54 | ENGINEERING Active VMA Proud to be a key partner and supplier to Active VMA 32 Crooks Road, Auckland 0800 497 732 ENGINEERING MOTION SOLUTIONS Stefan Joseph 021 452 685 stefansmj@outlook.co.nz Michelle Joseph 021 105 2685 michellesmj@outlook.co.nz Abrasives • Power tools • Safety/PPE Products • Hand Tools • Cutting Tools PROUDLY SUPPORTING ACTIVE VMA CALL US TODAY! Consistency key for fit-out specialists Active VMA specialises in customising small to medium heavy vehicles, working nationwide with customers in construction, roading, forestry, agriculture and land clearing. T T Nick Walker “We do the calculations to make sure what they want to do is within the legal limits of that vehicle. If it doesn’t fit, we can talk to the truck dealer to see what other suitable trucks are out there and recommend a truck for that use.” At Active VMA, vehicle customisation is about more than making a vehicle fit for a particular job – it’s about customising a base vehicle correctly for the job it needs to do, not only developing a solution that works properly, but also reproducing it consistently across an entire fleet. The Rotorua-based business specialises in customising small to medium heavy vehicles, working nationwide with customers in construction, roading, forestry, agriculture and land clearing. That can mean fitting out a mobile service vehicle with cranes, toolboxes and workbenches, or modifying excavators and mulchers to meet operational and safety requirements. For fleet operators, the advantage is the consistency of having the fit-for-purpose tool for the job. Rather than having different branches develop their own individual (and differing) solutions, Active VMA can design a fit-out, document it and reproduce it across multiple vehicles as the fleet grows or is replaced. “We create one set of plans so you won’t have to work it out next time. You just say ‘I want another one of those’ and it’s done,” says director, James Styles. It may not always be the cheapest option, he says, but it will be a higher-quality product and it will reduce the administration and uncertainty that comes with repeatedly developing new specifications. That consistency is particularly valuable when safety and compliance are critical and need to be consistent across your fleet. For example, AI reversing cameras that can identify if a person is behind a vehicle are increasingly standard on the company’s builds. Active VMA has more than 25 years of experience behind it, growing from a one-person workshop into an industry leader with more than 55 staff. With so much experience, it’s not often they come across genuinely new specification requirements. “Usually we’ll have something that’s pretty close and it’s just a case of tweaking it around the edges to tailor-make it to what they need,” James says. The company’s drawing office uses a modularised approach, allowing its five draughtsmen to combine proven components and materials from previous builds, rather than starting from scratch. James says those rare occasions when a customer wants something they haven’t seen before are exciting challenges. Even if it’s unique, they can draw inspiration from customisations they have seen work before. “We might say we haven’t quite done it that way, but we’ve done this for something similar, and we know it’ll do the job.” That accumulated knowledge also helps ensure the finished vehicle is fit for purpose in all aspects. James says Active VMA considers mass, dimensions, axle capacities and other vehicle characteristics as standard when putting a quote together. “We do the calculations to make sure what they want to do is within the legal limits of that vehicle. If it doesn’t fit, we can talk to the truck dealer to see what other suitable trucks are out there and recommend a truck for that use.” The business has also invested heavily in systems to make that expertise more repeatable. An in-house software developer supports automated workflows from the drawing office through to manufacture, helping the company manufacture consistently and efficiently. Put simply, James says the business has the complete combination of experience, engineering capability and consistency for any vehicle customisation.
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