News Ticker

How manufacturers can prepare for the ESPR
Tech isn’t the Hero, it’s the plucky sidekick
Finding Your True Competitive Edge: A Guide for Manufacturers
Fixing manufacturing’s billion-dollar harm problem
Steel awards showcase local industry’s expertise and sophistication
Aotearoa’s Industry 4.0 journey
5S – Not That Old Chestnut
Scott Aylett, SEA Electrical a winner

Solidtech

Landmark PIC

Landmark carbon reduction project powers ahead

From February issue of NZ Manufacturer magazine. www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz    Around 70% of world’s steel is produced from iron ore reduced in blast furnaces. Most of the remaining 30% is produced by minimills, which recycle scrap steel using electric arc furnaces – a proportion set to grow as companies seek to decarbonise their operations. Work is underway at New Zealand Steel to install an electric arc furnace: a move which will shrink the carbon footprint of its Glenbrook steel mill and place the company at the leading edge of low emissions steelmaking worldwide. As the company gears up to celebrate 60 years since it was founded, this crucial upgrade will secure steelmaking – and the corresponding jobs it supports – in New Zealand for the long term. Announced in May 2023, New Zealand Steel’s electric arc furnace (EAF) project will reduce Glenbrook’s carbon footprint by 800,000 tonnes each year and the country’s total annual emissions by 1% from day one. The carbon reductions – equivalent to taking 300,000 cars off the road permanently – will come from replacing the steel mill’s existing oxygen steelmaking furnace and two of the four coal fuelled kilns. Chief Executive New Zealand and Pacific Islands Robin Davies described the project as “a pragmatic response that not only sustains our critical domestic steel supply, but also provides a collaborative approach with public and private sector players to be world leaders in lower emissions steel.” The company is on track to be producing lower carbon steel as soon as 2026, having continued to hit project milestones such as the completion of a feasibility study, beginning to prepare the site for installation and the signing of new project partnerships since the May 2023 announcement. Already users of technologies such as robotics, automation, wireless sensors to collect real-time data and […]

DAP-1610_B1_Image_L(Side_AU)

D-Link launches new, secure AC1200 and AC750 Mesh Wi-Fi Range Extenders

As the quality, reliability and security of Wi-Fi becomes increasingly important, D-Link A/NZ has launched their new DAP-1610 AC1200 Mesh Wi-Fi Range Extender and DAP-1530 AC750 Mesh Wi-Fi Range Extender, both encompassing the latest WPA3™ wireless encryption. DAP-1610 The DAP-1610 is a portable plug-in wireless Extender that lets you extend an existing wireless network, giving you powerful Wi-Fi throughout your home and eliminating Wi-Fi dead zones. With high-speed, dual-band 802.11ac wireless speeds of up to 1200Mbps – that’s 300Mbps on the 2.4GHz band and 900Mbps on the 5GHz band – the DAP-1610 ensures a fast and stable Wi-Fi experience for all of your connected devices. The DAP-1610’s dual-band technology also helps reduce interference from any nearby wireless transmitters and provides backwards compatibility with older connected devices that run on previous Wi-Fi standards. What’s more, if you wish, you can use its Gigabit Ethernet port and your home’s existing wired Ethernet cabling to extend wireless coverage without having to worry about signal strength. The DAP-1610 also provides you with flexible Mesh choices for your home network when you pair it with a compatible D-Link Wi-Fi 5 Mesh Router to create a seamless whole-home Mesh Network built on industry-standard Mesh technology. The DAP-1610 seamlessly picks up the same Wi-Fi name as your existing network and allows you to enjoy a Mesh connection throughout your entire home Meanwhile, Mesh Smart Roaming allows your devices to intelligently switch to a stronger Wi-Fi signal as you move around the house. You can also pair with other Routers or Extenders which support the 802.11k/v standard to enjoy Mesh Smart Roaming throughout your home at all times. Setup of the DAP-1610 is simple, either via the single-touch WPS button to join the Extender to the existing network, or alternatively, you can setup and manage the DAP-1610 just as […]

Solid works Professional 2013 meets future needs

The Interview Auckland company, Ignition Networks, is using Solidworks. NZ Manufacturer asked some questions recently about how its all going: NZM: Which Solidtech software are you using? IN: Solidworks Professional 2013 x64  NZM: Why have you chosen this particular software?   IN: We have chosen Solidworks because it is a standout leader in 3D CAD and meets all our current and, at this stage, future requirements.  NZM: How has the software made your company work better?   IN: We are able to get our designs drawn up with more speed and accuracy, and with more confidence that the end product is going to be right. The ability to do reasonably realistic renderings with a few mouse clicks has meant we can give our customers a more realistic picture of what the product could look like, and make any changes to it, before we manufacture anything.  NZM: Is your company more efficient from using it?   IN: Yes. We previously had spent many days re-drawing work that our last CADsoftware was corrupting. Very frustrating having spent many hours completing a complex assembly only to have the software ‘forget’ where everything was placed and making things up the next time the assembly was opened for any re-work, this happened on numerous occasions and was a driving factor in upgrading. The use of decals for visualising where plugs/lights/displays etc are on a part have decreased the time required to get the level of detail we need when modelling a part. Making cable routing and part positioning more accurate in the design stage. Smart components have dramatically decreased our panel design time. Previously the work was very tedious and required considerable effort in checking and re-checking mounting holes and panel cuts were all correct. Now we can setup one part, make it a smart component, and […]