Export wheels healthy earner

By DITA DE BONI

With tongue firmly in cheek, Neil Campbell concedes that manufacturing in New Zealand is "slightly easier" than in Belarus.

The new general manager of Ford New Zealand's Wiri-based alloy wheel plant has just come back from Europe, where he headed a joint venture between Ford and the Government of the former USSR republic to manufacture Transits and Escorts.

After three years there, and a further 14 months in Germany, he returned to the job he first held in 1995.

"There are plenty of big business enterprises that have huge problems with reinvestment and capital markets in Belarus," says Mr Campbell.

He says many manufacturers in ex-Soviet republics continue to struggle to find markets.

His measured stance on the New Zealand manufacturing environment is in stark contrast to that of his predecessor at the Wiri plant, Kym Murphy.

He told the Herald a month before retiring in November that "one could not be happy with the general state of manufacturing in New Zealand."

Notwithstanding that view, the business Mr Campbell has inherited is a healthy one.

Despite facing closure in the early 1980s after the demise of its original transmission manufacturing and assembly operation, the alloy wheel manufacturer has more than doubled its foreign exchange earnings in the past three years to $135.8 million.

The plant's main line continues to be alloy wheels, which are almost entirely exported to the US.

With more than 500 employees, the operation is close to reaching capacity, and aims to produce 4700 wheels a day as well as around 200 cross-members for Australian-made Falcons.

"We've got a really good business into North America and a very solid position, but we're always looking for new opportunities," Mr Campbell says.

The only Ford plant worldwide producing alloy wheels, the Wiri operation has a forward contract to supply its US parent company but says it is still expected to be price competitive against global alloy wheel producers.

Mr Campbell says the weak New Zealand dollar is having a favourable effect on business, and the total cost of employment here is "advantageous."

"It makes good sense to do business from [New Zealand].

"We have a good, viable business."

While the company will not reveal its plans for different product lines, it is proud to mention its on-site educational programme, which saw approximately a quarter of its workforce graduate with the National Level 1 Certificate in Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering this week.