Opening the doors on automation

The Multinail Machinery Show 2025 will help F&T operators meet machinery that works for them – including the One Touch System.
By Donyale Harrison

Dad built Multinail with technical skills, not purely commercial skills, and that’s very much reflected in the number of staff we have with such strong technical understanding,” says Trent Taylor, new CEO of the company his father, Peter Taylor, founded.

It’s something you often hear from Multinail customers: the company’s strength is in finding them pragmatic solutions that work for their businesses. As Trent takes the reins, that won’t be changing. Instead, Multinail is making it easier than ever for frame and truss manufacturers to find ways to increase their productivity and profits with a huge machinery show scheduled for July this year.

The last time Multinail opened its doors for the industry to walk through its machinery sheds was pre-Covid, when a large group of F&T specialists watched the company’s top automated cutting equipment slice through jobs. The team in charge of the event confidentially mentioned that this was just the start in Multinail’s shift into automation, offering glimpses of machines fresh off the drawing board and just starting their testing programs.

A few years down the track, everything is much bigger.

 

Trent Taylor discusses the company’s commitment to the future of automation in the timber truss industry.
 

“For a start, we’ve had to hire a huge marquee, because there’s no way we could fit this one in the machinery shed with all the work we’ve got on,” Taylor says.

“This machinery show is a culmination of probably five years of R&D and also a statement piece about where we see ourselves going in the industry.

“We’ve coined the term ‘One Touch’ for a long time. What we’ve learned from robotics and automation is that the technology for our industry isn’t really there to replace humans. So we use automation and robotics to enhance what a person can output.”

“The One Touch system figures out where the human can add the most value
and where machines can add the most value.”

For Taylor, automation is about increasing what the human staff of a plant can do: “That’s why we call it the One Touch system and not the No Touch system because, in our opinion, when processing timber from a pack to a stack of finished goods, it’s okay to touch it once. You just need to figure out where the human can add the most value and where machines can add the most value.”

Importantly, the system is modular. So businesses can start with the best choice to improve a key part of their process, then have the option to add others as it lifts profits.

“Not everyone is going to come and buy a complete production system from us,” says Taylor. “A lot of people want to do it incrementally, and we’re happy to work with them on that organic growth. But having an offering for every part of the production system is, I think, something unique to Multinail and something we’re going to focus on over the coming years.”

FINDING THE BEST SOLUTIONS

As an engineer, Peter Taylor built the importance of technology into the heart of the company, from the earliest days of its innovative nail plates.

“The uniqueness of Multinail is we look for technology that’s outside of our industry and cutting edge, and then assess the ability to adapt it to our industry,” says Trent.

“The F&T industry may not be on the leading edge of technology, but the accessibility – and by that I mean both physically accessing technology and being able to afford it – is coming into a realm where it’s really exciting for the timber truss industry.”

Accordingly, the shift into automated systems has happened in a very Multinail way: the R&D focus has been driven by customer need, with how customers will integrate the machines developed into their plants and production front of mind, and then results are delivered at multiple levels.

“We have customers that range from small family plants all the way through to multimillion- dollar companies running hundreds of staff,” Taylor says.

“They’re all important. So we need a technology offering that goes to all levels of our fabricators and recognises that some are truss specialists while others have a huge floor offering, or wall frames.

 

Multinail Staylton Site has expanded facilities to cater for growth in stamping and machinery.
 

“What we’ve learned is that working at the bigger end of the machinery scale, where there is the scope for additional technology, that technology opens up our horizons for how it can adapt to the smaller and the medium fabricator. By positioning ourselves at the leading edge of technological advancements, we open up a gateway to then supply more affordable technology to those smaller customers who can’t cost justify a big investment.”

Even small customers have a need for automation. Many experienced operators are nearing retirement age and businesses need to both reckon with the upcoming loss of skilled labour and make work less physical for staff’s remaining years.

“Customers want simple to use and innovative software,
and they want simple to use and innovative machinery.”

“Plus, attracting staff into a factory environment is getting more and more challenging,” says Taylor. “Those factors are opening up our opportunities to provide automated solutions.

“Customers want two things from a nail plate supplier. They want simple to use and innovative software, and they want simple to use and innovative machinery. Both are very much being driven by skill shortages and an ageing population.”

Meeting these needs has been driving Multinail’s own growth: the stamping shed has grown by 50 metres since the last machinery show and the machinery shed by
70 metres.

“The site is at its maximum capacity at the moment,” Taylor says. “We’ve grown multiple times in the last 10 years, not only in terms of capability, but staff and skills. America is turning into a very big market for our equipment. We’re sending 18 40-foot containers to the US this month.”

Just as the advanced machinery drives advances at the affordable end, the growing US customer base is driving advances in what Multinail can supply into the Australian market.

“Our primary focus is, first and foremost, the nail plate industry in Australia, and supporting our customers here,” says Taylor.

“We’ve probably got the biggest machinery facility in the Southern Hemisphere for the timber truss industry. We manufacture under the Multinail brand in Australia and under the Spida brand in New Zealand – and a significant amount production from both is heading to the US. It sounds counterintuitive, but that growth in scale and into the US has given us more flexibility. Because we’re building more machines at a faster rate, we can get things to the market in Australia a lot quicker, around the big jobs that we have for America or New Zealand.”

 

Customers gather to view the latest advancements in Multinail machinery at the Stapylton manufacturing facility in Queensland.
 
Part of the attraction for American buyers has been Multinail’s history as a nail plate and machinery company – which has given the company a more complete vision for what its fabricator customers require – coupled with its reputation for working closely with those customers. “We don’t make frames and trusses, we just help our customers make frames and trusses,” Taylor says. “They’re the experts in their business and that’s why we need to listen to them.”

The growing American market has also helped to support Multinail’s R&D. “You need significant throughput to maintain design resources and stay ahead of the curve,” says Taylor. “And by having the Australian, New Zealand and American markets, we ensure that’s maintained.”

MACHINERY SHOW JULY 2025

This year, the focus is on showing off these recent developments at the Multinail Machinery Show, which will be held at the Stapylton head office.

“The tent we’ve hired is something like 20 by 80 metres,” says Taylor, “We’re having to set it up in the carpark, because we’re building too many machines to set up the entire One Touch system inside our machinery division.”

The display will be optimised for roof trusses: the PieceGiver feeds the PieceMaker, then the PieceTaker delivers components to the jig.

“That’s where the one touch, comes in,” Taylor says. “Human operators load the jig.” From there, the trusses go through the new GlideAway, which assembles and presses and then there’s an automatic stacking system at the end of the line.

“What’s exciting to us is how much of this advanced technology
is becoming so much more affordable and accessible.”

“You’re only touching that the timber once from pack of timber to stack of trusses,” says Taylor.

“There are five machines in the process and right now there’s only one that hasn’t made it all the way through testing. If it doesn’t quite come up to speed in time, we might have a two-touch system on the day, but people will still be able to understand how it all works together.”

Most of these elements are already operating in plants around Australia and the world. “But few places are running it all together in one seamless production line,” Taylor says. “So that’s why we’re opening the doors, putting on a bit of entertainment, doing a live show, and letting a lot of people do a lot of tyre kicking.

“We want people to come and question us about where we’re going and what we’re doing and why we’re doing it. Come and touch the machinery: it’s on the ground now, we’re not selling dreams. We’re showing you our vision for the future, along with a whole pig and a lamb on a spit, a bar, fire pits and a band.”

As part of the event, Taylor will be talking about the company’s roadmap for wall frames and floor trusses. “Multinail is moving to being a systems provider and not just a machinery provider,” he says. “We want to provide a complete system from the front of the factory to the back of the factory that is all integrated, harmonised, automated, easy to maintain and easy to operate.

“Not every company walks in and says, ‘give me a complete production line.’ But we can deliver that solution. Or we can provide our fabricators with a production option for every part of their line.”

Taylor has seen an increase in the number of people who want to turn on one system for the entire process – “if there’s something wrong, there’s one person to call and they will get their entire production back up and going again,” he says.

 

Trent Taylor talks to a large group of fabricators and industry guests at the 2019 machinery show open day.
 

Having that ‘person’ based in Australia is also a major advantage: “We’ve got nationwide coverage with our technical support team on the ground,” Taylor says. “It’s the best coverage in the industry for equipment.”

As well as having more people see the recent developments up close, Taylor is looking forward to talking with fabricators, whether they’re existing Multinail customers or not. “We really value feedback from these businesses, and often it helps us to see what other technologies could be applied to help in their manufacture,” he says.

“There aren’t endless bank accounts for these guys, so what’s exciting to us is how much of this advanced technology is becoming so much more affordable and accessible. It’s an exciting time to be supplying technology into the truss and frame industry.

“Multinail really makes sense when you’re buying machinery from us, because just to buy nail plate isn’t a real differentiator. Where Multinail really comes into its own is when you buy your nail plate and your machinery from the one place, and that’s where we’re able to provide levels of support that probably the industry is not seeing elsewhere.

Taylor notes the expertise of the Multinail staff is one of the major reasons the company is so well received in the market: “The team is experienced. We know what we’re talking about. We’re not new to the industry. We know the specifics. We know the details, and that’s probably what endears us to our customers.

“We often sit down and eat together and exchange ideas and feedback,” Taylor adds. “Dad drilled that into me, that everyone in the company deserves respect and to have a voice, and time and again I have seen the value of that to Multinail, which goes well beyond the basics like better staff retention because they know they’ll be heard.”

The rewards go beyond praise: recent infrastructure upgrades included multiple additions to improve the comfort of office and machinery staff. “On the machinery side alone, we’ve got 110 people in three countries building and supporting our equipment, and comfortable staff are safe staff,” says Taylor.

While planning for July is in full swing, fabricators with questions don’t need to wait. “We have a lot of conversations about layouts and we pride ourselves on options that optimise material flow and minimise labour,” Taylor says.
“Of the almost dozen companies that have come over to Multinail in the last six years, almost all of them have come over because of machinery.”

 

Peter Taylor, Founder of Multinail, whose engineering expertise and dedication shaped the company’s legacy of innovation and excellence.
 

“When we get asked questions about improving a process or improving a machine, we can take customers and show them someone else using the machine in a different way, getting a different output, with different inputs. And I think that’s the power of Multinail: we can physically show people how they can do things better, because we know the people who are at the top of their game with their machinery.”

And plans after July are just as big. “We’re rolling out this technology for wall frames and floor trusses and, ultimately, we’ll probably creep up to no touch,” says Taylor. “Because we have the end-to-end system, we can start upgrading one or numerous parts of that system bit by bit and just keep it evolving.

“I don’t think timber trusses are going to change a lot, but the way that we deal with the material before it turns into a truss and after it’s a truss, that’s where we can really apply some technology and some efficiencies.”

Peter Taylor is still mentoring Trent, which Trent describes as a “fantastic privilege. You can’t put an old head on young shoulders, so it’s great having him for guidance. He’ll forever be part of the fabric of Multinail.

“My father has established an amazing business with amazing people in it, and my achievement will be to perpetuate that and keep it pointing in the right direction. Business is not easy. We will have challenges, and if I can just keep the company going on the same successful trajectory that Dad has set it up and put it on, that to me is a big tick, a real sign of success.”