Analysis

Investment in our manufacturing industry is a win-win for all

-Helen Down,Chief Executive, Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce. “The most important thing the Government can do in these turbulent times is to keep a strong manufacturing base in New Zealand. This will not only help solve the unemployment situation but it supports local supply chains and has a strong flow on effect to all society. “The Hutt Valley itself has a huge manufacturing base. There’s not a lot we can’t do in this valley and across New Zealand. “We have all the skills and resources as well as business owners motivated and keen to act with speed and manufacture things quickly,” said Helen Down, Chief Executive of Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce. Since March the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, along with Hutt City Council and Upper Hutt City Council, has been running a Hutt Valley Covid 19 Business Support Programme through various levels of lockdown. It has been working to ensure local companies get all the support they can and has been raising the profile of the needs of the manufacturing sector with government. “Several of our local manufacturers instantly pivoted their business during lockdown earlier in the year and have proven they can very quickly adapt their products and services to meet sudden domestic demand changes. “We all need to see this sector for what it can be going forward, and not what it used to be decades ago.” One example came as a result of a significant downturn in business at Lockdown. Local packaging and supplies company Packaging Products partnered with local manufacturer Aluminium Extrusions to create and supply a pedal operated freestanding hand foam sanitiser dispenser which requires no batteries or sensors. Aluminium Extrusions quickly designed and manufactured the unit with Packaging Products supplying the hand sanitiser as well as some distribution. Together, with the Hutt […]

Can we grow our future leaders?

Ian Walsh, Managing Director, Intent Group New Zealand’s fall from grace in the OECD rankings over the past 50 years, and our poor productivity overall, is underpinned by factors such as our geographic location and lack of investment in research and development. The primary reasons though, are our poor performance and second level leadership, with studies exposing our lag in this regard. Kiwis work in a unique commercial situation in that 90% of our businesses are SME’s, typically with less than 50 people employed. In this environment, the ability of businesses to invest in talent development, provide mentoring and to create a culture of excellence, is limited. Many business owners and managers need training themselves to develop their skills in finance, business planning and suchlike. In an environment where they are building a business, developing new products or services, employing people, managing finances and capital plans, there is limited ability and understanding to grow the human capital as well. It’s a day to day struggle just to remain afloat, and even more so since Covid-19 hit our shores. In such an environment, every hire is a big decision. It is a serious commitment. So, when confronted with graduates, businesses are naturally uncertain, recognising that it will be some time before their investment pays off and aware that the employee may soon head off on an OE. All of these considerations make it tough for graduates to get jobs, and create problems for the entire system, with people rightly questioning the value of a university degree. Many large companies have stated publicly that a degree is not required for a great number of roles. The reality is that if you can demonstrate you can do the job without the degree, then your experience becomes more valuable than the piece of paper […]

Post-Covid-19 construction crunch – From survive to thrive

– Stephanie Pretorius, Intent Group New Zealand’s construction industry has been heavily disrupted since the arrival of Covid-19 to our shores. A relief package is now available, with the New Zealand Government investing heavily in the industry to the tune of $3B. Funded infrastructure projects include a significant amount of ‘shovel ready’ projects identified to support the short-term pipeline over the next 12 months. Despite extra funding, certain segments of construction are likely to still be negatively impacted. As an example, Auckland alone recently lost $500 from Council revenue budgets; the flow on effects are still to be determined. The funding pipeline may be affected for multiple years and there is risk of misalignment of capacity as funding may swing between years. The intent of the fast tracked ‘shovel ready’ projects is to quickly stabilise cashflow, as well as the pipeline for the industry, and to help construction survive in the short term. But how can we take this further and help construction to thrive in the long term? As a sector, construction has been ‘sailing close to the wind’ for a long time with tight margins and low productivity. The Construction Accord (Accord) has set the tone for the future, outlining goals for improved productivity, capability and resilience. Now is the time for industry players to take ownership of the direction for their own long-term sustainability. If improving productivity is an Accord goal – who will be the first to take bold action? Staking a claim to become excellent at what you do, and getting better every day, is going to pay dividends in terms of preferred supplier status, higher profitability, people retention and development, and ultimately long term survival. Many construction businesses took away lessons learnt from their Covid-19 experience as the ability to respond and adapt to […]

Manufacturers call for urgent decision on Level 4 operating

Manufacturers are calling on the Government for a pre‐emptive decision to allow all manufacturing (including exports) to remain operating if there is a move to Level 4. New Zealand Manufacturing Alliance* spokesperson Rachel Barker, CEO of Plastics New Zealand, says New Zealand cannot afford to shut down its manufacturing again and businesses need a decision now. “Another shutdown of our manufacturing businesses would be devastating not just for sector businesses but for New Zealand,” says Barker. “The Government has had months to work on a decision to keep manufacturing open during Level 4. “Our businesses are prepared, with proven safe work protocols in place for operating under Level 3, keeping thousands of Kiwis in jobs and safe. It would be a smooth transition into operations under Level 4. “We need to see a proactive and pre‐emptive decision now from Government to allow all manufacturing businesses to remain operating ahead of any possible move into Level 4.” “Keeping all manufacturing operating will be critical to keeping people in jobs, domestic and export supply chains moving and helping our economy keep ticking over.”

The IoT supply chain risk: Why everyone should pay attention to Ripple20 vulnerabilities

By Michael DeCesare, chief executive officer and president, Forescout. We see IoT and connected devices all around us – there are billions of them, and they are hard to miss. I speak all the time about the cybersecurity challenges these devices pose, and advocate for organisations to protect themselves. But sometimes the threat lies under the surface. The reality is that when you buy an IoT device, you are buying a lot of embedded components and you do not really know where those components come from. For a variety of reasons, most IoT devices do not run standard Windows operating systems. Instead, they use organically developed and various third-party sourced code libraries for essential functions such as network communication. These code libraries pose just as much of a risk as the devices themselves, if not more so because a user or company likely has no idea what lies under the hood. Forescout Research Labs has been working closely on the disclosure of vulnerabilities of this type that could potentially impact tens of millions of IoT and OT devices. Working closely in partnership with JSOF, who first discovered the Ripple20 vulnerabilities, our researchers have leveraged the 12 million devices in our Device Cloud data lake to together identify nearly 100 vendors that are potentially affected. The Ripple20 vulnerabilities are in a software library and TCP/IP networking stack made by Treck. You probably haven’t heard of Treck, but the company has been around for 20+ years and its TCP/IP stack is used in many common devices, including industrial control systems, medical devices, VoIP phones, printers, etc. In total, JSOF estimates these vulnerabilities could affect tens of millions of IoT and OT devices. Given the widespread nature of the findings, JSOF has been working closely with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), national CERTS (Computer Emergency Response Teams), as well as Treck to ensure a proper disclosure […]

Reimagining supply chains to build long term resilience in a post-Covid world

By Richard Morgan, Country Manager, Genpact The Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted all facets of supply chains. Whether it is in the retail, telco, or transport industries both global and local supply chains have been severely tested, having to adapt to new demand patterns, supply constraints and logistical challenges. This unprecedented disruption has only magnified changes in consumer behaviour, under-investment in supply chain tools, technology, and people that were already challenging organisations. As the risk landscape is set to only get more uncertain and complex in the future, building resilient and more agile supply chains is crucial. Learning the Covid-19 lessons If Covid-19 has taught us something is that the strength of a supply chain is only as good as its weakest link. Organisations must use the current disruption as an opportunity to do a full audit and assess how well its supply chain functions can better respond to future disruptions. To build long term resilience companies must re-examine their old supply chain assumptions and evaluate the strength of their end-to-end supply chains. Businesses need to fine tune demand planning, search for deeper visibility of material planning, test supply planning technologies and continuously evaluate logistics plans. Supply chains must move from executors and a cost centre to a source of competitive advantage that unlocks operational margins and builds stability in an uncertain world. Stabilising supply chains: a cross collaboration with risk management teams To address the volatile nature of current – and likely future – supply chain operations, organisations should start by mobilising a dedicated crisis and risk management team that can help advise supply chain teams. A cross collaboration with risk management experts can help build focused risk scenarios and assessments, as well as design new processes and frameworks for rapid replanning, demand forecasts, supplied engagement and reporting and governance. Working […]

Why be Sustainable?

‘God’s Own’ country has a global reputation for natural beauty, egalitarian society, its nuclear-free stance, a clean green environment, world class food and innovative business. New Zealand’s history, culture and economy has always been closely connected with nature. We have much to be proud of, and yet there is still plenty of progress required to make it sustainable. Meeting today’s needs without compromising the future is a global consumer megatrend. Now more than ever, we need a sharp focus on economic revival, plastic waste, freshwater, marine life, zero carbon legislation etc. Irrespective of where your personal view stands along the spectrum of sustainability, the world is telling business to get better at it, and urgently! “I don’t want you to be hopeful. I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. And then I want you to act. I want you to act as you would in a crisis. I want you to act as if our house is on fire. Because it is.” Greta Thumberg, winner of the 2019 KidsRights Children’s Peace Prize Investors, communities, and consumers are all putting pressure on companies to act sustainably. In 2020 KiwiSaver providers and the world’s largest investment funds banned fossil fuel investments. Social media is buzzing for equality and inclusion. Colmar Brunton research showed 48% of consumers choose brands with clear sustainability benefits and 86% of us say we want businesses to be ‘kinder’. What does this mean for Kiwi businesses? Sustainability is a wide-ranging subject, impacting everything from architecture, biodiversity, and climate change, through freight, nanotechnology, urbanisation, and vegetarianism to zero waste. It is no longer enough for a business to focus solely on economic prosperity. Today all stakeholders must be considered and balanced with the three elements focused on by investors – […]

Book Review:Abolish Silicon Valley: How to Liberate Technology from Capitalism

Former insider turned critic Wendy Liu (pictured) busts the myths of the tech industry, and offers a galvanising argument for why and how we must reclaim technology’s potential for the public good. Innovation. Meritocracy. The possibility of overnight success. What’s not to love about Silicon Valley? These days, it’s hard to be unambiguously optimistic about the growth-at-all-costs ethos of the tech industry. Public opinion is souring in the wake of revelations about Cambridge Analytica, Theranos, and the workplace conditions of Amazon warehouse workers or Uber. We’re starting to see the cracks in the edifice, as we realise that the wealth that the tech industry is so good at creating is neither sustainable nor always desirable. Abolish Silicon Valley is both a heartfelt personal story about the wasteful inequality and unsubstantiated lies of Silicon Valley, and a rallying call to engage in the radical politics needed to upend the status quo. Going beyond the idiosyncrasies of the individual founders and companies that characterise the industry today, Liu delves into the structural factors of the economy that led to Silicon Valley in its current form, and links them to the economy at large. Ultimately, she proposes a more radical way of developing technology, where innovation is conducted for the benefit of society at large, and not merely to enrich a select few.

Key technologies driving manufacturing transformation

While Covid-19 has been disruptive across industries, the manufacturing industry is presented with an opportunity to come out the other side stronger than before. Manufacturers must re-examine their processes and even their entire business model to find new efficiencies and ways to compete with offshore firms. As the sector moves closer to Industry 4.0, it is essential for manufacturers to be aware of the technologies that are likely to shape strategies and priorities across the next five years, according to Epicor Software. Greg O’Loan, regional vice president, ANZ, Epicor Software Corporation, said, “Manufacturing is a sector ideally placed to benefit from emerging technologies. Industry 4.0 is a global concept that predicts the manufacturing sector will experience a fourth industrial revolution, this time based on digital technology. “With the right solutions in place, manufacturers will be able to make smarter decisions, optimise processes, deliver a better customer experience and, ultimately, outperform their overseas counterparts. “To achieve this, decision-makers in manufacturing firms need to gain a thorough understanding of the solutions lining up to transform the industry in the next five years.” Epicor has identified the top four areas of technology that will drive digital transformation in the manufacturing sector: Artificial intelligence (AI) AI and data strategies are fundamental for all businesses, and organisations that do not already have a roadmap in place for AI could face an uphill battle to compete. Three-quarters of C-suite executives surveyed by Accenture said they believed if they did not scale AI in the next five years, they could go out of business entirely. (1) In manufacturing, AI can be used for everything from optimising production lines to automating defect checking, resulting in fewer costly defects and increasing overall productivity. Internet of Things (IoT) and 5G IoT solutions are continuing to gain rapid momentum in manufacturing […]

Technological change and the future of work

The Government asked the Productivity Commission to explore the impacts of new and changing technology on the quantity and nature of work. The final report makes 35 findings and 18 recommendations. It focuses on what steps the Government can take to improve the ability of New Zealand and New Zealanders to adapt to and benefit from greater technological change. What did the inquiry find? Technology doesn’t just replace jobs; it also creates them. Technology has many effects on the labour market, some of which are positive for workers, the quality of work, and jobs. Predictions that technology will inevitably replace work are simplistic and out of step with historical experience. There isn’t much sign of looming technological disruption. Faster technological progress would be evident in labour market and economic measures, such as productivity growth, occupational churn, and business start-up rates. But across the developed world, all of these measures are slowing or declining. New Zealand needs more technology, not less. Technological progress and adoption drives productivity and income growth. If we want higher incomes for ourselves and our children, New Zealand firms need to take up technology at a faster rate than has been the case in recent years. New Zealand is well-placed for faster technology adoption in some respects, but not in others. By international standards, adult New Zealanders are skilled and train at high levels. Our policy settings generally encourage openness to ideas, goods, services, investment and skills. And our labour market has historically done a good job of creating lots of jobs. On the other hand, core skill levels in our schools are dropping; high house prices make it hard for some workers to move to better jobs; and New Zealand’s business environment lacks dynamism. New Zealand should build on its strengths and address its weaknesses. The Productivity Commission recommends a number of policy changes […]

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