G&O Kert Pty Ltd was established in 1974 by George and Olympia Kert. The company purchased their first CNC machine tool in 1994 and it was a new Mazak Quick Turn 15 lathe. By 2008 the total number of Mazaks at the company had grown to 9 machines. Ian Melville bought the company in 2008. He was an employee at the time he made the purchase, after having worked there for 16 years. Ian has since grown the company to a fleet of 14 Mazak CNC machines.
“By continually updating our precision engineering machine shop and equipping it with the latest world class Mazak CNC machinery, we have taken the hard work out of achieving accuracy, speed and repeatability. This means our customers can rely on us for quality results every time. We find our clients return to us time and time again because of our ability to consistently produce high-quality parts and components.”
Ian Melville, Managing Director of G&O Kert.
Ian Melville, Managing Director of G&O Kert with Adam Wallace, John Hart's Technical Service Manager in front of the recently commissioned Mazak Integrex i-400S.
Today the company provides a range of services including machining, milling, drilling and turning, fabrication and reverse engineering to clients in the resources, transport, defence, rail, infrastructure and mining sectors. G&O Kert is based in Acacia Ridge in Brisbane’s southern suburbs and services the needs of local metro-based clients as well as customers throughout Queensland and Australia.
Over the years the company has grown their machining capacity and is well equipped to take on the most complex engineering tasks in challenging materials ranging from plastic through to aluminium, aerospace grade stainless steel, copper and the like. They also have extensive experience in machining various material formats such as castings, flame and laser cut plate, bar-stock and fabrication assemblies.
The company has recently invested in three new Mazak machine tools.
A Mazak VTC-800/30SR vertical travelling column machining centre complete with X, Y travel of 3000mm x 800mm, B axis positioning head which allows complex milling, drilling and tapping operations on any angle together with a 400mm 4th axis rotary table and removable centre partition.
A Mazak VTC-530/20 vertical travelling column machining centre with X, Y travel of 1940mm x 530mm, 300mm 4th axis rotary table and removable centre partition.
The most recent investment and the jewel in the crown is the Mazak Integrex i-400S x 1500 multi-tasking machine commissioned in early 2019. The latest Mazatrol Smooth-X controller with 19" touch screen, 72 tool magazine, Renishaw probe and second spindle capability has taken G&O Kert to the next level of world class machining capability.
Ian Melville, Managing Director of G&O Kert commented: “By continually updating our precision engineering machine shop and equipping it with the latest world class Mazak CNC machinery, we have taken the hard work out of achieving accuracy, speed and repeatability. This means our customers can rely on us for quality results every time. We find our clients return to us time and time again because of our ability to consistently produce high-quality parts and components.”
Ian continued: “John Hart was instrumental in guiding us across to the Integrex style machine tool. This latest purchase was driven by the need to stay current and was driven by the Smooth X controller as well as the multi-tasking capabilities of the Integrex. We have seen the long-term demand Increase for the capability to produce complex machined components in a time effective manner while maintaining a very high level of reliability. We are still essentially a blend between a jobbing shop and a small batch production work-shop, so the new machine is doing more complex production runs as well as the more unique one-off parts we have running through.”
John Hart’s Queensland branch manager, Mark Wenman added: “Ian knew it was big step but was comfortable because the Mazak Integrex multi-tasking range of machines has an enviable reputation and proven track record. Together with support and experience coming from our local John Hart team he felt he was in very good hands.”
Ian states that the Integrex i-400S has increased their maximum CNC turning diameter from around 500 mm to 650 mm x 1500mm in length. The 72-tool carousel has helped significantly reduce set up times on repeat jobs. The ability of the machine to measure and self-compensate is proving to be a real benefit by reducing the scrap rate. On a more basic level the machine looks really sharp and impresses visitors right from-the-get-go.
The done-in-one ability of the machine combined with a fully integrated multi axis movement means they can run a part through to completion without involving another machine tool. The twin spindle auto transfer is also a great help with the multi-tasking process and getting the job completed in one process.
Ian concluded: “The level of service and support together with spare parts from both John Hart and Mazak since our first Mazak purchase in 1994 has been a key factor in our continued relationship with the Mazak brand. The main thing is they are a great reliable machine tool. The team at John Hart have always handled our business needs extremely well and do a world class job of understanding how we operate and what our real needs are.”