Oasis Engineering: Using EMA expertise to keep moving forward
Membership in action:
- Building export connections and raising the company’s profile through ExportNZ.
- Developing people and leadership capability through training and support.
- Gaining access to specialist expertise to tackle business challenges.
- Creating new opportunities through introductions, events and industry networks.
- Turning AI ambition into a practical business roadmap through Workforce 2030.
Oasis Engineering has not treated EMA membership as a passive subscription. The Tauranga manufacturer has used it as a working relationship: a route into export networks, workplace support, training, industry programmes, events and new business tools. Its experience shows what becomes possible when a Member keeps asking, participating and acting on what it learns.
A manufacturer built to solve hard problems
Oasis Engineering designs and manufactures high-pressure gas control equipment for compressed natural gas, hydrogen, food and dairy applications. The business grew from the maintenance division of the Oasis soft drink company before establishing itself in Tauranga as a specialist precision manufacturer. By developing expertise in close-tolerance machining and difficult-to-work materials such as stainless steel and titanium, Oasis built a reputation for solving complex engineering challenges and supplying customers in demanding international markets.
Today, Oasis is part of the ELAFLEX Group and exports most of its production to customers around the world. The company develops and manufactures products used in gas distribution, refuelling and fluid-transfer applications, while continuing to invest in automation, advanced CNC machining, product development and Industry 4.0 capability. Its focus on innovation, continuous improvement and workforce development has helped position the business to support emerging technologies, including hydrogen infrastructure and other low-emissions energy solutions.
For Managing Director Kevin Flint, outside expertise does not replace internal knowledge. It helps the business decide where to focus, test assumptions and move with greater confidence. EMA membership has provided several ways to do that
Export connections and recognition
Oasis has taken part in the Bay of Plenty export community, including advisory activity, events and the ExportNZ ASB Bay of Plenty Export Awards. The company won the Excellence in Innovation category at the 2025 awards. In 2026, long-serving employees Hadyn Natusch and Mark Swetman received the Unsung Hero Award after being nominated for their contribution to export success.
Learning and workplace support
The company has booked training and discussed customised local learning opportunities. An EMA consultancy opportunity for restructuring support was also recorded as won in 2025. Kevin has provided direct feedback on course availability, invoicing and event design, treating the relationship as a two-way exchange rather than simply consuming services.
Industry participation
Oasis has offered to host export meetings and factory tours, and has supported manufacturing outreach. This gives other businesses and future workers access to practical examples of advanced manufacturing while strengthening the regional network.
Introductions and opportunities
Through EMA and ExportNZ connections, Oasis was introduced to an Executive MBA market-entry project focused on China. The company expressed interest in taking part, showing how membership can surface opportunities that may sit outside a business’s normal field of view.
AI readiness: using an assessment to find the starting line
Oasis’s latest step began through the EMA’s Workforce 2030 programme and its partnership with AI ORA. Kevin had already completed an introductory AI course and was using tools for research, policy drafting and presentations. The potential was clear, but the route into the wider business was not.
“I probably spent six months stumbling around wondering what to do,” he says. “Security was an issue but I wasn’t sure what to do?”
The AI ORA People Readiness assessment gave Oasis a structured starting point. Every member of its 38-person team completed the anonymous survey, including employees working in assembly, warehousing and CNC machining. Kevin made participation practical: he explained why the company was doing it, completed the survey first, showed employees what to expect, allowed time during work and placed a QR code beside the shared sign-in iPad.
The response challenged assumptions. Eighty-five per cent of the team used AI somewhere in their lives, despite more than half of employees working away from a desk. At the same time, none of the current users felt they had received enough support or training.
The assessment turned a broad ambition into a sequence of decisions. Oasis’s first step was to choose and communicate approved tools. Next came training using real workplace examples, followed by learning through practical use. A consultant was brought in to help shape the training plan.
The process also strengthened employee ownership. Kevin said a consultant can bring useful expertise, but involving the whole team through the survey meant people felt invested and began asking what would happen next. For a business that holds a weekly all-team meeting and places a premium on open communication, that mattered.
The wider lesson: use the network, not just the discount
Oasis’s story is not that a business association built the company for it. The company’s technical expertise, export ambition and willingness to invest in people are its own. The value of membership has been in adding reach: access to specialists, peer networks, market opportunities, recognition, training and structured ways to tackle unfamiliar problems.
The common thread is action. Oasis enters awards, attends and hosts events, responds to introductions, gives feedback, shares its experience and follows assessments with practical next steps. But high engagement does not mean saying yes to everything; it means knowing what the business needs and using the network selectively.
For other EMA Members, the opportunity is straightforward. Bring a current business problem to the relationship. Talk to the Member Partner. Use AdviceLine or specialist support when the issue requires it. Join a relevant event, export network or capability programme. Offer feedback. Then apply what is useful inside the business.