Growing with value in the underground world
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Horizontal directional drilling (HDD) will face new challenges in the next few years. Maxibor Australia Chief Executive Officer Rodney O’Meley spoke with Trenchless Australasia to decipher the future of HDD and tunnelling activities in the Australian infrastructure sector.
Rodney O’Meley, Maxibor Australia Owner and CEO.
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aving successfully lived and breathed the challenges and growth of the industry over the past four decades, CEO Rodney O’Meley is adamant the challenges ahead for the HDD and broader underground infrastructure installation industry are becoming more complex. Talking to Trenchless Australasia, he said the opportunity for adding even more value at a business and broader community level is substantial. “Maxibor is proud to be playing a leading collaborative role in what will be a daunting, thrilling and important decade for the industry,” he said. Key to the success of the industry will be collaboration across the various stakeholders. Those working together to achieve common objectives and address mutual challenges with innovative and sustainable solutions will be the ones that add the most value to their businesses and to the broader stakeholder community. Maxibor is applying this collaborative approach in a number of ways through forging long-lasting relationships within the industry, along the supply chain and with allied professional services providers. “The collaborative approach creates the
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foundation for the sharing of ideas and information,” said O’Meley. “Good practice workplace health and safety, project planning, design engineering, contracting, technology and construction methods are all enhanced. “This enables decisionmakers and industry professionals to make more informed decisions to provide reliable and economical solutions to the engineering, environmental and business challenges.” Maxibor is able to demonstrate the benefits of this approach through its strong collaborative relationships with a number of local and international participants in the HDD and broader tunnelling industry. As an example, the company has established a close connect with Alex Tao of Ausinland. Ausinland is the Australian representative of China Rail Construction Heavy Industry (CRCHI) and other leading global equipment manufacturers servicing the tunnelling and mining industries. Through a close collaborative relationship with Ausinland and its partners, Maxibor has gained the benefits of supply chain expertise plus access to widened knowledge and resources of other significant businesses and organisations.
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The connection with CRCHI and other companies such as China Coal Technology & Engineering Group (CCTEG), Nerospec SK (Germany), Onix (Spain) and others is bringing to Maxibor access to the latest technology such as EMERST Level 9 plant intelligence. This connection allows Maxibor to also have access to the value of the vast knowledge and experience of significant international HDD, microtunnelling and tunnelling original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and design and construct companies. Collaborative access to this wealth of knowledge and resources is particularly valuable for the larger HDD projects that Maxibor undertakes with its fleet of maxi-rigs, powerful pumps, and cleaning systems. It is also placing Maxibor in a much more informed position as it continues to explore microtunnelling opportunities in partnership with others. Maxibor is also successfully applying the collaborative approach to the delivery of small to medium sized HDD projects in Australia. The projects are managed by a combination of Maxibor’s James Hand and Tim Norrish who share their in-field delivery and project management expertise with both client and subcontractor. In the past year, the company has delivered over 50 HDD projects through the Maxibor subcontractor model to the satisfaction of all stakeholders. Hand and Norrish agreed on the fact that Maxibor’s clients were happy because the work gets done to the expected Maxibor standard and there is strong support if challenges arise. “Subcontractors are happy because Maxibor takes the pain away of having to find work and manage client relationships plus they get paid on time and their overheads are reduced,” they said. According to O’Meley, more than ever, whether they be asset owners, tier one and tier two contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, design engineers or other professional services providers, industry participants are looking to engage beyond the transaction. “The collaborative approach allows parties