25 Years of Excellence: Celebrating the Journey of Hydraulic Seals Australia with Founder David Blake

For 25 years Hydraulic Seals Australia has been continuously striving to change the standard of the hydraulic sealing industry in Australia. One man had a vision it would take, to not only make seals far more accessible, to now having 6 branches on the east coast and an authorized distributer in Western Australia. Under his vision and leadership, HSA is now the leading provider of hydraulic, pneumatic and rotary seals, and is rapidly earning the title of the largest seal supplier in Australia. To celebrate 25 years of HSA, we sat down with David Blake, founder and Director of Hydraulic Seals Australia, to learn more about HSA’s humble beginnings and how the company got to where it is today.

Building a Legacy: The Growth and Vision of HSA

In May of 1988, David began work at Hallite Seals in Melbourne. At the time, this was the smallest of their sales offices anywhere in the world. Starting work in an internal sales role, David began learning about the basics of hydraulic seals and the industries they serviced. In 1993 the branch manager retired, and David took over the role for the next 6 years. Over that time the business grew rapidly, and his knowledge grew right alongside it. A few years prior to 1999, David began to have a vision of having more locations up and down the east coast of Australia. His current employer wasn’t as growth driven and that eventually led David to branch out on his own. In July of 1999 he opened Hydraulic Seals Australia in Melbourne’s west and became a distributor for Hallite.

Over the next several years the business was building well and in 2005 David opened HSA’s second branch in Sydney. While the addition of the Sydney branch presented many new opportunities, as is often the case, there were also plenty of growing pains. There was an initial struggle to balance both branches and the increased number of staff it took to manage both. He knew that to continue to keep the business growth moving forward, the internal infrastructure needed to grow too. When the company first started, everyone did everything. He knew that to build the business up and provide clients with the best product and service, it was the people behind HSA that would make all the difference. “I wanted to find the best people out there and start building the best team possible” he said.

In 2009, David and the team knew that the time had come to take control of their own destiny and make some big changes. This decision led HSA to stop being a distributor and start becoming a wholesaler and importer. HSA began partnering with premier suppliers from around the globe that provided the products, services and knowledge to best service the needs of the clients.

With the continued growth in the business and the team, a third branch was opened in Newcastle in 2013. The opening of the Newcastle branch would be pivotal to how HSA would grow and develop moving forward. With the opening of the Newcastle branch, HSA got its first custom seal machine. David attests, “This is when everything really took off. The machine set us apart. We got one and knew we needed another straight away.” The business began to expand rapidly following the success of Newcastle with the opening of the Brisbane branch in 2016 and a Seal Machine in every branch by 2017. The business was experiencing rapid growth, and without even realizing at the time what was actually happening. In 2019 HSA purchased MJR Distributors, a rotary seals business, and founded Rotary Seals Australia. Its fifth branch was opened in Hallam in 2021 and after purchasing Seal Plus in Queensland the sixth branch was opened in Mackay.

Driving Success Through People: The Heart of Hydraulic Seals Australia

Throughout our time talking with David, one thing became very clear in the answers he gave to each of our questions. None of what has been done in the 25 years of HSA would be possible without the people who have come and gone, particularly those who have stayed. When asked about what he thinks sets HSA’s employees apart he said, “We have a great group of people. To have so many people in so many locations all working together towards the same goal and standards… that’s not easy to do. We have 7 business units across 6 branches, and we function as one.” David also spoke about the leadership within HSA saying, “Our leaders continue to reflect the true value of the business. They know how critical it is that we continue to develop, respond, adapt and react.” And Hydraulic Seals Australia is doing just that. In order to stay reactive to clients’ wants and needs, our team across all locations are continuously finding new ways to improve efficiencies and to find ways to deliver a superior service to our clients. This is reflected in HSA’s latest DIFOT (Delivered In Full On Time) numbers. “We currently sit at 98% DIFOT across the branches. We ship 75% of all orders on the day we receive them. I believe we will be at 85% same day delivery in the next 6 months”, says David.

When asked about the biggest challenges he has faced with the business over the years, David reflects on the early days when he opened the second and third branches. When the company’s structure was weak, and before realising how critical having the best people was, he had no way of measuring the business’s success. “We knew we were doing well, but there wasn’t any reporting to reflect that. When we started to bring in people like Kelly Barrett, our accounts manager, and more recently FINDEX, our Accountants, it changed everything.” David mentioned how he now gets detailed reports every week so that he can easily see what is happening across the business. “We sit down quarterly with Findex to review and plan”. It's not just one or two people that have made these impacts over the years. There are several long-term team members (the longest being, Justin Webster, at 18 years with HSA) who still find ways to innovate and grow the company. Another team member, Tom Peacock, started as an apprentice in our Newcastle branch in 2017. He relocated to Mackay and opened the branch there as the Operations Manager in 2022. This has become a common theme for HSA, promoting our apprentices from within. Ryan Dalton, our Sydney operations manager began his career as an apprentice machinist in Sydney in 2017.

In 2021, after a strong growth period amidst the Covid pandemic, David decided to take a step back from the day-to-day operations of the company. Dayne Applebee, who has been with HSA as the Newcastle Operations Manager since 2013, took on the role of General Manager. David attributes much of the growth and leadership to Dayne and his aligned vision of HSA’s future. “Dayne has a passion and understanding of the business, that continues to support our strategic objectives”. The list of names could continue, with every team member playing such an integral role.

David said, “They call it a company for a reason. It’s a company of people. We focus on the strengths of the staff and help them thrive in the company”.

Client-Centered Growth: The Cornerstone of Hydraulic Seals Australia

We couldn’t continue talking about the success of Hydraulic Seals Australia without talking about the whole reason the company exists, our clients. When asked what he thinks has changed the most about the clientele over the years, David attributes the biggest change to the knowledge and curiosity of clients today. “Clients have a greater thirst for knowledge. They want to know the how and the why and not just do what they’ve always done just because that’s what they’ve been told to do. We want to be there to help them access and expand their knowledge.” Continuing he said, “We’ve had incredible support from clients along the way. And it’s not just the businesses I’m talking about, it’s the people within the businesses we service.”  David explained that it’s this support from clients that drives HSA’s goals to continue to grow and expand. In the next 5 years he sees the company expanding with more branches and more machines, allowing HSA to get product closer and quicker to existing clients, new clients and industries.

HSA’s Competitive Edge: Premium Partnerships and Digital Innovation

Near the end of our time together, we asked David what else he thinks has helped to set HSA apart from other seal companies for so long. “The biggest misconception is that we are not a major player. We may be 100% Australian owned and operated, but we have the backing of premium suppliers around the globe.” Since the shift in 2009 away from distribution, HSA has always searched for the highest quality of products. While other seal companies have moved their manufacturing overseas to reduce costs, Hydraulic Seals Australia has strengthened and grown its partnerships with leading manufactures from the USA and Europe. As the only authorized Australian distributor for Martin Fluid Power (MFP Seals) out of America, HSA also supply products from ACM Composite Bearings (UK), Carco PRP (Italy), Trelleborg (Sweden), Accofluor (Denmark) and Alpana (Slovenia). David spoke about how important our supply partners are to the business, and our clients, “We are selective who we partner with. Our suppliers have the same expectations and standards as us. They are responsive to our client’s needs and are always advancing and growing.”

In addition to premium products, the HSA website has been crucial to the way the company’s clients have access to information and products with 35% of all sales coming through the web. The first website was launched 7 years ago, with the newest version of the website launched in April of 2023. This has been significant for clients who can now view real-time stock holding across all locations, order online in seconds and access technical data and information to help them make more informed decisions around the product they choose. “It’s all about making things easier and more efficient for our clients” says David.

After reflecting on the last 25 years and all that David Blake has accomplished with the success of Hydraulic Seals Australia, the interview ended with one final question. Was there anything else he wanted to say?

“I just can’t thank the HSA Team enough. Without them, none of this could have happened”.

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