Magazine - PILA to Post

By Sarah Gibson in General Sports on 3rd Dec 2009 20:25

While in NSW recently, Pitchcare did a de-tour and visited innovative Australian company PILA group. If you haven’t yet come across PILA they are one of our biggest manufacturers of aluminum and fibreglass posts for the sports industry not to mention some tidy looking flag and banner poles for the streetscape sector.
 
We were greeted at the door by the hospitable MD and founder of the company Reece Wooldridge and the National Sales Manager Michael Reid.

Reece filled us in about the beginnings of PILA group and how he came to be in the industry. Reece started working for a company within the industry after he left school in 1992. His apprenticeship included the hands-on manufacturing of yacht masts, flag poles and goal posts. Bet you didn’t know flag poles and goal posts were made using the same techniques as yacht masts? Or is it just me who was that naive!

Reece’s big break came when he got the job looking after flagpoles and posts for the Sydney 2000 Olympics. It was also this same time Reece got his own ABN and formed the company “Premier Poles". Since then one thing lead to another and after a period in Noosa, Queensland the company evolved, and PILA group was born. PILA group has been established since 2004 and is now based in Mona Vale, Sydney NSW.

Reece's time at the Olympics sounds interesting, and we prod him for more details. His job involved the relocating of poles for the athletes, in particular the triathlon athletes as their events had temporary structures that needed to be moved. Setting up of the poles for the medal ceremonies was also Reece's responsibility. There were 400 to 500 poles in total at the games. To erect them, the digging was done with small digging machines. None of the poles were very big, most no more than 9 metres, excluding the bigger ceremonial poles. The set up was done manually, with Reece always on call in case a flagpole needed repair.

Due to the tight time frame at the Olympics, Reece had to be there to fix any issues immediately, fortunately this didn't happen too often, as all the poles were brand new and in good working nick.

Reece remembers what a great experience it was, including the perks such as the “all access passes" which enabled him to have run of the Olympic site-wonder if he got to see Kylie performing dancing queen, or was that just my highlight!

PILA are establishing quite a name for themselves with an industry first in Australia with their fibreglass goals. PILA are the only company in Australia selling fibreglass goals and we're interested to know how it came about. Reece explains;

“I found that when I started out everyone else in the industry was using aluminum for the manufacture of goal posts” this was also the dominant material used at the Olympics. “However, in Europe and North America fibreglass was being used as the main material in the making of sports posts, flagpoles and banner poles”

“Reece realised he was at a cross roads- to continue on with what the rest of the industry was doing with manufacturing aluminum poles or to head out in a different direction. This would have been a daunting prospect for many, but Reece decided to bite the bullet and do something different.

Like most good ideas, Reece's stemmed from his own experience. While working with yacht masts in the early days, he used to do the repairs on the aluminum booms and poles for the guys at the CYC (Cruising Yacht Club) in Sydney. These yachts raced the famous Sydney to Hobart race. They would carry spares on board in case of damage to the main mask. These yachts switched to carbon fibre for their material of choice, with eventually the whole yacht industry choosing this material for their masts.

When Reece saw this technology in the yacht industry and how durable it was, he didn't see why it couldn't be used in other areas such as streetscape and the sport industry. Similar processes are used to manufacture carbon fibre as fibreglass which gives fiberglass good strength and durability, however, Reece explains, carbon fibre is a much more expensive product, but not a practical material for use in flag/banner poles and sports posts. The load on the pole is not big enough to justify the use of it .Carbon fibre would push costs up too, which is something people would not be too happy about.
With all the positives for fibreglass, why was it so slow to establish in the southern hemisphere for use in posts and poles?

It seems the rest of the industry was established and stuck in its old ways. They had already invested time and money into their aluminium machines and set-ups and the motto seemed to be “if it ain’t broke why fix it?” Reece could see a better way. He saw the benefits of fibreglass technology and the advantages it would bring to the market, which up until PILA existed, had only one product choice – aluminium.

What about the rest of PILA we here you ask? Well PILA is as family business, with the husband and wife team of Reece and Sian and Michael, Sian's brother leading the team. Sian is the Business and Marketing Manager with a background in marketing and sales and Michael is the National Sales Manager. Each member of staff, be it Sky in the office, Jon and Jordan in sales or Warwick, who looks after production, plays an integral role in the company with everyone treated equally and given hands on experience of the  manufacturing and installation process of the posts.

PILA has two factories in Australia and two  in Asia .The poles come in sizes of 6, 7.5, 9, 12 and 15 metres. Michael explains “6 to 12 metres posts service most non professional leagues- with the 12 meteres posts used up to state level and one tier below professional leagues”. 15 metre posts are bigger in diameter, so completely different to construct. They're huge posts; you don’t really appreciate how big when you're watching a game on the box.

PILA have an expansive customer base to date, one of those being the Dairy Farmers Stadium, who was the first to approach PILA for the 15 metre posts. Councils around Australia are also big customers, with the Gold Coast being one of the bigger buyers.

New 15m posts are about to go up at Skilled Stadium in Geelong, the home of the premiers. The NRL’s Titans use their 12 metre posts for training and 15 metre posts at the Robina Stadium. The Sydney Roosters are also a customer, using the 12 metre posts at their training grounds at Moore Park, and Michael informs us they’ve leased out posts for the socceroos training, it certainly reads as an impressive list.

PILA posts have been shipped far and wide to some diverse and exotic places. Orders have been sent to NZ, to Singapore, and to the bottom of Papua New Guinea, where there happens to be some 9 metre rugby league posts, apparently they love their rugby up there! Posts are about to go off to South Africa for the World Cup too.

Closer to home, the guys have shipped league posts to Bathurst Island. One of the more unusual places they've had an order for is the Christmas Island detention centre; they bought 3 of their 12 metre fibreglass flagpoles. Factors such their great flexibility and their ability to withstand strong winds, are natural selling points of the fibreglass poles, especially in places as remote and exposed as Christmas Island.

Transportation of the bigger poles could prove a logistical nightmare, but  PILA have managed to get around this with a sophisticated product design and  packing system, with the posts wrapped up securely in heavy duty cardboard, and sections broken down to a more manageable 6 metres, the posts arrive in mint condition.

Michael from experience, states that fibreglass actually transports better than the aluminum poles especially when secured to pallets, as the aluminum can dent easily. Customers often count safety and durability as big factors when it comes to their decision to purchase, and the fibreglass poles seem to have got these aspects well and truly covered.

One of the biggest safety benefits behind fibreglass is that they don't as much conduct electricity as metal and aluminium posts, which can act as giant lightning conductors. This is probably one of the biggest reasons to sway people toward the fibreglass. Fibreglass is easier to handle and often lighter than aluminum, which is important when erecting them, again a big health and safety tick. One person can erect a 12metre pole unlike aluminum which has been known to have to be lifted out with helicopters! With all their extra strength and durability the posts they come with a 5 year warranty.

PILA are now, shifting between 1500 - 2000 posts a year. Business is clearly booming and it seems nothing can stop PILA from growing from strength to strength and consolidating its position as an industry leader.

Michael, PILA’s National Sales Manager, tried his hand at various jobs including an estate agent, but has found his work with PILA to be far and above the most rewarding, "It's physical, you see it, it's a great product, and the people we deal with are all pretty down to earth and good people”, that's got to be a bonus in any job.

PILA name is defiantly getting out there and Michael describes the proud feeling the team has when for example they see their posts at an international match with the Socceroos playing.

He sees an increasing number of architects and councils becoming much more aware of the benefits of fibreglass and willing to accept it as a viable and better alternative to aluminum, seeing lots of possibilities for expansion for this material into other areas.

So next time you’re kicking back on the couch with a cold one watching your favourite NRL or AFL team on the box, give a thought to what went into those massive goal posts towering above the players from PILA to Post!





Meet the team at PILA
Reece Wooldridge – Managing Director – husband of Sian
Sian Wooldridge – Business & Marketing Manager – wife of Reece
Michael Reid – National Sales Manager  – brother of Sian, brother-in-law of Reece
Sky Kim – Accounts Manager
Warwick Travers – Production Manager
Jon Burnitt – Senior Sales Consultant – Football (Soccer) & Futsal Specialist – 
Jordan Manfield – Senior Sales Consultant – AFL, Rugby League, Rugby Union Specialist –
Jason Sarkis – factory assistant
Mischa –PILA office mascot – Chihuahua – Sky’s dog
(Reece also has a tank of aggressive Cichlid fish in his office he feeds live food to)

Read more articles in General Sports, by Sarah Gibson or from December 2009.