| 47 T T Hugh de Lacy Sourcing NZ staff a challenge for firm MPF Engineering specialises in heavy steel fabrication with a full-time staff of 15. ENGINEERING MPF Engineering STEEL · STAINLESS · PLATE & COIL PROCESSING Full Material Traceability Systems Industry Leading Processing Capability Comprehensive Range of Stock Responsive Processing Capability Quality Assurance “In Full and On Time” Delivery Promise ll i l ili I i i ili i i i ili Quality Assurance I ll i li i www.vulcan.co l A member of the Horizon Energy Group 0800 536 774 0800 KEMPPI sales@gwsnz.co.nz • Mig, Tig, Arc & Plasma Machines • Complete Range of Consumables • Safety Gear, Gas & Abrasives • Welder Repair Service Centre globalweldingsupplies.co.nz A background of working on geothermal projects, including the mining of liquid natural gas in Australia, was what qualified Jacob Ryburn to launch his own engineering company, MPF Engineering, on his return to New Zealand in 2016 from an extended overseas stint. After starting out as a sole operator doing a range of engineering jobs in the Bay of Plenty agricultural sector, Jacob founded MPF Engineering in Mount Maunganui in 2019, initially focusing on kiwifruit and dairy refrigeration services. He and the company would later go on to find their niche in the heavy steel fabrication industry, and settle into a home depot on Fifteenth Avenue in Tauranga. Most of the company’s work since its shift there has been in the Bay of Plenty area, but it has also completed work for clients as far away as the South Island and Australia. The establishment of the Tauranga facility allowed for more workshop-based projects to be undertaken in house, with MPF Engineering boasting a 500m2 workshop sited on an 1800m2 block of land. The workshop has an eight-metre roof stud, with 4.5m x 6m doors front and back, and a five-tonne overhead gantry crane. MPF Engineering has a full-time staff of 15, backed up by a tried and true team of sub-contractors as needed. A recent addition to the workshop’s plant, and still in the process of being integrated into its day-to-day operations, is K-Tig machinery touted as a productivity multiplier in that it welds thicker materials faster, and to a higher quality standard, than other systems. K-tig can be integrated into most types of welding automation componentry, including positioners, rotators, headstocks, tailstocks, turning rolls, column and boom manipulators, longitudinal steamers, buggies, carriages and robots. Developed by Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), it’s intended to give MPF Engineering a leg-up in the pipe and pressure-welding services it offers to especially the stainless steel and pulp and paper industries. A key to the company’s success has been the a broad range of qualifications of its staff, from New Zealand and overseas welding certifications to degree-level tertiary qualifications in drafting and mechanical engineering project management and quantity surveying. The company has invested in the future by employing several apprentices now in the latter stages of their time. MPF Engineering’s biggest challenge in these post-Covid times is sourcing New Zealand staff. “Trained New Zealand engineers generally demonstrate a broader set of skills and experience across a range of industries,” Jacob says. “Some overseas trained engineers coming through have been fantastically skilled but are highly specialized in one particular area, and that can be a disadvantage when our work takes in a range of industries requiring the ability to demonstrate a broader experience and adaptability.” The re-opening of international borders has seen dozens of New Zealand-trained engineers and tradespeople heading overseas to make their fortunes, making it “hard to find employees for a multitude of roles from fitter-welders to high-level management,” Jacob says. What may help is that MPF Engineering recently achieved accredited employer status which allows it to seek skilled engineers overseas, helping it reverse some of the outward flow. The company has plenty of work on, though Jacob says forecasting large projects “is hard, given the precarious global economic situation, but we are continuing to tender for cool projects as they arise.”
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