Developments

How to get Asia-savvy

Want to break into an Asian market? New Zealand businesses need to think big but start small and get “Asian-savvy”, an expert in Asian business networks says. And that will take a shift in mind-set among some of our businesses as well as serious investment in upskilling. Professor Natasha Hamilton-Hart, the new director of the New Zealand Asia Institute, says New Zealand is “behind the curve” in developing a workforce with the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in Asian markets. “We’ve increased sales to the region, but we can’t rely on the low-hanging fruit to grow in the longer term,” she says. She says the $34.5 million government funding announced in June to set up new Centres of Asia-Pacific Excellence is welcome but overdue. “Australia is way ahead educating for Asia engagement, and even Singapore – which is squarely in and of the region – has recognised since the 1980s that it needs to actively develop the skills and mind-sets for expanding in the region. It won’t happen automatically.” Professor Hamilton-Hart has previously held positions at the National University of Singapore and the Australian National University. She introduced the Asia Savvy Conference at the University of Auckland Business School on Saturday 27 August. The conference, in its sixth year, is student-driven and supported by the institute. Speakers shared their experiences of doing business in Asia, emerging market trends and opportunities for New Zealand entrepreneurs. Being Asia-savvy not only helps entering a market, it means you’re less likely to be blindsided by predictable events, Professor Hamilton-Hart says. Her advice to businesses wanting to take on an Asian market: Really get to grips with your market. Beyond standard market research, businesses need to understand the wider culture and politics at play. Share stories of failure as well success. “There could be […]

Image analysis system detects facilities failures

An image analysis system supports quality improvements and increased productivity by detecting signs of operational failures in production line facilities and deviations in worker activities on the front lines of manufacturing. The image analysis system is expected to be able to dramatically improve the in-process guarantee rate(1) for products through a transition from “representative point management” in quality assurance based on lots to “all point management” (continuous monitoring of the status of Man, Machine, and Material) based on individual product serial numbers. Furthermore, by shifting the role of on-site management supervisors from a focus on “after the fact” measures to the monitoring of trends and preventative measures using obtained image data, they will tie these activities into the prevention of failures before they occur. In recent years, mega-recalls in various industries have brought about a renewed awareness of the importance of accumulating and managing manufacturing performance data to identify the causes of product defects, and to implement countermeasures. In the advanced manufacturing workplaces of the future, it will be necessary to gather a wide range of work-related performance data, including manufacturing performance and inspection data and the results of visual checks by workers. It aims to reach new traceability by establishing mutual links among these different forms of product performance data. All of these will be achieved by introducing new manufacturing execution systems that incorporate IoT technologies. The image analysis system uses depth cameras to extract 3-D forms in order to measure worker activities, and obtains positional information on human joints, such as hands, elbows, and shoulders. Then, based on frontline interviews and observations, it derives standard behaviour models that exclude information not directly related to tasks (e.g., the length of arms and legs). Furthermore, it identifies deviations in worker activities by using statistical comparisons with those standard behaviour models. […]

Ballance, the $1 billion co-op

Ballance Agri-Nutrients is a farmer-owned co-operative supporting New Zealand farmers to operate more productively, profitably and sustainably. CEO, Mark Wynne reflects to NZ Manufacturer on the way ahead and staying close to farmers. We’re close to a $1 billion business with roots that go right back to the 1800s when sulphur was mined at White Island in the Bay of Plenty and shipped to Tauranga for refining. Across our long history, our reason for being has remained the same – ensure farmers have sustainable, affordable access to quality nutrients to support their farm’s productivity. From our core business of fertiliser manufacturing, supply, sales and advice, we have grown to offer farmers a full suite of science-backed nutrient products and services. This enables us to help farmers achieve soil and animal nutrition and productivity with a minimal environmental footprint. Our agri-nutrient advice is complemented by award-winning technology products which provide a wealth of information to enable farmers to make the best management decisions for their business. We cover the country, with one-on-one specialist advice on-farm backed up by a network of rural merchant supply partners, services centres, consignment stores, manufacturing sites and our own agricultural aviation services. As a co-operative, we’re owned by farmers and they share in our success receiving annual rebates on fertiliser purchases, a share in our profits through dividends and increases in the value of their shares in us. In 2015 we distributed $76 million to shareholders. We’ve gone from strength to strength with more than 19,000 farmers signed on as shareholders. Our shareholders’ equity is $435 million and has grown by 31 percent over the past five years. Made in NZ for NZ We source raw materials from around the world and within New Zealand to produce high quality farm and animal nutrients designed for New […]

Technology preserves water resources

Hynds Environmental Ltd was established in 2001 as a boutique provider of stormwater and wastewater treatment solutions. Their team of engineers has developed a range of treatment technologies over the years, and is a market leader in this field. In particular, the Hynds Lifestyle Domestic Wastewater Treatment System ranks in the top four of all systems tested at the On-site Effluent Treatment National Testing Program (OSET-NTP). Hynds Environmental is now fully integrated into Hynds Pipe Systems Ltd with dedicated environmental practitioners, supported by a raft of engineers strategically located throughout the country. Rod Murray, Hynds Environmental Chief Engineer, explains that his team’s primary goal is to provide appropriate water management technologies; to help customers meet their compliance requirements; preserve the receiving environment and natural resources; and avoid wasting precious water resources: “We are providing a key need of our society”, explains Rod. “That of treating stormwater run-off, wastewater, and liquid wastes, so that rather than damage the environment, the water can be safely re-applied to the land.” The company was originally created to provide sustainable wastewater treatment practices for private residences, and small communities that did not have a formal sewage treatment process. They quickly progressed to include the provision of stormwater and industrial waste treatment solutions for the commercial and industrial sector: “We work with farms, marinas, industrial sites, supermarkets, restaurants – anywhere there’s water-borne waste”, sums up Rod. Because each client has different needs, Hynds Environmental ensures that the appropriate technology is specified and designed for each project. Customisation is essential if water management systems are to be effective, but cost can be a major issue for clients. “Customers often want to be able to buy “off-the-shelf” systems, but the problem is that every site and each waste stream is subtly different”, explains Rod. “So, in order to […]

Creating a new era of connected consumer products

by Diego Tamburini, Manufacturing Industry Strategist at Autodesk Every day, more and more connected devices are coming to market, from phones and home appliances, to cars and buildings. Their potential to make consumers’ everyday lives more efficient, convenient, and easier is endless — but they also present new challenges to the designers, engineers, manufacturers and entrepreneurs who are building these connected products. With its rich heritage of creating powerful design solutions, the technology industry is well positioned to share the experience and knowledge that will help today’s makers tackle those challenges, and shift the way we think about designing consumer devices for the new connected future. Let’s take a look at the current “Era of Connection” and some of the trends at work. First and foremost, the lines between hardware and software — and between the physical and digital worlds— continue to blur as the devices that make up the Internet of Things (IoT) become more common. The Nest thermostat might have been the first IoT device to capture the public imagination, but more and more devices will combine a functional purpose with the ability to gather data, analyze it, and act upon it. Think of flair, whose teams in China and the US have developed a sensor-enabled product that replaces traditional HVAC vents to ensure a comfortable temperature in all rooms of the home throughout the entire day. flair can be controlled on your phone, over the Cloud, or it can be left to optimize climate control on its own. After living in Asia for 9 years, Olivier Risse, the founder of Floatility was inspired to solve the massive transportation problem facing most cities – and he believed that cars weren’t the best solution, especially for short distances. Developed across teams in Hamburg, Stuttgart, Singapore and Jakarta, the answer […]

Use the super computer in your pocket for new levels of productivity

Anyone with a smartphone or tablet now can connect securely in an industrial setting to access performance metrics and data analytics. By Kyle Reissner, mobility platform leader, Rockwell Automation You can use any digital device to easily access performance metrics and data analytics from your plant floor and machines. How are you using that freedom? Your smartphone is now as powerful as your desktop. That mobility is more than viewing a webpage or report on your tablet; it’s a fundamental shift in how we live our lives. Seventy percent of us carry a smartphone or tablet into the office. We are mobile. Yet many of us still live as if the world is flat. You know the analogy. For thousands of years people lived like they would fall off the edge of the earth if they ventured too far from what they knew. Then we realized the world is a sphere, and that opened a world of possibility. Since the 1980s, we’ve used the Purdue Enterprise Reference Architecture to define clear layers between systems. Our first shot at mobility was the replicate a web browser in a Palm Treo. It was a good start, but it fell short of the ultimate user experience. Some people are using the latest devices to extend 20-year-old technology. That type of mobility is resulting in very small increases in productivity, in the range of 1 to 2 percent. I suggest a loftier goal for mobility —10 percent — and for everyone in the plant, not just one or two people. It’s possible because we now have the technology that lets people do things they couldn’t do before while reducing the cost of curiosity to literally zero. Now, anyone with a device can connect securely, expand their area of influence, deploy a system more quickly […]

Fujitsu develops cyber attack technology

KAWASAKI, Japan- Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. today announced the development of new technology that, in response to targeted cyber-attacks on specific organisations, rapidly analyses damage status after an attack has been detected. In the event of malware attacks, which infect organisations to cause a great deal of damage, including information leaks, it was previously necessary to analyse a range of logs on networks and devices to clarify attack status. However, in order to grasp the whole picture of the attack, analysis by an expert over the course of many hours was required. Now, by automating and improving the efficiency of the information collection components necessary for attack status analysis via network communications analysis, Fujitsu Laboratories has developed forensics technology to analyse the status of a targeted cyber-attack in a short period of time and show the whole picture at a glance. This means that it has become possible to do security incident analysis, which previously required an expert and took a great deal of time, in a short period without an expert, and come up with rapid and comprehensive countermeasures before the damage spreads. This technology will be exhibited at Fujitsu Forum 2016, to be held on May 19 and 20 at Tokyo International Forum. Background In recent years there has been a sharp rise in increasingly ingenious targeted cyber-attacks that aim to steal particular information from specific organisations or individuals. After having infected an organisation, attackers can remotely control their malware, causing important information to be leaked outside the organisation. This results in huge damage, not only to the organisation attacked but also to its partners and customers. As this sort of malware attack is extremely difficult to completely prevent, there is a pressing need for countermeasures predicated on malware intrusion. Issues At present, the usual method to assess the […]

Autodesk Inventor 2017 unveiled

Autodesk has unveiled Inventor 2017, one of the most advanced 3D modelling solutions for manufacturing industry professionals. The latest version in innovative software for designers and engineers, Inventor 2017 delivers new professional-grade design, interoperability and communication tools aimed at supporting customers ever-expanding needs. “The manufacturing industry is witnessing an evolution of the role of the mechanical engineer. They are no longer solely responsible for the design of complex mechanical systems, but are often also tasked with complete product definition, design and delivery,” said Derrek Cooper, director of the Inventor product line. “With this latest version of Inventor, Autodesk is delivering new capabilities aimed at supporting all aspects of this expanding role.” Based on the requests of Inventor’s more than 11,000 alpha and beta testers and IdeaStation community, the company built Inventor 2017 to serve the expanding role of the modern professional engineer and provide customers with features aimed at simplifying the new aspects of their jobs: Professional-grade Design Tools help users design faster and optimise performance from the outset and include:  Enhanced sketching, part modelling, assembly management, surfacing and sheet metal capabilities so users can capture and develop design ideas quickly and easily.  Additional Shape Generator capabilities such as symmetry and member size controls that help users explore lightweight designs and improve product performance. New Interoperability Tools help to pull disparate aspects of a project together, regardless of the discipline or software that was originally used and include: Expanded AnyCAD tools allow users to easily integrate non-native mechanical design data into Inventor models without translation, now including associative connections with the industry standard STEP format. Inventor’s latest update includes hundreds of enhancements including several customer-requested modelling tools. Shape Generator, an integrated design optimization tool powered by Autodesk’s Nastran technology, guides users in the design of structurally efficient parts. […]

A more useful model of tertiary education

By Dieter Adam, CEO of the NZMEA Education is key to ensuring our people will be the best they can be and creating the most productive, capable and innovative economy we can. Human capital is just as important as any other input in a manufacturing business; if not the most important one. However, current research suggests that our return on investment in the tertiary sector is low compared to other OECD countries. Anecdotally, many businesses feel the reality of this when they have trouble filling skilled positions, and at times have to look overseas to find skills that just are not being delivered by the current system. The Productivity Commission is now looking into this problem and how new models of tertiary education could provide better outcomes. Generally, discussions about tertiary education can be dominated by established views and self-serving PR – it is great to see the Productivity Commission undertake a wide and data-driven examination. A root cause of the problems in our tertiary sector lies in its overarching focus on quantity over quality, ‘bums on seats’, in large part due to the funding policies that reward maximising the number of students enrolled, independent of what and how these students are doing. There is also a drive towards enrolling international students, which brings income to the institution and export revenue to the country, but can be driven by offering courses that attract large numbers of students and not necessarily what we need to grow our economy. Forecasts for domestic student numbers show a drop due to demographic factors. It is no coincidence that we currently hear a lot about the financial benefits of a university education, without real consideration for other options that may have better career pathways and opportunities, such as Polytech, trades or apprenticeship education. Many people will be […]

Autodesk Inventor 2017 unveiled

Autodesk has unveiled Inventor 2017, one of the most advanced 3D modelling solutions for manufacturing industry professionals. The latest version in innovative software for designers and engineers, Inventor 2017 delivers new professional-grade design, interoperability and communication tools aimed at supporting customers ever-expanding needs. “The manufacturing industry is witnessing an evolution of the role of the mechanical engineer. They are no longer solely responsible for the design of complex mechanical systems, but are often also tasked with complete product definition, design and delivery,” said Derrek Cooper, director of the Inventor product line. “With this latest version of Inventor, Autodesk is delivering new capabilities aimed at supporting all aspects of this expanding role.” Based on the requests of Inventor’s more than 11,000 alpha and beta testers and IdeaStation community, the company built Inventor 2017 to serve the expanding role of the modern professional engineer and provide customers with features aimed at simplifying the new aspects of their jobs: Professional-grade Design Tools help users design faster and optimize performance from the outset and include:  Enhanced sketching, part modelling, assembly management, surfacing and sheet metal capabilities so users can capture and develop design ideas quickly and easily.  Additional Shape Generator capabilities such as symmetry and member size controls that help users explore lightweight designs and improve product performance. New Interoperability Tools help to pull disparate aspects of a project together, regardless of the discipline or software that was originally used and include: Expanded AnyCAD tools allow users to easily integrate non-native mechanical design data into Inventor models without translation, now including associative connections with the industry standard STEP format. Inventor’s latest update includes hundreds of enhancements including several customer-requested modelling tools. Shape Generator, an integrated design optimization tool powered by Autodesk’s Nastran technology, guides users in the design of structurally efficient parts. […]

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