Spicer Trading Group is one of Queensland's leading manufacturers of frames and trusses, supplying builders across the Bundaberg and Wide Bay regions under the CQ Building Supplies brand. The business had built a strong reputation for quality and reliability. The facility it operated from had not kept pace with the business.
The factory sat on a floodplain. Every significant rain event put operations at risk. The layout was fractured across multiple areas, creating unnecessary material handling and making it impossible to introduce the robotised manufacturing equipment the business needed to stay competitive. The facility was a ceiling, not a foundation.
Introducing robotised truss manufacturing to a fragmented, flood-prone facility was not a renovation problem. It required a purpose-built environment specifically designed around the machinery, the material flow, and the production sequence.
The structure needed a 50-metre clear-span with no internal columns interrupting workflow or constraining equipment placement. The site needed to be on higher ground. And the facility needed to be flexible enough to allow the team to reposition equipment and refine manufacturing flows as the new system was commissioned.
Entegra, working alongside head contractor IDC Construct, delivered a 6,300 m² manufacturing facility on higher ground in Maryborough, purpose-built around Spicer Trading's production requirements.
50-metre clear-span structure
The clear-span design eliminates internal columns entirely, giving the production floor complete layout flexibility. Equipment can be positioned and repositioned without structural constraint. All operations consolidate under one roof, removing the manual handling that had fractured the old site.
Relocated to higher ground
Moving off the floodplain removed the operational risk that had defined the business for years. The new site sits close to the highway, cutting freight distances and improving logistics.
Designed for the Queensland climate
With outside temperatures reaching over 40°C in Maryborough, working conditions were part of the design brief. The building was developed at a specific height, slightly wider than standard, with optimal ridge venting and insulation to maintain a comfortable internal environment year-round.
Improved material flow, made possible by the clear-span building and robotised manufacturing, has delivered a 275 per cent increase in daily productivity. Daily output has increased from four or five houses to fifteen with the same number of staff. Production time per truss has been cut from 11 minutes to 2. Saw stations have been reduced from five to three.
The gains compound at the micro level too. Seconds saved on individual tasks, repeated hundreds of times a day, add up fast.
Staff numbers on the production floor have reduced, and material waste has decreased as the robotised system removes variability from the process. The combined effect of higher output and lower cost per unit points to a return on investment within four to six years.
The most important decisions on any project are made before a design exists. That's where Entegra adds the most value to your business.