The company operates across a number of areas, manufacturing equipment for a variety of industries, and the drills manufactured for the trenchless market remain a core area of business.

Mary says the introduction of HDD rigs represented a massive advancement for a number of the industries which now rely on the technology.

“Directional drilling was a big change because we were in trenches putting things in the ground for a long time and we thought there has to be a better way. My dad (Gary Vermeer) said an animal mole is pretty efficient - if you could do that without having to open the surface that would make sense. So we really pursued directional drilling.”

According to Mary when the company initially moved into the manufacture of HDD equipment, one of the core areas they focused on was training the operators who would be using the drills to ensure maximum productivity and efficiency. “And that’s what I think gave us a great start on the whole industry,” says Mary.

Since initially entering the market, Vermeer now manufactures a huge range of equipment to the trenchless market, which includes — aside from horizontal directional drills — vacuum excavators, drill head locators, GPS systems, GPR equipment, moles and mud motors, among others.

Developing new and improved HDD rigs remains a core focus for the company, and the size of Vermeer’s drills and the distance over which they can drill continues to advance. At the moment the largest drill in Australia is the D300x500 (on show at the recent International No Dig Down Under), although the company has manufactured up to the D330x500, and Mary says planning is underway for the next size up.

Mary noted that the company will only manufacture larger rigs if the market proves there is sufficient demand for them, saying there would need to be orders for around five to ten drills per year before Vermeer look to build a larger rig. “I don’t think that for us we will ever get to the point where we’re building one or two a year,” says Mary. “It would have to have some multiples in it to make sense for us.”

In terms of the distance the equipment can drill, Mary says she is sure there is the possibility for continuously improving and extending the length drilled, but at the moment, the company’s drills work at an impressive 1 mile per hour, which remains a safe distance and speed to operate at.

For Vermeer, the biggest market is the US, however the construction boom in Australia across a variety of infrastructure industries has ensured that Australia is another strong market for the company – in fact, through 2006 Australia was Vermeer’s top international dealer. Other strong markets include Western Europe, Japan, and China.

When asked what could be done to continue to grow these and other markets, and broaden the awareness of HDD, Mary suggested focusing on educating engineers about the benefits that HDD can provide.

“Continuing to get with the engineering firm and help them understand what HDD can do, how it really is a good sustainable technology, it helps avoid things that are issues in contracting and open cut, it can go under rivers with less damage, less interruption… I think it’s continuing to find some of those thought leaders, and getting them on board,” says Mary.

Unsurprisingly, Mary also cited improving the cost-effectiveness of drills as being another crucial factor in increasing the uptake of HDD, particularly in industries were HDD has been underutilised, as potential users of the technology are often wary of the unknown – especially when it comes with an increased price tag over currently used trenching solutions.

Another strategy Vermeer has taken to broaden the awareness of Trenchless Technologies is to work with respected industry figures, such as Dr Sam Ariaratnam of Arizona State University, who can communicate the benefits of HDD and other trenchless techniques to different industry sectors in their own terms.

Mary believes that the key industry sectors to draw on HDD and other trenchless equipment in the coming years will be the pipeline, water and sewer, gas, telecommunication and power industries. I see those as the big ones. Vermeer expects particularly that the water and sewer industries will draw upon Trenchless Technologies. “I know there’s probably been quite a bit of emphasis on that,” says Mary. “Water’s huge… it’s the new oil.”

In order to supply these growing markets, maintaining a skilled workforce to design, manufacture and operate the equipment is crucial. Vermeer’s approach to what is increasingly a global shortage in skilled workers has been to visit universities, engineering departments, and even high schools, to make the Vermeer name known. The actual recruitment process for the company also starts early, says Mary. “We do a lot of internships and summer work for students and try to keep in touch with them, then hire them before they go into their senior year if they’re a good fit for us.” Once hired, education and training is a continual process, with the company averaging over 20 hours of training per employee per year.

In her role as President and CEO, Mary spends a significant amount of time focusing on the company’s current and future core objectives and how to achieve these. “A big focus is continuing to see what customers need and making sure that we can continue to bring new solutions to the market that really satisfy those needs,” says Mary. “We also want to see good stable growth, and we really want to be number one or two in our core markets, like trenchers and drills.”

The company applies the ‘lean operator’ principles to improving the efficiency and eliminating waste from its operations, and Mary spends a significant amount of time looking for more ways to improve efficiency and output. At the International No Dig last year in Brisbane, Mary spoke on the topic of lean and provided an insight into how effective applying the lean operator principles has been for the company.

Mary describes herself as a “zealot” for lean, and notes that her background in teaching has contributed to her success in educating co-workers about the lean principles and generating interest and support for them within the organisation.

According to Mary, there was initially some hesitation levelled towards adopting the lean method. “Whenever you rock people’s world and the way they do things, it’s difficult,” she says. However, once people could see the improvements and benefits in action they were convinced of the merits or drawing upon lean principles. Looking further down the track, Mary says: “We will continue lean and want to improve all of our measurements by another 50 per cent in the next five years. That means less inventory and better lead time.”

Sustainability is also a big concern for Vermeer. “We’re constantly looking at how we can be more involved in sustainable industry practices,” says Mary. The company approaches the issue of sustainability by looking at ways to reduce water use and greenhouse emissions while improving recycling measures within their day to day operations, as well as looking at advancements in the equipment they manufacture that also address these key concerns.

Like any equipment manufacturer, research and development is of critical importance to the company. In fact, according to Mary, “We are a little heavier on research and development than some other areas of the company because it is an important part of who we are and our growth in our future.”

Growth that no doubt the Australian infrastructure industries will continue to be a part of, and benefit from, in the years to come as the number of projects and their complexity continues to increase, requiring the complex equipment and machinery manufactured by Vermeer to get the job done.