Penrite Oil, a proud Australian-made and family-owned company, continues to set the benchmark in the automotive lubricants industry with recent manufacturing upgrades to its main production facility in Melbourne, Victoria.
These enhancements, pivotal to Penrite’s ongoing commitment to excellence, underscore the company’s dedication to efficiency, quality, and the local workforce. For Australian automotive mechanics and professionals, understanding these advancements offers a glimpse into how Penrite’s products are crafted to meet the highest standards.
Revolutionary upgrades for superior efficiency
Penrite’s latest investment in state-of-the-art production machinery has transformed its manufacturing process into a model of modern efficiency and precision. With the addition of seven blenders, seventeen base oil tanks, twelve additive tanks (and six more on the way), and eleven production lines.
Penrite now has the capacity to hold 1.2 million litres of base oil and 500,000 litres of additives with a further 300,000 litres to be installed. Penrite has introduced further automation to the manual handling stages of its production lines with a focus staff safety, minimising potential hazards and allowing redeployment of trained technical staff to key areas of the production process. This automation spans from unloading bottles to applying labels, filling oil, capping, packing and palletising, all managed under the vigilant supervision of skilled production employees.
Penrite’s Head of Information Technology & Automation Biren Patel (image far right) said “the implementation of our new de-palletising and palletising automation project has been a major milestone for Penrite.
“This project, which has been in development for the past 18 months, represents our commitment to continuous improvement and innovation.
“We have invested heavily in state-of-the-art technology to fully automate our production lines, from unloading bottles to palletising finished products.
“These advancements have significantly increased our production capacity and efficiency, allowing us to meet the growing demands of our customers.
“Looking ahead, we plan to focus on further upgrades and digital transformation to maintain our competitive edge.”
The impact of automation
The automation of Penrite’s production lines has brought several key benefits:
- Improved efficiency and consistency: automation ensures that each step of the production process is executed with precision, resulting in consistent product quality. The automation of loading containers in and out of the production line has significantly increased production speed and capacity. This allows Penrite to meet higher demand and reduce lead times, ensuring that products are delivered to customers more quickly than ever before.
- Increased production output: prior to the upgrades, Penrite was capable of producing approximately 1,500 units per hour. With the new machinery, production output has increased by 20 per cent, with further optimisations expected to boost this even further. This increased capacity means that Penrite can now pack approximately 5.6 million units annually in Victoria alone, translating to 40 million litres produced across its two Australian facilities.
- Reduced error rate and minimised waste: Enhanced precision in the production process has reduced the error rate, leading to less waste and more efficient use of resources. This not only benefits our Australian environment along with Penrite’s extensive implementation of recycled and locally sourced packaging material but also ensures that customers receive the highest quality products.
- Injury prevention and improved staff morale: By automating key ‘at risk’ areas of lifting and twisting where possible repetitive strain can occur the personnel can now oversee the automated process.
Penrite Oil CEO Toby Dymond is proud of the latest upgrades. “As a family-owned business, we’ve always focused on meeting the needs of our customers and ensuring we deliver the best possible products we can,” he said.
“These upgrades are not just about advanced machinery—they’re about giving our team the power to ensure that every bottle that leaves our production line reflects the quality Penrite is renowned for.
This is a significant investment for Penrite as a business which will not only benefit our staff and customers but the wider Australian manufacturing industry and I’m genuinely excited about how these advancements will enhance our ability to continue delivering excellence, right here in Australia.”
Advanced quality control measures
Ensuring the quality of each product is paramount at Penrite. The new production lines are equipped with advanced quality control measures:
- Weight scales: each bottle is checked for correct weight, a critical step given that different oils and lubricants measure differently by volume and weight.
- Batch printing machine: this machine prints the batch code on each bottle, ensuring traceability and quality assurance.
- Carton over product (COP) machine: automating the packing of bottles into cartons, the COP machine performs a weight check to ensure the correct number of bottles per carton, eliminating the risk of workplace injuries associated with manual handling of heavy products.
- Palletising robots: these robots pick up cartons and place them on pallets, ensuring consistent and secure packing for shipment.
- Automated wrapper machine: packed pallets are wrapped precisely for transport, protecting against weather conditions and ensuring that all Penrite products arrive in perfect condition.
Commitment to Australian manufacturing and employment
Penrite Oil’s commitment to Australian manufacturing is unwavering. The company’s production process is 100 per cent Australian-owned and made, employing close to 200 Australians across the country. This not only supports the local economy but also ensures that Penrite products are tailored to meet the specific demands of Australian conditions.
Meeting the needs of automotive professionals
For Australian automotive mechanics and professionals, these upgrades mean access to products that are not only high-quality but also reliably produced with cutting-edge technology. Penrite’s trusted range of engine oils, coolants, gear oils, fork oils and more continues to evolve with several new products introduced this year to meet the demands of Australian applications. Formulated, tested and made here in Australia, the growing range is crafted with the same meticulous attention to detail and commitment to excellence that has defined the brand for decades.
Looking ahead
As Penrite continues to innovate and optimise its production processes, the future looks promising. The company’s dedication to efficiency, quality, and the local workforce positions it as a leader in the automotive lubricants industry. With these advancements Penrite is well-equipped to meet the evolving needs of its workshops and customers, ensuring that no matter what or how you drive, Penrite has got you covered.