Business News

Worried about artificial intelligence?

Productivity Commission Chair, Murray Sherwin, CNZM We’ve been asked at the Productivity Commission to explore the impact of technological change on the future of work. This month we released New Zealand, technology and productivity – the first of four reports on the topic. We’ve been assigned the task because Ministers are genuinely troubled about the potential for emerging technology, especially robotics and artificial intelligence, to replace workers, undermine the security of work and working conditions, and in doing so, disrupt the labour market and the social order, and undermine wider community wellbeing. There is certainly no shortage of pundits telling us that most jobs will disappear or change fundamentally and that we should prepare for a very different future of work. Our approach is to try to understand what is going on so that we can respond to developments that are real, rather than imagined or assumed. What are the channels by which new technologies enter and diffuse through the New Zealand economy? Adoption of new technology happens as the result of decisions made by individual firms – large and small – across an economy. The ambition for improved profitability and growth are key drivers. We know that adoption of new technologies requires access to capital and may require other complementary investments as well. It’s not usually just a simple case of buying a new machine or computer programme; firms may need to reorganise their business or change their business model. That’s quite an investment and most firms don’t take those decisions lightly. Firms will make decisions in the context of how well their industry and the overall economy is performing, and their owners’ appetite for risk. But we know that when firms adopt tech and improve their bottom line, the country’s productivity also improves, giving us higher income growth […]

Team NZ gets a lift in lead up to Cup

NZ Crane Hire is on board as an official Team New Zealand supplier and is responsible for lifting the team’s race boat in and out of the water at its Viaduct Harbour base. Team New Zealand’s new 75-foot AC75 foiling monohull, Te Aihe, was lifted into the water for the first time recently with NZ Crane Hire’s Demag AC 250 all-terrain mobile crane. NZ Crane Hire’s Managing Director, Deane Manley, says the company has done thousands of large-scale lifts in its 60-year history but there was added pressure with many eyes watching the launch. “This boat is precious cargo and carries the hopes of a nation, so it is a little different. But essentially cranes are based on simple geometry, so it comes down to careful planning and a high level of skill from our crane drivers to get the job done well. “The team and I are also looking forward to playing a small part in helping the team defend the Cup in 2021,” he says. Mr Manley says the company will have a crane based permanently at the New Zealand syndicate in the lead up to and during the Cup in 2021. Grant Dalton, CEO Team New Zealand, says the build up to the America’s Cup would not be possible without NZ Crane Hire. “The boat weighs 6.5 tonnes and there are some very interesting winds around the Viaduct so getting the boat in and out of the water as safely and efficiently as possible on a regular basis is key.” The 36th America’s Cup is returning to Auckland’s waterfront in 2021 after Emirates Team New Zealand won the Cup in Bermuda in 2017. The racing period will take place from March 6th – March 21st. It will be a best-of-13, first-to-seven-points series.

New Plymouth company certified ISO 45001

Asset integrity solutions provider, Stork Technical Services New Zealand Ltd (Stork) has been certified ISO 45001: the global occupational health and safety management system standard in August 2019. Introduced in 2018, ISO 45001 provides a framework to develop health and safety management systems which improve employee safety, reduce workplace risks and create better, safer working conditions. Says Janice Halliburton, HSEQ Manager at Stork: “When ISO 45001 was published last year, we chose to upgrade from our previous accreditation AS/NZS 4801. Following a year of hard work by our team, integrating the system into our way of life, we underwent a three-day audit and were certified as compliant with no non-conformance through auditing body Telarc.” Areas covered by ISO 45001 include: Hazard identification, risk and opportunity assessment; emergency preparedness and response; communication; as well as monitoring, measurement, analysis and performance evaluation. The standard also adopts Annex SL a management system format that allows for easy consolidation of an integrated management system with ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015. “Integrity and client satisfaction is of great importance to us. Through our head office in New Plymouth, we now have a fully integrated management system being certified for Quality: ISO 9001: 2015, Environment: ISO 14001:2015, Health & Safety: ISO 45001 and accredited with IANZ,” says Rob Sullivan, General Manager and Director at Stork. The ISO certifications supports the company’s IANZ accreditation, proving the company has a quality management system. “Clients can have confidence in our consistency of service quality, delivery and credibility,” concludes Sullivan.

Nelson manufacturer award winner

A Nelson-based contract manufacturer for products made from high-quality natural ingredients has for the second year running won the Supplier of the Year Award for New Zealand’s natural health products industry. Industry body Natural Health Products NZ recently announced Alaron Products as this year’s winner. The award, which was decided by popular vote among Natural Health Products NZ’s members, recognises a supplier that has made a significant contribution to the businesses of many. Natural Health Products NZ’s Chairperson Lorraine Moser says Alaron Products has developed an excellent reputation during more than 25 years of custom manufacturing nutraceutical products. “They are known for their high attention to detail and quality, and excellent customer service. “Being voted as winner for the second year running shows the high esteem in which Natural Health Products NZ members hold Alaron Products. As one voter said: They never fail to wow us with their customer service, management of our account and quality of the finished goods.”

Methven changes ownership, still the same quality product

Being acquired in April by Australia’s GWA Group will only create more opportunities for shower and tapware company Methven, one of New Zealand’s oldest and most innovative. Founded in 1886 in Dunedin as an iron and brass foundry, Methven still has its customer service function in that city today, with its head office and a factory in Auckland. Methven brand director, Matt Jones, says the company hasn’t always been about showers and taps either, with it even making ammunitions for the New Zealand Army during the war years. It wasn’t until 1896 that the company started making taps, as well as copper laundry vessels, and while it’s stuck with tapware, it’s expanded into valves and also shower products that are known for their innovation and design. As for what being acquired by GWA Group will mean, Mr Jones says simply a bigger offering for customers. “Methven becoming a subsidiary of GWA Group just makes sense. It brings a collection of strong, complementary kitchen, bathroom and laundry brands together that cover the commercial and residential markets, and clearly there are benefits in increasing our product portfolio overseas.” In 2018 Methven generated 31 per cent of its revenue domestically, 42 per cent from Australia, 25 per cent from the United Kingdom and the remainder from China and other Asian countries. Following the acquisition, GWA Group now has 143 staff in NZ, with the new parent company committing to keeping New Zealand as a design and innovation base. GWA Group also compete in sanitary ware, showers, tapware, sinks and tubs with the Caroma, Dorf and Clark brands. Mr Jones says that since 1995 when Methven launched FastFlow, its technology to address flow and solve water pressure issues in homes, it has cultivated a culture of innovation based on what its customers want. “Innovation […]

From chicken feathers to fire retardant

Researchers at the University of Auckland have developed a way to turn chicken feathers into a high-performing fire retardant. Chicken is a popular source of protein in most parts of the world and millions of chickens are produced each year for us to eat – in New Zealand it’s estimated we each eat, on average, about 40 chickens a year. Billions of chicken feathers are produced by the poultry industry, most of which end up in the incinerator or landfill. Chicken feathers are, in short, an international waste problem. However, Distinguished Professor Debes Bhattacharyya of the Faculty of Engineering has found a way to use chicken feathers as a base for a fire retardant, one that is safer than many fire retardants, cheaper to produce, and solves an international waste problem at the same time. “People pay to get rid of chicken feathers,” he says. Chicken feathers are made of a keratinous material that is found in the hair, wool, horns and hooves of mammals. They are also naturally occurring flame inhibitors. Fire retardants are added to industrial and consumer products such as furniture, textiles, electronics, even Christmas trees, as well as building products such as insulation. Traditionally halogen compounds were added to create flame retardant material, but while they were effective they were highly toxic. “They might have saved you from death by burning, but have exposed people to many more effects that are detrimental to health. “Furthermore, as a result of the environmental long life and bioaccumulation, traces of the compounds have been detected in everything from household dust to breast milk, causing hormone-disrupting effects,” says Dr Bhattacharyya. As a result there has been a global shift away from halogenic retardants and toward other types of retardants among which ammonium polyphosphate (APP) is the most prominent. However, as […]

Refinery explores solar farm in Northland

Refining NZ, the owner and operator of the Marsden Point refinery is exploring the viability of a 26 MW solar farm to be potentially developed adjacent to the refinery to supply it with renewable electricity. The 31 hectare solar farm – New Zealand’s largest – would be situated on land belonging to the Company and is estimated to cost around $36-$39 million. The farm would be funded via a combination of non-recourse project debt funding and equity of around $12-15 million from the Company. Refining NZ Chairman, Simon Allen, said that progressing the solar farm is contingent on the Refining NZ Board being satisfied the project is economically viable. Early work shows that the solar farm would reduce the cost of the refinery’s electricity consumption and have a positive impact on shareholder value. Chief Executive Mike Fuge said that the potential to develop renewable electricity from solar would be a further step by the Company in the transition towards a lower carbon future. “This solar facility is one of a number of options being considered as part of the Company’s long-term business strategy, the potential benefits of which are exciting.” Said Fuge: “That transition to a greener future will be especially critical to the region and to the 600 Northlanders who come through the refinery gate every day.” As part of the Company’s exploration into solar, Refining NZ will be engaging with local stakeholders before lodging a resource consent application for the solar farm.

Very smart Australian manufacturing

Solar-powered furniture offers off-grid connection South Australian outdoor furniture brand Sedi has developed bespoke benches and shelter options for smart cities and regional areas. Bronte Modra, the director of Adelaide-based modular engineering company Specialised Solutions, created the Sedi range of park benches, parklets and bus stops in February this year. The smart shelters are built from sustainable timber and steel and have solar-powered lighting, integrated charging ports, WIFI and informational screens that all run off a battery. Modra said he created Sedi to fill a large hole in the Australian manufacturing market created by the burgeoning smart city movement. “People want to be connected to the furniture and to the web, and the greater society,” said Modra. “Everyone talks about smart cities but no one is really delivering a piece of smart furniture here. “We just saw a real need and something that we could make out of our existing facility.” The Sedi office is located at the Tonsley innovation district alongside technology companies such as SAGE Automation, which, together with JPE Design Studio, helped develop the furniture. Modra decided to make the units “off-grid” to attract buyers who couldn’t connect to a power source. “It being solar-powered gives us a lot more flexibility to where the Sedi is placed,” he said. “With Sedi we can go to regional, remote locations and open up connectivity there. “It’s also cost-saving measure for councils to install in the park [as] service connections are fairly expensive.” Modra said they weren’t “reinventing the wheel” with the furniture’s individual technological features, however these add-ons were compounded to develop a new brand of smart furniture fit for a multitude of environments. “We would like to see them absolutely everywhere: the typical bus stops on your streets, your typical parks, council parks and reserves,” he said. “But we’re really trying to tap […]

Taking on one of the biggest, invisible causes of climate change

A project has begun in New Zealand for the refrigerants industry to tackle one of the most potent, but least known causes of climate change. The gases used in refrigerants – perfluorocarbons (PFC) and hydrofluorocarbons (HFC) – are rated among the most effective at trapping heat in the earth’s atmosphere; thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide with respect to their global warming potential, says sustainability expert Darren Patterson. This, combined with their widespread use, makes them a high priority target for tackling climate change worldwide, he says. As part of the project a Working Group has been established to represent the interests of the key industries affected by a priority product declaration, including refrigeration and air conditioning, motor vehicle industry (automotive air conditioning), refrigerant wholesalers, manufacturers and distributors and other significant industry stakeholders. This project is being managed by Hastings-based product stewardship specialists 3R Group. 3R Group Business Development Director Darren Patterson is leading the work on a mandatory product stewardship for refrigerant gases in New Zealand. Product stewardship sees producers, importers and retailers take responsibility for their products and ensure they are re-used, recycled or properly disposed of at end life. New Zealand is also bound by international agreement to phase down HFCs, Darren says. In 2016 the Government adopted the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which requires the phasing down of HFCs worldwide from the beginning of 2020 and will cease importing HFCs in 2036. RECOVERY, a voluntary product stewardship scheme for refrigerants has been operating in New Zealand since 1993. However, the whole industry isn’t involved. “It’s vital we have all the players involved to make the scheme as effective as possible. A co-regulatory scheme ‘levels the playing field’ as all companies would be required to participate,” Darren says. Under the current Waste Minimisation […]

Government reform dashes hope for industry

Cabinet paper a disappointing response to employers Industry training organisation (ITO) Competenz has three years to hand over its 20,000 apprentices and trainees and the 3,500 New Zealand employers it currently works alongside to the NZ Institute of Skills and Technology (NZIST), the centralised polytechnic being formed by the Ministry of Education, according to the Government’s cabinet paper. Fiona Kingsford, Competenz CEO says both her organisation and its employers and industry leaders are disappointed that the industry-centric ITO sector will be phased out of workplace-based training. “We surveyed more than 1,000 of our employers this year who told us that ITOs perform a critical function and need more funding, not disestablishing.” The fundamental risk our industries face is the time involved and significant disruption of establishing a new NZIST and transitioning the workplace based training to the new system. It could mean being even less responsive to the fast-changing nature of work, which weakens the country’s ability to recruit, innovate and compete,” says Fiona. She concedes that phasing out ITOs over three years to 2022 is a positive change from the Government’s original proposal. “Extending the length of time that we can support our new and existing apprentices and trainees through the transition will ensure stability of their needs. “But we also know that any changes and uncertainty in this sector could mean a downturn in the number of people engaged in the entire vocational education system, so we will be working hard to ensure we continue to support our employers and learners throughout this period to make sure this doesn’t happen,” she said. Competenz has supported an increase of apprenticeships year on year, particularly in the engineering industry, which has seen 16 per cent growth in apprenticesover the past few years, and a 20 per cent hike in employers […]

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