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How manufacturers can prepare for the ESPR
Tech isn’t the Hero, it’s the plucky sidekick
Finding Your True Competitive Edge: A Guide for Manufacturers
Fixing manufacturing’s billion-dollar harm problem
Steel awards showcase local industry’s expertise and sophistication
Aotearoa’s Industry 4.0 journey
5S – Not That Old Chestnut
Scott Aylett, SEA Electrical a winner

doug

About doug

http://asiapublishinggroup.com

Posts by Doug Green:

A message to HERA Members and HERA Friends

From Dr Wolfgang Scholz Director Firstly, HERA staff and I am sure the collective HERA membership, would like to offer our condolences and heartfelt sympathies to all those members and their families affected by the 22nd February earthquake. The daily information flow has, in dramatic fashion, brought the extent of the suffering and damage to all of us and we are painfully aware how dire the situation is for many of our members. Also we have not heard from many of our Christchurch members and if you are in a situation where you are able to post a reply, we look forward to hearing from you on how you are doing. To assist those affected, we would like to offer the HERA network and HERA staff expertise. We believe the following could be helpful and we ask you to let us know if there are other ways in which HERA or its membership might be able to assist. * HERA network – request for equipment and skills Please send to marketing@hera.org.nz or phone Brian Low on 09 262 4845 with any requests for equipment or special skills you may have and which you feel may reside in a HERA member company. HERA will then mail out the request to all HERA members and also publish the request on the HERA website. * HERA/SCNZ skills/advice As you are aware, HERA and SCNZ has a free advice service in respect to steel construction, welded fabrication and inspection. Please call HERA on 09 262 2856 and get directed to the appropriate person for advice. * Structural Steel and Welded Fabrication Performance HERA is exploring the establishment of a project researching the performance of fabricated structures in buildings and general infrastructure such as bridges, tanks, or processing equipment. Please provide us with any information […]

Industries coordinate for recovery

Industry associations are working towards further coordination of the Christchurch relief operation.  More than 30 BusinessNZ-affiliated industry groups met today to exchange information on continuing relief efforts and undertook to spread the word that ‘business is open’ in Canterbury.  Member businesses of the industry groups are helping in many ways, including free use of helicopters, road vehicles, equipment and personnel, and financial, food and other donations.  BusinessNZ Chief Executive Phil O’Reilly said the extent of industry and official government help for Christchurch individuals and families has been extraordinary.  “In the midst of this unfolding tragedy we have seen the courage and resilience of Christchurch people and the genuine desire for businesses to help.  “Industry associations will help coordinate those efforts and promote the fact that Christchurch is open for business.   “The Affiliated Industries Group believes the quickest way to help Christchurch get back to normality is to buy things from there.  “People and enterprises elsewhere can help greatly simply by doing business with Christchurch firms.”   

New iPad released

The second-generation of the iPad has been released. The device that kicked off the tablet computing boom. is 15 per cent lighter than the original iPad and sports front- and rear-facing cameras. The iPad 2, will start at $US499 and ship in the US on March 11 and expand to 26 more countries on March 25. It has the same 10-hour battery life, though it has a more powerful dual-core processor. The new iPad 2 is a third thinner than the  iPhone 4.      Since the tablet debuted in April last year  Apple shares have risen 48 per cent, 37 percentage points more than the Standard & Poor’s 500, according to FactSet. 15 million iPads were sold in 2010 generated around $US10 billion in revenue for Apple.

There is a positive side

Forward indicators were pointing to an upturn for the New Zealand economy until the Christchurch earthquake, according to the BusinessNZ Planning Forecast for the March quarter 2011. The BusinessNZ Planning Forecast incorporates BusinessNZ’s Economic Conditions Index (ECI) which tracks 33 indicators, including GDP, export volumes, commodity prices and inflation, debt and confidence figures. The ECI for the March quarter – prior to the Christchurch earthquake – had improved 6 points from the previous quarter. However, growth for 2011 will be severely dented through production foregone in the wake of the earthquake. On the positive side, commodities exports are going from strength to strength, taking New Zealand’s terms of trade to a 35-year high.ÊÊ Continuing robust growth in New Zealand’s major trading partners Australia and China is a positive indicator for 2012. The BusinessNZ Planning Forecast for the December quarter 2010 is here on www.businessnz.org.nz

ASB announces interest rate reductions

ASB has  announced it will be dropping its home loan fixed interest rates by up to 0.5 of a percentage point. The new Housing interest rates will be effective from 2 March 2011. For a fixed term of 6 months the new rate is 5.85 percent per annum, with the new 12 months Housing fixed rate being 5.95 percent per annum. There will also be reductions to all other home loan fixed rates. The ASB decision to reduce fixed lending rates reflects changing wholesale funding rates and market forecasts that the Reserve Bank of New Zealand is likely to lower the Official Cash Rate next week. With wholesale call and 90 day rates reflecting little change at present theywill continue to monitor variable home loan interest rate leading up to the OCR announcement next week. ASB’s Term Deposit rates have also been reduced to reflect the changes in wholesale rates. The new Term Deposit and Term Fund interest rates are also effective as from 2 March. The full list of interest rate changes is attached. For more information about ASBÕs interest rates please visit the ASB website.

Trimming business insurance not a good move

According to Tower Insurance, one of the country’s oldest and most trusted providers, and Patron of Business Mentors New Zealand, some companies are trimming the scope of their insurance cover in a bid to cut costs. However, Tower warns this false economy could leave businesses open to huge bills and in many cases force their closure. Tower is asking business mentors to help guide their clients away from underinsuring. “As 2011 gets underway, it is becoming clear some business owners think they can get away with spending much less on insuring their companies. They are being more selective, only taking out small chunks of insurance and not protecting their businesses to the full extent. They don’t think it’s necessary and they don’t want to spend the money. We’re asking BMNZ’s 1700 mentors to be on the look out for client companies that might be falling into this trap and counsel them against it,”says Julian Lough, National Manager – Commercial Sales at Tower Insurance. “This year is going to be financially challenging for many businesses but now is not the time to be cutting back on insurance. If another natural disaster or other unforeseen situation occurs, then being underinsured or not having the right type of insurance could be the final straw for many companies that are already struggling.” Julian points out that most New Zealand business owners only realise their mistake when they make an insurance claim, at which point it is too late to rectify. He advises catching up with an insurance advisor at least once a year to check that the business is adequately covered. “Businesses change over time – new equipment is invested in, replacement costs for items go up and premises are upgraded,” says Julian. “If the insurance policy is not kept up to date, the […]

Emergency meeting on earthquake response

CEOs of 50 leading New Zealand companies have  developed a Steering Group to co-ordinate private sector support for Christchurch following the  devastating earthquake. Members of BusinessNZ’s Major Companies Group CEO Forum were briefed by Prime Minister John Key, Finance Minister Bill English and Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee at a meeting in Auckland. The Forum identified a number of key areas where major companies could provide additional help to the city, including water, housing, infrastructure, health services, telecommunications and financial services. Each area will be led by a CEO with specialist knowledge to develop action plans in consultation with Civil Defence and the Government. Following that, the Steering Group will liaise with government agencies and co-ordinate private sector assistance in Christchurch to maximise the wealth of expertise and resources within New ZealandÕs leading companies. Forum convenor, BusinessNZ CEO Phil O’Reilly, said there was overwhelming willingness from the business community to help Christchurch through this crisis and beyond as it rebuilds. Forum chairman, Fonterra CEO Andrew Ferrier, said there was 100% commitment to the future of Christchurch. “Everyone around the table was absolutely committed to helping Christchurch through this terrible tragedy and to get back on its feet again. We heard that many of New Zealand’s companies are already doing a lot to help Christchurch and clearly there is a lot of experience we can draw on,” Mr Ferrier said. The Steering Group, chaired by Mr Ferrier and working with the co-ordination of BusinessNZ, will develop an agreed set of action plans for each priority area in the near term.

Manufacturing Heroes

They are everywhere, manufacturing heroes. And they have been for years. Think Bill Gallagher, Blair McPheat, Robert Darroch, Peter  Rocque. Think the inventors at  Rex Bionics, Ultrahelicopters, Metalform with their wheelchair and Inovent with the Rotacrane. And you, the reader, is probably thinking why isn’t my name on the list as well? These are a few examples of New Zealand companies who dare to dream and are going ahead in tough economic times. All over the country there are fantastic products being made. The dream became the reality and the markets are being found. I receive a lot of information from companies in the prototype stage, who need the capital to move on, to test the market, to be the next big thing. Then there are the companies who, for their own good reasons, want to be hush, hush and not let anybody know what they’re thinking, let alone making. They’ll come round, we’ll be writing about them and any others who want to share with the readers of NZ MANUFACTURER  what they are making and how they got there. Manufacturing Heroes are whom we support and the more they are supported the better New Zealand’s economy will be. Send me your story to words@xtra.co.nz  and prepare to be read about. -Doug Green

Not all businesses will be saleable, but let’s try to save the ones that can be sold.

Let’s save the businesses the banks would destroy The following is the opinion of David Newport, a director at business brokers Switch Business: A question often asked of us during the current market downturn is: ‘where are all the distressed business opportunities?’ It is a good question because there are certainly very few businesses being marketed by brokers at present. Those firms that are up for sale are, in the main, smaller, less mature businesses which would always struggle in the challenging economic climate we find ourselves in. The distressed opportunities that qualified, experienced purchasers are looking for are quality businesses, which may be struggling to keep afloat solely because of the debt levels they were saddled with going into the recession. You may recall that, in those halcyon days, the big four (Australian) banks were fighting each other to lend money to business owners and purchasers all throughout the decade until the tap was turned off in spectacular fashion in early 2009. If you purchased a business, or borrowed for expansion in late 2007 or 2008, your business would almost certainly instantly break the covenants you agreed to when you took on the loan. Now – in most cases – there would be very little wrong with the business at all, but the owner would have to focus on how s/he can hold off their bank long enough to ride out the recession. His/her eye would not be focused on developing the business, but rather on creating any number of reports each week to satisfy the voracious bank. The lenders, in this type of environment, are likely to overreact to any cashflow problems, however short-term, and may well force the sale or liquidation of an otherwise perfectly sound business. How did we get here? Because of the competition between […]

Manufacturing continues expansion in January 2011

Manufacturing activity in January 2011 shows a positive start to the year with the fourth consecutive month in expansion, according to the BNZ – BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI). The seasonally adjusted PMI for January stood at 53.7, up slightly from 53.2 in December (a PMI reading above 50.0 indicates that manufacturing is generally expanding; below 50.0 that it is declining).Ê All five indices – production (52.8), employment (52.8), new orders (56.6), finished stocks (50.7) and deliveries (52.4) were all in expansion for the third consecutive month. BusinessNZ’s executive director for manufacturing, Catherine Beard’ said that the continued expansion of new orders over the last 5 months is an encouraging indicator that the expansion will continue, even if it is slow and steady. “While new orders are looking reasonably robust, it is still a challenging manufacturing environment, with more negative comments to positive comments this month. We are predicting a slow and steady improvement in activity in the sector, once the receipts from our improving export performance start to trickle through the economy and increase domestic demand” “Globally, the JPMorgan Manufacturing PMI, which New Zealand is part of, also started the year on a good note for 2011 with the January value at a nine month high. Again, while New Zealand’s position has improved, Australia is still struggling somewhat with softening domestic demand and a high dollar.” BNZ economist Doug Steel said the economy’s recent experience was neatly summed up by one respondent to the PMI survey this month as Ôan economic rollercoaster”. “Our view is that the outlook for 2011 is brighter, but no doubt the rollercoaster ride will continue within the context of a likely improving trend. Today’s further improvement (albeit minor) in the PMI is a small step in the right direction.”  Unadjusted results by region […]

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