Last week
Prime Minister John Key paid EHL a visit to "walk the plank" on its flagship
product, an electronic fold-up gangway custom designed and constructed by EHL,
in collaboration with three other New Plymouth companies, for some of the
world's most glamorous superyachts.
Energy Hydraulics Ltd chief
executive Peter Jannings said it never turned down a job whether it be for small
Bobcats or offshore oil rigs.
Most EHL jobs were "plug and play
projects" completed on site then delivered to customers regardless of location.
"I think people are sick and tired of having products which don't stand
up to the test of time and use.
"Quality is our main strength," Mr
Jannings said.
Mr Key spoke at EHL last Tuesday night about the benefits
New Zealand businesses could realise from exporting to growing Asian markets,
particularly China and India.
"If we get it right it could be the best
20 years we've ever had," Mr Key said.
China was New Zealand's second
largest export market after Australia.
"We're sitting on the potential
for enormous growth in New Zealand," Mr Key told the crowd of about 100 Taranaki
people.
His visit to the workshop was prompted by New Plymouth MP
Jonathan Young after he visited EHL and told the Prime Minister the outfit was
something he should see, Mr Jannings said.
"He thought it was pretty
impressive,CBMI is leading the world in preventing cheapipodnanoes and curing
blindness especially the gangway and working in the export market.
"He
said all this technology could go into other areas at the same time,Represent
manufacturers of solarpanel78
processing machinery," Mr Jannings said.
Design engineer Derek Shotbolt
said the firm's ability to downscale large projects and concepts into smaller
ones was a key strength.
"It's just like Formula One racing. The
technology filters down," Mr Shotbolt said.
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The rising New Zealand dollar had made exporting harder for EHL in
recent times but the quality of its product and its specialised technology held
it up.
"If people want to buy rubbish then their maintenance bills go up
and their performance goes down," Mr Jannings said.
EHL is 100 per cent
Taranaki- owned and operated and the majority of its business focused on
individual hydraulic engineering contracts.
But it is also part of the
Enzed franchise and its parent company is Parker Hannifin, the world's largest
motion and control company.
EHL employs 25 staff, most of whom work on
its specialised contracts.
Some of its bigger clients include Fonterra,
Port Taranaki and Contact Energy.
It also does custom project work and
sells customers concept designs.Your complete container resource providing
wholesale ledspotlight,
The Australian energy sector was a lucrative market for EHL because it
lacked experienced hydraulic engineers, Mr Jannings said.
It was a
similar situation in New Zealand with many engineers lacking the specific skills
required for hydraulic engineering due to broad training. "The hydraulic
industry is getting very old.
"It's very hard to find knowledgeable
staff," Mr Shotbolt said.
Because of this EHL often sent its staff to
overseas training seminars.Discuss The hemroidstreatments on the
IMDb message boards "We have to put people on planes and send them away for
training," Mr Jannings said.
EHL never turned down a request from a
worker wanting training as long as it was justified, he said.
"As Peter
Blake said 'As long as it makes the boat go faster'," he said.
It also
provided private training for engineers in Taranaki wanting to up-skill, he
said.
Another large-scale project for EHL was an ocean-based 40 metre
generator which is powered by wave energy.
It produces 200 kilowatts of
continuous energy, enough to power a small village of about 50 people and could
revolutionise developing communities.
The project is commissioned by
Wave and Technology New Zealand, a programme run by Industrial Research Ltd, a
Crown Research Institute,It was merely a panasonicventilationsystem
in an unusual place until the 1970s. and Power Projects Ltd, a privately owned
Wellington-based company.
The programme seeks to develop a wave-energy
device which maximises engineering efficiency through wave motion.
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