Mighty machinery movers
Three years into a five-year management buyout, Machine Moving & Engineering is focusing on customer service rather than growth. Kerry Corfield explains to Gay Sutton why the company has opened its own training academy.
Moving house is supposed to be one of the most stressful events there isÔÇöalongside divorce and bereavement. But if moving house is stressful, then what does that make moving an entire factory, lock stock and barrel? Dismantling and extracting equipment from the old building, transporting it to the new site, moving it into the new building and installing it ready for action can be fraught with challenges.
Solving these challenges is what Machine Moving & Engineering (MME) has been doing for more than 30 years. With its headquarters in Durban, South Africa, the company has offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town, and has built an enviable reputation for reliability and excellence.
The company largely operates across South Africa, but will undertake contracts in surrounding countries Mozambique, Angola, Zimbabwe and Zambia. Over the past few years, MME has taken on some large and complex projects. In just three months, the company transferred the Nestl├® chocolate making factory from Pietermaritzburg to East London, achieving the entire project on a very tight time schedule. ÔÇ£Logistically this was difficult,ÔÇØ says managing director Kerry Corfield. The two buildings were not the same, yet Nestl├® wanted to put the machines back in the same configuration. ÔÇ£To achieve this we had to re-engineer some of the plant, and we had to make changes to the building.ÔÇØ
Perhaps the most glamorous project the company has completed to date has been at the new football stadium in Durban, in preparation for next yearÔÇÖs World Cup. The job took two years and involved erecting the temporary steel structures required for the construction of the massive signature arch that flies above the stadium.
Corfield has been with MME since 2000 and its managing director for some three years. Her rise to this position has been exemplaryÔÇöshe began work as a secretary in 1982 at Frasers Machine Moving, rising to branch manager before moving to Vanguard Rigging for whom she opened and established a new branch in Durban before finally moving to MME.
Her future, though, is now committed to MME. Some four years ago, the companyÔÇÖs founder and owner decided it was time to retire and was faced with the difficult issue of succession planning. ÔÇ£Mr Seeley approached me to see if I would be interested in taking over the company,ÔÇØ explains Corfield. With a five-year financing scheme as an enticement, Corfield and Andre Van Der Walt accepted the offer and are now three years into a management buyout. Currently they own 60 per cent of the company, and will have paid off the remaining 40 per cent from company profits by the end of February 2011.
The company strategy going forward differs considerably from that of many companies. Its focus is not on growth and expansion. ÔÇ£I donÔÇÖt want to be the biggest. I want to be the best,ÔÇØ Corfield says. ÔÇ£I want my core people to be the best they can be, and to deliver the best service possible. That has been my aim from the time I started working in the industry.ÔÇØ
CorfieldÔÇÖs management style is very hands-on and reflects her passion for customer service. ÔÇ£I wonÔÇÖt ask anyone to do something that I canÔÇÖt do myself,ÔÇØ she explains. And she means precisely that. ÔÇ£At Frasers, I learned to do the rigging myselfÔÇöI was out there loading trucks.ÔÇØ She believes in treating every person on her staff with respect, and expects her managers and supervisors to do the same. But she also demands hard work and excellent performance. ÔÇ£I tell them weÔÇÖre not going down to the lowest common denominator; weÔÇÖre going to bring everyone up to the highest standard.ÔÇØ
MME owns its own logistics fleet, specialist cranes and lifting equipment, but when it comes to large contracts the company has built strong relationships with a core group of contractors and suppliers. ÔÇ£Getting to this stage has taken years of selection,ÔÇØ Corfield says. ÔÇ£We have a couple of core transport and crane hire companies who always give us excellent service.ÔÇØ But that service is continually monitored to ensure punctuality, good on-site behaviour and skills. ÔÇ£IÔÇÖm not going to allow anyone to jeopardise the reputation weÔÇÖve built up over the years.ÔÇØ
The entire industry across South Africa, however, is experiencing a serious skills shortage in riggersÔÇöthose who specialise in the safe lifting and moving of the heavy plant. Riggers are employed in the mining and oil industries, ÔÇ£but they do not have the depth of skill we require. We dismantle entire factories. We rig all the machines out, load them on to a vehicle, transport them, unload them at the other side, rig them into the factory and put them back together again,ÔÇØ Corfield says.
This takes considerable skill and experience. Every job is different, every building is different, and the work may have to be done in very tight, cramped and awkward spaces.
MMEÔÇÖs answer to this problem has been to open a Rigging Academy at its offices in Durban. ÔÇ£We began by upgrading all the riggers who had been with us for five years, putting them through intensive training so they could qualify as Red Seal riggers.ÔÇØ The Red Seal standard is assessed by the South African Department of Labour, and is recognised around the globe.
The academy is equipped with dedicated classrooms and practical facilities that enable the students to practice essential skills before going out into the workplace. The students receive six months of classroom based training and are then sent to work alongside skilled and experienced riggers in the fieldÔÇönot only at MME but also with trusted contractors to ensure they gain a comprehensive experience. The first 20 apprentices were taken on in February 2009 and are now at the practical stage, while another 28 apprentices began training in September.
The vision is to improve operational excellence both at MME and across the industry, and the academy has opened its doors to experienced riggers from other companies who want to train for their Red Seal qualification.
Corfield acknowledges that her new apprentices will be in great demand. ÔÇ£Once theyÔÇÖre qualified theyÔÇÖll be grabbed,ÔÇØ she admits. But she believes the investment will be well worth it in terms of moving the company forward. ÔÇ£And, of course, we will have the pick of the bunchÔÇöwe will decide who we want to keep and who we want to release into the field.ÔÇØ
