1994 · Observed in imagery
One shed on an open block
A single shed stands near the creek, with plant and material spread across an otherwise open block. The earliest capture in the series.
QMW history · 1984–2026
Forged in arc and line
From Queensland Mobile Welding to QMW Industries: a history of continual improvement, with 53 Success Street watched from above for 31 years.
1984 · Browns Plains
Where it began
It began with sparks on Queensland ground,
A modest name, a craft renowned—
Queensland Mobile Welding, proud and lean,
Where grit and skill shaped every seam.
Jeff Samuels established a mobile fabrication and pipeline welding business, working out of Browns Plains. Practical problem-solving on other people’s sites laid the foundation for everything that followed.
The mobile years
Twenty-four hours, seven days, anywhere in Queensland
Seven services on the card
- 24 hr, 7 day/week service
- Pipeline welding
- X-ray quality welding
- Earthmoving equipment repairs
- Crane repairs (Machinery Dept approved)
- Pile-driving equipment repairs
- General welding and fabrication
Utes rolled out at break of day,
To mines and yards, to far away,
Fixing what broke, building what could,
Earning trust the only way you should.
1986 onward · Acacia Ridge
A permanent base: 600 m² and a block to grow into
- Incorporation · first land
- 1986 30-year company story
- First workshop
- 600 m² Recorded 1986
- Expansion frames
- 1996–98 Archive photo series
Steel by steel, the vision grew,
From small repairs to projects new—
Buckets, bodies, modules, frames,
Heavy-duty work with bigger aims.
c. 1991 · A new name
Queensland Mobile Welding becomes QMW Industries
A new name rose with broader sight:
QMW Industries—for scale and might.
Not just welders on the run,
But engineers of what gets done.
The Success Street signboard already reads “Q.M.W. Industries Pty Ltd” and lists ROPS & FOPS canopies beside X-ray quality welding, earthmoving equipment repairs and mobile welding rigs on call. The protective-structure business is visible from the start of the Acacia Ridge era.
1992–2025 · Testing and quality
Testing, certification and quality systems grew together
- 1992
Physical ROPS testing recorded
Handwritten photo date, QMW archive.
Archive photo - 1997
ISO 9001 certification — Bureau Veritas
Maintained continuously since.
Documented - 2006
NATA-accredited testing laboratory established
Accreditation No. 15369 · ISO/IEC 17025 · ROPS, FOPS, TOPS, OPG.
Documented - 2022
ISO 45001:2018 alongside ISO 9001:2015
Bureau Veritas combined certificate.
Documented - 2025
NATA accreditation reassessed and continued
Falling-object impact 700 J – 11,600 J · ROPS to 2,000 kN.
Documented
11,600 J Falling-object impact, from 700 J
2,000 kN ROPS loading
NATA accreditation covers protective-structure testing — ROPS, FOPS, TOPS and OPG to AS 2294, AS 2359.9, ISO 3449, ISO 3471, ISO 8082, ISO 8083, ISO 8084, ISO 10262 and ISO 12117. ISO 9001 and ISO 45001 are separate management-system certifications.
Timelapse evidence · 53 Success Street
1994 – 2025 in eighteen frames
Eighteen aerial captures, aligned to the same frame so the roofline can be compared year on year: Queensland Government orthophotos from 1994 to 2022, then Google Earth for 2024 and 2025. Keep scrolling to run the years. Notes marked observed in imagery are what the picture shows; dated milestones come from QMW records.
2002–2005 · Observed in imagery
Two sheds and an open yard
Two workshop sheds either side of an open central yard. Plant and material stored outdoors.
2007–2011 · Observed in imagery
Filling the block
The western workshop extends south toward the creek and new roofs appear across the block. Covered floor area grows markedly.
2006 · NATA-accredited testing laboratory established on QMW’s own floor
2012–2015 · Observed in imagery
One continuous floor
Infill roofing joins the sheds and the central yard goes under cover. Separate blocks become a single connected workshop.
c. 2014 · The 30-year history reports over 5,000 m² under roof
2016–2020 · Observed in imagery
Extending south
The eastern workshop extends south with additional bays.
2016 · Hitachi turnkey loader build · Q~Transporter launched
2021–2022 · Observed in imagery
A new face to Success Street
The curved-roof front workshop faces the street.
2021–22 · FLS fuel-lube range · ISO 45001 alongside ISO 9001
2024 · Observed in imagery
Solar on the roof
Rooftop solar covers both main workshops.
2024 · 40 years · 5S clean-up programme
2025 · Observed in imagery
Built to the boundaries
A new building closes the southern tip. The site is developed to its edges.
2025 · WT-110 water tank · underground loader MEWP · NATA accreditation continued
Imagery © State of Queensland, CC BY 4.0
Aerial imagery 1994–2022: Queensland Government orthophotos, © State of Queensland (Department of Natural Resources and Mines, Manufacturing and Regional and Rural Development), licensed under CC BY 4.0; cropped, rotated and resized. 2024–2025 imagery © Google Earth.
Same site · 17 years apart
From two sheds on an open yard to a workshop that fills the block
Imagery © State of Queensland, CC BY 4.0
Tight site crops from the aligned series of Queensland Government orthophotos. Drag to compare.
Growth measures
Reported manufacturing space under roof
Reported values from successive company documents. The 2026 figure is the group total across QMW Industries, Q-Systems and QMW WA.
- Overhead cranes
- 22
- CNC machining centres
- 8
- Press brake
- 600 t
Company Profile 2026
2023 · Investment in engineering capacity
Design capability, measured
- New products developed
- 118
- Engineering jobs processed
- 638
- Engineering hours invested
- 10,197
- Protective-structure tests conducted
- 16
2023 engineering review. Jobs, products and tests are different measures.
Design tools
VR for reviewing products and spaces before steel is cut. 3D printing for geometry checks and prototypes. A more powerful laser scanner was under evaluation.
Connected information
Site connectivity, digital registers and reporting to support the work, recorded in the 2023 engineering and IT review.
Planning the space
3D work-area planning (2023–24): fit jobs to work areas and plan equipment positions and access before the floor fills up. A 5S clean-up programme followed in 2024.
40 years in 2024 · The people behind the progress
Still Queensland born, still grounded here,
With calloused hands and thinking clear—
A company built the honest way:
Do it right, then raise the play.
Skills and experience turn investment into useful capability. The 40-year team photograph, October 2024, in front of a water truck and an FLS-63 fuel-lube service truck.
2026 · QMW Industries today
Workshops humming, cranes in flight,
Designs refined to spec and site,
From custom builds to global-grade,
Every line cut, measured, laid.
- Under roof
- 13,000 m²
- Machines delivered
- 1,000+
- Overhead cranes
- 22
- CNC machining centres
- 8
- Structures certified
- 3,000+
- Continents supported
- 6
53 Success Street, February 2026. Figures: QMW Company Profile 2026 Rev02.
Off the floor, 2025–26
The same promise, bigger machines
From mobile torch to industry spine
From mobile torch to industry spine,
A legacy forged in arc and line—
QMW stands where standards meet
The kind of work that can’t be beat.
QMW Industries · Est. 1984 · Built to Protect.
Reference timeline
Dated record, with evidence grade
Doc — company records, certificates, profiles. Photo — archive photograph dated by caption or file. Imagery — read from aerial captures.
- 1984 Queensland Mobile Welding established, Browns Plains Doc
- 1986 Incorporation, first land, 600 m² workshop Doc
- c. 1991 Acacia Ridge frontage — “Q.M.W. Industries”, ROPS & FOPS on the sign Photo
- 1992 Physical ROPS testing recorded Photo
- 1994 Earliest aerial: a single shed on an open block Imagery
- 1996–98 Workshop portal frames erected Photo
- 1997 ISO 9001 certified (Bureau Veritas) Doc
- 2002 Aerial: two sheds either side of an open yard Imagery
- 2005 QMW WA established, Perth Doc
- 2006 NATA-accredited testing laboratory established Doc
- c. 2007 Western workshop extended, new central shed Imagery
- c. 2009–11 Infill roofing links the sheds into one floor Imagery
- c. 2014 Over 5,000 m² under roof Doc
- 2016 Hitachi turnkey loader · Q~Transporter · eastern extension Doc
- 2019 Lean program · new frontage roof Doc
- 2021 FLS range · South32 GEMCO Cat 745C lube truck Doc
- 2022 ISO 45001 · curved-roof front workshop Doc
- 2023 118 products · 638 jobs · 10,197 hrs · over 10,000 m² Doc
- 2024 40 years · 5S programme · rooftop solar visible Doc
- 2025 WT-110 · underground loader MEWP · NATA accreditation continued Doc
- 2026 13,000 m² · 22 cranes · 8 CNC · Cat OEM Solutions Specialty Partner Doc
QMW Industries Pty Ltd · ABN 12 011 047 760 · 53 Success Street, Acacia Ridge QLD 4110. ISO 9001:2015 · ISO 45001:2018 · NATA Accreditation No. 15369 (ROPS/FOPS testing). Aerial imagery 1994–2022 © State of Queensland, CC BY 4.0; 2024–2025 © Google Earth. Photographs © QMW Industries.