The proverbial saying ‘you reap what you sow’ is apt when describing the success of agricultural manufacturer, Ennor Engineering, whose commitment to producing quality and precision products has brought long-lasting rewards. Of course, to sow a field, one must plough it first – and that is effectively what Ennor have empowered farmers Australia-wide to do with their ground-breaking disc plough machinery.
A family-owned and operated business based out of Deniliquin, NSW, Ennor Engineering have been serving the agricultural sector for over 70 years, with a disc plough range that spans all kinds of produce, from cereal crops, to rice, cotton and sugar cane. Indeed, the Ennor brand encapsulates Australian ingenuity at its finest – machinery made to work in native conditions, and to resolve local, practical problems.
“Our machines have been developed for ease of use, level finish, reliability, low maintenance, efficient power usage and longevity,” explains Managing Director Craig Ennor. “Ennor Engineering is unique in that we take responsibility for all stages of the product cycle, from the initial concept, design, manufacturing, commissioning and after sales service. Although there have been tough times with droughts and a decline in some sectors of agriculture, we are currently seeing a boom in sales with this year’s bumper crop.”
Ennor Engineering’s main product are large disc ploughs, with the 28- and 32-inch discs being the most commonly sought after. They offer disc sizes ranging from 26 to 42 inches and also use the heaviest frame sections obtainable with Rectangular Hollow Section (RHS) sizes ranging from 150x100x9mm through to 300x200x16mm. There are 7 ranges of disc ploughs with 500 base models and thousands of variants.
At the core of the Ennor product range is first class componentry and that is why their equipment is fitted with NTN bearings.
“Quality is the first priority when sourcing all our materials and components, and this is particularly crucial when it comes to bearings,” states Craig. “The bearings and discs on our equipment are at the heart of every machine, so skipping on quality is not an option. All original fitment bearings are NTN.”
Ennor’s unwavering commitment to quality, precision and reliability marries well with the ethos of the Japanese bearing brand, which is renowned for the same attributes in the design and functionality of its bearings.
“We have tested all the known bearing brand names over the last 40 years and have been sourcing the NTN bearings as the original fitment for the last 25 years,” says Craig. “We favour NTN because the bearings are manufactured to our requirements in Japan and we have access to communicate with NTN engineers as our requirements change.”
The access that Craig has to NTN engineers is made possible through his relationship with CBC Australia, with whom he began trialling NTN bearings via CBC Australia some three decades ago.
“We first started trailing NTN product from them over 30 years ago, and the business has steadily increased ever since,” explains Craig. “We have features on our bearings that are not found on other brands, features such as high torque seals and case-hardened inner rings. NTN has even manufactured special batches to our specifications for us to test.”
According to Craig, one of the most important bonuses of using the NTN brand is “you never have to question the accuracy and quality”. To date, Ennor Engineering has fitted about 25,000 bearings to new machines and supplied well over 25,000 bearings as re-fits and “never had a single faulty bearing”.
Additionally, Ennor Engineering have pioneered an oil-bath gang bearing system and machine their own bearing hubs from billet steel – both of which are designed specifically to last in Australian conditions.
“We have spent over 40 years refining our designs and many of the concepts or features found today on other brands actually started in the Ennor factory many years earlier,” notes Craig. “Our bearing systems can be either re-greasable with a pressure relief system or oil-bath with duo-cone seals and all our bearing hubs are machined from billet steel on our CNC machinery. All pivot pins are now manufactured with induction hardened steel, a feature to further increase longevity.”
Moreover, Craig feels supported by the CBC Wodonga branch.
“Any issues we have had over the years have been dealt with quickly and professionally. Something of benefit when dealing with CBC is the employees are loyal to the company, so the ongoing knowledge of our business and its evolving needs is not lost,” he points out. “The supply chain for an OEM is crucial and CBC monitor my stock levels and send reports to me every month, as well as follow ups in case changes need to be made.”
Chris Lindner, Sales Representative at CBC Wodonga, has worked with Craig for over 7 years, and speaks with admiration about the Managing Director.
“Craig is highly passionate about what he does and particular about the materials he uses and methods he applies – and at the same time is one of the easiest people I’ve ever worked with,” says Chris. “He doesn’t have items machined by other companies, Ennor does the machining in-house. Basically, he never cuts corners. He’s set high standards for the Ennor product range and has worked hard to achieve and maintain these standards. It’s a pleasure to work with someone so dedicated to delivering quality products.”
From the CBC side, Chris said they have facilitated the design modifications required by Ennor on the bearings with NTN – which in itself is a unique capability.
“We’ve been able to work in conjunction with this customer to improve and develop the design of the bearings needed for the Ennor applications and it’s been a success,” says Chris. “That’s largely due to our partnership with NTN. We relayed the requirements to the design and engineering department in Japan and they came up with a successful solution.”
Craig says Ennor Engineering will continue to work with CBC and NTN in the foreseeable future.
“We are happy to be associated with the NTN Corporation and CBC Australia and will be continuing the co-operation between the companies into the future,” he concludes.”
