Australian pipeline industry company AJ-Stack Solutions (AJSS) has had a presence in PNG since 2015, when it formed a partnership with GMT Automation, a company based in Port Moresby.
The partnership was then subsequently awarded a contract with PNG Power, one of the country’s largest power generation companies, for two Titan 130 gas turbines at PNG Power’s Kanudi facility in Port Moresby.
With the reception for socially-conscious foreign companies usually positive, AJSS Principal and Founder Arthur Stack suggests that “the people will embrace companies that provide jobs and education and put investment into the country – establishing a business in PNG is no easy task.”
Mr Stack recalls that when he first moved to the Asia-Pacific region in 2008 from San Diego after many years in Europe, a colleague from Europe said: “You’re lucky in Australia, because in your region, there’s only one language: English.”
While English is the official language of PNG, there are 800 dialects spoken around the country, which has a traditional tribal culture.
The key to overcoming these hurdles, according to Mr Stack, is responsiveness to local conditions.
Therefore, much of Mr Stack’s work has been focused on training.
“To embrace PNG you have to embrace the people, and to send a whole lot of expats in there, in today’s world, doesn’t make sense,” he says.
While expatriates will often assist in training and may be responsible for specialised tasks like bore scoping or vibration analysis, companies working in PNG are seeking to create capacity within their local workers.
Part of this training involves creating a positive working culture.
For AJSS and GMT Automation, this has involved the introduction of corporate guiding principles like integrity and commitment, as well as the “˜simple things’, like supplying uniforms, discouraging the use of betelnut, and bringing people to work in comfort, instead of the back of a truck with no seatbelts.
In the realm of technical training, AJSS decided to focus on the word “˜interactive’.
“We started pretty simply. If you look at a set of A3 or A4 drawings and there’s a lot of detail – people get intimidated, and they have to call for help. What we started to do was blow the drawings up to A0, get some basic colouring pencils, and have the students work with us with the pencils to start to follow various flows of lube oil, fuel gas, and liquid fuel. And in doing so we found that the drawings became less intimidating.”
Other strategies include the use of two instructors, rather than one PowerPoint presenter, to foster discussion and a sense of animation, and taking students out of the classroom and into the garden to physically act out component systems.
“For instance, if you’re an oil pump, you’re either on or you’re off. Once I give you that sign you have to figure it out, and you have to really focus on your learning to understand “˜am I on or am I off?'”
Similarly, rather than using a written style of pre-test favoured by many companies, the instructors will start an interactive discussion about basic concepts, like the difference between a gas turbine and a reciprocating engine.
With experience on projects around the globe, Mr Stack has seen how resource-rich countries can see the locals left behind when the major projects begin, and knows how important it is to engage at a community level.
“It’s a difficult environment, it’s a challenging place to work, and certainly you need to be about your wits when you go up to PNG,” said Mr Stack.
“But once you engage with the people, and understand their nature and their culture, things become a lot easier.”
For more information on AJ-Stack Solutions visit www.ajss.com.au.
