Waikato Business News March/April 2018

34 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS March/April 2018
VINZ NEW BUILD
VINZ moves north
with state-of-the-art
testing station
From page 32
complex.”
Murray is trained up on
every aspect of the job. He
trained as an automotive engineer
before doing 21 years with
VINZ, 19 of them as a vehicle
inspector and the last two as
site manager. Setting up the
former site in 2006 marked the
start of heavy vehicle testing
for VINZ in Hamilton; before
then he and his workmates
worked only on light vehicles,
contracting out to other sites.
Murray still lends a hand
in the pits occasionally, but
recent times have seen a huge
increase in volume and these
days he’s mostly involved in
the people side.
“It's definitely more of a
people job I'm doing now, it's
not so much nuts and bolts. It's
dealing with people and the
customers and keeping people
happy.
“Very much my philosophy
is look after your staff
first because if your staff are
happy then they want to be at
work, that transfers to the staff
keeping the customers happy
and then the customers telling
other people and that's pretty
much how it works. And it
does work, it absolutely works.
So we've got happy staff, a nice
new station and happy customers
and that transfers to word of
mouth.”
Service is the key, Murray
says. That includes having
enough qualified staff so there
is always cover if someone is
off sick or on holiday.
“You need the staff, you
need to supply a service, and
that's what we're about.
“It's all about how long you
have to wait out there. People
don't like to wait, It’s a waste
of their time and money. We
want to get them in, get them
through, be reasonable about
things, and communicate.”
The building offers the
full range of VINZ’s services,
with a focus on heavy vehicle
inspections and certification
and NZTA transactional services.
The range includes:
• WoFs
• CoFs, a regular inspection
for passenger service, rental
and heavy goods vehicles
• Pre-purchase inspections,
to give greater confidence
to buyers and seller of used
vehicles
• Heavy vehicle entry certification
• Hybrid and electric vehicle
safety checks
• Administrative services,
such as re-registrations and
vehicle licensing.
• Motorcycle compliance
• Off-site forklift WoFs
• Work for the Serious Crash
Unit Hamilton
The build by AP Construction
was completed in December
last year. It is a 650sq m
facility with a 150sq m office
block, and it opened for business
on February 18, followed
by an official opening
on March 13 at which NZTA
chief executive Fergus Gammie
spoke, along with Gordon
Shaw.
VINZ was established as a
co-operative in the early 1990s
by a group of NZ motor industry
people, and is now a privately
owned company.
VINZ inspects more than
175,000 vehicles per year, and
has been an appointed agent for
the NZ Transport Agency for
more than 20 years, working to
ensure vehicles meet their road
safety standards.
VINZ employs more than
180 staff across 11 testing station
branches, partners’ premises
and its Auckland head
office.
• The new VINZ testing
station is open from
8am-4.30pm, Monday to
Friday, and 8am-noon on
Saturday.
See Page 36 to read about AP
Construction’s role in the new
VINZ testing station build.
Phoenix
Electrical Ltd
More than 25 years experience
specialising in commercial, lighting design,
design and build.
Quality you can trust
Proud to be a part of the VINZ
new build Tasman Road, Te Rapa
Plumbing • Drainlaying • New work
• Maintenance Digger hire
Contact David Podmore
PHONE 027 349 0603
www.phoenixelectricalltd.co.nz
facebook.com/phoenixelectrical.co.nz
A3965T
Graham 0274 934 968
Phone 07 847 7344 Email bridge@xtra.co.nz
109 Colombo Street, Hamilton
A3896T