Facing challenges, delivering for customers, and where to from here

Your update from our General Manager:

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It’s usually around this time of the year when we ask ourselves “where did last year go?”. 2020 will be remembered by everyone, everywhere as the year the world was turned upside down by something smaller than we can see. I am not going to talk much about COVID19 other than to say our status as a provider to essential services was confirmed in March, ensuring our customers continued to receive the prompt advice and support they are used to from CSE Uniserve. We also substantially increased our stock holding to offset any potential supply chain issues.

In 2020 we tasted quite a few successes including the roll out of one of the world’s first Wide Area Monitoring Systems (WAMS), developed for a customer in conjunction with GE. We delivered many protection and critical communication projects, including two separate, substantial projects upgrading unreliable rail communication equipment. We successfully delivered a number of major motor starting and control projects, as well as electrical protection upgrades in mining, medical and utility facilities in Australia and around the world. You can read more about our projects in the Highlights section below.

Despite the global pandemic – and all the work created and energy expended in addressing this important issue as best we could – at the end of 2020 we were not too far from where we had hoped to be, and we are pleased to be beginning 2021 in a strong position. All credit to our team for remaining focused and determined through 2020, and preparing our business for what is sure to be another exciting year. A special mention to Brad Hawes who celebrated 35 years of service with CSE Uniserve in 2020.

2021 and Beyond

CSE Uniserve has been part of Australian industry for more than forty years. As the business has developed and grown, we have always embraced change. In 2021 it will be no different, with exciting projects for existing customers continuing, as well as bringing the same energy and passion to some new products and technologies. Our technical service team are adding to their commissioning and service portfolio, with new productivity upgrades and monitoring advances now available for existing customers. We have also begun developing a new monitoring business, which features some blue-chip brands and products from around the world.

The outlook for both hard and soft rock mining in this country remains strong. Utilities and renewables are more advanced than ever, and energy storage and control continues to build momentum.

As the end of a most unusual year has passed and a better one begins, I would like to thank all our customers, vendors, technology partners and shareholders and in particular, our staff for their support and hard work during 2020 and look forward to a prosperous 2021.

Regards

Stuart Walker

General Manager
CSE Uniserve


Protection team completing FAT Online for a major project; Sydney warehouse staff; 12yr old Australian made LRS, still performing well

2020 Highlights

January:  First order for RuggedCom equipment to rebuild railway communications in WA. First Liquid Resistance Starter (LRS) order received for 2020 for an overseas gold mine. Solcon Soft Starters supplied for project in the water industry. NSW Government authority began working with us to determine features required for their upgrade plans in a major facility.

February: 6 x Seoho 1,000v Variable Speed Drives (VSDs) shipped to WA for a gold mine. Substantial GE Relay protection order received for bushfire mitigation program in VIC. WA solar farm protection and monitoring products shipped. RuggedCom Serial Servers upgrade in VIC. Significant hospital GE protection upgrade in North QLD. GE advanced Motor Management relay upgrades for NSW water utility. Team began working with a major EPC on important monitoring job with a large commercial business. CSE Uniserve Melbourne office and proving lab relocation completed.

March:  Slip Energy Recovery (SER) maintenance order for a large gold mine. Deposit taken for latest generation SER drive to be used at 4,000+m elevation in South America. Second substantial upgrade order for RuggedCom railway comms in VIC. Relay upgrade for iron ore mine in WA and Fuji VSD orders kept the team very busy.

April: Shipped 12 complete Fuji Drives in Australian Made cabinets to a gold mine. Various utility substation upgrades in VIC and SA. 3 x Seoho 1,000v drives in Australian Made cabinets for a ventilation project. GE Protection upgrade in a copper mine. Developed and commissioned new RuggedCom monitoring software for a utility.

May: GE MV Motor shipped to WA gold mine from France and the same customer receives new Australian Made LRS for site expansion. RuggedCom rail signalling equipment in NSW. Major renewables protection and monitoring scheme supplied. Flotation project Fuji Drives and Flatpacks shipped overseas. 8 x Elspec monitoring units for solar farms. GE Relay upgrades for coal mine in QLD and gold mine in WA. Major GE Protection scheme installation for iron ore.

June:  VSD upgrade project for cement plant. More Elspec G4430 units for solar farms. Aluminium smelter GE Protection upgrade and installation. Project supply of RuggedCom media converters for large utility. Large GE MDS radios project for oil & gas customer. Fuji Drives upgrade for site expansion in NSW coal mine. GE Agile Relays for new substations in NSW and GE Multilin supplied to a nickel mine in WA.


Underground ventilation project using the Seoho 1,000v drive.

July:  Fuji VSD and bespoke cabinets supplied to overseas customer for POX system upgrades.  Significant GE Multilin Relay upgrades for conventional generator in VIC. LRS supplied to a new American cement plant. GE Protection Relays for sugar mill upgrade in QLD. Fuji LV Drives for gold mine in WA and water authority in NSW.  Janitza Meters for food and beverage plant. LRS x 2 for overseas mining customers. GE MDS Radios for major SCADA system upgrade. CSE Uniserve engineering team work in conjunction with GE to deliver a world-first Wide Area Monitoring scheme on time and on budget. CSE embraces “Dry July” to assist Beyond Blue in fighting mental health issues.

August:  RuggedCom units to transport operator in VIC and utility in NSW. GE Kelman measurement and diagnostics project in WA. Elspec Meters for water authority. GE Agile Relays for regional utility upgrade program. Solcon Soft Starters for a significant materials handling job in a coal mine. GE telemetry units used in iron ore transport. New LRS orders for gold mines in Australia. Two QLD coal mines completed upgrades of their GE protection schemes. A WA gold mine completed a Flotation upgrade using Fuji Drives. Major NSW road infrastructure project completed upgrades to ventilation circuit protection. Significant spare parts orders were placed by customers looking to assure themselves of their own supply chain. CSE Uniserve registered as a COVID Safe business with NSW Govt.

September: Solcon parts and service for oil & gas customer. Significant orders filled for GE Multilin and Agile Relays for utility customers working to alleviate stresses brought on by summer peak loads. Substantial orders received for GE Transformer monitoring equipment in WA. GE MDS Radios order for the oil & gas market in QLD. RuggedCom products for the renewables market in TAS. Technical Service travelled to outback QLD for site maintenance in a hard rock mine.

October:  Second GE MV Motor shipped to WA from France and more Fuji VSDs into the gold mining market locally and overseas made this our best Fuji month in 2020. Second order for GE Kelman transformer monitoring equipment shipped. Electricity utilities across the country again showed renewed confidence with project orders. Rail transport upgrades and replacement projects also began strongly up and down the east coast. The renewables market took Elspec monitoring products and GE Relays.  Further interest from commercial sector in Janitza also lead to more orders for testing and proving.

November:  Utility customers had plenty of work this month across the country. Received our first Digital Substation order from a utility looking to benefit from this latest and proven technology. RuggedCom, GE Protection Relays and MDS Radios were all well supported, as was our Elspec brand. More work completed by our team using Janitza for a national Data Centre operator. Renewable generation building continues with GE Protection and Elspec Meters specified on several jobs. Shipped Fuji Drives to every state and territory in Australia and overseas, with some built into our Australian designed and made cabinets or Flat Packs. Worked with two competitors to help them align their switchgear with customer-specified GE Relays.

December:  Major incoming feeder protection upgrade for a large NSW gold mine completed on time. LRS spares shipped to several customers looking to complete annual maintenance. The team attended customer sites to assist with programmed maintenance and commissioning support. More RuggedCom devices delivered into rail infrastructure. Significant order for mining company rail upgrade in WA – a project we had been working on with our customer for more than a year. Various power utilities orders shipped before year end. Team member Tristan Gillard was awarded the CSE Excellence Award for Sales.

2020 Product Articles and Case Studies

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