The challenge:

Wild Oats Café is the destination stop for Carterton. With a reputation for quality, speed, service and atmosphere; everything they offer is made right there in the cafe. When their bakery’s mixer broke down, it was paramount to get it up and running – fast. The pressure was on, to continue providing the food their reputation is built on.

An older specialised machine with no local company able to provide the specific expertise for this specific equipment:

Food Machinery Service and Repair

At FMS, one of our specialty areas is providing full maintenance and support for the servicing of food machinery. In particular, those machines used by bakeries and butchers.

Owner of Wild Oats Café, Crystal Thompson tried a few local repair persons to get the mixer up and running. However, being an older and specialized model, this proved difficult. After a local engineer told Crystal he was no longer fixing machinery, she went searching online and came across our website.

Working Throughout the Greater Wellington Region

We’re well-equipped to travel throughout the greater Wellington region for site visits and onsite maintenance. This is due to our wide range of customised vehicles that we’ve kitted out to hold all the gear we need. Our fleet makes it a breeze for us to do any project throughout Wellington, Porirua, Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt, the Wairarapa, the Kapiti Coast, Palmerston North & the Manawatu area.

Chris Molenaar travelled up to Wild Oats Café and met with Crystal to discuss her needs. With the wealth of experience in our team, one of our guys previously worked for a company that repaired old machinery and knew the specifically mixer well.

Machinery Maintenance

Wild Oats Café now have a maintenance schedule for their equipment which runs across the year. Investing in machinery maintenance will prolong the life of your machine. You can avoid the hefty cost and hassle of replacing it with a new machine and avoid the risk of the unknown. This risk is especially felt in the food and beverage industries, where one change to a recipe can potentially sacrifice the quality of your finished product.

In Crystal Thompson’s Words:

“I was so pleased that Chris was keen and happy to travel up to us. It’s so much easier when you can physically talk to a person and show them the premises. His team know the equipment. Our team know how we needed the mixer to work, we just didn’t know how to fit it ourselves. With older machines, it’s often impossible to track down the original manuals. But the team at Food Machinery Services really know what they’re doing. As a business owner, it gives me one less thing to worry about!”

Fast Facts:

• Maintaining machinery prolongs its lifespan and saves you the hassle of purchasing a new one.

• At FMS, we have retrofitted our vehicles to ensure we can take all the necessary gear to any location throughout the greater Wellington Region, including the Wairarapa & Manawatu regions.

• We offer multiple ongoing maintenance plans for machines in the food and beverage industry to meet whatever your needs are.

The Challenge

When Food Machinery Services started working with Harrington’s quite a few years back, they were being plagued by regular breakdowns and interruptions on their production line. We were originally brought in for urgent callouts and repair work to get them producing again. However, repair call outs often identified general wear and tear on the machinery.

Preventative Maintenance Improves Productivity

Over time, together we developed a regular maintenance and servicing programme and bought the Harington’s machinery back to consistent and reliable production levels. This was achieved by and is now delivered with a Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM) programme.

“In the beginning every time we took a cover off to service something we would find more problems, faulty gear, general wear and tear. Over the first year we chipped away at the problems progressively and brought the machines back to a good reliable base level. Now the PPM programme keeps them there, running smoothly and reliably. Our programme is now focused more on driving performance improvements rather than fixing breakdowns,” – Chris Molenaar, FMS Managing Director.

From Getting by to Getting Ahead

Specialist projects have also been undertaken for Harrington’s including, customised fabrication to improve the way they work, such as fabricating gratings for their floor, and repairing panelling. Stainless steel protective barriers were also made and installed around the refrigeration walls to prevent trolleys from damaging the surfaces and creating hygiene issues. FMS have also installed and run new lines for new machinery as required.

FMS have helped Harrington’s find new parts and consumables. Because we service a wide range of food and beverage manufacturers throughout the greater Wellington region, we often know where to find whatever is required.

“When it comes to the food and beverage manufacturing business, it is important to be aware of the benefits of investing in maintenance of your machinery to optimise production. Companies like Harrington’s are great to work with because they understand this. They are prudent with their budgets, but they appreciate that the investment they put into their machinery is going to ensure they keep working and producing. By regularly maintaining machinery, this keeps it performing at its optimal level. Some try to get away with no maintenance and in the long term this catches up with them and they are up for large unexpected bills. Our job is to prevent this from happening.” – Chris Molenaar, FMS Managing Director.

The Outcome, in the Client’s Words:

“When we met FMS (Food Machinery Services) we were a growing manufacturing business moving from ad hoc repairs to a structured service and maintenance programme. It took about 8 – 12 months to get ahead of the game, and then it was smooth sailing. They come through every three months and service each machine. The result is: our expenses are reduced and our machinery keeps working – it is as simple as that!”

– Angus Black, Harrington’s Smallgoods.

Fast Facts:

• Reliable production levels.

• A preventative maintenance programme.

• Customised fabrication.

• Stainless steel protective barriers.

Challenge Overview:

The Petone Club faced a daunting task: a comprehensive overhaul of their main kitchen, from floor to ceiling, including everything in between. What began as a simple project to replace an extraction hood rapidly evolved into a full-scale renovation, expanding significantly beyond the initial scope.

FMS Solutions and Impact:

FMS (Food Machinery Services) stepped in to manage the entire project, demonstrating our one-stop service capabilities that encompassed project management, electrical work, engineering, plumbing & gas, refrigeration and building. The project's complexity increased exponentially, yet our experienced team, led by the insightful project management of Stu, ensured that all aspects of the kitchen renovation were addressed efficiently. This holistic approach allowed Iain and the Club to maintain kitchen productivity, while FMS meet the original timeline, despite the project's growth.

The Outcome:

FMS's comprehensive services, from project management to specialised engineering and electrical work, enabled The Petone Club to not only achieve their vision of a fully upgraded kitchen but to do so within a constrained timeframe. This project highlights our ability to manage and execute complex renovations efficiently, ensuring client satisfaction and uninterrupted operations, even with fluent plans changing as project scopes expand.

In the Clients Words:

“A big thanks to Stu Masson and the Food Machinery Services team for a job well done - excellent project management from start to finish! “

- Iain Craw, GM -The Petone Club

Fast Facts:

• Complete Kitchen Upgrade: Removal and installation of new cooking equipment, ceilings, wall linings, electrical wiring, water pipes, exhaust fans, and lighting. Enlargement of pass-through windows and the main kitchen door for future-proofing.

• Major Infrastructure Overhaul: Installation of a new extraction hood involving extensive ducting through the ceiling and roof, necessitating re-roofing and additional building works, all managed seamlessly by FMS.

• Project Management of Additional Trades: Well planned and timely coordination was actioned throughout the project ensuring smooth removal of old plant (from both kitchen & off-site), along with deliveries of new equipment with a synchronised team response. Additional associated trades such as flooring, roofing, sprinkler systems & mechanical engineers were all project managed by FMS.

• Enhanced Kitchen Capabilities: Introduction of custom-made stainless-steel benches, shelves, and shrouds, along with refrigeration modifications and improvements, completed within the original project timeline.

• Operational Continuity: Despite the extensive renovations and the kitchen's temporary closure, the Club's business continuity was maintained through effective planning and the establishment of a secondary kitchen, ensuring no disruption to service.