When David Urquhart established a manufacturing plant in 1992, he couldn’t have envisioned how his business would evolve to become an industry leader.
With just a fraction of the vast product range that we see today, David developed the company Storemasta to improve chemical safety for the countless businesses who navigate the daily hazards associated with the storage of dangerous goods. Speaking with other local business owners, he saw an urgent need for onsite dangerous goods storage that was both high quality and locally made.
It was the company goal then, as is the goal now, to actively reduce risk for all types of organisations, businesses and government departments across Australia and internationally.
We develop solutions to help keep people, places and environments safe. We want all personnel who deal with dangerous goods to be able to return home from work, safely.
The company began back in Adelaide when David Urquhart was manufacturing and project managing steel structure buildings. With his background in sheetmetal work and keen interest in site safety, it was a natural progression to start constructing dangerous goods storage equipment.
David put his skills to work and manufactured some indoor safety cabinets and site storage cabinets. He soon began supplying to local farms, agricultural and rural stores, and then went on to work with safety wholesalers. The Storemasta business simply grew from there.
In 2003, the company shifted focus – relocating from Adelaide to the seaside village of Burnie, in north-west Tasmania. At the time of the move, David and his wife had four young children.
The move to Tasmania was fuelled by their passion for the state with its breathtaking natural scenery and enviable lifestyle. The relocation was purely a move for the family, with David bringing the Storemasta business with him.
Unlike some other companies that may claim to have Australian-made dangerous goods storage equipment, Storemasta designs, develops and manufactures their product range in Australia.
We can say with all honesty, that we’re proudly Tasmanian made.
While the company originally began with David and a small team, Storemasta has now grown to have a staff-base of over 50 personnel.
David’s sons are now operating the family business, with Caleb and Braden managing the production department and the sales/marketing department respectively.
David still overseas the business operations as company Director, regularly working in both the head office and manufacturing facility.
The company relies on the expertise of our diverse staff base including designers, engineers, product developers, welders, painters and production staff.
From creating indoor cabinets for the storage of flammable liquids to outdoor stores for toxic chemicals, our team has ensured that our range continually evolves to meet the changing needs of the dangerous goods storage market.
Our extensive product range now includes Australian made innovations including lithium-ion battery charging and storage cabinets, temperature-controlled chemical stores, and stackable 10ft and 20ft dangerous goods containers.
While the Storemasta team are proud to put Burnie on the map through our Australian manufactured dangerous goods storage solutions, that’s not to say that we don’t work with a global view.
We have a highly skilled team of in-house and remote employees, with staff hailing from other states of Australia, as well as America, Germany, India, Pakistan and the Philippines.
We’re always on the lookout for dynamic staff who can join our team and help us empower businesses to reduce chemical risk.
Our company fosters an environment that promotes training and self-improvement, encouraging career paths that can benefit both the staff member and the company. We are proud to promote from within, with many of our senior staff members working their way through various STOREMASTA® departments.
While the bulk of our customer base is located right here in Australia, we enjoy strong relationships with the New Zealand market. Our products can be shipped globally, with some of our current customers residing in locations such as Germany, the Ukraine, the Philippines, UAE and Japan.
We regularly work with both industry sectors and government departments across countries including Singapore, Papua New Guinea and South-East Asia. Some of our clients include Coca-Cola, BHP and Australian Defence Force.
So, what makes us different from the rest?
You could say that we are the original manufacturer of Australian made dangerous goods storage equipment.
While we began our operations three decades ago, Storemasta has remained at the forefront of the local industry, due to our in-depth knowledge of WHS Regulations and the Australian Standards — as well as decades of experience working with all aspects of DG storage.
However, when you’re the first Australian company to start manufacturing a specific product, you can be certain that other companies will try to follow your success. But what makes us different is that we design and manufacture our products at our own facility — never using imported flatpacks or inferior products. We stand by our promise of delivering the highest level of chemical protection for our customers.
Our dangerous goods storage solutions continue to lead the local industry due to our high attention to detail and the equipment’s unsurpassed quality.
Because we design and manufacture our products onsite, we have developed strict systems and procedures in place to ensure each product meets the highest quality standards.
As an ISO 9001 certified company, we are subject to independent auditing every year, so customers continue to receive the best quality service and product.
We believe in continuous improvement — across all departments — and facilitate this through regular training sessions, conferences, seminars and other opportunities for dangerous goods storage manufacturers. We’re always looking at new ways to deliver above our customers’ expectations and work hard to continually improve customer support.
Since the relocation to Tasmania, the manufacturing facility has continued to grow, with state-of-the-art production equipment and robots.
We embrace new technology as it allows us to improve the consistency, efficiency and speed at which our team produce dangerous goods cabinets and stores.
The principles that Storemasta apply and are guided by include LEAN manufacturing, Waste management, Just in Time (JIT) and Kanban. The design and manufacturing process also relies on Industry 4.0 with a special interest in digital learnings, advanced robotics, data gathering and real time analysis.
As an industry leader and the original manufacturer of Aussie-made DG storage, our company has been built upon the Australian traditions of honesty, hard work and a fair go.
To learn more about us — and to view our latest products — go to storemasta.com.au or connect with us on LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube.