Q & A: Greg Balla, CEO, AoFrio
From June issue, NZ Manufacturer magazine. How is business? The business is in great shape and we’re genuinely optimistic about where we’re heading. In 2025, AoFrio’s revenue reached a record NZ$83.2 million, up 4.4% on the prior year with strong growth across our IoT business. We expect full-year 2026 […]
Alan Bollard on the changing rules of global trade
By EMA Head of Export and Manufacturing Simon Devoy From supply chain disruptions and geopolitical tensions to tariff disputes and shifting trade alliances, business disruption seems to arrive from all angles, often with little warning. For exporters and manufacturers, the challenge is constant. How should they respond? How should […]
Will the budget boost small firms? Not in the way we might think
Rod McNaughton, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau With the lid lifted on Budget 2026 many small and medium New Zealand businesses will be poring over the detail to see what it has in store for them. Many may come away disappointed. With the government having been upfront about its […]
Manufacturing excellence celebrated at annual awards
NZ Manufacturer Manufacturing awards presented during EMEX 2026. The people and businesses driving innovation, growth and resilience across New Zealand’s manufacturing sector have been recognised at the second annual Minister for Manufacturing Awards. “This year’s finalists have set the bar for excellence in modern New Zealand manufacturing,” says Minister for […]
Critical materials: the hidden supply chain risk for manufacturers
By Jim Goddin, Head of Circularity at thinkstep-nz The Iran crisis has exposed a hard truth for global business: supply chains are only as resilient as their weakest link. When conflict disrupts major trade routes, the effects spread quickly through the wider economy. The immediate shock may be geopolitical, […]
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 […]
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. Modelling from the Government’s $290m Te Rua National Archives shows that if digital twin technology is introduced from the design stage of large-scale projects to identify and address flaws across the infrastructure pipeline to the levels achieved on Te Rua, where contingency spend was held to five percent against an industry average of up to ten percent, New Zealand could potentially avoid millions of dollars in construction cost overruns. Data also shows that the preventative maintenance capability of the technology could reduce operational carbon emissions of a building by up to 80%. It is believed that with the integration of AI, the methodology could also be adapted for use in New Zealand’s planned multibillion-dollar healthcare infrastructure programme to produce clinically safer environments for patients. The recently completed Te Rua Archive in Wellington is the most technically demanding building ever constructed in New Zealand. Designed to remain operational after a one in 1,800-year earthquake, it must maintain temperature and humidity within a one degree tolerance for at least 48 hours in a power failure to protect taonga and government records held under UNESCO Memory of the World obligations. Phill Stanley, portfolio manager for ASX-listed Dexus, says these performance requirements meant the project could not rely on traditional construction methodologies, as even minor errors would have compromised the stability of the collection. “When you are managing irreplaceable taonga and national records, there is no margin for error. Any design flaw that affects temperature, humidity or structural performance directly threatens the integrity of […]