DSI chief executive Derek Hird said: “Innovation is the key for organisations to remain competitive now and in the future. Innovation is about working smarter to meet the diverse needs of our customers.

“Innovative practices have provided a new focus for the organisation and enabled DSI to respond proactively to new trends and market conditions resulting in new dimensions in performance.”

The company has pioneered the development of a range of new products to further enhance its comprehensive product range. These new products include: a single pass resin bolt for the hard rock sector; a high capacity post grouted strand bolt; a post grouted rib bolt; a domed butterfly plate; a resin anchored no tail rib bolt; and an improved load transfer roof bolt.

DSI is committed to further ground support product developments and is working on a number of projects including the development of self-drilling roof and rib bolts.

Innovation involves diversifying into more varied applications. DSI is expanding into new markets with the launch of steel and synthetic shotcrete fibres. This expansion will further enhance the company’s ability to supply and service the needs of the underground mining industry.

The innovation at DSI is not limited to the introduction of new products. DSI is introducing what is referred to as lean manufacturing or enterprise resource planning (ERP).

DSI has realised the traditional “batch” and “queue” manufacturing process used for the past 50 years has become outdated and inefficient. With the leaner, more diversified manufacturing measures DSI can fully utilise its resources to deliver superior levels of customer satisfaction.

Australian mining technology has been transferred to overseas markets through export and the mining supply companies DSI has acquired or established. The company now has mining supply operations in East and West Canada, USA, Mexico, South Africa, Europe, and of course Australia. It is a real success story and a good example of what an Australian company can achieve with the right product range, coupled with a strong technical and service capability.

DSI continues to expand and steps are being taken to further develop the DSI mining and tunnelling business in markets where it currently does not have a strong presence.

Over the past five years DSI’s Australian business, which employs 150 personnel, has made many improvements – including significant investment in new product development to stay at the forefront of strata reinforcement technology and capital investment to improve manufacturing capacity. DSI Australia has operations in Perth and Newcastle and exports its products mainly to mining companies in the Asia-Pacific region.