Tilting at windmills

Daily Telegraph
Monday 31/3/2008 Page: 69

IT'S nice when you can stand toe to toe against the world's best and come out the winner. Sydney "smithie" Paul Goldie feels this way after winning a multi-million dollar contract to supply the German giant Siemens more than 1100 tonnes of precision engineered steel forgings for its subsidiary Winergy. What's more, one of the oldest industries in the history of civilisation is now playing a part in a new era, as the world grapples with environmental challenges and climate change.

The gear components forged by Botany-based CGC Kymon will be used in Winergy's wind turbines that are spread around the North Sea. And all the steel used in these gears is recycled - from old car bodies, fridges - which then goes on to help create clean energy. "In the past there were environmental problems with wind turbines," said Mr Goldie. "They were noisy and birds flew into them and were killed. "But what the Germans have done with their turbines is that they are 90m high and the blade is 30m in diameter. And they spin at 20 revs per minute. "There is no noise and there is no effect on birds.

Only a really dumb bird would fly into a turbine going that slow." Most of Europe, apart from France, is abandoning nuclear energy and adopting wind power, Mr Goldie said. Germany has more than 16,000 wind turbines and produces 40 per cent of world's total wind power. "You see them everywhere, and there is no noise," he said. Winning the contract was a long process, and is a testament to the fact that Australian business can withstand intense scrutiny and supply products that meet exceptionally high standards.

After all, Mr Goldie said, Siemens doesn't want to be sending engineers up a 90m pole to repair the broken teeth of a gear. Siemens contacted CGC Kymon in February 2007, asking if they were interested in taking part in some trials that would test the company's ability to produce what it wanted. The trials took about eight months and were successful so in January this year, Siemens sent out a quality assurance audit team to examine how the company operated.

"They looked at all sorts of things, our employment laws, occupational health and safety," said Mr Goldie. "It was very detailed, but they came back to us with 10 out of 10 in all categories. That was a feather in our cap. Quality assurance is everything." Siemens told him his prices were as good as the Chinese but quality was higher.

CGC Kymon has had plenty of time to work on the quality. It's been operating for 90 years, since 1918 when Mr Goldie's grandfather established it with two partners. Mr Goldie eventually bought out the other partners and as a former "bean counter" now runs the company. His passion is the forge and he says he's now a half decent tradesman. Mr Goldie is also proud of the fact that the forge has its own green credentials, being powered by natural gas.