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High-value US-NZ trade confirmed in latest figures

The latest trade data from Statistics New Zealand confirms the increasingly high-value nature of the trade relationship between New Zealand and the United States. Executive Director of the NZUS Council Jordan Small said while these figures do not yet fully capture the impact of Covid-19 they do still reflect the established direction of trade with the United States where some of our fastest growing exports are in the form of bits and bytes transported by fibre optic cable. “The US is New Zealand’s most important market for commercial services and New Zealand is a significant consumer of US commercial services. We’re trading in CAD drawings for 3D-printed rocket engines, architectural and engineering plans, music scores, cinematic and small screen productions, agreements for plant variety rights, financial services and software for accounting, food production and cinema management.” Two-way trade has been growing consistently over the last 5 years and today is valued at $19.4B. New Zealand sells $4B of services of all types to the United States – 41% of all exports to the United States. In comparison, less than 20% of exports to China are services and this has been decreasing over time. Some of New Zealand’s fastest growing exports to the US are: § 258% increase in intellectual property exports since 2015 § 60% increase in ICT services since 2015 § 50% increase in business service exports since 2015 § 73% increase in wine exports since 2015 “Trade with the US is driving change in the New Zealand economy towards high value goods and services that deliver high-paying jobs. The most recent trade data shows that in many of our highest value sectors the US is our number one market. While some of these sectors have been hit hard by COVID-19 we expect that they will recover quickly. “The […]

Canterbury survey shows importance of subsidy “lifeline”

A recent ‘Pulse Check’ survey of Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce (Chamber) member organisations shows just how critical the wage subsidy has been, ahead of many wage subsidy payments coming to a close on 12 June. The survey was sent to approximately 8,750 businesspeople and received 276 responses. Of the respondents, 86% accessed the wage subsidy, with nearly all whom accessed the payments indicating that it helped to keep their business going. Over 82% said it has helped them to keep all employees. Applications for the first phase of the wage subsidy opened on March 17 and payments were for a 12-week period. An extension of the subsidy will be available from 10 June. Of the survey respondents, only 37% said they would be applying for the subsidy wage extension which requires businesses to have a 50% drop in revenue due to COVID-19. Of those that would be applying, 92% said it would enable them to keep their business going; 78% said it would enable them to retain some or all of their employees. Chief Executive Leeann Watson says the results demonstrate how important the subsidy has been for employers and employees in the Canterbury region. “This survey shows that the wage subsidy has been a lifeline for local businesses to continue to protect the livelihoods of many in our local community, reducing job losses and business failure. “The results also show how important finding the right balance for the extension threshold will be to ensure it is still within reach of those businesses that are viable long-term but may be struggling in the interim due to still not being able to operate at full capacity for a number of reasons. We continue to work closely with Government, alongside BusinessNZ, to ensure there is targeted ongoing support for businesses significantly […]

Energy chains vs. motor cable drums

The advantages and disadvantages of two industrial energy supply systems Whenever design engineers have to guide hoses and power and data cables in moving applications with long travels (more than 100 metres), the question arises of which energy supply system is the most efficient, especially considering such factors as reliability, maintainability, and future security? A motor cable drum? Or an energy chain? The advantages and disadvantages of the two systems are explored below. Candidate 1: The motor cable drum A proven energy supply that has been in use for decades – in applications such as cranes, transfer carriages, and the bulk material industry. The principle is simple. It is in its simplest form like a garden hose reel. When a gantry crane, for example, moves back and forth on its four supports, the cable is deposited on a prepared surface on the ground and is rolled back up on a drum mounted on one of the supports. There are several variants for retracting the cable. In addition to motorised drums, there are designs for shorter travels that work with spring force: the rolling action is normally either cylindrical or spiral rolling. In the cylindrical form, also called broad rolling, the cable first rolls up from left to right along the drum body. Then it rolls up vertically, layer by layer. Spiral rolling works differently. The cable is stacked immediately after the first rotation. The market for cable drums is growing. A key region is North America, and one reason is because the demand for cranes in the northern United States is rising. Another booming region is the Asia-Pacific, especially China and Japan. Among the reasons for this is urbanisation and a flourishing construction industry. According to Persistence Market Research, a market research institute, the global market volume will be more […]

Servers for higher performance workloads

ThinkSystem SR645 and SR665 two-socket servers feature enhanced performance and I/O connectivity for higher performance workloads. Many industries, such as manufacturing need faster transaction processing, improved data analytics, and greater grid-computing capacity, while still improving efficiency and total cost of ownership (TCO). To address these needs, Lenovo focuses on delivering open, reliable, and secure infrastructure solutions comprising industry-leading servers, storage, and software. With the addition of the new ThinkSystem SR645 and SR665 servers featuring more CPU cores and a larger memory footprint, Lenovo can help customers accelerate higher performance workloads and improve efficiency. ThinkSystem servers are designed for workloads such as in-memory databases, advanced analytics, virtualisation, and AI. They feature: Next-generation technologies, including PCIe 4 support, which doubles I/O bandwidth eliminating potential bottlenecks found in previous generation servers increase networking capabilities essential for I/O intensive applications Increased GPU support (up to 8x 75W NVidia T4s) allowing customers to efficiently implement video analytics and inference solutions for artificial intelligence Increased onboard storage up to 40 2.5” drives or up to 32 NVMe drives allowing for dense software defined storage solutions The high core counts allow customers to buy fewer servers, saving them rack space and power, in addition to obtaining results faster. These benefits are material in multiple industries: In the financial services industry, typically, servers are in a premium space located near the exchanges so saving rack space is paramount. In retail environments, faster video analytics results can identify high-traffic areas in stores to strategically place products In manufacturing, processes rely on efficiency, therefore the ability to quickly process analytics data allows for better quality control and improved throughput. This results in higher yields and better forecasting of warranty needs In high performance computing (HPC) environments like scientific research, higher throughput means faster results, yielding earlier discoveries The Lenovo SR665 […]

Positives from Covid-19

-Dr Troy Coyle, HERA Director Our current state of play has created a massive disruption to business as usual – but are there any positives to come out from the Covid-19 pandemic? Covid-19 has dramatically impacted us all in many different ways. Of course, most discussions have been on the negatives of Covid-19, but here are five silver linings that we think may help build our resilience in the longer term. After all, it is those that take a negative and turn it into a positive that come out of situations for the better! So lets ensure that it is our NZ metals industry that is taking advantage! The significance of domestic manufacturing has come to the fore from Covid-19. We have had significant disruption to global supply chains. The expected market response is likely to be a shortening of supply chains and a strategy of securing supply chains. This undoubtedly favours local manufacturing. For a long time, manufacturing has not received the attention and support that it should have had – in terms of national security of supply chains and Government support. The PM’s specific mention of manufacturing in her announcement on 20 April indicates the sudden attention to manufacturing as a core requirement of Kiwi’s economic and human wellbeing. There is also likely to be a market change toward greater support for local manufacturing in consumer decision-making. Changes in consumer purchasing are also likely to support increased on-line purchasing. Both of these are, in turn, likely to lead to increased warehousing requirements and this will stimulate warehouse developments, with structural steel playing a role in via, for example, portal frame designs. There will necessarily be an increased focus on the upskilling of our workforce. Businesses were already struggling to attract and retain quality staff and many had gone offshore […]

Student venture aims to bring automation to home builders

A group of engineering and science students who met during a free University of Auckland venture development programme run last summer, are preparing to take their building automation ideas to the world. Nikau Robotics is utilising leading-edge automation technology to increase productivity for small and medium construction businesses. The team is developing a smart computer numerical control (CNC) wood router that can intake a stack of wooden panels and process them automatically to pre-cut, drill, and carve wooden panels. The machine they have designed is highly portable to enable onsite use for fast, accurate cuts of wood without the need for external suppliers. The concept is the brainchild of Mechatronics Engineering student Harrison Lawton. “It occurred to me while helping a contractor renovate my family home for several weeks, how strenuous and repetitive the work was. Almost the entire woodworking process was highly predictable and required a great deal of measuring and precision. From my background in robotics, “I was aware these are the ideal characteristics for automation. After scouring the internet for a machine to meet these requirements, it became apparent there was no product that was able to effectively satisfy the market’s demands, so I began to design my own.” Harrison took his idea with him to the Business School’s Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. While taking part in its Summer Lab programme, he formed a motivated and talented team and a suite of new skills and knowledge. “The programme was beyond amazing and I would recommend it to anyone”. A core part of the Summer Lab programme is market validation; testing assumptions about your idea and ensuring there is a market of a viable size. The Nikau Robotics team’s ideas were validated by their research. Harrison says the problem of inefficient construction is a global concern. “In the past 20 […]

Biosciences company shines amidst global economic gloom

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic’s dire consequences for the global economy, a young New Zealand biosciences company has appointed its first Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Auckland BioSciences, which has grown rapidly since it was established in 2014 by Dr John Chang and Suzana Chang, manufactures animal serums which it exports to veterinary vaccine manufacturers and research institutions in 14 countries including China, India and Russia, and the Americas. Its manufacturing process, which has been disrupted by New Zealand’s pandemic response, involves separating serum from animal blood sourced from meat processing companies around New Zealand. Dr Chang, who is the company’s Managing Director, says turnover in the last financial year was more than $10 million and further significant growth is expected in the current year despite production ceasing during the lockdown. He says the financial impact has been lessened by the Government’s wage subsidy scheme. “For Auckland BioSciences, the government wage subsidy had the desired effect. In the early, uncertain days of lockdown, a young company like ours would have had to reduce staff, including our production staff. But we are now back in production and aiming high.” In just six years, Auckland BioSciences has gone from being based in a shipping container at an Auckland abattoir to having more than 40 staff at its headquarters in Rosedale, Auckland, its recently-opened office and additional processing site in Christchurch and manufacturing sites around the country. It has now reached a level of maturity where it requires a dedicated CFO. “We are delighted that Mark Dawson has taken up the new role of Chief Financial Officer at Auckland BioSciences. He brings more than 30 years of finance and accounting, and corporate governance experience to the company,” Dr Chang says. Prior to joining Auckland BioSciences, Mr Dawson was the Acting CEO of Development West Coast. He managed […]

Closed borders demand more investment in local workforce

With the number of migrants to New Zealand likely to significantly reduce in the next few years, employers will have to look to other diverse groups in our workforce to ensure their business thrives. Massey University’s Distinguished Professor Paul Spoonley says the Covid-19 crisis means the supply of temporary and permanent migrant workers to New Zealand is currently turned off. “And it might remain turned off, depending on the visa category, for between 12 months to three years,” he says. Diversity Works New Zealand Chief Executive Maretha Smit says this means businesses who have relied on immigration to fill labour and skills shortages will have to look at different ways to bolster their workforce. “We would like to see New Zealand organisations more engaged with the older generation in the workforce. Employers should be talking to their wisdom workers to find out how they can retain their skills and institutional knowledge while still accommodating the different ways they may want or need to work as they age,” she says. Fewer migrants will also mean that businesses need to more actively reach out to our younger New Zealanders. “If our economy slows down, there is a risk we could end up with more NEETs (young people not in education, employment, or training),” Smit says. “Forward-thinking leaders should be planning now to invest in those young people and bring them into their organisations to create the workforce they need for future success.” Spoonley has been leading the team analysing data from the 2020 New Zealand Workplace Diversity Survey. The survey report will be made public on Wednesday, 6 May but initial findings suggest ageing and employment transition for younger staff do not appear to be important considerations for employers. But he believes that, for some industries at least, they will become increasingly […]

Company Profile: Little Island

James Crow, Co-founder and non-executive director How do you see current business opportunities for your company? This is new territory for us all but what the past two months have reaffirmed is that the need for locally manufactured food with environmental credentials is only growing. Consumers have become more aware of what they are consuming over the lockdown and will be more receptive to the health and lifestyle benefits that plant based foods can offer. As our hospitality channels rebuild, we will look to develop specific products and formats for that industry as well. Our current capital raise via Snowball Effect will allow us to react more quickly to these developing trends to expand our current range, while also acquiring a plant based yoghurt business to round out our offering. Do you export and to where? We have tested the waters with exports into an independent Australian retailer chain of 100 stores and a successful two year pilot in a premium Singapore supermarket chain of 45 stores. This work has shown where the opportunities are and the work that will be required to secure these regions for Little Island in the future. After 10 years, is everything on track? For a start-up “on track” is generally code for you tackled the last obstacle and are charging ahead. The secret to our success so far has been building production capacity and knowledge in what we do, from the ground up, and this is going well. We have very good business fundamentals that now require further capital to accelerate growth. Through our current capital raise we have a solid strategy to develop our people and products to become the dominant plant based business both in New Zealand and in our chosen export markets. How easy is it to retain staff? As a […]

Manufacturers offer blueprint for economic recovery

A new report released by a group representing New Zealand’s manufacturing industry associations outlines a blueprint to work with Government to strengthen manufacturing capability and reduce trade barriers to support the nation’s post-pandemic economic recovery. The New Zealand Manufacturing Alliance’s Manufacturing Matters report includes a range of policy proposals in the areas of innovation, capital and investment, trade, skills, procurement and achieving sustainable growth in a low-carbon economy. The proposals are designed to address challenges to the sector’s future including growing trade protectionism, the transition to zero carbon, skills shortages, and the shift to the fourth industrial revolution. The report highlights the crucial contribution manufacturing makes to the economy, accounting for 10 percent of New Zealand’s GDP and employment, more than half of exports and a third of business R&D expenditure it also underpins the success of other key sectors. Manufacturing Alliance spokesperson Nick Collins (pictured) says a strong manufacturing sector is crucial to New Zealand’s future prosperity. “The pandemic has highlighted the weaknesses of globalisation, the frailties of international supply chains and the vulnerability of relying on income from tourism and international education as major sources of export revenue. “A vibrant domestic manufacturing sector is going to be critical to New Zealand’s economic recovery, building resilience against future global shocks whether they be pandemics, recession or the challenges of climate change or natural disaster. “In particular, as New Zealand moves into the recovery phase, it will be critical that as a nation we continue to work with others in ensuring international trade laws are upheld in the face of a rising tide of protectionism and other unfair trade practices. “New Zealand’s manufacturers are ready to work with Government to develop an industry transformation strategy to support the nation’s post-pandemic economic recovery.” The Manufacturing Alliance represents The Manufacturers Network, Metals […]

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