BEST OF THE BEST www.engineeringnews.co.nz 35 HAMILTONJET HamiltonJet was founded in 1939 by Bill Hamilton at Irishman Creek in Central Otago. Over the past 75 years it has grown and developed to become a world leader in the design and development of waterjet propulsion for all types of vessels. The company first started manufacturing munitions and equipment for the war effort, followed by heavy engineering solutions for the likes of rail transport, bridges, hydro-electric penstocks and gates as well as early waterjet manufacturing. It started exporting its waterjet products in the 1970s and today the waterjets are exported to over 150 locations globally. Strong growth in demand for Hamilton waterjets has seen a number of factory expansions in the last decade. This has resulted in increased manufacturing floor space, machinery and staff to increase factory capacity by more than 50 percent. Today the company employs over 380 people in all aspects of waterjet design, production and service both in New Zealand and globally. It has a network of over 52 authorised distributors and three regional offices in the US, UK and Singapore as part of its global reach programme. HELLA NEW ZEALAND Hella New Zealand was founded in 1973. From humble beginnings starting with the local manufacture of some small trailer lamps, the company quickly gained a reputation for the early adoption of new technology. The breakthrough for the company came some 27 years ago with the design of the first LED-based signal lamp. The light source LED was up to then relegated to small, low brightness ‘on-off’ indicator or status lights for computers, TVs and audio equipment. Close cooperation between Hella NZ and the design and development department of Hewlett Packard in Penang made for the revolutionary product’s breakthrough in 1990, and the company has not looked back since. Early on, the reputed long lifetime of the LED as a light source encouraged Hella NZ to advance its designs into creating truly maintenance-free products . The slogan ‘Fit and Forget’ was born and the Trademark DuraLED was globally registered by the New Zealand team. The value proposition to replace bulb-based lighting, which costs as much as a third of an annual maintenance bill, and replace the lighting with Hella’s maintenance free DuraLED was persuasive to transport operators. In the global Hella Group, Hella NZ is regarded as the home and birthplace of the iconic DuraLED brand which is exported from the Auckland plant to 27 countries. In New Zealand it is evident that 90 percent of the truck trailer fleet trust Hella NZ designed and manufactured ‘Fit and Forget’ products. The Hella NZ practised ‘Fit and Forget by Design’ is not just a slogan but a philosophy adopted by its design and development team because the creation of lamps that are able to function faultlessly for the vehicle’s life and beyond requires dedication to excellence and the most rigorous test and verification regime. This saw the company conduct extensive consultation and interviews with its most demanding industry partners followed by months of field tests before the first DuraLed was sold. In the 18 years hence the same team of dedicated perfectionists have incorporated every new lesson learned into the latest designs. Material selection, LEDs, optics, drive electronic, circuit protection, design of the sealing geometries, and rigidity versus deliberate flexibility of the mounting system all work in harmony to create a product of truly lasting value and safe operation. The company’s confidence in its designs allows Hella NZ to offer a unique lifetime warranty on all DuraLED products. Within the Hella group, the New Zealand operation continues to be respected for creating the largest range of retrofit safety daylights which are statistically proven in numerous global studies to help prevent daytime accidents. Hella’s latest venture has been into LED-based front lighting with the creation of a range of ultra-low weight bar lights with a unique ceramic-based thermally conductive housing. These precision optical products posed a quantum leap challenge to the production team to manufacture these products with an ultra precise repeatability, never before required. Today the company’s production automation team has mastered the challenge and exports are advancing quickly. HERA The New Zealand Heavy Engineering Research Association (HERA) is an industry-owned non-profit research organisation serving the needs of metal-based industries in New Zealand. Besides steel construction and general heavy engineering HERA services wider metals industry interests such as light gauge steel, stainless steels, light alloys and metals-based composites. Specialist staff provide research, training, advisory development and promotional services, making it the national centre for metals-based product design, manufacturing technology, inspection and quality assurance. The organisation also performs industry advocacy, developing policies on issues relating to research and development and industry development which it communicates to government and relevant bodies. Through its subsidiary HERA Certification and in conjunction with Steel Construction New Zealand (SCNZ) HERA operates the Steel Fabricator Certification (SFC) scheme for steel construction quality assurance. The SFC scheme provides New Zealand fabricators with independent expert certification to international standard ISO 3834, ensuring they have the appropriate personnel and procedures to produce work of the required quality consistently.
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