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Haas’ Karl Medley runs Mathew through getting the most out of the new machine. Raymond agrees with Ruark’s summation of where the business is current. “Redwood Engineering wants to be ahead of change… driving the change. We’re not reactive, we’re proactive. We’re setting the trends going forward.” says Raymond. “Many businesses understand ‘lean’ but they don’t know how to apply it. The difference is at Redwood’s we understand the application of it. And it’s being applied. That’s the difference.” Redwood Engineering now operates four CNC lathes and four CNC milling machines. “We have a tool room with mills and lathes and a Swiss Lathe department with 20+ CAM autos and grinding room to support it. Design offices and facilities, SolidWorks 2017, HSM… the works,” says Ruark. Beyond the tools and machines though, they have a new strategy which is making a major difference in the effectiveness of each component that makes up the production process. “It’s all about minimal pick up and put down to make jobs run as fast and as efficiently as possible,” explains Ruark. “When it comes to a process in engineering, you don’t get paid for processes you get paid for completion. We’re running toolbox meetings every day and even a pre-meeting for me and Mathew before it. Efficiency is key and streamlining everything so we don’t have all our staff working on the same process but instead all our staff well versed in the individual part they will play in the process to achieve the whole, from start through to efficient completion.” Each day is analysed come the next, with communication internally and externally playing a paramount importance. “It’s how you need to do things today in engineering – it’s up with the times and in some cases we believe ahead of them. “We needed to try something new and forge a relationship with a company and a machine brand that we felt the business was begging for, so we looked towards Haas. With Haas we can look towards and plan a future.” Although Ruark had “grown up” using Mazak machinery, he says Redwood had to be with a type of machine that helped them move forward through innovative efficiencies as well as after sales service and experience. “We’re getting into CAM machining in a big way, with what Haas is offering its enabling us to branch off into a new area of machining while also upgrading our current plant. So, we’ve gone for a 4-Aaxis and 5-axis capacity machine from Haas.” Redwood Engineering has been around for that long that it has established a wide array of customers so the company needs the versatility to produce what’s required but within extreme efficiencies confines. “By having Haas there were not just having a lathe department, or a milling department, we wanted the ‘conveyor belt’ effect and Haas fits “Design to production, your one stop solution.” www.engineeringnews.co.nz 3 Redwood Engineering had come to a point where it had to change and adapt to get up to play with the future of the industry. “At one stage we had 25 staff and we were top heavy,” after Ruark’s father (Brian) passed away. “But the engineering scene had changed. Business had changed. We needed to as well.” The precision engineering company that was founded by Peter Redwood in 1951 (originally Peter Redwood Ltd) needed to embrace that change. It lacked direction in a fast-evolving engineering landscape, despite providing a level of workmanship that was already pretty darn good. A directors meeting was called and the company future was on a knife-edge. But, instead of throwing in the engineering towel, Ruark first looked internally within the business to see if he could take up the challenge of rebuilding a business from the ground up. No light-bulb moment occurred though, the choice was obvious – enter Mathew Tharakan. “We were making ‘X’ but it was costing us ‘X’ plus a whole lot more,” he says, with the business needing an entire overall. “I realised that for a complete evolution to occur I needed some help from someone who already had their heart committed to Redwood Engineering… Mathew,” and a two-pronged approach to turning everything around began, then gathered pace. Ruark and Mathew rolled up their sleeves and went looking for the absolute essential factors they believed that their business needed to not just survive in today’s engineering marketplace but to evolve, and then thrive. Between the two, they knew they had the heart and drive the company needed, as well as the engineering knowledge, but the pair also knew they fell short on business acumen. “So, we arranged to meet Raymond Jacobsen of Humphries Associates and he put us on the path we needed to walk. He is a fantastic business builder who has helped out immensely,” in a complete restructure of the company and implementation of lean manufacturing methodology. The pair suddenly became a tight-knit trio. “With Raymond’s help we’ve purchased the company under vendor finance, sub-divided the land into three and downscaled to 10 staff. The ship is now lean. Running lean, and running profitable,” says Ruark. 09 625 8832 sales@rel.nz www.redwoodengineering.co.nz


eMag-ProfileOfSuccess-Dec17
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