Featured

Kiwi global entrepreneur to speak at University of Waikato

Members of the public have an opportunity to hear from Kiwi entrepreneur extraordinaire Claudia Batten at a free public talk being held at the University of Waikato on Friday, 13 March. Ms Batten, a globally successful technology entrepreneur who has lived in the United States for the past 13 years, will be the guest speaker at an event organised by Waikato Management School’s Alumni Board. A regular speaker on digital innovations and building businesses for the future, she will discuss emerging trends in robotics, e-commerce, gamification, crowdsourcing and data. Ms Batten was recently appointed as New Zealand Trade and Enterprise’s regional director for North America, where she is tasked with the challenge of helping Kiwi businesses to break into the highly competitive markets of the US, Canada and Mexico. She is also a director of The Icehouse, an Auckland-based incubator company that helps small-to-medium-enterprises to grow. The free talk will be held at the Gallagher Academy of Performing Arts from 6-9pm. Parking available from Gate 2B, Knighton Road, Hamilton. Following the talk, the public is also invited to attend a dinner with Claudia Batten, at a cost of $60 per person. If you’d like to attend the talk and/or dinner, email nwalm@waikato.ac.nz or phone 07 838 4477 by Tuesday, 10 March. Ms Batten brings a wealth of experience to her new role at NZTE, having achieved great commercial success with many of her own start-up technology businesses over the past 15 years. In 2014, she received a World Class New Zealand Supreme Award from the Kea New Zealand global business network, whose annual awards celebrate our most inspirational Kiwis living at home and abroad. She was part of the founding team of Massive, a first-of-its kind network for delivering online advertisements to video games, which was later sold to Microsoft […]

Baskiville unveils nonflammable medical-grade materials for silicones

(Methven, NZ) Baskiville.com Ltd. has unveiled two new products that have the potential to substantially improve the safety, environmental protection and clinical performance of medical devices and related products made in New Zealand. Baskvilles have been appointed by MicroCare Corp., a U.S.A.-based supplier of advanced precision cleaners, coatings and lubricants, to serve as the authorized source for both a new Universal Carrier Fluid and a unique SwellEx® silicone assembly fluid from MicroCare. With these two new products companies in New Zealand will have important new manufacturing choices that will result in more competitively-priced products that out-perform the competition. The first innovation, the MicroCare Universal Carrier Fluid, is engineered as a drop-in replacement for flammable, smelly and toxic carrier fluids. The product is a custom-formulated, nonflammable carrier fluid optimized to dilute and apply medical grade silicone liquids to medical devices. This new formula provides a safe, reliable and nonflammable alternative to older, flammable carriers such as hexane or toluene carrier fluids. The SwellEx assembly fluid is a smart, efficient answer to a different but troublesome problem. Many medical devices require leak-free seals on connections between devices and tubing. Because the fit needs to be tight, assembling those devices can be extraordinarily labor-intensive. The SwellEx fluid accomplishes what the name implies: it swells the plastic tubing, allowing for fast and simple assembly. Then the fluid evaporates and the plastic tubing shrinks back to the original size and strength, forming perfect seals. “Silicone has a long history as one of the most trusted biomaterials in the healthcare industry,” notes Ian Fowler, Managing Director of Baskiville.com Ltd. “Now these two new fluids make using silicone parts or silicone lubricants far easier, safer, faster and ultimately less expensive. It’s a win-win for New Zealand industry.” About the Universal Carrier Fluid Silicone-fluid lubricants are commonly used […]

tna to showcase complete solutions at AUSPACK 2015

Integrated packaging and processing solutions provider tna will highlight its flagship high performance packaging and distribution systems at this year’s AUSPACK exhibition. Visitors to the stand will be able to learn more about the tna robag 3ci high speed bagger, as well as the tna roflo 3 horizontal motion conveyor. Experts from tna’s global team will also be on hand to demonstrate how its automation and controls capabilities can help manufacturers maximise performance, as well as showcase the benefits that tna’s acquisition of FOODesign can bring to its customers. Delivering unrivalled throughput of up to 250 bpm, the tna robag 3ci high speed vertical form fill and seal (VFFS) packaging machine offers production flexibility in a compact, easy-to-clean system that is suitable for a wide variety of products. This cutting edge system provides up to a 30 per cent improvement in performance in terms of output and reduction in rejects, while achieving unprecedented throughput rates. With innovative features including the patented tna hyper-detect metal detector, tna intelli-read bar code verification scanning system and the tna intelli-scan visual print code verification system, the tna robag 3ci provides manufacturers with a complete packaging solution. In addition, tna has made it even easier to operate the machine by simplifying the film system. The new tna auto-splice automatically changes film reels when one is finished, increasing packaging efficiency and product throughput by reducing the need for manual intervention. Also on show is the tna roflo 3 conveyor, a horizontal motion distribution system whose low force operation minimises product loss, offering speed and direction control to optimise performance. Particularly suited to heavy coated products as seasoning does not build up on the pans, the tna roflo HM 3 has an easy-to-clean design to help manufacturers reduce waste and comply with strict HACCP and QA standards. […]

Calibre Consulting increases capacity and innovation

The Christchurch rebuild and subsequent earthquake strengthening regulations, town planning and wider infrastructure projects have all placed huge demands on New Zealand’s surveying and engineering sector. To help meet that demand, one of New Zealand’s oldest engineering, project management and surveying consultancies has expanded its capacity. Rebranded as Calibre Consulting, the new business combines the former Spiire from New Zealand and Brown Consulting from Australia and Singapore, to produce a team of 600 professionals. In New Zealand Calibre Consulting’s Executive General Manager Mark Campbell heads up a team of 130 spread across eight offices. “Our team is firmly focussed on New Zealand first, but having our colleagues in Australia and Singapore means we have the resource and access to leading edge development from throughout the whole of the business,” Mr Campbell says. A former Royal Navy helicopter pilot who has an engineering degree and an MBA, Mr Campbell was a Lieutenant Commander and the chief operations officer for a 400 person naval squadron before he was entice back to his engineering roots. He was national Business Development and HSEQ manager for Brown Consulting in Australia before being seconded to New Zealand after Brown’s parent, Calibre Group, bought the former Spiire from Downer EDI earlier this year. ASX listed Calibre Group reported revenue of A$709 million for the year ended June 30, 2014, with net profit after tax (NPAT) of A$24.4 million. “The New Zealand business has a fantastic history, starting as Duffill Watts & King more than 65 years ago,” Mr Campbell says. “These days we have also developed some niche areas of expertise too, such as biological process design. Our waste technology, for example, has helped expand the lifespan of some New Zealand waste water plants, meaning some local government councils have been able to stretch their capital expenditure […]

Delcam announces new Leadership

Manufacturing software developer Delcam announces that Pete Baxter has been appointed to lead Delcam in the new role of Vice President. Pete joins Delcam from its parent company, Autodesk, Inc, where he was a Vice President of Sales and served as the country manager for Autodesk in the United Kingdom. “I’m thrilled to announce the appointment of Pete Baxter as Vice President, Delcam Ltd.,” said Buzz Kross, Autodesk senior vice president, Design, Lifecycle and Simulation. “In his new role, Pete will be responsible for managing the global Delcam business, and for leading the company in the next stage of its growth. Pete brings to Delcam extensive leadership experience and knowledge, critical in helping Delcam develop closer connections to Autodesk, to the benefit of both organisations and our customers.” “I am delighted to be joining Delcam, and helping create the next generation of manufacturing software,” said Pete Baxter, Vice President, Delcam, Ltd. “The company has an unrivalled reputation for the support and industry-leading products it offers to manufacturing companies around the world. I look forward to working with Delcam’s staff and reseller channel to accelerate the growth of the business and to deliver an even better manufacturing experience to our customers.” Pete joined Autodesk in 2004, most recently serving as a Vice President in the Autodesk Worldwide Sales organisation. Prior to that, he held a number of other sales and management roles, including head of sales for Northern Europe, where he was responsible for sales across the Manufacturing, AEC, Media and Entertainment industries. Previously, Pete held management positions at companies including Revit Technology Corporation, Bentley Systems and PTC.