Supplier of products to the power utility industry, Australmold, is toasting to 30 years in Australia. The family company was founded by Keith Armstrong, formerly a sales manager for medium voltage products at NHP, and its beginnings were humble.
At the age of 65, Mr Armstrong took up the challenge of starting Australmold, which was originally run from home at Richmond until it relocated to a small establishment in North Melbourne. The only product represented was the little known brand Elastimold from the US,
which specialised in technology not yet seen in Australia: screened separable connectors in ANSI profile.
These safe-to-touch terminations were used to connect MV cables to the epoxy bushings of equipment such as transformers, switchgear and motors. Most of the power utilities at the time were using MV paper lead cables. The real driver for the successful introduction of
screened separable connectors was the upcoming MV XLPE cable.
Within a short period of time, Mr Armstrong employed his daughter Judy McKelvie and son-in-law Greg McKelvie to help with the development with the company. Through the technical knowledge of Mr McKelvie and administrative nous of Mrs McKelvie, Australmold flourished.
By 1988 Australmold was also distributing the DIN Profile separable connectors manufactured by Euromold in Belgium, (now a Nexans company). Initially, Australmold secured orders with power utilities in Victoria, later in Western Australia and South Australia, with other
states soon after. Greg and Judy McKelvie purchased Australmold in 1993 and took it through a major growth phase. Since then, the
company has become synonymous with screened separable connectors, also known as ‘elbows’ throughout Australia and New Zealand.
In 2008, Australmold was acquired by Olex Australia (a Nexans company) and became part of the Nexans Power Accessories Group. A continued commitment to offer a high quality of customer service, local technical support, and local stock with the backup and resources of the global Nexans group, have ensured growth. Today, Nexans Australmold – a division of Olex Australia – is a manufacturer and distributor of power cable accessories up to 72kV for the power transmission and distribution markets.
