Harrington's Smallgoods

Harrington’s Smallgoods have a proud history of supplying premium, small goods and gourmet meat cuts to New Zealand's finest restaurants, resorts and selected retailers. This New Zealand born company, also exports premium meat into Singapore. Established in 1991 Harrington’s main production facility is based in Miramar and the smooth running of the machinery on site underpins the company’s business.

Food Machinery Services (FMS) services the full range of Harrington’s butchery equipment including band saws, mincers, sausage fillers, smoke ovens, tumblers, slicers and dicers and anything else that is part of the huge quantities of premium butchery products Harrington’s is known for.

The Challenge

When FMS 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 it for urgent callouts and repair work to get them back up and running. However, repair call outs often identified general wear and tear on the machinery.

Preventative Maintenance Improves Productivity

Over time, by developing a regular maintenance and servicing programme we have been able to bring the machinery back to a reliable production level and now provide a Preventative Maintenance 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 have now brought the machines back to a good base level. Now the preventative maintenance programme keeps them there, running smoothly and reliably. Our programme is now focused more on driving performance improvements rather than fixing breakdowns,” – Chris Molenaar, Petone Engineering.

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. We have also installed and run new lines for new machinery as required.

We have helped Harrington’s find new parts and consumables. Because we service a wide range of food and beverage manufacturers throughout the 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 maintaining your machinery to optimise production. Companies like Harrington’s are good 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 can keep working. 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, Food Machinery Services (FMS).

The Outcome, in the Client’s Words

“When we met FMS 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 this year has been 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.