Hennessy Engineering sets the standard

Hennessy Engineering, specialise in the manufacture of waste disposal equipment such as compactors, skips, hook-loaders and ro/ro bins as well as truck bodies for a plethora of applications from its base in Killea, near Templemore in Co Tipperary. Owner Jim Hennessy told John Loughran that business is positively booming.

The waste disposal and recycling industries have shot to prominance in recent times as landfill sites throughout the country fill to overflowing. Waste disposal and specifically recycling has now become big business.
Established in 1990, Hennessy Engineering is one of a select band of companies in Ireland that are forecasting significant growth in 2002 on the back of the waste disposal and recycling boom. A insatiable demand for ever changing waste disposal equipment keeps the company’s order-books full to overflowing.

Jim enthused: “Our biggest business comes from the recycling industry. However, we make all types of steel bodies. We will make whatever the customer requires. Recently we manufactured 18 33 foot step frame bulkers used for transporting offal for Dalton Transport in Cahir.”
He continued: “We also produced truck bodies for Beechfield Transport in Roscrea. That entailed altering the chassis. It was a specialised job but we had no problems meeting their requirements. “

The affable businessman revealed that both sides of the business complement each other. The manufacture of waste disposal equipment and body build are happy bedfellows, according to Jim.”The equipment and expertise used in both manufacturing processes are identical so we are able to run the two sides of the business side-by-side. We can build a truck body in the same way as we can build waste disposal equipment.”
The company also offers a “fast turn-around” aluminium body repair service. Jim explained the company supplied the service in reaction to a strong customer demand. “People kept coming to us, asking us to repair their aluminium bodies. It built from there really. We are very busy in that area now.”

He added: “When people leave in a lorry to be refurbished or repaired, they want the job done as quickly as possible. Downtime is important to the haulier. Every hour the truck is idle, the trucker is losing money. That is why we specialise in a fast turn-around.”

Situated on a 4.5 acre site, the company has three fully equiped workshops that combine to form a seamless and faultless manufacturing facility. “In the first workshop we concentrate on pre-fabrication. That is cutting, folding and bending the materials to be used in the manufacturing process. In the second worskhop we fabricate and assemble the waste disposal equipment or the body. The third workshop is used for repairs,” Jim explained.
While the type of equipment utilised by Hennessy Engineering is commonplace in other body building shops around the country, Jim believes the quality of his staff - coupled with exceptionally high levels of customer service -sets the company apart from the competition.

These cornerstones have allowed the company to grow year after year since its inception. “Every year since we started we have doubled our turnover. We are continuously expanding. We specialise in what we do. Recycling and waste disposal is a growing business and consequently we have grown too. It is also important to give a good service. If you do that, people will come back to you. That means doing what you said you will do, and doing it at the time you said you would do it,” Jim commented.

Innovation is another cornerstone of the company’s success, but Jim admitted his customers are often the best source of inspiration. “Companies are constantly coming up with new ideas all the time. They come to us and we talk them through their ideas. We will manufacture whatever the customer requires. The finished product will be to cutomer specifications.”

Hennessy Engineeering has been a leading light in waste equipment manufacture for many years. Indeed the Hennessy name is now synonymous with the industry. Four years ago the company made a conscious decision to expand its activities in truck body building. Jim is happy to report that body building now generates a significant proportion of the company’s turnover. “It has got to the stage that we are now building a body for someone or other on a continuous basis. We get a lot of repeat business which means we are doing a good job.”

With one eye firmly fixed on the future Jim has plans to expand and is adding a fourth workshop later in the year. He had intended to build the workshop late last year, which would normally be a quiet time. However, the “quiet time” never materialised and Jim has now rescheduled the work for the early Spring. “We were working 12 hour shifts six days a week, before Christmas to keep up with demand. We just couldn’t find the time to erect the fourth worksop,” he added.
Apparantly he economic slowdown hasn’t made it as far as north Tipperary “The body building side of the business has slowed down some what, but we are extremely busy manufacturing waste disposal equipment. The whole recycling industry is going through a growth phase and we are expanding with that. We are going to build another workshop later in the year,” he concluded.