Cost Effective Maintenance (CEM) has been helping operators run their vehicles and machinery more efficiently for the past 40 years, thanks to its range of locally produced high performance lubricants and fuel additive chemicals.

It was started by Brid Walker, whose career began in the research field, working with CSIRO. However after 12 years with the science and research agency, a passion for engines led Brid to go out on his own – and with that, CEM was born.

As Brid recalled, “I started out working from underneath my house in Gailes, Queensland, before moving into a dedicated space five years later. We then moved into our current Sumner Park warehouse about 15 years ago.”

When he started CEM, Brid set out to assist his customers to reduce their vehicle and machinery maintenance problems – and the business remains committed to that mission to this day.

“Our products can be used for preventative and corrective maintenance,” said Brid. “I started selling existing products, then about 18 months later began producing our own products too. I was selling a specialty oil, which led me to explore additives, with a focus on problem solving.

“With many additives, you can put them in and they don’t provide tangible benefits – so I focused on a range of issues including injectors failing, sticking piston rings, engine sludge which affects oil pressure, overheating engines, and decarbonising, which can lead to loss of performance.

“I was focused on problem solving. There was a good parcel of problems I wanted to solve and that has continued to be our main focus.”

A product that Brid pioneered in 1986 – the FTC Decarbonizer – remains one of the company’s top-selling products. It acts as a combustion catalyst to burn any carbon build-up from combustion and exhaust spaces, turbos, and DPF filters.

The FTC Decarbonizer can extend engine life by up to 25 per cent, restores power and economy, cleans diesel particulate filters and has been proven to reduce harmful emissions.

“The FTC decarbonizer has evolved over the years to become the leading fuel additive to successfully clean DPF filters and reduce diesel emissions,” added Brid.

“What we’ve found is that by using the FTC Decarbonizer, it saves the diesel particulate filters (DPF) from blocking, extending their life, and also reducing the amount of maintenance required.”

Independent product testing has always been focus at Cost Effective 

An independent study on the FTC Decarbonizer by the University of Western Australia in 2012 confirmed positive results on exhaust soot reduction. The study found that the product improved fuel efficiency and reduced smoke particulates.

By 1991, Brid had developed his Flushing Oil Concentrate, which is still produced to this day, designed to free up piston rings, recover lost engine performance and remove sludge build-up. Suitable for engines, transmissions and diffs, the Flushing Oil Concentrate is designed to restore cleanliness to the dirtiest petrol or diesel engines – and has saved many thousands of engines from expensive rebuilds.

Another popular truck product, AW10 Antiwear was developed in 1992. It’s designed to reduce heat build-up in engines and gearboxes. “It’s great for truckies who are travelling through high ambient temperatures, which can make the diffs and gearboxes pretty hot. AW10 keeps those temperatures down,” explained Brid.

For customers wanting to treat rust and control corrosion, CEM’s Xtroll Rust Conqueror is the answer. “It’s another Australian made product we have worked closely with over the years. Many industries were looking for a product that differs from the classic over the counter type products and the Xtroll fit this category perfectly,” said Brid.

The Rust Conqueror works by penetrating rust layers while impregnating the underlying metal surfaces, creating a 99 per cent pore free isolating film. It embeds rust in its substance and bonds the rust back to the surface, preventing further corrosion.

Manufacturing Australian made products since 1984

Along with producing its own extensive range of products, CEM became a commercial distributor for USA-produced Pro Maintenance Additives, in 2018.

Asked about what has contributed to the longevity of the business, Brid comments, “Our customers keep coming back because our products actually work. We get a lot of referrals and reorders. A lot of people use our products for preventative maintenance. Others might have a truck that’s causing problems so they’re using our products for corrective maintenance.

As Brid continued: “We’ve had customers that have done 600,000 kilometres on their original injectors and haven’t had to replace them. That’s from using the CRD Fuel Enhancer.

“A customer who comes to mind is one who ran a mini bus business from Brisbane to Byron. He had about 250,000 kilometres on the mini bus and the engine was misfiring. He brought it to the OEM and they said he needed new injectors, which were about $4000. He found our product and it fixed up the problem completely – the vehicle is still going fine years later.”

Though Brid entered into semi retirement last year, his three sons-in-law are continuing to drive the business into the future – with Jimmy Dever serving as general manager, Matt Appleby as warehouse and production manager, and Jared Newport as sales and IT manager.

As Brid revealed, “I always hoped the business would be successful and it’s good to see CEM will stay in the family too!”

Helping some of Australia’s largest diesel users reduce emissions

While Jimmy added, “CEM is taking big steps moving forward to help some of Australia’s biggest carbon emitters to reduce their carbon footprint. We now have a full range of over 20 specialty products which are used across the transport, mining, marine and four-wheel drive market – catering to anyone with a diesel truck or diesel engine.”

“Over the years, we’ve also done a lot of testing on all of our products to verify their efficiency.”

Jimmy added that the FTC Decarbonizer is one of the only products to be recognised as being able to reduce diesel emissions, thanks to independent testing. “It helps clean diesel engines and removes harmful emissions – it’s a very unique product.”

From starting in Brid’s family home, CEM now exports its range of products to the United States of America, Canada, New Zealand, the Middle East and Taiwan.

“It started out as a one-man band and now there’s a team of people working for the business,” said Brid.

While CEM’s commitment to solving common issues has remained the same from the very beginning, Brid says the biggest changes he’s seen in the business over the past 40 years have been the number of customers and volume of sales. “There’s a lot more modernisation in the processing of orders too now,” he added. “It’s all automated now, the manufacturing, bottling production and order processing, we can easily process the mix of bulk, trade and retail orders.”

The Cost Effective Maintenance range is available through distributors across Australia and can also be purchased online.

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