Find a Business Partner – DIY or Not ?
Mike Warmington, Director, Platform1 New Zealanders often like to try their hand at projects especially when it comes to DIY jobs around the house. We pride ourselves on having a can-do attitude. This can transcend itself into business when owners are looking at exit planning strategies. It may sound […]
Q & A Stephanie Fry, General Manager, Stratmore
Stratmore is proud to be a 100% New Zealand owned and operated, family business, with over 71 years expertise in building and construction products supply. Stratmore manufactures and distributes premium, high-performance products for construction and repair and provides comprehensive consulting for the New Zealand construction industry. Stratmore is also […]
Power Politics: How high electricity prices are squeezing NZ Manufacturers in an Election Year
By Sean Doherty,Manufacturing Commentator | NZ Industry Trends New Zealand’s electricity market is producing two parallel realities. For the country’s four major generator-retailers, business has never been better. For manufacturers, the same market is steadily destroying the economics of making things in this country. If the balance is not […]
Prevention is the strategy for performance in infrastructure delivery
From March issue, NZ Manufacturer magazine Stephanie Pretorius, Managing Principal, Argon & Co Infrastructure projects operate under relentless pressure: tightening margins, rising complexity, public scrutiny, and near-zero tolerance for delay. Yet many delivery environments still default to recovery — catch-up programmes, overtime, task-force escalation — only after performance has […]
Unlocking productivity: The National Launch of the 35 by 35 Business Performance Programme
New Zealand’s productivity challenge is well documented — but what if lifting performance across small and medium-sized businesses could be systemised, measured, and accelerated at scale? That is the ambition behind 35 by 35, a national business performance movement designed to help New Zealand businesses lift productivity, capability, and resilience […]
University programme expands to help manufacturers go digital
New funding will enable a University initiative to help more small manufacturers access affordable digital technology and improve productivity. Key facts The Government has committed up to $475,000 per year for three years from 1 April 2026 to expand the University of Auckland-led Digital Manufacturing Light programme. Digital Manufacturing Light […]
NZ’s economy to take three decades to double without intervention – OECD Data
New OECD data shows NZ’s economy will take more than 30 years to double in size unless major structural and cultural changes are made to how organisations operate. The modelling shows New Zealand’s real GDP, currently at US$216 billion, is not expected to double until 2055.[1] While the nation’s economy […]
The world wants Kiwi manufacturing: Turning acquisitions into advantage
By Sean Doherty,Manufacturing Commentator | NZ Industry Trends Global investment is reshaping the future of Kiwi manufacturers—and the outlook is surprisingly positive. It has been a historic couple of years for New Zealand’s manufacturing and food processing sectors. From Invercargill to Auckland, a remarkable string of large manufacturing companies have […]
Cyber security no longer an IT problem
From February issue, NZ Manufacturer magazine It’s a reputation risk manufacturers can’t ignore With corporate cyber breaches in the spotlight increasingly, NZ Manufacturer magazine advisor and Impact PR director Mark Devlin looks at how firms can protect their brand in the event of an incident. For years, cyber security sat […]
From data to decisions: getting more value from sustainability measurement
From February issue, NZ Manufacturer magazine The way manufacturers measure sustainability is changing rapidly. New tools, improved data and AI-enabled platforms mean businesses can now measure far more than they could a few years ago. Carbon, circularity, risk and supply chains — the list keeps growing. For manufacturers, this often […]
Election Year Excuses? Why Manufacturers Can’t Afford Them
From February issue, NZ Manufacturer magazine David Altena is Head of Growth & Partnerships at SmartSpace.ai & C0-Founder & Host of The Better SMB Podcast. david@altena.solutions We are entering a familiar three yearly cycle of hesitation. As we flip into another election year, a subtle but pervasive “hush” descends over […]
Productivity and baby boomer business owners
From March issue, NZ Manufacturer magazine By Mike Warmington, Platform 1 For many SME baby boomer business owners last year, the economy forced them to think more of productivity and how to do things smarter. Some made strong gains however these were generally the larger SME sized businesses and above. […]
Before the robots arrive: How Formthotics prepared its staff for the changes ahead
From February issue, NZ Manufacturer magazine Adam Harvey, Business Performance Partner – Manufacturing, The Learning Wave Running a manufacturing business right now can feel like standing on a moving walkway. If you don’t step forward, you fall behind. Customers want more for less, and Boards are pushing for efficiency, growth, and operational certainty. Automation and digital tools promise speed and scale, and on paper, the investment stacks up. But then you look across the floor, and the harder question sets in: “Are our people actually ready for this yet?” That was the question facing Formthotics when they first reached out in early 2025. An established manufacturer of custom orthotics, Formthotics was investing heavily in its future. New machinery, its first robot nearing commissioning, new digital tools queued for rollout, a refreshed brand and ambitious growth targets. The strategy was clear, and the investment significant. But the leadership team, led by Shane Heenan, alongside Amanda Gault and Carolina Santa, could also see the risk. “We knew the processes which had gotten us this far simply wouldn’t scale ahead for growth. A SIRI assessment confirmed it; paper-based processes and limited experience with digital tools.” shared Shane. They had seen similar stories play out elsewhere. Formthotics had watched the Argus journey closely. They saw what was possible when leaders recognised a simple truth: technology doesn’t run a factory, people do. So they made a deliberate choice. Before pushing harder on lean, digital, and automation, they chose to prepare their people. Choosing readiness over speed Rather than waiting for resistance to show up later, Formthotics invested early in building the mindset, confidence and communication skills of its 17 factory and supply chain operators. That decision led to Owning My Future, a learning journey designed to build the foundations the business knew it would need […]