We profiled Alex Mathieson, founder of the family-owned business Real Steel, six years ago. In our IOQ Veteran series, we catch up with him again.
Fifty years ago, Alex Mathieson started working at Owhiro Bay Quarry, driving an off-road dump truck, and fell in love with the heavy industry. It was here that he obtained his B-grade and A-grade quarry certificates. It was a good learning curve for the young Alex, with steep and narrow benches, dozers that had no cabs, and none of the comforts operators enjoy today to brace against the harsh southerlies whipping into the coastal site. One compensation was the awesome views, he recalls, over the Cook Strait towards the top of the South Island.
This was followed by a 12-month stint in Brisbane working for a sand dredging operation. Alex and his wife Patsy arrived there with twin babies, Luke and Samantha, a suitcase, and $500 to survive on. By the time he had worked his way up to production foreman, he was offered a job back at Owhiro Bay Quarry, which had been bought out by NZ Cement Holdings (now Holcim). Alex managed the quarry for six years from 1982, increasing production while getting a taste of the corporate world by amalgamating three ready mix concrete companies into one, now Allied Concrete (Wellington).
In 1990, he entered into a business partnership with civil contractor John Ray, doing bulk earthworks and site works for five years. This included opening a Haywards Hill rock extraction site to provide 35,000 tonnes of large rock to Ewen Bridge in Lower Hutt for flood protection. The Haywards Hill site was reopened for work on Transmission Gully.
He and Patsy formed Atom Hire in 1995 as a specialised quarry contracting and equipment hire company and won a contract at Kiwi Point Quarry in Wellington, opened a gravel yard in the Wairarapa and did contract crushing, drilling and blasting in the Lower North Island.
“We identified that a significant cost to the business every month was wear parts. Back then, the availability of parts was far more limited,” Alex recalls.
“There were only three major wear parts suppliers in New Zealand, and their prices and margins were relatively high. Because of this, I decided to look elsewhere and explore importing our wear parts.
“After testing the logistics of importing parts, I found they could be landed in New Zealand quite economically. The wear parts were the same quality, but at a better price. My other contacts in the industry were also interested in getting their wear parts at a better price, so I started importing more on the back of our orders.”
This new importing business was technically a spin-off from his core contracting business, Atom Hire. As it grew, Real Steel was formed in 2002 as a separate business. The early days of Real Steel involved Alex’s family home garage in Island Bay, Wellington, which was full of cutting edges, bucket teeth, and other parts.
“It was quickly identified that importing cutting edges has numerous constraints, for example the levels of stock required, and reduced options to alter spec and design based on customer requirements, so work began developing ways to manufacture edges in-house.
“Around this time, our son Luke arrived home from his O.E. He jumped at the opportunity to start developing the Real Steel brand and business, securing supply lines from offshore suppliers and refining procedures and processes for manufacturing cutting edges.
“It soon became evident that manufacturing cutting edges from different brands of plate (but to the same spec) did produce, in some cases, a variation in performance results, so a concerted effort was placed on trying to secure an abrasion plate brand that would deliver a good, consistent outcome.
“After meeting and discussing opportunities with SSAB, Luke managed to lock in our first delivery of Hardox, which ticked all of the boxes. The strong working relationship between SSAB and Real Steel has been a very large component of the success of supplying top-of-the-range wear parts and components for heavy transport companies in New Zealand.”
From these humble beginnings, Real Steel now operates a factory of 8500 square metres, using some of the country’s most advanced steel processing equipment.
“We have also recently purchased a steel processing plant in Ashburton, which will help Real Steel increase its service level and offering to our South Island customers,” says Alex.
We asked Alex a few questions about his career highlights and the shape of the industry today.
Do you still have a relationship with the quarry industry?
Yes, I still have a strong allegiance to the industry through the Real Steel activities. The passion for the industry remains, and I seek every opportunity to visit sites and maintain close links with quarry operators. I always look forward to catching up with colleagues at the quarry conference.
What were your career highlights from those quarry days?
I feel very fortunate that I landed positions with a high degree of responsibility at a young age. Thrown in the deep end!
There have been many highlights, including being able to identify opportunities to grow businesses and working with very good people at every level. Another highlight has been helping individuals expand their skill and knowledge base in the industry.
I have been very lucky throughout my career to work with great people at every level, and without that support, I wouldn’t have achieved what I have.
What were the low points?
I picked up a few low points during my career, but none that stand out to me now. I have always taken the approach that you need to process the lows and move on, and no experience is a bad experience if you can turn it into a learning opportunity.
Proudest career achievement?
No single achievement stands out, but when I look back, I am very proud of my hard work and determination in growing and shaping the businesses I worked for and the businesses we started. To me, this demonstrates that hard work will deliver results.
The only way I was able to achieve these results was by being supported by my wife, Patsy, who also made a huge contribution to our businesses in the early days. Patsy also led the charge with our family at home. At various stages, everyone in the family was involved in the businesses, and all were very aware and supportive of the effort going in to maintain and sustain that growth.
Reflections on the industry in general, past and present?
As with all industries, technology is having a huge influence and has certainly helped streamline most activities, but the quarry industry still relies on the original essence of identifying, extracting and processing rock, which all rely on practical experience, which I think presents great opportunities for new entrants.
When did you first become involved with the IOQ and AQA?
I joined the IOQ in the mid-to-late 1970s and played an active role at a local branch level, helping organise site visits, and the occasional road trip to visit quarries outside the region.
Over the years, I have attended most conferences and have been on the conference committee a few times. Real Steel is very active in the IOQ, participating in annual conferences and in many other IOQ regional events.
Regarding the AQA, in the earlier years, working for a corporation, I was very active in the Wellington region branch. It was pretty low-key back then, maybe five of us sitting in an accountant’s office swapping notes on debtors, aggregate specs, etcetera.
I have also served on the National Executive for a short stint, which I found a little daunting considering my [young] age at the time. However, I learnt a lot from the experience of sitting around the table with some of the big names of the quarrying industry.
Friendships made and mentors to thank?
Ross Baker, Horokiwi Quarries. Ross and I met at an IOQ meeting in the 1970s and have been friends ever since, occasionally swapping notes on industry matters. Ross and I still catch up regularly.
Another well-known name in the industry is Brian Bouzaid. He started his quarrying career on my watch at Owhiro Bay Quarry. Brian has continued to make a huge contribution to the industry and IOQ.
Two mentors who come to mind are Tom Myers from Central Queensland Mining Supplies and Tony Howe from CSR Readymix. Both Tom and Tony had a huge influence on shaping my career, and I’m very grateful for their support.
Advice for someone entering an extraction career?
I still recommend the quarry industry as a great career path for anyone. There are not many industries where you have the opportunity to work on such a comprehensive end-to-end process. This involves planning and developing the raw material source, extracting (which may require drilling and blasting), processing to a specification, ensuring quality control of production, operating and maintaining a range of heavy equipment, determining appropriate pricing, marketing the products, and working with end users, the customers.
My advice to those entering the quarry industry would be to go in with open eyes, learn and absorb as much information about the end-to-end process and the industry as a whole, work hard – and your efforts will be rewarded.
If you did it all again, what would you change?
Nothing. Though, if I had to choose one thing, maybe it would be starting our own business earlier. But, to be honest, I think a long lead-in to venturing out on our own proved to be a great experience for me as I gained so much knowledge and confidence on that journey, so the timing was possibly perfect.