50 | ENGINEERING Atlantic Engineering Co Ltd T T Richard Loader Innovative firm celebrates 50 years Atlantic Engineering specialises in structural steel projects. Contact Edward 021 02628444 Email Address Edward@steelprodrafting.co.nz Proudly Supporting Atlantic Engineering Co Ltd A half a century in business, providing employment and contributing to the local economy, is something to be immensely proud of and that is exactly what South Auckland based Atlantic Engineering Co. Ltd achieved on the 15th of February this year. Atlantic Engineering was founded by Selwyn Jackson in partnership with his previous employer in 1973, and during the fifty years the business has been in operation it has ridden a wave of change and challenges, to become the successful business that it is today. When Atlantic Engineering was founded its focus was on general engineering projects including concrete moulds, conveyors, silos, and steel boats, operating across Auckland and the Waikato region and occasionally into Fiji. When the great recession of 1989 hit, and the broad spectrum of projects were scarce, Atlantic Engineering specialised to focus on building steel boats. Challenged to find willing and skilled labour locally, in 2000 Atlantic Engineering turned to China to recruit the skilled staff required, and turned its attention to working on structural steel projects, which has become its hallmark. The original partnership ceased during the 2009 GFC, and Selwyn’s wife Claire joined the business, with husband and wife becoming 100% shareholders and directors in Atlantic Engineering. Since that time, Atlantic Engineering has continued to go from strength to strength, with a continued focus on structural steel projects. Operating from a 2600 sqm building in Drury, the business has grown from a small general engineering company to a medium sized highly focused quality producer of large and varied steel projects, mainly around the Auckland and Waikato regions. In 2016 Nathan Valdez joined Atlantic Engineering, and now holds the role of General Manager/Director, having recently bought into the business. “We primarily subcontract to construction companies like Naylor Love, who contract directly to the client for the construction of a diverse range of buildings that have a structural steel element,” says Nathan. “We do structural steel projects on most structures from residential beams to largescale commercial structures, multi-storey apartment and school buildings, long-span bridges, and iconic walkway structures. We’re typically given the structural designs to work on, and only prepare the shop drawings. We do all the cutting, fabrication, and welding here in the workshop. Then it usually goes off-site for painting, before going to site for “We do structural steel projects on most structures from residential beams to large-scale commercial structures, multi-storey apartment and school buildings, long-span bridges, and iconic walkway structures.” assembly and erection. For the past years we are balancing that structural work with the seismic strengthening projects.” Atlantic Engineering employs a team of 55 dedicated staff, predominantly from China, India, Bangladesh and the Philippines. While Nathan would love to employ more local staff, he says the current labour market is very tight, and there just isn’t the skilled staff available locally. Skill sets range from project management, quantity surveyor/estimators, quality control, fabricators, welders, operators, and site riggers. “We offer an apprenticeship programme, seeking candidates from pre-trade schools in New Zealand, and we support our staff to cross train and learn new skills. “Our staff can progress from a welder to a welding inspector, or a Quantity Surveyor to Project Manager to Senior Project Manager to Operations Manager.” Nathan acknowledges that with a team of 55 staff, fostering a cohesive work culture is one of the keys to success and says from top management down, establishing a solutions based work culture is the goal. “If one of our team comes up against a problem, we encourage them to identify a solution and propose that to senior management, rather than say I have a problem, how do I fix it? “We encourage a positive working environment where people are happy to come to work and do their best for our clients. “Success always comes from the quality, dedication, and skill sets of the entire team working together within the company. “We owe our success to our dedicated people who always go the extra mile to provide highly consistent, personalized service across the board regardless of the scale.” While the 50-year milestone was achieved in February, celebrations are yet to take place with Claire deep in the planning stages. “It will be an opportunity to launch our 50-year Logo and new uniforms, and to host a dazzling dinner event/ award evening,” says Claire.
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