A second generation family owned business, Modern Engineering began operations in 1953 when Ray Kotzur applied his erstwhile skills in manufacturing farm gates, sheds and so on for local farmers.

In those days if a person wanted to manufacture an item they often relied on their own aptitude to design the machinery needed to manufacture the product.

Ray Kotzur was no exception. In the 1960s when the grain industry moved away from handling and storing grain in bags to bulk storage he and his wife Margaret seized the opportunity to manufacture silos - an Australian-first, a 'Kotzur' transportable grain storage silo - a complete silo made on the factory floor and transported to the client.

To manufacture these unique transportable silos, he tapped into his engineering know-how and designed the machinery needed to roll out the walls of the silos as well as a trailer to deliver the products.

Forty years later and with the help of Computer Aided Design (CAD) technology the Kotzurs have found it easier to perfect the manufacture of rural product.

And while managing director, Andrew Kotzur (right) together with his wife and part owner Michelle (her father and two brothers-in-law also work for the business), has the deepest respect for his father's engineering ingenuity, the CAD system has enabled the company to develop engineering skills and systems to supply a range of bulk solids storage silos for a diverse range of applications.

"In the 1980s the main business was silo manufacturing and considering the size of the silos, the business was confined to transporting its product to New South Wales and Victoria.

Transportation is still a logistical and cost debilitating issue, said Andrew, particularly as the company increases its workload to Western Australia where rail is the main mover of product.

Living on 240 acres and being able to walk to work is a big advantage, but having to travel to Western Australia, which Andrew is now doing more regularly, presents its own problems.

"Trying to connect flights is almost impossible and it takes productive time out of my working day," said Andrew. Often he needs to drive to Melbourne then fly to Perth before taking the 'red eye' back home.

Operating a crane hire business, in particular a 200 tonnes mobile hydraulic crane, also presents problems.

"Unfortunately the standard of roads in NSW is not as good as Victoria and carrying such a heavy purpose-built vehicle restricts our access to many locations."

Isolation is a problem sometimes, although Andrew pilots a light aircraft to get around, but what he's found more disconcerting, when applying for a special permit to shift the crane, was the head of the permits section in Sydney asking: "why do you need a crane of that size anyway?"

Isolation apart, Andrew grabbed an opportunity to expand his operations when he purchased the silo manufacturing division of a large public company, a business that had a history of building silos on site.

This knowledge allowed Modern Engineering to customise and brand their own silo construction on site, the difference being that they were manufacturing silos according to stringent industry standards, something which Andrew claims other silo manufacturers weren't necessarily adhering to.

"Learning the logistics of building silos on site is completely different from construction in the factory," said Andrew. "It allowed us to move into our own range which has developed to the point where we have a number of on-site erecting crews that perform large commercial work."

Modern technology and the use of CAD have seen the development of larger, more robust silos. A significant change in the agricultural landscape saw production increase to more than fifty percent of silos sold between the 200 to 4,000 tonnes capacity.

"While the construction of fifty tonnes silos in the late 1980s accounted for fifty percent of the business, this was soon superseded by larger silos designed for industrial and commercial purposes and transported disassembled," said Andrew.

What drives Andrew and his family business is innovation and being able to provide a solution.

"We have the capacity to tender for many jobs that other businesses in the industry would find impossible to perform. We have the right systems in place, up to date technology, and an alliance with an engineering company that performs the type of work we need."

And while the product is not exactly the cheapest, what Kotzurs offer the farmer is a solution and in ongoing periods of drought, farmers are prepared to pay for the best to have their harvest stored in fully sealable fumigation silos where insects can be handled without the use of contact pesticides.

"We also have carbon dioxide and nitrogen options available for both organic and non-organic markets where the preference is not to use poisons," he said. "Our clients recognise this and that's why we're at the top end of the market."

While the drought has had more of an impact on the local farming community, it's the diversity of the Kotzur's business that is its saving grace. Apart from the manufacture of silos and the crane hire business, Kotzur's also manufacture high tensile fence rails, steel water tanks, and components for the defence industry.

Another challenge is trying to compete with the United States who Andrew said has cornered the global market.

"We just can't compete in price against the United States where our main competitors are content with low margins. We don't have a domestic market within which to grow volume so that we can launch ourselves overseas."

Marketing both domestically and globally is challenging particularly with a business of their size and one way that Andrew has entered the overseas arena is through key alliances such as his association with an engineering company in New Zealand. He's currently supplying grain silos through AWB to Thailand.

He would love to have an office overseas but he's pessimistic.

"This would be an ideal situation but I really don't believe we will ever be able to do this."

What irks Andrew is that he's manufacturing top quality product which he believes is significantly better than that manufactured by his overseas counterparts. And yet it is difficult to change market perception that Australian product can't be better imported.

"Australian structural design standards are robust and we are building heavier and stronger silos."

A major employer in the Walla Walla district, Kotzur's employs 45 staff plus 20 indirect workers. He recognises that in the current labour shortage climate, finding appropriately skilled workers is an issue and if he wishes to expand his business, he needs to upskill his workforce, especially has he's just bought a new robot and needs to find a robot operator.

"We've identified that we need to train people in-house or become more imaginative in the way we source skilled people."

Welding is the predominant trade in the business and the company has struggled to find an apprentice to fill this position since last year.

Andrew has resorted to advertising in local papers and talking to local TAFEs. He's also keen to develop relationships with local high schools in the area to give young people an idea of what opportunities are available in the industry. He's even created a work placement for a young man who is travelling all the way from Darwin.

"The education industry is a little introspective and distant from business," he believes. "While secondary schools are encouraging students to stay until Year 12, it's businesses like ours that are suffering from a lack of apprentices. There needs to a radical overhaul of thinking.

"We need to increase the academic part of an apprenticeship so that we end up with well rounded individuals who have a basic understanding of English, mathematics, the sciences and so on. We also need to realise the potential of young people who would be better suited to a trade at year 10 level than continuing to pursue their HSC studies."

As Kotzur's evolves and Andrew appoints more managers it's allowing him to concentrate on the complexity of the business, in particular the continuing diversity of the business as he doesn't view price as a marketing tool.

"When you're a young company, winning market share and making sales is all important, however, as the business grows you tend to think about where you can better devote your efforts and cash and profitability together with business viability are the predominant factors.

"There's nothing worse than being flat out and not making money," he said. "Over the past couple of years we have concentrated on knowing what our costs are as opposed to finding out whether the business has made money at the end of the financial year. It really is a case of monitoring every operational cost on a regular basis."

In the meantime, he's keen to continue investing back into the business and keeping his corporate structure flexible should his children choose not to take over the business.