doug

About doug

Posts by Doug Green:

tna to showcase complete solutions at AUSPACK 2015

Integrated packaging and processing solutions provider tna will highlight its flagship high performance packaging and distribution systems at this year’s AUSPACK exhibition. Visitors to the stand will be able to learn more about the tna robag 3ci high speed bagger, as well as the tna roflo 3 horizontal motion conveyor. Experts from tna’s global team will also be on hand to demonstrate how its automation and controls capabilities can help manufacturers maximise performance, as well as showcase the benefits that tna’s acquisition of FOODesign can bring to its customers. Delivering unrivalled throughput of up to 250 bpm, the tna robag 3ci high speed vertical form fill and seal (VFFS) packaging machine offers production flexibility in a compact, easy-to-clean system that is suitable for a wide variety of products. This cutting edge system provides up to a 30 per cent improvement in performance in terms of output and reduction in rejects, while achieving unprecedented throughput rates. With innovative features including the patented tna hyper-detect metal detector, tna intelli-read bar code verification scanning system and the tna intelli-scan visual print code verification system, the tna robag 3ci provides manufacturers with a complete packaging solution. In addition, tna has made it even easier to operate the machine by simplifying the film system. The new tna auto-splice automatically changes film reels when one is finished, increasing packaging efficiency and product throughput by reducing the need for manual intervention. Also on show is the tna roflo 3 conveyor, a horizontal motion distribution system whose low force operation minimises product loss, offering speed and direction control to optimise performance. Particularly suited to heavy coated products as seasoning does not build up on the pans, the tna roflo HM 3 has an easy-to-clean design to help manufacturers reduce waste and comply with strict HACCP and QA standards. […]

Importance of India highlighted by trade talks and soaring business confidence

On the back of a further round of trade talks between New Zealand and India that were concluded last week, soaring Indian business confidence levels continue to underpin the importance of the world’s second biggest country to New Zealand. It ishe 10th round of negotiations to create a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries concluded last week, attended by five negotiators from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, supported by the High Commission in India. Greg Thompson, National Director, Tax at Grant Thornton New Zealand, said that a recent International Business Review (IBR) survey of 35 countries showed India had the highest business confidence at 98% with New Zealand second equal with Ireland at 82%. “India’s business confidence levels have been high for some time and this buoyancy can only flow through to the rest of the economy and a continuation of the growth in trade between India and New Zealand,” he said. According to Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, India is New Zealand’s 15th-largest bilateral trading partner. For the year ended June 2013, overall goods trade between the two countries was over NZ$ 1.1 billion. Of that total, $725.912 million was New Zealand exports going to India, making India our 12th-largest export destination. “Even this figure understates the importance of the Indian market, with exports having increased rapidly from just NZ$366 million five years earlier, reflecting India’s emerging economic power. “India is also a key services market and has quickly become New Zealand’s second-largest source of international students. There were 11,652 international fee-paying students from India in New Zealand in 2013, nearly double the number in 2008. “Over 29,000 Indians visited New Zealand in 2012, preferring to come during their summer (April to June) making them a valuable source of visitors for New Zealand’s autumn […]

Calibre Consulting increases capacity and innovation

The Christchurch rebuild and subsequent earthquake strengthening regulations, town planning and wider infrastructure projects have all placed huge demands on New Zealand’s surveying and engineering sector. To help meet that demand, one of New Zealand’s oldest engineering, project management and surveying consultancies has expanded its capacity. Rebranded as Calibre Consulting, the new business combines the former Spiire from New Zealand and Brown Consulting from Australia and Singapore, to produce a team of 600 professionals. In New Zealand Calibre Consulting’s Executive General Manager Mark Campbell heads up a team of 130 spread across eight offices. “Our team is firmly focussed on New Zealand first, but having our colleagues in Australia and Singapore means we have the resource and access to leading edge development from throughout the whole of the business,” Mr Campbell says. A former Royal Navy helicopter pilot who has an engineering degree and an MBA, Mr Campbell was a Lieutenant Commander and the chief operations officer for a 400 person naval squadron before he was entice back to his engineering roots. He was national Business Development and HSEQ manager for Brown Consulting in Australia before being seconded to New Zealand after Brown’s parent, Calibre Group, bought the former Spiire from Downer EDI earlier this year. ASX listed Calibre Group reported revenue of A$709 million for the year ended June 30, 2014, with net profit after tax (NPAT) of A$24.4 million. “The New Zealand business has a fantastic history, starting as Duffill Watts & King more than 65 years ago,” Mr Campbell says. “These days we have also developed some niche areas of expertise too, such as biological process design. Our waste technology, for example, has helped expand the lifespan of some New Zealand waste water plants, meaning some local government councils have been able to stretch their capital expenditure […]

Delcam announces new Leadership

Manufacturing software developer Delcam announces that Pete Baxter has been appointed to lead Delcam in the new role of Vice President. Pete joins Delcam from its parent company, Autodesk, Inc, where he was a Vice President of Sales and served as the country manager for Autodesk in the United Kingdom. “I’m thrilled to announce the appointment of Pete Baxter as Vice President, Delcam Ltd.,” said Buzz Kross, Autodesk senior vice president, Design, Lifecycle and Simulation. “In his new role, Pete will be responsible for managing the global Delcam business, and for leading the company in the next stage of its growth. Pete brings to Delcam extensive leadership experience and knowledge, critical in helping Delcam develop closer connections to Autodesk, to the benefit of both organisations and our customers.” “I am delighted to be joining Delcam, and helping create the next generation of manufacturing software,” said Pete Baxter, Vice President, Delcam, Ltd. “The company has an unrivalled reputation for the support and industry-leading products it offers to manufacturing companies around the world. I look forward to working with Delcam’s staff and reseller channel to accelerate the growth of the business and to deliver an even better manufacturing experience to our customers.” Pete joined Autodesk in 2004, most recently serving as a Vice President in the Autodesk Worldwide Sales organisation. Prior to that, he held a number of other sales and management roles, including head of sales for Northern Europe, where he was responsible for sales across the Manufacturing, AEC, Media and Entertainment industries. Previously, Pete held management positions at companies including Revit Technology Corporation, Bentley Systems and PTC.

Developer co-funds “essential” roading and work is underway

Multi-million-dollar roading and infrastructure projects are finally underway at the State Highway 6, new Eastern Arterial Road (EAR) and the State Highway Glenda Drive intersections in Queenstown, to the relief of Shotover Park developer, the Porter Group. Porter Group CEO Alastair Porter said that after so many years the wider community would be delighted to see these roading projects getting underway. “It’s been a case of working with the New Zealand Transport Authority (NZTA) and the Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) for many years to finally achieve this,” he said. The new roading will access a new 8,000sqm Mitre 10 Mega store scheduled to open in spring 2015 and a future PAK’nSAVE supermarket. “In addition to these there’s approximately another 30 commercial industrial adjoining sites on the Shotover Park development that have been sold to predominantly Queenstown businesses, many of which are very keen to get on with their development,” said Mr Porter. “This is wonderful news for Queenstown because it will significantly expand affordable living opportunities and broaden the range of products and services which are desperately needed to underwrite Queenstown’s continued rapid growth.” Mr Porter said the State Highway 6 Eastern Arterial Road roundabout project was “long overdue”. He said NZTA had made it clear that a private funding contribution was essential for this project to proceed. For this purpose the Porter Group had arranged funding for two-thirds of the required private contributions. Also to ensure that a connection between Glenda Drive and the new EAR could be open before next winter 2015, the Porter Group let a contract to Fulton Hogan in November to undertake pre-road earthworks and underground services. “The whole community is aware of the number of accidents there have been at this intersection, let alone congestion problems,” said Mr Porter. “For this reason we […]

Greater effort needed by NZ businesses to strengthen Asian ties

New Zealand businesses still have a lot to learn if they want to succeed in lucrative Asian markets, according to Crowe Horwarth Managing Principal and current President of the Hong Kong New Zealand Business Association Andrew Sayers. Sayers, who leads the firm’s Asia Business team in New Zealand, said New Zealand companies have made big strides in recent years, however, there was a lot of room for improvement. “The Asian region is playing an increasingly important role in our economy, accounting for six of our current top 10 trading partners,” he said. “There are still significant trade and investment opportunities that have yet to be explored but New Zealand businesses need to put greater effort into understanding and engaging with their Asian counterparts. “Cultural and values differences continue to present challenges for doing business in Asia, and can often be the tipping point when it comes to getting something off the ground locally or offshore. If done well, the benefits of improving business relationships between New Zealand and Asia are numerous, from job creation to joint ventures.” Sayers said with the surge in business opportunities between the Asia Pacific regions, Crowe Horwath had moved to bolster its Asia Business team. Recent local appointments to the global accounting and business advisory firm have included high powered Asian business experts Kenneth Leong and Yan Zhang. Zhang has over 20 years experience in international trade and investment, while Leong has a long track record of facilitating business across cultures, from deal origination to execution. “In essence, they will act as ‘relationship brokers’ between Asian investors and Asian business owners, and New Zealand businesses. I have no doubt that our clients will benefit from the wealth of experience and extensive Asian networks that both Zhang and Leong bring to the business.” Sayers said the […]

Leaders seek deeper trans-Tasman links

The 10th anniversary meeting of the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum takes place in Auckland tomorrow. The Leadership Forum is an annual meeting of business, political and community leaders from Australia and New Zealand sharing a goal of closer trans-Tasman relations. Past work of the Forum has included helping accelerate the Single Economic Market (SEM), border control reforms, supporting joint trade agreements with other nations, and work on expanding investment in both countries. This year’s meeting will continue the focus on trade, tourism and progress towards SEM along with productivity, technology, infrastructure and investment issues. New Zealand Co-Chair Adrian Littlewood (Chief Executive Auckland Airport) said the success of CER and a deepening SEM means Australia and New Zealand have a strong platform from which to grow trade with each other and with the rest of the world. “Our goal at this Forum is to develop some new ideas for leadership between the two countries and together as we face the world,” said Mr Littlewood. McKinsey & Company will be assisting the Forum’s thinking on global connectedness by presenting a report on the flows of goods, services, capital and people our two countries have with the rest of the world. Australian Co-Chair Hon Warwick Smith AM (Senior Managing Director ANZ Bank and Chairman Australia China Council) said business placed a high priority on securing investment for future business growth. “The Trans-Tasman relationship as a whole would particularly benefit from a better understanding in both countries of the importance of foreign direct investment for generating growth,” Mr Smith said. He said the Forum would advocate for a better trans-Tasman investment environment. The Forum’s Secretariat is supported by BusinessNZ, with funding from business and the New Zealand Government. BusinessNZ Chief Executive Phil O’Reilly said trans-Tasman businesses shared many common issues, including the need […]

New Zealand falling behind in sustainable business practices

There is a growing demand by New Zealand businesses for a return to government intervention in sustainable development issues, said one of the keynote speakers at the recent Sustainability Symposium at the University of Waikato. Professor of Management Communication Juliet Roper says the New Zealand government has taken a hands-off approach to the environment and climate change, by claiming that too much regulation would economically disadvantage New Zealand businesses relative to international competitors. Yet despite initial relief from the business community, her research shows some businesses are now concerned about the repercussions for New Zealand’s ‘clean, green’ brand image. “New Zealand is falling behind the rest of the world in regulating for sustainable business practices, especially in comparison to European countries,” says Professor Roper. “We have been warned of the flow-on consequences of this for years by major UK retailers such as Sainsbury’s and Marks and Spencer.” “There needs to be more stringent legislation and that needs to be monitored for compliance. We all benefit from New Zealand’s clean, green image, so we need to back it up with some overarching policy,” says Professor Roper. The sustainability symposium attracted about 50 researchers from across campus to examine sustainability from a wide range of economic, social, education, health and cultural perspectives. About half of the academics who presented papers at the symposium were from Waikato Management School, which was the first business school in New Zealand to place a strong focus on sustainability and corporate social responsibility.

NZ manufacturers suffer, Australian assets look cheaper as dollar parity looms

New Zealand manufacturing exporters are facing record headwinds from the kiwi’s strength against the Australian dollar, with foreign exchange traders and strategists almost evenly split on whether the currencies will reach parity. The New Zealand dollar touched a post-float record of 96.77 Australian cents overnight and recently traded at 96.53 cents. Six of 13 strategists and advisers in a BusinessDesk survey today say the kiwi dollar will reach A$1 this year. The options market is pricing in a 56 percent chance of parity, according to Bloomberg data. The kiwi has gained about 9 percent against the Australian dollar since the start of the fourth quarter last year, making New Zealand products less competitive across the Tasman and reducing the value of sales when they are repatriated from the nation’s second-largest market. Exports to Australia dropped almost 4 percent in the fourth quarter, government figures show. The New Zealand economy is on a stronger path than Australia’s and the gap may widen amid signs dairy product prices are recovering while hard commodities such as iron ore and coal remain weak. A gap of 125 basis points in New Zealand’s favour has opened up between central bank benchmark interest rates and traders are betting Australia could cut rates again. “Australia is a mine and New Zealand is a farm,” said Fergus McDonald, who helps manage about $2.5 billion as head of bonds and currency at Nikko Asset Management NZ. “Economically speaking, New Zealand is on a better trajectory than Australia at the moment and our interest rates are probably going to be higher for quite some time, so that does support a little bit further strength in the kiwi.” The degree that ‘farm’ products are recovering will be known overnight, with the GlobalDairyTrade auction, after the price of whole milk powder soared […]

Controlling car pollution at the quantum level

Toyota Central R&D Labs. Inc. in Japan have reviewed research that might be leading the way towards a new generation of automotive catalytic converters. Catalytic converters that change the toxic fumes of automobile exhaust to less toxic pollutants only reached the market in the mid-1970s. They are formed of a catalyst – usually in the form of a precious metal such as platinum, palladium, or rhodium – a catalyst support material, and a wash-coat designed to disperse the catalytic materials over a wide surface area. Toyota Central R&D Labs. Inc. in Japan are involved in research to develop catalysts that are controlled at the quantum-level. With this level of control, “we can expect an extreme reduction of precious metal usage in automotive exhaust catalysts and/or fuel cells,” says Dr. Yoshihide Watanabe, chief researcher at the Toyota Central R&D Labs in Japan. He reviewed research on different types of catalytic reactions involving metal clusters whose sizes were atomically controlled. Metal cluster chemistry has been developing rapidly since the mid-20th century. A cluster is a group of atoms or molecules formed by interactions varying in strength from very weak to strong. Some naturally occurring clusters are known to be involved in catalytic reactions. The study of metal clusters is inspiring great interest, partially for the potential use of synthetic clusters in industrial applications, such as catalysts in catalytic converters. He pointed out that not much research has been done in the area of atomically controlled cluster catalysis, with the exception of studies on carbon monoxide oxidation reaction. His research indicates that catalytic activity is strongly affected by the electronic structure of clusters, their geometry on a support material, and the interaction between the cluster and the material. Thus, the catalytic activity of clusters can be enhanced by controlling cluster size and the […]

«‹ 144 145 146 147 ›»

News Ticker

doug

About doug

Posts by Doug Green: