If you’re from the West of Australia and in the earthmoving or civil construction game there is a high chance you are familiar with Wormall Civil who operate civil construction throughout the greater Perth metropolitan area and regional Western Australia.
In true Australian form, the company’s success is built off the back of a hard-working family owned and operated business. The civil construction engineering company is backed by a strong and stable management team with extensive below ground, surface and ground up experience.
Along with a group of highly trained and experienced civil engineers, project managers and dedicated field staff, it’s no wonder Wormall Civil’s success over the last 34 years has spread across both private development and government projects.
EEM took the opportunity to jump on a plane and see first-hand the work that the Wormall Civil team is currently undertaking and had a chat with Shannon Whincup, who is Plant and Transport Manager.
We met with Shannon on-site at Piara Waters, a site that has been expanding and keeping the Wormall Civil team busy, as they have been the main contractor since 2002.
The team operate the basic stuff they need for their civil works, such as loaders, diggers and rollers, along with other smaller items like compactors.
Underground Specialists
When I asked Shannon if this site at Piara Waters was typical of the type of works Wormall Civil undertakes, he shared, Wormall Civil undertake all parts of a development from undergrounds to roads.
For example, this site here at Piara Waters was an import and fill job, hence the yellow sand we are standing on that you can see around this site. Wormall Civil also completed perimeter and internal wall construction on site.
“We have just completed a subdivision out the back of this location, and have started this new section we are standing on as well as another area on this same location. We are going to be pretty busy here till after Christmas.
“We are spread everywhere at the moment in terms of other jobs running, starting from the north of Perth at Two Rocks and as far south as Bunbury with many other sites operating across the extended areas of the CBD.”
It’s All About Team Work
There is no denying the size of the Wormall Civil operation with around 270-275 staff including contractors. it was interesting to find out Wormall Civil has grown over its life side by side with machine supplier and Volvo distributor CJD Equipment. These two companies discovered a synergy back in 1986 and have been reliable partners ever since.
Wormall Civil bought its first Volvo L70 loader when Crocodile Dundee was showing in cinemas around Australia and Bob Hawke was Prime Minister. Times have changed a lot since then but Wormall Civil’s partnership with both CJD Equipment and Volvo hasn’t wavered. During this time Wormall Civil purchased over 40 machines from CJD Equipment and whenI probed Shannon to spill the beans on why this relationship has been so successful, he said, “The after-sales service from CJD has been faultless, and with people like Bevan in place who has been around for as long as I have been involved in the business, CJD is invaluable to us. He knows everything we need to know about the machines.”
12,000 Hours and Going Strong
“When it comes to the machines themselves we can’t fault the Volvos. A recent indication of what I’m talking about is: we normally change our machines over every 12,000 hours but one of our operators Pat has been the sole operator of his machine for the last three years or so. We recently upgraded Pat’s Volvo a few months back, and his loader was still in such good shape we were more than happy to keep this machine running within the business. There were no major dramas across the life of the machine so why would we go anywhere else. Patrick was one of three operators at Wormall Civil that received a new loader earlier this year, and the consensus was that as happy as the boys were to receive a new machine, they were a little sad to see the old ones go.Our operators love the equipment – the cabins are great, the performance for our civil work is right up there, and everyone is happy,” said Shannon.
Talk is cheap but given the fact that Wormall Civil has ordered and paid for three more machines just this week (making for a total of six this year), which will be delivered on the same week, the proof they say is in the pudding!
Volvo Has Left No Stone Unturned
While we were in Perth EEM also had the chance to meet up with Bevan from CJD Equipment whose role lies in product support. As well as delivering the machines, Bevan explained the features and benefits to the operators and familiarity training.
Ensuring that any problems are dealt with instantly is a massive part of what CJD Equipment does, so when I asked Bevan what processes role out when a phone call comes in with an issue, he shared, “You only have to have a look around a busy work site to get an understanding of how integral a wheel loader is. If a loader goes down the whole place can come to a grinding halt. In Perth, CJD has half a dozen or so Volvo trained technicians that are sent out to the site to fix any issues straight away.
“Looking back over my time I’ve seen many changes; several mining booms have come and gone, but civil and construction work has been a constant. In terms of the machines themselves, comfort for the operator in the cab has been a massive point of focus for Volvo in recent years with extra comfort seats, climate control, extra visibility in the cabin and even the ways the cabs are mounted that were redesigned to enhance operator experience. When it comes to efficiency there’s common rail, high torque, low revving, electronically controlled engines, so fuel consumption is class leading. With all these elements directly tiering into safety and performance, Volvo has left no stone unturned to produce an excellent machine.”
It’s always great to be able to visit the West Coast when you’re based in Sydney, especially when you get to spend some time with high-quality operators like Wormall Civil, CJD Equipment and Volvo. It was a pleasure for EEM to spend a day with the Wormall Civil team and we wish them all continued success moving forward.