Mark Pivac did sell 1.548 million shares at one point but it was only a small portion of his total and the dip in share price only lasted a few days. Bricking 14/07/17 amusingly commented, “Apparently needs the money to pay his bricklayer on his extension on his house . Expensive to lay a nice looking face brick” FBR Price at posting: 18.0¢ Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Not Held
BRIAN70 17/07/17 is qualified enough to have credibility when raising concerns about HX:
“Watching FBR with interest.
I have a background in Mobile Heavy Equipment Maintenance and have a couple of questions.
What is the expected maintenance costs of this machine and have they worked out the long term reliability issues?
Conceptually it works, but my concern lies in the ongoing maintenance of the machine and running costs. Bricks are made out of very abrasive material and they will drop coarse particles along the brick pathway. How will this wear be managed?
How does the accuracy of the boom and delivery of the bricks adjust for wear on the boom components?
Has the structural fatigue modelling been completed in service for the boom to ensure, over the life of the machine, there is no risk of structural boom fatigue cracking.
What are the total whole of life cycle cost for the machine?
In terms of service and maintenance, how will this be addressed? Given the unique nature of the control system, how will the owner/operator be supported to address any issues.
Caterpillar will no doubt be reviewing these areas with the MOU. They have taken a seat at the table to review and talk to FBR about the design and the potential commercial reality of delivering to market.
One of the keys to the commercial success of the Hadrian hinges on addressing maintenance/reliability issues and whole of life costs.
Interested in others thoughts.” FBR Price at posting: 16.0¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Not Held
I think WaaS largely addresses this concern because a crack team of HX operators will learn the machine inside out.
BRIAN70 17/07/17 then posted a link to a long article if you want to know how CAT tests equipment: “Some insights into the CAT development life cycle for an existing 637 Scraper model. It's 6 years." https://www.equipmentworld.com/equipment/article/14964844/inside-caterpillars-top-secret-peoria-proving-grounds-to-see-how-machines-come-to-life The Hadrian is a new machine trying to create a new market. I think it would be at least 5-10 years before they are selling on mass. Hopefully FBR has sold the tech well before then and made a few $$$ in the meantime.” FBR Price at posting: 16.0¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Not Held
Some posters have raised questions about unlevel slabs. I think I heard more recently that FBR offers a tech solution to help those who pour the slabs. Flyonthewall 18/07/17 writes, “I emailed the company some time ago and asked how they handle slabs that aren't perfectly level. Their response is below. (Interesting line about "we can't say any more at this stage." Sounds like they have a few tricks up their sleeves?)
’Thank you for your interest and support of Fastbrick Robotics.
The solution to this problem comes down to ensuring that the concrete pad that we lay down is perfectly level. The pad will be as close to level as it can be, and will be well within the capabilities of the Hadrian X to build a perfectly accurate and stable structure.
Unfortunately we can’t say any more at this stage.
Kind regards, Oliver Gray.’"
Then the Investor Presentation – July 2017 was posted: … The Global Addressable Market for the Hadrian X is estimated to be $100 to $200 billion … FBR team expands to include, Chief Operating Officer, Engineering Manager, Mechanical Engineers, Mechatronic Engineers, Software, Vision Systems, Simulation Specialists and Administration Manager … Bricklaying rate ~200 standard bricks per hour … Caterpillar will, subject to Fastbrick shareholder approval, have an option to invest a further USD$8 million … (“Fastbrick Robotics”), has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) with Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) to… [FBR and CAT parted ways in Dec 2018]
Troopy1 21/07/17 replied to a post by Simcal: “No the Hadrian x will not lay face bricks, not to say it will not in the future though. I was going to buy into this months back but will wait until it completes the 11 homes in WA.
I just can't see it economically viable in Australia yet because of our building code requirements and how will it go with all the ancillary items that must be installed in masonry structures like expansion and control joints for crack mitigation due to slab heave and thermal movement, tie down straps or rods for roof framing, damp proof coursing, window installation, flashings for above and below widows and door openings and how will it cope with undulations in concrete slabs.” FBR Price at posting: 16.5¢ Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Not Held
Hokey 25/07/17 wonders whether FBR will be like SIR or not, and you can feel what it’s like to be a trader who hits the jackpot reading his exciting post: “Very Hard when I was riding SIR from .7 of a cent pre consol days the pressure was enormous
When it hit a buck my mrs was screaming sell it then 2 bucks came I spent a whole day on loading up the order then pulling out then 3 bucks came my mrs was going nuts family who knew were chipping in
It got to 4 bucks I thought I can't stand it so I hit the sell button most liberating feeling of my life the relief was unreal got out 3-90 was happy
Sold my business and retired took a year out working on my property then took up trading FT
It went in to 5 bucks of course my mrs said why did you sell lol
Never felt so much pressure my portfolio was going up in telephone numbers it was bizzare scary freaky I was looking at it in disbelief some days
I agree with Padley most people would take a 100 per cent profit in a blink it's hard not to
I have got out a few parcels to free carry here it's no SIR but who really knows
As a trader you need some profits for living expenses holidays items you buy
Last week I bought a new sea container and booked a holiday you need to take some wins on the way up sometimes it's invigorating
Free rolling a fair few shares here probably more than I'd like but it's free rolled
The more this goes up the more pressure you 2-3 cent guys will feel Trick is set a target your happy with carry zero risk and if it goes south have a stop loss
Put on trailing profit stops at a level a small blip won't stop you out but gives you an Alamo
One things certain most things that go up quick on the ASX usually go down as quick impulsive moves are volatile
However sometimes they keep going up 10 20 40 100 bags or more it happens
Is FBR in that chance I don't know but it has all the hallmarks of a very successful company if the deal with CAT goes binding it's probably one of the cheapest stocks on the ASX
If the builds go well I'd say CAT will take this machine to the world and apply the tech on other machines
The rights FBR earn could be extremely lucrative If the market was easy no one would work for a boss FBR Price at posting: 19.5¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
For those of you wanting to be traders, here’s further advice from the guru: Hokey 28/07/17 “Ha ha classic it's just like gambling you have a few wins you love it get hooked Trust me it's not all one way Traffic I have been trading full time for 8 years now . My first 3 years if I didn't make the ave national wage . Next 2 were pretty good and the last 3 have been great 2017 is shaping up as my best year yet . Don't fall into the trap of this is easy it's not . Like my signature says if it was easy who would work for a boss I have been investing in shares dabbling for over 20 years . 2009 was the best head ever the XJO went up 60 per cent you could throw darts and win big 2008 saw a lot of people get wiped out of markets Speccies were going Down 50 -60 per cent on opens blue chips were smashed everything got smashed except JBH which walked right thru the GFC My point is don't get cocky book some profits on the way up carry zero risk to your capital . FBR looks good but so did hundreds of coys no longer listed Is FBR one out of the bag it could well be but we needs to see some binding stuff not MOU S our two partners in CAT and ARCHISTRUCT have a walk away clause and that's the kicker and why you guys need to temper your enthusiasm a bit .” A warning also from Spec2Acc 26/07/17 Well personally I just sold out of fbr, took my 20% profit and ran. There certainly is a chance of fbr becoming massive but those performance shares on the way to dilute it are a real issue for me, they make the current market cap effectively around $260m. For a company who haven't even built a production prototype yet that seems fairly excessive, the mou with cat is extremely encouraging but it is just an mou and cat could walk away at any time, what do you think will happen to the sp if cat walk? I'm not sure that risk is very well priced in at current levels. I have no doubt that robotics are the future of construction but I'm a lot less certain that fbr are the future of construction robotics. Good luck to all who are holding and I think there's a very good chance there's still at least a bag of two left in fbr but for me the share price is overcooked considering it's still at such an early stage with so much risk left. There are also far to many optimists around here for my liking and widespread optimism is often a good sign of a bloated sp. To answer the original question, possible but not likely, turning 10k into 1m would mean fbr ending up with a 25bn market cap, or about half the market cap of cat, possible but seems unlikely to me. FBR Price at posting: 19.0¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Not Held
An announcement on 28/07/17 Highlights: • Ongoing development of Hadrian X bricklaying robot commercial prototype • Appointment of Chief Operating Officer, Marcus Gracey • Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) signed in July 2017 • USD$2 million investment from Caterpillar Inc, with an option to invest an additional USD$8 million • Fastbrick Robotics well funded through 2018 • Increasing global interest in Hadrian X • Fastbrick Robotics relocates to a fit-for-purpose facility to accommodate growth
Then out of the blue, on 16 August 2017: MOU Signed with Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Highlights • Fastbrick signs MOU in relation to a potential project for Saudi Arabia to utilise Hadrian X construction robots to build a minimum of 50,000 new homes by 2022 • The MOU indicates an equivalent requirement for 100 Hadrian X robots to facilitate this project • The 50,000 home target, represents only a portion of a larger 500,000 new home target set by the Saudi Arabia Government to be completed by 2022, with a directive that all of these homes are to be constructed using innovative construction technologies (Innovative Construction Target) • Fastbrick’s robotic bricklaying technology is considered an innovative construction technology for the purposes of Saudi Arabia’s Innovative Construction Target • Saudi Arabia has set a total 1.5 million new home target to be completed by 2022 which includes the Innovative Construction Target • Fastbrick’s CEO and COO attended the exclusive MOU signing ceremony in Saudi Arabia
… Fastbrick Robotics CEO Mike Pivac: Fastbrick’s MOU with Saudi Arabia is a perfect example of our unique technology presenting a timely solution to Saudi Arabia’s housing supply problem, which is a problem shared by many other countries around the world. We are presently increasing and accelerating our execution capability, scalability and our identification of other customers around the world. The level of demand pull that we are currently experiencing will assist to underpin the development, manufacture and global deployment of our Hadrian X construction robots. Fastbrick is grateful for the assistance received from the Western Australian Government through the Commissioner of the Western Australian Trade Office – Middle East, and in particular for the on-ground support provided in the Middle east region with the facilitation of this MOU with Saudi Arabia. The signing of this MOU resulted from our successful initial global customer discovery process and now signals the commencement of a more detailed demand side customer and market analysis wherein Fastbrick we will be seeking out other countries, organisations and parties around the world who are interested in being early adopters of Fastbrick’s technology. Fastbrick is looking forward to working with the KSA to assist with the delivery of Saudi Arabia’s housing units, effectively, safely, efficiently and successfully.”
I’m still hopeful something will come of this, but I’m not sure how flush the kingdom is with money after the lockdowns around the world and associated drop in oil consumption. But, if you need housing, you need housing.
Showstring 16/08/17 adds a dollop of realism: “it's just an MOU, there is no product / revenue / order yet
still a positive announcement, but don't get too excited
could still be years before anything is delivered, and who knows what might happen then” FBR Price at posting: 26.0¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Not Held
Herewegoagain 20/08/17 summed things up: Ok Ok enough of the ...... let look at the facts . 1) FBR signs agreement with Archistruct to construct 11 houses . 2) FBR and Archistruct build one house out of the 11 manually ,using the intended glue and blocks for the future builds of the rest of the 10 houses. The build was engineered ,tested and certified approved by the council as per Australian standards. 3)FBR live streams and proves concept ( Gets the attention world wide )and strong interest starts to flo. 4)FBR meets with major player in the USA Caterpillar ,Nasa,John Deer,etc . 5)FBR signs MOU with CAT and buys 2mil in shares with a further 10 mil at the end of 12 months with share holders approval. (FBR to only work with CAT exclusively part of agreement) 6)KSA signs MOU with FBR to supply 100 HX machines to build 50,000 homes by 2022 with a view of completing 1.5 mill homes in the near future. Endless possibilities here !! 7)FBR invited to speak at the MBA lunch in Perth and at the national conference later in November this year in Hobart. 8)MBA conference very positive ,quick questionnaires answered with confidence.ONE comment stood out for me ."NOTHING STOPPING THE ROBOT USING MUCH LARGER BLOCK"as they are not laid by humans but by MACHINE. can everyone see the benefits of this? 9) Meetings with UAE . 10)The 10 house to be built on track for end of this year or first quarter of 2018. All the ducks are lining up so far ! with the best possible partners to make this a success ! IMO Binding agreement with CAT not too far off ,as FBR needs to full fill the order for KSA and who else would be capable of doing this on that scale?? they need to get a wriggle on !! .All the "Ifs and Ifs",the concept has been proven and i can tell you the problems they will need to address will be addressed around the machine and not the machine around the problem , hence why the building concepts will be changed FOREVER. Once that first house is built and live streamed around the world "BOOM " cha ching !!!remember the machine is great ,but the IP is way better . If I've left anything out please correct me ,and remember theirs alway risk but the risk here is now starting to look very faint. GOOD LUCK everyone exciting times ahead !! : ) Ps Hope you feel better Hocky for the next surge coming.” FBR Price at posting: 26.5¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
That positive sense of what would happen once the first house was built (especially given the CAT MOU looking promising) was prevalent.
FBR had a mysterious “pre-launch order book”. What was in it? Presumably the names of those interested in a machine once they were ready? Seanl 31/08/15 asked, “does anyone know if the company is obligated to tell the market what's in the pre-launch order book?” AzinAsia 31/08/17 responded, “Anything with material impact to the share price is required to be released in a timely manner under ASIC continuous disclosure rules. Adjustments to the order book falls under the term "material effect" unless covered by non disclosure and proprietory sensitive info caveats.”
Then FSM (01/09/17) linked to a video with an interesting moment in it, but blink and you’ll miss it: https://hotcopper.com.au/threads/fbr-website-updates.3608283/page-2?post_id=26493906#.WaivHHPmi7M “There is a portion of a video in the linked post that shows the H105 compensate for someone shoving the boom while laying a brick. Presumably the HX will be at least as capable as the 105 dynamic compensation.” FBR Price at posting: 24.5¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
Did you see it? Quite impressive I thought. I know this is a long post, but believe me, I have cut out a lot of stuff. A thread titled “contract signing,” for example, ended up discussing North Korea and a nuclear war.
Flame27 26/09/17 posted something worthwhile. There had been some speculation about whether CAT would actually take over FBR, but Flame thought otherwise: “Hi everyone, I've been following this stock for a while and bought in a few months ago after lots of time researching. I noticed that there has been some discussion of a potential takeover bid by CAT for FBR, which I think warrants further discussion about what the real potential for this is.
My take on this is that it is probably unlikely. It doesn't make business sense from CAT's perspective. FBR is not a direct competitor to CAT (which would be a good reason to pursue a takeover), nor does it operate in the same market (FBR is basically a tech company, while CAT is a manufacturer of machinery). When dealing with takeovers/buyouts/acquisitions, it can be difficult to keep the original owners motivated to continue the work they have been doing on their own when working for someone else: they have received a large sum of money up front and have little incentive to work as hard as they did when they owned the business. CAT would be left to develop the IP themselves, which is not their area of expertise (though I have no doubt they could do it). Businesses that succeed focus on what they do well.
To me, it seems the best outcome for both CAT and FBR would be a strategic partnership. CAT gets to use the IP of FBR for a royalty fee in its construction machinery, and FBR is able to continue to develop the IP and adapt it to other uses in other areas. This seems like the best win-win situation IMO. Both companies benefit and are able to continue focusing on their areas of expertise. It's also a win for us as shareholders, as there is far greater potential in the IP than just construction
I'd love to hear other opinions on this. I think we are in for a great ride with FBR. GLTAH” FBR Price at posting: 23.5¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
On the same day as Flame’s post (26/9), we received an FBR CEO Letter to Shareholders containing Extract from Annual Report 2017 "Dear Fellow Shareholders … new Perth facility … the Hadrian X following the success of the Hadrian 105 technology demonstrator, which validated the Company’s core Dynamic Stabilisation Technology. … Fastbrick will work together with Caterpillar to strive to have the Hadrian X commercial prototype successfully delivered. … When the Company listed in late 2015, one of our strategic goals was to create global scalability for the Hadrian X product by partnering with a recognised brand and company with the expertise and capability to manufacture, distribute, sell and service our machines globally. … MOU, Caterpillar became a shareholder of Fastbrick through a USD$2 million placement and also secured an option to invest a further USD$8 million in the Company. … … MOU with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia… we now have inbound enquiries about our technology coming in on a daily basis and from all corners of the globe. … a view to eventually progressing pilot programmes in a number of countries. Capital Markets During 2017… a valuation that exceeded AUD$200 million. This increase in value and confidence from the capital markets allowed the Company to raise AUD$8 million in late 2016. … … relocation to a new facility and the addition of key appointments to our engineering and executive teams. Our new facility is tailored to meet Fastbrick's growth requirements and includes a two-story office area connected to a large engineering workshop which can accommodate up to five assembly bays. The move to the new facility has resulted in increased productivity, research & development and the ongoing investment into Fastbrick’s Intellectual Property portfolio. … Fastbrick remains committed to improving the safety, speed, accuracy, cost and waste management in the construction industry. … strong customer demand for our technology. During 2018, we will be focusing on the completion and demonstration of Hadrian X and on executing our commercialisation strategy… In 2018, we look forward to being able to showcase and demonstrate the Hadrian X. Yours faithfully, Mike Pivac Chief Executive Officer”
Three days later on 28/09/17 the annual report reiterated the same information.
Caterpillar Option approved by Shareholders Monday 02 October 2017 - …
Alcamy 1/10/17 discussed whether Michael Wood could disclose the IP to third parties. “Hi Ash, it is interesting the question you pose on IP. This is one that I put to Michael a couple of years back when i first made contact with him. He said at the time there was no binding agreement between himself and FBR,. They had asked for it at the time of the IPO but he had never agreed to it, bottom line is he is a free agent, to do as he pleases. That said the one patent that has been assigned to what is now FBR , he can't use as a basis of any new IP, but I have to say , I think there were two key people on this project, Michael Wood and Mark Pivac, In my opinion, Michael (who is an Electronics Engineer) was the ideas man and Mark was the the clever Aero space engineer, who built the idea and did the grunt work. I would guess Michael knows exactly what is required to get around the current patent, if he so desired to do so...
One thing Michael said to me that has stuck in my head was that all those who worked on the original 105 were very smart clever people, with great skill sets, he mentioned four other people, who really brought the whole thing together, a chap called Andrew Whitton, who was a financial guy who knew his way around R&D grants and how to get grants for particular projects, Sam Pickering , who was also an engineer, and designed most of the mechanics of the 105 machine, and an industrial designer by the name of Lukas Korniek who was a Pro Engineer 3D modeler who did a lot of 3D drawing for the project , and then , the construction guy who physically built the machine was a man by the name of Glen Stewart, These four were pivotal to getting the original machine built. Michael said without them the 105 would never have been built, the 105 model was pretty much at 85% complete in 2009, which says a lot about the basic core people, who did all this on shoe string budget. Most of the hard work was done well before we ever heard about the project in 2015.
To me it sounds like the whole project went into limbo after ABN sold out and was held together by Mark as a sort of side project till something better came along or someone threw some cash in.
I have done a lot of digging with respect to Michael Wood, he flies very much under the radar, but when you drill down deep enough you find a very wealthy family behind a guy who as an engineer has designed and built a lot of product, for some very well known Australian companys if you put Michael's name into google there is quite a lot of patents that float to the surface that he is behind. He seems to also have some sort of relationship with Wally Edwards who's was Chairman of Cricket Australia, a few years back, This then ties back to a company called Holman Industries , working out of Perth WA. It would seem Michael may have moved on to greener pastures, which doesn't include FBR.
On the Other hand if you put Mark into a search engine, you don't find that same sort of depth , hence the reason i think Michael Wood was the ideas guy, Mark was the one who did the grunt work and brought the ideas together, I could be wrong but it looks to me that is the backend story.
Another interesting point made by Michael, was that without the original angel investors of Brickworks (Horsley Park)and the ABN group, nothing would ever have happened. These two investors, who both put in large sums of money to get it going back in 2005, were instrumental in the success of Hadrian, Goldwing and the original concept 105 machine. Unfortunately ABN apparently sold out in 2009 after the crash, which to me sounds like a terrific shame as they would now be the perfect investor, however this was the catalyst for Mike Pivac (Marks cousin) to be able to by in at something like $0.02 per share, and then with this share and the help of Mark Pivac the pair took control of the company and turned it into FBR and did the public listing.
None of the original design people or investors, with the exception of Mark, now work ,or are involved in FBR, I am not sure this is a good thing or a bad thing, however from what I can gather none of them have current NDA's in place nor has FBR ever tried to put new agreements in place. Given that FBR now has a specific person to chase down the IP, this oversight is a worry to me as a share holder. I would have thought every one would have been well and truly tied down and unable to start up on there own, or regurgitate the ideas and morph them into something other than a brick laying machine, but it would seem this might not be the case, maybe the board of FBR could clarify this at some point.
Of the original investors ( and there would seem to be at least 10 maybe as many as 15) all but two are still investors, and current share holders. All these share holders will get performance shares based on the building of 1 house, the building of 10 houses ,and then the income stream of $10m.
If FBR does as they said they are going to do, all these shareholders are going to receive at least 3 times as many shares as they currently hold. This will change the look of the top 20 very significantly. I guess this is their pay day for putting the cash up to start with and for taking the risk at the Angel funds level, which none of us have had to do, or perhaps more importantly, have the stomach to do.” FBR Price at posting: 22.5¢ Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
Niclaire 01/10/17 tells us to be wary of financial year v’s calendar year when considering deadlines: “... by Australia Accounting Standard: 2017 year means 01/07/2016 to 30/06/2017, 2018 year means reporting period start from 1/07/2017-30/06/2018.
This is annual report, so don't treat it as calendar year. I hate this system very confusing, but as an agriculture country this is Australian farmer's circle, so Australian accounting standard adopted it I guess.
There is no sign of delay so pls don't make that assumption now, Tuesday is the EGM, you may make a call to ask them straight if you think they mean calendar year.” FBR Price at posting: 22.5¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
Come 27/11/17, Fastbrick Robotics received a $972k R&D Tax Rebate
On 27/11/17 the company held its 2nd Annual General Meeting as a listed company.
Nexusb 27/11/17 (and Storm_chasor) received 18 upvotes with the following: “Hi all,
I figured I'd compile the information recorded by @Storm_chasor to make it easier for potential investors to find.
All of this information has been gathered by @Storm_chasor - if you'd like me to remove it, just let me know and I'll request that this thread is deleted.
What was learnt from the AGM – per @Storm_chasor – all credit goes to him. It was a good meeting, and if you ever get the chance to speak directly to Mike, Marcus and Mark, you’ll learn much more than on HC.
Coding for HX:
• First prototype is 109-001, second prototype is 109-002 – triple digits alludes to more potential prototypes eventually.
In relation to CAT and takeovers:
• Big companies can swallow smaller companies with ease. • $35,000,000 raised assists in the prevention of a takeover by diversifying key stakeholders of FBR. • The 499,000,000 performance shares will also assist with this later.
Levelling of Slabs:
• Mike said that a perfect slab is preferred regardless of whether it’s built with or without HX. • Up to customer to choose to pay for a better slab or grind it down.
HX’s 2nd Prototype:
• Assembling both machines at the same time is common practice in the aeronautical industry to ensure successful delivery. • Two machines lets us trial in multiple regions. • Mark confirmed that both prototypes are mechanically identical; same parts will be used on each – it’s the idea of having a back-up that makes it safer than not having one.
OEM:
• OEM means Original Equipment Manufacturing. • Plan is that HX OEM will be outsourced to CAT or another big party. • Many other big companies interested. • FBR’s focus is technology development, IP ownership, and charging OEMs licensing loyalty as revenue.
Inner workings – Black Box:
• There’s a blackbox (or ‘heart of Hadrian X’) around the size of a basketball that controls everything. • CAT don’t know the workings of HX yet because they haven’t seen the heart. • CAT have been trying to achieve DST (the stabilisation technique used by FBR) for years, which is why there’s so much interest; they’re not here purely for HX, but rather the tech used.
• NASA have expressed interest in the tech. • Mike’s primary goal at this point though, is completion of HX.
Operation of HX:
• Currently, it’ll take three people to operate HX: • 1 x Pilot Forklifter • 1 x Bricklayer on site • 1 x Driver/Operator • The driver will have design screens in the cabin and control over the HX’s actions. • Expected that in time, HX will be driverless, with the ability to load and build all by itself, with the need to only be operated by one person.
Risks:
• Not much of a worry about technology risks or financial risks anymore. • People Risk: Mike, Mark, and Marcus have been incredibly influential when it comes to where FBR is at today. They’ve begun hiring more senior roles to alleviate some of the pressure.
• Time Risk: it’s quite hard to judge how to invest into human capital; 1000 engineers working on HX at the same time isn’t cost effective. • At the moment, the FBR team is running at “Max Power”. They want HX done with ASAP so they can continue to progress.
Completion:
• All testing and designs are completed. • Parts have been locked in. • They’re at the ordering and receiving parts stage. Again, all information sourced by @Storm_chasor, so we all owe this to him.
If you'd like this deleted, just say so When you resort to attacking the messenger, and not the message, you've lost the debate. #youngtiger” FBR Price at posting: 20.0¢ Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
Storm_chasor 27/11/17 cautioned, “Note: The exact wordings of "Mike said..." "Mark Said..." may not be accurate or very different to what he meant due to my incorrect understanding or heard wrong, they should take no responsibility whatever I or we summarised here. FBR Price at posting: 20.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
Hottobic 27/11/17 responded, “A number of points I’d like to add to @Storm_chasor great update. 1 the slab, there are options being looked at, the best is to pay slightly more to get a slab within a tighter tolerance. Maybe add a grinder attachment to the boom less likely but worth exploring. Finally they reckon they can loose any difference of 3-5mm over the 9 courses. So a big tick from me. 2 They are taking the IP security very seriously, even if someone in China reverse engineers their technology they have so many patents locked down it won’t be of any use outside China. 3 there are 2 trucks on the factory floor and assembly has begun. I’ll admit I was impatient we haven’t seen HX yet but again assembly has begun, the reason no time line has been given is because parts are being procured from around the world so one slip from a supplier causes a delay and we all loose our sh1t. A huge tick from me I’m glad they are focused on getting this right first time, just on that as well they have spent so much time digitally perfecting this there is a very low chance HX will not work FBR Price at posting: 20.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
On 28/11/17 FIL became a substantial holder.
Did you know that you can infer a lot from looking at a carpark? I actually took a photo of a huge bus park recently while on holiday at Milford Sound in the South Island of NZ. The vast buspark was empty, which tells us that international tourism is dead in NZ while the pandemic is on. Hokey understands how informative carparks can be. He kept an eye on FBR HQ in Sultana Rd. On 29/06/17 he noted, “… Nothing much to report but did look a more active site than few weeks ago [He posted a couple of pics of the HQ]. Move forward to 04/12/17 and Hokey got 19 upvotes for posting pictures of the Sultana Rd carpark to show how busy things were getting at FBR. “… I reckon the cars in the car park have doubled in the last 6-8 weeks. …”, he wrote. Avagadro 04/12/17 said “Nice work Hokey. Did you manage to fly a drone into the factory? Lol” FBR Price at posting: 20.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
Are you reading this long post Hokey? If so, could you please do a midnight drive-by and let us know whether they’re running a night shift?
An announcement arrived 22/12/17 Highlights • Fastbrick bolsters its leadership team with senior executive appointment • Mark Sheridan appointed as General Manager of Operations • Appointment follows an extensive nationwide search • Expanded leadership team to support Fastbrick’s rapid growth in 2018 and beyond
Flyonthewall 22/12/17 made a comment that received a whopping 28 upvotes: "I really like this announcement, looks like Mark Sheridan has spent most of his career working in global engineering positions with Land Rover, BMW, and General Motors.
FBR is such an early stage company that the interview process would have been very much a two way street- someone with Sheridan's background and experience would have also been interviewing the Fastbrick team to see if they have the goods and see if he wanted to work for them. Looks like he not only passed the FBR test, but FBR passed Sheridan's test as well. Very very good all the way around, looks like a great addition.
I also think the timing of this little announcement is obviously a wink and a nod from FBR. They never release positive news ANNS on the last day of the trading week. FBR just sent shareholders a message to sit tight, good things are coming soon. Wink, wink... FBR Price at posting: 18.5¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
Then there was an investor presentation on 09/10/17. New DST applications: High rise construction, sub-sea, civil construction
Levelgrinder 27/10/17 noted that “This Saudi robot stuff is getting weirder by the day:
Saudi Arabia Gives Citizenship to a Non-Muslim, English-Speaking Robot http://www.newsweek.com/saudi-arabia-robot-sophia-muslim-694152 This week, Saudi Arabia’s prince announced an ambitious plan to build a $500 billion megacity, populated by robots.” FBR Price at posting: 21.5¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
Fastbrick Robotics September 2017 Quarterly Report was released: Highlights • Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) MOU signed in July 2017 • Caterpillar Inc.USD$2m Investment with further USD$8m option • Customer Discovery Strategy underway - MOU signed with Kingdom of Saudi Arabia • Hadrian X Procurement Progressing • 2nd Hadrian X prototype initiated • Ramping up organisational build • IP portfolio strengthened
… Over the coming months and as we move into 2018, this will translate into the engineering team starting to assemble and test some of the key modules of the Hadrian X. As part of our risk mitigation process, the board has agreed to adopt and apply the latest high technology best practice methods from the aeronautical and defence industries and has agreed to invest in a 2nd Hadrian X prototype. The 2nd Hadrian X will be assembled and tested in parallel with the current Hadrian X prototype and will allow the engineering team to significantly de-risk the assembly and test phases by applying the learnings from the assembly and de-bugging process between each Hadrian X as they progress to completion and ultimately to demonstration stage and the construction of the brick component of a house(i) within 3 days.”
… A 2nd Hadrian X opens up the possibility of Fastbrick pursuing 2 pilot programmes in separate key geographical markets. Following on from the Saudi Arabia MOU, we are now pursuing additional key and significant early adopter customers.” Ends
Troopy 01/11/17 commented, “I note there's nothing in the quarterly about the agreement with Archistruct Building and Designers to build the 11 homes, as per announcement dated 6 September 2016.” FBR Price at posting: 20.5¢ Sentiment: Sell Disclosure: Not Held
FSM8 07/11/17 garnered 25 upvotes with this: “Really the lack of patience from some posters is driving me nuts. As a shareholder you are not entitled to know everything about a company. If the company discloses dates they loose a part if their negotiation power with suppliers of custom parts.
You also can't assume that management have a certain exact date, there are uncertainties from clearing customs, damage in transit and potentially clarity on exact dates from suppliers.
Just be patient, we will likely only hear when there is a degree of certainty on a date plus when providing that date doesn't comprise negotiating power. FBR Price at posting: 21.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
Troopy 14/11/17 advised “The HX will never build a house here in Australia (IMO). I’ve been a licenced builder for 40 plus years too know you can’t glue bricks together, why do you think we use a mortar bed for laying bricks, yes glue is strong but strong is not what you want, mortar is soft and it allows for minimal movement due to soil moisture changes and thermal expansion to avoid cracking in masonry. How’s the HX going to bed up glue to compensate for undulations in concrete slabs. How do you install an aluminium window in a finished opening when the HX has a + /- 0.5mm tolerance, you can’t just slice off 1 or 2 mm off a brick when the house is completed for window installation. No threaded tie-down rods to footing to prevent roof uplift. No window flashings. Only single skin brick work so no cavity to prevent moisture penetration.
And before anybody jumps on my back and says, “they build like this in other countries and the blocks and adhesives have been passed by a building inspector” yes they do build like this but mainly for infill walls and partition walling. And no building inspector would pass or sign off on anything that hasn’t been built yet. Yes this tech and stability system will be great for other applications but not building homes. And it looks like the agreement is off between FBR and Archistruct to build the 11 homes, not a mention of it in the Quarterly report.
Fancy computer animated videos of a truck pulling up on a block with a 30 meter boom full of bricks swinging around that looks so unstable it will topple over and laying 1000 bricks hour just doesn’t cut it with me. GLTA, DYOR. FBR Price at posting: 20.5¢ Sentiment: Sell Disclosure: Not Held
22/11/17 ANN: Fastbrick Robotics raises AUD$35m "… The capital raising was completed with a small group of international and domestic institutional investors. Following the recently completed investor marketing both internationally and in Australia, there was very strong interest in the Company’s Hadrian XTM and its core Dynamic Stabilisation platform technology and Intellectual Property. The overwhelmingly positive response from investors in the Fastbrick story has made it possible to finalise the capital raise swiftly and efficiently. The placement of 184,210,526 shares will be issued at an offer price of $0.19 per share representing a discount of 5.0% to the closing price on 21 November 2017 and an 8.9% discount to the 15 day VWAP. … … Our immediate focus and attention is to finalise the procurement, assembly, testing and demonstration of our Hadrian XTM commercial prototypes."
A 22/11/17 post by Hokey landed 42 upvotes!: I've been in this sharemarkets game a while let me tell you something
Micro cap back door listings hardly ever I mean ever go 15 times the ipo
Micro cap cogs like FBR hardly ever partner with a global giant like CAT in first two years of listing
Micro caps like FBR rarely are able to raise 35 million here and offshore without a very good reason
They have been told the inner workings of the coming binding deal with CAT or the framework to invest like that they need a good reason
It tells me we are within months of seeing a major strategic global partnership with CAT it stands out like the proverbial
Guys we now in my view have a game changing company about to explode on the world stage with HX in time we will look back and say oh gee why didn't I read between the lines
Read between the lines folks FBR Price at posting: 21.5¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
Remember I said he got 42 upvotes, so that was the prevailing sentiment of the day. Things looked so promising back then before the separation from CAT.
Now I’m equally optimistic for 2022. ================================== Take Home Message Not everything will come to pass e.g. deadlines might not be met, pursuing other uses of the IP gets put on hold. MOUs are not binding and deals do fall through (possibly to be resurrected in future?) If people are convinced the share price will be in the dollars very soon, that might not happen. People’s predictions are often wrong, even those that are very reasonable for a given time and situation. None of us is always right – at FBR or on HC. People who thought FBR would take off in a few months got it wrong; people who said in 2017 that FBR would never build a house that passed code were wrong. FBR followed HC in 2017 and likely still do. I mean, we provide a source of free brainstorming of ideas for them to consider, right? A perpetual think tank. A lot of smart people have put a lot into this tech over a long period of time, which hopefully puts us well ahead of the competition. What they’ve achieved is obviously a very hard thing to do. There is huge interest all over the world in DST and Hadrian.
FBR Price at posting:
5.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
(20min delay)