INVENTIVE Dunedin company Action Engineering today celebrates being a business success story for 25 years.
Action Engineering opened its doors on August 1, 1991, and has since become a New Zealand industry-leader in technically complex engineering projects.
Mark started Action Engineering with the support of his late father, Barry Cameron, and mother, Sandra. Initially, Action started with just two engineers and has now grown to employ around 40 staff. Mark still heads the business as CEO, co-owning the business with Dave Crosland and Allan Golden. Sandra also still has shares within the business.
Mark, Dave, and Allan are all qualified tradesmen. This ensures every client is assigned one of the three company directors to guarantee their projects are in knowledgeable hands. Their extensive premises on Dunedin's waterfront at Fryatt Street are made up of three workshops. Covering more than 4500sq m, the workshops are all serviced by overhead cranes with up to 10,000kg capacity.
Action Engineering's services cover an extensive market. Projects include structural steel, road transport, marine, municipal works, transportation and logistics, general and industrial engineering, and these projects have been undertaken all over New Zealand. Their portfolio of services includes (but is not limited to) design, fabrication, installation, and commissioning of new water and wastewater treatment plants for both municipal and industrial clients.
As part of the Christchurch infrastructure rebuild, Action Engineering has been involved with construction of new water and wastewater pumping stations.
To date they have completed 10 significant projects.
Other projects have included installation of the structural steel for the Chief Post Office project and also the structural and seismic upgrade to the Dunedin Town Hall in 2013. More recently, Action Engineering has undertaken major work on Fonterra's Edendale Dairy Factory in Southland and is currently completing the Shotover wastewater treatment plant in Queenstown.
Action Engineering has an ongoing association with the Youth Employment Success programme in Dunedin, employing and supporting local young people as they begin their engineering careers. In the past, Action Engineering has helped 15 individuals through their apprenticeships.
CEO Mark Cameron started his working life as a mechanical fitter on New Zealand Electricity Department (NZED) power stations in the lower South Island. When leaving the NZED, Mark moved to Dunedin after gaining his trade certificate in fitting, turning, and machining. He started working as an engineering contractor, before forming Action Engineering two years later. Twenty-five years in business is a major milestone, and it's something Mark and the team are extremely proud to have accomplished.
The directors and management of Action Engineering would like to acknowledge the invaluable input from all past and present staff in helping shape the company into the successful business it is today.
The company also extends a big ‘‘thankyou'' to all of the advertisers who have supported this feature, and is honoured to have such an outstanding level of support.
As Action Engineering celebrates its first 25 years, the company's directors and staff also take time to remember and pay tribute to Barry, Allan, and Bob, who have passed away due to illness in recent years.
Action Engineering specialises in ship repair services
The company has provided specialist services to the marine industry for more than 20 years, offering the regular maintenance and repair work that vessels require to remain seaworthy. The majority is carried out in Dunedin, although, when required, staff have travelled to complete work in other ports around the coast of New Zealand.
‘‘Most projects are undertaken with very tight time-frames, and a high degree of technical competency is required,'' Action Engineering CEO Mark Cameron says.
The company offers a range of marine services, including hull and superstructure plating repairs, repairs and modifications to hydraulic and mechanical winches, and repairs to cargo-ship hatch covers. It also carries out service and repair of deck cranes and gantries, trawl gear and equipment, pipework of all materials, including carbon steel, stainless steel and aluminium-bronze, overhaul and reinstatement of all types of pumping equipment and valves.
With its three Dunedin workshops located adjacent to T and U berths on Otago Harbour, Action Engineering regularly services cruise ships, container ships, logging ships and bulk carriers, cement boats, coastal and deep-sea fishing vessels, barges, dredges, and tugs.
Marine projects completed by Action Engineering include:
MV Maersk Dabou: Repairs to hull plating
MV Azamara Quest: Voyage repairs
MV Silver Discoverer: Gearbox repairs and pipework replacement
MV Komatsushima Star: Repairs to hatches and stairways
MV Vega Venus: Repairs to damaged deck crane
Tug Otago: Installation of keel-cooling systems
For all marine engineering needs, contact Action Engineering on (03) 477-1643.
Intelligent solutions to complex treatment plants
Specialising in complex treatment plants for both the New Zealand and international markets, Action Engineering safely and reliably delivers, on time and on budget.
Civil and mechanical projects involving treatment processes for both potable water and sewage have formed the foundation of the company's workload since it began 25 years ago. Today, Action Engineering extensively uses the sophisticated SolidWorks 3D computer-modelling software to design components for project concepts and to produce accurate drawings for staff to work from.
‘‘We try to exploit the benefits of 3D modelling in most projects we undertake,'' Action Engineering CEO Mark Cameron says. ‘‘We are specialists in the design, manufacture, installation, and commissioning of ‘one-off' plants and systems.''
The company has completed work on over 50 plants of varying configurations for both the domestic market, and also for export to countries including Indonesia and Taiwan, and to the Pacific Islands.
Mark and his team have spent a large amount of time pioneering new technology and treatment methods involving anaerobic bacteria.
‘‘Usually this involves a degree of ‘imagineering', where we have to develop new methods of treatment without any real reference points,'' he explains.
‘‘We often work with clients and scientists to take these projects from pilot plant trials right through to full-scale treatment processes.''
Over the past few years, Action Engineering has been involved in ten major water and wastewater pumping stations as part of the Christchurch infrastructure rebuild.
These projects have involved fabrication and on-site erection of steel building structures, gantry cranes, pipe systems, access platforms and ladders, odour-control systems, and also the fabrication and installation of many smaller aspects, including hatches, handrails, pipe supports, and access ladders.
Engineering a safe work environment
ENSURING that staff are kept safe at all times is of paramount importance to Action Engineering.
‘‘On any one day our team could be repairing ships, working at great heights, or working around large machinery,'' the Dunedin company's CEO, Mark Cameron, says. ‘‘So I am totally committed to ensuring they get home safely every day. Safety underpins everything we do.''
Evidence of this is that Action Engineering has achieved tertiary endorsement as part of the ACC Work Safety Management Practices scheme, which is the highest standard available.
Action Engineering is also proud to be a member of Site Safe, a national organisation developing health and safety practices to reduce construction-site injuries and improve levels of training and competency. All of the company's staff complete a minimum of the Site Safe ‘‘Building and Construction Passport'', and then receive further training in specialist areas to NZQA standards.
‘‘The wellbeing of all involved in our projects is of the highest priority, and is something I take personally,'' Mark says.
Certification ensures quality of fabricated steelwork
Action Engineering’s quality and contracts manager, Shiree Griffiths, and structural steel manager, Mike Stanley, receive the company’s Steel Fabricator Certification at the SCNZ 10th anniversary forum earlier this year. The scheme provides clients and designers with greater certainty of quality, and the knowledge they are dealing with a fabricator who has both the procedures and personnel to represent international best practice.
Steel Fabricator Certification has been developed by the Heavy Engineering Research Association (HERA), and Steel Construction New Zealand (SCNZ). The scheme is based on the European system, which is the only mandatory structural-steel system internationally. The focus of the scheme is on quality assurance, and the reduction of risk for clients and designers.
At present, the compliance regime for structural steelwork in New Zealand largely relies on self-inspection and self-certification. This depends on the expertise, ethics, and quality systems of those involved. Steel Fabricator Certification introduces independent expert certification for New Zealand fabrication companies, ensuring they have appropriate quality-management systems in place. It provides a competitive edge against imported pre-fabricated structural steel of uncertain provenance and quality. There have been two prominent cases of below-standard imported steel in the news in recent months.
Action Engineering's steel-fabrication team are justifiably proud of their Steel Fabrication Certification.
Investing in the future
ACTION Engineering has long been supportive of apprentice training, with the variety of work undertaken key to attracting and retaining their skilled team.
All of the apprentices at the company are working towards a New Zealand certificate in the trades of heavy fabrication and mechanical engineering.
CEO Mark Cameron says: ‘‘Currently, we have three apprentices working towards their trade qualifications, and this continued investment in youth training helps to ensure our company will continue to develop and grow in the future.''
Mark's own apprenticeship included time working on the construction of the mammoth Clyde Power Station. His early career involved maintaining hydro power turbines, generators, and associated equipment at various power stations in the lower South Island.
Anyone interested in a trade in the engineering sector can undertake a pre-apprenticeship course experiencing the ‘‘hands-on'' side of mechanical engineering.
The course involves taking raw materials and making them into mechanical components, offering creativity and variety. A good starting point to a career in engineering is to work towards gaining a certificate in Basic Mechanical Engineering Trade Skills (BMETS).
So, if you are good with your hands, have an eye for accuracy, and like putting things together, then mechanical engineering could be the career for you.
For more information, contact the Otago Polytechnic Engineering Department on 0800-762-786, or visit www.op.ac.nz
