A Thomastown firm is flying high servicing the world’s largest aerospace company, Boeing.
Electromold is the only Australian company to win approval to test parts and surface them in an anodised finish for the aircraft giant.
In the past, aircraft parts made in Australia had to be sent overseas for this, but Electromold can now do it locally and is the only company in the southern hemisphere to be accredited by Boeing.
Electromold chief executive Stephen Harvey said it would create more jobs in Australia for aircraft part manufacturers and he hoped to see his own company’s workforce of 22 grow.
“We test aluminium, steel and titanium parts, then anodise (coat with a protective covering), prime and paint parts,” he said.
“If you are sitting in a Boeing 737 and look out at the wing and see the flaps, then we have worked on the hinge that works that flap,” he said.
“But a lot of what we do you don’t see, it’s internal.”
The parts checked and coated by Electromold are used in Boeing’s commercial aircraft, as well as its defence aircraft, such as the Hornet fighter jets, Mr Harvey said.
He said people might not realise it, but a small Thomastown company was dealing with highly sophisticated aeronautical products.
“We have parts that hold bombs in place on the most advanced defence aircraft,” he said.
Victorian Manufacturing Minister David Hodgett said a $250,000 competitive business grant received in 2011 helped Electromold complete the Boeing accreditation process.
“Victorian defence and aerospace firms can now have their products’ surface treated in Victoria rather than offshore, saving them both time and money,” Mr Hodgett said.
