Multotec business development manager for quarries and aggregates in Australasia Matthew Ferguson shares his career journey and industry insights.
Few people in the quarrying industry can claim to have spent nearly a decade as a line cook; however, Matthew Ferguson’s journey into quarrying is unlike most others.
After seven years in hospitality and a stint in civil labouring, he has found his labour of love after eight years at Multotec Australia. Here, as the business development manager for quarries and aggregates in Australasia, he is responsible for the company’s push into the Australian quarrying sector.
Ferguson started on the factory floor working in the rubber compression manufacturing area and has no hesitation about pursuing a career with the company.
“I ended up becoming the supervisor of that area of rubber manufacturing, and at the end of 2018, I had the option to consider two positions: the quality control officer role and the sales technician position in the aggregates industry that was offered to me,” he told Quarry.
“I had a sit down with the managing director, and we had a nice, candid chat about what the future looked like for both roles, and I ended up deciding on the sales role.
“It was an interesting change. I’ve always found it quite easy to talk to people. I used to speak to 100 people a day in hospitality, so I didn’t have any issue talking to people, but it was quite a big shift from what I had been doing.
“I found that the screen media and the business side of things came fairly naturally to me, and Multotec allowed me to explore that, and I’ve enjoyed it.”
Ferguson quickly found a home working with Multotec’s research and development team and the company’s customers to find the best screening solutions for their applications.
Ferguson attributes his knowledge to spending time with Multotec’s product team and then a three-year stint with the Multotec engineering team, which showed him how screen media worked in a quarry. This experience helped him understand both sides of the coin in terms of what manufacturers are looking for in their screen media and what customers need from suppliers like Multotec.
“I am constantly asking questions about why things work and trying to learn about the engineering of screen media and panels. It’s never boring and never the same day twice,” he said.
“We’ve constantly grown in the years that I’ve been here, and we’re always innovating and making something new, which keeps it interesting.”
Major responsibilities
The leadership team at Multotec Australia recognised Ferguson’s talents and affinity for the quarrying industry, understanding they had found the right person to lead the push into the sector. So, for the first time in the company’s history, it created the role of business development manager for quarries and aggregates in Australasia.
In Australian industries, Multotec is traditionally regarded as a leader in the country’s mining sector. Now, the company wants to bring its global expertise to the quarrying and aggregates industries through its international sister companies like Isenmann GmbH. Internationally, Multotec and its sister companies help customers access screen media and processing equipment solutions.
Ferguson said Multotec’s tailored approach has been successful in several key markets.
“All of the products that we make are tailored for their environment. Our environment here in Australia is different to any other environment in the world. It takes specific knowledge and understanding of what our climate and resources are like to make the best product,” he said.
“There are certain lines of products that everyone is going to make, and there won’t be much differentiation between them. But the specialised products show our level of knowledge is, we feel, far beyond anyone else.”
Broadly, quarries and aggregates have a key role in continuing to build infrastructure across Australia as it manages a growing population and the arrival of global events like the 2032 Olympics and Paralympics in Brisbane.
This undercurrent of demand and the requirement for construction materials make Australia an attractive market for global material producers and manufacturers like Multotec.
“Quarries and aggregates are key to that infrastructure spending and it means they aren’t going to face the peaks and troughs as much compared to the global commodity market,” he said.
“We know that the market has a growth potential for us, and my position was created to help guide that. I’ll be able to use my knowledge of the inner workings of the business and my knowledge of the quarry and aggregates market and work with our existing sales team to push that value out into the market.
“The product team, the engineering team and the operations team are all on board; everyone’s on board to get to where we want to go.”
Ferguson said Multotec’s ability to provide specialised solutions to Australian quarries meant it had a bright future in the industry.
“We try to stick close to the industry in different ways than just being a supplier or service provider. We try to make sure we’re fully in the community supporting it,” he said.
“As my title suggests, we’re looking at Australasia, not just Australia. There is a massive market in the Pacific and New Zealand. In the next three to five years, we expect to grow in that market exponentially.” •
For more information, visit multotec.com
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