40 | REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Westland: Westco Lumber Mill’s timber prized by furniture makers Kim Newth Operating at Ruatapu, south of Hokitika, is one of the few independent sawmills still milling commercial timber on the West Coast. Westco Lumber Limited’s mill has been in operation for more than 50 years and credits much of its success to its loyal, skilled workforce. Quality wood products milled at Ruatapu are trucked to Westco Lumber’s site in Wainoni, Christchurch for further processing and distribution throughout New Zealand and beyond. The mill’s raw material is pruned radiata logs, sourced from local and regional forests and used to produce appearance grade pine products. Timber from the mill is prized by joiners and furniture makers alike for its light colour, low proportion of pith, and lack of resin pockets. Westco has long been focussed on purchasing logs from FSC certified forests, which promote responsible forestry management. Westco Lumber Ltd employs 90 staff, with the bulk of the workforce employed at Ruatapu. The sawmill is a key local employer for Hokitika and the Westland district. A close, collegial workplace culture has developed over the years, encouraged by initiatives such as a profit-sharing scheme for staff and proactive support for learning and development. “We have five apprenticeships on site at the moment across various roles including timber machining, saw doctoring and wood processing,” says team leader Nathan Hoglund. “Westco Lumber see training as a win-win situation as if we can continually upskill our people, they are more likely to be engaged and motivated and the training also helps the understanding of downstream processes and how individuals’ actions affect other people and processes. People are also more likely to be retained as they build their confidence and progress their careers.” In conjunction with an outside provider, Conquest Training, Westco Lumber rolled out a learning programme across their site - and tailored to individual need - in late 2019/early 2020. Westco received the Skills Highway Award at the 2020 Diversity Awards, in acknowledgement of this invaluable initiative to reinvigorate their culture of learning. “Everyone got a lot out of it and found it very helpful – it was very well-received.” Nathan believes the company’s flat structure feeds into its success with people working together to ensure customers are consistently supplied with high quality timber products – in full, on time and in spec. With leaders working alongside operators to fill in gaps and cover absences, morale and culture is boosted through teamwork and this also builds a better overall understanding of the business. “We’ve had some trying times in the past and have managed well to get through and I do think that’s because we have such a great diverse and skilled team of people. When the times get challenging, everyone in the company helps to do what needs to be done.” As well as being a good local employer, Westco Lumber is having a wider economic impact with its activities producing spinoffs for transport operators, logging contractors and other local businesses. The company is also producing export dollars for New Zealand, with its products exported to Australia, the US, Asia and Europe. “Japan is another market that has opened up for us over the last couple of years. We’re comparatively small in scale; rather than being volume-focussed, we are a niche producer and able to be quite selective with our markets. The biggest challenge right now is how to keep product moving, given the issues currently around shipping. It’s a problem we share with many other industries.” The Ruatapu mill is an old workhorse, kept in good working order by Westco’s maintenance crew. Around seven truckloads of logs are processed through this mill every day. Westco Lumber is a major employer in Hokitika with 90 staff, the bulk of the workforce employed at Ruatapu. www.forkliftschristchurch.co.nz Proud to be associated with Westco Lumber • New Forklifts • Pre-owned Forklifts • Forklift Hire or Lease • Forklift Servicing Phone: 03 348 2060 55a Seadown road, Washdyke, Timaru 709 Halswell Junction Road, Islington, CHCH
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