Kimberley Manufacturing was established in 1997 and has been serving the Pilbara and Kimberley ever since.
Our customers have learnt to rely on the quality of our product; we pride ourselves on delivering exactly what you want, when you want it.
Back in 1997 the first employee was Paul Watling and he’s been with the company ever since, getting the chance to buy in as a part owner in 2004 when the original owners Brian and Julie [our name back then was B&J Building Consultants and Steel Supplies] sold the business before moving back south. In 2013 the other part owners, the Stewarts of Perth, agreed to sell to the Watlings and in July 2013 we became Kimberley Manufacturing Pty Ltd.
The Watlings are an Aboriginal family with typically broad connections through the West and Central Kimberley – we’re proud to be Aboriginal owned and have in excess of 30% Aboriginal staff on our payroll.
Our extensive training program is all about bringing local people into our workforce and if you’re interested in our training or in working for us, we encourage you to keep reading.
Training
With an excellent training record for over 20 years, we have a wide range of trade-qualified staff and have a high commitment to our apprentices and trainees. We are an equal opportunity employer offering Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal recruits the same opportunities and support.
We are committed to sourcing training that is the best fit for our business and employees and we take advantage of apprenticeship and traineeship opportunities to meet our needs. We are a company prepared to invest in staff training to ensure best fit training and directly fund training suited to our needs that may not attract government or industry subsidy. All our staff are encouraged to seek training opportunities, whether in formal apprenticeships, traineeships or operator tickets.
For many years we have invested in matching staff training opportunities to company plans to grow the business and we continue to provide staff with additional skilling and career opportunities.
Our investment to build an increasingly efficient work-force will see us well placed to take best advantage of the great and varied potential for business in the Kimberley and Pilbara.
In 2012 we were recognised with the highest award for training in Australia, the Australian Training Awards: Australian Apprentices – Employer award. This was a stunning recognition of the effort put in by all our staff to achieve great outcomes. Some of the elements of our training environment that lead to the award included:
- To skill long term Kimberley and Pilbara residents.
- Increasing the skill level of staff to improve efficiency and profit for KMPL.
- Building a culture of training and improvement in our workforce.
- Promoting Indigenous role models to mentor and deliver the message that everyone can achieve personal and economic lifelong goals.
- Increasing staff satisfaction in being provided an opportunity for further training to work towards personal career goals.
- Building long term relationship with Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) by our company adopting a policy of engaging with RTOs through Shared Partnership Agreements.
- Working with RTOs to explore best fit training for KMPL requirements to expand our business opportunities and increase workplace efficiency.
- Accessing literacy, language and numeracy programs for staff with issues of literacy and numeracy as barriers to engagement and success in the workplace.
Recognition
We are proud of the awards that our staff and ourselves have won; although we don’t set out to win awards, entering award programmes is an opportunity to test yourself against the best. Opening yourself up to outside scrutiny is an opportunity to get great feedback on what you’re doing and also allows us to reflect on what could have been done better, what we can do better and to clarify where we are going.
MBA Western Australia Apprentice of the Year
- Dion Brahim – Kimberley and Pilbara 2004
- Ben Sebastian – Overall Regional Winner 2006
- Josh Sibosado – Overall Regional Winner 2011
MBA Western Australia Trainer of the Year: 2005, 2006 and 2011
Australian Training Awards: 2012 Australian Apprentice – Employer Award