The Tuners Group announces new product manufacturing plans for 2009

[thetunersgroup]

Hi All,

As I mentioned here in another thread a few weeks ago ...


We're also working at the moment with an extremely experienced engineer who is an absolute guru and is helping us with developing some new products that are completely original and will be made right here in Australia.

For that gear, we are making a pretty heavy investment in our own CNC gear, so that we can do ALL our fabrication inhouse and maintain quality control to the kind of standards I want.

So we'll be making a pretty rapid move from being a distributor and online retailer to also having our own manufacturing facilities & some super high quality really well made Australian products ...

Over the xmas and new year break, we'll be doing a lot of work on new product design and prototyping - the CAD workstation is going to get a massive workout.

As you can imagine, these new products are going to be extremely high quality, and extremely hard core - we don't do things any other way :)

For a few of those new products, having access to a few different cars to test fit parts on and so on will be very useful.

So this is a call out to see if any JDMST members who are in Sydney would be interested in getting involved in our new product development feedback program.


WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR ?

What we are looking for is a few JDMST members with particular key car models who would be able to periodically make their car available for an afternoon to test fit new products on and to get some feedback from you on our new products.

Our manufacturing will be happening on the Northern Beaches in Sydney, so if you are located north of the harbour, that would be an advantage, but not essential.

We wouldn't need your car overnight or anything, and you can be there at all times to keep an eye on your car - we definitely won't be thrashing your car or anything like that ... everyone knows that we have the utmost respect for all kinds of cars.

In return, you'll be able to participate in having a say what kinds of features you'd like to see on our new products, and when a new product is released which has been tested on your car, you'll be able to grab one at an extremely discounted price.

If you are interested in participating in our new product development feedback program, please send an email to the email address listed on our contact us page at ...

http://www.tunersgroup.com/Contact_Us/

Please put a subject line on your email of "New product development feedback program", ... and please advise ...

1. The make, model, month and year build date of your car
2. A brief list of engine and drive train modifications you have done to your car
3. If you are able to participate on a midweek afternoon or only on a weekend, and
4. A phone number we can contact you on

Of course if you want to participate you will need to sign a non-disclosure agreement, and if your car is sponsored by another manufacturer, or if you work for one of our competitors etc, then it's unlikely that we'd be interested. And of course, no cameras in the workshop :)

We won't be releasing any info yet on what our new products will be, so please don't ask us about that.

We are absolutely flat out with our xmas sale right now, so we won't be replying immediately to emails about our new product development feedback program. We'll simply get in touch with you in early 2009 if your car is a key model which we are developing a new product for.

- Adam

[dom]

As you can imagine, these new products are going to be extremely high quality, and extremely hard core - we don't do things any other way :)

I like your style :)

[Bodgy Racing Developments]

i hope you guys make a cool looking dipstick.... no joke!

i should be down for this

[thetunersgroup]

i hope you guys make a cool looking dipstick.... no joke!

i should be down for this

That's not a bad idea :)

- Adam

[thetunersgroup]

Originally Posted by thetunersgroup
As you can imagine, these new products are going to be extremely high quality, and extremely hard core - we don't do things any other way :)

I like your style :)

Thanks Dom :)


OUR APPROACH

As everyone knows, I'm not a fan at all of the "how cheaply and fast can a product be made ?" approach ... which ends up with everything being made in Taiwan or China by people with who knows what skills and experience, and what passes for "quality control" in such factories.

So we'll be making virtually everything right here in Australia, with some key components being made in Japan, Germany and the US. As you can imagine, we have some pretty hard core machining and alloy forging contacts in Japan and the US, so it makes sense to utilise their experience.

We won't use any components made in Taiwan or China at all in our products.

I've been building project cars since 1990 and been involved in various classes of racing and the parts industry since 1994, so as you can imagine, I've built up a pretty hard core network of contacts in that time.

We're very fortunate to be able to draw on the experience of some extremely experienced engineers with an incredible amount of knowledge - guys like the engineer who developed the supercharged 911, and a key engineer who I have been working very closely with who was chief fabricator for one of the most successful touring car teams in the world.


A POINT TO PROVE ABOUT AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING & QUALITY

Companies like Hollinger and Motec have proven to the world that extremely high quality products can be developed and made right here in Australia.

And it is this small but significant highly specialised Australian manufacturing sector that we intend to become a very strong part of.

We have about 5 years worth of drawings of new product designs that we've been working on, so this is something that a lot of planning has gone into. So in this final stage it is refining those designs in CAD, and going through the prototyping and testing process.

The overall plan to become a manufacturer has been something I've been working on for years and years.

Our product range will be a mix of parts for a number of Japanese cars, some Porsche bits, and some very specialised products specifically for the racing market - V8 Supercars, time attack cars and drift cars.

I wish I could share more details and some CAD renderings of some of our new products with everyone, but of course the commercial reality means that things need to be kept completely under wraps until they are ready to launch :(

- Adam

[TERRA Operative]

Did you know that the rims for Harley Davidson Motorcycles are manufactured in Adelaide? The place is called Castalloy in North Plympton.

http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2006/08/28/020125.html

If Harley chose Australia over America or the well known Asian countries for their rims, even with the logistics etc involved, it says something good about Australian build quality...


I'll be keeping an eye out for your products, I have no doubt that they will be of better than excellent quality.

Now hurry up and make stuff! :)

[thetunersgroup]

Did you know that the rims for Harley Davidson Motorcycles are manufactured in Adelaide? The place is called Castalloy in North Plympton.

http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2006/08/28/020125.html

If Harley chose Australia over America or the well known Asian countries for their rims, even with the logistics etc involved, it says something good about Australian build quality...


Great article Terra - I'd heard that they were made in Australia but had never seen an article about it before.

Quote from that article ...


"Castalloy has been a valued supplier to Harley-Davidson for more than two decades," said Levatich. "We carefully assessed our sourcing options for this critical motorcycle component going forward, and Castalloy demonstrated unique capabilities. Their outstanding track record for quality, cost and delivery, along with the opportunity to further integrate this component area into our business, made them the clear and obvious choice," Levatich said.

I had no idea they had been a supplier to Harley for so long.

I know the ex CEO of Harley Davidson Australia - he's a member of a car club I'm in - I'll ask him for more info about the wheels made in Australia next time I see him.

- Adam

[dcoghlan]

email sent Adam ;)

[TERRA Operative]

I've seen the factory 'through the windows' when I was doing all the electrical work for a retirement village nearby back during my apprenticeship. Looked like a pretty good setup from outside. :)