CONGRATULATIONS
Service anniversaries Q1 and Q2, 2022 A huge congratulations to all employees who rolled over to a significant service anniversary milestone in the first half of 2022. We have so many valuable years of service and experience across the Cummins Asia Pacific business. In this edition of Team Talk we hear from Bryce Colville and Bob Lenton, who both rack up 35 years’ service with Cummins. What great achievements!
Bob Lenton
Bob Lenton is a Product Support Representative based in Mackay, currently supporting five mine sites and customers in the Bowen Basin, Central Queensland. Bob has worked for Cummins since January 1987, initially as a diesel fitter in the subs bay at Presto Avenue, Mackay, then moving into the engine rebuild section, truck bay and field service. He also spent a few years at the Cummins Emerald branch at its first location on the Capricorn Highway before moving back to Mackay field service.
Bryce Colville
Bryce is an On-highway Business Manager and throughout his 35 years with Cummins has held various roles in New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Australia. Bryce, how does it feel to hit this service milestone? Another milestone – they seem to come around quick. I think it’s the opportunities I have had plus the interesting roles and variety of roles I’ve had that keep me going. During your 35 years with Cummins, what are some of the changes you have experienced? Challenging roles and challenging times, which is what I like. That has kept me going, and especially being able to help customers in their businesses – to see them grow along with Cummins. One change that stands out is the way business is conducted, i.e. Zoom calls, emails, social media, phone calls – not as much face-to-face visits as the old days. I am old school, so I enjoy being out with customers and I still think there is a significant need for this. Any favourite memories you would like to share? There are many – but working with so many great people who encourage me to be brave, speak up and have an opinion (and make a difference) come to mind. Meeting many valuable customers and helping them grow their businesses also. I had some special times in PNG over five years – being able to help shape the company, increase our product volumes, and encourage team development was great. What aspects of working at Cummins are your favourites? Being involved with the customers and helping them find solutions to grow their businesses. What are some events, opportunities, and areas of development you anticipate seeing with Cummins? Getting back to grass roots business and helping to find solutions for our customers to keep them using Cummins as their number one choice. Also increasing our resources where required, plus developing and retaining our people.
Bob transitioned into a product support role in 1993, then into a regional position with service engineering as a HHP DFSE counterpart for several years until he returned to his current role in 2011. How does it feel hitting this service milestone? I’m grateful to have had many opportunities presented to me during my time with Cummins and, in this economic climate, I feel privileged to have been able to maintain continuous employment for such a long time. Over my 35 years, I have been able to develop great working relationships with my colleagues and customers and am proud of the achievements I have accomplished plus the job security I have managed to maintain. During your 35 years with Cummins, what are some of the changes you’ve experienced (both work and personal)? During my 35 years I have seen many changes within Cummins and the mining industry, from a workplace health and safety aspect, IT, and the number and size of Cummins powered mining equipment. Before other regional branches were established, the area covered by Cummins Diesel Sales and Service Mackay, as it was known then, was a very large portion of central and north Queensland. This is now supported by an additional four branches – Emerald, Cairns, Townsville and Mt Isa. One of my earliest memories was, while returning from field service jobs and before mobile phones, we had to make regular contact with the field service supervisor via public phones (some of you may remember the red phone boxes on the side of the road), and check if we were heading home or to another job. Around the early 90s, we saw the introduction of electronically controlled engines. To assist with troubleshooting faults on these engines, we first used Compulink, which was a large box with a small digital screen. Our diagnostic tools then became laptops and Insite and Inline adapters which improved our troubleshooting capabilities, enabling us to recalibrate ECMs and clear fault codes when required. I was fortunate to be involved with the first of two Le Tourneau Titan T2200 truck fleets that went into service at the Saraji and Blackwater mines. Those trucks were one of the first 2,000 HP engines to come into Queensland in the late 80s and early 90s. Over the years, we have seen engine horsepower increase to 3,500 with the QSK78s fitted to Komatsu rear dump trucks and, in recent years, the introduction of the T4 emission certified QSK60 T4 engines. Personally, as time moved on, I got married, had a son, and
Team Talk – powering your voices across Cummins Asia Pacific
JUNE 2022 7
