SEM Fire & Rescue, Australia

Australian-owned SEM Fire and Rescue designs and manufactures emergency service vehicles, including pumpers, tankers and hazardous materials support vehicles, for the fire and rescue industry. Based in Ballarat, in central Victoria, the company also works with customers around the country to develop bomb response vans, prisoner transport vehicles and mobile office units, as well as working on other projects like roadside assistance vehicles and tankers for Australia’s defence operations.

Challenges:

  • Improve the efficiency of the design cycle
  • Improve competitive advantage over other manufacturers
  • Increase customer confidence in designs
  • Use design resources efficiently
  • Keep staff up-to-speed with the latest technology

Results:

  • Elimination of design processes on the assembly line with the aim to reduce assembly time by half
  • Savings passed on to customers in the price of vehicles and included in quotes to win tenders
  • Presenting solid models and moving parts to customers allows them to visualise the finished product, and the design to be proven, before prototyping even begins
  • Local technical support means downtime is minimised.
  • Training resources ensure design software is used to its fullest potential

“Training is essential to ensure our designers don’t fall into bad habits and that they are using the software to its fullest potential. Often designers don’t use all the relevant features a software package offers, or work in the most efficient way possible, and if you don’t do training you aren’t going to get the full value out of your investment.”

“Using technical support is another way to get the most out of the software and Intercad’s service is fantastic. We have had minor software issues which Intercad was able to fix very quickly so our downtime was minimised, but we are very happy with the regional support and training that is on offer which means the cost of training and accommodation, that is typically outside of some companies budgets, becomes more affordable.”

Ernest Martino
Design Manager, SEM Fire and Rescue
www.semfirerescue.com.au