TWL: News & Features:

Goughs opens depot near Christchurch’s Red Zone

22 December 11

The Gough Group today opened a “pop up” branch on the edge of the Christchurch CBD red zone to help service the needs of contractors and the Alliance (Fulton Hogan, Downer Construction, Fletchers, MacDowell NZ and City Care) throughout the demolition and subsequent rebuilding of Christchurch’s city centre and infrastructure.

The branch, on the corner of Lichfield and Barbadoes streets, was officially opened by the member of Parliament for Christchurch Central, Nicky Wagner, this afternoon.

The branch will be staffed by a team of heavy-duty mechanics and technicians and will include Transport Wholesale, CAT sales service and parts, CAT Rental, CAT Power Systems and Gough Engineering.

Crusaders George Whitelock, Wyatt Crockett, Ryan Crotty, Nick Barrett, Tom Taylor, and assistant coach Daryl Gibson attended the opening function, talking to contractors in attendance from the CBD red zone, as well as local staff. They also handed out 2012 Crusaders replica jerseys to those lucky contractors drawn out of a prize draw.

Karl Smith, Chief Executive of the Gough Group, said the aim of the “pop up” branch was to ensure that the deconstruction and later rebuilding of Christchurch was not held back by machinery down time and that the branch provided the most immediate service capability to all contractors operating within the central city.

“One of our key aims is to ensure that operators can get their machines serviced at night so that they are able to work through the daylight hours maximizing productivity for contractors.

“We also have a new fleet of Cat gear arriving over the next few months specifically for this new branch,” he said.

Smith went on to say that even though the year had been one of “huge change,” the Gough Group had achieved several highlights including:

• Completing the roll-out of the three Caterpillar heavy equipment fleets for Solid Energy and the Stockton Alliance, representing 97 new Cat machines valued in excess of $120 million.

• Successful acquisition of Palfinger Australia.

• Supporting the Alliance with OceanaGold in East Otago and Reefton.

• Growth in market share in the civil and earthmoving, forestry and construction sectors plus a record year in sales for Transpecs and Transport Wholesale.

• Growth of the Heavy diesel apprenticeship scheme with another annual intake of 20.

• Improvement in the Group’s safety performance, including a 44% reduction in ‘lost time incident frequency rate’.

“The Gough Group is in good heart thanks to the support of our supply partners, the loyalty of our customers and the hard work of our Gough Group team,” he said.

Customer Profile - Mt Cook Alpine Salmon

7 December 11

TWL is playing its part in health and safety on the world's highest salmon farm - Mt Cook Alpine Salmon located in the iconic Mackenzie Country.

TWL’s Timaru branch was selected by Mt. Cook Alpine Salmon to provide winches for lifting nets and gates on its rafts located in the Tekapo canal.

Salmon farming in the canals is a world first, starting in the Ohau canal in 1992. The original rafts used rope and pulleys for lifting.

“On those first rafts, some of the ropes were simply direct lift and the job was extremely physical and difficult” according to Rick Ramsay, one of the original workers on the 1992 rafts and now in charge of raft construction for the massive expansion being undertaken by the company.

“Wet ropes, icy or snowy decks in winter and the lifting position was a potential for injury, particularly back injury, so in the mid-1990’s when we shifted to the Tekapo canal site, I introduced winches.”

The early winches proved effective, but the standard was not great and handles bent, ratchets stopped working and generally, their longevity was limited.

“We looked around and found the range stocked by TWL, then worked with them to adapt the winches to suit our mounting on handrail posts”.

Each raft contains 30 New Zealand manufactured winches ranging from 1:1 to 5:1 ratio.

“We needed straight handles, not offset ones, as we wanted to create as little obstruction to our walkways as possible. Because the winches are located on both sides of the raft, we also required adaptable mounting”.

Rick said the TWL supplied winches were very robust , well priced and suited for the job.

“The staff love them- maybe one day we will try out a battery drill instead of the handle-we are always looking to improve things where we can.”

MCAS last year completed a major expansion to 10 rafts on the Tekapo canal and is on the third unit of four to be placed in the Ohau canal with plans for a further six.

The company produces high end Chinook salmon which commands a premium on world export markets. Eco-sustainably farmed, Salmon are raised in near perfect growing conditions, with plenty of space, clean fast flowing water and as little human intervention as possible.

Mt. Cook Alpine Salmon pioneered salmon farming in canals. In 1992, with the encouragement of the canal owners, hydro electric generation company ECNZ (now Meridian Energy) and the founding company Southern Sockeye Salmon Ltd launched a trial salmon farm raft in the Ohau Canal. This raft was stocked with King and Sockeye salmon, the first such system in the world. While much information existed for salmon farming, there was no advice on how to operate a raft capable of holding 70,000 fish, and the flow and hydraulic effects on rafts and the fish was unknown.

The first years of operation were trial and error. Development of the structures, equipment and farming methods evolved requiring on-site and sometimes urgent problem solving. In 1995 the company started a further trial on the neighbouring Tekapo Canal, which has a maximum flow of 130 cumecs, compared with the Ohau Canal maximum of 220 cumecs. This became the highest salmon farm site in the world at 677 metres above sea level. As experience grew, redevelopment and improvement could be carried out and new trials undertaken with a better understanding of the farming environment. New ownership and renaming to Mt. Cook Alpine Salmon Ltd in 2009 signified a new era for the farm. Mt. Cook Alpine Salmon is now regarded as one of the most premium salmon producers in the world.

Mt Cook Alpine Salmon is owned by a passionate group of private individuals with all management being shareholders who share a common love of the Mt Cook region.

To find out more about Alpine Salmon visit - www.mtcooksalmon.com.

Action Engineering to the Fore in Ship Repair

8 August 11

Transport Wholesale Dunedin customer Action Engineering have completed permanent repairs on the container ship Maersk Dabou after an impressive temporary repair in June …

After a dramatic collision with a wharf in Port Chalmers, Action Engineering was contacted to make urgent temporary repairs to allow the vessel to depart port on schedule.

The collision was said to be very dramatic, creating a great cloud of concrete dust and leaving a large hole, big enough for someone to walk through.

Staff and contractors worked around the clock removing and replacing damaged steelwork from the ships side, and from within the fuel tank, before a 100% ultrasonic inspection of all welds was completed by a technical survey team.

The Maersk Dabou’s owners’ Oltman Line were so impressed with the result of the temporary repair they offered Action Engineering the opportunity to complete the final and full repair on the ship upon its next visit.

Transport Wholesale’s Dunedin branch and territory sales representative’ Nick Jenner was actively involved 24 hours on-call supporting Action Engineering during the repair.

“We were active throughout the repair providing welding equipment and specialised and general welding consumables” said Nick.

“The weather was certainly no help to the Action Engineering team with very high-winds making an already challenging task more so. We’re certainly grateful to have been involved in another project where Action Engineering have had such great success.”

Action Engineering, based in Dunedin, was founded in 1991 dedicated to providing innovative solutions for engineering projects, in a safe and effective manner.

Action Engineering delivers a wide range of engineering services to the industrial, construction, transport and marine industries. The company is regularly engaged in civil and mechanical projects involving treatment processes for water and waste water, for both the domestic New Zealand market, and for export.

Combining the resources of our two Dunedin workshops, Action Engineering offers over 2100 square metres of covered workshop space, serviced with overhead cranes from 1,000kg to 10,000kg capacity.

Transport Wholesale’s Dunedin branch and territory sales representative’ Nick Jenner was actively involved 24 hours / 7 days supporting Action Engineering during the repair.

To find out more about Action Engineering visit their website: www.action-engineering.co.nz

Branch Upgrades A-Plenty

5 August 11

Transport Wholesale is pleased to announce several new branch upgrades.

In July the new Wiri branch (pictured) and national filter store became fully operational at 153 Kerrs Road supporting a fast-growing South Auckland marketplace. In another related development the old premises of this branch will make way for a major new Transpecs industry training facility targeted for a September opening.

In other movements the Wellington team has moved to a renovated shared site with Goughs CAT on 48 Seaview Road providing a vastly more accessible and higher profile location. In a similar move, the Pukekohe branch will relocate onto the corner of Manukau Road and Nelson Street in late August 2011.

For an industry always on the move we are always close by - click here for our locations.

Customer Profile: Fraser Engineering

1 May 11

Today Fraser Engineering Group is one of the leading manufacturers & refurbishers of fire and rescue vehicles, and a leading light in automotive and transport engineering in the lower North Island.

Wellington-based Fraser Engineering Group had its beginnings in 1953 when John Fraser started a business at home built on his technical expertise and with a vision of the role that computer technology would play in the future. It is from this foundation that the Fraser Engineering Group has grown to be the number one in its field in the lower North Island and New Zealand.

A major division within the Fraser Engineering Group is Fraser Fire & Rescue. This specialist vehicle manufacturing team has a comprehensive knowledge in the building of fire and rescue vehicles and has worked on the manufacture of over 200 vehicles.

Fraser Fire & Rescue customize a wide range of vehicles including aircraft servicing vehicles, portable water tankers, specialist Police dog units, powder tankers and mobile emergency lighting units. The range of fire appliances manufactured includes light, medium and heavy pumping appliances, compressed air foam system pumping units, industrial pumping appliances and airport fire and rescue vehicles.

Refurbishment of fire and rescue vehicles and fuel tankers is also undertaken, together with specialist aluminium and stainless steel fabrication.

The experience of the staff runs to the production of over 100 fire fighting units since the late 1980s, approximately 50% being heavy urban pumpers predominantly in service in Australia and New Zealand. Fraser Engineering Group regards its staff as one of its greatest assets and it is proud of its low staff turnover and team spirit. High emphasis is placed on staff input and satisfaction. Because of its ability to attract and keep high calibre experienced people, the combined pool of engineering expertise, knowledge and experience is second to none in the New Zealand manufacturing sector.

The asset base of the Fraser Engineering Group includes the very latest in engineering technology, and this places them in the unique and enviable position of having the greatest pool of advanced engineering and design technology and expertise at its disposal of any fire appliance building manufacturer in the South Pacific.

Fraser Engineering was the first company in Wellington to invest in computerised machine tools, and continues to set the standard. The comprehensive range of plant and machinery includes the fastest state-of-the-art computerised milling and turning technology available in the world, as well as computerised sheet metal technology including turret punching, laser cutting and folding machine tools.

Fraser Engineering offers a wide range of additional services including precision and production componentry machining, specialised and production sheet metal fabrication, automotive and transport engineering, and powder-coating and electroplating services. The Group also produces its own range of fire fighting and waterway equipment.

The Fraser Engineering Group is a customer-focussed organisation which is proud of its reputation for integrity, excellence and teamwork.

Transport Wholesale is proud of our association with Fraser Engineering Group as a key customer to our Wellington branch and grateful for our partnership with an industry-leading innovator.

Transport Wholesale provides quality transport equipment, workshop, lighting and electrical solutions to Fraser Engineering Group.

Visit Fraser Engineering online at: www.fraser.org.nz

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next