Alemlube’s comprehensive workshop fit out service was just the right fit for this major player in Western Australia’s equipment hire space.
In its more than 50 years of operation, Alemlube has never been a business to rest on its laurels.
With an always-growing network spreading across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, as well as Auckland, Alemlube continues to evolve with the industries it serves.
Today, Alemlube’s range of lubrication and refuelling solutions includes a wide selection of products designed to meet the needs of different industrial and automotive applications, from transport to mining to earthmoving – and continues to grow off the back of trusted relationships built along the way.
The one-stop workshop shop
One of Alemlube’s core offerings is its specialised workshop fit-out service. This includes custom workshop design and consultation, installation of exhaust extraction equipment and bulk oil storage solutions – anything a customer might require to maintain a fleet.
For WA Projects and Installations Manager Todd Franklin, this work has been his bread and butter for the better part of a decade.
“I’ve been in this role with Alemlube for nine years now, and was a fitter for three years before that,” he says. “Now I lead a team of five fitters, as well another project manager who we’re in the process of training up.”
One of Todd’s recently completed projects gave him and his team the opportunity to flex their expertise and problem-solving skills for an exciting new client: family-owned equipment hire business Mayday Rental.
New partnerships
Mayday Rental has provided the Western Australian construction industry with reliable rental machinery for more than 30 years. Specialising in dry hire equipment for both short and long-term projects, the family-owned and operated business combines extensive industry experience with a commitment to service and accountability for its customers.
Founded by Ken Abbott in 1992, the Mayday business expanded rapidly through a dedication to strong business and personal relationships. Now into its second generation with Director Bryce Abbott at the helm, Mayday Rental caters to a wide range of clients, including major construction and mining companies across WA.
Mayday Rental General Manager Kye Keenan says Mayday Rental saw a big uptick in business over the pandemic years, which in turn created a need for a bigger, better maintenance facility in Nerrabup, north of Perth.
“I put the project out to tender with three different companies, but we figured out pretty quickly that Alemlube were the right people for the job,” Kye says.
“The Alemlube team was just fantastic across the board, from start to finish. We wanted to create a facility that was both functional and aesthetically pleasing, and they just got it.”
Delivering the goods
Todd was the man tasked with bringing Mayday’s vision to life. He says Kye, Bryce and their team represented as close to the ideal client as you can hope for: one with a clear sense of what they wanted to achieve, but more than willing to listen to feedback and suggestions from the experts.
“Bryce and Kye had a very clear vision for this workshop,” Todd says. “They wanted to create a space that would be functional, but also easy to keep neat, clean and well looked after, which involved hiding as much of the pipework as possible up in the roof.
“But they were also very open to our suggestions throughout the process. They knew that we do this kind of work day-in, day-out, so they trusted our opinions and expertise. They were very easy to work with, and I think that’s reflected in the results.”
Mayday’s brief comprised a six-bay workshop for servicing light and heavy vehicles, as well as two gantries for supplying oils, coolants, water, air, and waste evacuation setups. This involved creating custom framework to elevate pumps and hose reels above the floor for easier cleaning.
Todd says the fit out was larger than the average project due to a range of variables, such as the height of the workshop roof and the safety considerations that introduced.
“The roof there is nearly nine metres high, and we needed to have posts running down throughout the centre of the workshop – so we needed extra hands-on deck to install those,” Todd says.
“They also wanted to put a 20-foot container outside the workshop, fitted out with oil pods, IBCs (intermediate bulk containers), drums, and an air compressor. We hadn’t done anything like that before, and we certainly learned a lot from it.”
Kye says that even with the Mayday team shifting the goalposts on the project more than once, Todd and the Alemlube team took everything in stride.
“They were very accommodating,” Kye says. “There were a couple of times where Bryce or I changed our minds on something, and Todd and his team have just made the adjustments on the fly with absolutely no issues.”
Kye says he was expecting Alemlube’s flexibility on the project to result in quite a few cost overruns. But he was surprised to find just one minor variation when it came time to settle up.
“I was more than impressed,” he says. “They were very true to their word on their original quote, as well as their workmanship.”
A monument to quality
As Mayday Rental’s service team moves its first load of gear into the new workshop, Kye is excited to see how it will help Mayday build on its steady growth. And when it comes time for Mayday’s next big project, he says he won’t hesitate to reach out to Alemlube.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve had anybody of this calibre, on this size of a project, actually deliver on time and on budget like Alemlube did,” Kye says. “We buy a lot of equipment, and we’re no strangers to being let down with lead times for machinery and attachments. So, it was very refreshing to deal with a company like Alemlube.
“Todd and his team all presented well, turned up when they said they would, and cleaned up after themselves – they didn’t leave a screw or a cable tie anywhere. They were very professional, and they’re clearly very proud of the work that they do.”