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Cut out for the role

1 September 2021

Throughout his 15 years in reinforcing, InfraBuild’s BARMAT® Account Manager Joe Fosio, has seen the industry change dramatically.

Having begun his reinforcing career in operations, Joe has developed an in-depth understanding of the industry, knowing firsthand how the complexities of reinforcing have grown, and the challenges faced by customers and operations increased.

Being the Production Supervisor at the time the BARMAT® machine was installed in Victoria, offered Joe direct experience in one of the biggest developments the reinforcing industry has ever seen.

“The machine defines how times have changed from the old school ways to now. Newer, innovative machinery like BARMAT® means less manual handling, tighter tolerances, and safer fabrication.”

Joe Fosio stands in front of Noble Park's BARMAT® machine. Victoria will soon commission a second machine.

BARMAT® is InfraBuild’s customised prefab bar mat offering. It is fabricated offsite, using automated machine manufacturing which allows steel to be prefabricated with variable bar sizes and spacing in a variety of mat shapes, configurations and sizes.

Joe recognises the change to BARMAT® wasn’t overnight. “Our customers had to redesign their operating model. They had to trust us 100% with their supply.”

With BARMAT having delivered time, safety, and material benefits to nearly 15,000 projects since its introduction in 2011, that trust has been well rewarded.

Joe identifies increasingly elaborate architectural designs and tighter project schedules as critical factors driving the demand and relevance of bespoke reinforcing solutions like BARMAT®.

“BARMAT® is customised to the builders liking with features such as cut outs. This takes away from steel fixers having to use grinders or bolt cutters to cut mesh manually,” says Joe.

“Customers choose BARMAT® because it requires less manual handling.”

A common example of the growing need for cut-outs is in the facades of high rise residential and commercial buildings. They require identical designs with complex cut outs. By using the BARMAT® machine, the result can be repeated identically within a greater tolerance rather than manually producing the product.

“There are a variety of projects which have utilised the unique BARMAT® offerings and the customer, such as Nu-Con Design & Construction Pty Ltd has been very pleased with the end result”.

Joe’s extensive knowledge of the operational requirements of BARMAT® has made him the perfect candidate to nurture the growth of the product in the Victorian market and to support the NSW rollout.

The acquisition of a second BARMAT® machine is proof positive of the innovation’s success. A second machine will be installed and operational at InfraBuild Reinforcing Noble Park in September 2021.

“The installation of a second machine will enable us to provide an enhanced service to our existing customers, whilst providing capacity to grow the BARMAT® offering through new customers and markets across Victoria.”

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