From June issue, NZ Manufacturer magazine www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz

-Adam Sharman,CEO LMAC Group, APAC

SouthMach 2025, held at Wolfbrook Arena in Christchurch from 28–29 May, once again proved to be the South Island’s premier event for the manufacturing and engineering sectors.

With a strong focus on innovation, digital transformation, and workforce development, this year’s expo came at a pivotal time for New Zealand’s manufacturing industry—one that is navigating both significant challenges and emerging opportunities.

The SouthMach expo is always an opportunity to showcase the innovation happening in New Zealand and this year’s event was no exception with a focus on South Island innovation through the AMA Innovation Zone led by Dawn Aerospace, Argus Manutech, ENI Engineering and Hamilton Jet and United Machinists.

It was interesting to see how these organisations have practically leveraged industry 4.0 technologies in the New Zealand context to drive innovation and productivity through smart investment and a staged approach to adoption.

The adoption of Industry 4.0 was a key theme of SouthMach this year and this was reinforced through the ASB Manufacturers Workshop, delivered by the EMA and LMAC.

Participants on both days were exposed to a practical case study to build awareness of industry 4.0 in a New Zealand business and left with a roadmap of next steps for their own businesses.

A Visionary Keynote: From Garage to Orbit

One of the most inspiring moments of SouthMach 2025 came from Charlie North of Dawn Aerospace, during his keynote titled “From Garage to Orbit: A Manufacturing Story.” North shared the company’s remarkable journey from a backyard shed in New Zealand to becoming a global leader in spaceplane and in-space propulsion technology.

His talk emphasised that true innovation in manufacturing isn’t about hype or heroics—it’s about people, process, and purpose. He called on New Zealand’s industrial sector to “aim high, build well, and back ourselves,” urging manufacturers to embrace bold thinking and resilient execution.

Chalie’s keynote drew on the advice of Sir Paul Callaghan that, New Zealand needs to get good at the ‘weird stuff’ no-one else can do, as that is where we can compete with the rest of world and our geographic position is not a disadvantage.

The keynote resonated deeply with attendees, reinforcing the idea that world-class innovation can—and should—be built right here in Aotearoa

Minister for Manufacturing Awards a highlight

Another highlight of the SouthMach programme this were the inaugural Minister for Manufacturing Awards recognising excellence in manufacturing across multiple categories. In was inspiring to see the level of innovation and creativity on display across all finalists.

We were particularly inspired by the finalists in the Manufacturing Apprentice of the Year Award. It was great to see the future of our industry and to hear from the winner, Michael Vitale of Pacific Steel who spoke eloquently about his journey and the importance of investing our young people to ensure that manufacturing can continue to be a powerhouse for New Zealand.

It was great to feel the energy around SouhMach this year and, for many 2025 is shaping up to be a more positive year than the tough times of 2024. However, this is not universally felt and there are many business reserving judgement with the ongoing risk of instability in the market and in supply chains looming large.

The mantra of ‘survive to ‘25’  that was prevalent last year seems to have been replaced by a conservative ‘fix ‘til ‘26’ as business remain reluctant to make any major investments.

With this in mind, the SouthMach exhibition came hot on the heals of the budget announcement and there was a generally positive reception to the Investment Boost initiative and its potential to be the catalyst for investment in productivity boosting assets.

Whilst this is a step in the right direction, further clarity is required to ensure that the initiative is used to its full potential.

For example, the fact that the Investment Boost initiative can be applied to software adoption as well as hardware, opening up the application of the scheme beyond the shopfloor and unlocking productivity through streamlined data processing and increasing data availability to support decision making.

Whilst welcome, New Zealand still lags behind some of our global counterparts in industry support. For example, manufacturers in the UK are able to depreciate the full value of an asset in its first year.

As our industry looks ahead to the remainder of this year and into next, the focus should remain on optimising the current systems and operation to preserve margin whilst fast-tracking strategic investments, in both plant and software systems, that can accelerate their ability to respond, adapt and pivot as interest rates come down and markets recover.

Those who put the work in now and are ready to pounce first, will reap the rewards.