Pryda Australia is a trusted brand in the Australian building industry.
Launched in New Zealand in 1964 as AR Turner & Company by builder Ray Turner, Pryda pioneered the design and manufacture of timber joining connectors to simplify timber construction. Pryda has revolutionised the building industry by inventing the steel angle brace, Claw Nail nailplates, and world-leading truss design software.
Pryda’s Australian operations began in 1970.
As Pryda turns 50 this year, the company is celebrating this momentous milestone with a retrospective look at its journey as a world-leading producer of timber truss and frame solutions.
Pryda General Manager, Mr Paul Gaiardo observes that Pryda is an integral part of the building industry in Australia, having succeeded for 50 years by continuing to innovate, develop and move with the times. Pryda is today a trusted brand on building sites, in trade stores and in the offices of architects, engineers and designers.
When Pryda was founded, Australia’s population was around 11 million and 105,220 new homes were being built each year. Today, the country’s population has boomed to more than 23 million and in 2013 more than 147,000 new dwellings were built to keep up with the rising demand for housing.
According to Mr Gaiardo, when Pryda began in the 1960s, their engineers didn’t even have calculators to work with, let alone computers. Both didn’t appear until the 1970s so Pryda’s famous truss accessories were built on the skill of manual techniques and calculations.
He says that in the late 1960s and early 1970s, truss requests would be sent to the Pryda design office and an engineer would carry out the calculations manually using a slide-rule and drawing board. It could take several hours for one truss to be designed, which was then drawn up and posted to the fabricator.
Today, the company’s ‘Pryda Build’ software means a truss can be designed, costed and assembly instructions produced in a matter of seconds.
Mr Gaiardo attributes part of their success as a business to a commitment to adopting new technology early and with passion. This extends from their engineers developing small programs for calculators in the 1970s to reduce repetitive calculation and error, to their modern Pryda Build software that bundles roof trusses, wall framing, floor trusses and various framing components into an integrated suite.
The Pryda Computa-Roof software launched in 1989 allowed fabricators to obtain designs for non-standard trusses, based on first principles and not look-ups; the software went on to receive an Australian Design Award.
Pryda continues to use world-leading technologies to provide a total systems package to its licensed truss and frame plants, including fully integrated software and production systems, access to world leading manufacturing equipment, and high levels of technical support.
After a series of mergers and takeovers that began in 1986, Pryda is today part of the international corporation Illinois Tool Works (ITW), taking advantage of pooled knowledge and resources in what has become a very sophisticated industry based on computer technology. It means the company can pursue further innovation and transform the dreams of founder Ray Turner into a lasting legacy.
Pryda’s Australian head office is located in Dandenong South, Victoria.
