grows its own by taking on multiple apprentices every year.

“We hire fantastic people, train them well and help them achieve greatness,” says Trish.

Fabrication has changed dramatically over the past couple of decades and now demands not only highly skilled tradespeople, but drafts people, programmers and laser operators.

The Darwin Sheetmetal team got together one day for an early finish to work out a workplace “team agreement”.

The agreement now stands in huge lettering on a metal panel above the workshop — and, in short, it reads: “No bullshit, respect for one another, no dickheads.”

It ensures honest, straight-up relations with each other and with the most important people in business: the customers. TQ

CONTACT

Darwin Sheetmetal 

7 Albatross Street, Winnellie NT 0820 

(08) 8984 4438 

darwinsheetmetal.com.au