46 | DAIRY INDUSTRY Oceania Dairy A bright future at Oceania from page 44 A lot of the work is highly automated from inside a control room using Human Machine Interface (HMI) technology After six months of that Thomas was offered the opportunity to take a 6-month secondment as a supervisor. Thomas was only 18 when he was offered this opportunity, nine and a half months out of school — quite some achievement and clearly an affirmation of the esteem his managers held him in. “It was definitely challenging, but it was also a privilege to be offered the opportunity at such a young age. “At the conclusion of the secondment, I opted to take a permanent 2IC role, learning the other plant in the control room that runs milk treatment. “The end goal in the milk treatment plant is to make very high quality milk, ready to put through the evaporators and dryer. “I also manage the milk reception, which is the tankers coming into the plant, ingredient tipping and management, separation of raw milk into skim and cream outloads to Hokitika and Rolleston. “The majority of this is controlled through HMI automation.” Along with the other process operators, Thomas and his team work closely with the electrical team, the mechanical team and the automation team to quickly diagnose and resolve issues as they arise, and to know next time the same issue arises. Along with Thomas’s on-the-job training Oceania has also put him through about 20 non-plant courses. These have covered areas including first aid, confined spaces, permit issue and receiving, chemical handling, quality training, fire warden, his forklift license, working at heights and incident investigation. “Working for Oceania has exceeded my expectations. I had no real idea about all the different departments, roles and processes and everything in the background that makes the whole place operate. “My immediate goal is to master my current role. After that I want to progress to a full supervisors role. “I can see myself at ODL for a long time because of the friendly homely vibe. “The biggest thing for me when I first started was the emphasis on food safety and quality. “I just found it so incredible that we make food for babies — the most vulnerable people in the world with the weakest immune system. “It is all about personal hygiene, how to clean the plant properly so there are no bugs, the way swabbing works in the plant. “It’s a good day in the office when you make the perfect product for babies.” www.spark.co.nz 0800 426 528 OCEANIA DAIRY
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