www.engineeringnews.co.nz 37 WE CUT Stainless Steel, Steel Aluminium, Plastic Acrylic, Plywood, MDF WE WORK WITH Architects, Construction, Designers, Engineers, Manufacturers, Marine, Shop Fitters & Signage ‘You can’t be an engineering business and a wood working business, too’. Myth busted. “We’ve made it work,” says Mike. He adds that if you put the core people in the right place – set up the framework of the business correctly – then from that point it just boils down to having the right attitude. “Sure, we have specialists in each area, but what we’ve done – somewhat forced upon us because we are a small New Zealand business – is make sure we have the right people who are willing to grow with us and can work across the different mediums. As they upskill and learn, we in turn can offer more. This works for the business, and works for our staff too as it widens their range of abilities and skills.” The business and its staff have a policy of nothing being impossible and just rolling up those sleeves, getting stuck in and doing it themselves to provide a solution for a growing and loyal customer base. “We work in mixed media because people want and need us to, and at the end of the day if you can offer and fulfil what people want, then the business is looking pretty good,” says Mike. Upgrades, upskilling, new technology and new tools have meant that DisplayMakers no longer outsources a lot of its work. It’s all done on its Auckland premise on the North Shore, in house. The need for the Amada laser cutter arose in mimic fashion. “We were outsourcing here and then we were forced to bring in stuff from China and that’s just not what we’re in business to do. "The customer doesn’t want to hear we can’t do this or we can’t do that… so we’ve ensured we can do this, we can do that.” The installation of the CNC router gave the business a push. But the laser cutter has really got things humming. Diversity now means a, “100 projects on the go at once” for staff at DM Laser, starting at the A and ending at the Z of the manufacturing process. And the glue that holds everything together is the people. “Our staff are out of this world. They make this place tick and offer that point-of-difference that you need in a competitive marketplace. “What we’ve always done is really immerse ourselves in peoples’ businesses and made ourselves a core component of it so they embrace us in their strategy. And I think to do that really well you have to invest in technology, and that’s what the laser machine is all about,” explains Mike. “We can offer service… the technology and tools, skilled people with the right attitude,” he says.
EN-Dec17-eMag
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