A celebration of bloody big machines. One of the world’s largest heavy equipment manufacturers, Komatsu is a celebrated Japanese company with a strong foothold here in Australia’s heavy industry. Combining the blocky, inorganic shapes of their bread-and-butter machines with a Space Weave-inspired underlay, our custom print for Komatsu blends the organic and the mechanic to create a bespoke, all-in-brand-colours hi vis work shirt for Komatsu technicians to wear on site every day to start vital conversations with their colleagues.

What's the name of your business?

Komatsu.

What does your business do? What goods or services do you sell?

Manufacturing machines for mining, construction, utility, forklift.

How many employees do you have?

In Australia, we have 2000 employees.

Where is the majority of your work as a business performed?

All states in Australia and globally.

Why has your organisation committed to producing a custom TradeMutt garment?

In 2019 we listened to you present at the Longwall Conference and deliver a strong message on mental health. Since then, TradeMutt has always been on our minds. Last year when we ran our Race to Rocky event in support of Mental Health Month, we ordered some caps to hand out to all participants and they loved them. After the event we decided we wanted to do more to support employees and decided to design our own artwork. It's our commitment in making an invisible topic visible.

What outcomes are you expecting from rolling out your new TradeMutt custom print?

We rolled them out in October for Mental Health Month and received positive feedback. The employees enjoy wearing them during the week at work as well as weekends when they are gardening or out with mates. The simple nod of acknowledgement when wearing the shirt is enough to demonstrate the support each member has to breaking the stigma. Each employee got to choose whether they wanted to wear one or not and I am proud to see a majority are.

What other proactive steps is your business taking towards starting conversations about mental health?

We have taken on Funky Shirt Friday which has been working well and we are planning some other projects for FY24.

How did you find the TradeMutt custom workwear development process?

It was a smooth process. The team were really helpful and had great creative ideas when we gave them a list of what we wanted to see in the design. Really happy and appreciative.

Would you recommend a TradeMutt custom print to other businesses? Why/why not?

Absolutely! It's a great way to support TradeMutt & TIACS. When you use your brand colours, machines, patterns, etc. to design a custom shirt, people can literally pick anything from the design to start a conversation with. It's happened to myself and others when we've been out.