INDUSTRY PEOPLE
Going beyond the
dollar: Innovation and
investment at FPD
We talk to Andrew Webby at FPD
A funny thing happened one day when Andrew Webby was
casually talking to a supplier.
He’d recently purchased the business and had been looking
to rebrand the company—without completely detaching from
its 30-year history of providing diesel and hydraulic services
to the Waikato and beyond.
Out of the blue, the supplier asked what FPD (then Fischer
Pope Diesel) stood for, was it by any chance...Fluid Power
Distributors?
Without missing a beat, Andrew replied “Why, yes. Yes it
does!”.
He near-skipped (probably not skipped, but you get the drift)
back to the workshop and announced the new name to
delighted co-workers who marveled at Andrew’s genius and
far-reaching creativity.
Suddenly the business, which had changed hands in 2014,
had a new focus and direction, without having to overhaul
the signage just yet.
As it stands, the modern incarnation of FPD is a young
business but one with a longstanding history rooted in
servicing diesel machinery, but it’s long since moved beyond
that scope.
At the helm is Andrew, as general manager, an energetic
and entrepreneurial “born-and-bred” Hamiltonian. He says
that proudly, and it’s refreshing.
Workplace dynamics are important to the success of the business-
as are quality products
But that’s not all. The team also have what Andrew describes
as “an eye-watering” training budget. Staff are sent on Dale
Carnegie short courses regularly to upskill on interpersonal
relations, how to deal with workplace situations and general
problem solving. Is this the typical modern work environment?
Sure, companies take their employees on team-building
exercises (“employee, just relax and fall backwards off this
table into the arms of your co-workers”) but what about
personal or individual growth?
In the early days, before Andrew’s time, the focus was on
rebuilding diesel engines, but the former owners soon found
that due to the long life of the engines, less servicing and
repairs were required and so diversification became crucial,
hence the move to hydraulics. According to Statistics New Zealand, in 2017 (the last
time businesses were surveyed) more than one in three
businesses were providing training around health and safety
issues to 76% of their staff, up from one in four in 2013. It’s
harder, though, to find out how businesses are approaching
training around interpersonal skills and wellbeing.
Diversification has continued and is now an ongoing part
of the business paradigm. Andrew is keen on research,
innovation and development and ensures this remains part
of the core business dynamic. A little research into the Dale Carnegie way reveals an
underlying ethos of teaching confidence, competence and
enthusiasm. Put the three together and you’d have a pretty
dynamic bunch of employees, right?
This is a monthly series on businesses in our industry. We profile one business per month to find out how our hard-working
business owners, employees and contractors manage to run these specialist businesses and what makes them tick in the
New Zealand trade business environment. These are the stories of our CAM people.
w w w. c a m m a g a z i n e . c o . n z
CAM July 2018
67