Tech companies are blaming massive layoffs on AI
Uri Gal, Professor in Business Information Systems, University of Sydney In the past few months, a wave of tech corporations have announced significant staff cuts and attributed them to efficiency gains driven by artificial intelligence (AI). Companies such as Atlassian, Block and Amazon have announced they would lay off thousands of employees due to increased […]
Workplace literacy: The hidden lever of performance
Adam Harvey, Business Performance Partner – Manufacturing, The Learning Wave We all know the story: New Zealand productivity lags behind much of the OECD. For years, it’s been in reports, debated at conferences and written in board packs. You feel it when the same issues resurface, rework creeps back […]
In God we trust: All others bring data
David Altena is Head of Growth & Partnerships at SmartSpace.ai & Co-Founder & Host of The Better SMB Podcast. david@altena.solutions Rob Bull is Director of the New Zealand Lean Academy. rob@nzla.nz Edwards Deming’s line has been quoted so often it risks becoming wallpaper. But for New Zealand […]
Uncertainty and opportunity for Kiwi exporters
By EMA Head of Membership and Export, Simon Devoy With the global trading environment shifting rapidly, uncertainty is the new normal for Kiwi exporters. The latest developments around tariffs from the Trump Administration show just how quickly the rules can change, and how vulnerable small, open trading economies like […]
Busy Isn’t Productive: The Hidden Cost of Broken Flow
A practical reset for factories stuck in firefighting, batching and workarounds. By Neil Robinson, a Senior Business Consultant with Argon & Co (Auckland) specialising in productivity improvement, Lean systems and capability building. A Six Sigma Black Belt and experienced facilitator, he helps manufacturing teams make flow visible, stabilise performance […]
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 […]
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 comfortably in the IT bucket. It was treated as a technical risk to be managed through software, consultants and compliance exercises, largely removed from day-to-day operational and commercial decision-making. That separation might once have worked. It no longer does. For New Zealand manufacturers, cyber security has become a frontline business risk, one that increasingly plays out in public. When incidents occur, the damage is rarely limited to systems or data. It shows up in halted production, delayed orders, disrupted supply chains and, critically, lost trust. The reputational consequences often outlast the technical ones. That reality has been reinforced by the way cyber incidents are now covered in the media. Stories that once appeared in specialist technology columns are increasingly leading business news. Journalists are less interested in the mechanics of a breach and far more focused on impact: what stopped, who was affected and how leadership responded. In that environment, cyber security is no longer just about prevention. It is about preparedness, judgement and communication under pressure. Why cyber incidents hit manufacturers harder than most Manufacturers are particularly exposed. They operate at the intersection of physical production and digital infrastructure, where disruption in one area quickly cascades into others. Production lines, logistics platforms, inventory systems, payroll and supplier portals are deeply interconnected. A cyber incident does not just inconvenience office staff. It can shut down machinery, breach contracts and place long-standing customer relationships under strain. Unlike many service businesses, manufacturers cannot simply work around the problem while systems are restored. […]