Ten years of AMTIL membership for TRJ Engineering. And 50 years under the belt as well
TRJ Engineering celebrated its tenth year of AMTIL membership and 50th year of business last April. General Manager David Murphy told AMT that his father started TRJ in 1974, and David took over about 25 years ago.
“The business has moved from Keysborough and expanded out of sight over those years,” he said, “and only in the past eight years has it settled into one considerable site here in Hallam.”
Back then, TRJ joined AMTIL to discover what was happening in manufacturing in Australia, Murphy said. “TRJ was getting bigger, and I was looking at how to get support for myself and my team because we’ve evolved with the business. I wanted to see what was out there that could help TRJ with its training and support. AMTIL could direct me to people who eventually became part of the TRJ business and its growing needs. I continue to use AMTIL, but now it’s a call to the team, and I have a great relationship with them.”
TRJ has been a part of the Manufacturers Pavilion with the AMW shows here in Melbourne, where they’ve had some success. “I’ve attended dinners with other businesses where we could network and receive advice from lawyers and other people, but the thing recently that we have loved being a part of is the CNC operator’s employment program with Greg Chalker at AMTIL and Chisolm Institute. This showed me what training was available for my team. Ultimately, we employed some great people from this trial. I see this as a key tool for engaging and training our team in the future.”
TRJ Engineering has a pretty good client base, which is a great position to be in. “We’re doing a lot of work for train and tram building for Victoria at the moment, so we’ve got an excellent relationship,” said Murphy. “I think we’re the only fabricator that is the preferred supplier, and that’s opened up many doors. TRJ Engineering has also built welding jigs and rotating jigs and a lot of that type of work for these projects.
“We’ve also had a longstanding relationship with a local southeast Melbourne refrigerated transport company, where we build between 80 and 90 B-Doubles for them per year and have done so for a long time now,” added Murphy.
“We’re building two different trailers for them now. We’ve got a 12-pallet trailer and a 16-pallet trailer, which we used to build 12-pallet trailers only. We’ve separated the two and are building trailers of both sizes. So that’s worked out well.”
Regarding the kinds of robotics, most of the gear at TRJ are CNC machines. They also have a rotary laser cutter, a flatbed laser cutter, and an old machine centre, which does the job well. “All the brake presses are CNC. The rotary laser has been an enormous asset for TRJ. They can now cut RHS, angle, pipe, handrails, balustrades, and basic shop fittings. This purchase has improved out deliver on-time performance and accuracy for our clients.”
TRJ was one of the first engineering businesses in Melbourne to purchase a laser cutter, in 2002. “This was a real progression for the business from profile cutting,” explained Murphy. “We’ve had a few through the journey, but the flatbed laser has become a key tool for our business. We bought a rotary tube laser from Applied Machinery two years ago. This has improved our delivery performance immensely. Getting jobs to fabrication has improved dramatically.”
TRJ also just bought a laser welder in the last six months. They are still in the learning phase, but what Murphy has seen produced so far has impressed him. “The laser welder was purchased from INTERMACH, and their support has been great,” he said. “It is a tool all fabrication shops will need as the technology improves and we can weld safely. I can see more of these being purchased,” added Murphy.
A 3D scanner was purchased a few years ago. It helps gather the dimensions of sample parts. “We also use it to scan sites where some work is to be installed. It’s impressive to get a scanned model of a stair and bring it back to the shop, where we can add handrails and know what we send to the site is accurate. Once again, these are the tools that are evolving the business.”
The good news is that TRJ hasn’t ever been this busy. “We haven’t slowed down,” said Murphy. “We are pretty good at strategising, and because we’re not a next-day company, we’re building ongoing stuff. When work comes in, we plan and execute, which helps us decide what jobs to pick and when.”