Developments

SouthMACH 17 is a wrap!

And what a show it was! The second time for SouthMACH under new ownership of XPO Exhibitions was a ‘blockbuster’ in 2017. Held at the Horncastle Arena, Christchurch on the 24th and 25th of May, the Mainland’s largest event for the manufacturing, engineering and technology industries has been deemed a great success by both visitors and exhibitors. Here are just a few comments; “2015 was great but 2017 even better full credit to all organisers, Well done” “Great show good to see it changing with the times” “SouthMach was a great show and we had excellent sales from it, so thank you!” (3D Printing Systems) “We really enjoyed the show and are happy with the results” (Global Shop Solutions) “Thank you and your team for delivering another good show” (Baskiville) Attracting more than 100 international and local exhibiting companies across a range of industries and a strong attendance of industry visitors, SouthMACH 17 has once again proven the South Island “Heartland of Manufacturing” is in good shape. Exhibitors, although still following up on their leads have acknowledged the high calibre of the visitors with genuine buying interest. The organisers advise that audited visitor numbers of trade attendees will be available in a week or so from the Circulations Audit Board – however it’s the excellent quality of visitor that has resonated with exhibitors. The show delivered a broad spectrum of new products and innovations – a mix of kiwi made/designed and/or internationally sourced. On display was a showcase of the latest in CNC machinery (and of particular note this was the highest number of CNC machines ever seen at the show), Industrial Automation and 3D printing technology. A very busy industry led seminar program touched on all the current worldwide industry topics from Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things […]

Student designing his own solutions to new challenges

Mark Cooper is a person who gets on with things. Mark was a shepherd and began coming up with ways which would allow him to still use a ute. He needed a hoist to get his electric wheelchair into the restricted space in the back, but could find nothing available which met his needs, so he made his own device. He designed and built a large arm which lifts his chair neatly into the back cabin, just above where the sheepdogs fit. Mark faced another issue with the ute, however. He needed to be able to easily access the vehicle cab when he left his chair, but most off-the-shelf solutions required extensive modifications to the ute, which he wanted to avoid. With the help of an engineering firm in Nelson, he solved that problem too. He came up with another design utilising a support platform which fits into the seat frame, allowing him to get in and out of the driver’s seat. But he didn’t stop at the ute. Mark has designed a wheelchair hoist for his jetboat too. With no engineering background he has gone through a process of trial and error, with some help from the professionals. Mark is hoping to move into a rural valuation, rural banking or consultancy role when he finishes his studies, though his hoists suggest a future in design. He is doing engineering as part of his degree, but has no special projects lined up, and does not see any commercial potential in the things he has made so far. They were all made to meet specific needs. However, if those needs change, or he has new ones and can’t find anything that meets them, who knows what else he might come up with?

More practical and applied skills needed

Commenting on the Science Technicians Workforce report by the Royal Society Te Apārangi, BusinessNZ Chief Executive Kirk Hope said the problem of undersupply of technical science skills was similar to shortages in other areas such as engineering. The Royal Society report showed that science technicians are increasingly needed in fields such as high-tech manufacturing, food processing, high tech, biotech and research & development, but that there is a shortage of practical and applied skills in these areas. “While many science technicians hold degree-level qualifications, those qualifications often do not cover the practical skills needed, such as laboratory practice or operating sophisticated science equipment,” Kirk Hope said. “BusinessNZ would like to see the more practical science technician qualifications at polytechnics and technical institutes better recognised by careers advice at secondary level and by employers, to ensure a better flow of well-prepared science technicians into the workforce.”

Managing contractor inductions, insurances and access rights

The use and management of contractors has certainly changed dramatically over the last 10 – 15 years. It used to be that a paper sign-in book or a quick conversation with reception or a security guard was enough to allow contractors on-site. The regulatory obligation of businesses has now evolved, and the informal processes of the past are no longer enough to manage contractors on your manufacturing site. At a very basic level, to manage contractors you need to be able to: Know when they logged into and out of your site Make them aware of Health & Safety policies and any potential hazards Induct them to your site procedures and policies Keep a record of contractor insurances and when they expire As a business you have a requirement to take practical steps to keep contractors on your site safe. This doesn’t need to be a daunting task, and here are four simple guidelines to follow: Know who is on-site: Organisations throughout the world are obligated under various Acts and Regulations to ensure the safety of people while on-site. Without a robust process for reporting on non-staff presence in real-time, it’s difficult to demonstrate compliance. Maintain guest confidentiality: The privacy of your contractors is often overlooked. A handwritten visitor book is not a secure sign-in method and can surrender confidential information to other visitors at a mere glance. You could also be unwittingly showing who your business has contacts with, or which competitors might be bidding for a contract! Keep it professional: Easy-to-use contractor sign-in, ensuring in the event of an emergency you can easily account for all people on-site. Contractors are customers too: Ensure your brand is well presented every time someone interacts with it. While contractors can be managed manually, it is time consuming, expensive and hard to […]

A game-changing material

Customisation is the name of the game for Utah Trikes, a producer of trikes, quads and custom wheelchairs. President and CEO, Ashley Guy, said from the very beginning the company was all about personalisation. “We started making our quad using existing frame platforms and built custom two-wheel drive rear ends that we’d add on and effectively turn the trikes into quads. That grew into something where suddenly everybody who wanted something customised came to us.” These custom lugs, made with Stratasys FDM Nylon 12CF, are painted red after emerging from the tumbler with a smooth, polished finish. Customer Needs Drive Innovation But customisation has its obstacles, namely time and cost. “The production run might only be 100 parts and it’s hard to get your cost down with such a small run,” said Guy. Utah Trikes’ next step was trying to solve its manufacturing issues. “We have some CNC machines we ran pretty much nonstop,” Guy said. “But this was always a hassle without committing to jigs and fixtures, which meant a lot of man hours to prototype.” Also, as the parts became more complicated it became harder and harder for Utah Trikes to outsource. What Utah Trikes needed was the ability to make prototype pieces they could actually test, and that would be both cost and time efficient. About this time, 3D printing showed up on Guy’s radar. “I was intrigued but had no idea what I was looking for. When we heard about Stratasys Fortus 3D Printers, we knew we had a true production tool that could make real production parts.” FDM Nylon 12 CF A Game-Changer “The FDM Nylon 12CF is fantastic. It’s changing everything for us,” Guy said. He cites the strength of the material, as well as its soluble support as game changers. Additionally, “We can […]

Domestic sales increase

The latest New Zealand Manufacturers and Exporters Association (NZMEA) Survey of Business Conditions, completed during April 2017, shows total sales in March 2017 increased 2.93% (year on year export sales decreased by 8.10% with domestic sales increasing by 17.95%) on March 2016. In the 3 months to March, export sales decreased an average of 9.4%, and domestic sales increased 7.1% on average. The NZMEA survey sample this month covered NZ$360m in annualised sales, with an export content of 51%. Net confidence rose to 23, up from 0 in February. The current performance index (a combination of profitability and cash flow) is at 97, down from 98.3 last month, the change index (capacity utilisation, staff levels, orders and inventories) was at 102, up from 100 in the last survey, and the forecast index (investment, sales, profitability and staff) is at 105.33, down on the last result of 106.33. Anything over 100 indicates expansion. Constraints reported were 78% markets, 11% skilled staff and 11% capital. A net 38% of respondents reported a productivity increase in March. Staff numbers increased 4.31% year on year in March.

New ownership for Apex Labelling

Leading labelling systems manufacturer, Apex Labelling, will see increased investment under new ownership. Company founder Phil Etheridge has sold the company to Sam Howe who will become Managing Director and oversee the day to day running of the business, with Etheridge staying on for at least a 12-month hand over period. Established in 1977, Apex Labelling designs and builds complete labelling solutions for a wide variety of applications. The company is heavily involved in the Apiculture, wine making, breweries and FMCG industries supplying customised labelling solutions to small and large-scale customers. Howe has a background in automotive engineering and product development in the United Kingdom as well as experience here in New Zealand with Compac Sorting Equipment – a leader in high-speed pack house technology for the fresh produce industry. Howe says it will be business as usual despite the change in ownership and will look to make significant investment into the company to further increase its market share and to offer a broader range of services to its customers. “Apex equipment has a reputation for being very reliable, and we absolutely want to continue that,” says Howe. “In the short term, we’ll be looking to increase investment in R&D and to boost our engineering capacity and resources. While also having more resources on the ground to service our customer base.” With Apex Labelling systems operational through New Zealand and Australia across a broad spectrum of industries, Howe says the company will embrace more technology to improve efficiency and increase output from customer production lines. Embracing more advanced technology, Howe says the company will also make further investment into developing vision based orientation capabilities for its systems. “Customers are increasingly looking to differentiate their products through packaging. By leveraging vision recognition and camera technologies from adjacent industries, Apex is enabling […]

Time to focus on the Health in OH & S

By Mark Champion, General Manager Advocacy and Industry Relations, EMA About 1500 metres into a hillside on the West Coast northeast of Greymouth, at 3.44pm on the afternoon of November 19, 2010, a methane explosion, followed by a series of other blasts, took the lives of 29 miners. The tragedy has forever changed the lives of the families and communities of those miners, but as a result of those deaths there is now a legacy – the tragedy has forever changed the landscape of Health and Safety practise in New Zealand. In the same month as the deaths of the 29, Prime Minister of the day, John Key announced the Government would conduct a Royal Commission of Inquiry – a tool rarely used, but generally aimed at delivering fundamental change. The Commission’s final report was released nearly two years after the tragedy, in November 2012. It found the disaster was a preventable tragedy, and whilst it could not pinpoint the actual cause of a series of explosions, it slammed the mine’s management for not properly assessing health and safety risks its workforce was facing. And it highlighted the Department of Labour’s parlous record as the former regulators of health and safety in New Zealand. The lawyer representing the dead miners’ families said the tragedy was also a result of the failure in the way the legislation had been applied and a failure of the Department of Labour in its inspectorate role. The report found the mine’s board of directors ignored health and safety risks and should have closed the mine until they were properly managed. The Government moved quickly: The work of the Department of Labour was transferred to the then new Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. A dedicated inspectorate for high-hazard industries, mining and petroleum was quickly established […]

Creaform HandySCAN 3D scanner now certified by Airbus

Creaform, leader in portable 3D measurement solutions and engineering services, has had its flagship metrology-grade portable 3D scanner, the HandySCAN 3D, certified by Airbus and will be added to the company’s next Technical Equipment Manual (TEM) release. This certification comes following the recognition of HandySCAN 3D’s specifications by the French National Laboratory for Metrology & Testing (LNE). Combined with Creaform’s powerful and easy-to-use VXelements software, the scanner can reduce measurement times by up to 80% compared traditional methods. * Metrology-grade measurements for aircraft maintenance: Users can digitise dent damage on metallic parts with the accuracy of up to 0.030 mm (0.0012 in.) and a resolution of up to 0.050 mm (0.002 in.) with high repeatability and traceable certificate. * Intuitive pass/fail testing: With its intuitive design and real-time software visualization, the 3D scanner ensures ultra-short learning curves so operators can get the critical information they need to regardless of their experience levels. All they have to do is point and shoot! * Real-time visualisation and portability: Because it is so light and small, it can be used in any work environment, such as a hangar or outdoors, as it adapts to ambient and tarmac lighting. Users can easily perform 3D surface inspection of any part of an aircraft—including on and under wings. This certification by an industry leader like Airbus symbolises Creaform’s commitment to helping the aerospace as much as the automotive industries address their high-level of GD&T (Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing) requirements. With this certification, more and more industry players are turning to Creaform technologies to facilitate and speed up their 3D measurement processes to carry out accurate assessments of aircraft mechanical damage. The goal is to provide user-friendly and highly advanced solutions to get airplanes back in the skies faster and enable airlines to slash the high costs associated with […]

Kineo version 5.0 released

Version 5.0 of Kineo software components for path planning, collision detection and cable simulation is now available. Major new developments include: Kineo Flexible Cables The first release of this new software component has been developed with a specific focus on applications in robotics. The cables that power articulated robot systems are prone to failure as a result of repeated stress and collisions in the operating environment. These risks are minimised by optimising dynamic cable performance and reducing material stresses in a virtual prototype. Kineo Flexible Cables enable you to model collision-free cable behaviour in motion simulation applications. KineoWorks Interact Building applications that benefit from software components for path-planning, collision detection and cable simulation is easier than ever with the launch of KineoWorks Interact. This user-friendly tool enables you to customise a rich graphical user interface for developing your own sophisticated application based on our technologies. KineoWorks interact is perfect for OEMs and System Integrators with limited software development resources, who recognise the value in developing state-of-the-art software solutions for robot simulation, digital mock-up, accessibility studies and related applications. KineoWorks and Kineo Collision Detector KineoWorks now offers an integrated tool for computing an envelope around static and moving parts. In the case of static parts or assemblies, this “wrapping” capability generates very light-weight data representations. User-defined levels of tessellation enable you to represent space allocation, without exposing confidential product detail. In the case of moving parts, a comprehensive “swept volume” enables you to determine space allocation for moving parts. Kineo Collision Detector now offers direct support for collision and clearance analysis on point clouds, with no need to convert the point cloud data. Both components also benefit from a new C# interface, support Visual Studio 2015 as well as compatibility with the new KineoWorks Interact product for developing rich applications quickly […]

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