M A N U F A C T U R I N G
A & G PRICE: NEW ZEALAND’S
ENGINEERING
RISES PHO E N IX
It was a tragic day for the New Zealand
engineering landscape when
A &G Price, one of New Zealand’s
largest and oldest engineering
companies, was put into voluntary
liquidation in July 2017.
That could have signalled the end of
some 149 years of trading, and for
most it would have.
But Gareth Hoole, a liquidator at
Ecovis KGA, armed himself with his
vision of the operation's potential.
He had a plan that would see the
entire plant reopening, and not only
to fulfil partially completed orders
but to continue to trade by taking on
new orders. This, Hoole reasoned,
would mean the company could be
sold as a going concern.
However, eight months and a dozen
or so interested parties later, the
sheer scale shadowed such potential
– ever so apparent that A&G
Price was a much bigger entity than
most were willing to take on.
Enter Chris and Jackie Reeve to
change the playing field.
The couple could see the potential
in the company and its associated
benefit to the entire Thames
community. They stepped up and
purchased it and on April 3 - in
its 150th year – A & G Price Ltd
officially reopened with a team of 34
loyal staff.
None of the equipment had been
removed during the liquidation so
the company was immediately in full
capability to service the engineering
needs of medium and heavy
industry.
A & G Price is the only one-stop
heavy engineering shop in New Zealand
- and arguably Australia - with a
fully-integrated engineering works
that includes design and project
management, ferrous and nonferrous
foundry with a melt capacity
to 10 tonne, computer-controlled
high temperature heat treatment,
full machine, fabrication, fitting, NDT,
blasting and paint shops all on the
one site.
Utilising a library of reference material
that would be the envy of most
consultancies, and backed by the
expertise captured in a work archive
of more than 100,000 technical
drawings spanning 150 years, A &
G Price Ltd has the ability to bring
customers concepts to reality, or
improve on existing machinery to
maximise production.
The foundry has the ability to produce
castings from as small as 300
grams in all grades of cast iron, SG
iron and steel, most common grades
of stainless steel, brass and bronze.
All of these grades can be welded
in the 104-metre long fabrication
shop, with 20-tonne lifting capacity
and full complement of presses and
plate processing machinery, welding
technicians ticketed to ASME IV and
a wealth of knowledge spanning
three centuries for fabricating exotic
materials, weld overlaying worn-out
equipment or welding dissimilar
grades of material. In short, A & G
Price has the ability to undertake all
welding requirements to the highest
standards.
These components can then be
machined in its large machine shop
capable of manufacturing complex
components a few mm’s in size
to CNC milling machines up to
10-metres long and turning capacity
to 6.15-metres diameter x 40 tonne.
With highly-skilled staff experienced
in handling and machining large
heavy items or smaller mass-produced
components, customers can
be assured all their requirements
will be delivered in spec and fit for
purpose.
The entire works is certified to operate
under ISO9001 2015. Its QA department
includes fully-qualified NDT
technicians for MPI, dye penetrant
and ultrasonic inspection, and can
offer full traceability and compliance
to any standard and acceptance level.
This is common-place for the company's
military, rail and hydro-electric
customers but is becoming more
common-place as other industries
realise the cost of down-time and the
benefits of receiving quality components.
To talk about your upcoming engineering
and manufacturing needs,
call A & G Price on +64 7 8686060 or
visit www.agprice.co.nz to see more
about the company's capabilities and
previous contracts.
34 July 2018
/www.agprice.co.nz