Lifting the bar with space-age Australian Open seats

In a demonstration of its flexibility and breath of capability, Able Industries literally worked through last Christmas in the fabrication of 21 new umpire seats for the Australian Open Tennis.

Observers of one of the world’s greatest tennis tournaments this year couldn’t have helped but notice the brand-new, space-age umpires’ seating. Using pneumatic technology in a world-first, the seats smoothly lift the umpires into position and down again – see picture.

“Fabricating 21 of these seats based off the conceptual drawings called on the flexibility and professionalism of the Able team,” said Able Industries’ Managing Director, Stephen Martyn.

“This project represented a huge commitment to the customer, with a really challenging timeline. Starting in October, our team pulled all the stops, working through the Christmas holidays to get these seats built, tested and functioning to the highest standard in order to get them literally on the world stage in time.”

Stephen Martyn said the steel and aluminium seats required extensive testing to overcome multiple teething obstacles.

“As this was a world first, we started from scratch. We worked in partnership with the software developers and other contractors to ensure all of the wiring, control modules, safety systems and pneumatics flowed through the structure of the chair and worked safely.

“The feedback we received on this fabrication has been overwhelmingly positive, which is heartening given we had a few moments where the deadline was looking very tough indeed!”

Stephen Martyn said the project demonstrated the wide range of capabilities of the team at Able Industries as well as their commitment.

“From heavy fabrication for civil construction to critical components for armed forces to projects for sporting venues like the Aussie Open, our people have demonstrated our commitment to delivering, on-time and to the highest standard.

“These seats at the Melbourne Tennis Centre will see much more use over the years. Every time the team now see an umpire effortlessly float up into position, we reflect with pride on a fantastic project and the commitment of our team in delivering a slightly different project for another satisfied customer.”