| 13 Northland: Silver Fern Farms - Dargaville Fostering a family culture that embraces teamwork, the Dargaville plant is colloquially referred to as ‘Plant Whanau’. REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Call 0800 800 108 or 06 843 7300 or see www.fireandsafetytraining.co.nz 99 Niven Street, Napier email: napier@fastltd.co.nz Fire & Safety Training Courses include: Fire Extinguisher Training / Fire Warden Training Breathing Apparatus Training / Confined Space & Gas Detection Training First Aid in the Workplace Training / Working at Height Training Permit to work & Haz ID / Elevated Work platforms Unit standard based NZQA approved Training Courses ¨-kU k- ژ w% ژ kk ¨ ¾UÝ- ژ °kžUw°ِ U¾ ټ ° ژ ژ uuU¾u-w¾ ژ Þ- ژ °O ¨-ِ ÞǚƷȄ ژ ɲȏɓ ټ ȵƷ ژ ƷɱȲȏȵɋǠȄǒ ژ ɋȏ ژ ǒǹȏƨƌǹ ژ ȂƌȵǵƷɋȽً ژ ɲȏɓ ژ ȄƷƷư ژ ƌ ژ ȽɓȲȲǹɲ ژ ƩǚƌǠȄ ژ ȽȏǹɓɋǠȏȄȽ ژ ȲƌȵɋȄƷȵ ژ ɬǠɋǚ ژ ƷɱȲƷȵǠƷȄƩƷ ژ ȂƌȄƌǒǠȄǒ ژ ɋǚƷ ژ ɓȄǠȴɓƷ ژ ƩǚƌǹǹƷȄǒƷȽ ژ ȏǑ ژ wƷɬ ژ îƷƌǹƌȄư ټ Ƚ ژ ȲȵǠȂƌȵɲ ژ ƷɱȲȏȵɋȽِ ژ hȏɋƌǚǠ ژ ɬȏȵǵȽ ژ ɬǠɋǚ ژ ǠȄưɓȽɋȵɲ ژ ȲƌȵɋȄƷȵȽ ژ ɋȏ ژ ƩȵƷƌɋƷ ژ ƌǒǠǹƷ ژ ƌȄư ژ ȽɓȽɋƌǠȄƌƨǹƷ ژ ƷɱȲȏȵɋ ژ ȽȏǹɓɋǠȏȄȽ ژ ɋǚƌɋ ژ ƷȄȽɓȵƷ ژ wƷɬ ژ îƷƌǹƌȄư ژ ƷɱȲȏȵɋƷȵȽ ژ ȵƷǹǠƌƨǹɲ ژ ǒƷɋ ژ ɋǚƷǠȵ ژ ȲȵȏưɓƩɋ ژ ɋȏ ژ ȂƌȵǵƷɋِ ژ ¾ǚƌɋ ټ Ƚ ژ ɬǚɲ ژ °ǠǹɫƷȵ ژ FƷȵȄ ژ FƌȵȂȽً ژ ƷȄɋȵɓȽɋȽ ژ hȏɋƌǚǠ ژ ɋȏ ژ ȂƌȄƌǒƷ ژ ɋǚƷǠȵ ژ Ʃƌȵǒȏ ژ ɋȏ ژ ƌǹǹ ژ ȏǑ ژ ɋǚƷǠȵ ژ ǠȄɋƷȵȄƌɋǠȏȄƌǹ ژ ȂƌȵǵƷɋȽِ ¾ȏ ژ ǑǠȄư ژ ȏɓɋ ژ ǚȏɬ ژ hȏɋƌǚǠ ژ ƩƌȄ ژ ȽɓȲȲȏȵɋ ژژ ɲȏɓȵ ژ ƨɓȽǠȄƷȽȽ ژ ƩȏȄɋƌƩɋ ژ ɓȽ ژ ƌɋ ژ ǠȄǑȏ ۮ ǵȏɋƌǚǠِƩȏِȄɼِ ǵȏɋƌǚǠِƩȏِȄɼ day there was a focus on throughput. What we’re now saying is you cannot have high production when people are being injured or the quality is poor. It’s about delivering in full, on time and in spec.” Two frequently said mantras underpins the plant’s focus on quality, maintaining high standards and exceeding customer expectations – ‘Production done safely to a high standard’, and ‘The standard you walk past is the standard you accept.’ Essentially it means if you are willing to let it go without comment it will become the prevailing standard. “We’re here to exceed our customers’ expectations and the quality outputs we have are now in line with our KPIs. We educated our management team better, engaged our staff on what our customers use our products for so they had a better understanding themselves. “We spend an enormous amount of money on training people. All our management team has come from the floor. “ In the past the company has run numeracy and literacy programmes, and a number of staff have taken the opportunity to learn Te Reo Māori, while other staff learned budgeting. Through budgeting assistance provided by the plant a number of staff have been able to purchase their own homes.” Fostering a family culture that embraces teamwork, the Dargaville plant is colloquially referred to as ‘Plant Whanau’. Of the 303 waged staff, 210 are males and 93 females. While most live locally in Dargaville, about 20 travel from Whangarei each day. About forty percent of the New Zealand workers are Māori, twenty five percent Pacific Islanders and the rest a mix of Filipino and New Zealand Europeans. In addition to a significant contribution to the region’s economy through wages and salaries, the plant has a policy of maximising the local spend through its purchasing policy. “Along with many other businesses, Silver Fern Farms is respected in the community,” says Laurie. “We also do a lot of sponsorships with local farming events, local schools and sporting activities, and we are the major sponsor of Sports Northland.”
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