Stevenson Engineering

NEW SOUTH ISLAND BRANCH

admin — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 20:58:07 +0000

Stevenson Engineering have just opened a new branch in Greymouth.

Stevenson provides extensive experience in underground mining machinery service.

Specialising in the service, repair and rebuilding of mobile plant to full compliance levels.

Come in and see Nicholas Bain, our resident expert!

We are located in Omotto road, Kaiata, Greymouth

25 YEARS OF SERVICE

admin — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 01:43:24 +0000

Stevenson Engineering are proud to recognise three of our talaneted staff members reaching 25years of service.

Jason Cancare, Technical Account Manager

Jason Cancare’s 25 year anniversary spans a diverse range of roles from apprentice fitter turner at the Otahuhu workshops; those days travelling by bicycle, through leading hand and machine shop supervisor at East Tamaki workshops—now in his 1935 Chevvy Coupe— the development and marketing of a concrete pump and latterly over the last 6 years as Technical Account Manager for the hydraulic, weld and machine shops covering a territory from North Auckland to New Plymouth. Jason’s top customer is NZ Steel and in conjunction with other senior management at Engineering, he keeps the work rolling in via long standing relationships which have been firmly established with hard work, excellent service and reliability. Jason appreciates the opportunities he has been given to develop his career at Stevenson and has enjoyed the camaraderie and autonomy within his roles.

Margaret Young celebrated 25 years with Stevenson on the 20th January. She joined the company in 1987 when the head office was in Otahuhu and she barely had time to warm her seat before she was whisked off to East Tamaki when both the office and the workshop were relocated in 1988. Margaret has a wealth of memories to draw on from her 25 years during which time she spent 10 years costing jobs for the workshop and the latter 15 years paying their accounts. She’s made some long-lasting friendships and seen many people come and go and, whilst there are too many people in her memory to name, she particularly remembers Accounts Payable Clerk, Bev Montgomery and Office Manager, Ross Andrews, both of whom passed away recently. Some of her fondest memories are of the fun “girls’ days out” on Alan Lendrum’s (Credit Manager) boat, Christmas celebrations where once again “the girls” arrived in style to see a show, dine and dance, and one year, a trip to Lochinver where everyone stayed overnight in the shearers’ quarters. Margaret remembers the days when housekeeping standards were stringently enforced at Head Office; and by the Managing Director no less. Bill Stevenson would often be in the office during the weekend and liked to see everything shipshape and Bristol fashion so if your workstation was disappear-ing under a series of tea spillages and sandwich crumbs, you could be sure to get a gentle reminder on Monday to sort it out. Margaret has learned three different accounting systems in her role and says the most difficult was JDE which proved problematic after a year and was temporarily aborted. She was required to return to the previous system until the problems had been ironed out and then to pick it up again.

Margaret Young, Accounts Payable

Margaret has been happily based at Stevenson Engineering for the last 5 years and says she is getting on with her job these days with the minimum of supervision – seems about right considering her mountain of accumulated knowledge. She says the reason she has stayed with Stevies is the camaraderie she has enjoyed with her workmates over the years, amply illustrated in 2011 when she joined other staff members to train for and compete in the quarter marathon walk across the Auckland Harbour Bridge. She also participated in the Hot Bod competition at Stevenson Engineering and was the lucky winner of the draw for a trip to Sydney in 2012.

Paul (Moose) Sharp, Weld Shop Leading Hand

When I asked Graeme Way, Leading Hand Fitter/ Welder, where I could find Paul Sharp, Leading Hand Fitter/Welder, he looked at me quizzically and said, “Who?”. “Oh”, he said. “Nobody will know him by that name. We have a different name for him here; Harry-have-a-chat.” Moose has been with SEL for 25 years and began his apprenticeship in the Otahuhu workshops. He has an Advanced Trade Certificate and is qualified to be a welding inspector.

Back in 1991 he represented New Zealand at an international youth skills competition in Amsterdam (so he must be pretty damn good), where he was one of 15 competitors in the welding section of the 18 trades competing. Russell Stewart, Supervisor Weld Shop, was very complimentary about Moose; “He does an outstanding job both technically and in managing staff, has a great sense of humour and gets on well with everyone”. Seems Moose has all the bases covered. In his leisure time Moose is an avid off-road racer and this year competed in a Toyota Landcruiser, both as crew and driver for the Hay Brothers team in the Taupo 1000, the longest and toughest off-road race in the southern hemisphere. Teams from NZ, USA, UK and Australia compete in this 1000 km, 2-day event held in the Kaingaroa Forest. Brad Prout, the Australian competitor who won this year’s race had a best lap time around the 50 km track of 30.27 minutes with Moose not far behind that at 48. Moose follows motorsport from his armchair too, particularly the New Zealand Rally Championships and this year has been interested in Glen Goldring’s performance. Whilst some of his time out from being a husband and father is devoted to motorsport, he is also a keen fisherman and surfcaster and uses his carabach base in the Coromandel to compete in competitions around the peninsula. With all that going on, it’s not surprising he has heaps to “chat” about.

FISHING CONTEST A HUGE SUCCESS

admin — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 03:22:30 +0000

The third annual Stevenson Marine Pine Harbour Fishing Contest raised a whopping $10,000. for Canteen this year, with all profits going towards their own Canteen Fishing day. Around 100 entrants participated in the very rewarding competition.

Canteen is a New Zealand organisation that supports young people aged between 13 and 24 who have been diagnosed with cancer. Canteen fishing day is organised by the Pine Harbour Good Bastards Fishing Club and local businessman Paul Capes. Canteen members and their caregivers go out for a days fishing in boats belonging to Stevenson Marine customers. The thrill of such a trip in a tremendous highlight, sometimes a final highlight, for some kids.

Prizes were awarded for snapper, kingfish, trevally, kahawaiand John Dory, along with a mystery weight snapper prize valued at $2,500. All fish were retained by the organisers and auctioned at the completion of prize giving. First prize Snapper was awarded to John Nelson and the Major prize of a trip for four helifishing at Great Barrier Island, valued at $3,500 was taken away by Steve Hack.

Stevenson would like to thank all the sponsors, supporters, and participants for their support and success of the day .

“We’re thrilled with the amount we raised, the contest represents a tremendous effort on the part of Stevenson Engineering Staff. The Money raised will enable young people with cancer to enjoy a days fishing trip at the end of May. This year they will be coming from as far away as Northland and Christchurch to participate.”

Gary Richmond
Account Manager
Stevenson Engineering

SOLID ENERGY NEW ZEALAND

admin — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 21:48:31 +0000

Solid Energy New Zealand develops and supplies natural resource-based products and services both in New Zealand and globally. Previously known as Coal Corporation of New Zealand, it changed its name to Solid Energy New Zealand in 1997. The company is involved in the development, production, processing, and marketing of coal and lignites, as well as products derived from these.

Solid Energy’s Huntly East underground mine is located just north of Huntly township, approximately 100 km south of Auckland.

The Work

Stevenson Engineering was commissioned to refurbish and modernise one of the RH25 roadheaders used in Solid Energy’s Huntly East underground mine. This machine is 12-metres in length and weighs about 24 tonnes. It is explosion-rated and sufficiently robust to be used to cut and collect coal several kilometres underground. As the machine cuts the coal, its ‘gathering’ arms collect it and force it onto a chain conveyor up into the centre of the RH25, which then distributes the coal onto a shuttle car parked underneath.

The rebuild took 12-months with a Stevenson Engineering hydraulic engineer and general mechanic, as well as an engineering welder, working on the job full-time, joined by other specialist staff as required.

One of the challenges was to reduce the width of the machine sufficiently to improve its access to the narrow underground roads of the Huntly East mine. This required re-designing the complete gathering arm system and conveyor drive. The first installation of new hydraulic valve technology involved replacing the manual hand that controlled cutting and travel functions with a fully remote operated pilot system. The upgraded valving enabled better control of the RH25’s functions as well as improving the overall speed of each of the individual functions. The conveyor was substantially altered, lengthening the tail section and ‘goose necking’ it to enable it to be lowered, providing a better range of operation. Goose necking (bending) makes it possible to work with the conveyor in passages with a low head height. This feature required the installation of an extra roller and an upgrade of the tensioning system.

Weekly meetings with the client kept him in touch with the progress of the refurbishment at every step of the way.

How Stevenson Engineering made a difference

Prior to its refurbishment the machine was manually operated. Following its refurbishment the RH25 roadheader is now operated remotely. This delivers improved health and safety benefits to the operator. Previously the operator worked in an open cab three-metres from the coal cutting face. Now the operator can work from a distance of eight to ten metres away. He is therefore less exposed to dust and has better view of what he’s doing.

The result

Refurbishment and modernisation of the RH25 was not only 30 per cent of the price of purchasing a new machine, it enabled Solid Energy to get exactly what they wanted – a machine customised to suit the mine conditions at Huntly East mine. Machines designed and manufactured for mines overseas are often not suited to New Zealand’s typically smaller mines.

Stevenson Engineering also provided a full sign-off procedure on site at the mine, trialling the machine on site before taking it underground and putting Solid Energy operators through a comprehensive risk assessment process and operator training. The operators were also given one-to-one sessions in safety procedures by Stevenson.

“The overhaul and modifications completed by Stevenson Engineering were of a high standard,” says Bryan Clout, Solid Energy Mechanical Project Engineer. “With input from Solid Energy staff, Stevenson managed the task of rebuilding a 28-year-old machine and installing state-of-the-art hydraulics to work in situ with the Pempek remote control system.

“We had minor teething problems as this machine had been totally converted from a full manual control ride-on machine to a total remote control system.

“The RH25 roadheader has been in operation underground now for approximately three months. We are happy with its performance so far and have decided to undergo the overhaul of another roadheader with Stevenson Engineering.”

WESTPAC AUCKLAND CENTRAL BUSINESS AWARDS

admin — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 22:10:30 +0000

Stevenson Engineering scored two prestigious awards in the recent Westpac Auckland Central Business Awards 2011. Category winners were announced at a black-tie gala dinner at the Langham Hotel on November 10.

CEO Tony Coombe’s inspiring leadership was acknowledged with the Excellence in Business Leadership Award, sponsored by Marsh. The company won a second award for Excellence in Service Delivery, sponsored by RSM Prince. Stevenson Engineering was also selected as a finalist in the Workplace Safety Award category.

Co-ordinated by the Auckland Chamber of Commerce, these annual business awards honour and showcase local businesses and people who are outstanding in their fields.

“It’s a huge honour to have won two of the three awards for which we were shortlisted,” says Tony Coombe. “This success is due to a magnificent team effort. It is a tribute to the high calibre and expertise of my staff who have worked hard to get us to this point. We strive to set a high benchmark for quality service without compromising on safety or our sustainability standards.”

The judges of the Excellence in Service Delivery award category said in their comments: “Stevenson Engineering showed a clear customer focus and consistent dedication under all circumstances. The company exhibited a strong service ethic, underpinned by visible service policy, staff training and quality standards.”

The global financial crisis hit three months after Tony Coombe began at Stevenson Engineering. During his time at the helm he has taken the company from being one heavily reliant on its parent group into new markets to the extent that external customers now comprise 75 per cent of its business. He has increased both staff numbers and turnover.

“We were looking for the attributes and characteristics of great leaders, looking for someone who had the commercial edge, a proven track record in sustainability and someone who could lead in good times and bad,” said the judge of the Excellence in Leadership award category. “It was great to visit your workshop and see the respect that your staff had for you, not just because you were the boss, but because you were a great leader. You come across as the quintessential kiwi bloke, understated but doing a great job for your team.”

Leading in tough times was ably demonstrated when Tony Coombe guaranteed job security for six months to staff who signed up voluntarily to the nine-day fortnight scheme in late 2009. This saved 10 jobs, reduced annual leave and resulted in significant savings for the business.

“We work in partnership with our customers. We’re part of a team, with the same goals,” says Tony. “We have enhanced our service offering by taking ownership of our customers’ engineering challenges and coming up with answers that better meet their business needs. A prime example was enabling Solid Energy to have its mining equipment serviced locally by us, rather than sending it to workshops in Australia.”

Solid Energy

richard — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 20:56:16 +0000

Solid Energy is one of New Zealand’s major energy companies, and is also a leading producer of high quality coal for local and export markets. Previously, Solid Energy had been shipping all their mining equipment over to Australia to be serviced and repaired. This was costing them a huge amount, as well as taking up to 18 months before it was returned back into service.

They wanted an alternative solution, so they approached us with a contract for the service, repair and maintenance on their equipment. This included unit rebuilds, as well as modifying and upgrading their underground mining machines.

THE WORK

Stevenson Engineering has been working with Solid Energy since 2004. Since, we have completed several unit rebuilds, modifications and upgrades of large underground mining machines for their Huntly East and West Coast Spring Creek mines.

These machines are stripped back to their core framework for a full assessment, which includes structural testing and dismantling ancillary equipment for evaluation. The final scope of work is then determined and documented.

Once a machine has been stripped down, the electrical control boxes are sent to Australia to be certified. All the welding and mechanical refurbishment is carried out by our tradesmen, and we work with electrical engineers and designers from Solid Energy at various stages of the rebuild. We also have on-site design and certifying engineers for the upgrade stage of each rebuild.

These machines have to be sufficiently robust to operate in highly combustible conditions underground. They vary from four to thirty years in age, and are given a complete overhaul every four years to meet stringent New Zealand and Australian underground mining equipment compliance standards.

Underground mining machines like these clock up 15,000 to 20,000 hours over a four-year period of 24/7 operation and suffer a significant amount of wear and tear, which is why comprehensive servicing is needed regularly.

TIME AND COST-SAVINGS

A typical unit rebuild at our workshop takes 15 staff four to six months, compared to the 12 to 18 months it was taking when the machinery had to be shipped to Australia. By rebuilding with Stevenson Engineering, Solid Energy has been able to achieve substantial savings on cleaning, dismantling and freight costs per machine.

HOW STEVENSON ENGINEERING MADE A DIFFERENCE

OUR EXTENSIVE FACILITIES AND SKILLS

We are one of the few engineering workshops in New Zealand that has generators capable of converting power from 400 to 1000 volts in order to test drive these machines, and our ability to provide diesel engine compliance testing and emission documentation in-house means we save our customer time and money.

Our East Tamaki workshop is also large enough to accommodate these huge machines, and we have a wide range of highly skilled tradesmen capable of carrying out the job from start to finish, all under one roof.

We currently have fitter welders, diesel mechanics, line borers and machinists working on rebuilds or repairs for different items of underground mining equipment for Solid Energy, including a Joy continuous miner and Stamler coal processor, as well as loaders and shuttle cars.

THE RIGHT PROCEDURES IN PLACE

Because underground mining equipment has to adhere to stringent NSW mining standards, one of the strictest in the world, it’s important that we closely follow all procedures and supply detailed and exact documentation when working on these machines.

Full compliance and documentation is provided by us to Solid Energy at every stage, and we have weekly meetings with one of their engineers to report on our progress, with photographs provided.

Once each rebuild is complete, we provide Solid Energy with a comprehensive manual that includes repair instructions, product specifications and full documentation and compliance certifications on all product and materials.

WE GO ABOVE AND BEYOND

We’re not satisfied with just fixing what’s required and doing the bare minimum. Since undertaking the work for Solid Energy, we have taken their concerns and ideas on board to achieve the best outcome wherever and whenever we can.

This includes rebuilding equipment as smaller units to make it easier for them to pull apart for quicker service, developing braking systems and scrubber units to filter the air, as well as various upgrades to improve efficiency.

“We’ve worked closely with Solid Energy to really understand their objectives, and that’s our point of difference. In the end, we’ve come up with a better product, and it’s all due to the teamwork on both sides.” – David Pinfold, workshop supervisor.

QUALITY ACCREDITATIONS: ISO 9001 AND ENVIRO-MARK DIAMOND

On having ISO 9001

As well as adhering to the stringent mining standards, we also follow the procedures set by ISO to ensure we deliver a quality service and a high standard of work every time.

Everything has to be done to a specification and recorded, so there’s a clear paper trail should this be needed at a later date.

It’s all about reassuring Solid Energy that the work we’re doing for them is done correctly and to a standard they can be satisfied with.

ON ACHIEVING ENVIRO-MARK®NZ DIAMOND CERTIFICATION

This certification helps support Solid Energy’s sustainability aims, and we work hard to ensure that all oils, fluids and waste removed from their equipment is disposed of responsibly and recycled whenever possible. Consideration to noise and dust control are also applied to the machines to create a safer working environment for the operator.

THE RESULT

So far, we have rebuilt fifteen miners for Solid Energy, including Stamler, Joy and Eimco machines. We work on a four-year cycle for each rebuild and a two-year cycle for mid-life rebuilds, and most of this work is carried out at our East Tamaki workshop. In addition to that, we also provide them with a general maintenance programme, as well as carrying out minor repairs on satellite operation sites.

“The quality of Stevenson’s work on these rebuilds is very high. Over the past six years, Stevenson has completed six major mining equipment rebuilds and also undertaken some substantial repairs. These are very specialised machines requiring adherence to lots of regulations. Stevenson Engineering has been very responsive to upskilling in this area.”

Bryan Clout – Mechanical Project Manager for Solid Energy

KEVIN HICKEY AWARDED GOLD STAR

admin — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 00:18:11 +0000

Field service supervisor Kevin Hickey has been awarded the NZ Fire Service Gold Star for 25 years of service to the Te Kauwhata Volunteer Fire Brigade where he is currently the Chief Fire Officer.

Only 5% of all Fire-fighters achieve 25 years of service.

Stevenson Engineering is proud to support all the volunteer fire fighters in our team.

“Rescuing someone and then hearing they’re doing fine after is an awesome feeling, it’s what I do it for”
Kevin Hickey

TRUCKS READY FOR WORK

admin — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 01:32:22 +0000

Stevenson Engineering have rebuilt Caterpillar 777C and Komatsu Excavators, including the PC4000 4ooTonne excavator ready for work in coal.

This has been a mammoth undertaking with staff working long hours to complete major component change-outs.

“Our staff have been very diligent in completing this work. We are very fortunate to have staff of such a high calibre”
Grant Wearing General Manager Mechanical

Cummins 60L V16 2000hp for PC4000 Excavator

Gallery Post 1

richard — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 20:52:18 +0000

Ports Of Auckland

richard — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 20:37:05 +0000

The Stevenson Engineering workshop is a one-stop-shop with a depth of skills and an impressive range of facilities. We are able to undertake the required work from start to finish, saving Ports of Auckland the trouble, time, and expense of using several different contractors. As part of our all-encompassing service, all repairs and modifications carried out by our engineers are checked and certified by our mechanical consulting firm, TSV Consulting. Having consultants on hand is a real benefit to our engineers and to our customers, as we are able to work closely together to ensure that our customers get the best result possible.

“Stevenson Engineering is a one-stop-shop where we’ll do all the testing, checking, and repairing. Basically, Ports of Auckland hands us the job, and we have everything we need to see it right through to the end.”
Paul Sharp, leading hand, weld shop.

QUALITY ACCREDITATIONS: ISO 9001 AND THE ENVIRO-MARK®NZ DIAMOND

ON HAVING ISO 9001

The ISO accreditation is an integral part of Stevenson Engineering’s ‘do it right first time’ culture, and we believe that it has played a role in establishing our reputation for quality.

It is especially important to customers like Ports of Auckland, because of the strict specifications around the repair and maintenance of straddle car rims. That’s why Stevenson Engineering has developed a full repair process, including a weld procedure around NZS 5054 part 5.

All our work is carried out to the procedures set by ISO, performed to a strict specification and documented for future reference, assuring every job we undertake is done in the correct manner and to the highest standard.

ON ACHIEVING THE ENVIRO-MARK®NZ DIAMOND CERTIFICATION

The Enviro-Mark®NZ Diamond certification gives Ports of Auckland the knowledge that all work done by Stevenson Engineering is performed in a safe and environmentally friendly way.

As part of our commitment to the environment, a designated battery disposal shed has been built on our premises, and we take care to properly dispose of all engine oil collected from Ports of Auckland’s cranes and lifters. “We’ve always been mindful of the environment, and we’re very strict on managing spills and recycling everything we can. The Enviro-Mark®NZ Diamond certification is quite a unique achievement for an engineering company, and we’re all very proud of it.” –Russell Stewart, weld shop manager.

THE RESULT

In the last year alone, Stevenson Engineering has serviced over 300 wheel rims. We have also carried out many crane inspections and repaired general components for Ports of Auckland.

We believe that our success with Ports of Auckland lies in the relationships we have built over a 20-year collaboration, the skills of our experts, our facilities and the professional attitude at Stevenson Engineering, and we’re happy that Ports of Auckland is able to rely on us for a quality and on-time solution.

ON CALL, WHENEVER YOU NEED US

Ports of Auckland is an extremely busy port company with little time for the hassle of breakdowns and repairs, which is why our engineers are on hand 24/7, 365 days a year to respond to call outs and undertake urgent repairs. Helping Ports of Auckland get on with the task of connecting New Zealand businesses to the rest of the World.

“We’ve always been mindful of the environment, and we’re very strict on managing spills and recycling everything we can. The Enviro-Mark®NZ Diamond certification is quite a unique achievement for an engineering company, and we’re all very proud of it.”
Russell Stewart, Weld shop manager.