56 | Quinn Engineering ENGINEERING Sourcing genuine electrical parts others can’t or won’t. With over 35 years of global expertise, we deliver precision solutions fast. For 24/7 Service: Call Dave Watts We Source, Worldwide ... P r o u d t o b e a s s o c i a t e d w i t h Q u i n n E n g i n e e r i n g Your one stop shop for Value-Added Offerings in Electronics and Software We specialise in providing cutting-edge technology solutions that transform industries and improve operational efficiency. Mobile & Web App Development Product Design Contract Manufacturing & Testing IoT Solutions Product Certification Custom electronics Let’s Talk 09 419 6474 info@elex.co.nz www.elex.co.nz 33 Coles Crescent, PO Box 72-016, Papakura 2244 T 09 299 6596 E reception@robbix.co.nz • Business Advisors • Rural Specialists • Chartered Accountants Proud to be associated with George Grant Engineering Ltd. George Grant Engineering Lifting the profile of New Zealand-made T T Hugh de Lacy Aiming to be the ‘standard of steel’ T T Kelly Deeks It started as an agricultural engineering company on the Hauraki Plains in 1963, but in the 60-odd years since, Quinn Engineering has come to specialise in the manufacture and installation of residential and commercial passenger lifts, while continuing to serve its farmer clients. Quinn Engineering is part of RMZ Holdings, a group of companies that includes New Zealand Manufacturing, whose purpose in life is to see more products manufactured in New Zealand – with Quinn’s lift manufacturing a case in point. NZ Manufacturing and its sister company, RMZ Holdings, are among the businesses owned by Mat Still, and it was through these two companies that he acquired Quinn Engineering two years ago. “My main focus in business is to see products that would otherwise be imported from overseas being built here in New Zealand, and lifts are a good example,” Mat says. “Of course we have to import some materials from overseas, but we get them in more or less their raw state, and employ New Zealand skills, technology and manufacturing capacity to produce goods that are wholly New Zealand-made. “At Quinn Engineering we’ve designed and are manufacturing three types of lift for house and light commercial applications. We sell them direct and install them throughout the country, with our own crews travelling from site to site with the lifts in either a truck or on a trailer, and they assemble them on-site. “We have our own qualified carpenter for the minor work involved in installing the lower-rise lifts, but if we need additional construction work – say, cutting through an exterior wall to give access to our outside lift – we engage a local builder, but otherwise we like to manage the whole process ourselves.” The first of the Quinn Engineering models is a low-rise lift designed for wheelchairs and outdoor use, raising them up to 1.5m. It has a 1.2m x 1.5m floor, and the major customers for it are the Ministry of Health and the Accident Compensation Corporation, who supply them to disabled or injured patients. George Grant Engineering is holding firm in a softening construction market, proving its strength in steel goes well beyond the structures it delivers. The Auckland-based company has built a strong reputation over the past 35 years for structural steel fabrication and installation across commercial, industrial, and infrastructure projects, combining large-scale, in-house capability with a practical, solutions-focused approach. General manager and director Janani Grant says the business continues to invest in the standards that matter most, even during a downturn. “We focus on the non-cost attributes of the business, being Health & Safety, quality, environmental management, and sustainability,” Janani says. “Even through the downturn of the last two years, we have not reduced our investment in those areas. They are too important to compromise.” That commitment starts with Health & Safety in an industry where risk management is critical every day. George Grant Engineering runs a Health & Safety committee, which meets monthly and is comprised of staff at all levels of the business, from apprentices to management. The three directors rotate their attendance to ensure one director is always present, and can make decisions on the spot, as well as keeping the rest of the board well-informed. Committee members are encouraged to take an active part in discussions and bring forward any issues raised by their fellow workers. Workers can also provide anonymous feedback through QR codes placed in the workshop and on-site. “We focus on the non-cost attributes of the business, being Health & Safety, quality, environmental management, and sustainability.” The company has also strengthened wellbeing support, with staff completing Site Safe mental health first aid training, and management maintaining an open-door culture. Janani’s own story reflects the company’s long-term culture. He joined as an apprentice more than two decades ago and worked through multiple departments before becoming one of the owners three and a half years ago, when he and his business partners purchased the company from the original shareholders. “This business has always had a big focus on its people and looking after them,” he says. That professional development is evident across the leadership team. The estimating director is nearing 18 years with the business, while the production manager has been with the company for five years, after being recruited during Janani’s earlier management years. George Grant Engineering now employs about 50 staff and operates from a purpose-built Papakura facility with modern fabrication equipment and production capacity of up to 300 tonnes per month. Its project portfolio includes some of the country’s most recognised developments, with work completed on Commercial Bay, Westfield Newmarket, Sylvia Park expansion works, Auckland Airport projects, hospitals, schools, rail stations, industrial facilities, retirement villages, and Pacific Island developments. The second model, with platform sizes up to 1.4m x 1.4m, is a through-floor lift that can go up to four levels, which suits houses and commercial premises. Then there is the outdoor lift, which is attached to the exterior of a building rising up to 3.6m through two levels, and has applications from private homes to large commercial buildings. Quinn Engineering, with a staff today of 20, was established by the Quinn family of the Hauraki Plains, and manufactured tractor-mounted implements like forklifts and bale grabs, so the later focus on lifts was not that big a switch. The plant sits on a 9000sqm site served by 1200sqm of factory and office space at Kerepehi, 20 minutes from Paeroa. It still manufactures such farm-related products as agricultural and horticultural equipment handlers, while also serving the industrial market with the likes of pallet inverters and scissor lifts. “The key theme to everything we do is that it’s got to be Kiwi-made,” Mat says. The first of the Quinn Engineering models is a low-rise lift designed for wheelchairs.
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