Almost sixty years on, WA family engineering company continues to expand nationally and internationally
Successful third generation, Australian company Geographe Enterprises, remains family led with Sam Hyder as CEO and Clayton Hyder as Chairman.
Established in Busselton Western Australia by Neville Hyder in 1968, and named after the local region, Geographe began as a small engineering concern servicing local agricultural and industrial requirements.
Geographe has evolved over almost sixty years from a small manufacturing and repair business into a vertically integrated mining engineering and manufacturing organisation with five principal locations and international sales.
The key stages of development for this exciting company include:
- Developing Geographe Replacement Parts – OEM quality parts for heavy mobile mining equipment throughout the 1980’s.
- Establishing the Enhanced Performance Parts category in 1994.
- Creating Specialised Tooling division in 2010.
- Adding Asset Optimisation as a business category in 2023.
- Expanding manufacturing, distribution and customer support capabilities across Australia and in international markets.
Today the principal Australian business locations for the company are Perth (Kewdale) Western Australia for global parts sales and distribution, product development, engineering, gear manufacturing, marketing and administration: Bunbury (Davenport) WA – manufacturing, machining and estimating; Townsville, QLD – regional customer parts support; Mackay Qld – distribution and Singleton -NSW – regional customer parts support and distribution.
Geographe also has international manufacturing, distribution or representation arrangements covering locations such as Malaysia, Mexico, South Africa, and the Americas
With a staff of 160 personnel the company primarily operates in the mining, mineral processing, heavy mobile equipment and industrial manufacturing markets. Today, servicing Tier 1 and Tier 2 mining companies, contractors, off-site repairers and industrial customers requiring replacement parts, enhanced performance parts, specialised tooling, industrial gears and gearbox-related services.
Geographe has substantial end-to-end capability covering product development, engineering, CAD design, machining, gear manufacturing, heat treatment, quality assurance and product inspection. The facilities combine design, engineering and manufacturing activities in Western Australia and being vertically integrated allows for faster production times while maintaining the highest levels of quality throughout the production processes.
The areas of expertise for this WA company include:
- OEM replacement parts for heavy mobile mining equipment;
- Enhanced Performance wear parts to increase machine uptime;
- Specialised Tooling for safer and more efficient vehicle maintenance;
- Engineering and reverse engineering;
- CNC machining and automated manufacturing;
- Industrial gear manufacturing and large gearbox overhauls;
- Fixed plant components including industrial roller wheels;
- Product development and application engineering;
- On-demand Australian manufactured mining components;
- Quality, environmental and occupational health and safety management.
“Throughout our machine shops our company operates thirteen Okuma machines and Okuma has been the supplier of choice since the first NC machine was installed in the 1970’s”, said Geographe’s Chairman – Clayton Hyder. “The Okuma machines provide us with robust, stable, highly accurate, precision output and with excellent local service it has resulted in Okuma being the first option for us when selecting a new machine. Our machine operators enjoy running the machines and they are familiar with the advanced controllers and easy to use programs,” he said.
“The commissioning of the Okuma machines is excellent and we take advantage of Okuma’s generous training options. However, we do find that as we are buying highly technical machines with advanced options, it is to our advantage that we work in close collaboration with the strong backup from local Okuma technicians plus direct access to Okuma head office whenever necessary, to fully utilise the machine’s capabilities,” commented Clayton.
Full 5-Axis machining is used on several machines and the broad range of products and components produced on the Okuma machines include standard shafts, pins, bushes and bearings, to complex gears (skiving, hobbling and gear milling), and crank shafts, with milling machines, performing end details, engraving, gears, gearbox housings plus a range of Patented Specialised Tooling manufactured exclusively by Geographe.
Geographe’s On-Demand manufacturing model is designed to produce critical components close to the point of use rather than customers relying on international supply chains. The company introduced SAP ECC as an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system in 2002 and has subsequently migrated to SAP S/4HANA, SAP’s cloud-based ERP platform in 2018, being one of the first companies in Australia to do so. The system supports the integration of business processes such as sales, purchasing, inventory, production, finance and supply-chain management and has also been integrated into machinery with touch screens on the shop floor.
As part of a broader focus on improving manufacturing flow, visibility, productivity and operational control, a “Green Light Project” has been introduced to the workshop to optimise the uptime of each machine. Displayed within the factory, it indicates when a machine is in an idle state requiring human intervention to trouble-shoot or when the machine cell is in operation. Historical data collected from the live status tracking system allows for an early review or the elimination of unplanned stoppages throughout the automated systems.
International accreditation to quality systems, including ISO 9001-Quality Management; ISO 14001-Environmental Management; ISO 45001-Occupational Health and Safety Management, all play an important part in the overall management of this quality assured company with SolidWorks, KISSsoft. GearTrax and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) CAD systems and software supporting product design, reverse engineering, gear design engineering optimisation and the development of improved mining components.
With Geographe always working to optimise their machining processes, the introduction of the latest equipment and advances in technology means an on-going reassessment of current methods with a view to improving cycle times etc. Okuma assists in this area due to rigidity, accuracy and advanced features and the ability to ’trust’ the machines when set up to run unattended over nights and weekends. This allows operators to run alternate machines whilst automated Okuma machines are still running.
Geographe is committed to developing skilled tradespeople for the future through a structured apprenticeship program that combines formal vocational education with practical workplace experience. The company views apprenticeships as a critical component of workforce development and succession planning, supporting the long-term sustainability of skilled trades within the business and the industry.
The Geographe approach includes TAFE-based learning, supervised on-the-job training, individual training plans aligned to the qualification requirements and ongoing mentoring from experienced tradespeople and supervisors. Training progress is regularly reviewed to ensure apprentices are developing the technical skills, knowledge and safe work practices within their chosen trade.
As part of their development, new apprentices undertake rotations across multiple departments to gain an understanding of the full manufacturing process and how each stage contributes to the quality of the finished product. In addition to workplace and formal training, Geographe partners with Apprenticeship Support Australia through the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Western Australia (CCIWA) to provide apprentices with access to additional support services, resources and guidance throughout their apprenticeship journey.
Geographe employ three adult apprentices – two machinists and one moulder apprentice plus seven younger apprentices with four machinists, two fitters and one chrome plating apprentice.
“Our machinists see our Okuma machines as a clear progression route. Because we run Okuma machines across multiple controller operations there is a practical step-up on the shop floor. Operators can start on our standard 2-Axis lathes and vertical milling machines to build functional skill, then advance through to 4-Axis turning and twin turret machining and ultimately move into our flagship multitasking machines with highly customised robot interfaces supporting our complex automated cells”, said Chairman Clayton Hyder. “Seeing this progression mapped out creates genuine enthusiasm and gives machinists the opportunity for a long-term future here knowing that they can continuously upskill on world-class technology without hitting a ceiling,” he said.
Geographe has expanded beyond conventional replacement parts into Enhanced Performance Wear Parts, Specialised Tooling, Industrial Gears, Gearbox Servicing, Asset Optimisation and new maintenance focused products.
Recent new products include an update to its award-winning Ball Stud Removal Tool and a newly released Ball Stud Bearing Removal and Installation Tool which was the winner in the Excellence in Mining OH&S category at the 2026 Australian Mining Prospect Awards.
Whilst Western Australia is the core operating and manufacturing base, the company has a broad base of national customers servicing more than 100 mine sites across Australia working with every Tier-1 mining operation on the ASX plus more than 300 additional customers. Export markets include activity across Asia, Africa and the Americas, supported by regional representatives, partners, distribution arrangements and selected local manufacturers.
“Okuma is proud of the relationship established with the Geographe Enterprise team over almost six decades and to be a contributing part of the exceptional growth and development of this high-quality and ever-expanding Australian Manufacturer. We congratulate Geographe on this on-going development,” said Dean McCarroll – Managing Director, Okuma Australia and New Zealand.