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Get an edge over your competitors with video

Why Manufacturers are at an advantage Filming Foodstuffs new Distribution Centre building. A big shift in marketing and communications has taken place in 2021. Industries who may have never needed to explore new avenues beyond their traditional marketing practices have been forced to innovate. Auckland-based video production company, One Day Video, has seen a new trend in manufacturers who are using video to stand apart and maintain a spot in the marketplace. But not your stock-standard, warehouse footage type videos with some graphics whacked on top. A new style of video has emerged. Fast-paced, engaging videos that tell a story through the use of a clever script and humour. Why manufacturers are at an advantage: Video has been a key part of the marketing toolkit for a while now, but manufacturers are at an advantage. This industry in particular hasn’t utilised video in the same way that other brands have. So, by investing in regular video creation now, manufacturers and distributors will leave their competitors in the dust. Here’s an example The Metal Company is a stainless steel supplier in New Zealand and recently commissioned One Day Video to create an engaging explainer video to feature on their website and LinkedIn page. The company saw huge social engagement directly after posting it, but more importantly the video became an incredibly useful asset for explaining their business to prospective buyers. All the key features and benefits were presented in such a way that their competitors were scrambling to replicate what they had just done. This is just one example of companies using new channels to communicate with their customers. Live action isn’t the only way, animated videos are another effective means of telling a story or explaining a product that can’t be shown in real life – like tech innovation […]

NZ economy: constraints to growth

Indicators during the June quarter show the economy bouncing back, although with constraints building. The BusinessNZ Planning Forecast shows GDP figures holding up well, BusinessNZ Chief Executive Kirk Hope says. The BusinessNZ Economic Conditions Index sits at 12 for the June 2021 quarter, up 6 on the previous quarter and up 26 on a year ago. Mr Hope said the latter increase was expected, given Covid’s impact on the economy last year. “But constraints to growth are rising. The longer we face border restrictions and staff shortages, the greater the threat of a two-speed economy with some businesses and sectors going from strength to strength while others continue to lag. “Other challenges include supply constraints, infrastructure gaps, and business expectations of price rises, alongside a general increase in inflationary pressures,” Mr Hope said. The BusinessNZ Economic Conditions Index tracks 33 economic indicators including GDP, export volumes, commodity prices, inflation, debt, and business and consumer confidence. The BusinessNZ Planning Forecast for the June 2021 quarter is on www.businessnz.org.nz.

Dr Wolfgang Scholz, Honorary Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit

This Queen’s Birthday award was for services to engineering and the metals-based industry. Dr Scholz is known by many across New Zealand business and has contributed to the New Zealand and global metals-based industry for 35 years. He set up the New Zealand Welding Centre in 1987 as a division of the New Zealand Heavy Engineering Research Association (HERA). He developed an extensive program of welding engineering education and research and over 14 years he grew this HERA division into New Zealand’s centre of excellence for welding engineering. He has produced comprehensive national training material and courses for welding to meet the requirements of NZQA and international organisations. Through membership of the International Institute of Welding (IIW), he has helped develop Australasian and international technical standards and guidelines. Dr Scholz was HERA Director from 2000 until his retirement in 2018 and is currently Trustee and Secretary/Treasurer of the HERA Foundation charitable trust. As Director he oversaw research programmes in structural engineering research, development of design standards for steel buildings and for fabrication as well as sustainability assessment. This research strengthened the competitiveness of the local industry and preserved local jobs. His ‘HERA Position on Public Policy’ document formed the basis of many productive engagements with stakeholders from industry, government and NGOs. Dr Scholz has made a major contribution in coordinating, integrating and helping to develop metals industry sub-groups, especially in structural steel engineering and fabrication. “Being recognised for services to engineering and the metals-based industry means that some former industry colleagues must have thought I am worthy of receiving such a recognised Honour, he said. “It is great to see the award going to someone in a strategically important, but not so sexy, metals engineering industry niche. But also, that it was awarded across New Zealand’s multicultural landscape to a […]

Climate 101: Let’s talk about carbon

By Barbara Nebel, CEO of thinkstep-anz In the rising conversations around climate change and climate action, carbon is one of the most significant — and ambiguous — words that can be heard. More terms are quickly coming out of the woodwork — carbon offsets, scope 3 emissions, science-based targets — but what do they all mean? While the attention on climate action is encouraging, the buzz around climate terminology can become a little hard to follow. We break down some of the most common and confusing climate related terms to cut through the fog — starting with the puzzling carbon. Are carbon emissions the same as greenhouse gas emissions? Carbon can refer to many different things depending on the context. At its simplest and most accurate, carbon is a chemical element. Carbon combines with oxygen to make carbon dioxide (CO2) and combines with hydrogen to make methane (CH4) — both are greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases contribute to global warming because they form a layer around the earth that acts like a glass house by trapping the heat from incoming sunshine. Since carbon is present in many greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane, carbon and carbon emissions are used as blanket terms to talk about the different groups of greenhouse gases and their emissions. It doesn’t hurt that carbon also features noticeably less syllables. However, some of these gases such as nitrous oxide, refrigerant gases, and sulfur hexafluoride don’t have anything to do with carbon, but are still sometimes covered under the slightly liberally used term ‘carbon emissions’. This is not only because it’s just easier to use — the standard unit for measuring the impact of greenhouse gas emissions is carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). CO2e expresses the global warming potential of each greenhouse gas in terms of how much […]

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 […]

Where are our world class companies?

-Ian Walsh Some of you may have read the NZ Productivity Commission’s report into frontier firms (the top 10% most productive firms in New Zealand) and compared our productivity to other Small Advanced Economies (SAEs) such as Belgium, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden. This is great research with various studies and benchmarks, and I highly recommend a read. The findings of the research were that our most productive firms have operated at around 53% of the best performing firms of those listed countries for over a decade, and there are no signs of this changing. The report identified several drivers behind this, including that we inefficiently utilise our allocations of labour, and that we don’t see benefits from technology diffusion (awareness and access to best technology that then diffuses through our markets). Contributing factors include our geography, lower levels of international trade, weak innovation system or low capital intensity to name a few. So what are the other countries doing that we are not? What can we learn from them? Firstly, they focus on internationally oriented companies, as they have a small domestic market, they are more focussed on growing and supporting organisations that are focussed on international trade. Secondly, they encourage and develop clusters of firms organised around areas of strength and capabilities. These clusters of related capabilities create scale, efficiency, and productivity gains, but more importantly they enable the innovation engine to develop. Consequently, this capability then attracts international engagement, which contributes to overcoming the technology diffusion issue. Thirdly, they invest in research and development. Most countries invest twice what we do each year as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) into R&D. New Zealand is the third-lowest R&D investor of all SAEs, which correlates with us sitting in the bottom three for productivity. New Zealand […]

Information management will unlock the digital revolution in manufacturing

George Harb, Regional Vice President APAC – Business Ecosystems During the pandemic, many industries quickly realised they weren’t as prepared for digitalisation as they thought. The manufacturing industry was no exception; the rapid shift to remote work was a challenge as the necessary digital infrastructure was not in place for many organisations. This impacted the workforce significantly by limiting information access. The manufacturing industry was already facing a challenging business environment with increased supply chain complexities and expanding regulation. COVID added new challenges to the mix forcing organisations to adapt to the ever-changing circumstances. The organisations that had sufficient infrastructure in place were able to easily transition to remote work. Advanced technologies allow for a more agile workforce however, they can only succeed when there is a proper foundation, which is an effective information management (IM) solution. Investing in an IM platform allows manufacturing organisations to be agile and pivot at a moment’s notice. This is because key stakeholders can access critical information regardless of where they are located. Organisations that fail to implement an IM strategy will fall behind competitors, given the business lacks agility and the ability to react to changing market conditions. So, how can an effective IM strategy help manufacturing organisations gain full value from the transformative technologies available today? The value of accessible data The manufacturing industry produces an astonishing level of data and the number of data collection tools is continuing to grow. For example, IDC estimated that connected Internet of Things (IoT) devices will generate 70 zetabytes of data by 2025. This increases visibility, control and efficiency, however these benefits are only achieved when useable data is created. When IoT is combined with data from other technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain, a real transformation can take place as there is […]

Kemppi Australia’s Art of Welding Competition is on again

Kemppi Australia has launched its Art of Welding Competition for 2021. The competition showcases “welding art” which can take the form of a welded sculpture, pattern design, a motif or an object. The welding process involved to create the art piece can be manual or use more advanced techniques such as robotics, lasers or friction welding. Last year, the company launched its inaugural competition and was overwhelmed by the excellent response from both professional artists and amateurs alike. “It’s amazing to see the artistic flair that is well and truly alive not just among metal artists but also welders, apprentices, teachers and hobbyists,” said Paul McVicar, Managing Director, Kemppi Australia. This year, the competition also features a dedicated amateur category. Entrants can win from a pool of four great prizes that include Kemppi welding equipment, helmets and clothing. The competition will run until Thursday 30th September and is open to anyone in Australia and New Zealand over the age of 18. For more information on how to enter visit the Kemppi Australia Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn pages or message Kemppi Australia’s social media pages directly. Alternatively, email skettos@skettos.com.au for a copy of the competition flyer.

HERA sets the scene for heavy engineering’s future with digital ‘Home for the tribe’ and Fab4.0lab

Heavy engineering research association HERA is at the forefront of the innovation march in an era of change. At its AGM on 19 May, HERA announced key initiatives designed to propel the industry forward as members focus on support for digital capability, transformation and innovation: the MetalMind app and the Fab4.0Lab for testing, implementation and research. The MetalMind app is the digital home for HERA’s training services and all things heavy engineering. It is a platform where HERA will grow and engage its tribe of metal heads and where people can share open and transparent innovation. HERA CEO Troy Coyle says, “MetalMind is our proprietary private social platform to connect with members exclusively, hold open and important conversations about steel industry issues, gather feedback, solve problems, and give people maximum value. “The big driver for developing MetalMind was our Innovation READY programme, which has been completely digitised including 10 podcast sessions with supporting content, along with the Lean Startup four-week course. “Over time members will be given early access to training materials and tutoring preparation ahead of welding certification examinations. “The people on the platform will be new to our industry right through to the most experienced, a truly diverse group who all have something to gain from engagement. “Users are onboarded into main channels and then given the information and services they need around innovation, training, education and the foundry, a newsfeed which drives conversation and delivers targeted and curated information to the industry. There will be verticals of content and services that users will progress through.” HERA Fab4.0Lab (named for the Fourth Industry Revolution, or Industry 4.0 as applied to fabrication) is a laboratory space based at HERA House in Auckland where fabricators can test concepts, new product ideas and iterations on specialist machinery that may not otherwise […]

Hoop talks to NZ Manufacturer

Chris Hood, Director, Hoop Ltd.. How long have you been in business? We’ve been operating since 2004 and are one of the only third party agencies in New Zealand that brings promotional activity to life. We’re also the largest POS logistics provider to the FMCG industry. We started Hoop because we realised that nobody was providing a comprehensive brand activation or co-packing service to leading retailers. While we’ve had a lot of success with these services for over a decade, we’ve expanded our suite of services by establishing New Zealand’s most advanced co-packing solution to support local businesses to deliver shelf-ready products. How are you finding current business conditions? Covid-19 brought about many obstacles that we never could have foreseen. We had to delay the launch of our new co-packing service, and 95% of our weekly work was put on hold due to all the lockdowns last year. Luckily, the business has bounced back to be in pretty good shape, our co-packing service is now live and operational, our merchandising service work has returned to pre-COVID levels and our POS logistics is up and running again. What are the issues facing the country’s supply chain currently? This issue has affected us more than we had first anticipated given we do not import any products ourselves. However, a large portion of our clients are fully reliant on offshore supply chain and as such, a lot of our forecasted work for the first quarter in 2021 had been postponed due to shipping issues. The workload will still come but we cannot recoup our costs that were accrued during that quarter and then when it does come, we then face the challenge of scheduling the delayed work in with our existing scheduled tasks. How difficult is it to improve these issues? It’s all […]

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