Business News

When Hamilton-based Waikato Milking Systems saw an opportunity to use new technology to enhance the quality of its products and cut costs at the same time, it didn’t think twice. The company – 100 per cent Kiwi owned and operated – designs and manufactures a wide range of cutting-edge milking systems and components for both local and international markets. Unsurprisingly, dairy farms present a harsh operating environment; any associated equipment and technology need to be robust enough to endure it. “We’re constantly looking for ways to enhance and toughen our offering,” says Gustavo Garza, Waikato Milking System’s Technology Development Manager. “That’s why we welcomed Fero’s offer to visit our Hamilton manufacturing plant and help identify potential process improvements.” TradeTech and Wire Solutions recently joined forces to create the new brand, Fero. Together they can now offer manufacturing customers an integrated approach to electronics and wire technology. The company also provides tailored solutions, including collaborative design and manufacturing, and production line troubleshooting. The electrical wiring looms forming the power supply to the milking units were quickly identified as an area for improvement. “We were hand-making the wiring looms in-house using quite a conventional process,” says Gustavo. The set up consisted of a branch-out loom spliced into the backbone, which was encased in heat shrink material to waterproof it as best as possible. Greg Fulton, managing director of Fero, proposed a bespoke solution using Macromelt molding technology. Macromelt molding is an injection molding process, but at very low pressures and temperatures using hotmelt adhesives. “The beauty of Macromelt molding is that it allows small, tailored production runs – ideally suited to New Zealand applications,” says Greg. “It can help to satisfy our innate appetite for innovation by making the prototyping stage more accessible.” The low temperatures and pressures inherent in the Macromelt […]

As one of New Zealand’s leading fertiliser specialists, Ballance Agri-Nutrients Limited is committed to a sustainable approach to farming and the environment. The company encourages staff to identify ways to reduce waste and improve efficiency, and a recent initiative to upgrade old, inefficient electric motors at their Whangarei manufacturing plant has paid-off with expected annual electricity savings of $23,000. Through the Electricity Commission’s Motor Bounty Scheme, the company received government subsidies of over $42,000 to upgrade to new, more efficient three-phase electric motors, representing almost half the cost of the new motors. Fourteen motors with a total connected load of 862kW were replaced, and with expected efficiency gains of between 2.2 to 4.8 percent, the annual electricity savings for the project are estimated at 170,600 kWh. Project Engineer Leo McCullough says the subsidy made the upgrade financially viable, with an expected pay-back for the project of less than two years. “The electricity savings have reduced plant operating costs and carbon emissions, with no reduction or restriction in plant capacity. “It’s simply increased efficiency to the benefit of our environment.” The project won an internal award for best environmental initiative by a team in 2009. Another benefit of the project was the opportunity to upgrade from obsolete imperial motor frames and shaft sizes to new standard metric motor frames, enabling faster and easier motor replacements in the future. The subsidy was easily arranged through Ballance’s motor service provider CMG Electric Motors (Avondale), in Auckland, who are also an Accredited Service Provider for the Motor Bounty Scheme. Motor Bounty Scheme ending in January 2011 The Motor Bounty Scheme is an initiative by the Electricity Commission to improve electricity efficiency by supporting the replacement of old, inefficient three-phase electric motors, and offers a subsidy of up to $7,400 per motor (criteria apply). As […]

A computer game-based arm rehabilitation device developed by IRL has won first prize in the prototype category of the 2010 Engineers Australia, College of Biomedical Engineering Better Technology Awards. Led by Research Engineer Marcus King the device, called Able-X, was developed by IRL’s Assistive Devices Team in Christchurch and is being commercialised through Wellington-based partner company Im-Able. “It was a very special feeling to be recognised in front of the large group of scientific peers for excellence in the field that the conference was based around,” says Marcus King. “This award gives credibility to our research and shows that we are leading the way in rehabilitation science – an essential requirement for securing future funding.” The winning entry comprises a suite ofÊspecially designed computer games with a bilateral exercise device that allows a person with an arm disability resulting from neurological injury to exercise their arm while playing engaging games. In collaboration with Christchurch-based companies Stickmen Studios and Pukka Design Studio, Marcus developed the device whichÊis suitable for people across a range of disabilities, from severely paralysed to almost able-bodied. The system has shown very promising results in clinical trials by the Rehabilitative Exercise and Activity for Life Neurology Research Group at the University of Otago. “We’re getting significant movement benefits fromÊmanyÊof the people who have taken part in the trials,” says Marcus King. “We’ve had reports that people who have one paralysed arm and have been having to drive their car single-handedly can now use both hands on the steering wheel at once.” The Able-X is the first product to be prototyped for production, with a market release planned for late 2010. It incorporates an inertial sensor game consol developed by Taiwan-based IRL collaborator the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) and enables a bilateral exercise regime to be created. […]

Nine engineering, technology, and manufacturing businesses from around the country are finalists in the 2010 New Zealand International Business Awards. Developed by New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) in partnership with the private sector, the awards recognise new approaches that businesses are taking to achieve international success. Twenty-five businesses and five business leaders are finalists across a range of categories. Family-owned sheet metal production and fabrication business Metalform (Dannevirke) Ltd has designed and developed a high-tech paediatric wheelchair and signed a global distribution agreement with one of the world’s leading mobile wheelchair suppliers. Innovative design expertise and the ability to manufacture products at competitive prices has seen Nimbus Lighting Group almost double international sales in the past three years. Telemetry Research is a global leader in implantable solutions for physiological monitoring, supporting research activities in multinational pharmaceutical companies, university and research institutions. Almost 100 percent of revenue is generated from exports. The proprietary division of EverEdge IP spends time researching and developing concepts to commercialise itself, or will develop promising ideas that individuals or clients bring. With more than 20 years of exporting unique, high quality animal identification products, Zee Tags has built a very strong brand worldwide. From humble beginnings almost 100 years ago, Scott Technology has evolved into a publicly listed automation business, and a world leader in several niche markets. Simcro is a leading supplier of delivery systems for animal health pharmaceutical products such as injectors, applicators and containers, plus a wide range of accessories. Gallagher Security Management Systems designs and manufactures Cardax electronic access control and intruder alarms systems and PowerFenceª perimeter security systems. Altitude Aerospace Interiors has grown exports by 400 percent during the past four years, specialising in the cabin interior market for Boeing and Airbus jet aircraft. NZTE Chief Executive Peter Chrisp said […]

The New Zealand Institute has released a discussion paper titled A goal is not a strategy: Focusing efforts to improve New Zealand’s prosperity. The paper concludes that efforts to improve economic prosperity should focus on improving the drivers of labour productivity, growing exports of differentiated goods and services, and helping firms overcome the barriers to internationalisation. Economic prosperity is a worthwhile goal for New Zealand and Government has set a goal of matching Australia’s GDP per capita by 2025. The main driver of GDP per capita is labour productivity and New Zealand’s private economy labour productivity is 57% of Australia’s. Labour productivity is not the only important measure of economic performance though. For a small trading nation exports are very important too. New Zealand’s exports have grown much more slowly than the OECD average partly because global trade in commodities (where New Zealand exports are concentrated) has grown more slowly than trade in differentiated goods and services. In recent years weakening trade performance has combined with imported private debt to erode the current account balance. Now New Zealand needs to improve labour productivity and grow exports enough to reduce the debt load and increase prosperity. Lifting labour productivity depends on improving the drivers of labour productivity; entrepreneurship, innovation, skills and talent, investment, and natural resources. For some drivers New Zealand has made choices that differ from those made in other advanced economies and there is good reason to believe that those choices have eroded relative economic performance. New Zealand is fortunate that there is great potential for improving performance on the labour productivity drivers. New Zealand’s most important sectors for exports are tourism, agriculture, and manufacturing. All three sectors have average or lower than average productivity so simply growing these activities without also substantially lifting productivity would not lift GDP […]

FrameCad, a construction technology company, founded by chief executive Mark Taylor more than 20 years ago, found the recession obliterating construction technology sales in the United States. It could have been devastating for the Auckland-based company, except that FrameCad had recently set up a Middle East office with the assistance of New Zealand Trade and Enterprise’s Beachheads programme. Just two and a half years after opening, the Dubai office now accounts for 50 per cent of FrameCad’s revenue. A great turnaround story! Able-X, a computer game-based arm rehabilitation device developed by IRL’s Assistive Devices Team in Christchurch, recently won first prize in the prototype category of the 2010 Engineers Australia, College of Biomedical Engineering Better Technology Awards. The device is suitable across a range of disabilities, from severely paralysed to almost able-bodied. Another terrific story! These are but two examples of success through innovation which is keeping New Zealand expertise prominent on the world stage. We also take a look at the finalists in the 2010 New Zealand International Business Awards, which recognise new approaches that businesses are taking to achieve internationally. And there is a sneak Preview of FoodTech Packtech being held at ASB Showgrounds, Ellerslie in October. So once again, we’re getting high on the positive; developments in  manufacturing presented to  you as case studies, company profiles and as a smorgasbord of articles for you to read.  Rich in content to inspire your future success. -Doug Green

The Young Engineer of the Year is the most hotly contested title in the New Zealand Engineering Excellence Awards stable. The 2010 judging panel were flooded with entries of a uniformly high standard. In the final component of the competition the three finalists will each be required to showcase their communication skills by giving a short public presentation on an engineering project of their choice. The 2010 Young Engineer of the Year Finalists are Brendan Donnell, Matthew Lander and Anna Robak. Brendan Donnell is a Structural Engineering Team Leader at Sinclair Knight Merz. Brendan won the Senior Prize in Civil Engineering in his final year at Auckland University. Joining SKM after graduation in 2002, Brendan has been a key player in many high profile projects including the Forsythe Barr Stadium in Dunedin and the Victoria Park Tunnel Early Works Package. Matthew Lander is an Associate – Structural Engineering at Beca Carter Hollings and Ferner in Wellington. He has a special interest in the integration of structure with architecture and tutors students at the School of Architecture on structural engineering, as well as working with colleagues at Beca to improve their understanding of architectural values. Matthew was the Structural Engineering Manager for the new BNZ building on Wellington’s waterfront. The wider project team included CentrePort and BNZ, Fletcher Construction, Jasmax, Tonkin &Taylor and the Beca building services and fire teams. Anna Robak was the Opus Young Achiever of the Year in 2008 and is currently employed there as an Environmental Asset Manager focussing on economic evaluation. Anna is also currently pursuing doctoral studies to evaluate the economic, environmental and social costs and benefits of water supply systems, with particular emphasis on trade-offs between public health benefits, environmental impacts, and wider economic benefits. A champion rower, Anna is a Futureintech Ambassador working […]

The Reserve Bank’s decision to hike the Official Cash Rate (OCR) again will stifle the export growth that needs to lead the economic recovery say the New Zealand Manufacturers and Exporters Association (NZMEA).  There have been warnings from across the tradeable sector on the damage OCR hikes will do; this advice needs to be heeded. NZMEA Chief Executive John Walley says, “Reserve Bank Governor Dr Alan Bollard noted that domestic demand, retail spending, housing turnover and business investment are all weak; this begs the question: why has he raised the rate again?” “Hiking interest rates on the basis of business confidence and commodity prices is always going to be a risky practice.  These are among the most volatile and unreliable forecasters of where the economy is going.  Both of these indicators have dropped since its last announcement so the Reserve Bank should have put prudence before pride and put interest rates back on hold.” “This must force some action from our politicians.  The way the world is now we cannot afford to have a central bank policy that simply ignores growth today in order to focus on possible inflation a year or so down the track, particularly when most other central banks are pushing the ‘lower for much longer’ outlook.” “As most of the others go ‘lower for much longer’ the RBNZ needs to accelerate the macroprudential measures to deal with inflation rather than using interest rates which tend to lift  the exchange rate and are so damaging to the traded economy.”