Celebrating 30 years – Camco Engineering continues to expand as one of Australia’s larger engineering shops
First established in 1995, Camco Engineering now employs some 550 personnel in four Western Australian locations close to its customers and the company continues to expand with operations nationwide and into export markets.
With Head Office located in Canning Vale and engineering facilities also in Belmont, Welshpool and Karratha WA, this privately owned company recently celebrated its 30th anniversary providing high level engineering services to diverse markets such as Mining, Power Generation, Oil & Gas, Energy, Transport and Rail along with general engineering work. Whilst work is primarily in Western Australia the company undertakes work nationwide and also has long term contracts in Papua New Guinea.
“Such is the engineering capabilities of our staff that we have a policy of never turning away a job no matter how challenging,” said Group Operations Manager Matt Casley. “We just find the right solution for our customers and our work covers refurbishing sizes, crushers, vibratory screens, conveyer pulleys, magnetic separators, exciters, gearboxes wheel grippers, bogies, cryogenic pumps, expander generators, marine loading arms, rope access work and sub-sea manufacture plus much more,” he said.
The engineering services this private company provides covers full engineering and design with CAM/CAD design facilities, fabrication, welding, robotics, gear cutting, inspection and metrology, machining plus design and manufacture. There are four design engineers and six draftsmen currently in the team.
“In our engineering shop we have two Okuma machining centres and two Okuma CNC lathes and a strong working relationship with Okuma WA that ticks all the boxes. With reliable, stable precision engineering outcomes, strong technical support from the factory with skilled local technicians, user friendly programming and training, it is a company that goes the extra mile. An example of this is the commissioning of a new Okuma machine and training in our Karratha facilities some 1,500km or a two hour flight away,” said Matt Casley.
“There is always an air of excitement within my team that comes with the introduction of a technically advanced machining centre with the very latest technology and competition occurs as to who will operate the new machine. The Okuma machines are running 24 hours a day producing an ever increasing range of components,” he said.
According to Okuma the machines are engineered for uncompromising performance, with the new Okuma MA-8000H Horizontal Machining Centre setting the new benchmark in productivity and precision. This machine is designed to accommodate a broad spectrum of workpieces from robust steel components to lightweight aluminium parts which provides great flexibility for engineering shops across a broad range of industrial applications.
The latest Okuma’s CNC Lathe model LB3000BMYC x 950 with the new OSP-P500L controller, is also designed with precision in mind combining thermal stability with robust structural engineering. This lathe maintains exceptional dimensional accuracy in variable temperatures delivering critically reliable performance.
A robust apprentice training program is running within Camco Engineering which believes that these young trainees are the engineers of the future. Of the 550 personnel, 38 apprentices are currently under training and each apprentice undergoes experience within all divisions of the company before returning to their core trade training. The outcome for Camco Engineering is well-rounded tradesmen and a strong retention rate of these employees for the company on completion of the apprenticeship. Such is the success of the training program that a number of apprentices have won Gold and Silver medals in WA with one going on to the world championships.
The company continues to expand with Camco Engineering about to build a 4,000 sq. metre heavy lifting facility with one 150 tonne overhead lifting crane along with other smaller lifting cranes. A new storage facility is also being built.
Camco Engineering is fully accredited to a number of international certifications including ISO9001, ISO45001, DNV CP-0352.
“The economy in Western Australia has been very strong for us over the last few years and we expect this to continue however there remains a lot of work still going overseas where Australian manufacturers have the quality skills to economically undertake this work and this needs to be addressed,” said Matt Casley. “Our work nationwide and in export markets continues to be strong and expanding,” he said.
“Okuma Australia congratulates Camco Engineering on 30 years of successful business and its impressive expansion from humble beginnings. Camco Engineering’s commitment to strong values is borne out by its proud reputation for reliability, innovation and quality that has been established over the years,” said Okuma West Australian Branch Manager, John Dale. “We are proud to be working closely with this ever expanding and exceptional company and wish them well for the future,” he said