Mateenbar™ does not corrode, is four times lighter than steel and has a lower carbon footprint. It is replacing steel rebar in government infrastructure projects globally.
Pultron has pioneered over 45 composite material products, replacing traditional materials in snowmobiles, infrastructure, trampolines and marinas, to name a few.
All of these products are a “world first” in their respective industries.
In naming Pultron the T&G Best Established Business, the judges congratulated the company on an “amazing and exceptional export growth journey”.
“Pultron has achieved remarkable export sales growth, having built significant and strategic partnerships in key export markets across the Middle East and North America.
“This has required vision, courage, patience and a long-term commitment to growing the business offshore. Pultron’s unique engineering products contribute to some of the most innovative infrastructure projects around the world, through to well-known consumer products such as snowmobiles and trampolines.”
Pultron is a supplier to Fortune 500 and blue chip companies worldwide, and has a diverse customer portfolio.
In recent years it has established a manufacturing plant in North Carolina, USA with strategic alliance partner Owens Corning, and another in Dammam, Saudi Arabia alongside local firm Isam Khairi Kabbani.
Pultron has completed three international technology transfers with factories in the Middle East and North America.
At its base in Gisborne’s industrial subdivision, Pultron focuses on innovation, manufacturing efficiencies, polymer chemistry, R&D, product development and project management.
Pultron employs more than 120 staff in Gisborne and has set up an exclusive engineering services provider called Pultec on another site down the road from its main manufacturing plant.
Pultec is the official equipment supplier to Pultron’s joint-venture partners and has grown into a sizable engineering supply division.
It also has one major subcontractor in Kawerau and six smaller subcontractors that build pultrusion machines and related equipment for the factories in Saudi Arabia and North Carolina.
The two joint-venture businesses have 160 employees between them, including hiring six Pultron staff members in the USA where there have also been multiple training visits for Gisborne staff.
“Many of our team have worked in the USA and Saudi Arabia in support of our customers. This is great for our team and our international customers to further cement the relationships between our Gisborne people and our JV partners,”said Anna Holdsworth, head of people and culture at Pultron Composites.
“At the heart of Pultron’s corporate culture lie three core values: innovation, trust and teamwork.
“We highlight to our people from day one the importance of these core values and also that with the right attitude, many opportunities are available at Pultron.
“Our people are diverse. We have staff from India, Bangladesh, Ireland, UK, Switzerland and Holland to name a few. Over 50 percent of our staff are of Maori or Pacific descent. The Maori culture is part of Tairawhiti and part of Pultron’s culture. It is evident in how people greet each other and the community feel of our company.
“Some of our training and development pathways include developing manufacturing staff who have shown a keen interest to move to other areas of the business. We have a number of people who started on the factory floor who have taken on apprenticeships, with three engineers graduating recently.
“Pultrusion is a very specialist field. Our training coordinator Hemi runs a programme of over 100 modules for manufacturing staff to develop them as Pultron-certified technicians.”
If you watch the 90 second video on Pultron’s website, it states: “In so many places in the world, from the hottest climes of the Arabian desert, to the coldest corners of Antarctica, even in highly corrosive conditions where steel fails, Pultron is the trusted name in composite materials, delivering innovative solutions that engineers and designers rely on.”
