Muscat Trailers’ family operation has navigated five decades of the competitive trailer manufacturing industry.
Initially conceptualised by Maurice Azzopardi, the company’s true form was developed with the collaboration of Paul Muscat in New South Wales during the mid-1960s.
Its first factory, restored from an old chicken shed with dirt floors, was the site of the company’s then-handful of trailer designs. Muscat Trailers has since grown into a formidable manufacturer in the industry, having manufactured close to 6,000 trailers and now sporting over 20 designs built by a large and loyal team.
In this time, Maurice passed the business operations to his son, Troy, who has been in close proximity with the company since he was a child and has enjoyed a firsthand view of its growth.
“I was coming to work with my dad at the age of four or five, driving forklifts and everything that I wasn’t allowed to do,” he says. “The business has grown humbly and slowly from then.
“It was always the vision of my dad and his partner to do things with a hands-on approach and be in control of what’s happening. That’s the way I feel. My whole vision is moving forward – I want to be in control of what we want to supply to the market.”
This hands-on approach has defined Muscat Trailers’ manufacturing process, allowing it to create its products with certain unique touches and finesses to reward customers and meet their specific needs. The process is one of delegation, in which, following a customer’s order, 3D models are created, drawn and sent to separate workshops for aluminium, steel, fit outs and installs to be produced before being combined and sent off.
The unique orders that Muscat Trailers fulfil often result in design and production amendments – something which Capral Aluminium, the company’s aluminium supplier, is adept at handling.
“It’s important for us to work with suppliers that have the ability to be adaptive, to make quick changes and complement what others build,” Troy says. “Capral is very good at that.”
Muscat Trailers has enjoyed a relationship with Capral effectively since its inception back in the 1960s. The supply of Capral’s aluminium and extrusions over the decades to follow have been integral to Muscat Trailers’ production process, with each trailer containing roughly two-and-a-half tonnes of aluminium according to Troy.
Capral also supplies all of the aluminium rolled products, sheet, plate and treadplate used by Troy and the team in the construction of Muscat trailers.
Troy has observed that trailer design and manufacturing has shifted – while precise and surgically designed products were once in vogue, customers are expressing interest in more craftsmanship within their trailers, preferring a personal touch to manufacturing. In response to this, Muscat Trailers has developed its trademark rippled aluminium extrusions which, locally produced by Capral, create a key differentiator for a Muscat trailer with their more intimately-designed feel.
“The ripples in the side of the extrusion of a Muscat trailer is unique to us,” Troy says. “It’s like our tattoo.”
Capral’s material and engineering involvement in Muscat Trailers’ manufacturing process is further bolstered by its customer service. The supplier’s ability to hold stock is greatly beneficial, enabling the accommodation of any customer order delays or changes.
“The holding of stock gives us the ability to forecast and plan our work, knowing the material is going to be there when we need it,” Troy says. “Capral is really good and very fair to work with.”
An equally important aspect of Muscat Trailers’ manufacturing capabilities come from the staff that the company sources. Troy’s employee base has become very diverse in the wake of domestic shortages, but he has found this variety has brought operational advantages for Muscat Trailers.
“With the short skill set available, we’ve got a lot of foreign workers that bring in a really unique element and have helped produce a good product,” he says. “But more than that, they’ve brought a lot of cultural diversity within the workplace, which I feel is good.”
Muscat Trailers’ decades of business have been defined by its strong relationships. In addition to the company’s cultural diversity which has been cultivated to serve the brand, its near 50-year relationship with Capral is a focal point of its operations, yielding a myriad of benefits for both parties.
From material supply to engineering capabilities, Capral and Muscat Trailers’ collaborations have been marked by quality, reliability and efficiency.
The post Trail blazers: Capral Aluminium and Muscat Trailers appeared first on Trailer Magazine.