| 79 Culham Engineering - Tokoroa A key player in North Island economy Culham Engineering specialises in heavy fabrication, coatings, construction, infrastructure, project management, transport and carnage. T T Hugh de Lacy ENGINEERING Culham Engineering’s foundations lie in Whangarei, but the extensive Northland company, which specialises in heavy fabrication, coatings, construction, infrastructure, project management, transport and carnage, has since expanded into the central North Island with plants at Tokoroa and Kawerau. The company is a giant by New Zealand standards, with an available workforce of just under 1000, and between 50 and 60 staff at its Tokoroa and Kawerau workshops, where they predominantly service the forestry, pulp and paper, and energy industries. The Tokoroa heavy fabrication workshop specialises in manufacturing piping, pressure vessels and storage tanks, with one of its main clients being the international forest, paper and packing company Oji Fibre Solutions, owner of the Tokoroa and Kawerau timber mills. Much of the work involves maintenance at the two mills, where Culham Engineering runs a dedicated five-days-a-week maintenance crew for Oji, backed up by a second crew operating 24/7, but the Tokoroa workshop, run by regional manager Mike O’Donoghue, has developed a major capacity designed for the energy and infrastructure sector. It includes a total end-to-end shut-down management capability, which is supported by the Whangarei base. The Kawerau facility, headed by James Nicholls, has developed a solid client base across many sectors, including a close relationship with local iwi Ngati Tuwharetoa, helping to up-skill their young people in the engineering trades. The parent company was formed in Whangarei by the late Dave Culham in 1958 to service the AFFCO Moerewa plant before expanding to workshop facilities, maintenance on the Marsden Point oil refinery, and project work including the marine industry. It is owned by Rob Kirwan, who started a boilermaker-welder’s apprenticeship in the company in 1980, eventually buying into it in 2015, and completing the outright purchase in 2021. The company is based in Whangarei, with a corporate office in Auckland. “These days, we cover the whole of the North Island, and our Tokoroa workshop is geared to offer services from Waikato to Wellington, including the East Coast,” Rob says. “We’ve invested heavily in new technology, and the company is wholly vertically integrated with our own coatings, transport, crane division and sophisticated machinery to increase productivity, and the ability to operate across all facets of the steel sector. “There are lots of good skills in the central North Island, and with the diversity in the types and size of projects we can undertake we are able to expose our staff, and smaller subcontracting companies, to work they otherwise wouldn’t have access to. We’re also very strong on supporting the local community, especially in youth sports including rugby and netball,” he says. The company is ISO-certified for quality, health and safety and environmental practices, and “our whole business is focused on our people, supporting and delivering the highest-quality services to our clients”. The Whangarei factory continues to be a big player in the Northland economy, and the company’s vision is to increase the capacity in the Tokoroa branch so it eventually becomes a major contributor to the central North Island economy. 07 350 2220 indexengineering.co.nz Products & Services: • Technical Support • Mechanical Design • Design Verification • Design Review We are pleased to be working with Culham Engineering Tokoroa NZ’s leading supplier of: • Flanges • Couplings • Valves • Flange Adapters • Dismantling Joints • Pressed Neck Rings (Collars) sales@nzappletons.co.nz 07 886 4118 www.nzappletons.co.nz Both imported & NZ Stock
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