Regional Manufacturing

EECA building energy use picture amongst NZ food and beverage businesses

The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) is building a picture of energy use in the NZ Food and Beverage sector (not including dairy, meat and seafood). Importantly, the findings of this project will help EECA to design effective programmes to support energy efficiency and decarbonisation for the Food and Beverage sector. To participate in the study – a simple survey, which is due in by the end of October – should take 15-20 minutes and can be completed online at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MTPVXPP

Gold Coast trade soars in NZ

A unique bond between New Zealand and Australia’s Gold Coast is flourishing as demand for trans-Tasman trade builds on the back of the quarantine-free travel bubble. Capitalising on this relationship are local Gold Coast businesses accelerating the city’s economic recovery. In 2019-20, Gold Coast exported $4.88 billion in products and services internationally, led by the rapidly growing manufacturing, health care, transport and education sectors. “Our city’s economy is driven by small businesses with around 66,000 registered today,’’ Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate said. “New Zealand is an attractive market for many businesses. We share so much through sport, education and social connectivity given the high New Zealand ex-pat population here in our city.” Trade and Investment Queensland Director Business Development New Zealand, Richard Simpson, said the Gold Coast was an attractive trade destination given its diverse range of businesses and industry sectors. “Market diversification is critical. There are tremendous opportunities coming out of Covid that can be capitalised on,” Simpson said. “As a result of the close, long-standing relationship between New Zealand and the Gold Coast, the economic opportunity has never been greater. “Collaboration is key, and there are programs and initiatives here on the Gold Coast and across Queensland that can help businesses break into the New Zealand market.” Senior Business Development Manager at the Australian Trade and Investment Commission, Philippa Hawken, said there were unique benefits for Australian businesses looking to trade with New Zealand.“A long-standing free trade agreement signed in 1983, and the subsequent single economic market agenda, allows Australian products to enter duty free – a huge financial incentive for Australian businesses trading to New Zealand,” said Hawken. “Australia and New Zealand have a mutual recognition of skills and occupations, so there’s no need to retrain or practice in the same skill or occupation in New […]

Hey Yabble announced at Techweek 2021

Hey Yabble is an artificial intelligence-powered super engine, revolutionising the speed and efficiency by which data is transformed into rich insightful knowledge. Comprised of cutting edge AI tools and algorithms, the New Zealand-made market research insights product allows businesses to save hours in data analysis, dramatically improving productivity and allowing them to use their data smarter. Hey Yabble was announced at Techweek 2021 by co-founders Kathryn Topp and Rachel O’Shea, whose vast experience in research and marketing include the successful innovative market research digital platform Yabble which launched in 2017 and connects with over 62 million consumers worldwide. The Yabble team used their deep research domain expertise to create this new transformational market research insights product. CEO of Hey Yabble, Kathryn Topp commented: “Hey Yabble is a “disruptive” market research tool, changing the way we traditionally approach market research. “By combining five different technologies and more than 20 years of market research expertise amongst our team, we are extremely proud to have been able to deliver a first-in-class AI powered insights generator that will impact the industry and businesses, both big and small, around the world.” On average, an expert coder would take approximately 3.3 hours to handle 1000 survey responses. Hey Yabble can process the same data in just 47 seconds and provides a full analysis of the coded data with an insight report of its findings and actionable priorities. Hey Yabble is currently in the last phase of a closed-group BETA release that includes Sky New Zealand. Sky’s Customer Experience & Insights Manager Jeremy Duffin said: “We’ve been really impressed with the new Hey Yabble tool, it’s incredibly fast and accurate. “In comparing Hey Yabble outputs to those created by our insights team, we were able to confirm the accuracy and speed of analysing complex questions, as well […]

Waste: The Enemy of World Class

-Ian Walsh, Managing Director, Intent Group Limited Most practitioners of continuous improvement and “lean” thinking will explain the approach to world class as making value flow by eliminating waste and continuously improving processes, practices and systems to support this value. Over the last few months, we’ve been made aware of the impending crisis in the horticultural sector – a crushing volume of produce languishing on the vine (or branch) due to a shortage of pickers. Can you imagine putting all your energy, labour, fertiliser, sprays, pruning and thinning practices over a whole year and then watching helplessly as some, or even worse, most of your crop ending up as just worm food? What an incredible waste, and yet this is what the industry has faced. Clearly, this was not the intention of the orchardists; had they known this would be the case, they would have managed their orchards to reduce the costs, efforts and waste. The problem stemmed from the lack of available labour to pick the crop. When we went into Covid lockdown last year the harvest was nearing or had reached completion. The emerging problem of lack of labour, due to border restrictions on Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme workers, was highlighted and well documented. Yet in a period of nearly 12 months we were unable to put a process in place to avoid this waste. The assumption appeared to be that there would be enough labour freed up from other sectors to fill the gap. With the unemployment rate climbing, mostly through cuts in the tourism and hospitality industries, surely there would be enough people crying out for any employment opportunity they could get? The reality is this was not the case. Firstly, you’d have to be willing and able to pick fruit. Our nation’s experience over […]

What we said when the PM came to visit

– Sarah Ramsay, Chief Executive Officer, United Machinists The Prime Minister was so disappointed she couldn’t make United’s Hawaiian launch party, she dropped in for a visit a couple of weeks later with her own party of some 30 media, entourage and diplomatic police. We can confirm it isn’t an act – Jacinda Ardern in person is the real-deal, a people person that puts you at ease immediately and is genuinely interested. Thoughtful, curious and obviously read up before her visit, she was eager to discuss the operations of our workshop and our views on the contract manufacturing industry: How difficult is it to find skilled staff? What can be done to help push apprenticeships? What can schools be doing to draw attention to careers in engineering? Why is it important for NZ to retain manufacturing? What can the government do to help push this? We told her our vision was to bring sexy back into manufacturing – she had a good laugh at that. We told her that now is the time for a renaissance of hi-tech manufacturing in New Zealand. The time to redefine what manufacturing looks like. That it’s not a dirty old mill or lathe, with ‘you’ll get it when its good and ready’ service. It’s the ‘Machine Shop of the Future’ – a state of the art, temperature-controlled facility making highly intricate parts for industries such as medical, cinematography, marine and aerospace. Utilising the very latest in CNC, robotic and software technology available. But that investments into machine capacity will come to nought, if we don’t have the highly skilled people to run them. Of the seven qualified CNC machinists we have hired in the past 18 months, six have been from overseas. “Go hard & Go Early” – a motto often used by Prime […]

How RAM3D became the largest independent metal AM service in Australasia

New Zealand company operates seven metal AM systems Though it may best be known for the Kiwi bird, Lord of the Rings and its inspirational Prime Minister, New Zealand has another claim to fame in the additive world: it is home to the largest independent metal 3D printing service in the Southern Hemisphere: RAM3D. Founded in 2008, the Tauranga-based company has had an interesting journey over the past decade, partaking in metal AM’s transition from a one-off custom prototyping solution to an industrial production process. This journey in itself is interesting, as RAM3D played a vital role in the evangelisation of metal 3D printing in its part of the world—a role that many service providers have played. In short, 3D printing metal parts for customers was only part of its job in its earlier years, it also had to focus on raising awareness of AM, educating on DfAM and facilitating the shift from prototyping to production. “In our very early days the perception of 3D metal printing really was that it was just for one-off, custom part prototyping,” explained Gilly Hawker, RAM3D Marketing Manager. “Its real benefits, in terms of improved part functionality, part integration, weight reduction, cost effectiveness and so on, just weren’t widely recognized. We did have to play our part in improving general market awareness and helping to rectify any misconceptions.” One of the big milestones in the company’s evolution has been its partnership with Renishaw, which began in 2014, when the UK-based metal AM company supplied its newest system to RAM3D. At the time, the machine provided the flexibility and openness that RAM3D was looking for, as it had the skills to optimize the AM process for its customers’ applications. “We had lots of ideas of our own on optimising our manufacturing process, and this machine gave us the freedom […]

Southern regions to become collaborative industrial powerhouse

Can Southland and Otago’s manufacturing engineering sector be the fastest growing and most competitive of its kind in New Zealand? Despite the challenges being thrown at the sector, the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) believes it can. SOREC has launched its capability mapping project to establish these two regions as an elite collective of engineers and manufacturers who are able to execute projects across numerous industries and fields. SOREC was established by industry for industry, to ensure the sustainability of engineering in Southland and Otago. It is an incubator for industry to work together by growing and sharing the pie. As New Zealand cautiously claws its way to recovery post-Covid-19, it’s the country’s regions that can feel the greatest impact. However, those regions also have significant potential to drive economic recovery. SOREC has a plan to help build on that potential, and now that plan is being put into action. During the next few months, the organisation will be conducting research and surveying the manufacturing engineering sector in the two regions, to create a comprehensive matrix of all the businesses that fall into this industry and mapping their capabilities. SOREC general manager Ceri Macleod said this would create a database of skills and a prospectus of sorts for Southland and Otago. “This will effectively show potential clients what we can do, how vast our breadth of knowledge and skills are, and the value we offer in working collectively,” she said. “It’s going to give the southern region the ability to put forward compelling business cases for large manufacturing engineering contracts, in sectors such as defence, transport, infrastructure and high-tech production by working collaboratively.” If international and national contracts could be filled from the south, then the growth of the industry would mean more jobs, greater investment in new technology, […]

Manawatu and Palmerston North outperforms NZ

Infometrics latest Quarterly Economic Monitor shows that regional economies such as Manawatū and Palmerston North are performing almost twice as well as the national economy. “While the regions have been hit by COVID-19, Manawatū, Palmerston North and the wider Manawatū-Whanganui region have outperformed the national economy,” says Linda Stewart, Chief Executive of the Central Economic Development Agency (CEDA). “It shows how the regions are driving the economy in terms of primary-related exports. Due to Manawatū’s diversified economy we can add education, public administration, research, logistics and manufacturing as well. “While the Manawatū and Palmerston North economies have taken a hit, our economic diversity means that we are in a good position to weather the storm. It also shows the soundness of the economic development strategy that the region is following,” she says. A useful measure is non-residential consents, which points to both infrastructure and commercial activity. While the rest of the country contracted -8.8%, in Manawatū, non-residential consents were up 57.2% and a record 84.4% in Palmerston North. Housing consents in Manawatū are 2.5 times greater than the rest of New Zealand and an impressive 4.5 times in Palmerston North. Ms Stewart says construction activity is not a flash in the pan. “Construction sector jobs have expanded 86% in Palmerston North and Manawatū since 2000, creating thousands of jobs. With a multi-billion-dollar bow wave of infrastructure now starting, we have solid foundations underpinning this. “Another measure is jobseeker claimants. The increase in job seeker benefits due to Covid-19 restrictions on business is currently half the New Zealand rate in Manawatū and impressively, 63% less in Palmerston North.” “CEDA is not playing down the massive business impact that COVID-19 has and will continue to have upon businesses and people, especially once the […]

NZ food industry benefits from leading-edge portable drying technology

Drying Solutions Ltd founder Robert and wife Paulette Barnes with their Rexmoi dryer, a unit that services the food and pet-food industry. When Robert Barnes was asked by a friend to build a dryer to dehydrate macadamia nuts 25 years ago, he never thought it would be the start of his own drying machine business. Robert, an electrician and refrigeration engineer by trade, set up his own refrigeration and air-conditioning company in 1989, attracting Port of Tauranga as one of his clients. Since 1995 he has also been using his skills to develop highly innovative Rexmoi Dryers. He sold the refrigeration and air conditioning business five years ago to focus solely on Drying Solutions Ltd. Now Robert is gearing up to exhibit a Rexmoi dryer, at his fourth Foodtech Packtech show next month. Robert says he is proud that his dryers enable people to turn ordinary products, in some cases waste material, into high-quality, high-value finished goods for the ultimate benefit of New Zealand. Rexmoi dryers use a refrigeration system, rather like a heat pump, to create a warm, dry enclosure where the products are dried. Warm, dry, filtered air flows over the product to remove the moisture which is then condensed and drained out through a small pipe. The product is laid out on stainless steel trays mounted on trolleys for easy handling. Several different types of tray are available to suit the various products such as wet slices, nuts, raisins, pet-food and bushy material. The dryers use much less energy than other drying systems and are totally enclosed so no smells or gases are emitted into the atmosphere. They are covered by several patents and trademarks. The drying process is controlled by a programmable controller which Robert sets in conjunction with the client to provide an optimum drying […]

Unless we improve the law, history shows rushing shovel-ready projects comes with real risk

Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato If the road to hell is paved with good intentions, so too is the road to economic recovery if we don’t get it right. The Covid-19 Recovery (Fast Track Consenting) Bill, currently rushing through the parliamentary process, certainly has noble aims. In simple terms, the new law is designed to green light a number of projects that would normally take much longer to be approved under the Resource Management Act. In the process, its architects argue, it will boost employment and kickstart economic recovery. The trick will be balancing those aims with the law’s other lofty ambition “to promote the sustainable management of natural and physical resources”. History shows this is not always the way it goes. The past should guide us Governments often pass laws with vast powers during emergencies to drive economic recovery. The law of unintended consequences can take a lot longer to repeal. During the great depression in the 1930s, new laws to deal with mass unemployment were often degrading in practice. Unemployed people were sent far and wide from their homes to perform sometimes useless tasks. In the late 1970s, the National government of Robert Muldoon tried to reduce the country’s dependence on imports with so-called “Think Big” projects. Special laws were passed to circumvent normal planning mechanisms and we are still dealing with their economic and environmental consequences. The Clyde Dam, fast-tracked as part of the Think Big policy in the 1970s but with long-lasting problems. More recently, the Christchurch and Kaikoura earthquakes have pushed dozens of laws to one side. This resulted in citizens and communities struggling to be heard, be treated fairly and have their rights protected under the emergency recovery process. We are now inviting the same risks with the proposed fast-track consenting law. It will be the most radical shake-up of environmental regulation in […]

«‹ 2 3 4 5 ›

News Ticker

Regional Manufacturing