Our History
Every product, every category and every period of time has its own story. Our history has continually shaped our operations as we have learned, helping us evolve our solutions offering.
YEAR
THE COMPANY WAS FOUNDED
Peter, or PC, as he is affectionately known to all in the business, was a successful salesperson with a wealth of knowledge and experience related to steel, and more specifically, steel forgings. Back then he recognised an opportunity to supply specially forged steel tyres for the Melbourne trams. The success of this product and relationship underpinned the founding of FFF (Known then as Forgings, Flanges, Fittings). To this day, we are privileged to supply the forged tyres for Melbourne’s fleet of over 400 trams.
YEAR
FIRST OPPORTUNITY IN RENEWABLE ENERGY
With the support of our Italian supply partners, FFF supplies critical forged flange components for the towers at the wind farm in Albany, Western Australia.
The Albany Wind Farm as commissioned in 2001 with 12 operational units and a rated capacity of 35.4MW. This accounted for nearly 80% of the electrical energy requirements of the Albany region.
YEAR
A BIG TICK FROM OIL & GAS
FFF gets the tick of approval and supplies heat exchanger components including tubesheets and butted kettles for Woodside LNG Gas Trains IV & V.
YEAR
THE PLUTO PROJECT
FFF supplies specialised forgings and flanges for the Woodside Pluto project to one of Australia’s oldest and most respect pressure equipment fabricators, WE Smith. Our relationship with WE Smith continued to grow from strength to strength.
YEAR
SUPPLY NETWORK EXPANDS INTO CHINA
FFF takes its first steps toward expanding the supply chain into Asia. Planting the seeds and establishing relationships with steel makers and engineering firms that exist to this day and are stronger than ever.
YEAR
ESTABLISH CHINA OFFICE
FFF builds on some of the successes of 2008 and establishes a permanent full time office in China. We also appoint a young dynamic local from the Wuxi area to lead our operational growth in the area and she is still with us 10 years on.
YEAR
OFFSHORE DIVING CHAMBERS
Pressure equipment comes in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes it is about keeping the pressure out. Over the course of the next 3 years, FFF supplies 3.2 Certified critical components like specialised forgings and dished ends to Divex for the fabrication of offshore diving chambers.
YEAR
A CHANGING OF THE GUARD
Tim is appointed MD of FFF as PC hands over the baton. Tim spent 5 years learning all aspects of the business from sales, accounts and engineering, all the way through to logistics and sourcing.
OPEN EAST COAST OFFICE
FFF opens the East Coast Office in Brisbane, Queensland.
YEAR
A BIG YEAR – TENNIS & ALUMINA
This year saw two very different applications of FFF supplied products punctuate our history. Tennis…. Yes, FFF supplies the specialised forged gear rack sections that operate the roof of the Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne.
Alumina… HUH? FFF commences the supply of special corrosion resistant heat exchanger tubes to Queensland Alumina or QAL, as it is more commonly referred to.
YEAR
FFF NSW OFFICE OPENS
The NSW branch of FFF opens as we continue to grow our sales & support for East Coast clients.
WHEATSTONE
We supply specialised forgings & flanges for the Domgas metering stations.
WASTE TREATMENT
Extra large forged steel rings have some surprising applications. This time we supplied four 50T rings known as digester tyres to our long time customer RCR for the Neerabup Waste Treatment plant.
YEAR
CONVEYOR IDLER ROLLERS
FFF supplies the welded and seamless tube for high speed conveyor roller application to manufacturers in Western Australia. An agreement that lasts over 3 years.
YEAR
US NAVY IS ONBOARD
FFF Supply 3.2 certified specialised stainless steel forgings for diving chambers for the US Navy.
YEAR
JAPAN ROLLER CORPORATION APPOINTS AUSTRALIAN DISTRIBUTOR
After a very successful partnership for the supply of conveyor idler frames destined for a copper mining operation in Panama, JRC picks FFF as its exclusive regional distribution partner.
A BIG MOVE TO WEST PERTH
Late 2018 and the team outgrows Balcatta marking another milestone in our strategic growth plan. FFF Australia moves into larger and more suitable office space on Hay Street in West Perth.
YEAR
LAUNCH OF SMART-IDLER(R)
FFF bring Vayeron and JRC together to develop the JRC Smart-Idler(R). This second generation Vayeron technology, embedded in some of the finest quality robotically manufactured conveyor rollers, brings real time condition monitoring to an application desperate for some intelligence.
Smart-Idlers are going to reduce operating costs, increase productivity and improve safety by dramatically reducing the risk of catastrophic failure & conveyor fires.
YEAR
PRESSURE EQUIPMENT DIVISION STARTED
YEAR
SLURRY PUMP BEARING – SERVICE & EXCHANGE
Exchange an old bearing assembly for a new or refurbished one at just 60% of the price of buying new; before that hot, noisy or high vibration bearing assembly fails. We can have a service exchange unit shipped to you, minimising downtime without increasing your stock holding; typically dispatched the same day.
YEAR
FFF ATTEND DEALERS & DIGGERS – LAUNCH ECO GRIND MEDIA
FFF Australia launch Eco Grind media a socially responsible cast and forged grinding ball media made from steel from products like cars and machines that have reached the end of their service life, they are recycled to create forged ball media. During this rigorous process, the molten steel is vacuum degassed to reduce the hydrogen content and produce a superior grinding ball media in a process usually reserved for critical mechanical parts and structural steels.
By utilising FFF’s Eco Grind media not only can you be assured of exceptional performance, but you will be helping to protect our environment.
YEAR
FFF OPENS NEWCASTLE BRANCH
Amongst COVID-19 and market pressures, we managed to sustain growt and opened a new FFF Australia office location; to provide better services, expand our scope and enable new projects.
