A coffee with Chris James from Webforge

Who are Webforge?

Webforge NZ is the NZ subsidiary of Webforge who are based in Melbourne, Australia and have plants throughout Asia, Australia and NZ. In turn Webforge is a subsidiary of Valmont Industries based in Omaha, USA who operate in the Construction, Infrastructure and Engineering markets globally.

Locally Webforge was started by the people who started Stevenson Structural Engineers (based in Tokomaru), and we do work for them today too.

What does your business Webforge do? How do you do it? Is the gallery on your website reflective of the range of work you do? Gallery

Webforge is the largest supplier of industrial flooring and handrail products in NZ. We also operate a Hot dip Galvanizing plant.

They two businesses are complementary and we produce fabricated product, steel grating and galvanise for customers nationally and recently into Australia.

What industry sectors do you work with or in?

Most of our work is in the Construction and Infrastructure sectors, however the galvanizing plant services a wide range of manufacturing customers.

What are the challenges that face your industry? For example currency fluctuations do they work for or against you?

As with any company in NZ at present we are faced with a wide range of challenges from the shrinking size of the manufacturing industry in NZ and from imported product.

The fluctuating exchange rate doesn't make things easier for ourselves or our customers, many of whom are exporters.

Chris, and I discussed the effect of the exchange rate on exporting to Australia where the rising dollar is offsetting the short leads times between orders to manufacturing and arriving in the customers location. Webforge Palmerston have often have shorter lead times than their Australian operations but as the dollar has risen and the mining growth has slowed they exported less to Australia than they have, conversely if the dollar falls this has potential to swing back in their favour.

We focus on quick turnaround of product – this is balancing act between cost and lead times. To maintain quick manufacturing we have established an extra shift in both Galvanising and Fabrication, ad so far this working very well.

We have worked with you a number of times over the last few years and have some great people in your teams. What makes a great employee in your industry?

Someone who can work accurately under pressure, can interact confidently with a wide range of people.

Chris, we have helped grow the drafting and estimating team in Webforge and its great to see the efficiency of having a consolidated team in Manawatu is adding value to the Webforge group. And its personally pleasing to see Manawatu being a hub for specialty drafting and estimating services.

Manawatu is an interesting location for a business the size of Webforge why does it work for Webforge?

Manawatu is a great place to be located – it is central to all of the country, has a stable workforce and relatively lower costs.

We discussed the impact of Webforge running the same operation in Auckland and on a cost and efficiency basis – Manawatu wins every time.

We know Manawatu is a great place to live, work and play. Why does it work for you Chris?

"I love living in the Manawatu"

Palmerston North has great facilities which are easy to access. Anything that it doesn't have is within a couple of hours reach. The size of the city enables me to maximise my work/life balance as I don't have the dead weight of commuting. I can get my fix of the attractions of a big city when I travel for work but I enjoy returning home as my lifestyle is easier.

I enjoy cycling as a recreation and the Manawatu is blessed with a wide range of terrain within an easy distance from home, the roads are relatively quiet and safe and there are some great coffee shops in which to recover.

Chris and I discussed the benefit of being a General Manager who can be at home 15 minutes after leaving the office – effectively gaining 1-2 hours a day extra productivity (when compared to a similar Manager in a larger metro centre). As a cyclist, Chris can have ride a bike for more than an hour in the morning and be productive at work at 8.00am – try that as a General Manager in Auckland or Australia without commuting to work on your bike.

As a General Manager of a manufacturing business you are at the mercy of economic drivers and political decisions. If anything what would you like to see happen/change/improve at Central Government / Local Government level to keep Webforge employing locals into roles with stability and potential.

I have learnt over the years that there is little point in wanting local and more particularly central government to make things easier for you. It is best to get on with it and work on the things you can control to improve the offering you have for your customers. Having said that compliance and red tape continues to grow so simplification of this would be appreciated.

Chris and the team have been actively working on a flexible, responsive business model by running two shifts –this helps with lead times, labour demands and being able to meet customers delivery expectations without having to hold ecessive stock levels.

As business leader in Manawatu (or as a leader of Manawatu business), do you feel connected to the local business community?

Yes – I have been in the local committee of Business Central for a number of years which keeps me up to date with many of the issues facing businesses in the region

What can we expect to see from Webforge in 2013 and 2014?

More of the same – a continuation of the initiatives to improve customer satisfaction.

We have recently commenced providing drafting and estimating services to a number of our Australian sister companies and this is likely to grow requiring us to employ additional staff to meet this need.

Chris tells me efficiency of a centralised team was quick to see as the team share work, by being in the same location have improved communications between drafting and estimation specialists. Also, being in New Zealand they can produce drawings/estimates and have them sitting on their Australian counterparts email when they arrive at work the following day.

On a very positive note during the last year Webforge have proven their introduction of shifts and internal efficiencies in both fabrication and galvanising divisions have allowed Webforge to supply large orders in Australia. This has led to "runs on the board" and market confidence that Webforge can supply large orders out of Manawatu in reasonable timeframes.