FMS Group didn’t start with a fanfare of global headlines or an army of contractors.
It began with a bold idea, a toolbox, and a belief that the backbone of the mining industry wasn’t just in the machines — it was in the people who fixed them.
Founded in 2005, FMS was born from the dust and determination of a group of maintenance specialists who saw a gap in the industry. They knew that mining operations needed more than just equipment to succeed; they needed agile, reliable, highly-skilled maintenance teams who could keep the heavy wheels turning when the stakes were high and the timelines tight.
We spoke to FMS Products, Equipment and Components (PEC) Sales Executive Garth Blackburn, to find out more about the company and secrets of its success.
“FMS Group has been owned and operated by three Directors — Chief Operating Officer Qld and WA Jason Holt, Chief Financial Officer Jason Smith, and Director Strategy and Business Development Scott McDermott — since inception,” he said.
“With humble beginnings in Mackay, Queensland, FMS Group has grown into WA, Papua New Guinea and wider Australia over the years.
“My area of responsibility covers the East Coast, PNG and New Caledonia.
“Apart from the Mackay head office, FMS has a Bundamba workshop facility in Southeast Queensland, a workshop facility at Henderson in Perth and a corporate office at Subiaco in Perth.”
Formerly known as CQ Field Mining, WA Field Mining and PNG Field Mining, the company became ‘FMS Group’ in 2024 to bring together all divisions of the business under one brand.
“While mining is the bread and butter of FMS Group, the company is diversifying into construction, renewables, marine and ports and is looking forward to building new partnerships in these industries,” Garth said.
Garth said FMS has grown to become a provider of choice for leading national and multinational clients, providing a wide range of services across all industries, specialising in the maintenance of client assets to reduce downtime and increase efficiency.
“We pride ourselves on being the complete offering for service delivery and capital equipment sales, providing end-to-end solutions for your site and assets,” he said.
“Our diverse team are experienced in diesel and mobile plant, fixed plant, projects, workshop and fabrication, machining, electrical and engineering services.
“As a multi-faceted business offering end-to-end solutions for our clients, we are known as a ‘one-stop-shop’ and continue our proud heritage of responsiveness, consistency and efficiency.”
With that reach, FMS Group can assist clients with repair and maintenance activities of large earthmoving equipment.
“Our capability extends to planning and execution of major on-site shutdown work of the largest mining class equipment in any location in the country, providing turnkey project solutions to our clients,” Garth said.
Pillars of FMS Group
Garth said that the FMS Group was built around three core pillars – Service, Projects and Equipment – which create a comprehensive offering for clients across various industries.
The full suite of services and expertise has been built from a small team in 2005, to now more than 600 employees who together provide tailored solutions and maintenance on mobile plant, diesel and fixed plant equipment.
The projects pillar takes these services and combines them with in-house project management, engineering and execution teams to provide a one-stop multi-faceted service to customers.
And the new equipment divisions deliver a wide range of synergistic capital and ancillary equipment, along with critical spares to ensure operational uptime.
The service range
> Products, Equipment and Components division
The new PEC division that Garth belongs to was formed to focus on specialised engineering products that the company’s skilled engineering team had developed to assist its teams to work safely and efficiency in the field.
“Due to the PEC’s capabilities to manufacture and provide high quality aftersales support to new and existing customers of clients across the country, FMS was selected in 2023 to be the sole distributor of the TowHaul product in Australasia,” Garth said.
The unique dual-purpose TowHaul product has been used in the Australian earthmoving and mining scene for decades as the go-to product to haul support equipment, and also tow and recover mining class trucks (a feature unique only to TowHaul) to help operations minimise downtime and improve availability and productivity of their equipment.
Along with the Towhaul brand, FMS proudly represents parent company Ground Force Worldwide support equipment in Australia.
“Ground Force products are sold in more than 75 countries worldwide and now with our dealership, FMS Group manufacturers and supports the brand locally in Australia,” Garth said.
“Products available with our partnership include water tank modules to suit articulated and large rigid frame trucks for dust suppression.
“As well there are fuel and lube modules to suit articulated and rigid frame trucks to support servicing of production equipment as well as infield fuel and lube farms.”
As well, Ground Force has designed innovative cable handling equipment like its unique cable reeler for use with Cat 982 loaders and other models for safely moving and handling large high voltage cables in mining applications.
“This product is unique in this segment and sure to be of value to clients in cable management on mine sites,” Garth said.
With all the products FMS has to offer, Garth acknowledged that some of the larger equipment could prove to be capital-intensive.
“For customers who face this barrier, we offer finance packages or “Rent to Buy” options through our partnership with Yellowgate Group,” Garth said.
“We can bundle the support equipment the client needs and through the Yellowgate product, make the path to ownership of the assets a smooth transition.
“Customers can talk to us about this solution and how we can customise to suit their specific needs.”
The PEC is one of several divisions that make up the FMS service range. The others are:
> Diesel and mobile plant maintenance
The section provides maintenance and breakdown support to keep mines running.
Consisting of not only diesel fitters but also supervisors, safety advisors, product specialists and trade assistants, the qualified staff can meet all site-specific demands.
Led by highly-qualified Division Managers, the team has the support and experience to respond quickly and efficiently to clients; individual needs, with a strong focus on safety, quality and reliability and a dedicated unit for short-notice breakdown repairs.
> Workshop division
This division takes care of all manufacturing and fabrication needs, with the skilled team able to repair equipment and components quickly and efficiently.
FMS Group’s state of the art workshop facilities in Mackay (Qld), Brisbane and Henderson (WA) are complete with a team of experienced and verified boilermakers, supervisors and fitters, who consistently provide high-quality workmanship for clients and support to onsite divisions.
FMS also often trains apprentices from its workshop facility under the guidance of qualified tradespeople.
> Projects division
The FMS Group Projects Division has grown significantly over the years, specialising in project and shutdown maintenance solutions and combining the capabilities of its field and diesel teams.
The Projects Division Managers have extensive experience in all facets of maintenance and project management, with an engineering trade background. This combination ensures strong leadership within the division and an assurance that FMS will only provide the most suitable tradespeople for the task at hand.
Capabilities include:
- Machine relocations, assemblies, disassemblies, demobilisations
- Field and mobile equipment outages
- Washplant/prep plant shutdowns
- On or offsite machinery overhauls
- Project planning and management
> Electrical division
The FMS Group Electrical Services Division supplies a highly skilled electrical support team to service all mining maintenance needs.
With both LV and HV qualified electricians, the team has extensive industry experience, providing efficient and high-quality solutions to your mine site.
With access to a qualified team of electrical tradespeople, FMS can fulfill short-term or long-term shift relief needs, projects and shutdown requirements in the Bowen Basin, Western Australia or Papua New Guinea.
> On-site machining
Launched in 2022 to support FMS’ continued growth, the company provides machining specialists and state-of-the-art equipment to deliver in-situ machining services on site and from the new Paget workshop.
The services include line boring, XYZ milling, circular milling machine metrology, along with flange facing and clamshell cutting.
For more information about FMS Group, email enquiries@fms-group.com.au or sales@fms-group.com.au; visit the website www.fms-group.com.au; or phone 01300 FMS GRP (1300 367 477)
For more information about Yellowgate Group, email apply@ygg.com.au; visit the website yellowgategroup.com.au; or phone 1300 601 432