Business News

Immersive booths to bring business expos to life

Technology that brings standard exhibition booths alive with video projections has launched this month. The immersive booth technology is the brainchild of Andy Roberts, the founder of Rogue Lumens, a technology company in Adelaide, South Australia. In a previous role, Roberts had travelled the world attending conferences and was constantly uninspired by the static displays of posters and logos on show. “At an exhibition in October 2016 I was standing there and it occurred to me that we could do a lot more in a booth by introducing new technology,” said Roberts. He first looked into incorporating augmented or virtual reality but found the technology was not ready for a mass market. “The uncomfortable interruption of having someone ask you to put something over your face in a crowded room is such that you just can’t do it. But we wanted to find a way we could produce an immersive type experience without having to interrupt someone naturally,” he said. Roberts and his team came up with a software program that allows projectors to seamlessly turn the three sides of a standard 9sq m booth into screens. The software package allows companies to upload photos or videos and easily produce them into an eye-catching display that moves across all three walls. Companies can also upload professionally-produced work. “We built our own software and web portal to solve how we would populate this size of screen,” said Roberts. The web portal allows users to see what their booth would look like from all angles as people approach the stall, and incorporates a human outline to ensure the scale is correct. “It is all put together with a bespoke interface that companies can make with their own content – such as photos and video – and the software scales it,” said Roberts. […]

Portrait of young woman in protective glasses in the factory

How the health and safety gravy train is sucking the productivity out of NZ manufacturing

Barry Robinson, Chairman MESNZ Are you being suckered by the H&S gravy train? You can save money immediately by reading the following. Test and tagging of electrical appliances and leads is NOT a legal requirement in NZ industrial plants. If you Google it you’ll find any amount of references convincing you that it is a legal requirement, but follow those links and you will always come to the test and tag industry many of whom are cultivating this fallacy and who ultimately benefit financially from your confusion. “In the view of the MESNZ this is but one example of the unhelpful ‘smoke and mirrors’ rubbish that gets seized upon and promoted by health and safety advisors and HR practitioners, particularly within larger organisations” said Barry Robinson, Chairman of the Maintenance Engineering Society of NZ. “What is happening is these misleading H&S processes become de-facto norms and get mimicked by the media and smaller organisations who think that because the big plants are doing it, then it must be the specified standard that needs to be adopted in all industrial operations large or small”. Robinson, who has spent over 30 years safely and healthily running NZ’s largest hot forging and heat treatment plant, makes no apologies for his confrontational approach. Other examples are: Compulsory wearing of safety glasses, hard hats and hi-viz vests in industrial plants; proliferation of orange cones; Stress-inducing beepers on machinery, and banning of ladders. These things waste time, money, and productivity. Worse, in many cases they can actually expose us to greater risk. “A common example of increased risk is the wearing of safety glasses: Safety glasses detract from our natural vision and senses in several ways – fogging, limiting or obscuring of peripheral vision and immediate upper and lower frontal vision, irritation and pressure). By wearing […]

New Zealand becoming more competitive

A global survey shows New Zealand moving up the competitiveness rankings – from 24th to 13th – during the last decade. The Global Competitiveness Index is a ranking of economic competitiveness, based on economic data and surveys of large businesses in 137 countries. This year the Index shows New Zealand ranking highly for financial market development, lack of corruption, labour market efficiency, health and primary education, higher education and training, and goods market efficiency. But New Zealand’s competitiveness is reduced by inadequate infrastructure, inefficient government bureaucracy, insufficient capacity to innovate, inadequately educated workforce and restrictive labour regulations. BusinessNZ Chief Executive Kirk Hope said the rankings confirmed many of the efficiencies in the New Zealand economy and also pointed to areas where more work was needed, including achieving more infrastructure investment and less labour and overall regulation. He said this year’s results indicated a seeming paradox in that New Zealand ranks highly for education, yet ranks poorly for an educated workforce and ability to innovate. “It shows there is a mismatch between the skills required by business and the skills that are being taught in the education system, and points to the fact that we need to equip more New Zealanders with higher-level technical, trades, science, and maths education.” The top ten countries in the Global Competitiveness Index this year are Switzerland, US, Singapore, Netherlands, Germany, Hong Kong, Sweden, UK, Japan and Finland, while Australia ranks 21st. New Zealand’s changes in competitiveness rankings Year NZ ranking 2007 24 2008 24 2009 20 2010 23 2011 25 2012 23 2013 18 2014 17 2015 16 2016 13 2017 13

New Name for NZMEA – The Manufacturers’ Network

The NZMEA signals an even stronger focus on supporting globally competitive manufacturers with the launch of a new name – The Manufacturers’ Network. With the changing face of manufacturing and the increasing global opportunities advanced technologies offer, the NZMEA has introduced a new and simply stated name supported by a strong logo that reflects where it wants to take the industry into the future – The Manufacturers’ Network. “We are hugely proud of our history, having supported manufacturers and manufacturing since 1879. But today the industry is different. With a global reach and growth opportunities relying more and more on collaboration, strong networks and an indepth knowledge of future trends, it was time our name reflected these values, clearly and simply, says Mr Dieter Adam, CE, The Maufacturers’ Network. Today, manufacturing in New Zealand faces many challenges. Manufacturers need to hold their own and want to grow their business in an increasingly interconnected and highly competitive global environment. Whether it’s through exporting or competing with imports, it’s all about remaining globally competitive. To achieve that, manufacturers need support now more than ever. “Manufacturers need a champion and an expert immersed in trends and opportunities who they trust so they can get on with running their businesses as competitively as possible, knowing we have en eye on the future. That’s where we fit in, says Adam. “The Manufacturers’ Network represents the best of our collaborative spirit and smarts. We are a Network because we know that working together, and collaborating locally, allows us to compete globally, to stay up with – if not ahead – of trends, and to remain agile and efficient. “We have deliberately chosen to use THE ahead of Manufacturers’ Network as it shows strength in what we do. Our focus is narrow and deep. We are THE […]

Addressing skills shortage vital

Addressing the deepening skills and labour shortage is vital for the incoming Government, says EMA. In the current skills shortage environment, the incoming government needs to have a cohesive strategy for growing the workforce of today and in the future. “Automation and advancements in technology will certainly change the way we work, however we will always need people. In our most recent survey 65% of respondents said there is, or soon will be, a skills shortage in their sector. This is clearly an area the next government needs to address,” says Kim Campbell, CEO, EMA. He added that the impact of key demographic changes, such as a declining birth rate and an ageing population, had to be fed into the wider discussion. Along with the role of immigration in the short and medium term. “While we must invest in educating and training our youth for the workforce, it is also vital we have a co-ordinated approach around mature workers too.” In the EMA Election Manifesto, several recommendations were made to close the skills and training gaps. These included: – Applying more funding to fill the skills gaps in the trade sector and incorporate an employer-based approach – Policies need to reflect lifelong career development, including a continuation of funding and support for workplace literacy programmes; and an co-ordinated approach to managing an ageing workforce – Ensuring the immigration process is less complicated. Automatic extension of temporary work visas for sectors placed on the skills shortages list EMA is currently leading a multi-organisation workstream on managing an ageing workforce. It also partners with a range of organisations on initiatives to develop workplace skills, which include the Youth Employability Programme, Workchoice Day and workplace literacy programmes.

Productivity and Wages

By Dieter Adam, Chief Executive NZMEA At the first Leaders’ debate of the 2017 general election, productivity received some discussion, with the Prime Minister dismissing claims that productivity in New Zealand was low by comparison and not showing any signs of improvement. Following this, there was a number of quality pieces of work on the issue, specifically by Newsroom’s Bernard Hickey and ex RBNZ economist, Michael Riddell – you can see a summary of these articles on the NZMEA website. Today I want to discuss some of the data they bought up and particularly focus on the core link between wages and productivity. The debate referred to a recent JB Were report showing trends for GDP per person and GDP per hour worked, with the former growing at around 1% and the latter actually falling currently. The Prime Minister stated that, “JB Were are just wrong. They are way over-stating the case.” As other evidence of the problem, there was a recent OECD report, which we have discuss previously. This showed New Zealand’s flat to slightly negative labour productivity trend over the last 20 years, and at significantly lower levels than the United States and Australia. Michael Reddell posted a related graph on his blog, showing that in terms of real GDP per hour worked, from 2008 to around the end of 2012, we saw similar low but positive results as Australia. However, since around the start of 2013, New Zealand’s real GDP per hour worked has been flat, while Australia’s has continued to increase. The other problem we face with low productivity growth is how much – or how little – room there is for wages to grow. As our manufacturing members well know, the core driver for what a business can afford to pay its staff is their […]

Vote productivity

It’s all about to happen on Saturday. The government for the next three years will go forth with a whole new set of plans and ideas on how to make our lives better. We know there are serious social issues which are worrying, decidedly so, and there are business issues which affect the social issues…so let’s concentrate here on what the issues and this publication are all about. Better business and business opportunities for all manufacturers and businesses through increased productivity. The leaders have spoken a bit about improving productivity and it needs a determined focus to bring it up to speed. NZMEA, for example, is a focussed and committed organisation looking out for the better, they address this subject often…and now it is the new government’s turn. It’s a bit like the Minister for Manufacturing issue, it gets raised and put into the too hard basket; if this had been dealt with years ago we may not have a productivity problem as we have now. Initiatives for workers would be further ahead, streamlining of areas of study would see companies getting the staff they require earlier on. Productivity in the horticulture, agriculture and wine industries is ahead of ‘hard core’ manufacturing because the end – the order from the client overseas and locally is determined a long way ahead. Also having quality products in high demand helps. Increasing productivity comes at a cost as well, of course, as a benefit. Good workers upping their game and reaching targets for their employers deserve a decent wage. This becomes for many a real living wage. Increasing productivity means that as a country we keep on looking for the opportunities – with internal developments and infrastructure and overseas. But mostly productivity needs to be lived, to be way a thinking, a frame […]

Time to pull our collective heads out of the sand

Yesterday’s release of Treasury’s Pre-Election Economic and Fiscal Update (PREFU) provides a fairly sobering forecast of our ability to grow wealth in and for New Zealand, say the New Zealand Manufacturers and Exporters Association. NZMEA Chief Executive, Dieter Adam says, “We have to face the reality of our lack of economic development in New Zealand. And now is the right time to challenge New Zealand’s leading parties to tell us what they are going to do to push our economy towards a more prosperous future for everyone.” “For the next four years (2018 to 2021) Treasury forecasts a decline in the rate of absolute GDP growth in 2020 and 2021, with a similar decline in the export growth rate, down to just over 2% in 2020 and 2021. By then we’ll be four years away from the current Government’s goal of growing the share of exports to GDP to 40%, and further away from reaching that goal than ever. “These observations sit alongside our own, and Statistics New Zealand’s data on exports of elaborately transformed goods, which have been in decline for the past 18 months or so. “Treasury’s forecasts for the increase in GDP, as modest as they may be, are still based largely on a growth of labour inputs due to immigration for 2018. After that, miraculously, labour productivity will take over as the main driver of GDP growth. When it comes to explaining what this expectation is based on, given that for the last three years, for example, we saw virtually no productivity growth in our economy, the report remains silent, but states that “productivity growth may be slower than assumed if labour inputs grow more strongly than expected” – meaning if the forecast drop in immigration numbers doesn’t eventuate. “So, what have we actually got here? […]

Got A Trade? Got It Made!: Industry Training Award Winners

The 2017 Got A Trade? Got It Made! Industry Training Awards, held at Parliament last night, showcased inspiring young people driven to make a big difference in their industry. Fifty of New Zealand’s best and brightest young trainees and apprentices gathered in Wellington to rub shoulders and receive honours at this year’s awards. “These incredibly impressive young people are some of New Zealand’s future business leaders, and we are in good stead,” says Industry Training Federation Chief Executive Josh Williams. “Got a Trade! promotes the massive range of job opportunities that offer the chance to ‘earn and learn’ and launch successful careers. We congratulate last night’s winners for the significant mark they make in their work and study, and we celebrate 148,000 apprentices and industry trainees gaining critical skills and qualifications in over 140 trades and services.” Graphic and Web Designer, Myra Anderson, received the evening’s top honour, Industry Trainee of the Year. Described as driven, focused and positive, Myra has completed a Diploma in Interactive Design, Level 3 and 4 Certificates in Digital Print Processes, and intends to start her Print Management Diploma next year. Myra says her Competenz print apprenticeship gave her the confidence, skills and knowledge to turn a job into a career. She has worked on national campaigns and taught herself both industry and business management skills at Wellington’s printing.com. Her goal is to become an art or creative director – all through on the job learning. Air New Zealand Customer Service Agent, Jahmaine Cummings-Hodge, received the Maori Community Impact Award. Jahmaine enriches and integrates community and cultural elements at work, promoting Te Reo and Maori tourism for local, national and international audiences. Jahmaine has taken Kapa Haka teams to national and international competitions and performing arts festivals. He is a proud recipient of Air NZ’s […]

BusinessNZ’s Election Manifesto

Based on a survey of employers throughout New Zealand, the Manifesto outlines seven priorities that business would like to see enacted after the 2017 General Election. BusinessNZ Chief Executive Kirk Hope said businesses want a Government that will reduce taxes, fix problem legislation, and boost growth in the regions. “Business wants to see a tax cut for all categories of taxpayer early in the first term of the new Government, and no new taxes of any kind.” Mr Hope said employers in many sectors were worried about being unable to fill job vacancies, and wanted action on skills. “They are unhappy with the level of skills coming out of the education system and want those skill gaps fixed by education and, if necessary, immigration. They want employees with better technical skills to help to grow more innovative and sustainable businesses.” Local government and the Resource Management Act were also a key concern “There’s a strong view that the RMA is holding the country back – 95 percent of businesses surveyed want it fixed or gone.” Businesses were also concerned about local government investing rates money in council-controlled enterprises and non-essential spending, while failing to invest in infrastructure. 65 percent wanted local government to stick to core functions like providing infrastructure. Kirk Hope said business wanted a Government that continued negotiating free trade agreements to reduce the tariff burden on New Zealand exporters. A large majority want trade agreements with the US, UK, EU and the new TPP-11. “These seven priorities if enacted by a new Government would improve the environment for enterprise and help business to create jobs and prosperity in local communities all over New Zealand.” The Election Manifesto can be read at www.businessnz.org.nz

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