Bay of Plenty Business News February/March 2017

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16 BAY OF PLENTY BUSINESS NEWS February/March 2017 Hansa Chippers produces a wide range of top quality wood chippers. Innovative design and quality key to Hansa Chippers’ success A business established in a back yard shed in Ohaupo is now a world class design and manufacturing company exporting half of its production. Hansa Chippers – a specialist in design and manufacture of top quality wood chippers - employs a team of 26 people from its base in Pukete, Hamilton. The ambitious company is growing at a rate of more than 25 percent a year and has recently been recognised by New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) for its export potential. Hansa Chippers had humble beginnings when in 1981 Manfred Vogel spotted an opportunity to develop wood chippers creating a market that was destined to grow. On a shoestring budget, initially working out of his mother in law’s honey shed in Ohaupo, he designed and manufactured the very first Hansa Chipper. Fast forward 22 years, Manfred’s son Martin returned from qualifying as a mechanical engineer at the University of Auckland and joined the business, then based in Frankton. “Twelve years ago it was just Dad and I doing everything ourselves,” recalls Martin. “We did all the cutting, the welding and the assembly.” When Manfred retired, Martin bought him out and has taken Hansa Chippers to new levels but always kept to the businesse’s original values of producing innovative and quality products that exceed customers expectations. By GEOFF TAYLOR Five years ago, Hansa Chippers outgrew its previous location and moved to its Tawn Place site where it now produces 3500 chippers a year; in two weeks it produces what Manfred and Martin used to make in a year. Hansa Chippers produces a large range of wood chippers. Its smaller models are massively popular, particularly the Model C7 chipper, pitched as the ultimate weapon for lifestylers. But the range extends all the way from models for home gardens, to full scale commercial arborist businesses. You can even pop down to your local hire centre and chances are you will find a Hansa Chipper. The Hansa Chippers’ design team uses Solidworks 3D modelling to turn ideas into top class machines. Drawings go to Hamilton-based Stainless Design for laser cutting which are then welded, blasted, powdercoated and assembled by the Hansa team. The factory which is Team Hansa and visitors at 10,000 Honda engine celebration. entrenched in lean manufacturing has become so busy that it now runs across two shifts. Martin says assembly is becoming more automated, evidenced by Hansa Chippers’ robot welder which can do the work in a quarter of the time. Blasting and powder coating are likely to be automated in the future. “Anything that can be automated we have to do it,” he says. “l have to look at our competitors in Europe and the United States. Their cost of manufacture is cheaper than ours. We must look at ways to do it smarter to compete on that world scale. That’s been key to getting an efficient operation.” Further to this, Hansa Chipper’s success is the agility created through its design and manufacturing operation. New models can be quickly developed from idea to design to market. An example is Hansa Chippers’ latest model, the C60RX chipper, which is The first Honda powered Hansa Chipper. mounted on a tracked undercarriage and is fully operated by remote control. Hansa’s design team started developing the model in March last year and it was released at the fieldays in June. The C60RX can get to places that are difficult to access. With 10” capacity and powered by a 65HP engine, this chipper is ideal for
BAY OF PLENTY BUSINESS NEWS February/March 2017 17 GOLDEN MOMENTOES OF A BUSINESS ON TRACK Martin Vogel (managing director) and Manfred Vogel (founder). Standing proudly in Hansa Chippers’ Pukete office is a gold coloured Model C7 chipper. It marks the fact that last year the ambitious company designed, manufactured and sold its 20,000th chipper, a huge achievement for a business which started out in a honey shed but testament to the value placed on innovative design and quality manufacture. Hansa Chippers is also a business founded on partnerships and they chose to partner with Honda as a preferred engine supplier in the late 1990s. In January, Hansa Chippers hosted a visit from Hiroshi Kamiya, general manager of Power Product Business Division – Asian Honda Motor Company. The visit coincided with Hansa having purchased 10,000 Honda engines and being Honda NZ’s largest original equipment manufacturer (OEM). To celebrate, Honda provided lunch for 35 people including the Hansa team and Honda 20,000th special edition chipper. executives from Power & Marine in Auckland. To signify the importance to both businesses of this trusted partnership a gold coloured Honda engine was presented to Hansa. Welding Powdercoating 10,000 Honda engine special gold edition presented by Hiroshi Kamiya, General Manager, Honda Power Equipment Asia. arborists working in parks or hilly or remote areas. Hansa Chippers has strong market share in New Zealand and exports throughout Australia and the Pacific Islands. But the export journey is only just beginning as NZTE has placed Hansa Chippers among its Focus 700 companies for which it works intensively, seeking out new markets. Hansa Chippers aims to break into markets in Europe and South America as their export journey grows. “It’s great to have NZTE on board giving that guidance and market research. You wouldn’t be able to do the level of research as a standalone company because it’s so expensive.” “They’ve also given us direction around governance in the business to drive the business to the next level and plan ahead.” While Martin develops a leadership team around him and breaks into larger export markets, he retains the ethos of quality which Manfred and he have cultivated from the beginning. “I have always recognised the brand and the values we have stood for and have never compromised. As a result, we’ve built a real brand following that we can leverage off and design a product that’s the best.” Assembly CONTACT Freephone: 0508 4 HANSA (0508442672) Phone: 07 849 4749 Fax: 07 849 4746 Email: info@hansaproducts.co.nz LOCATION 36 Tawn Place Pukete, Hamilton New Zealand 3200 www.hansachippers.co.nz
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Bay of Plenty Business News February/March 2017

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