Generations of performance

“I know of at least three multigenerational families working here,” says Matt Ragg, Plant Manager for WEM Civil as he stands on site in Box Hill, New South Wales. Now one of the region’s biggest contractors, their reputation for delivery has been built on the hard work of generation after generation of team members and machinery.

Matt is the third generation of his family to work at WEM Civil, which specialises in housing and infrastructure projects. He explains, “The company is 66 years old. It was taken over and run by both my father and grandfather in the late 80’s. It’s something we’re quite proud of, to have different families working here and to have built that type of culture.

“In 10 years’ time, the aim for WEM Civil is growth but still keeping our culture and the community feel of taking care of one another. We always say ‘work as if your mum’s watching.’ That’s the standard we have for our team - to do the best you can do every day, that’s all we can ask for.”

Matt’s standards are equally as high for his equipment. Alongside 260 staff members, he runs 186 machines across the business. This includes 25 pieces of Kobelco equipment, including excavators ranging from 50 tonnes to 14 tonnes and various models such as the SK380XDLC and SK500XDLC. All of which have been supplied by their long-term dealer partner STM Trucks and Machinery.

Faultless accuracy

On the Box Hill site, where the team are working on a semi-retirement village project, they’re running nine Kobelcos alongside 30 other pieces of equipment. The Kobelco machines have been fitted with specialist attachments to dig out the groundworks and lay the structures for electrical and water services.

The Trimble Earthworks GPS system has also been supplied by STM. Installed on more than 50 of WEM’s excavators, dozers and scrapers, all grading work is done using this technology. By combining this system with pegs for underground tasks, the young team, who are mostly aged under 30, get the project done efficiently and accurately.

The quality of the equipment is also essential to getting the job done. As Matt explains, “Kobelco dominates, especially in the Sydney market, because of the quality of the product. Across the broad range of machinery we operate, when it comes to quality there’s nothing else out there that matches this brand. Kobelco machines offer ultimate reliability, operator comfort is at its best and the fuel economy is Mickey Mouse. We can’t fault these machines.”

Extreme reliability

Operating on projects across the Greater Sydney, Hunter and Illawarra regions, Kobelco excavators are a mainstay machine for WEM Civil. “We don’t have a single site that doesn’t have a Kobelco on it,” says Matt. “Their premium reliability, comfort, power and fuel economy savings mean you can see them everywhere.”

One of the heaviest and most recent additions to the team’s fleet is the SK380XDLC. At 37,700kgs, the excavator can achieve fast digging cycle times thanks to its 244 kN bucket breakout force. The powerful swing torque of 120 kN and tractive force of 331 kN also offer best-in-class productivity.

The machine’s potential is realised when it's in the hands of experienced operator Greg Clifton, otherwise known as ‘Cliffo’. He’s equally impressed with its reliability. “I’m against overcomplications in the cab controls because they wear out so much more. In these machines, you aren’t having to get radios fixed and you don’t have to press four buttons to get it to work, for example.”

For all STM customers, reliability has been the key benefit of the Kobelco machines they’ve supplied. As Salesperson Peter Moore explains, “The SK380XDLC has proved to be a winner with us. It out-specs the competition in terms of machine handling capacity. For handling big pipes and loading buckets, the extra weight of just over 40 tonnes makes a big difference.

“The machines go the distance through to over 10,000 hours. That’s important to companies like WEM because they’ve been pushing out over 2,000 hours a year. They need the reliability at the end of a machine’s life as well as at the beginning, which is where the Kobelcos shine.”

Matt agrees, “Every contractor has a Kobelco. This is down to multiple factors of performance and the dealer support being able to come and get your machine up and running straight away. It's so helpful to have a partner like that who can come and help you, it’s not just a financial transaction. We find that very valuable.”

“THEY NEED THE RELIABILITY AT THE END OF A MACHINE’S LIFE AS WELL AS AT THE BEGINNING, WHICH IS WHERE THEKOBELCOS SHINE”

Matt Ragg Plant Manager WEM Civil

Valuable partnership

Alongside the reliability of Kobelco machines, STM’s ability to go the extra mile with servicing has helped the WEM Civil team avoid downtime and delays. “We don’t have breakdowns that often,” Matt says. “If we do, the STM team will go as far as lending us a machine or taking a part off one in the lot to help us avoid downtime.”

These benefits mean STM and WEM Civil have worked well together for around 15 years. “We don’t need STM to come in and take us to lunch,” Matt insists, “If we need a machine we’ll give them a shout.” Peter adds, “We don’t believe just delivering machines is what it is all about, we like to follow up and back up our machines.

“Occasionally in this industry, you get breakdowns and minor problems. It's all about solving the problem today with good parts, sales and service backup. No news is good news, we don’t want companies like WEM phoning up and saying, ‘We haven’t done this’ or ‘We haven’t done that’. We want them every now and then to catch up and say ‘We’re doing alright’.”