Macs.made

13/02/2025

Meet Jesse from Bay Positioning Limited

Like many young people, Jesse wasn’t super engaged by the schooling system . After spending a bunch of his childhood in Taranaki with his grandparents and aunt on her farm, he assumed that would be the direction his life would take.

It until after one particular meeting with careers teacher Mr Meys that Jesses trajectory changed. The option to leave school and start at a local consulting firm was taken, being the first time Jesse was introduced to the world of civil surveying.

Surveying took Jesse to Australia where he spent 5 years on the Gold Coast , picking up his associate degree in surveying in the process, along with another 5 years in a fifo mine surveying position. The fifo role would entail doing weekly and monthly quantity volumes, drill hole set out for blasting and it’s where Jesse got his first glimpse at gps machine control. Ernest Henry was, at the time, the largest open cast copper and gold mine in Queensland

Returning to NZ, with a firm grasp on increasing efficiencies and the power of technology, Jesse set about changing the game in his hometown of Tauranga by introducing GPS machine control. Fast forward til today Jesse still has the same mindset, providing customers across the country with the latest and greatest in machine control technology

“I guess, for a little punk that just wanted to cruise around in my Mazda 323 with my mates, everything has worked out pretty sweet. If it wasn’t for Mr Hayes, I’m not sure where things would have ended up. Probably on a farm somewhere”

28/01/2025

PUBLIC SPEAKING
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When most people meet me they assume I’m extroverted and that I must be a confident public speaker, I’ll put that down to my personality
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This couldn’t be further from the truth. Although I love meeting new people and building new relationships I value my down time spent running, surfing and recently training for my first half iron man
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Throughout school my biggest fear was speech day (not athletics day, they were my favourite)and my heart still skips a couple beats thinking back to it now. I used to lie awake late into the night for weeks leading up to them dreading the moment I had to get up infront of the class. I dreaded them so much that I used the same speech for 4 years thinking I would get better if I didn’t change it. I didn’t. I bombed. Every time
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6 or 7 months ago I joined toast masters after being recommended by a good mate which I attend every Tuesday night . I remember the day leading up to my first meeting I was nervous and my heart was pounding on the drive over. I didn’t really know entirely what to expect (I sometimes dont ask many questions and just jump head first into things)
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Dale Carnegie said there’s always 3 speeches, the one you practiced, the one you gave and the one you wish you gave. Last October I completed my “icebreaker” speech and I can proudly say I succeeded. I spoke for over 6 minutes, I spoke confidently, I had great eye contact and I had a good use of pauses
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Each time I jump in my car to drive across town to there is a level of discomfort, a little voice in my head saying you’re going to bomb, just stay at home. But I’ve learnt to be comfortable in the uncomfortable, I’ve learnt that it’s only me that can hear my heart pounding and I’ve learnt that if you want to improve at something avoiding it won’t get you there
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If you ever considered joining or you want any motivation or advice to join your local toastmasters, feel free to reach out to me because I know first hand how much it has given me

29/11/2024

“It’s hard to find good people”
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Meet Mayank
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Mayank has called New Zealand home for almost two years now having moved here to complete a second masters degree. This time in civil engineering
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Growing up in a construction family back in Kolkata, India (nod to the Knightriders), it was almost a given that Mayank was going to pursue a career in the industry
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Mayank said it has been a big change from having little to no health and safety or quality assurances on projects back home to it being a big part of his role here
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“We would do everything ourselves, right here on site. From forming, steel tying, mixing the concrete. Everything. Nothing was subbed out or completed by seprate teams like it is here”
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“Doing it that way brought it’s challenges though, we often had up to 500 people on one site which was chaotic at times”
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He said people working in construction here were fortunate, the wages are really good, and access to modern machines, tools and technology makes life a lot simpler. With labour being so cheap back home, if pallets of concrete bags needed to be moved around site, it was more cost effective to have a team of labourers move it, rather than a loader like here
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Mayank also said similar stigmas exist in India around those who work in construction being seen as “dumb” or “uneducated”
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When I asked how he was able to move to New Zealand he responded “because of my education and experience in construction”

21/10/2024

First time seeing an excavator with a ripper arm so it was pretty unreal to see it attached to a 6015. Wicked stuff for a commercial development in Las Vegas town

13/10/2024

Check out the latest upload to my YouTube

Kuru Contracting Limited logging operation on the East Cape

Kuru Contracting Ltd harvesting crews in full swing during my visit some months ago!

02/10/2024

Young people don’t want to work”
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Meet Brody, 25
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Brody’s been operating excavators full time for around 5 years now, having previously completed most of his drain laying ticket. He decided, after getting a shot on a machine, that being inside an air conditioned cab listening to the radio was much better than being in a trench
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He said he’d been fortunate to work with some experienced people who were able guide him and share their earthworks knowledge, otherwise he’s pretty much self taught
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The long hours on site and travelling from home don’t bother Brody, he’s just happy to be able to do the finishing work on the TNL project in Tauranga. “It’s pretty cool to be able to see the job change from a paddock to a road. The progress I see in a work is really rewarding”
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Brody’s first shot in the earthworks game started much earlier than 5 years ago though. His first introduction to heavy machinery was on his grandfathers farm outside of Whangārei at the age of 7
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“I wasn’t dumb, I was actually quite smart at school and did really well academically. School just wasn’t for me. I thought playing on the digger down the farm was the coolest thing in the world and that’s all I wanted to do”
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I asked him what he would be doing now if he didn’t have that introduction as a kid. He shrugged his shoulders and said “I don’t know”
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Terra Cat

30/09/2024

Some bonus forestry content while out on another shoot in the sunny Coromandel
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Forestry contributes around $6.6 billion dollars annually to New Zealand’s economy. That’s right. Billion. Around 1.6% of NZ’s GDP. It also employs over 35,000 people
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Most of this contribution is completely out of the publics eye, or under the cover of darkness, long before most people even think about getting out of bed
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We all know how the media feels about forestry at the moment. But how about the good stories? The stories of people spending their lives in the bush planting, processing, or transporting timber so we can have somewhere to live?
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Most of these people spend their spare time hunting and fishing in the very same place. Their connections with the land run deep
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All that timer down at your local trade store you go to on the weekends for some DIY, has more than likely been handled multiple times by these very same hard working people
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That new fence you put up, or the furniture you use, yup you guessed it. Chances are handled by these hard working people, much the same as Mahuta Logging Limited pictured here
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Eltec Forestry NZ Ltd Shaw's

15/09/2024

“We don’t do that, we like to keep a low profile” and “why do we need that, will we get more work?”
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The two most common answers from people after I’ve given my elevator pitch. Very valid also
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Does a company stand to win more work after investing in their social media? Do they need to be attractive to potential employees in this current climate?
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How’s this for a thought experiment
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As it currently sits, the majority of people appointing the work (property developers, NZTA and local councils) are baby boomers. In saying this, us millennials are maturing in our careers and gen Z’s are making their way into the workforce as well
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Now it’s very common for people to have their social media’s vetted these days when applying for a vacant room or even for a job. An inside look into someones character with a few clicks
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It doesn’t then, seem much of a leap, to say that when millennials dominate the workforce, people awarding work will also browse companies social media’s come tender time
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Had me thinking the entire drive back from the Coromandel tonight. But what would I know? I’m just a bloke that likes taking pictures of diggers
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Oh also here’s some pics from Brandt NZ open day yesterday
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29/08/2024

“Young people don’t want to work anymore”
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Meet Samuel, 18
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Samuel started working full time as a machine operator two years ago. This was after he discovered, through school appointed work experience, that classrooms weren’t for him
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He enjoys the skills that he has been able to transfer into his passion of off roading and gaming, like taking his time and quicker reaction speeds. He chuckles that the healthy pay packet also helps with his often expensive hobby
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His journey into becoming an operator started many years prior, coming to work with his father (pictured below)
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Samuel used to come along in his school holidays and play on machines (don’t tell worksafe). This gave him a great insight into the possibilities and potential career pathways.
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But what are we doing to attract kids, like Samuel, that don’t have parents in the industry? Cause you can be rest assured he won’t be able to bring his kids along to work with him in the future
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Komatsu New Zealand McPherson Contractors Ltd.

26/08/2024

Does it get any more dramatic than this? I’m not sure it does
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