Pull-out sections allow close fitting around complex shapes. Careful attention is paid to protecting delicate aircraft surfaces.
When it comes to exporting aviation products, the mind usually turns to aircraft, either complete or components thereof, or else ancillary items such as trolleys and signage.
Based in Maungaturoto, rural Northland, is a company exporting aviation ancillary items as a sideline to its core business. SafeSmart Access was started 20 years by brothers Shane and Jeff Wearmouth to develop a range of scaffolding and other height access products to meet the demands of the construction industry, and about five years ago the aviation side started growing into SafeSmart Aviation with an international market. A third brother, Daniel, heads the New Zealand sales team.
No less than the construction industry, the maintenance of large aircraft demands height access products.
Requirements are numerous and include protection from falls, efficiency, adaptability, protection of delicate surfaces and adequate strength, both to support the weight of engineers and tools and to withstand rough treatment. And don’t forget IATA’s airport handling manual and regulatory standards within the entire international aviation industry.
Perhaps the most stringent of those is used by Qantas, SafeSmart Aviation’s first export customer and still one of its largest, so Qantas is used as the benchmark for all aviation products. Standards Australia’s AS 1657:2018 is also used in New Zealand, and the British sphere of influence has BS EN ISO 14122-2:2016 as a standard.
Ease of use means minimal weight, and all SafeSmart’s products are fabricated from extruded high tensile marine grade aluminium, welded and bolted together into units able to be dismantled into sections to fit into standard shipping containers.
All design and manufacture take place in-house, with four in the Maungaturoto design team and another two in Auckland. Production is undertaken on site in a series of connected factory buildings added as company growth requires, all with a backdrop of green Northland hills.
The aviation export side started with Qantas and includes United Airlines—currently the biggest—Air New Zealand, JetBlue, Jetstar, Air Fiji and Air Nauru. A contract to supply eight different maintenance platform types to Air Mauritius is currently underway.
The Indian Ocean Republic of Mauritius, independent from 1968, was first colonised by the Dutch in 1638, by the French in 1715 and the invading British from 1810. Under French rule the volcanic main island of Mauritius, slightly larger than our own Stewart Island, was used for sugar cane production, and after the British abolished slavery in 1835 the settlers introduced indentured labourers from India.
Tourism is increasingly important. Air Mauritius was set up just before independence but started aerial operations five years later with a Piper Navajo service to Rodrigues, 560km to the east. International services in the airline’s own right began in 1977 with a B707, and today Air Mauritius operates an all-Airbus fleet to destinations as far distant as Perth, Singapore, Johannesburg, Munich and Paris, plus two ATR 72-500s for regional flights to the islands of Reunion and Rodrigues.
Its five A340s are being replaced by two A330-900neos to be delivered later this year, plus a total of six A350-900s spread over a few years.
The A350s are where SafeSmart comes in, having won a contract to supply eight different platforms for A350 maintenance, covering access to engines, engine pylons, the main entrances, cargo doors, landing gear and windscreen. The engine pylon platform alone is 4.5m high, with similar dimensions for access to the main undercarriage mounts and actuators.
“We’ve spent 12 to 18 months designing the A350 suite,” says Jeff Wearmouth, director of parent company Easy Access.
He says the aviation side of the business, while less than 10 percent of the total which is dominated by scaffolding products, is growing. “Our first aviation customers were Qantas and United, and we’re getting enquiries from the Middle East, Oman and Singapore. Qantas and United are our biggest customers now, and we’re beginning an Australian distributorship.
With about 70 staff, 15 of them welders, Easy Access is a major employer in Maungaturoto. It might appear to be a long way from the main aviation markets, but close proximity to SH1 and the Northland railway offer access to transport routes and the company continues to make itself known in this niche market.
- Report and photography by John King.