Case Studies
Issue No. 59 - June/July 2011
Ocloc is simply the best
Working on a wine program in the 1990s Brian O’Malley noticed, during filming, that there was a problem with posts breaking during vintage. This, he says, set the O’Malley cogs to thinking.
Nigel Catt, winemaker and viticulturalist, was annoyed at having to replace posts in his vineyard. In April 2009 the pair met by chance at Market 190 in McLaren Vale and the subject came up; Brian observed that a brace to fix the post in situ might work.
The journey began under the working title of BONC (their initials) with the slogan being “BONC around the vineyard”.
Now known as Ocloc, the system repairs vineyard posts broken by grape harvesting machinery. Disposing of the treated posts is problematic - they do not decompose - so keeping posts in service achieves savings on many fronts.
Ocloc is the product of Ocvitti, the parent company Brian and Nigel set up as a vehicle for the IP and the business. A splint for a vineyard post, Ocloc is easy to install, cheaper than replacement and more robust than the post it repairs.
“The product is similar to our original concept but with so many augmentations and improvements they are too numerous to mention,” Brian says. “The engineering of the splint allows for movement that creates a ‘stiff knee joint’ for the post which allows the post to move with the violent beating of the harvester, enhancing pick ability and fortifying the post against breakage again. A vineyard post with Ocloc applied has superior flexibility and durability than a solid wooden or steel post.
“We all worked together to create a completely consumer ready product. We had a clear plan of warr...
