52 | Roadrunner Manufacturing MANUFACTURING SPECTRUM COATING Industrial & Domestic Powder Coating & Abrasive Blasting Ph 06 349 0152 021 891 880 433 Heads Road, Wanganui sales@spectrumcoating.co.nz Proudly supporting Roadrunner Manufacturing Roadrunner Manufacturing produces a diverse range of bespoke products. T T Sue Russell “When you operate in a small town, and you’ve been in business so long, you see a lot of those apprentices now operating their own companies and it’s a great feeling to think their journey started here.” Any business that can look back on a journey extending over 50 years has learnt to adapt to market demands and shift with the times. Such is the case with engineering business Roadrunner Manufacturing, based in Bulls. Starting out by focusing on the manufacture and installation of auxiliary tanks to the motor industry, co-owner/operator Nick Webster says it’s in the last 20 years that the company really began to diversify. “We really started to offer a bit of everything though the focus is on bespoke manufacturing as opposed to being a jobbing shop. We’ve also really endeavoured to be abreast of technologies,” says Nick who co-owns the business with Partner Becs Toulmin and Matt and Gemma Avery. Nick says the strength of the business rests with the capabilities of the experienced team. He says through the years a significant number of apprentices have gained valuable engineering skills. “When you operate in a small town, and you’ve been in business so long, you see a lot of those apprentices now operating their own companies and it’s a great feeling to think their journey started here.” Currently, the team includes three apprentices. Nick says it’s a strong ethos in the business to make opportunities for keen new people to enter the world of engineering, and given the range of projects that arrive on the workshop floor, it’s a rich learning environment. “We also have high school students work with us one day a week and it’s an ideal introduction to what full working life is like. It also gives them the chance to discover whether this work is what they really enjoy and want to make a career out of.” As the business has evolved, roles within it have shifted. Nick says this is a natural consequence of growing and is a good thing. “My role is now off the workshop floor engaged in overseeing company structure, governance and strategy along with anything I can be of help with, whilst we all have our roles we work best as a team.” Recently due to growth within a separate machinery selling side of the company spearheaded by Matt Avery, the company launched Precision Machine Technology (PMT)in February this year. Based in Palmerston North PMT specialises in the importation, service and sales of workshop equipment including waterjets, lasers, lathes and saws to name but a few. The Roadrunner workshop operates on a four x ten-hour day, first trialled late last year, and Nick says this was very much a change the team wanted. “We find it works well given the nature of our projects, that extra time each day is a real resource and with an extended weekend gives our team a well-earned rest. “ The decision to operate the four days would only work with the full buy-in of the team, and if there’s any extra work that happens to come in, then Friday is always still available as overtime.” Outside of Roadrunner’s core products the company specialises in unique, one-off fabrication projects and enjoys nothing more than the challenges that come with creating a bespoke piece of equipment for a customer’s unique needs. “Our team can produce a wide range of custom aluminium products outside of the usual scopes of size and shape, and our specialist CNC machines and modern fabrication tools allow us to work with accuracy on complex designs.” Nick’s a great believer in the value of the engineering sector in this country. It’s importance, he says, can be overlooked. “There isn’t much that happens that doesn’t involve engineering in some form or another and I think it is important that engineering businesses strive to support each other and are always looking to improve quality and striving to be better.” Adapting to changing market
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