PRODUCTION at the Mass Steel plant has doubled since the Canberra-based manufacturer took over the former DME Kermac Engineering premises in North Goulburn earlier this year.
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And if General Manager David Campbell can get his expansion plans for the facility approved by Goulburn Mulwaree Council, he expects to see production double again.
It’s been a bumper start to the year for the company after it was able to rent the 17,500 square metres of manufacturing space on Cemetery St from the struggling DME Kermac Engineering.
Mass Steel kept on the 20 existing employees at the facility, and has since added a further 22 employees, sourced locally in Goulburn. Mr Campbell said both old and new employees to the plant had welcomed the increased workload.
“It’s been a really smooth transition. The guys have really embraced it. We’ve increased production by more than double because we put the extra staff on, and they’re all doing more overtime as well- up from a 38 hour week to 54 hours,” Mr Campbell said.
“I’ve noticed a few new cars out in the car park,” he said.
Contracts to provide steel for the Royal North Shore Hospital, Belconnen Police Station, Canberra Hospital, Lucas Heights Reactor and Mackay Base Hospital among others are driving output at the company’s three plants, with some contracts being knocked back to due to the high demand.
With so much work to be had, Mass Steel is keen to expand the output capacity of its Goulburn plant, but a storm water drain running underneath the paint shop shed may foil any further expansion plans for the plant.
Mr Campbell is currently meeting with Council to see if a deal can be negotiated.
“We had an initial meeting with Council to do an expansion in the paint shop yard, which they weren’t overly cooperative with let’s say. Because of the lie of the land, there’s some drainage issues over there,” he said.
“What they’ve said is that they don’t want to follow the errors of the past by letting us do that. But to me, there’s no further damage...so I’m still working on it with them. I want to work through it with them, because I want to increase the workforce here.”
If the expansion plans are successful, another 40 new local jobs will be created over the next two years, Mr Campbell said. He also welcomed the contribution local workers were making to the company, including four new local apprentices and some unskilled labour sourced through Mission Australia.
“The one thing that you find is that country people predominantly are very loyal, very hard working and very reliable. They just have a work ethic, and they know that nobody is going to go and do it for them,” he said.
