Aps Plastics Takes Front-row Seat

The Age

Wednesday July 7, 2004

Stephen Dabkowski

APS Plastics, the Ferntree Gully company that designed and engineered the seating for the redeveloped MCG, has won the 2004 Victorian business awards for innovation and leadership in its sector.

The awards, sponsored by Telstra and the State Government, were presented last night.

As well as being responsible for the design of seating at local sporting venues, the company supplied seating for the Atlanta Olympics and Lisbon's Stadium of Light, where the Portugal-Greece Euro 2004 soccer final was played.

The company also created the Willow esky - and the knack for innovation has not stopped there. At the moment, it is working with Unitract on a retractable syringe. The world-first syringe is considered safer than other syringes because it not only stops needle-stick injuries in medical staff administering injections but it cannot be reused. The syringe won two awards at the 32nd International Exhibition of Inventions and New Technologies in Geneva earlier this year. It received a Gold Medal for Best Medical Device and the Prize of the State of Geneva Award.

John Petschel founded APS in 1986. The company now turns over $2.5 million a year and has 10 full-time employees.

The Telstra awards also recognised internet company Hitwise, rehabilitation company Osborn Sloan & Associates, software company Page Up, Marengo Holiday Park on the Great Ocean Road and Oz Native Tiles, which were each category winners.

APS Plastics and the other category winners will travel to Adelaide next month for the national Telstra Small Business Awards. Victoria's Small Business Minister Marsha Thomson said the quality of the candidates showed the strength of small business in the state.