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IoT helps glass manufacturer disrupt industry with four-day supply delivery

New Zealand glass manufacturer, Architectural Glass Products (AGP), has deployed Internet of Things (IoT) technology from Pollin8 and Thinxtra for around-the-clock tracking of its products and delivery trolleys, ensuring it avoids losing assets, and bolstering its industry leading customer service. AGP was founded in response to market demand for high quality glass that can be manufactured and delivered in short timeframes. Established in 2019, the company has become the nation’s largest manufacturer of insulated glass units (IGUs). It currently operates a four-hectare, highly automated factory in Hautapu on the North Island. AGP owns over 1,750 purpose-built delivery trolleys, worth NZ$3,000 each, to transport its fragile, high-value glass products. To reduce the risk of these assets going missing and ensure their efficient return to the facility, AGP installed low-cost IoT tracking devices from NZ’s Pollin8, which communicate over Thinxtra’s 0G Network. This allows the manufacturer to track assets in real-time so they can be retrieved efficiently to maintain its four-day order-to-delivery service. “Before AGP came to market, the time from ordering the glass to delivery was unpredictable, and customers never quite knew specifically when their products would arrive. We have completely disrupted the market by delivering in four days,” said Gene Sanford at AGP. “Having Pollin8 and Thinxtra’s joint IoT solution in place from the start has proved central to our ability to deliver this level of service. Rather than resorting to the time consuming task of counting assets on a map with a basic GPS solution, we have a dashboard and data that inform us which customer has the trolleys and how long they have had them, enabling us to quickly take action to maintain our high service levels. “Our customers’ cash flow can be improved significantly knowing their supply will be delivered on time; getting our assets back quickly […]

Checkmarx launches supply chain solution

Checkmarx, has launched the Checkmarx Supply Chain Security solution to identify suspicious and potentially malicious open source packages across the modern application development lifecycle. Attackers are shifting their attention to the software supply chain by abusing open source software ecosystems, which have traditionally been trusted by the worldwide developer community. Checkmarx is bringing a developer-first approach to detecting supply chain attacks in code packages, leveraging a comprehensive suite of threat intelligence, behavioral intelligence and machine-learning models. Supply chain security research and thought leadership Over the past few months, the Checkmarx security research team has identified hundreds of malicious open source packages. Research articles highlighting three main types – dependency confusion, typosquatting and chainjacking – are available in the Checkmarx blog. Working in concert with Checkmarx Software Composition Analysis (SCA), Checkmarx Supply Chain Security identifies anomalies in the health and security of open source projects, analyses contributor reputation and also directly interrogates the behaviour of packages via analysis within a detonation chamber. The result is full-spectrum software supply chain insight and analysis that closes a significant gap in organisations’ application security. Current solutions in the market are reactive in that they rely on community feedback to detect vulnerable code and analyse the code, but not the person behind it. The Checkmarx Supply Chain Security solution is built on the principle of ‘don’t take code from strangers’. Checkmarx Supply Chain Security enables organisations to accelerate modern application development using open source software safely and securely through a full suite of critical capabilities: Health and Wellness and Software Bill of Materials (SBOM):Provides knowledge of the open source package and community, combined with SBOM creation. Malicious Package Detection:Detects dependency confusion, typosquatting, chainjacking and other malicious activities and packages. Contributor Reputation: Restores trust in the provenance of open source packages by eliminating the need to manually analyse contributor activity across all projects that could impact an organisation. Behaviour […]

Control what is made

-Simon Ganley, Ganley Engineering Have you ever wondered how manufacturers control what they make so they produce everything to the top of the specification and only use the minimum amount of energy to achieve that? Well, most bulk manufacturers of food and industrial products use sensors that sit in or on the line that measure what is being made to automatically control the process. And world-wide, NDC Technologies have grown to become the largest suppliers of this technology. There is a limit to how long any manufacturer can afford to fill up the scrap bin with substandard product, how long they can waste money on power consumption and how long they can compete with companies who do things properly. So, some of the things we do in NZ and elsewhere, is control the moisture and resin in MDF and particle board. This is done with a succession of sensors that control up at the wet-end and provide total control at the finished product. We control sugar moisture on-line and new developments will see the control of colour and lactose where degrees of brown have been an issue. Developed in NZ, most biscuits are now automatically process controlled with colour and moisture which saves huge amounts of energy, staff time and ingredients. The world’s largest French fries maker controls the moisture, oil, colour, bed depth and temperature at the fryer. Other makers produce anything at all. The same goes for potato and corn crisps. The big producers became big because they control what they make. Controlling production provides a fast payback. For confectionery, we control the layers of syrup when it is sprayed in the pan to make up hard-shell products and for chocolate the top producers control the moisture and cocoa butter. For milk powder, pharmaceuticals and other products made […]

Power your future with clean, renewable energy

-Barbara Nebel, CEO thinkstep-anz Every manufacturer needs reliable, affordable energy. The electricity you use, the thermal energy or coal that powers your boilers, the liquid fuels that run your vehicles – energy is one of your business’ most important resources. So, let’s take your energy requirements a step further. Adding ‘clean, renewable energy’ to the list will make your manufacturing operations less dependent on fossil fuels and help avert climate catastrophe. Include a ‘resilient source of energy’ and you’ll help your business withstand potential energy shocks as geo-political tensions grow. Reliable. Affordable. Clean. Renewable. Resilient. That’s a lot to ask of an energy source! Or is it? In this article we show you how to get started – and where to look as you become more ambitious. 1. Start with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) The 17 SDGs aim to end poverty, protect the planet, promote prosperity, and ensure peace for all. All 193 UN member states, including New Zealand, have adopted the goals. Based on our thinkstep-anz research, the Climate Change goal (SDG 13) is the top sustainability priority for companies in New Zealand and Australia – and maybe for your manufacturing business too. For many manufacturers, SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy) will be another critical goal. SDG 7 and SDG 13 share some common targets: encouraging energy resilience, moving away from fossil fuels, and improving access to clean energy. Tackling either goal is a win for your business, our planet and its people. Operational efficiency + sustainable action together! Windmill on grass field during golden hour. Photo credit: Karsten Würth on Unsplash. 2. Understand your energy consumption 100% renewable energy is SDG 7’s holy grail. The share of renewables in New Zealand’s total primary energy supply is currently around 40% (MBIE, 2020). We’re not where we […]

The sky’s the limit for growing Hutt Valley manufacturer

A high-tech design and manufacturing company based in the Hutt Valley is taking on the world while nurturing the region’s young talent. Times-7 designs and manufactures radio frequency identification antennas, otherwise known as RAIN (UHF) RFID. Founded in 2006,the company has established itself as a leading company in the global RFID market, exporting its products worldwide. Jos Kunnen, CEO and Managing Director, is committed to sustainable manufacturing in the Hutt Valley, saying, “this is the perfect place to be with other businesses around us that can support our growth and ambitions.” As uncertain as the future seemed when Covid-19 emerged, Jos says demand has skyrocketed due to an expanding market for RFID products. “We export almost everything we make, so we rely heavily on what happens in the rest of the world, especially North America and Europe.” When the first wave of covid-19 hit the US and Europe, projects stopped because no one could install products in retail stores, factories, or warehouses. Orders slowed, and supply chains became stressed and unpredictable. “Many companies suddenly realised they were not accurately tracking their inventory. They had to figure out how much stock they had but couldn’t get into their warehouses to check due to lockdown. They needed automation, so the demand for RFID products soared.” Last year, Times-7 celebrated its 15th year in business and is well-positioned for growth. Before Covid-19, companies were already piloting or deploying RFID; however, they realised they needed to speed up the implementation process. “This has driven demand. We are a part of a global RAIN Alliance group, and there are reports of others in our industry also experiencing significant growth. For context, the annual number of UHF RFID tagged items has risen from 21 billion to 28 billion over the last year. “All these tags need […]

Getting back on track

It is very good news that the country is now in Orange and flexibility around people gathering allows business to breathe a sigh of relief. We can only go up from here! As a nation – as a business nation – we have been wrapped up in Covid cotton wool for so long that many businesses closed and others will not get back to previous levels of performance. And of course, we don’t have enough skilled people for the work at hand at present and the continual threat of OE and crossing the ditch for better financial reward means it will be years before New Zealand can get back on a firm financial footing. Into the black…if at all. Keeping all the balls in the air is a challenge for this small economy, with so much demand on government finances to maintain existing systems. Closing down the country during Covid may have worked for health and safety but certainly not for business. One could argue that an amount of money needs to be spent on skilled workers, both internal and from overseas, (some will come back) to help realign the economy. Decent rates of pay so that effort is rewarded and a real incentive for improving productivity and efficiency. Keeping in mind, of course, that supply chain issues affect movement of goods, affect productivity, just as it does the current demand for New Zealand products. Changing markets, changing times. This government is going to have to live with their decision to halt the good work of so many businesses for the rest of their lives. It will haunt them to know that those who had, suddenly, had not. To arbitrarily decide who trades and who doesn’t – not based on their own personal business experience – was always going to […]

It’s all in the data

-Ian Walsh, Managing Director, Intent Group I thought I’d follow on from my pre-Christmas article “What gets measured gets managed” with the next step in continuous improvement: data analysis. This can sound ominous but how you design and implement your analytics is critical to success. Before starting to improve performance and productivity you need to identify and understand the losses and wastes associated with your process. For production lines this could be lost time, lost speed, yield losses, giveaways, lost labour, or downtime by key equipment. Ideally, this information should be grouped by cause such as planned downtime (changeovers, meetings), quality losses or rework, or some other cause. A good data system should tell you major losses, and their resulting impact and frequency. And it will be able to slice this information by shift, by day, or by any other time period you need. This data is essential to understand the nature of the loss, establish the source of the loss and then work on the approach to fixing it and futureproofing it and other systems in your workplace. At a simplistic level, this is the role data plays in your work: find, analyse, fix, prevent. It’s worth noting at this point that your data analysis can be done manually and using spreadsheets – in fact this is a position that many businesses starting to dip their toes into the data analytics pool find themselves in, but there are much better tools available now that really ought to be used. The future (and ideally present) of data analysis is in tailored Internet of Things (IoT) software where you can plug your raw data and it tells you, in real-time rather than retroactively, the story that you need to know, for fixing and optimizing processes. Why wait until the end of […]

Tough conditions see SMEs seeking new government leadership

More than two thirds of local SMEs believe the economy will decline in the coming year Dissatisfaction with Government performance sits at 60% National’s Christopher Luxon leads preferred PM poll by 17 points Low economic confidence underpinned by revenue struggles, profitability declines, rising inflation, and the lingering impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, is prompting more local SME owners and decision makers to seek a change in the country’s leadership, according to new data from the 2022 MYOB Business Monitor. The nationwide survey of over 1,000 SME owners and managers – running annually since 2009 – highlighted that confidence in the economy was approaching levels last seen during the first outbreak of the pandemic in March 2020, with large numbers of SMEs reporting falling revenue and slowing quarterly activity. More than two thirds (68%) of local SMEs believe the New Zealand economy will decline in the next 12 months. Over a quarter (29%) expect that decline to be significant, while in contrast just 16% of SMEs believe the economy will improve over the coming year. MYOB Head of Go-to Market, Jo Tozer, explains that the steep decline in SME confidence follows a perfect storm of conditions negatively affecting business operations. “If we just look back over the past six months, SMEs have had to navigate a tough second half of 2021, worsening supply chain disruptions and inflationary pressures, and a new Covid-19 outbreak hampering operations and staffing abilities in the first few months of this year,” says Jo. “It was concerning when we saw the proportion of SMEs saying they expected the economy to decline reach 55% in October last year – up from 41% in March, but these latest confidence numbers are even more worrying. “With the exception of when Covid-19 initially reached our shores and we entered the first […]

Industry 4.0 in Focus

From NZ Manufacturer magazine – April issue. -Bob Hawley, Managing Director, Red Steel Limited HERA member Red Steel had its foundations laid in the 1960s as a building company specialising in steel construction. It was officially formed in November 2002 before purchasing Woolaway Steel Structures in January 2003. Red Steel specialises in structural steelwork and undertakes contracts predominantly in the lower North Island of New Zealand from its purpose-built facility in Pandora, Napier constructed in 2015. HERA spoke to Managing Director Bob Hawley about the future of steel, the impact of Industry 4.0 and some of the challenges and opportunities the company is facing. How are you finding current business conditions? Getting work is not an issue. The challenge going forward is the planning to ensure we have the resources required to fulfil our clients’ requirements. Often we are fabricating projects before they are needed because we have the time to fabricate it now, whereas we can see in two months’ time, for example, when a client might need the job, we haven’t got the fabrication capacity. This goes against the ‘just in time’ manufacturing process but becomes necessary as construction programmes are constantly changing. Also impacting are the other trades that have constraints with material supply – we might be on programme but the project gets delayed whereas another project hasn’t. It is a big juggling act. How has your company been impacted by the pandemic? The lockdowns had a large impact, but at the moment it is probably harder. With lockdowns all trades stop working and projects just start again from where they left off. Everyone is in the same boat. At one point recently we were nearly a third of the staff down so our fabrication output was reduced but work continues on site and we are […]

SAP research finds cultivating curiosity helps Kiwi businesses retain talent

A curious workplace culture contributes to attracting and retaining talent, by increasing engagement and reducing burnout among employees. SAP has found New Zealand companies that foster a more curious culture* experience major competitive benefits, including higher levels of employee satisfaction and engagement according to new research released today. ‘Capitalising on Curiosity’ , a survey of senior business leaders and employees across Australia and New Zealand, found that employees in New Zealand who work for organisations with a curious culture are much more likely to say they are satisfied in their current role (82 per cent) than those who do not work for curious organisations (46 per cent). Dr Amantha Imber, organisational psychologist and founder of behavioural science consultancy Inventium, says that job satisfaction is affected by how people think and feel about their role. “When people are satisfied in their role at work, they’re more engaged, productive and loyal to the organisation. Those working in curious organisations are more likely to feel their work has purpose and more likely to be more creative and innovative, which results in better performance and better outcomes.” Curiosity boosts engagement Innovative approaches to ways of work and recruitment are more critical than ever. Eight in ten senior business leaders in New Zealand believe a culture of curiosity is important for their organisation, a number that increases slightly to 82 per cent when factoring in the need to adapt and grow in the current challenging business environment. New Zealanders working at organisations with a curious culture are much more likely say they feel engaged at work in their current role than those who say they work in incurious organisations (84 per cent compared to 49 per cent). And in today’s tight labour market, almost half of employees surveyed (48 per cent) would consider leaving their […]

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