Quest for excellence’ sparks partnership
Precision Machining is, according to general manager Matthew Keightley, on a “quest for excellence”.
Until now a smaller player and one of several companies under the Maisey Group, Keightley says the group’s ethos of growth and excellence meant when it decided to invest in upscaling, it could only work with a premium brand.
Okuma’s precision, stability and rigidity was what they wanted from the multi-million-dollar investment, a significant proportion of which was spent with Okuma.
Keightley says Maisey Group owner John Maisey is a visionary leader who is “always looking for growth”. Alongside operations manager Joseph Walberer, the decision was made to make a strategic investment in Precision Machining, one that supports the company’s continued evolution.
The Maisey Group has been around for 78 years – started by Maisey’s father around the time of his birth – and Precision Machining began as a “feeder” to another of the group’s companies. It has undergone a 12-month journey from small machine shop to its present-day position as a significant competitor in the increasingly high-tech engineering space.
Keightley says the group will always “do their utmost” and all investment is driven by Maisey, who still comes to work each day.
Continuously investing in plant and staff will enable the company to expand in two ways – chasing higher tech work and developing its own products.
Keightley says the machinery and the staff can’t be separated. Like everyone in the engineering sector, Precision Machining needs skilled staff and having state-of-the-art equipment is both exciting for existing staff, offering opportunities to upskill, and a drawcard for new staff.
The workforce is expanding to match, and Keightley says the company is now perfectly positioned for both the current market, and the rapidly changing future.
The investment includes an Okuma 5-axis CNC machining centre and lathe with live tooling – the latter with a bar feeder allowing it to run “lights out”.
Production capabilities have doubled “overnight”.
The benefits for customers are obvious. “We can just get product out the door faster and save everybody time and money.”
It’s not just a step up in speed. Okuma offers more precision or as Keightley says, “really tight tolerances. We’re talking microns.”
Already servicing industries like agriculture, dairy, aerospace and animal health, Precision Machining can now broaden its customer base with even faster turnarounds and higher accuracy.
With an eye to other markets and a plan to develop its own products alongside the existing offerings for clients, having local support was the clincher to take the plunge with Okuma.
“Okuma having a branch here mattered,” Keightley says.
Okuma New Zealand manager Karl Medley says the after-sales support is one of its points of difference. A 100 % owned subsidiary of Okuma Corporation in Japan, they focus only on sales and support for their brand rather than being an agent for multiple brands.
Okuma New Zealand recognise that customers making such a large capital investment need confidence they can get prompt support, with bases in both the North and South Islands.
The partnership with Precision Machining is one that is a match on many levels.
Like Precision Machining, Okuma New Zealand is part of a longstanding operation that pursues excellence and refuses to stand still. It designs and produces innovative technologies – a focus the company describes as “creating what doesn’t exist”.
It’s a Japanese philosophy called Monozukuri, (the art of making things better than ever); for Okuma, it’s where craftmanship meets technology.
The Okuma advantage lies with its accuracy, thermal stability and rigidity. Added to that the single source for machine control – all controls, motors, drives and encoders are also Okuma-built – and Okuma delivers perpetual strength and accuracy even in unpredictable environments.
Flexible software can respond smoothly to changing needs – future proofing investments further.
“Flexible software is planned with the expectation that customers’ operating methods and techniques would change over the years they used a machine tool,” Medley says.
He adds that New Zealand firms who want to build a legacy understand the need to invest in advanced technology to ensure they are fit for purpose for the future of engineering.
“If they’re not investing, someone else is,” he says of the highly competitive industry.
Okuma New Zealand is excited to work with Precision Machining and support its bold step up.
“The decision to go with quality Okuma CNC machinery will give Precision Machining confidence and flexibility to respond to customers’ needs, and the creative ability to build their own brand for years to come.”