PROFILE OF SUCCESS in with that perfectly. Haas’ national account manager - CNC sales, Karl Medley, has spent plenty of time at Redwoods of late, making sure that installations are going without a hitch and machine operators are well schooled in the Haas language. He says that the installation of a Haas VF-2SS, high speed production machining centre with both a TR160 simultaneous 5-axis trunnion rotary and a HRT210 4-axis rotary table has been a fantastic application discussion and install, highlighting that it’s been “excellent to be involved in yet another company looking to forge ahead and break new ground in engineering”. “Redwood Engineering having such a long history with another machine tool brand makes their decision to work with Haas Factory Outlet NZ (HFO-NZ) even more gratifying. They understand and will benefit from the extended levels of service and support HFO-NZ has in place, and the huge backing we have from the factory in the USA, with in stock, here in New Zealand with spares, making Haas the machine tool choice.” Haas’s credited service and applications technicians, who go through constant rigorous testing to ensure they are at the top of the service support abilities as well as the current commitment - introducing a skilled maintenance engineer to go through his accreditation process - makes the support Haas can offer second to none says Karl. “Add to this our current search for another Haas service technician, which will make our support even stronger… and all this makes Haas the choice. “On a machine tool note, I still come across some of the misguided belief Haas is a light machine, mainly passed on from our competitors. Some years ago this had some credence but certainly not now. If you look at our general job shop favourite a one metre in the X axis travel machine, the VF-3 machining centre, this machine will carry 1,588kg and I struggle to think who else can carry this weight and perform heavy cutting. “We had an amusing incident around a 4 Profile of Success 2018 year ago when Simon Winter from Melbar Engineering in Wellington called me after we installed their VF-4 machining centre, jokingly criticising us for not explaining to him how rigid the machine was and how hard he could push it. He matches and out performs their existing Japanese machines' machining capabilities. “New Zealand engineering is in a good place, in general nice and busy and for ourselves; we are coming to the end of another record year and looking forward to 2018 with our new partners, Redwood Engineering.” The new relationship with Haas is something that Mathew and Ruark are very excited about, as it is presenting them not only with new opportunities but also the needed abilities to work to better processes. “We sector our jobs into ‘rock’, ‘gravel’ and ‘sand’,” says Ruark. “Rock jobs are from 1-2+ weeks, gravel 2-3 day jobs while sand jobs are things like fixing up Joe Blogs’ mower,” adds Ruark. The key, he says, is for the business to be able to put these into a virtual revolving pipe with the processes set in place to ensure they come out the other end when the customer wants them. Mathew and Ruark are engineers, but really they are also conductors of an engineering orchestra that’s now been designed to ensure minimal input, maximum output while not sacrificing quality at any stage of the processes. “We are trying to blend in with what is needed in jobbing, because people aren’t committing to big runs anymore. If we can find the new areas of work through it that’s great, but we find ourselves doing a lot of re-work now for people who have been let down by overseas suppliers and should have come to Redwood first. In the background – smouldering away but still with an intense focus like every aspect of the business – are products the firm manufactures such as the G-Loc security range, spot-welding tips, gate slams, Lapidary saws and grinders. “We have made it an absolute priority to adapt, and new relationships with suppliers of machinery such as Haas are an integral part of that. We are embracing constructive technology. We are young, we are enthusiastic and we understand engineering. What we are offering now is a service – and I know everyone says that, but we mean it… a complete service. “We are a one-stop solution for getting it done. You write an idea on a piece of paper and we’ll take it right through concept and design to prototyping to end product. Job done, well.” If you look at the company’s long history, it should come as no surprise that again Redwood’s is leading the way in how things in the engineering industry should be done: “It was Brian Redwood who bought I believe what was the first CNC lathe in the country, an LC10 Okuma”. “We’ve committed ourselves up to our eyeballs to make this happen, but we’re now beginning to see the fruits of that and of all the hard work, and I believe my father would be very proud of what we are doing here.” There’s little doubt of that. Redwood Engineering hit a brick wall, rolled up its sleeves and started throwing the sledgehammer at the obstacle. As each brick has fallen, the company now sees itself in the enviable position of being able to see the wood for the trees. Jobs, as always with people such as Ruark, Mathew, Raymond and Karl, are never done but in a continual state of progress, and for the company and its customer it’s nothing short of exciting. Business mentor Raymond Jacobsen, right, has played a fundamental role of teaching Redwood Engineering new business techniques in an ever-evolving engineering marketplace. Working relationship: Karl, Ruark, Mathew and Raymond have formed a tight-knit partnership designed to produce a win:win at every step and with everyone’s interests in mind.
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