2020 – Padman Water Solutions company formed

Padman Water Solutions - Logo

Padman Water Solutions is an especially exciting new arm to the Padman Group. Servicing Queensland, with products designed specifically for the tropical conditions of the state and to solve the niche problems they face.

Transforming water efficiency for farmers and reducing labour, time and cost with innovative products and technology.

2018 – New Product: PosiDrive

PosiDrive

For customers with multiple doors in a bay we understood the difficulty of having to open and close each door manually, so we came up with this unique rack and pinon design that allows operators to open and close multiple doors from the one automation unit, or from the one manual winch. With the added benefit of being able to open the door in both directions.
We then needed to find ways to allow our automation to operate multiple heavy doors at once using our existing AutoWinch system. This led to the PosiDrive. Padman Stops’ first automation product that utilises a positive drive system rather than the usual cables and pulleys. Because we know cables often become obstructed with trash and slime – Read More

2018 – Automation showroom opened

Farm Automation Showroom

A beautifully designed space with interactive product displays was created in 2018. The automation showroom allows customers the opportunity to come in and see how the products work get more information from either a sales person or our interactive touch screen.

2018 – Sugarcane Solutions

Cane Solutions

In a bid to continue to innovate and tap into new markets, in 2018, Padmans began research and development on the needs of sugarcane farmers. We are still currently working closely with our cane growing customers to trial and advance our technologies and infrastructure to suit the harsh conditions of the tropical north. So far our products have been well received and we look forward to continuing to innovate to find more efficient ways to conserve water and operational costs for the industry.

2017 – Padman Winch

Padman Winch

Another lesson learned while upgrading our automation was the need for a universal winch that could be used manually or connect to all of our automation units.

 

The Padman Winch has provided a flexible platform for all of our automation devices and the OH&S standards for manual operation have improved considerably.

 

The Padman Winch is installed on every unit making them automation ready when you are.

2017 – Pocket Timer

Pocket winch drawing

As we were building larger structures and lifting heavier doors, we were reaching the limitations of our actuators used on the EDT’s and the SamC system.

 

This lead us to develop the Pocket Timer. The aim was to produce a portable, compact unit that ditched the actuator for a winch.

 

The winch proved to be a great innovation and the Pocket Timer worked well. However, like the SamC, the Pocket Timer didn’t progress past the prototype stage but did significantly influence the future makeup of the Padman Winch and the PRO automation range.

2017 – Research & Development Shed

RD Shed

With the company continuing to grow and more professionals coming onboard, this allowed John the luxury to do what he does best, look to the future!

 

Equipped with a new shed built to his requirements, a handful of good men and a whiteboard, John has focused on some revolutionary products.

 

Some have hit the market, such as the PosiDrive and F10 Bay Outlet, with some industry changing products still in development, due to be released in the near future.

2016 – SamC System

SamC Diagram

With the Electric Dual Timer and the SMS Chatterbox spearheading our Automation department, why not try and make them talk to each other?

 

We invested a lot of time and effort into developing the Sensor Activated Monitor Controller (SamC), which enabled the Master unit to communicate with the bay sensor at the bottom of the bay and trigger the changeover to irrigate the next bay.

 

While this product didn’t progress past the trial stage, a lot of the learnings resulted in the new wave of products we’ve developed since, namely the AutoWinch and the whole PRO system.

2015 – New Fitting Shed

New Fitting Shed

With the success of the new concrete plant and the employment of a professional continuous improvement manager, we turned our attention to the processes related to fitting our products.

 

This resulted in the construction of a fitting shed production line which allowed products to move freely throughout the site more efficiently, improving quality and work place satisfaction as a result.

2013 – New Concrete Plant

New Concrete Plant

With a broadening product range and increased production, the demand on the facilities got to a point where another plant was required.

 

Another shed was setup nearby that became a production line for the flat stops, which improved the quality of the product even further.

2011 – SMS Chatterbox

Early SMS Chatterbox Prototype

Having ventured into electronics with the Electronic Dual Timer and having it establish itself as one of the most portable and affordable automation devices, John was looking for new ways to help farmers with their irrigation.

 

With the advancement of mobile communications and the importance of water conservation, knowing where your water was became very important.

 

The SMS chatterbox is effectively a witches hat placed at the bottom of the bay that sends you a text message when it’s feet get wet.

 

A simple concept and a wonderful innovation that has saved lots of water and sleep!

 

This product is still popular today and has lead to the Chatterbox PRO, which is light years ahead in functionality!