A keen digger driver in his spare time, John Burling was often frustrated by the vehicle slipping and sliding on wet and muddy terrain.
He vowed to tackle the problem, and set to work designing a solution from his Eltham engineering workshop.
Not long after, TrackGrip was born – a bolt-on device that gives the digger track extra traction, stability and sideways safety protection.
More than 10 years on, the patented device is a ground-breaking success. It is sought after and sold worldwide, and there’s even a model for working in ice and snow.
It’s just one of the many stories of innovation and success that have been forged in the workshop of Carac Group, the engineering company John and wife Yvonne established in the small Taranaki town more than 30 years ago.
“Dad’s head is full of innovations,” says daughter Sonia Kiser, who is now CEO of Carac Group.
“He is still innovating and coming up with ideas to sell to the world. He can just look at something and find a way to do it simply and better.”
That can-do attitude and desire to improve has been at the heart of Carac Group since John started making trailer couplings – the bit on the trailer that hooks over the tow bar – from his shed in 1988.
Now the company, which employs more than 40 “extremely talented, specialised and passionate staff”, has grown to occupy several buildings in Eltham and a powder-coating workshop in Inglewood.
It makes thousands of couplings every month, and has diversified through the addition of cutting edge technology to now design and produce more than 4,500 products, which are sold to the automotive, agricultural, marine, engineering and utility industries around the world.
“Dad has always been innovative and ambitious, always looking ahead. His aim was to be the biggest engineering company in New Zealand. We’re definitely the most diverse engineering manufacturer – no-one else in New Zealand has the diversity we have in one place,” says Sonia.
Fittingly, that drive to be an engineering leader, saw Carac Group honoured with a Buy NZ Made Award in 2017 for innovation, success and manufacturing.
Despite its growth, Carac has remained a family business – Sonia’s brother and sister are also involved – and has never considered moving from its Eltham base.
Sonia believes provincial Taranaki is as good as any location to reach global markets.
“Many Taranaki businesses are successfully exporting to the world. We’re always looking for new opportunities, market aggressively, and have attended shows internationally to showcase our products and to increase confidence in our products.”
Carac has plans for long-term growth, and Sonia says environmental sustainability goes hand-in-hand with expansion.
“We are proud to be RoSH (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) compliant, using specific non-toxic chemicals in our zinc-plating plant, and we have developed health and safety procedures that also have an environmental focus.”
Carac is also an enthusiastic supporter of other Taranaki business, with John known to offer his time and knowledge freely to help others.
“Taranaki is a community where everyone wants to help each other and to keep work and business here,” Sonia says.
“We’re very proud to say we come from a place like this.”