New technology redefines Australia's age-old removals industry

In a mature industry that started on the back of horse and cart transportation almost 130 years ago, growth is now going to be driven by smarter, more nimble and efficient solutions, says Dawson Moving and Storage, a family owned company spanning three generations.

The latest 2019 Ibis World market research reports that the removalist industry's contribution to the overall Australian economy, is forecast to grow at an annualised 1.2% over the 10 years through 2023-24. However, Dawson Moving and Storage is enjoying growth of more than triple that Year on Year, now having ventured into Commercial Services, Hotel Fit Outs (FF&E) and International Moving.

The report also identified optimum capacity utilisation, having a good reputation and degree of globalisation as three of the most important key success factors for the industry moving forward.

As General Manager, Chris Brimble explains, big business models with little local knowledge and low technology to deliver flexible and personalised services are starting to crumble.

“A combination of having high overheads such as large properties and staff across Australia with a lack of deep understanding of the local community, can be a recipe for disaster – resulting in an expensive but poor service,” he said.

“We’re already starting to see this happen with national companies either significantly consolidating their removal services, shutting them down altogether, and, in some cases going into liquidation.” 

“New technology is helping us recognise inefficiencies that were unrecognisable in the past. The resulting savings in many areas can be as high as 20%. For example, purpose-designed mobile applications that not only calculate volume to provide an accurate quote, but also integrates item by item insurance values and allows on road team members to document all inventory onsite during a move,” said Mr Brimble.

“The systems we are working on, and with, seamlessly integrate data to deliver a superior one-stop service. This allows us to easily collaborate with reputable companies that have strong local relationships within the exclusive Australian Mover’s Group (AMG).”

In the pipeline, the company is already testing more on-site and back-end automation and personalised services such as home search and utilities.

Dawson Moving and Storage is Australian owned and operated, with its head office in Melbourne, a branch in Canberra and a nation-wide network of AFRA accredited agents. In their capacity as removalists in Melbourne and Canberra they offer packing, Local,Interstate & International removal and self-storage services across Australia and internationally.