THE Australian Made Campaign (AMCL) has affected a high profile bust against counterfeiters, after the Australian Border Force seized a consignment of pianos – travelling to and from China – falsely claiming to be Australian Made.

The container of pianos arrived at the Port of Brisbane on June 2 from China and on June 5 AMCL received notice that Border Force Queensland had successfully intercepted 10 pianos.

The pianos carried a number of logos and stamps claiming to be ‘Made in Australia’ or ‘Designed and Assembled in Australia’ with one closely replicating the iconic green-and-gold Australian Made logo. 

Border Force officials said the imported pianos were to be transhipped back to China, presumably so retailers involved could provide documentation showing that they were from, or made, in Australia.

During the process, the importer applied to Border Force to have the seized instruments released.

AMCL chief executive Ian Harrison said, as part of their claim, the importers provided evidence they had registered a ‘copycat’ Australian Made logo as a Class 15 trademark in China, in a bid to further con consumers.

“We discovered the logo they trademarked was not even the logo used on the imported pianos  – it was a direct copy of our trusted Australian Made logo,” Mr Harrison said.

Mr Harrison said Australia’s excellent reputation for producing quality products and produce made certified Australian Made goods a target for cheats and counterfeiters. 

“AMCL condemns the use of country-of-origin claims that are intended to mislead and confuse consumers, particularly when those claims involve unauthorised use of the Australian Made logo,” Mr Harrison said.

“Fraudulent manufactures like this one have clear agendas: to swindle consumers. This was a clear cut situation whereby the manufacturer’s intention was to build dubious-quality pianos in China to pass off as premium Australian Made products to sell back to Chinese consumers.

“They put the bogus Australian Made logos on them to further deceive potential buyers then shipped the instruments to Australia and back again in attempt to have appropriate paperwork in attempt to prove they came from here.”

Mr Harrison applauded the efforts of Border Force officials for “yet another successful interception of counterfeit products”.

The importer has since contacted Border Force to rescind its claim for release of the goods – meaning the pianos will be destroyed.

AMCL is investigating what legal action can be taken to challenge the company’s trademark in China.

Earlier this year, AMCL’s action against a chain of misleading websites selling Chinese ugg boots as Australian made, resulted in the cancellation the company’s domain names and take-down of all its websites.

Mr Harrison said AMCL would continue to work with key bodies such as Border Force and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to enforce clear and accurate country-of-origin branding for products.

AMCL is a not-for-profit public company that administers and promotes the Australian Made, Australian logo, established by the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) and the network of state and territory chambers of commerce, with the cooperation of the Federal Government.

www.australianmade.com.au

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AUSTRALIAN computer vision technology innovator, Seeing Machines, is making an impact globally, especially in the area of driver monitoring and safety.

Founded in 2000 as part of an association with Australian National University, Seeing Machines today is at the forefront of driver monitoring technology and has more than 200 staff and operations worldwide including the US, the UK, South America, Europe and across South East Asia. 

“Our solution enables machines to see, understand and assist people – we’re considered a world-leader in computer vision technology,” Seeing Machines chief financial officer James Palmer said. 

“The primary application is driver monitoring systems, and it basically monitors driver attention for drowsiness and distraction using face recognition and eye-tracking. The aim is to reduce accidents and help save lives.”

The first real opportunity to commercialise the Seeing Machines technology came in 2007 as a result of the resources boom. Seeing Machines technology was originally used in heavy mining vehicles in Australia to monitor shift workers and reduce accidents and incidents.

It was in this resource-boom period that the organisation started exporting, taking advantage of opportunities in overseas markets which were also benefiting from growth in the mining sector.

This resulted in an exclusive global partnership with Caterpillar in 2015, through a licensing agreement, which has enabled Seeing Machines to expand its capabilities into other transport areas and expand its footprint globally.

“In 2016 our attention turned to taking the product and making it work for coaches and commercial fleets,” Mr Palmer said. “That led to the birth of our fleet business.

“Our products had to be retro-fitted to suit the needs of lighter, less rugged vehicles and we also looked at applications for the automotive sector.” 

Working as part of a supply chain, Seeing Machines has built relationships with a range of corporates that sell bundled solutions to automotive companies. Seeing Machines’ FOVIO software was launched in September 2017 in the General Motors CT6 Cadillac.

“It’s the first car to have ‘level two’ autonomous driving that monitors the driver during hands-free driving to ensure that the driver can take over when conditions change,” Mr Palmer said.

“We are also working to deliver the technology to other automotive brands. The lead times are huge so we will only see the next vehicles with our driver monitoring technology roll off the production lines from 2021.”

FINANCING GROWTH

In 2017, Seeing Machines experienced a growing demand for its expanded range of solutions, winning business from the reputation of its market-leading technologies.

The executive team recognised the business was evolving from what was effectively a technology start-up to a more mature business. There grew a rapid need to scale for greater manufacturing volumes and dealing with multiple overseas suppliers.

One of the key opportunities that the organisation was looking at was a landmark contract with Thai-based distributor, Kiattana Transport, in the fleet business. Seeing Machines won a contract to deliver 8,000 units of its Guardian driver monitoring units and needed working capital to manage manufacturing and delivery by June 2018.

Mr Palmer said the company explored opportunities with their own bank and also several others.

“Their answer to us was always that we were a little too early stage for them,” Mr Palmer said. “And in fact, one of the banks we were talking to did suggest Efic as an option. 

“Efic really took the time to understand our business and to model the cashflow that worked with our distributors. In fact, some of the modelling we did as part of the due diligence actually helped us think through some of our cashflow planning,” Mr Palmer said.

In September 2017, Seeing Machine was able to access a US$2 million export line of credit facility. This was seen as the first step to expand the relationship with Kiattana Transport and increase the export capacity of the business.

“Kiattana is very passionate about our products and we are also working closely with them on the monitoring component of our service,” Mr Palmer said.

“Without Efic’s help, delivering on that contract would have given us real headaches in terms of being able to manage the working capital requirements.

“This is the first time this company has ever had any debt, because we’ve always been a start-up. It’s a sign of a company maturing when they need to access facilities like the one from Efic.”

He said with first-mover advantage in both fleet and automotive markets, the company was looking at some exciting growth opportunities in international markets.

Always the innovator, Seeing Machines is also looking to grow into additional transport sectors and have teams developing future solutions for rail and aviation.

Efic is the Australian Government’s export credit agency, helping Australian businesses to access export finance when their banks may be unable to assist.

www.efic.gov.au/global

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