A New Service to Power Your Projects
We’re heading back to EMEX 2026, and this year we’ve got something new to share. Complex projects rarely sit neatly inside one discipline. Electrical design, automation, controls, mechanical design, commissioning, and documentation all need to line up. We’ve introduced Automation & Controls so we can support clients across more of […]
Listening harder in a noisier world
By EMA Head of Membership and Export Simon Devoy If there’s one thing Kiwi manufacturers and exporters don’t need in 2026, it’s more noise. Between tariffs, geopolitical tensions and the return of supply chain disruption, clarity is harder to find. That is why the ExportNZ DHL Export Barometer matters, and […]
Delivering Productivity at EMEX 2026
Ian Walsh, Partner, Argon & Co For over 20 years, we have helped hundreds of New Zealand businesses improve productivity and increase EBIT. The outcomes are practical, measurable, and often achieved without significant capital investment. For example: A plastics manufacturer increased throughput by 60%, with the same labour cost A […]
Lessons from the 1%
Success isn’t what you start. It’s what you don’t stop. When you spend time inside New Zealand’s best manufacturing businesses there’s a pattern that shows up again and again. They don’t launch more initiatives They don’t chase the latest tool They don’t rely on heroic effort or last‑minute pushes. They […]
Leadership: The difference between the plan you have and the results you get
Adam Harvey, Business Performance Partner – Manufacturing , The Learning Wave You can feel good leadership before you see it. A strong shift hums. There’s a rhythm: Clean handovers, problems solved where they happen, and a team that knows what “good” is. Output is steady. Waste is controlled. The team […]
Data, Decisions, and the Drive for Productivity, A Digital Path to World Class Performance
Article 3: V2 –By Neil Robinson, a Senior Business Consultant with Argon & Co (Auckland) specialising in productivity improvement, Lean systems and capability building. If you’re reading this third article in the series, you already know that New Zealand manufacturers face a difficult reality: our productivity lags many of the […]
EMEX is with us again
From May issue, NZ Manufacturer magazine The latest version, EMEX 2026, is mere days away. The most focussed trade fair for manufacturing businesses in New Zealand continues to display the latest and advanced equipment and technology which our companies require to improve their levels of Productivity and to make […]
Business exit and the waiting trap
-Mike Warmington, Director, Platform 1 There has always been talk about a tsunami of businesses actively seeking an exit of some description. It has not come to New Zealand yet and with covid, tariffs, wars, high interest rates and fuel price concerns there is a lot of waiting going on. […]
World-First construction tech could cut building emissions by 80%
-Mark Devlin New world-first technology developed to prevent design errors from cascading throughout the country’s most complex construction project to date could reduce cost overruns in New Zealand’s $275bn infrastructure pipeline by millions of dollars, as well as cutting new building emissions by up to 80%, according to new data. […]
World class is not optional
From May issue, NZ Manufacturer magazine Ian Walsh, Partner, Argon & Co While there are industries — car assembly, for example — where the economic case for local production can be debated, food is different. Producing food is something we should be doing. More than that, it is something we […]
Free 60-minute webinar
$144K recovered. 18% more output. When literacy improves, performance follows. As an operational or HR leader, you see the issues every day. Downtime that shouldn’t have happened. Instructions that were acknowledged but not followed. People waiting around for instructions, not sure of what’s next. And a strange silence during […]
(I wonder) What is in the Budget for manufacturers?
Another Budget, another election year. Lots of hand wringing? I hope not. The business community needs government to invest more and assist to make life better for all of us. Through these challenging times, we are not hearing from Ministers, expressing concerns, or sharing ideas to address the difficulties businesses […]
Talking point from Mayor Wendy Schollum: McCain and Wattie’s closures
When a major employer closes and another downsizes, the impact doesn’t stop at the factory gate. In Hastings it affects workers, growers, contractors, suppliers, transport operators, local businesses, and families across our region – because when steady jobs disappear, it is felt around kitchen tables, in local shops, and across the wider community. That is why the recent changes at McCain and Wattie’s matter to our community, and why Council has a role to play. Over recent weeks we’ve brought together growers and industry to understand the drivers and impacts, and successfully pushed for a national review of the issues that have resulted in these business decisions. Wattie’s is not just a factory. For many families in this district, it is part of their history. Parents and grandparents worked there. Growers built businesses around supplying it. Contractors and transport operators have relied on it. It is part of Hastings’ identity as a food-producing district. But it is also important to say this clearly: Hastings is not starting from a weak position. We have strong growers, manufacturers, exporters and businesses that continue to play a major role in our district. Hastings is a powerhouse in primary industry, manufacturing, health and technology for the region, which provide about 60 per cent of Hawke’s Bay jobs, and we must remain focused on continued growth. We have an opportunity and a responsibility to respond with urgency to these recent announcements. Since they were made, I have been working with Central Hawke’s Bay Mayor Will Foley, growers and industry, to advocate at a national level with one clear Hawke’s Bay voice. This is a regional and national issue, not just a Hastings issue. Many affected growers are in Central Hawke’s Bay. Workers come from across the region, including Napier. The consequences reach well beyond one […]