CSF Industries

INNOVATION AT HEART OF CSF

Sparks are flying, the scent of steel and paint hangs in the air and a high-vis workforce beavers away alongside high-tech robots in a giant shed at the bottom end of Walters Street in Portsmith.

Welcome to CSF Industries – one of the most advanced steel fabricators in Australia.
It’s a Far Northern success story which began in 1979 and now employs more than 130 people across its multiple Cairns and Townsville subsidiaries.

At the helm is Cairns-born Sean Adams, a certified engineer who was enticed back to Australia by founding director, Mel Yelaska, about 22 years ago.
He’d been working in the UK but the lure of being closer to family was too strong.

Sean, who has been managing director for 19 years, is passionate about what the company has achieved and even more so about its mission, which is all about embracing automation and innovation while growing employment and manufacturing in regional Australia.

Millions of dollars have been invested in automation which is paying dividends in more contracts because of the quicker turnarounds and greater opportunities for workers.
“These robots are doing more of the stuff nobody wants to do,” Sean said.

Their biggest customers are the mining industry and Defence including inTownsville and Darwin, but you’ll see shining examples of their work right here in Cairns throughout the Munro Martin parklands, Cairns Tennis Centre and the Cairns State High School Sports Hall just to name a few.

CSF is a long-time member of Advance Cairns with Sean formerly on the board. He knows as well as anyone what this region’s biggest selling point is – liveability.
“It’s our lifestyle as well as having great healthcare and the airport. Then you have the Tablelands, the reef and the beaches all within close proximity. What isn’t there to love?”

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