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Big Changes

What the Tax Working Group has come back with, however, is unacceptable in its current form. – Dieter Adam, CE The Manufacturers’ Network These are times of big change for us at The Manufacturers’ Network, and for our relationship with our members. We are in the process of transferring all of our activities to the EMA, and further to the Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce and the other regional business organisations, Business Central and OSEA. This will significantly enhance our ability to reach out to and represent the community of New Zealand manufacturers across the country. It will also challenge our ability to deliver our current services – and new ones we are developing, like our new Productivity Benchmarking service, which we are about to launch – to a much wider membership. These are exciting times for us! These are also challenging times for New Zealand manufacturers. Take, for example, the rapidly escalating ‘battle of the systems’ between the USA and China, which really is a battle for primacy in the world’s economy. It leaves countries like New Zealand ‘stuck in the middle’, feeling that whatever choice they make may be the wrong one, and preferring not to have to choose, of course. It’s Huawei today, which may not have much impact on our members, but what comes next in terms of companies on either side, which some of our manufacturers may be suppliers to, being hit by punitive measures? Barriers to free trade come in many guises and compared to other sectors of our economy manufacturers may have had a relatively easy ride until now. Is that about to change? At home, we see the ‘new’ government bringing in changes in many areas, or at least trying to do so. Three are of particular importance to manufacturers – […]

New Plymouth facing unique challenges

A CouncilMARK report issued for New Plymouth District Council says that while the region has experienced relative prosperity and growth, changes to the economy of New Zealand’s ‘energy capital’ may present challenges. The report, released by the Independent Assessment Board, delivered a BBB grade to the council, praising their extensive communication and engagement with the community and strategy in addressing risks to the region’s key industries, particularly in relation to a zero-carbon economy. CouncilMARK incorporates an independent assessment system that assesses how councils are performing and is designed to support individual councils to improve the service and value they provide. Councils receive an overall performance rating, from C to AAA from the Independent Assessment Board as well as commentary on their performance. The report found that economic risks should serve as a catalyst for further analysis on the affordability of the current service levels in response to economic changes, as well as developing better budget resilience. “The council are rightly looking at how the region’s economy can transition and grow beyond the traditional industries of energy and dairy, which have been cornerstones of the region for over 40 years,” says CouncilMARK Independent Assessment Board Chair Toby Stevenson. “It’s clear that New Plymouth residents have great lifestyle opportunities on their doorsteps, which the council and staff are seeking to grow. They’ve done a great job of consulting with the community, who have called out zero waste, three waters, the CBD and the Walkway as priority areas.” “Having a tighter focus on a smaller number of goals could assist the council with making the most of opportunities. The council have good operational strength across their roading and three waters networks, and their day-to-day services could be enhanced by similar planning and performance measures.” LGNZ President Dave Cull praised the council for undergoing […]

Overworked and underpaid: the revival of strikes in New Zealand

Last year, more than 70,000 workers walked off their jobs in New Zealand – the highest number of people on strike since the late 1980s. The reasons for the strike wave are political and economic. Strikes were supposedly something of the alleged “bad old days” of the 1970s. But during the first year of Aotearoa New Zealand’s Labour-led government, a strike revival ensued. At least 70,000 people, if not more, walked out last year. Strikers included nurses, teachers, bus drivers, port workers, fast-food workers, retail workers, steel workers and public servants. While official figures for 2018 have not been published yet, this represents the highest number of people involved in strikes since the late 1980s, and possibly the most working days not worked due to stoppages since 1992. For many strikers, it represents the first time they have participated in walkouts. An unexpected strike wave? According to some, this strike wave was not supposed to happen. Trade unions were thought to be too weak to strike. One employment relations textbook asserted in 2009 that “strike action is seen increasingly as an inefficient and outdated strategy”. The Public Service Association (PSA) secretary Erin Polaczuk recently argued that as unions today have become more feminised and mature, they have increasingly avoided “stupid oppositional behaviour”. Nevertheless, women have led the strike wave. Women made up most participants in most strikes, and female union delegates were often at the forefront of disputes. Indeed, stoppages have mostly occurred in majority female occupations such as teaching, nursing and government sector work in general. It is as difficult to predict strike waves as it is to predict recessions. This is because both are the result of many complex causes, including the unpredictable nature of human agency. This wave is no exception. Political causes Political factors help to partly explain the stoppages, but cannot […]

Australia and New Zealand Receive Standardisation for Oral Fluid Drug Testing

The Drug Detection Agency (TDDA) welcomes the new standards for oral fluid testing processes and technologies. TDDA has long believed that oral fluid testing technology and processes required reviewing and to become a joint Australian and New Zealand standard. The AS/NZS 4760:2019 (CH-039 Detection of Drugs in Oral Fluids) Oral Fluid testing standard by Standards Australia and Standards New Zealand dictates consistency around testing methodology, the quality of devices required, and how labs manage test samples. “The new standardisation delivers value to employees and employers alike. It provides a framework and guidelines to ensure that oral fluid testing is carried out in a way that will deliver accurate, reliable results,” says Kirk Hardy, CEO, TDDA. TDDA is on track to be the first to achieve cross Tasman accreditation and provide independent and reliable externally audited oral fluid drug testing collection service to International Standards Organisation (ISO) standards. TDDA-Omega laboratories is also seeking accreditation to AS/NZS 4760: 2019 for the provision of laboratory confirmation services. “If a drug tester follows the standard, they’ll use a process that ensures the testing carried out meets the requirements of the AS/NZS 4760:2019, giving it more scientific rigour to withstand legal challenges. We’re also in the process of verifying a device to meet the criteria of the new standard” says Hardy. Even with standardisation improvements with collection, Hardy warns that oral fluid testing isn’t a catch-all testing product, and not all workplace testers are accredited or will follow the standard. “Businesses who care about compliance and the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 need to make sure they’re using an independent, accredited, certified tester that follows the new standard. But companies also need to understand it’s not a one size fits all test,” says Hardy. TDDA recommends utilising a range of different testing methods, […]

Hawke’s Bay businesses, councils partner on climate action

By Adele Rose – 3R Group Chief Executive When it comes to action on human-accelerated climate change in New Zealand we often look to conversations held in the main centres like Auckland and Wellington, or action from central Government to lead the way. But Hawke’s Bay is showing regional Aotearoa is just as capable of taking the lead. Some of the region’s five councils have been working on a response plan to climate change since 2014, and now the business community, alongside the councils, is coming together to tackle the issue through the Climate Action HB initiative. Achieving real and meaningful action on accelerated climate change has, and always will, rely on partnerships. Partnerships between people, businesses, councils and governments. In Hawke’s Bay you need look little further than the coastal erosion to see the very real effects of human accelerated climate change on the region. The economy of the Bay is heavily reliant on tourism and the primary industries, and while sea level rise is most often cited when talking about climate change, factors like warmer winters, fewer frosts and unseasonable wet and dry periods will impact the primary sector particularly, and the region overall. These impacts have obvious consequences for everyone – from residents living next to the sea, to orchards in the plains and farms in the hill country. Other impacts, such as food security, go beyond the region itself. The critical need to address these impacts was seen in the attendance of nearly 120 representatives from Hawke’s Bay businesses and councils at the inaugural event for Climate Action HB, an initiative led by 3R Group with support from Hawke’s Bay Regional Council. Attendees at the Business CoLab event on November 25 in Napier included major regional stakeholders such as Napier Port, Hawke’s Bay Airport, and Pan […]

Reaping the benefits of smart manufacturing

Manufacturers can have many hundreds or even thousands of endpoints in their network, from laptops, PCs, and mobile devices to networked production-line machines spread throughout the facility. These connected systems deliver operational efficiencies and even competitive advantage to manufacturers. Smart manufacturing has helped manufacturers achieve productivity gains of 17 to 20 per cent and quality gains of 15 to 20 per cent. However, smart manufacturing also introduces cyber risks, which must be addressed in the most time-efficient, reliable way. Steve Hunter, senior director, Asia Pacific and Japan, ForeScout, said, “In the past, production-line machines were air-gapped; they didn’t have a network connection, so they were safe from cyberthreats. Now, with every machine and device connected to the corporate network and the internet to facilitate smart manufacturing, that safety buffer is removed. Therefore, it’s essential for manufacturers to know what devices are in their network, how vulnerable they are, and their compliance status. All endpoints, including Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, need to be secured.” In many industries, endpoint management is conducted using agents, with IT departments choosing a combination of agents to address their specific requirements. However, the use of agents can create performance issues in manufacturing operations, meaning an agent-based approach is not well-suited to manufacturers. When networked operational or production-line devices are scanned, it can impair performance, reboot the device, or even crash it entirely. This causes expensive downtime. These devices are often vulnerable because they’re older, rarely patched, and less protected against threats. Even new IoT devices can become exploited, because they’re generally not designed with security top of mind. These new IoT devices are often deployed without configuring the few security settings available to them, such as leaving default credentials in place. This lets malicious actors use the unsecured IoT device to access the entire network. […]

Construction and mining the next frontier of robotics adoption

In the past, for heavy industry-related locations like mines, robots were controlled by teleoperation or navigate autonomously across uneven terrain or within subterranean interiors with little to no human interaction. This was the same for construction sites, where robots must understand changing floor plans, keep track of inventory, and navigate stairs. Thanks to advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI), wireless telecommunications, location-based technologies, and navigation systems, this is being realised. Modern robotics tend to be associated with either indoor environments like factories and warehouses, or in the home. But there is a multitude of other, less structured and more challenging environments where AMRs are only just beginning to proliferate. Advanced mobility enabling autonomous navigation will empower robotics vendors in construction, extraction and elsewhere. While in 2018, 28.7% of commercial robots’ shipments had some degree of autonomous navigation, in 2027, the percentage will be 79.3%. Construction robots may be involved in specific tasks, such as brick-laying, painting, loading, and bulldozing. We can expect hundreds of AMRs in the next 2 years, mainly doing haulage. These robots help to protect workers from a hazardous working environment, reduce workplace injuries, and address labour shortages. For the robots to operate in challenging, hostile, and unsafe environments without human assistance, the key beneficiaries will be OEMs who choose to adopt navigation-providing operation systems (OS) from third-party providers. Specialist robot companies have a greater opportunity to attract capital due to increased interest, and with the formulation of cloud services from AWS and Google, have more opportunity than ever to develop advanced capabilities like mobile manipulation and advanced analytics. However, they will struggle to get an in-house solution off the ground without partnering with third-party providers on localisation and navigation technologies. Given the complexity of localisation, mapping, and navigation alone, a delegation of responsibility to third-party providers is […]

Schneider Electric partners with Nozomi Networks to secure and protect critical infrastructure

Schneider Electric has signed a global partnership agreement with Nozomi Networks, the leader in industrial cybersecurity and operational visibility. Under the terms of the agreement, Schneider Electric will collaborate with Nozomi to provide customers in the industrial manufacturing and critical infrastructure segments advanced anomaly detection, vulnerability assessment and other cybersecurity solutions and services, helping them to control, prevent and mitigate risks to their operations and business performance. The partnership enables Schneider Electric to respond more aggressively to immediate demand for effective, operational technology cybersecurity services, solutions and expertise in oil and gas, power, building automation and other industrial sectors. Schneider Electric will offer Nozomi Networks’ advanced solutions for industrial control system cyber resiliency and real-time operational visibility to customers worldwide. Schneider Electric will combine its EcoStruxure IIoT process automation and industrial control solutions with Nozomi’s SCADAguardian platform for real-time operations visibility, including: • Advanced ICS Cybersecurity Solutions: The bundled solution will deliver the deep network visibility and OT cybersecurity industry operators require in one, comprehensive and highly scalable solution. Nozomi Networks SCADAguardian solution provides accurate asset discovery, superior threat detection and flexible and scalable deployment options to Schneider Electric customers. • Nozomi Networks Certified Consultants: Schneider Electric consultants around the world will continue to be trained as certified Nozomi Networks engineers, scaling to support clients throughout their cybersecurity solution implementation, and providing expert OT threat hunting and forensic analysis. • SCADAguardian Live in Schneider Electric Sites: Schneider Electric customers can experience Nozomi Networks’ real-time operational visibility and cybersecurity solutions via live threat scenarios running in Schneider Electric sites around the world. EcoStruxure is Schneider Electric’s open, interoperable, IoT-enabled system architecture and platform. EcoStruxure delivers enhanced value around safety, reliability, efficiency, sustainability and connectivity for customers. EcoStruxure leverages advancements in IoT, mobility, sensing, cloud, analytics and cybersecurity to deliver Innovation at […]

Capital gains tax disappointing for business

Key areas of the Tax Working Group Final Report released today were disappointing, says Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Leeann Watson. One of the most important and contentious elements of The Report, aimed at addressing the structure, fairness and balance of the New Zealand tax system, was around capital gains tax. Ms Watson says the proposed capital gains rules should not be implemented because of the significant impact on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). “We support the Government’s review to ensure that our tax system is fit for purpose for a changing business environment. However, there is very real concern that taxing both shares and business assets under a comprehensive capital gains tax regime would create double taxation. “This could disadvantage New Zealanders owning shares in New Zealand and create inconsistencies around overall taxation on investment.” Ms Watson says a capital gains tax would be unlikely to achieve the desired outcome for business. “There is concern around the effect for capital markets in a capital constrained economy with a long-term savings deficit. Adding further tax on the savings and investment of those New Zealanders in the middle-income bracket won’t drive the deepening and broadening of the capital base that we need for business investment, which is higher productivity and wages. “While the impetus behind the changes are aspirational, there is little to indicate they would significantly reduce overinvestment in housing or increase ‘tax fairness’. In addition, there is concern that additional administration costs and investment distortions could outweigh any benefits and potentially discourage much-needed investment and innovation by locking businesses into current asset holdings. “It is vitally important that we remain competitive as a country and are not continuing to add further compliance for business and in particular small business, who represent 97% of all businesses in our […]

How much do robots affect jobs and productivity?

Robots’ capacity for autonomous movement and their ability to perform an expanding set of tasks have captured writers’ imaginations for almost a century. Recently robots have emerged from the pages of science fiction novels into the real world, and discussions of their possible economic effects have become ubiquitous (see e.g. The Economist 2014, Brynjolfsson and McAfee 2014). But a serious problem inhibits these discussions – there has so far been no systematic empirical analysis of the effects that robots are already having. Industrial robots increase labour productivity, total factor productivity, and wages. At the same time, while industrial robots had no significant effect on total hours worked, there is some evidence that they reduced the employment of low skilled workers, and to a lesser extent also middle skilled worker. A first glance What exactly are industrial robots? A machine is an industrial robot if it can be programmed to perform physical, production-related tasks without the need of a human controller. (The technical definition refers to a “manipulating industrial robot as defined by ISO 8373: An automatically controlled, reprogrammable, multipurpose manipulator programmable in three or more axes, which may be either fixed in place or mobile for use in industrial automation applications”.) Typical applications of industrial robots include assembling, dispensing, handling, processing (for instance, cutting), and welding – all of which are prevalent in manufacturing industries – as well as harvesting (in agriculture) and inspecting of equipment and structures (common in power plants). From 1993-2007, the ratio of the number of robots to hours worked increased on average by about 150%. The industries that increased robot use most rapidly were the producers of transportation equipment, chemical industries, and metal industries. Addressing reverse causality Could it be that higher productivity growth causes a larger increase in robot use, rather than the other […]

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