PROFILE OF SUCCESS
Following the sale of A & G Price Ltd
in April 2018, and under the guidance
of managing director Peter Yates, the
company has gone from strength to
strength.
With the full restructure a much leaner and cost
competitive, A & G Price has emerged strong
and Mr Yates says that, “While we will always
struggle against the low cost countries we
bring our customers the advantage of being
able to customise their components for better
performance, high quality quicker deliveries and
we stand behind our product”.
In the first two months trading under new
ownership, supply contracts were signed for
three years with the Singapore military and a
one-year contract with Bombardier rail Australia for
passenger train components. Couple that with the
support from the company’s loyal New Zealand
clients and the ‘forward order’ book is looking very
healthy.
“Along with this we have taken on an agent for
marine work in Australia. Our close relationship
with the navy and with a permanent presence has
resulted in a significant increase in navy defence
work on both sides of the Tasman,” says Mr Yates.
“The first months have seen significant orders for
cast, heat-treated and machined components
with ongoing deliveries into New Caledonia,
Australia, Singapore and throughout New Zealand.
Shut work on a steam generator turbine from
Bluescope NZ Steel for Progen / Ethos energy
and a major break down repair for Golden Bay
Cement.”
The latter breakdown involved 24/7 operation for
close to three weeks and couldn’t have happened
at a worse time for Golden Bay Cement. Three
days from the end of a major shut, significant
cracking was found in the trunnion end of one of
the bigger cement mills.
With over half their production now off line, their
cement stock pile dwindling and a replacement
part the best part of a year away, the phone lines
to A & G Price ran hot.
A&G PRICE: YOUR
ONE-STOP SHOP
The repair involved machining out the cracks -
which was no mean feat considering the section
was up to 110mm thick, curved in multiple
direction and the cracks were like a spider’s web.
Following welding, the entire trunnion end was
heat treated and finish machined to suit the new
whitemetal bearing.
To fix the trunnion end to this standard in such
a short timeframe was only possible due to the
willingness of the staff to do what it takes and that
A & G Price is a one-stop shop with everything on
the one site to make this happen.
From the extensive engineering library gained from
years of experience of casting, machining and
fabrication of items from mild steel, through to
exotic alloys, the engineering team had a wealth of
knowledge to call upon for this repair.
The Thames works of A & G Price Ltd is available
24/7, no matter how big or small your requirements
are.
Regardless if your job is a one off 40 tonne giant
or a 50 gram intricate machined component, a
one off order or thousands of parts - A & G Price
can help.
“Our engineers can produce 3D models and
workshop drawings from your sketches which
are then used by our in-house pattern makers
to produce the patterns. Our foundry is capable
of casting multiple grades of irons, ductile irons,
steels, stainless steel, and non-ferrous materials.”
The foundry is supported by a heat treatment
department with multiple high temperature
computer monitored heat treatment ovens.
“Our 110-metre-long fabrication shop features a
full complement of rolling, pressing and cutting
machines as well as an extensive welding library to
support our certified welders. We can undertake
any fabrication job or specialised weld overlay.
Combine this with our heavy fitting shop and we
can fully recondition machinery back to OEM
standards,” says Mr Yates.
The A & G Price machine shop has some of the
largest and most diverse range of machines in the
country, most of which are CNC controlled; this
gives us the ability to machine not only one-off
components but also production run jobs.
A & G Price holds ISO 9001 2015 certification,
the QA department includes material analysis
laboratory and an NDT department, with certified
technicians for dye penetrant, mag particle and
ultrasound inspections.
For all enquiries call in to see the A & G
Price team at 208 Beach Road, Thames.
Alternatively, phone, email or visit the webste:
sales@agprice.co.nz, +64 (07) 8686060,
www.agprice.co.nz.
42 December 2018
/www.agprice.co.nz
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