New Zealand's variable geology has historically meant sourcing coring consumables from either expensive overseas suppliers or local contractors who were also your competitors. Blick changed that.
The Challenge
New Zealand drillers faced limited options for cost-effective coring consumables: purchase from sometimes-unknown Asian manufacturers with inconsistent quality, or source locally from contractors potentially in direct competition. Either way, drillers managed their own stock levels against long sea freight lead times and inconsistent product performance.
The Approach
Blick developed two product tiers: premium quality coring products and drill rods from Technidrill (Europe) for demanding applications, and a cost-effective solution for mineral and geotech contractors who don't require the highest grade. After extensive trials with local NZ clients, Blick built supply chain relationships with proven Chinese suppliers, managing logistics, foreign currency, and regular shipment schedules on behalf of customers.
The Outcome
Drillers no longer need to fund their competitors or manage their own import logistics. Blick handles sourcing, quality assurance, currency, and delivery — while consolidated purchasing across fluids, grease, and consumables improves pricing across the board.
The Full Story
Whether it's fractured schist, competent basalt, or something in between; New Zealand has extremely challenging soil conditions and geography. Since wireline coring was developed, the majority of down hole tooling (suitable to combat the variable nature of the geography), was supplied by American or European companies. They were excellent quality, but expensive. The tools were potentially over-spec for a lot of the day-to-day geotech, and shallow mineral exploration work, being done in New Zealand.
Coring consumables: trial and error
Previously there were only a few options to get lower cost coring and geotech consumables in NZ. You could either purchase direct from sometimes unknown Asian manufacturers, or source within NZ from contractors that were potentially in competition with you.
Each driller went through a series of trial and error. Products were inconsistent; some were fantastic and some weren't. Paying in advance had an effect on their businesses cash flow, and they had to manage their own stock levels against long sea freight lead times.
Options based on your requirements
Blick provides both premium and cost effective solutions for coring consumables and drill rods.
Our premium quality option of coring products and drill rods are supplied from Technidrill, out of Europe.
Our more cost effective solution suits mineral and geotech contractors, who don't necessarily require the highest grade of products. We teamed up with Chinese suppliers to offer these products to the market.
After extensive trials with local clients in NZ, we felt confident that these lower cost consumables were performing to the standard required. This has enabled us to provide an extensive range of coring consumables at a more competitive price. We've also worked hard on our pricing structures; enabling you to get better pricing across the board on all your products: fluids, grease, wrenches etc when you purchase more from us.
Blick makes it easy. We have regular shipments, manage the logistics and currency, and we stand by our products.
The solution
Drillers face enough challenges day to day. Worrying about sourcing quality consumables at short notice, or potentially funding your competitors doesn't need to be an issue. Let us deal with sourcing consistent products, foreign currency exchange and shipment arrivals.
We love talking to drillers and working through solutions. Our team is always happy to help. Give us a call, or pop into our warehouse to discuss your requirements.