When you’re on a good thing stick to it. It might be a well-worn cliché but it certainly sums up the thought processes behind Midland’s decision to solely rely on Lucidity for the electrical fitout of its trailer builds.
The company was established in 2007 and quickly found its feet in the dog and tag trailer realm, carving out a niche building specialty trailers for the transport of plant and earthmoving machinery.
It subsequently evolved and diversified with a broad product range that now includes flat-tops, drop-decks, deck-wideners and extendables, along with highly complex Performance-Based Standards (PBS) combinations.
Martin Larsen co-founded Midland Industries with his brother Ben and this arrangement continued until late last year when the Larsens welcomed a Melbourne-based investor with a background in trailer building into the partnership to enable the company to expand its operations.
As such, the company recently opened a new facility at 8 Hoyle Court, Kyneton – about a 50-minute drive northwest of Melbourne.
Further to this expansion, Midland has also shifted the location of its Parkes operations to a larger site at 3 Billy Mac Place.
Asked about his initial experience with Lucidity products, Martin says the company was recommended to him by a friend.
“Someone recommended we try Lucidity products due to their plug-and-play (P&P) lighting system, which we did, and we fitted them to a trailer for the first time about 10.5 years ago,” Martin says.
“We could see a real benefit in the P&P system because no other manufacturer offered it and we soon started using it to advertise what we believed to be an important point of difference between our products and those of our competitors.”
Martin goes on to explain that the P&P system not only expedites wiring the trailer at the manufacturing stage, but also saves time for the owner if lights need to be replaced down the track.
“Each light has its own plug on the back so if one needs to be replaced due to being cracked or otherwise damaged, it only takes a few minutes compared with about 20 minutes for other hardwired lights,” Martin explains. “The system also makes fault-finding much easier.”
He also mentions that the after-sales support from the team at Lucidity has been outstanding.
“With any new product there can be some back and forth to ensure it meets all requirements and Lucidity have always been on the ball in this respect,” Martin says. “Any feedback we have given them they have listened and taken onboard and made the changes that were required.”
According to Mathew Jenkins, President of Lucidity Australia, the business relationship between the two companies really shifted up a notch when the concept of trailer kitting was introduced to the team at Midland.
“In a very short time, standard trailer kits were being fitted to the entire Midland product range,” Mathew says.
“Kits are assembled and delivered specifically for each trailer build and feature all the electrical technology in the Lucidity Australia arsenal, including lighting, wiring, DC charging and Dangerous Goods options. All are designed specifically for transport applications as an integrated plug-in package.”
Martin adds that in addition to being a key and valued supplier to Midland, Lucidity is an excellent resource for solving electrical incompatibilities that are often ignored within the industry.
“For us at Midland, a partnership such as this one, where information is readily shared, has helped create some ground-breaking industry solutions that assist everyone,” Martin says, adding, “Lucidity has considerable experience making products that suit the rugged Australian environment which is an important consideration for us.
“We build our trailers to stand up to these harsh conditions and we rely on the products Lucidity supplies to do the same,” he says.
In a similar vein, Martin attests that Lucidity is always looking for better and more innovative ways to do things, which matches well with Midland’s ethos of continual improvement in designs in order to stay ahead of the competition.
He mentions the DC charging system that draws power from the parking light circuit to charge the batteries used to operate the hydraulic powerpacks on widening trailers.
“Again, it’s a P&P system that quickly and easily plugs into the lighting circuit without the need for hardwiring,” Martin says.
In summing up, Martin says he has complete confidence in Lucidity to supply Midland with everything electrical required for its trailer builds now and well into the future.
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