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NZMEA appoints new Chief Executive

Dieter Adam, a senior executive with experience in a broad range of international and national commercial and scientific organisations, has been appointed Chief Executive of the New Zealand Manufacturers and Exporters Association (NZMEA). Announcing the appointment, NZMEA President Tom Thomson said Dieter has a solid record of performance and leadership especially in the areas of international business development and innovation management. “He comes to us from New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) where he worked with a large number of New Zealand’s leading food and beverage exporters, as well as manufacturers in the agritech sector, helping them grow their export businesses. This experience gave him a unique oversight of different approaches to international business development.” With a Ph.D. in plant biotechnology and having held research positions in Germany and Denmark, Dieter Adam arrived in New Zealand from Germany in 1986 to take up an academic position at the University of Waikato. He joined the commercial world in 1994 and has held senior management positions in the primary industry (Rayonier New Zealand, Livestock Improvement Corporation), as well as his own consultancy business. “Dieter’s experience covers senior executive and governance roles in the manufacturing and service sectors combined with business-to-business and business-to-consumer relationships, both internationally and in New Zealand. “His time with NZTE allowed him to build valuable relationships with government agencies charged with implementing the Government’s Business Growth Agenda,” Tom Thomson said. Dieter Adam said he is looking forward to joining the NZMEA at a time when there are significant opportunities and challenges for New Zealand’s manufacturing and exporting sector.

Business pleased with prudential approach to earthquake strengthening

Businesses in the north will be pleased the government has had a change of heart over its punitive earthquake strengthening rules, says Kim Campbell, chief executive of the Employers and Manufacturers Association. Building Minister Nick Smith has announced there will be no one-size-fits-all of New Zealand for earthquake strengthening as was proposed. “The rules were ill conceived,” Mr Campbell said. “A prudential decision on the issue was always going to take a risk based assessment of the need to strengthen all of the nation’s buildings; the abandoned draft law did not do that. “Owners of commercial buildings in lower earthquake risk areas such as Auckland can breathe again. “The new proposals will see big cuts to strengthening costs based on risk, and changes to the timing when the strengthening work needs to take place.”

IANZ forges closer links with China

Economic and trade development between New Zealand and China is set to improve further following a new arrangement between the two countries’ accreditation organisations. Dr Llew Richards, the chief executive of International Accreditation NZ (IANZ), and Mr Xiao Jianhua, the chief executive of the China National Accreditation Service (CNAS), signed the deal at a meeting in Frankfurt recently. Dr Richards says having robust and widely-accepted accreditation offers significant economic benefits for trade between New Zealand and China and gives assurance of market access for exporters. “We have been working on this for some time and are very pleased to have now finalised the arrangement,” says Dr Richards. “There are many advantages for both New Zealand and China in the development of strong links between our organisations. A closer, long-term relationship and greater technical co-operation will make trade easier in both directions.” New Zealand and China already have a Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) in place, which was originally signed in 1999. www.ianz.govt.nz “That means we accept reports from their accredited laboratories and vice versa,” says Dr Richards. “However, this latest signing goes much deeper than that. It will help eliminate technical barriers to trade, boost awareness and confidence in accreditation amongst regulators and exporters and ensure the MRA is working as effectively as possible. “Using cross-country accreditation provides cost-effective solutions for regulators and exporters. It means more robust systems for checking goods and it minimises liability for all parties. In addition, greater collaboration will bring benefits like staff training and interaction, improved information exchange and co-operative assessments.”

Callaghan Innovation Fund Becoming Poor Man’s Version of DFC

-Peter Isaac New Zealand’s most recently concocted public fund for industry Callaghan Innovation is already showing signs of becoming the contemporary culture version of the Development Finance Organisation. The Callaghan fund much earlier in its career than the DFC is bestowing its funds on elements such as literary endeavour of various manifestations, and upon those such as Larry Ellison of Oracle fame who have plenty of funds of their own, much of it already derived from the New Zealand public sector. The importance of the Callaghan fund is that it serves as an early warning about just the perils of what it is doing. Its precursor the Development Finance Corporation had until the mid 1980s been a starchy government controlled lender of last resort into critical industries. It then became souped-up to become a lender to a surprising cross section of industry much of it anything but essential. A very large cross section of industry in which the DFC placed public money in the event was quite unable to repay it after the 1987 crash. It was found that the corporation had invested in such “essentials” as printing presses and commercial property. Worse still, the DFC in its wild lending encouraged the Bank of New Zealander to become an even wilder lender with the result that the nation’s only trading bank went out of business and was eventually absorbed into the National Bank of Australia. Leaving New Zealand with no trading bank of its own. An axiom of public finance is that wherever pools of unallocated money exist, certain people will seek it and those responsible for the money will in turn allocate it to them. The Callaghan pool shows signs of another example of a pool of public money looking for somewhere to go. Donations to Larry Ellison’s yacht […]

Global Aerial Platforms builds scale into UAVs

Christchurch-based aviation manufacturer Global Aerial Platforms has begun developing construction of the largest unmanned aerial vehicles yet to be made in the country and they are expected to attract significant interest at the South Mach15 engineering, machinery and electronics exhibition in July. “The early history of drone aviation was linked to their military use but Global Aerial Platforms Ltd (‘GAP’) is focusing on the peaceful purposes to which unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can be put across the commercial, scientific, environmental and community spectrum,” said the company’s co-founder Graham Tully. Tully melded experience in advanced composites manufacturing with the electronics expertise of his co-founder Paul Hartley to form GAP in 2013. After hundreds of man-hours in the R& D phase, in association with a technology cluster of organisations, GAP successfully proved the flight worthiness of ‘proof-of-concept’ variants. GAP is capable of constructing airframes in multiple shapes and sizes range from 1.9 metres up to 7.5 metres in wingspan and even larger. “We welcomed Canterbury Coastguard encouragement to build UAVs able to handle the highly demanding requirements of search and rescue missions launched either from shore or from a fast-moving boat,” said Mr Tully. “We have built robust and durable UAVs that can be used repetitively in rapid response search & rescue incidents in both maritime and mountain environments, or in disaster management in the aftermath of storms, subsidences and seismic events.” Under the wing of Canterbury Coastguard, GAP showcased the larger scale fixed wing dual fuselage Global Ranger model at the World Drones For Peace competition in the United Arab Emirates in February. “Around this event we have been filmed by New Zealand and international television media. It is really positive for getting our confidence up but we need to also keep our feet on the ground. As we seek to […]

Get there in style

The Electric Self Balancing Dual Wheel scooter, the “Galactic Wheels 400” With 2x 200 Watt electric motors, generates enough power to propel you along at up to 10kmph and the 8000mAh batter provides enough juice for a range of 25 to 30km. If you don’t have a bus or car that can take you door to door from home to work or school then the “Galactic Wheels 400” is the option for you. Designed to fill the void in that last part of your journey it can turn a daily commuter in to a pleasurable fun experience. With speeds up to 10kmph and a range of 25 to 30km this 2 Wheel stand up electric rideable is the next step in personal transportation. With a futuristic look and smooth ride that’s powerful enough to conquer gentle inclines you can easily get wherever you’re going without breaking a sweat. There are two sensors under each foot plate that detect the difference in pressure from your feet when leaning forward or backwards. By simply leaning slightly you can effortlessly glide along in total control. Each wheel is driven independently by a 200 Watt electric motor so you can even pivot and turn on the spot. With powerful gyroscopes the “Galactic Wheels 400” dual wheeled electric scooter will keep you upright as you’re carried to your destination. Just like the Silver Surfers board this transportation device is like something out of another world, and will turn any mundane journey into an enjoyable and fun experience. The powerful 8000mAh battery can keep the Dual wheel scooter going for up to 3 hours and weighing a little over 10 kilograms it can even accompany you on the bus or metro so it makes a perfect environmentally friendly solution for that last part of your commute […]

Productivity across all sectors

Over the last couple of years I have been receiving information from Wal Mart workers in the USA about their conditions and terms of employment and salary. They have a very intensive campaign which continues their push for improved wages so they have a fair deal and can afford to pay their bills. So my ears pricked up here – naturally enough – when the plight of the takeaway workers became apparent with their employers over zero-hour contracts. At this time, let’s give some credit for the role of the trade unions doing the right thing by the above mentioned workers. Trade unions support workers, they want to see people getting a fair go and being able to feed their children and not left at the bottom of the pecking order. Trade unions are a compass to show the direction to better things. And even if you are not a member of a union you can still applaud their pro-activity for attempting to make life better for others. If we measure the take away worker on a low income as against, say, a tradesman the salary is miles apart. The take away worker is still productive, however, and through their efforts allows their employer to add to the nation’s GDP. Maybe less skilled but still a valued member of society, of a community and contributing in domestic and business environments. New Zealand is a high tech country. However, not all of our citizens are into hi-tech working at Fisher & Paykel or the Reserve Bank. We are all, though, the sum of parts that make up this country and contribute to our going forward. All countries are categorised as having blue and white collar workers. The colour of your collar is not what makes you a better person, is it? […]

Profile: TimberLab Solutions: innovation, versatility and quality bring firsts

When two of New Zealand’s leading engineered timber design and manufacture companies, McIntosh Timber Laminates and TimberBond Industries, joined forces in November 2012, TimberLab Solutions Ltd was created. Now with a combined Auckland workforce of 35 staff operating out of the old McIntosh Timber Laminates 3500m2 plant in Bostock Place, and over 76 years of experience; TimberLab Solutions has the best of both worlds, combining McIntosh’s extensive experience in manufacturing structural laminated timber for commercial use and TimberBond’s expertise in residential use of glued laminated timber (Glulam). The result has been a “greater perspective towards ways in which structural timber can be applied to all building situations”, according to Owen Griffiths, TimberLab’s Sales and Marketing Director. TimberLab Solutions “aim to be the best provider of innovative, cost-effective and customised engineered timber solutions throughout New Zealand and to offshore markets”. They specialise in providing complete design-manufacture-installation packages for a wide range of timber projects, from small one-off sculptures to large industrial buildings. Being New Zealand’s largest and most experienced manufacturer of Glulam building systems, TimberLab’s Bostock Place premises showcase some of the capabilities on offer with Glulam portal frames, Glulam gantry beams, and reverse-curved Glulam beams featured throughout. TimberLab Solutions also have a high focus on quality, which would usually make it more difficult to provide cost-effective customised solutions as set out in their mission statement. However, they manage to achieve these objectives through careful design work and quality control from start to finish. “You can have two solutions for the same building, but because the designer is unfamiliar with the product and what it can do, they tend to be conservative in their design; therefore more expensive. Because we’ve had experience, we can provide a better value solution. “It’s a matter of being able to choose the right solution […]

Steel construction: innovation and investment

By Alistair Fussell, Manager, Steel Construction New Zealand Structural steel is the material of choice in most of the world’s major construction markets, including the USA and the UK where the market share is approximately 60% and 70% respectively. New Zealand is no exception. Our diverse steel construction industry – comprising manufacturers of structural steel and steel products, distributors, fabricators, designers, detailers, galvanisers, and paint and building supply companies – has worked hard to grow market share. Today, structural steel’s market share is more than 70% nationwide; in Christchurch, due to the material’s proven seismic performance, steel has grown its share of the multi-level construction market to almost 80%, up from virtually nil prior to the Canterbury earthquakes. What’s behind this dramatic growth? Quite simply, it’s the industry’s focus on innovation and investment: innovation in seismic and fire design; and significant investment in high-tech fabrication technology. Since 2007, the New Zealand industry has invested substantially in new plant and technology: Grayson Engineering and D&H Steel in Auckland, and Pegasus Engineering in Christchurch, have all built new state-of-the-art workshops; and there are currently three new workshops under construction – Redsteel in Napier, John Jones in Christchurch and Calder Stewart in Milton. This commitment by New Zealand fabricators has boosted the industry’s capacity, efficiency and quality. Indeed, the industry is well placed to satisfy the high demand for prefabricated structural steel, which is now similar to the 2007 peak. What’s more, collaboration is playing a growing role in the successful delivery of structural steel projects. Christchurch is a good example of New Zealand fabricators working together to deliver structural steel projects. Compliance story The recent boom in construction activity, centred on Christchurch and Auckland, has seen an increase in the amount of imported prefabricated steelwork entering New Zealand. However, with this offshore product […]

SouthMACH 2015: The machinery of business

The South’s premier tech trade show has been reinvigorated for 2015, with new owners XPO Exhibitions working hard to ensure that visitors and exhibitors alike get great business value from the time they invest. International and local exhibitors will inform, delight, entertain and do great business deals with industry professionals from all over New Zealand – and some from abroad – and the close to sold-out event. Aad van der Poel, Sales Manager for the event, says SouthMACH is the South Island’s premier technology trade show celebrating the heartland of NZ Manufacturing. “If you are an engineer – mechanical, design, consultant, electrical; machinist; communications technician/manager; supervisor; technical operator; operations manager or similar, then SouthMACH offers the tools, technology and services to work smarter. “With one visit to this show you can see all the big names from your industry and can really weigh up the benefits of each before you make the big decision. You can then be sure you are getting the very best. There’s no charge to visit if you pre-register and, as a trade-only event, you can be assured that your time will be well invested. This biennial event gives you the opportunity to come face-to-face with the experts behind the key innovations entering the New Zealand market.” Aad notes that while there’s plenty of time for those in the industry to register, time’s running out for companies wanting to be seen at SouthMACH. “There aren’t many spaces left. If you want to get your products and services in front of thousands of people keen to find the best and latest, then you need to act now and give XPO a call.” One of the businesses that made sure it secured its spot is kanDO Innovation Ltd and its TV star robot Baxter which is featured […]

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doug

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