54 | T T Hugh de Lacy A fun place to work ENGINEERING SOREC Site Weld NZ T T Hugh de Lacy Exploring opportunities Unique in Aotearoa/New Zealand and formed just four years ago, the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) academy is dedicated to exposing young people to the wide range of career opportunities in the sector. It aims to address the persistent staff shortages in the region’s engineering industry. The academy arose from a pilot scheme that in 2021 involved seven students from three schools, resulting in one student starting an engineering apprenticeship and another returning to school and doing the SOREC course again the following year. In 2022, the scheme ballooned to take in more than 30 students from 14 schools, resulting in three studying at a tertiary institution, six taking up engineering apprenticeships and four returning to school to go through the academy course again. SOREC is now running under the umbrella of Business South, the business voice of Otago/Southland. The student numbers at SOREC have remained consistent at that level, and skills partnership manager James Bracewell says the scheme is well on the way to achieving its goals. “We offer high school students an introduction to engineering careers and connect them with our 61 SOREC academy member companies throughout Otago and Southland with the aim of generating a steady source of talent in the industry,” James says. “Our core role is to develop the relationships between the schools and our member If a stranded client rings up Site Weld in Dunedin and asks for Lenny, the staff know what they mean, and soon after, the company’s eight-wheeler Scania heavy transport truck with a Palfinger 42502 crane on its deck rolls up, complete with the skilled staff needed to solve their particular problem. All the vehicles at Site Weld have names and a personality as part of owners Stephanie, Adrian and Chris Olsen’s strategy of making their on-site and workshop engineering and welding service a happy place to work. With 45 staff based in the Dunedin workshop and two more at Ikamatua on the West Coast, Site Weld begs to be different from other engineering companies in the working atmosphere it creates for its staff. “It’s all about our culture, which is steeped in high values that we all live by, and making work a fun place to be,” Stephanie says. About half each of Site Weld’s clients are either on-site or having their work done in the Dunedin workshop, and the industries it services include mining, structural projects, road transport, marine and forestry, with the Ikamatua facility especially involved in mining around nearby Reefton. “We’ve got a big workshop on Willis Street, Dunedin, that’s a one-stop-shop for everything companies. We provide the students with as much experience of the industry as possible and as much hands-on experience as safety allows, and encourage them to look at the wonderful and varied options that engineering has, from welding to programming and the running of high-tech machinery. It’s a means of future-proofing the industry and ensuring the sustainability of engineering here in the south.” The recommended format is students spending a day a week with each of four different companies over a six-week period, giving them experience in different skills and on varied machinery, with the scheme available year-round. The schedule is flexible so it can adjust to different student and company needs. A typical experience of the SOREC programme was that of two students who were last year connected with engineering company Site Weld NZ Ltd and given the opportunity and guidance to build themselves a pizza oven. SOREC was an initiative launched by Gareth Evans, the chief executive of Farra Engineering, who took up his role there in 2017 after a background in high-tech companies in New Zealand, Australia and the United States. SOREC’s first order of business was to provide business development support to prospective companies looking to invest new capital, working with them on their funding applications and positioning them for the best chance of success. It then identified the difficulties companies were having in recruiting and built the SOREC academy around that. you need in terms of welding and engineering. We do all our work in-house,” Stephanie says. While Lenny the Scania is the star, other trucks have names based on the weather, Lightning, Thunder and Tsunami among them. “Naming the trucks started with Lenny, then continued with the weather theme,” she says. Site Weld’s services include preventative maintenance of clients’ plant and fleets, doing full rebuilds and ongoing maintenance for the likes of the heavy transport industry. The company plays predominantly in the mining space, servicing all the country’s precious metal mines. It does not only regular maintenance and heavy fleet welding and repairs and the like, but also supplies product under its ENEX brand. Refuge chambers, EcoLoos and ventilation products are a core business with its mining partners. The forestry and agriculture sectors create a steady demand for maintenance and repair of both trucks and machinery, while other services are supplied across the marine oil and gas sector. The dairy and wine sector in particular call on Site Weld for solutions and innovative ideas for stainless steel and aluminium fabrication, including full re-builds of milk tankers and trailers, full pre-season inspections, repairs and modifications, and winery repairs and maintenance. • Design • CNC Machining • Waterjet Cutting • Press Work • Fabrication • Certified Welding • Site Maintenance • Conveyors / Machinery Manufacturing 26 Orari St, Dunedin 021 042 2300 or 03 456 4283 info@toddengineering.nz Excellence in Engineering Your one-stop engineering workshop 44 Stone Street, Kenmure, Dunedin | 03 453 6650 | info@rietveld.co.nz www.rietveld.co.nz Electric Motors & Reduction Drives • Electrical Components • Hydraulics & Pneumatics • Transmission Sprockets & Chain • Steel & Non Ferrous Metals General Engineering Supplies • Plus much, much more! W. Rietveld (Otago) Ltd ON-SITE FABRICATION & REPAIR - For all your engineering requirements The SOREC academy is dedicated to exposing young people to the wide range of career opportunities in the engineering sector.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=