Jeff Vigenser and Danica Te Huia at a milltap machine. Photo / Paul Brooks

Paul Brooks is editor of Whanganui Midweek, in your letterbox every Wednesday

Danica Te Huia is from Ohakune, is 38, and is a few months into an adult apprenticeship at Axiam Metals.

Axiam Metals occupies some former railways plant zone buildings, plus some large new structures, at the end of Kelvin St, Aramoho. Employing some 55 staff, it is a casting, machining and powder coating business. Some manufactured items go through all three processes, some don't. Many of us use its products in one form or another, but probably don't know it.

Jeff Vigenser is Axiam Metals' production manager and is one of several long-serving staff members, having been there for more than 20 years. He worked out that the average length of service at the plant is 11 years, and says they survived through Covid because they're an essential business.

"We make medical equipment through to farming equipment, so our business was steady," he says. "Most of our business is repeat customers."

Jeff says they've adapted to disrupted supply chains so now they order their raw materials a month ahead rather than a week out. "I think everyone's adjusted to that." He agrees we need more manufacturing in New Zealand. "Manufacturing is good because you're creating your own destiny. "New Zealand's niche in manufacturing is lower-volume, higher-quality products."

The company actively supports learning on the job. Danica started at Axiam Metals more than five years ago. "My friend, who is actually now my supervisor, rang me up and asked if I wanted a job," she says. At the time, she was working in metal, designing and making jewellery that she sold at the markets. She still does it, but it's more of a hobby, now. Before that, she was working at in-home childcare.

At Axiam, she started in assembly, putting components together. "I was there for a couple of years, then got moved into CNC (computer numerical control) machining, loading castings into the machine." Now she is an apprentice and enrolled in the New Zealand Apprenticeship in Mechanical Engineering Level 4 programme.

"If you look at our skill levels," says Jeff, "we've got operators, and this is in all departments, which is putting repeat product through the plant; then we'll have what we call a setter, they might set the machine, a repeat job; then we've got a programmer, programming the job that needs to be machined, die cast, painted or whatever; then you've got the high-end technical people who work with the customer to [determine] how that part is going to be produced, design the tooling that needs to be done around that, along with the fixtures needed to hold that part; then you've got maintenance looking after all the plant. "For the last few years we've been trying to bring apprentices through the business and upskilling people, because there's a gap between the older guys ready to retire and the new ones coming through. So we try and identify people who are interested in upskilling themselves, and Danica would have already gained lots of skills but didn't have the base training. She has probably skipped that stage because she's already into setting up machines ... "

Jeff says they look at possible apprentices from among existing staff members and give them the opportunity to advance into a career in the business. "I want to be a machinist ... I want to know the whole thing," says Danica. "I'm at that stage where I'm really enjoying it. From being an operator to a setter, following that whole process, and then starting programming, another thing I'd like to progress to. "I enjoy the knowledge," she says. "I like to learn." Starting an apprenticeship was a big decision and required the support of her partner and her children.

Jeff says as you progress through the stages, you get a clearer, overall picture of the plant and its processes. "If you get to where you programme the job, you understand everything. It closes the loop. So if there's a problem, you know where to go."

Danica says she feels the importance of her work and prides herself on its high quality. Axiam Metals, and its Plastics sibling in Somme Parade, are places where someone can bring in a design for a product or a component and get it made to spec, in consultation with the right people at the plant. They make all kinds of products, including the aluminium shells of Whanganui's new parking meters, as well as, for example, wing-mirror brackets for Honda cars. "We made the bracket, it goes to Australia to get the mirror put on, then it goes to Japan to fit the car," says Jeff.

The plant is heavily automated with robotic machines able to create parts with continuous accuracy. Molten metal is injected under pressure into each die, with channels added to the die for the metal to flow in and out. "The die is closed. It'll go from a molten state to a solid state; it will open the machine; the robot will go in and grab it, take it out, dunk it in water and put it on that tray," says Jeff. The tray was already laden with shiny, new identical parts. Turnaround is measured in seconds. The extraneous pieces — overflow — are removed after casting and the extra metal is recycled through the furnaces attached to each die casting machine. All dies are owned by the customer.

"Most people start here as operators, like Danica, who showed incentive to upskill. We identified her as wanting to learn."

The product might undergo some post-processing after that, like sanding or linishing, says Jeff. "Then it heads toward the machine shop." There, components are measured in a temperature-controlled CMM machine where accuracy is to within 8 microns. To put that in perspective, a human hair measures 50 microns across, says Jeff.

After that, the part is handled by Danica and others who operate the CNC machines. There, holes are drilled and threads tapped if necessary. Danica moves around the machine shop, doing a variety of jobs.

The product then goes to a finishing area for washing and powder coating before leaving from dispatch. Jeff says having apprentices like Danica is security for the business. She is one of a few who have started or completed three-year apprenticeships at Axiam after careers or long-term jobs elsewhere, then worked at Axiam for a few years before taking that next step. Apprentices of any age are an investment, as is the technology regularly updated at Axiam Metals.