FBR General Discussion, page-976

Gents,

In regards to CDT and his point of view, we need to remember he is a builder in Victoria. Double brick in Victoria and NSW has not reached "Economies of Scale" meaning it is not really financially viable and I think that's where his argument is coming from. In victoria, they are generally brick veneer homes. I believe his arguments are about what he sees in his own backyard and not considering how HX can work in other areas and hasn't yet considered how it can adapt to his.

Double brick is suited in WA due to the soil, weather, "Ecomonies of Scale" etc the list goes on. HX has already demonstrated its benefits of building double brick in WA but in all fairness, it has not yet built a brick veneer home. My opinion is opposed to CDT and our views if HX will be successful or not. HX doesn't need to be successful in all places on the planet. It will roll out in WA and we know it's suited here we also have significant backing and interest from other areas, for example, Wienerberger (the worlds largest clay brick manufacturer) is working immensely to roll out HX in Europe and US. I could go on with examples but I am simply repeating myself from historical posts. Lets remember it doesn't have to complete every build.

CDT posts are depressing and what I mean is they are close-minded to his area of expertise and always negative. He hasn't demonstrated any effort in how HX may work for his or other places but rather only focused on how it won't in his. Don't let this get the hairs on your back raised and no need to bite. I think he is talking from his experience building in his part of the world and not a down solely focused on manipulating the market like others we have come across. At this stage, I actually think he may be a genuine builder I've spoken to builders in Victoria and some have similar opinions.

Now in regard to brick veneer. I see opportunity but have not yet seen an example and I think that's what we are missing but in time to appease those Victorian builders. I have no doubt it will happen in time. HX has an accuracy much greater than manual labour, it should it is a machine. "Side note the autonomous trucks were so precise they all drove the exact same line that the machines would cause issues on the haul roads wearing down a direct path, the funny thing is they had to redesign how they drive shifting the path to keep the roads better maintained and longer-lasting." I see an opportunity for the timber framing industry in the brick veneer to align itself with the prefabricated roof trusses, doors, windows etc and help homes become more of a quick modular build. We haven't seen this yet but I would say it's coming and will be proven to be beneficial. I guess like many of you I'm open-minded to change and progress likely seeing it first-hand in other industries. HX will be much more reliable than manual labour in regards to precision for placement of bricks.

In regards to speed, I can see how a team of 5 may complete 6-8k standard brick home in 1.5-2 weeks. I'm not sure it's accurate but I have no reason to doubt it so let's go with that. I have recently watched two double brick homes take between 5-6 weeks with three operators but ill put that aside for now. We know hx 109+ is targeted for 300 blocks an hour and we also know 110 is targeted for 500-1,000 blocks an hour. What we also know is during the commercial build they held a lay rate of over 180 blocks an hour. We know the HX is designed for blocks 12x normal size but the commercial build was around 6x in size. So let's use the 180 examples 6x in size as our example even though we expect it's already much greater. 180x6 is 1080 bricks an hour or 8640 for an 8-hour shift. With the current lay rate, the brick walls of a standard brick veneer home can be constructed in an 8-hour shift excluding travel and smoko time. We also know this speed will greatly increase and the new HMI upgrades are designed for only two personal operations. One day with two operators is significant and of prefab or alternative solutions come for the timber framing this will also be a no brainer. I think brick veneer will jump onboard providing the local brick manufacturers can provide bricks of suited size to make it beneficial and also once new businesses grasp the opportunity for prefabricated timber frames.

It's all simply time and we need to keep an open mind. But first is first let's get a local contract and watch as the rest of the world starts to pay attention and new building solutions are addressed.