IB Woman
Issue No. 33 - February/March 2007
Foundry finds a new lease on life
by Penelope Herbert
Growing up in Pinnaroo, Jill Werner saw her father design, build, weld and fabricate pretty much everything needed on their farm. Upon leaving school, she gained an apprenticeship as a fitter and turner with Birrana Engineering where she was invited to become a junior drafter during her fourth year. Concurrently, Jill joined the Army Reserve and trained as an armourer which involved repairing and maintaining weapons and equipment.
“I guess I always had an interest in the area of mechanical engineering and seeing how machinery works,” says Jill, “but I didn’t think my apprenticeship would lead to design and manager roles.
“I learned almost every aspect of engineering from shop floor operations and layout to intellectual property protection and employee performance appraisals. I hadn’t foreseen my career going in that direction.”
After 15 years with Birrana Engineering, Jill moved to Hensley Industries as Product Development Manager. Part of that role was pricing, procurement, estimates and marketing — skills that serve her well now as the General Manager of Beverley Industries Australia.
“At Hensley Industries, I was working with a small contracting firm called Castech,” says Jill. “The owner, Phil Stoddart, mentioned to me that an under-performing foundry was for sale and was I interested in a partnership to buy it?
“I told him I couldn’t run a foundry but he was very insistent that I could. So now I do.”
Taking over BIA in July 2005 was the start of the scariest six months of Jill’s life. The foundry was running at just 25% of capacity, staff numbers were reduced and the operational processes were unworkable.
“The foundry was running at a loss, the systems were ineffective and the quality control was virtually nonexistent,” says Jill. “We had a reject pile that needed sorting out and I was concerned with occupational health and safety issues. It was a case of where do I ...
