Through its people focused approach and emphasis on quality, Madison Express has elevated itself as one of the premier providers of fibre and traffic cabling for infrastructure projects. Chief Executive Officer Steve Mannion explains how.
Underground utilities are often an underthought or underappreciated aspect of road and infrastructure development. This includes electric, telecommunications and data cables.
For years, Madison Express’ name has been associated with commitment and quality. The Australian owned and operated business offers a variety of cable and connectivity solutions, with a range of products for communication and industrial applications.
Madison Express is now looking towards new horizons.
The company’s entry into the infrastructure space has been years in the making, but as CEO Steve Mannion explains, the firm is well equipped to push the envelope in fibre, instrumentation and traffic cabling.
“Roads and infrastructure are part of our strategy going forward. There’s obviously a lot of growth across the sector,” he says.
“What makes us different is that we’ve got an expert technical background. We have the ability to design and develop products to suit our customer’s needs. We’re also quick to respond, which means there’re more opportunities for us to provide a range of bespoke products to suit a wider range of applications.”
Despite its focus on the development and distribution of products suited to the cabling, networking, wireless, telecommunications and infrastructure sectors, Madison Express has always highlighted the importance of people. Not only in creating desirable outcomes for product development, but also helping to shape the future of infrastructure for generations to come.
“I absolutely love it when our engineers get to speak to the customer’s engineers. It’s transparent. It’s factual. It helps us to come to a solution that everyone understands,” he says.
“Then we see our cable go into a large infrastructure project. That’s a fantastic outcome and that’s what really excites me.”
This passion extends to the company’s commitment to quality.
Mannion says close engagement with both government bodies and private industry has helped Madison Express to cater its products specifically for market, implementing feedback to improve its range over time.
“Over the years we’ve worked with lots of different organisations and project bodies, for example Transport for New South Wales for works on the Sydney Metro Project or large integrators for the Metro Trains project in Victoria,” he says.
“The business that we’re in is very much about forming strong relationships. It’s a two-way trust and trust is in our DNA.”
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Another example is the company’s works on the Cross River Rail Project in Queensland. The project will consist of a new 10.2-kilometre rail line from Dutton Park to Bowen Hills, which includes 5.9 kilometres of twin tunnels under the Brisbane River and the Brisbane Central Business District.
“Three custom security cables were designed by our MEX staff to suit critical and stringent design standards. In short, the cables had to meet up to seven different construction and performance standards,” Mannion says.
“We were notified by the cable specifier and regulator that we were the only supplier to meet these standards. In the first stage we supplied 30 kilometres of cable, which will be used in Wooloongabba station. This is the first of six stages and form part of the underground station security infrastructure.
“We have already received our next order for this project.”
Through Madison Express’ own brand Garland, the manufacturer has provided both road and rail cables for infrastructure projects of varying scales.
These cables assist with vehicle detection, as well as multi-cored feeder cables to support multi-lane intersections to be wired more efficiently. The company can also build custom designs for special high monitoring applications.
Madison Express’ network of sites is also set to aid the company’s growth in the infrastructure space, with sites in Perth, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.
With technical sales and warehouses located at each site, Mannion says the firm is well equipped to cater for last minute changes for projects.
“For lots of these infrastructure projects, some requirements can be well-planned, but there can also be some last-minute changes that require urgency,” he says. “We have the ability to go and meet with our customers face to face to address their needs quickly.”
“We’re very transparent and proficient in providing that information.”
By tailoring these options to suit, Mannion adds that Madison Express is helping to set a standard for future fibre and traffic cabling applications.
“What often happens is that we design a cable to suit an application and that cable becomes a mainstream product going forward,” Mannion says.
This includes different colours and structures, as well as qualities for specific requirements, such as fire resistance. Each cable then enters a quality assurance and testing process that consists of both internal and external trials.
“I think the testament in our quality is that people seek us out. Our Garland brand has been going for over 45 years, and we spend a lot of time and effort to make sure that the cables we supply are of the highest quality to suit any given application,” he says.
“That makes it really easy to sleep at night.”
Madison Express is currently considering more opportunities across the infrastructure sector. Mannion says the company sees a “huge opportunity” in related infrastructure for both roads and tunnels.
“We’re heavily moving towards a complete solution, making sure that we can provide the customer with a complete end-to-end solution, where it makes sense,” he says.
“These things take time and money, but the fact that we’re constantly looking at bringing in new products shows that we’re committed to our customers.”
This article was originally published in the September edition of our magazine. To read the magazine, click here.