58 | Repair services reflect heritage Cen Eng undertakes such local infrastructure projects as large irrigation dams and hydro installations, including log and tail-pipe replacements, valve maintenance, and lifting gantry design and installation. SOREC - Cen Eng T T Hugh de Lacy ENGINEERING For a rural engineering company based in the Central Otago village of Omakau, Cen Eng comes with an unusually high level of design capacity, thanks to co-owner Steve Hore’s background as a chartered engineer. “That’s our point of difference, and it enables us to handle compliance work and a whole range of complex projects,” Steve says. With a staff of 11, including Steve and wife Kim, Cen Eng – it stands for Central Engineering – undertakes such local infrastructure projects as large irrigation dams and hydro installations, including log and tail-pipe replacements, valve maintenance, and lifting gantry design and installation. “We also make a variety of products with a focus on farming – things like hay feeders, silage grabs, grain trailers, loader-mounted skip bins, pivot crossings and self-cleaning screens. Then there are our irrigation gates, open-channel flow meters and intake flow-control solutions, not to mention products for electrical infrastructure companies, such as lifting devices, trestles and cable trailers,” he says. “But it’s our repair services, especially to machinery with an agricultural application, that are the core of our business - they reflect our heritage. We’ve got a lot of really skilled tradesmen able to work on pumps, hydraulics, site work and both heavy and light welding. “Fixing machinery helps us design better products because we see where the failures can happen, and our purpose statement is ‘keeping the community running’.” Cen Eng’s Omakau workshop is particularly well set up with no fewer than four lathes, three drills and a mill. It has MIG, TIG and arc welders, and can perform cutting or gouging with gas or air, while the CNC plasma cutter can cut steel plate up to 40mm thick. The 160t press brake is three metres long and NC-controlled, while other workshop items include a large hydraulic press, a roll former and a punch-and-shear machine. There are four 4WD service trucks all set up with welder-generators and gas, ready to race to any in-the-field problem, while six-metre flat-deck trailers ensure everything is transportable. Cen Eng has been around since the 1950s, when Jimmy Janmink established it as the Central Implement Exchange, later re-labelled as Central Otago Engineering Services when Ian Rietveld acquired it in the 1990s. Kim and Steve Hore gave the company another name change, to Central Engineering, when they took it over in 2013. Agriculture has remained the central focus of the company, more so since centre-pivot irrigators sprouted throughout dry Central Otago, giving Cen Eng further capacity for its design and repair functions. The pastoral industries have been going through a rough patch, but the centre-pivots brought widespread arable farming to the high plains, and the need for repairs to agricultural machinery and irrigation infrastructure have kept the company steadily busy through it all. Steve says Cen Eng is passionate about its farming connections and is constantly looking at ways to offer further support to them. “We view our role as keeping the agricultural industries working by being there when we’re needed,” he says. WHAT WE DON’T KNOW ISN’T WORTH KNOWING 117 Clyde St, Invercargill 0800 723 100 | admin@southernbolts.co.nz www.southernbolts.co.nz • Bolt & Nuts • Masonry Bolts • Socket Products • Threaded Rods • Rivets • Screws • Self Drillers • Bolt Assortments • Stainless Steel Fasteners & Hardware • Hinges & Gate Fittings • SDS Multi-fit Masonry Drills • Drill, Taps & Die Nuts • Teng Tools SUPPORT YOUR 100% OWNED & OPERATED SHOP Proud to support Cen Eng Ltd 0800 000 144 • www.duroweld.co.nz Proud to support Cen Eng Ltd • Welding Machines • Consumables • Gas Gear & Accessories NZ’s Cutting and Welding Specialists, we’ve got you covered.
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