Grant Barrett set up Australian Certified Winches four years ago to address an industry issue – to design and manufacture industrial winches that are truly fit-for-purpose.
“Far too often incorrect winches are designed into a system because they are either readily available, or they are promoted that they will ‘do the job’,” explains the Director and Founder, who has 25 years’ experience in the field. “However, in most cases the winch is not suited to the task and does not have the correct documentation and certification to operate under appropriate regulation.”
Which is why Australian Certified Winches works closely with their clients to gather all project information and match the appropriate winch solution to their requirement. This often involves custom design and manufacture.
“We’re an Australian-owned and operated OEM that caters to the marine, mining, utilities and construction industries,” says Grant. “We make our own designs in-house, and build them to correct industry standard.”
Cutting corners is not an option for the Australian manufacturer, and that comes down to the bearing components used on Australian Certified Winches products. This is where Grant looks to his local BSC branch in Yatala for expertise on bearings and rope sheaves.
“The branch manager, Garry Spinks, delivers a personal service, where he goes out of his way to make sure we have what we need,” explains Grant. “Since we make things that go round, we obviously need bearings. As such, we’re predominantly sourcing bearings and seals, as well as sheaves from BSC.”
Just as Australian Certified Winches provide the right winches to the right application, so do they rely on the right bearings for their winches. This is where the product knowledge and expertise of BSC proves invaluable.
“Our branch currently has three senior staff who collectively boast close to 95 years of experience in the industry,” says Garry. “The advantage of having this staff experience is that it allows us to work on the more involved customer requirements. In the case of Australian Certified Winches, we’ve developed a good relationship based on our service and expertise.”
More recently, Australian Certified Winches required a large number of sheave units that needed to be custom made to meet Australian code. Josh Price, who is the Design Hub Manager for BSC, worked together with Garry to fulfil this request, which also came to include the Schaeffler INA SL 045 series of bearings.
“For every sheave we supply to Australian Certified Winches, there is a corresponding bearing requirement. We recommended and supplied the Schaeffler INA SL 045 series bearings,” explains Josh. “These are a sheave bearing, and we often use this particular sheave bearing. It’s a premium bearing, and when you are trying to design something to last 15 years, you only want to use quality products.”
In particular, the INA SL 045 series are suited to high load applications.
“What makes the INA SL 045 series bearings special is they are an extremely high radial load bearing,” he expands. “We also use these bearings because they offer superior sealing and clean steels, which contributes to the life expectancy of our products and therefore the Australian Certified Winches products.”
It’s the BSC team’s commitment to providing quality products – such as the Schaeffler sheave bearings – that are fit-for-purpose to Australian Certified Winches, that ultimately enable Australian Certified Winches to fulfil their purpose: supplying fit-for-purpose, high quality winches to Australian industry.
“When Australian Certified Winches take on a project, they are committed to ensuring the longevity and quality of that product,” concludes Garry. “And at BSC, it’s our job to support them in their endeavour through the supply of high-quality components such as the Schaeffler sheave bearings, and through exceptional service.”
