Case Studies

Cheers to a good brew

Sam Wood (left) and Willy Cowper. -Aaldert Verplanke Brewing your own beer is a challenge for most people and more known for the disasters than the good ”batch”. This story is about Kiwi ingenuity, passion, perseverance, believing in the product and a “sustainability” philosophy. Ian Williams is a brew master and has travelled the world practicing his trade. Encouraged by his uncle to come up with a “fail proof” brewing kit for home brewers, Ian spent about 2 years developing the process and ingredients to produce high quality beer at home. When he finished his first prototype, it was time to consider manufacturing a saleable product. He took the design to Sam Wood at ATI engineering in Hastings to manufacture the brewing appliance. Sam was keen and thought, “great – all the design and development work is done; now we just have to make it.” However, to get to a sellable product it took another year and a half. Producing an appliance that involves heating, cooling and pressure, has lots of challenges. Keeping the cost down was one of them, and still is. The WilliamsWarn BrewMaster was finally created, capable of producing consistently good beer with ingredients supplied by WilliamsWarn. This would not have happened if it were not for NZ and overseas investors who believed in the product – Sam had also become a shareholder. However, the small number of appliances produced meant that costs were prohibitive, so the decision was made to design a lower cost product that could be manufactured offshore using mass manufacturing techniques not available here in NZ. A complete rethink and redesign by Sam resulted in the introduction of the BrewKeg™ that is now produced in four different brew batch sizes, from a small 10L homebrew kit up to 150L for the microbreweries. It […]

Just the right chemistry

New Zealand family-owned and operated, Chemfreight is a specialised 3PL distributor offering the complete solution of hazardous, non-hazardous and separate dedicated food storage and chemical toll blending backed by a national transport network. Started in 1989, it was the brainchild of Harry Price who, having worked in the chemical industry for many years, saw an opportunity and industry need for the specialist third party storage and distribution of hazardous goods. Three years ago, his son Joseph Price, took the helm as General Manager bringing his well-rounded business experience following years in insolvency and accounting. The business has undergone substantial changes and almost doubled in size from a staff of 40 to 80, and 100 clients to 200. Chemfreight does not have a sales or marketing function and has used their reputation for operating class leading facilities and delivering an excellent 3PL supply chain service to attract new business and also retain their existing valued clients. With their Head Office in East Tamaki, Chemfreight operates three Major Hazardous Facilities with two state-of-the-art storage facilities in Auckland and a large storage facility servicing the South Island located in Christchurch. They process approximately 3000 inbound containers per year and store in excess of 20,000 pallets across nine warehouses. Next year construction is planned to commence on a specialised concrete walled and roofed store for flammable substances with a capacity of 5,000 pallet spaces. Low staff turnover Many of the staff have worked at Chemfreight for years, and it is very much a family focussed business. “There are some families where as many as three family members are employed here as part of our team,” says Joseph. In an industry that sees a high staff turnover, Chemfreight has very low turnover. “Finding high calibre skilled staff is a challenge,” says Joseph, “and we have […]

Konecranes adopts Internet of Things technology

Konecranes, specialising in the manufacture and service of cranes and lifting equipment, has implemented Siemens’ digital innovation platform to accelerate its product development process and connect product and performance data together. The company is using MindSphere, the open, cloud-based Internet of Things (IoT) operating system, and the Teamcenter portfolio, the world’s most widely used digital lifecycle management software, to leverage the digital twin and reduce the number of physical prototypes, which helps to increase efficiency and decrease product validation time. The Konecranes proof of value is one of the first implementations of IoT to develop a framework that connects and synchronizes the virtual (engineering design, analysis and simulation) and physical (testing and operational reliability) worlds. The product design process is currently based more on an engineer’s experience and generally shared assumptions than measured facts from existing products. These assumptions often lead to non-optimised designs that are over engineered. With an integrated digital twin platform, there is major potential in speeding up the product development process, reducing prototypes, increasing traceability and thus improving quality and reduce development cost. Today design, simulation and prototype testing organisations operate in their own silos, often using out of date processes for their work. At Konecranes, a digital twin was utilised as the communication approach between all three organisations to review data and provide feedback around engineering, simulation and testing intent. Using the Siemens platform for digital innovation, Konecranes has been able to connect the data from all of these organisations to create one 360 degree view of how prototypes are running and performing, and correlating requirements to, real world performance data. A closed-loop digital twin framework using IoT and product lifecycle management (PLM) technologies can lead to faster design issue resolution and shorter prototyping phases by leveraging virtual sensor data in product simulations to provide […]

Shakeup at Mastip

Mastip has been a stalwart of NZ manufacturing for over 25 years. Regarded as a pioneer of the global plastics hot runner industry, its products are now in 40 countries. But importantly, the company is receiving a shakeup from new CEO Marc Michel, calling on him to grow the company, double its earnings accelerate new products and innovation and streamline its IP and manufacturing processes. We grabbed him in between his global customer visits and asked him to share his plans. NZM: Where is Mastip now, and what’s your roadmap? MM: Mastip Technology has been a NZ-based manufacturing exporter since day one. We pioneered hot runner solutions and established a strong global reputation. However, the company never scaled as it should and we’re now in a boom market for hot runners, worth over $2.7billion USD annually with a CAGR of about 6.5% pa. We focus on a relatively narrow niche of specialist hot runner solutions to the plastics industry; and are the only supplier based in the Southern Hemisphere. Our main point of difference is the deep domain knowledge of engineering grade polymer materials and production techniques, underpinned by global customer focus and service capability. We’re now in Y2 of a three-year plan building a platform for global growth covering every aspect of the business from culture to channel strategy, manufacturing, product and marketing. Suffice to say nothing remains the same when you’re looking at a shakeup of this magnitude. During 2017 we launched our new tagline “We make things better” reflecting we are a critical partner to hundreds of globally-known brands across segments as diverse as automotive, medical, packaging, electronics, whitegoods and electrical. NZM: So how did a professional yachtsman turn out to be CEO in a manufacturing company? MM: The board knew my background in high growth technology-based […]

Engineering a new career for young women

Welding, polishing and sand blasting were among the daily activities for a group of young women during a recent work placement at Hamilton-based manufacturer, Longveld. The placement is part of a unique training course offered by Wintec and Longveld, aimed at getting more women into engineering. Sixteen young women from Waikato secondary schools are enrolled in the programme, which is in its first year. They visit Wintec’s workshop one day a week, where they train in fabrication and engineering while gaining credits towards NCEA Level 2. They then spend one week at Longveld working alongside staff, rotating between activities including stainless steel sheet metal fabrication, waterjet profile cutting, welding, grinding, sand blasting and computer-aided (CAD) design. As part of their activities, they produced name plates and miniature stainless steel house frames. This, along with the rotation system gave them a chance to experience first-hand what it means to work on individual manufacturing and fabrication components that would ultimately contribute to the creation of a larger project such as a milk tanker, farm vat or dairy factory. Shawnee Dixon from Hamilton’s Fraser High School says: “It was a great experience, with friendly staff at Longveld who taught us a lot and were always there to help. It was a really good opportunity and a great experience”. Wintec youth pathways manager, Johnny Gordon, says the course is a good way of encouraging women into what is traditionally seen as a male-oriented industry. “The programme provides the opportunity for women to learn in an environment where they’re not the only female in the room,” he says. “It’s been great to see their confidence grow throughout the programme and in particular during their time at Longveld. Towards the end of the week they had become a group of self-assured young women, one step closer […]

Profile: TimberLab Solutions: innovation, versatility and quality bring firsts

When two of New Zealand’s leading engineered timber design and manufacture companies, McIntosh Timber Laminates and TimberBond Industries, joined forces in November 2012, TimberLab Solutions Ltd was created. Now with a combined Auckland workforce of 35 staff operating out of the old McIntosh Timber Laminates 3500m2 plant in Bostock Place, and over 76 years of experience; TimberLab Solutions has the best of both worlds, combining McIntosh’s extensive experience in manufacturing structural laminated timber for commercial use and TimberBond’s expertise in residential use of glued laminated timber (Glulam). The result has been a “greater perspective towards ways in which structural timber can be applied to all building situations”, according to Owen Griffiths, TimberLab’s Sales and Marketing Director. TimberLab Solutions “aim to be the best provider of innovative, cost-effective and customised engineered timber solutions throughout New Zealand and to offshore markets”. They specialise in providing complete design-manufacture-installation packages for a wide range of timber projects, from small one-off sculptures to large industrial buildings. Being New Zealand’s largest and most experienced manufacturer of Glulam building systems, TimberLab’s Bostock Place premises showcase some of the capabilities on offer with Glulam portal frames, Glulam gantry beams, and reverse-curved Glulam beams featured throughout. TimberLab Solutions also have a high focus on quality, which would usually make it more difficult to provide cost-effective customised solutions as set out in their mission statement. However, they manage to achieve these objectives through careful design work and quality control from start to finish. “You can have two solutions for the same building, but because the designer is unfamiliar with the product and what it can do, they tend to be conservative in their design; therefore more expensive. Because we’ve had experience, we can provide a better value solution. “It’s a matter of being able to choose the right solution […]

Clever tax service helps maintain high growth

One of New Zealand’s most successful tool machinery manufacturers could not have continued on a high growth programme without an innovative product that helps manage cashflow, called Pay My Tax. When Teknatool New Zealand closed its manufacturing facility in New Zealand and moved to Qingdao in China to be closer to its markets in 2006, the well-established New Zealand engineering business (known for working with such brands as Black & Decker) was launched along a meteoric global growth path. Sales grew rapidly. And opportunities began opening up. Then in 2009, Teknatool also opened a research and development department in Quingdao. But high growth and developing the business in other countries meant cashflow was tight. Teknatool could not have continued to take advantage of these opportunities had it not been for a smart tax pooling product from Tax Management NZ (TMNZ). Pay My Tax lets businesses defer their provisional tax payments by up to 18 months, to a time that’s more convenient for the business. By leaving cash in the business for as long as possible, businesses can spend money when it is needed to buy materials or develop without incurring huge tax liabilities in the form of the IRDÕs use of money interest and late penalties. The current IRD use of money interest (UOMI) rates are 8.4% for underpayments and 1.75% for overpayments. Missed payments can be subject to late payment or shortfall penalties. And taxpayers can be charged interest even if they had not earned the income by the time the provisional tax payment was due – because the IRD operates with the benefit of hindsight. When Teknatool discovered TMNZ three years ago, it made it much easier to manage their cashflow, says financial director Margaret Latimer. “At the same time as we were pouring money into a high […]

Lean times call for thinner sheets, thicker bends

With the price of sheetmetal arguably at an all time high due to massive demand by Asia and the Middle East, itÕs not just clever software-driven machines that positively impact profit margins. The simple act of reducing raw material costs has become the latest challenge for fabricators in Australia and New Zealand. And price reduction doesnÕt have to rely on any hard bargaining Ð tooling technology is getting better and smarter and can now provide an edge. By a year or two, Europe has encountered many of the challenges our sheetmetal manufacturers are about to face. One particular example from this continent is perhaps a lesson for our companies which may help them avoid any costly trial and error processes to reach a solution. This European company produces electrical enclosures and cable management systems using a typical turret punching/forming machine. It wanted to use the minimum material thickness in order to reduce the cost of the component. However, this item is part of a walkway used in a cable management system, so the component needed to be strong enough to be walked on, without deformation. So basically, the company needed to combine light weight material with structural strength and presented the applications specialists at MATE Tooling Ð represented in Australia and New Zealand by Maxitec – with this very common, yet always challenging task of combining structural strength with minimum material thickness. The solution was to implement a non-spring loaded custom beaded emboss using the MATE tooling. A beaded embossing or bend is a common way to add strength to a sheet metal part. As the material is deformed, the effective material thickness increases to make it more stiff. One of the strongest natural shapes is a hexagon. This hexagonal solution using MATE tooling combines the natural strength of a […]

PowerMILL offers safest-ever machining

Delcam has released the 2011 version of its PowerMILL CAM system for five-axis and high-speed machining. This release makes the programming of safe toolpaths easier than ever thanks to new stock-model-engagement options that protect both the cutting tool and the machine from excessive loading. Other enhancements include new editing capabilities to simplify the machining of duplicate items; more versatile control of feed-rates for leads and links; and extra functionality for sketching, plus the completion of the move to the new clearer forms for the complete range of strategies. The options to optimise tool loading will help overcome a constant conflict for programmers. On the one hand, they want to maximise productivity by setting feed-rates as fast as their machines will allow; on the other hand, they need to ensure safe speeds that will not break the tool. The need for safe machining has, of course, become more critical as a growing number of companies are introducing lights-out, unmanned operation overnight or during weekends. A number of CAM programs incorporate strategies based on the extent of cutter engagement to give more consistent loading on the tool and so allow higher feed-rates. However, these options are usually limited to the initial roughing operations, or to only roughing and rest-roughing. PowerMILLÕs new stock engagement technology can also be employed with all of the systemÕs finishing and rest-finishing strategies so ensuring that the safest-possible toolpaths are run on the machine at all stages. The key to this more comprehensive solution is the accuracy of the stock models produced within PowerMILL after each machining stage has been completed. These models give a precise representation of the material still remaining on the part and are used to ensure that the cutter is never asked to remove more material than it can safely cut. At the same […]

We can catch Australia – by manufacturing our way to success

There is only one way we will catch Australia in wage rates and standard of living, and that is by growing our manufacturing sector. Various reports have concluded productivity in New Zealand is low compared to other developed countries and while that is true as an average across the whole economy, it is not true in the manufacturing sector. Professor Paul Callaghan from Victoria University has calculated what we need to produce per employee to catch up with Australia and manufacturing is clearly miles ahead of any other sector. By his calculation we need to exceed $143,000 of revenue per employee. Manufacturing revenue per employee is $240,000 (total manufacturing) or $250,000 (manufactured exports). Fonterra comes in at $550,000 revenue per employee and Fisher and Paykel healthcare comes in at $400,000. This is clearly the way to go, we need more manufacturers with high productivity and we need them to grow their business. While tourism is a high export earner for the country and is very important, its productivity per employee is relatively low. Tourism’s economic contribution divided by the number of full time employees is $77,814 revenue per employee, well below the $143,000 we need to catch Australia. It is well known that in order to have a better standard of living, the most important factor is our productivity. Productivity, some economists say, is not everything, but is nearly everything. Productivity does not mean working harder, it means working smarter. Making and exporting higher value, higher profit goods and services, per hour worked. I include services in the definition of manufacturing, because modern manufacturers are increasingly adding services into their business offering. Take Tait Electronics as an example. They don’t just manufacture and sell hand held communication devices for police and other emergency services; they also provide all the necessary […]

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