The Macalister Irrigation District (MID) in Central Gippsland is a beautiful part of the world, renowned for its dairy-farming and horticultural commodities, where water security is always vital. It is here at Stage 1 of the MID2030 $60M Southern-Tinamba Modernisation Project, we meet MTB and learn how strong family values have provided the foundation for a successful company.
Hard work and tenacity, combined with innovation and personality, make the value proposition offered by MTB unique. They operate with the pace and professionalism of a much larger entity but have maintained the heart of a small business. There is an obvious camaraderie between the team where everyone is considered extended family.
MTB started out as Maffra Trenching & Boring, which was formed by Mark Hunt as a sole proprietorship back in 1978. Whilst working as a licensed plumber and gas fitter, Mark had the vision and foresight to purchase the first directional drill in Gippsland. His hard work, innovation and succession planning has seen the business expand into a substantial professional operation over the last 39 years. The MTB of today is a well-oiled machine that is run by the next generation of Hunts.
Julie Mack, daughter of Mark, takes on the role as General Manager and her three brothers Robbie, Bill and Craig Hunt are all working Directors who offer an impressive 48 years of combined experience in boring, trenching and excavation. Youngest brother Adam is a vital team member and is poised to join the company as a Director.
MTB has built their reputation on difficult jobs with short time frames and acknowledges that like every family, there are strengths and weakness in each personality.
They say the key to working together successfully is recognising positive attributes of each Director and combining skills to ensure all critical elements of contract delivery are met. The family dynamic in this next generation is clearly working with MTB consistently winning increasingly complex projects and executing them to a high standard.
THE A-TEAM
MTB is based in Traralgon and undertakes contracts throughout Victoria. Whilst most of their projects are based in Gippsland, they have the capacity and resources to service the area from Bairnsdale to the suburbs of Melbourne and beyond.
MTB offers their clients a unique value proposition by providing a diverse skill set through a tight team of 15 professionals with an extensive plant list. Multi skilled operators work with precision under refined systems to ensure quality projects are completed safely, on time and with minimal environmental impact.
Watching them work together as a team on the MID2030 Modernisation Project, which is a significant investment into infrastructure by Southern Rural Water and the Victorian and Commonwealth Governments, it is evident they work seamlessly to meet their tight time frames. A hive of activity takes place through the relatively undisturbed farmland, where the project involves converting sections of the MID open water channel system into a 1500 diameter piped irrigation system, to minimise water loss and deliver improved service to SRW customers.
It is obvious that this team and their Volvo equipment know how to push through to keep on track and on time. Everyone knows their role within the team and they operate their Volvo machinery like an extension of their body. Since the site visit, all works were successfully completed within the required three-month period to allow delivery of water to irrigators after winter.
Robbie Hunt (the oldest brother) has been in the business for 25 years and runs the work site with precision and calm, which enables him and his crew to install the 1500GRP pipe through a minimal construction corridor at an impressive rate.
Backed up by his brothers Bill and Craig, each with 15 and 12 years of experience respectively in the business, you get an idea of not only how well these guys work together, but the diverse experience and skill sets that exists within the team.
EXPERIENCE, KNOWLEDGE AND COMMITMENT
It is this very depth of experience that comes from all 15 of the staff that Julie puts down to their success, and sets them aside from their competition. Every person plays a vital role in their team, whether it’s one of their skilled operators, the mechanic behind the scenes or Angela Witcher, who is on site to deal with document control and liaise with customers. Each member of the team contributes to the success of the business and are all considered a part of the extended family.
MTB uses only quality products for materials and fittings and their plant equipment is no different.
The Volvo values of Quality, Safety and Reliability are in line with MTB’s own OHSE policy and over the past 5 years MTB has added 9 new Volvo machines to their fleet. MTB uses Volvo for their operator comfort factor, fuel efficiency and competitive price point. New plant in the current fleet consists heavily of Volvo, which is immediately evident when arriving on site. The latest addition being a EC300D excavator and L90F Wheel Loader, which were both hard at work in Tinamba.
MTB also own several other Volvo Excavators, a Volvo grader, dump truck, Hauler, Backhoe Loader, and a full suite of directional drills, including two hydration excavation trucks. Their equipment is serviced regularly with the maintenance schedule managed electronically so break downs are few and far between.
MTB has developed a dependable relationship with Andrew Hagen at CJD Equipment as well as their service team at Dandenong. The service department is reliable and able to attend site when required, working in with other local clients to minimise external costs and their quotes are always realistic. Andrew has supported the MTB team through some extended projects, assisting in gearing up at the commencement and then celebrating when they inevitably complete the contract ahead of schedule.
IT’S ALL ABOUT SAFETY
MTB and their clients are consistently working to improve safety conditions during the high risk work they undertake and Volvo is renowned for making safety a priority through all their products. Advancements in safety continue to evolve, such as the engineering controls to mitigate lifting risks on excavator booms.
Improved efficiency of plant through oil testing and analysis is also a big advantage provided by Volvo and their sustainable outlook assists MTB when they need to provide this information to clients.
Julie shared that it’s an exciting time to be involved in pipeline construction and civils projects. The one constant is change and MTB is fortunate enough to have a group of young forward-thinking team members to steer the company in the right direction, supported by reliable gear and relatable clients.
[colored_box color=”yellow”]For more information visit mtb.com.au and www.cjd.com.au
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