Founded by Max Farndale 1947 - 2018
Auckland - Sealegs has released the first of the new production series Asis RIBs to be equipped with Sealegs System 60 amphibious technology. This continues Sealegs along the path of empowering additional global boat manufacturers to offer Amphibious Enablement Systems (AES) on their existing product lines.
Sealegs Amphibious Enablement Kits allow any boat builder to modify their craft to benefit from amphibious abilities. Craft with this technology can travel directly between land and sea by the use of three retractable wheels with a hydraulic system linked to an inboard motor. The entire system is marinised and stays completely out of the water while underway. This means there is no compromise to on-water performance.
Through working closely with Dubai-based Asis Boats, Sealegs has now released the fibreglass 7.5m Asis Midi with Sealegs amphibious technology. The first completed craft of its kind will be displayed at the Hutchwilco Boat Show on the 12th -15th May, 2016. The 7.5m Asis Midi will include the two-wheel drive and automatic braking systems as well as power steering and high quality, marine-ready Sealegs components.
Sealegs CEO, David Mckee Wright, said “we’re very excited to release another unique craft equipped with Sealegs technology. It further proves that the Amphibious Enablement Kit can be adopted by a wide range of boat manufacturers. We look forward to the continued growth of diverse Sealegs-enabled craft around the world”.
Powered by a 150HP Evinrude E-Tec on the water, the craft reaches speeds of up to 39 knots. Featuring Hypalon Tubes, 180 litre fuel tank and self-draining deck, the Asis 7.5 Midi is also equipped with four straddle style seats designed for additional comfort and lateral stability. It has an overall beam of 2.7m, a height of 2.3m on the wheels and can travel up to 10kph on land. The craft has a payload of 500kg.
This craft takes advantages of considerable cost savings available when working with large-scale hull manufacturers. It will be offered at a boat show special price of $129,000+gst.
Asis Boats joins the growing list of vessel manufacturers who recognise the marketable benefits of amphibious boating that includes Stabicraft, Smuggler Marine, and Reconcraft.
A Sealegs press release Monday 9 May 2016
Saint Gobain coated and extruded products along with their high performance polymeric films, membranes, coatings and laminate are now fully represented in New Zealand through Auckland SWF Distributors. The person to contact is Ross Eathorne who you can reach o 09 441 0040 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
SWF-Distribution3D / 89 Ellice Road GlenfieldP.O.Box 10-1167 North Shore Mail Centre 0745 Auckland Phone- +64 9 441 0040Fax-+64 9 444 2788Cell- 021 245 5135Email-This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Compac is well involved with this year’s London Produce Show and Conference. Ken Moynihan (pictured above) is Compac's chief technical officer and he believes that the produce brands that can master data will be the winners. He says that harnessing data from multiple sources is key to managing a decentralised supply chain that has to deliver high-quality, safe food 365 days a year. Understanding the technology that can deliver that is one thing though, but the complexity of the supply chain and the demands of the modern consumer are piling huge pressures on fresh brands to deliver on their value propositions.
Compac is an established world leader in post-harvest integrated solutions and services to the fresh produce industry, and recently released its groundbreaking, modular and upgradeable SpectrimTM optical sorting platform into the sector. With the ability to take up to 500 high definition images of a single piece of fruit as it passes through the machine at a rate of 12 pieces of fruit a second, SpectrimTM can boast unrivalled grading accuracy and consistency. It also collects an almost unfathomable volume of data, which used properly and in conjunction with data from other technologies employed along the supply chain, could just revolutionise an industry’s view on branding.
Compac’s CEO Mike Riley believes SpectrimTM will support producers as they face ever-growing demands for consistency, traceability and packaging variations from global retailers. The platform’s design principles have also benefited from crucial input from lead customers around the world, and external research authorities in New Zealand’s Plant & Food Crown Research programme.
Ken Moynihan will deliver a presentation at theShow and Conference next week on the role of data in shouldering the burden of the brand promise. He adds: “This industry is beginning to embark upon the process of de-commoditisation of commodities and branding will be a significant part of that. Some 52 million mandarins are going through just one of our machines every single day – that generates 26 billion hi-res images of the fruit and that data has incredible value to support the development of a brand.”
Continue to the full article here published by ProduceBusinessUK
Machine makers tout new technology for improved quality, consistancy and speed
If bedding manufacturers invest in the latest equipment available from machinery suppliers, mattresses and foundations soon will slip off assembly lines and into wrappers at a higher rate of speed—and with every interior component perfectly formed, aligned and adhered, and every sewn seam and radiused corner smooth and even.
This an article prepared by the editors at BedTimes who glimpsed the future as they toured machinery booths at ISPA EXPO 2016 March 9-12 in Orlando, Florida.
Manufacturing equipment is one of the exhibition’s biggest draws and this one did not disappoint when it came to digital-age solutions to building beds with maximum efficiency and minimal waste.
Trends that were nascent several years ago—think automation, robotics and even ergonomics—are firmly mainstream now.
Read the full article here and take in the caliber of the machinery
The ET-Roll-300 from Elektroteks Ltd. in Bursa, Turkey, efficiently compresses, rolls and wraps mattresses of every size.
Seoul, 2 June 2016 - Thirty New Zealand food and beverage companies joined forces to showcase New Zealand recipes and products to around 400 Korean food and beverage industry professionals, journalists and power bloggers on 24 May at Seoul’s Lotte Hotel.
New Zealand food and beverage on offer included beef, beef jerky, beef bone extract, cheese, whipping cream, ice cream, sheep milk products, apple juice, honey, Manuka honey drink, chocolates, sauce, greenshell mussels and seafood, kiwifruit, syrup, beer and wine, making the 12th Food Connection event the largest such event New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) in Seoul has ever held.
The event helped raise the profile of participants’ products, meet potential customers and identify leads, following entry into force of the Korea New Zealand free trade agreement in December.
NZTE also held a dairy seminar for around 60 VIPs from major Korean manufacturers, the first time such an event has been held in Korea. Leading New Zealand dairy companies, including Fonterra, Tatua, Synlait and Spring Sheep Milk, made a presentation and were well received by the Korean industry contacts.
Trade Commissioner Ryan Freer welcomed the participants and guests, noting that that the new free trade agreement is already providing exporters and partners with a boost in trade and helping to strengthen partnerships.
The previous day, NZTE held an in-market services seminar and field trip to retail stores to help the New Zealand participants better understand the Korean market. This was followed by a networking reception with Korean guests.
A news posting by the NZ Foreign Affairs & Trade ministry
New Zealand Maritime School graduate students Ziyad Salim and Matapo’O (Matt) Manase have respectively won the Graduate Diploma in Supply Chain and Shipping Management Award and Diploma in Supply Chain Management Award.
The two awards and $500-apiece prizes were presented by New Zealand Shippers’ Council representative Murray Horne -- whose organisation is a prominent support of the Manukau Institute of Technology faculty -- in a recent ceremony at Central Auckland’s Mecure Hotel.
Mr Salim was acclaimed for “his high marks in supply chain study and unique personal skills for the industry” and Mr Manase for “his excellent grasp of the workings of the supply chain as a whole”.
About 50 graduates from a range of logistics programmes -- including some already employed in the logistics industry who had undertaken distance learning and night courses -- were presented with diplomas, graduate diplomas and certificates before a receptive audience.
The Maritime School notes it has been a “bumper year” for graduate numbers with industry demand for qualified shipping, freight and supply chain professionals said to be growing.
A Cubic Transport news posting June 1, 2016
Wellington, 2 June 2016 - New Zealand’s exports to the United States (US) increased for the sixth consecutive March year in 2016, Statistics New Zealand said today. This earned New Zealand $2.8 billion more in 2016 than in 2010.
Trade with the US earned us $444 million more from exports than we spent on imports for the March 2016 year. New Zealand earned $8.4 billion from exports to the US while our import expenditure to that country was $7.9 billion. Our total exports to the US made it our fourth-largest export destination in the latest year.
In the March 2016 year, meat and edible offal was New Zealand’s top export commodity to the US, earning $1.8 billion. This compares with $1.1 billion in the March 2014 year.
“New Zealand had record beef exports to the US through the middle of 2015 and this strength has resulted in a 55 percent increase over the past two years,” international statistics senior manager Nicola Growden said. “Beef contributed 81 percent of meat exports to the US in the latest year.”
Spending by US visitors to New Zealand ($1.0 billion) was our second-largest export earner from the US. Together, meat and travel contributed over one-third of New Zealand’s total exports to the US in the March 2016 year.
Despite a $49 million fall in expenditure on imports from the US in the March 2016 year, it is our fourth-largest import source (unchanged from the March 2015 year). Mechanical machinery and equipment ($1.3 billion), including turbo jet and propeller parts, was our largest import expense from the US, followed by aircraft and parts ($1.1 billion).
New Zealand’s trade with the rest of the world recorded a surplus for the March 2016 year. We earned $2.9 billion more from exports than we spent on imports. Total exports of goods and services for the year ended March 2016 totalled $69.8 billion, while imports totalled $66.9 billion.
New Zealand recorded trade surpluses with 16 of our top 25 trading partners in the March 2016 year, including the US. New Zealand's top three trade surpluses in the latest year were with Australia, China, and the US.
A press release from Statistics New Zealand June 2, 2016
Auckland, Wednesday 1 June 2016 – A new Kiwi technology hub which opens in Ho Chi Minh City next Monday marks the start of a bright new era in New Zealand and Vietnam tech trade connections.
The Kiwi Connection centre at Quang Trung Software City will be the gateway for delivering Kiwi technology in Vietnam, according to Augen, one of New Zealand’s leading tech firms with strong Vietnamese connections.
“The concept tech hub is to support New Zealand ICT and hi-tech companies investing in and doing business in Vietnam, as well as across the wider ASEAN region,” Augen Software Group director Mitchell Pham says.
“This landmark new development has been headed by us since we were the first New Zealand company to win the prestigious Vietnam IT Excellence award last year. Orion Health, insurance technology company HealthTech and manufacturing technology company Shapeshifter are the first Kiwi companies to join us at Vietnam’s largest software park site.
“We have also been well supported along the way by New Zealand Trade & Enterprise, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, NZTech, NZ Health IT, NZ Software Association, Auckland Tourism, Events & Economic Development and Grow Wellington.
“Technology is playing an increasingly important role in New Zealand and Vietnam’s trade growth stories. Vietnam’s ICT market is expected to be a major regional performer over the next four years due to strong growth dynamics and reputation as an outsourcing destination, while New Zealand’s technology sector grew to more than $6.5 billion dollars last year.
“Vietnam’s digital economy is the largest and fastest-growing among all the Southeast Asian nations, and the country is New Zealand’s fastest growing export market in the region. It represents a growing opportunity – one that’s only just beginning to dawn on Kiwi firms.
“As Vietnam’s economy continues to grow, opportunities come from not just the expanding middle class income group and overall consumer appetite for goods and services, but also the fact that all sectors are growing and increasingly engaging and competing internationally. There is a huge opportunity in helping Vietnam’s industry sectors advance with knowledge, IP and technology that we have in New Zealand.
“Vietnam scores higher in numeracy, literacy and science than the US and UK, and almost 60 percent of the 94 million-plus population are under 30 years old. According to the BBC, Vietnam is already one of Google’s top 10 growth markets, and could be the next Silicon Valley. In 2015 there were 40 million internet connections there and 30 million smartphone users. This represents many opportunities for Kiwi ICT and hi-tech businesses.”
Viet Nam is New Zealand’s fastest growing trade market in Southeast Asia, with merchandise exports doubling since 2007. The opening of the tech hub next Monday is part of a programme of events celebrating business and tourism links between New Zealand and Vietnam. The first direct Air New Zealand flight between Auckland and Ho Chi Minh City starts this Saturday.
Foreign investment in Vietnam has driven major global tech firms Samsung, LG Electronics, Intel, Nokia and Fuji Xerox to set up new production plants in Vietnam as opposed to China. In the digital mobile space, a total of 40 percent of all apps on Microsoft’s App Store globally are engineered in Vietnam.
New Zealand’s Consul General and Trade Commissioner to Vietnam Tony Martin says New Zealand has a reputation as an innovative and flexible technology market.
“Our companies are leading the world in a number of market sectors such wireless infrastructure, health IT, transport and logistics technologies, digital content, geospatial, and telecommunications.
“We look forward to welcoming more New Zealand technology companies into the Kiwi Connection hub and meeting with businesses from around the region looking to utilise New Zealand technology products and services from within ASEAN,” Martin says.
A Make Lemonade positive New Zealand News press release
Friday May 27 - Air New Zealand is working with Christchurch-based robotics company Invert Robotics to trial wall climbing, camera mounted robots to carry out remote inspections on its aircraft.
The technology, originally designed for use in the dairy industry, uses remote-controlled inspection equipment to detect damage inside milk tanks beaming back high resolution footage in real time.
Air New Zealand Chief Operations Officer Bruce Parton says the airline first started to explore the use of robotics after recognising the shape of a milk tank closely resembles an aircraft fuselage.
“Currently to inspect the top of the fuselage, as we do following incidents such as lightning strikes, engineers need to work at heights of up to eight metres.
“Using technology that can identify defects not immediately visible to the human eye and do so from the ground has the potential to make aircraft maintenance safer and more reliable.
“Exploring the introduction of robotic technologies supports the airline’s innovation strategy and if we can help pioneer an aviation application for this technology it could create a significant new commercial opportunity for this home grown Kiwi business.”
Invert Robotics Chief Executive Officer James Robertson says it’s hugely exciting to be working collaboratively with Air New Zealand on this project.
“While initially designed as a dairy solution our patented robot has proven versatile lending itself well to aircraft deployment.
“We look forward to continuing to work with Air New Zealand to develop the airline application for this technology so that it can potentially be rolled out across the global aviation industry.”
An Air New Zealand press release Friday 27 May 2016
A2K Technologies May 25, 2016 Industry Collections - The way you design and build is changing rapidly, which also changes the tools you use and the ways companies and individuals buy and access software. Autodesk is introducing Industry Collections as a way of delivering on their promise to offer greater value, more flexibility, and a simplified customer experience.
Autodesk Industry Collections will offer the most convenient and flexible way to access a wide selection of the most essential Autodesk software used in your industry, with the choice of monthly, quarterly, annual or multi-year term lengths and single- or multi-user access to fit your evolving business needs. These curated collections will be available for AEC, MFG, and M&E industries starting on August 1 2016.
The Reserve Bank today published a Bulletin article that explains how the Bank manages liquidity in the banking system.
Effective management of liquidity plays a crucial role in New Zealand’s banking system. It allows the Reserve Bank to implement monetary policy, ensures the smooth operation of New Zealand’s payments and settlements systems and allows the Bank to ensure that the public has confidence in New Zealand’s banking system.
The Bulletin article provides an overview of the tools and facilities the Bank has in place to manage the level of liquidity in the banking system, the rationales for utilising these tools, and how their use helps to ensure short-term interest rates trade close to the Official Cash Rate (OCR).
The article also describes what the Bank does to maintain a stable and sufficient supply of system liquidity and how the Bank ensures that individual banks have access to liquidity to meet daily transactional obligations through the payments and settlement system.
This article may be read in conjunction with a Bulletin article published last month which explored the impacts of diminishing liquidity in markets.
More information: Reserve Bank Bulletin
San Farancisco, May 24 2016 - Most bots solve relatively small problems, like increasing the convenience of getting lunch. “We’re not building bots to order pizzas,” Leydon told me, alluding to the bot fad that has swept over Silicon Valley since Facebook launched a bot platform last month to help businesses interact with its 900 million users. “We’re building bots to run countries.”
Leydon is chief executive of MZ, a fast-growing company that has used its technology, built over the past nine years, to make Game of War one of the highest revenue-generating games in the app stores. The company’s tech keeps millions of gamers engaged by translating in-game messages across 32 languages in real time.
It’s that cloud technology, which allows billions of interconnections to take place instantly, that MZ says gives it an advantage over competitors. Six months ago, Leydon decided to take his technology beyond games. On a trip to New Zealand, he noticed that the country had an open API for its public transportation system. Intrigued, he promised the New Zealand authorities he could build a command center to make its transport system much more efficient. He would start by building a pilot for the country’s largest city, Auckland. It would track the city’s entire fleet of 3,000 buses and the usage patterns of the up to 2 million people — residents and tourists — who ride those buses over the year.
Continue reading this article which was first published on VentureBeat
Wellington, 24 May 2016 - Small Business Minister Craig Foss today released the latest Small Businesses in New Zealand factsheet, giving a detailed snapshot of how small businesses in New Zealand are making an impact across all industries.
“Small and medium-sized firms make a huge contribution to New Zealand’s economy and this factsheet really illustrates that,” Mr Foss says.
“It reinforces other reports which show that smaller businesses dominate our industries and play a vital role in generating jobs, innovation and overseas income.”
The factsheet is a summary of results from Statistics New Zealand data relating to small and medium-sized enterprises.
Small Businesses in New Zealand is available at: http://www.mbie.govt.nz/info-services/business/business-growth-agenda/sectors-reports-series/the-small-business-sector-report-and-factsheet/
Wellington, Beehive, May 19, 2016 - Budget 2016 will provide $14.4 million over four years for more apprenticeship training, Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce announced today.
“A strengthening labour market, a rebuilt industry training system and improvements in school achievement are resulting in greater demand for apprenticeships, as young people rightly see them as a great way to get into, and stay in, a rewarding career,” Mr Joyce says.
“Last year the number of new starts for apprenticeships like carpentry, plumbing and electrical engineering were at the highest levels in nearly a decade. There were more than 42,000 people enrolled in apprenticeships and apprenticeship training in 2015. This funding will help support another 5,500 apprentices by 2020.
“In 2013/14 the Government carried out major industry training reforms. Since then, both apprenticeship numbers and, more importantly, completion rates have increased.”
In 2014 the number of those in apprenticeship training was up by 11.5 per cent on the previous year and completion rates for apprentices were 88 per cent, compared with 72 per cent in 2009.
“We’re keen to stay on this roll and help people not just into employment, but into a lifelong career,” he says.
The new funding will also help meet projected skill shortages in high-demand industries like construction and infrastructure.
“The construction sector is growing strongly throughout the country. Increased apprenticeship numbers will help fill skill gaps and provide the new people needed to maintain that growth,” Mr Joyce says.
Wellington, Beehive, May 19, 2016 - An additional $9.6 million over four years will provide for more Māori and Pasifika Trades Training (MPTT) as demand for the programme continues to grow, Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce and Maori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell say.
“This funding will provide places for 2,500 young Māori and Pasifika learners in MPTT programmes this year, and 3,400 next year, up from just 1,200 in 2014,” Mr Joyce says.
“We are targeting 5,000 learners annually by 2019 as we encourage young Māori and Pasifika to take up a trade and help meet some of the emerging shortages in construction and infrastructure trades particularly.”
Mr Flavell says the Government wants to boost the number of young Māori and Pasifika in employment, education or training, and with the qualifications needed for entry into sustainable employment.
“MPTT gets tertiary providers, employers, and Māori and Pasifika communities working together in consortia to recruit and support learners in pre-trades training and to broker them into employment. There are now consortia in most regions, including a new consortium in Manawatu-Whanganui,” he says.
Mr Joyce says MPTT participants are more likely to complete their programmes than similar learners studying for the same qualifications, and are more likely to progress to an apprenticeship.
“MPTT can help reduce skills shortages and welfare dependency at the same time, and provide these young people with a rewarding career,” he says.
The Tertiary Education Commission has encouraged MPTT consortia to expand the range of trades offered, to recruit young people who are not in employment, education and training and, with support from the Ministry for Women, to recruit more female, especially in fields of strong employer demand in which women are underrepresented.
“In 2015, 23 per cent of learners in MPTT were women. Women had higher completion rates than their male counterparts. We need more women trainees to help meet the growing need for skilled people in areas like construction and the primary industries,” Mr Joyce says.
The additional $9.6 million, funded from a contingency established in Budget 2015, means young people can progress directly to MPTT from school or other training at 16 or 17 years of age, rather than waiting until they turn 18. The maximum age for entry was also raised, from 34 to 40 years of age. Brokerage funding increased from $733 to $1,000 per student, with 30 per cent of this paid only when learners progress to workplace-based training such as a New Zealand Apprenticeship.
Wellington, Beehive, Thursday 19 May 2016 - ACC Minister Nikki Kaye today confirmed the new ACC annual licence levies that owners of light vehicles (cars, vans, utes and SUVs) will pay from 1 July 2016, as well as refinements to the vehicle risk rating system used to calculate these levies.
The ACC annual licence levy is part of the vehicle licensing (‘rego’) fee paid when you register or relicense a vehicle.
“From 1 July, the average motor vehicle levy, which includes the annual licence levy and petrol levy, will reduce from around $195 to around $130 per vehicle,” says Ms Kaye.
“This is a huge reduction of 33 per cent to the average levy. It will save New Zealanders $218 million, and follows $438 million of cuts to motor vehicle levies last year.
“This means the average motor vehicle levy has fallen from $330 to $130 since 2014.
“ACC now applies vehicle risk ratings when setting annual licence levies for light passenger vehicles, which means the specific levy paid by vehicle owners reflects how well their vehicle protects occupants and other road users in a crash.
“Annual licence levies for petrol cars from 1 July will range from around $25 to around $84.
“The exact amount you will pay will depend on the risk band your vehicle is assigned to, but the vast majority of owners of light vehicles will pay a reduced levy. For some owners of petrol vehicles, the annual reduction will be as much as $132.
“Vehicle risk rating was introduced by ACC last year. It was clear the new approach needed improved data for some cars and refinements to policy to ensure greater integrity of the system for some models.
“As part of last year’s public levy consultation, ACC consulted on my behalf on a number of proposed improvements to the system.
“As a result, various changes have been made to the way vehicles will be risk rated from 1 July 2016.
“For example, the system now better identifies when improvements have been made to particular models of car, and it better recognises cars that have different names but which are essentially identical vehicles.
“Enhancements have also been made to ensure greater robustness of the crash data that’s used to help generate risk ratings.
“This is a new system that involves thousands of models of cars, so it’s possible there will be further refinements in years to come.
“I’d like to thank everybody who provided feedback as part of the consultation, in particular stakeholders such as the Automobile Association, Motor Trade Association, Motor Industry Association, Imported Motor Vehicle Industry Association, NZTA and MBIE.
“The average lifetime cost of a person seriously injured on the road is around $2 million. The severity and cost of injuries are reduced if people are in safer cars. A large proportion of cars in the risk bands with the lowest levies are older vehicles, so this is not just about the age of the vehicle.
“Vehicle risk rating is a fairer allocation of levies and helps people have a greater understanding of vehicle safety.”
Enter your number plate to view your ACC licence levy from 1 July 2016 here
View “Enhancements to vehicle risk rating for the 2016/17 levy year” here
Find out more about motor vehicles and ACC levies here
Palmerston North, Massey University, Wednesday 18 May 2016 - A scientific collaboration aimed at protecting and enhancing New Zealand's $50 billion-plus food sector was officially launched today.
The New Zealand Food Safety Science and Research Centre joins seven science research partners to form a virtual research centre, which will be jointly funded by the Government and industry over the next five years.
Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce and Food Safety Minister Jo Goodhew launched the centre at the Manawatū campus of Massey University, alongside the funding partners, the Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand, the Meat Industry Association and Zespri.
The centre’s role is to promote, co-ordinate, and deliver food safety science and research for all of New Zealand, where, according to the Investors Guide to the New Zealand Food and Beverage Industry report issued in November, the top 100 food and beverage firms collectively generate annual revenue of $51 billion.
The science research collaborators are crown research institutes AgResearch, Environmental Science and Research, Plant and Food Research, as well as the private scientific research organisation the Cawthron Institute, and three universities – the University of Auckland, the University of Otago and Massey, the host institution.
The centre's board will be independently chaired by biotechnologist and chemical engineer Dr Kevin Marshall, who also chairs the Riddet Institute, a national centre of research excellence based around food science.
"The centre is an important collaboration between Government, industry and researchers right across the value chain," Dr Marshall says. "It will help to protect and enhance the reputation of food produced by New Zealand, maintain and enhance its exports, increase collective market access and protect public health.”
Funding for the centre will total $4.1 million per annum, with the Government committing $2.05 million per annum and industry matching that.
Dairy Companies Association chairman Malcolm Bailey says the investment shows a clear commitment to maintaining New Zealand’s global reputation for the best food safety outcomes. “Our investment is aimed at future-proofing New Zealand’s reputation for safe food through greater co-ordination, and a stronger linkage to the world’s leading science and research.”
Meat Industry Association chief executive Tim Ritchie says, “New Zealand’s global reputation for strong food safety outcomes is critically important to the success of the red meat sector. The meat industry already invests in science and research to support and protect this reputation and this collaboration is another example of the industry’s absolute commitment to food safety.”
Zespri general manager for innovation Carol Ward says, “this is an important and vital research partnership that will support businesses like Zespri where the focus is on providing the highest quality kiwifruit to consumers around the world. Our success is underpinned by trust in the safety of our produce and high quality research will help New Zealand food producers to continue to lead the way in food safety.”
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment chief executive David Smol says the partnership will bring the best minds and institutions together. “New Zealand’s food exports are dependent on an internationally credible food safety system, which must be underpinned by the best available science," Mr Smol says. "The work to be done at the centre will be a huge help in meeting our export growth targets."
Ministry for Primary Industries director-general Martyn Dunne says the research centre will contribute to ensuring the food safety of consumers in New Zealand and around the world. “The research from the centre will focus on minimising risks of foodborne illnesses by looking at short-term issues as well as pre-empting future food safety risks across all sectors to ensure that consumers can continue to have confidence that their food is safe.”
Centre establishment director Professor Nigel French, from Massey, says the centre will help to continue to build New Zealand's reputation as a global leader in the supply of safe food "by delivering world-class strategic scientific research driven by the needs of government, consumers and industry”.
SAN JOSE, Calif. and SYDNEY, May 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- NETSUITE SUITEWORLD 2016 -- NetSuite Inc. (NYSE: N), the industry's leading provider of cloud-based financials / ERP and omnichannel commerce software suites, today announced that Mons Royale, a global apparel manufacturer and wholesaler of high performance merino clothing has deployed NetSuite OneWorld for business efficiency and growth. Mons Royale is using NetSuite OneWorld for financial consolidation, inventory management, multi-currency for AUD, NZD, Euro, Swiss Franc and Japanese Yen and multi-language support for English, French, Swiss, Norwegian and Japanese, and tax compliance across its head office in New Zealand and seven subsidiaries in Canada, the US, France, Switzerland, Norway, Japan and Australia. With NetSuite OneWorld, Mons Royale has a single source of truth in real-time for the very first time, facilitating more accurate and strategic decision making, as well as impressive cost and time savings.
Founded in New Zealand in 2009 by a professional skier and his wife looking for a more stylish alternative to the traditional technical merino base layers, Mons Royale began shipping international orders during its first year of business. Today, Mons Royale is available in stores across North America, Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, as well as direct to consumers online. As a result of its global growth, Mons Royale struggled to capture real-time insights in order to make informed business decisions.
After a thorough evaluation process that included SAP and Salesforce, Mons Royale selected NetSuite OneWorld for its rapid deployment, powerful customisation and integration platform and its global scalability. With NetSuite OneWorld, Mons Royale has replaced a number of manual processes, allowing personnel to focus on more strategic tasks to grow the business. Furthermore, NetSuite OneWorld's ability to log any currency or stock changes automatically saved its finance staff up to 10 hours a week, where previously these changes had to be logged manually across disparate systems.
Global inventory management is also much more seamless and automated. Inventory can easily be moved around the world, with NetSuite OneWorld automatically recording these inter-company transactions and providing a real-time view of global inventory. Although headquartered in Wanaka in New Zealand, Mons Royale has a substantial global footprint, including manufacturing in China, 20 warehouse locations globally, physical offices in Austria, Switzerland and New Zealand plus multiple shipping locations in key markets around the world. From this footprint, Mons Royal distributes its product to 450 retail locations with NetSuite OneWorld tracking all inventory movement worldwide in real-time.
Ben Irving, Chief Operating Officer at Mons Royale said, "The business benefits delivered by NetSuite OneWorld have been transformational for Mons Royale. As a growing business, we really needed a sophisticated ERP platform to help us introduce more efficient business processes, as well as help manage the complexity associated with a global business, trading in multiple geographies, languages and currencies. For the first time we have a single source of truth available from our headquarters in New Zealand, which enables us to make more strategic business decisions, as well as deploy our most valuable resources on growing the business, versus back office business administration."
NetSuite OneWorld supports 190 currencies, 20 languages and automated tax compliance in more than 100 countries, and transaction in more than 200 countries. With NetSuite OneWorld Mons Royale can experience benefits including:
Today, more than 30,000 companies and subsidiaries depend on NetSuite to run complex, mission-critical business processes globally in the cloud. Since its inception in 1998, NetSuite has established itself as the leading provider of cloud-based financials/enterprise resource planning (ERP) and omnichannel commerce software applications for businesses of all sizes. Many FORTUNE 100 companies rely on NetSuite to accelerate innovation and business transformation. NetSuite continues its success in delivering the best cloud business management software to businesses around the world, enabling them to lower IT costs significantly while increasing productivity, as the global adoption of the cloud accelerates.
For more information about NetSuite please visit www.netsuite.com.au.
Entries open today for the 2016 Prime Minister’s Business Scholarships, which offer New Zealand executives the opportunity to improve their skills at the world’s best business schools.
Wellington, Beehive, May 16, 2016 - Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce says the scholarships are designed for senior managers, executives and business owners looking to expand their expertise by studying internationally.
“These scholarships enable businesspeople to develop their management and international business leadership skills, in order to make their firms at home more internationally competitive,” Mr Joyce says.
“Having our business leaders study overseas brings tangible benefits to New Zealand businesses and helps to grow the economy. If we increase the number of business leaders with a global mind-set, our businesses are better able to operate to international best practices.
“The scholarships also support New Zealand businesspeople to develop valuable networks and overcome the challenges that our small economy and distance from overseas markets can pose.”
The scholarships cover up to half of the course-related costs of attending an international learning institution.
Last year’s scholarships saw 13 successful recipients enrol at prestigious international institutions such as Harvard, Wharton and Columbia Business Schools, Stanford University, and the London School of Economics.
Applications for the scholarships close on 27 June 2016.
More information is available here
Some manufacturing firms that survived the global financial crisis have one unusual secret to their success: stop manufacturing.
May 17, 2016 - Though just one of the strategies that helped keep some New Zealand manufacturing firms economically buoyant, it was among the most surprising results of Simon Collins’ PhD thesis.
Simon, who graduates on 17 May, dedicated his PhD to investigating the factors that increased resilience in New Zealand manufacturing firms to help them withstand the worst of the global financial crisis nearly ten years ago.
After conducting in-depth interviews with seventeen manufacturing firms, he identified four resilience-building strategies that separated those that continued to perform well during the recession, and those that did not.
"One of the biggest surprises was that some of the resilient firms stopped being manufacturers. They outsourced manufacturing and instead focussed on developing and designing great products, and then taking ownership of distributing and retailing those products themselves. By delivering their products straight to their customers they captured some of the margin that would usually go to a third party," Simon says.
Simon says this tactic was part of a wider survival strategy to maximise efficiencies, which saw resilient manufacturing firms aiming to be more efficient at every stage of the manufacturing process. This improved margins, and as a result, muted the negative effects of lower sales and the unfavourable exchange rate.
Simon’s research identified three other resilience-building strategies:
- Innovating platforms - developing the next generation of products to stimulate new sales
- Actively collaborating - working closely and consistently with other firms and individuals to help develop technology and products
- Cataloguing specialist knowledge and skills - building libraries, creating databases of skills and lodging patents to identify, protect and then capitalise on areas of expertise.
Professor Sally Davenport, one of Simon’s supervisors, says his research captures the response of firms from "some stellar performers to a couple that subsequently went under, so he had a continuum of performance from which to glean resilience factors.
"Simon’s analysis of their experiences can help other firms build resilience to survive future disruptions," she says.
Simon is already doing just that through his consultancy company Visory, which helps businesses use information design to facilitate the communication of strategy.
"I started Visory with two friends around the time I began my PhD. My research has been really valuable in our work because the findings are widely applicable to the type of strategy work we do for our clients," he says.
Simon was also supervised by School of Management’s Associate Professor Urs Daellenbach.
You can reach Simon on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Beef Central, 15 May 2016 - Held in Germany every three years, IFFA is the world’s biggest exhibition of meat processing and packaging technologies, with around 1000 exhibitors mounting displays and 63,000 visitors in attendance. Here’s a snapshot of robotics and other exhibition items that caught the eyes of Australia’s Wiley Engineering staff during the event.
Dutch designer Dave Hakkens has updated his series of Precious Plastic machines, which anyone can build and use to make products by recycling the material.
Blueprints for the new machines, which the designer described as "a solution to plastic pollution", are now available online for anyone to download and build.
The devices are made using everyday materials and basic tools that are available all over the world.
For further information and access to the blue prints see:-
The change to an Australian based health and Safety model certainly is challenging for many businesses and is to requiring to require a lot of clarification as to who has what responsibility for what.
This is now reaching into the areas of corporate bodies and rental properties or building, something that many businesses are operating from.
A little known fact is that it is the owner of the premises, the landlord responsibility under the 2006 “NZ fire safety and evacuation of building regulations” To develop and provide and to implement efficient emergency evacuation procedures for the prompt evacuation of their buildings or premises.
The following article written by Jessie Lapthorne, an associate at law firm Duncan Cotterill, sets out another set of responsibilities that clarifies the issue where a land lord employs contractors to undertake work on their property:-
"Rental properties are now classified as workplaces putting new responsibilities on landlords when undertaking repairs and maintenance.
New legislation means landlords have a responsibility to ensure the health and safety of contractors they engage to carry out work on their property.
Under the new Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSW Act), a landlord is classified as a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) and the property will be classified as a “workplace” if a person is undertaking work there.
As with any other workplace, the PCBU is tasked with protecting the health and safety of its workers and anyone else influenced by the work being carried out.
If, for example, a landlord hires someone to undertake electrical repairs on their rental property, the landlord will have an obligation to ensure that the contractor is suitably qualified to undertake the work and has health and safety systems in place to ensure that workers, tenants, or visitors to the property are not injured in connection with that work.
A landlord who does not meet this obligation could face prosecution under the HSW Act, if someone is injured.
WorkSafe will not take lightly to those who plead ignorance. The latest ACC statistics show that there were more than 146,100 active claims in the home or a commercial/service location as a result of work, at a staggering cost of over $289 million in the year to June 2015.
Given the nature of residential work, such as cleaning, gardening, building, and plumbing and electrical, there is likely to be more than one PCBU, including the landlord and the contractor. There are a number of steps you can take to remain compliant: Identify and manage the risks on the property (such as dogs) and connected to the work to be undertaken;
• Ensure contractors are sufficiently competent to perform the work and have their own individual health and safety plan; • Ensure contractors understand their health and safety requirements, particularly in relation to the risks identified; • If possible, meet with the contractor on site at the property and discuss risks and health and safety requirements, and make notes of the meeting and the discussion; • Consider appointing a project manager or property manager to manage the risks for contractors (although this will not excuse a landlord from liability)."
ConclusionJessie’s article certainly clarifies a number of Health and Safety issues and this now taking this business responsibility to another level. Like it or hate it, the HSW Act its enacted, it’s happening and we now, as a nation of responsible property and business owners have to make it work, it is no longer a negotiable option for any business owner .
Gordon Anderson is the managing director of Hasmate Ltd of Napier. Since 1993 he has worked extensively in the area of health and safety as an adviser, systems development, auditing and management training. He works with a wide range of industries in Hawke's Bay and in other centres.
Almost three quarters (72%) of New Zealand HR Managers have hired an employee who did not meet expectations, according to the latest independent research from recruitment specialist Robert Half.
The results of a bad hire for a company can be damaging with almost half (49%) of those surveyed naming a loss of productivity as the greatest impact, 30% citing lower staff morale and 20% quoting a monetary cost.
Megan Alexander, General Manager at Robert Half New Zealand said: “According to our independent survey, up to 5% of employee turnover in New Zealand is the result of poor hiring decisions. These can have very damaging effects on a business. The implications of a bad hire can go beyond the monetary element, affecting corporate culture and the overall performance of a workplace.”
“Companies are looking to grow and increase profit. Consequently, every hire should demonstrate measurable results towards the company’s development and strategic goals, making the search for the right talent a priority for HR directors.”
“In today’s market, businesses are time-poor and everyone is competing for skilled talent, especially when the wrong hire can cost a business time, money, and damage its corporate brand.”
Hiring the wrong candidate for a role can incur costs for a company including the employee’s salary that did not reflect performance or output; training costs; impacted productivity of the employee, colleagues and management; potential loss of revenue and the ultimate cost to re-recruit for the role.
“The earlier the wrong candidate is identified, the more likely appropriate measures can be taken. It might seem like a good idea to remove the employee from the role, however this should be considered as the last resort in order to keep costs and losses already incurred as low as possible. Often the employee can be offered additional support, more time can be invested in the on-boarding process or there may be an opportunity to assign a new or different role,” said Megan Alexander. Continue here to read the full article
A Robert Half press release, May 11, 2016
The construction industry contributes a large and growing share of the New Zealand economy, with total employment rising to almost 10% and value added (GDP contribution) rising to about 9% by 2012. While aggregate statistics have raised some concerns about poor construction productivity, the New Zealand construction industry is not an underperformer when looked at through the lens of individual firms.
Using firm-level data, this study finds that over the period 2001–2012, labour productivity of the average firm in the construction industry grew by 1.7 percent annually and MFP by 0.5 percent annually, compared with 0.5 and 0.1 percent annually respectively for the overall measured sector.
Within the construction industry, productivity growth rates vary markedly by sub-industry and other firm characteristics. Labour productivity is more widely dispersed than is MFP. High-productivity firms tend to be younger, more likely to be a new start-up, to belong to a business group, and to locate in Auckland than low-productivity firms. Working-proprietor-only firms are slightly less productive on average than employing firms, while displaying more productivity dispersion (both more high productivity firms and more low productivity firms).
A Motu Economic and Public Policy Research (MOTU) press release, May 12, 2016
NZTech is organising a major New Zealand education technology summit in Auckland on July 5 and 6 for schools, tertiary institutes, edtech organisations and relevant government departments.
Muller says technology is becoming increasingly vital in today’s teaching environment, as part of the curricula, part of the classroom and the wider school infrastructure.
“Technology needs to be seamlessly integrated to ensure students are well prepared for the digital economy of the future. This summit brings together tech leaders and teachers to focus on the challenges and opportunities tech presents.
“The tech sector is the fastest growing sector in New Zealand and with this comes an insatiable demand for skilled graduates. There are almost 100,000 people working within the tech sector, and a further 20,000 ICT workers employed in other sectors.
“These people are some of the highest paid in New Zealand, have incredibly diverse and interesting roles and are building the future. Yet the tech sector continues to struggle to fill roles. As the catalyst for the growth of the economy it is essential that more children develop an interest in science technology engineering and maths subjects and can get on a pathway that will lead them to opportunities across the diverse and growing tech ecosystem.
“The tech leaders and policy makers at the summit will align around critical actions needed to develop tomorrow’s tech workers. They will seek solutions from questions such as: Is the curricula ready? Are there enough teachers prepared? How can we excite and encourage the children? Are there clear pathways into tech jobs? Is the industry reaching far enough into education to support?
“Edtech will be a $200 billion global market opportunity by 2017. We can learn from this market for our New Zealand schools and for the development of our education technology businesses. We will be looking at the future for digital technologies through to hearing from local edtech organisations.
“Other topics include: Ed Tech Futures – where will we be in the next 10 years? digital disruption in education technology – closing the gap for 21st century education; the road to export markets – capabilities, experiences and the next great opportunities; Mindsets and the future of education technology; and what is the perfect environment for innovation to occur in schools?”
Technology is becoming increasingly important in New Zealand schools – whether as part of the teaching curricula, part of the classroom or the wider school infrastructure. Technology needs to be seamlessly integrated into today’s teaching to ensure students are well prepared for the digital economy of the future, Muller says.
A Make Lemonade press release May 10, 2016
Registrations are now open for a new global food integrity conference to be held in Auckland on 13 – 14 July. Now is a key time on the world stage for food safety with regulations and requirements changing worldwide and impacting the entire food chain of suppliers and producers.
New Zealand’s supply chain with China is at the forefront of the inaugural Food Integrity Conference 2016.
Initiated by local company, Asia Pacific Centre for Food Integrity, the Conference aims to provide a forum for discussion on current issues facing food producers both in New Zealand and in China.
Developing markets, especially China, are driving New Zealand’s food and beverage export growth with Asia now the largest destination region.
Asia Pacific Centre for Food Integrity, Executive Director and Conference Organiser, Dr Helen Darling, sees great potential for New Zealand to play globally as a leader in food safety and security.
“We see this conference as an exciting opportunity for like-minded people to have conversations about the international regulatory environment,” says Helen.
“We need to avoid everyone reinventing the wheel – New Zealand is a small country and to be competitive in the international marketplace we need to share knowledge and leadership. This Conference is an exciting and relevant forum to do this.”
High powered international and local speakers have literally been lining up to speak, says Helen.
“It’s really exciting to see the enthusiasm of both international and New Zealand experts in the food industry lining up to be involved in the Conference.
I believe it’s an indication of the need for a forum of this kind for food producers, manufacturers and exporters.”
International keynote speakers include Col. John Hoffman from the USA, retired from a 31 year military career, Hoffman is now with the Food Protection and Defence Institute – a US Department of Homeland Security Centre of Excellence based at Minnesota University.
Sonia Bradley from the World Bank, Global Food Safety Programme, will start day two of the Conference with a key note address on Global Food Safety.
Speakers from China include Professor Wu, Chief Scientist, China National Centre of Food Risk Assessment in Beijing; and Kevin Wang, Editor-in-Chief, China Food Safety Magazine.
Local business woman Rachael Speedy is a vibrant and passionate speaker with a formidable reputation gained from running her successful company, NZ Premium Foods. Well renowned for exporting premium New Zealand food and beverages to South East Asia, as well as throughout New Zealand, Rachael is also involved in organising the Conference.
Australasian based Karl Ye, Managing Director, GMP Pharmaceuticals, joins Executive Director Export NZ, Catherine Beard and Hamish Findlay, General Manager, ESR Ltd to discuss export opportunities.
For a full Conference programme, registration and further details please refer to www.food-integrity-conference.com
New Zealand is fast transitioning from feeding Westerners to feeding the Asia Pacific region.
In 1965, (51 years ago) our food and beverage export to Asia accounted for only 5% of our total export value by destination. In 2014 it was up to 46%.
Contact:Asia Pacific Food Integrity Conference, Helen Darling, 021 479 958, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
APress release May 11, 2016
11 May 2016, Reserve Bank - New Zealand’s financial system is resilient and continues to function effectively, but risks to the financial stability outlook have increased further in the past six months, Reserve Bank Governor, Graeme Wheeler, said today when releasing the Bank’s May Financial Stability Report.
“Although New Zealand’s economic growth remains solid, the outlook for the global economy has deteriorated. Despite highly accommodative monetary policies and low oil prices, growth is slowing in a number of trading partner economies.
“Dairy prices remain low with global dairy supply continuing to increase. Many farmers now face a third season of negative cash flow with heavy demand for working capital.
“Imbalances in the housing market are increasing with house price inflation lifting again in Auckland, after cooling in late 2015 and early 2016 following new restrictions in investor loan-to-value ratios and government measures introduced in October.
“House prices have also begun increasing strongly in a number of regions across New Zealand, although house prices outside Auckland are generally much lower relative to incomes.
“The Bank remains concerned that a future sharp slowdown could challenge financial stability given the large exposure of the banking system to the Auckland housing market. Further efforts to reduce the imbalance between housing demand and supply in Auckland remain essential. This includes measures such as decreasing impediments to densification and greenfield development and addressing infrastructure and other constraints to increased housing supply.”
Deputy Governor, Grant Spencer, said: “In the banking system capital and liquidity buffers are strong and profitability is high.
“However, the system faces challenges. Internationally, credit spreads have widened, placing upward pressure on the cost of funds for New Zealand banks.
“The level of problem loans in the dairy sector is expected to increase significantly over the coming year, although we expect that dairy losses will be absorbed mainly through reduced earnings.
“While the moderation in house price inflation has been transitory, the LVR restrictions have substantially reduced the proportion of risky housing loans on bank balance sheets. This is providing an ongoing improvement to financial system resilience.
“The Reserve Bank is closely monitoring developments to assess whether further financial policy measures would be appropriate.
“The Reserve Bank continues to make progress on key regulatory initiatives. Consultation papers on proposed changes to the outsourcing policy for banks and on changes to bank disclosure requirements will soon be released. A consultation paper has also recently been released on crisis management powers for financial market infrastructures.”
11 May 2016 - As the world grapples with a seemingly insurmountable food wastage crisis, one company believes it has developed a new technology to help deal with the problem before it starts.
It is estimated that about one-third of all food produced worldwide goes to waste each year, worth around US$1 trillion.
While much effort goes in to dealing with food waste at the consumer end, most of the problem occurs somewhere between the producer and the retailer. In the Asia Pacific region, 15% to 50% of fruit is estimated to be lost between the grower and the market.
This is where New Zealand startup RipeTime, which is talking to potential investors in Taiwan, believes it has the answer. The company’s technology detects extremely low levels of gas in the atmosphere, which is used to track fruit quality as it is moved through the supply chain.
“We can smell, and essentially taste fruit, months before it is currently possible to do,” founder Jon Lowy told The News Lens in an interview in Taipei.
The company believes there are many markets its product can be used in – including testing for the presence of drugs. It is currently focused on fruit and vegetables, which have the highest wastage rates of any food, and flowers. The UN puts global food losses and waste at 40% to 50% for root crops, fruits and vegetables, compared to 20% for meat and dairy and 35% for fish.
Major costs and lost revenue
The RipeTime device collects atmospheric data from within fruit packaging immediately after it has been harvested. In the case of apples, the data it collects can tell producers whether a particular box has apples with problems such as early stage rot. In one brand the company has tested its product on, 1% of the apples have this problem.
“The brand that owns this apple, 1% of their customers bite into them and taste dirt. It ruins their market image and people don’t buy [the apples] again,” Lowy says.
RipeTime director Michael Vukcevic says if the problem can be identified immediately after harvest, the apples can still be eaten within 25 days – that compares to the one-year life expectancy normal apples have in cold storage.
“They know, when they see that signal, they have to get it to a market, sold and consumed within 25 days,” he says. “What it is not for, is to be put on a boat to be sent to China, Japan and the US.”
The value of food losses and waste amount to roughly US$680 billion in industrialized countries and US$310 billion in developing countries. As well as the costs of produce that goes off and the potential brand damage, there is also the lost revenue companies face.
Lowy and Vukcevic give the example of New Zealand kiwifruit exporter Zespri, which is a well-known brand in Taiwan. It sells more than 20 million trays of kiwifruit to China and around 10 million to Taiwan annually. In Zespri’s best year for what is known as cost of quality – the total cost of sorting, losing and disposing of fruit – the company still took a NZ$150 million hit.
“It costs them NZ$150 million, by not being able to determine and predict the condition of fruit accurately,” Vukcevic says. That doesn’t include the revenue lost from not selling fruit at a time when there is nothing else in the market but demand is high.
Lowy says just last year Zespri scrapped millions of trays of fruit late in the season – a time when a single kiwifruit could fetch CNY$30 in China.
Taiwanese eye investment
RipeTime was in Taiwan last week and has been talking to potential investors and customers around the world. The company has already raised cash and run a rights issue with shareholders – a small group of early stage investors including the New Zealand government's Venture Investment Fund. It is now looking for more capital while concurrently negotiating its first commercial deals. The cash the company raises will go toward the commercialization process and continuing research and development.
Vukcevic says the company could spend US$5 million to US$20 million over the next few years depending on the investment it secures.
“The amount of money equals the speed at which we would travel,” Vukcevic says. “We are very much of the view that we have de-risked the technology, we know that it works. The market validation we have had to-date has been very strong. We are now in that execution and roll-out stage, which for us is very exciting.”
In terms of competition, Lowy says that most other players in the market are focused on developing the electronic sensor technology, which is used after the RipeTime product is used.
“Amazingly, nobody does this,” Lowy says of the competitive space RipeTime is in – he says most testing at the early stage is still done manually.
While the company is currently focused on securing the capital it needs to grow – it is very upbeat about the venture capital and investment scene in Taiwan – the potential impact of the solution has not been lost.
The UN notes that if a quarter of the 1.3 billion tonnes currently lost or wasted globally each year was saved, “it would be enough to feed 870 million people.”
Vukcevic says if food wastage in Chile alone could be reduced by 10%, “we can pretty feed everyone in Africa.”
“Those sorts of changes have a significant impact," he says.
Rising shopper demand for goods means The Warehouse’s giant distribution centre at Rolleston is no longer big enough. A $13 million construction project aims to make it as half as big again.
The building is already bigger than six rugby fields at 34,000 square metres and sits on 10 hectares of land in the Izone Southern Business Hub, just west on the railway line.
It was built for The Warehouse in 2002 by the Selwyn District Council, which later sold it for $15m to an investment fund.
Now another 15,000sqm will be added to the structure, along with 2000sqm of container canopies and extra racking and conveyor systems, and extra yard and parking areas. The work includes $8m worth of construction just consented by the Selwyn District Council.
Jeff Matthews, business manager for Holmes Consulting who is running the development, said the project would involve a significant amount of work and the resulting building would be huge.
Construction will be done by Naylor Love. Steel and concrete for the project will not have to come far – both structural steel supplier Pegasus and concrete maker Cancast are also in the Izone business park.
The distribution centre stores goods for distribution to all the 25 Warehouse stores in the South Island. Two shifts of up to 75 workers each operate the complex from 6am to 11.30pm.
As well as its red shed stores, The Warehouse Group owns Warehouse stationery, appliance retailer Noel Leeming, and outdoors gear retailer Torpedo 7.
The group made $2.8 billion worth of sales in New Zealand last year. Its after-tax profit was $57m, a figure it expects to better by about 10 per cent this year.
Originally published in Logistics & Materials Handling May 6, 2016
South Australian company IMP technologies (IMPTEC) have developed a super fine crusher that reduces comminution costs.
The company is currently trialling a semi-commercial unit at Hallett Concrete in Adelaide, South Australia’s capital.
The machine is being used to turn the waste from black sand or iron sand into a replacement for Portland cement.
IMPTEC Director John Doherty said the crusher was a game-changing invention that could eventually be at the forefront of the industry.
“What we’re involved in is reducing the amount of energy, which is usually electrical, and the cost of media. You can also include lower maintenance costs because it’s just one machine,” he said.
“The energy density of the crusher is greater than other machines and reduces around 30 per cent of energy costs.”
Comminution is the essential processor of minerals into cement, more commonly Portland cement, a known producer of a number of greenhouse gases.
It also accounts for almost 40 per cent of total mining costs and three per cent of the world’s energy consumption, prompting the search for a more efficient solution.
Conventional methods include breaking down large rocks to a few centimetres, crushing them further to fit into a ball mill, and grinding the minerals with the help of media and water till the material came out in slurry form.
The machine shortens the process by merging the second and third stage. It is unique because it also able to run the process dry and without the use of media.
Doherty said the company plans to produce a fully commercial product by the end of the year.
“Our semi-commercial unit takes in orders of two tonnes per hour,” Doherty said.
“If it approves itself over the next few months, it would be good. We’re looking at scaling up to 100 tonnes per hour.”
The transformation of black sand or granulated slag into cement is a world first.
Last month IMPTEC was awarded the Statewide Super Innovation in Resources Award for its super fine crusher at the inaugural South Australian Resources Industry Awards.
The judging panel included the leader of the Minerals and Energy strand at the University of South Australia’s Future Industries Institute Bill Skinner who said that as good deposits of high-grade minerals diminish, the need to grind more material finer was vital.
“Energy consumption is going to go up if we are trying to keep up with what is needed in terms of metals. So anything that is going to reduce the footprint of an operating plant is going to be good,” he said.
“Portland cement is very energy intensive to produce and produces a lot of CO2 in the process. If you are using something that is actually a waste product, that is what you want.”
“This (IMPTEC’s super fine crusher) particular technology offers much reduced energy consumption. Up scaling it is a challenge that needs to be overcome.”
A The Lead South Australia press release
Up-and-coming engineering students and graduates will be given a head start in the industry thanks to Milmeq’s graduate, scholarship and internship programmes.
Engineering students from Massey, Canterbury and Auckland Universities are offered the chance to intern at Milmeq during their summer break, with opportunities to go on to the graduate programme.
Auckland University Mechanical Engineering student and 2015/16 intern Ryan Ennor says working in the Auckland office to complete his professional hours was a valuable experience. “Many of the engineers at Milmeq have been here a long time and have a lot of knowledge to share. Working closely with them has really helped me to broaden my understanding and knowledge base.”
During their time at Milmeq the interns assist the company in innovation projects, aimed at providing enhancements to existing technologies and development of new technologies. This enables them to complete the 400 hours each of practical and professional engineering experience required as part of their degree.
In addition to the internship, Milmeq also offers a scholarship, to the value of $3000, for an engineering student at Auckland University to go towards their final year of study.
This year’s recipient was Evan Simmers who also worked in the Milmeq Auckland office during his summer break. “My 10 weeks at Milmeq helped me develop my innovative thinking and problem solving skills. I think more than anything, the open and collaborative culture at Milmeq is what I enjoyed the most," Mr Simmers says.
Newly-qualified engineers are also given a leg up at Milmeq through their graduate programme. Milmeq employs newly qualified engineers every year in graduate positions. Graduates are often sourced from those who have successfully completed internships, although applications are also opened up to those outside the programme.
New graduate Thomas Craig joined Milmeq’s Dunedin-based team in November last year after interning at the company the previous summer. “In my role I’ve had the opportunity to work on a wide variety of projects and put a lot of the theory I learnt in my degree into practical application,” Thomas says. “It’s fantastic getting to work alongside highly experienced engineers – I find myself learning something new every day.”
Milmeq CEO Mike Lightfoot says fostering new engineering talent is a major focus for the company. “Our internship, scholarship and graduate programmes are an integral component of our business,” Mr Lightfoot says. “These students and graduates are the future of the industry so we are focussed on creating a pathway to bring new talent into our business. This is an essential ingredient for long term growth and sustainability - having mix of experience and youth in our engineering team encourages us to constantly challenge the way things are done, and this in turn drives innovation.”
A Milmeq news release
Snorkel unveiled its new 460SJ mid-sized telescopic boom lift at the HIRE 16 trade show in Queensland, Australia, May 5-6.
5 May 2016 - Available globally, the 460SJ is part of a new family of four telescopic boom lifts introduced by Snorkel this year. The family also includes the 660SJ, officially launched in mid April at Bauma 2016 in Munich, Germany.
Built to last, the all-steel Snorkel 460SJ delivers 46-ft. (16.0 m) platform height, 40'0" (12.2 m) outreach, and can lift up to 600 lbs. (272 kg).
The 460SJ features a 6'7" (2.0 m) jib that can articulate 135°, and the lift is also available without the jib, as the model 400S, with a platform height of 33'6" (12.2 m).
Fitted with a fixed axle as standard, the 460SJ delivers excellent rough-terrain performance thanks to a traction manifold that always delivers oil to all four wheels for continuous 4-wheel drive, with the ability to climb grades to 50%. An oscillating axle is optional.
The 460SJ features Snorkel’s new tri-entry removable platform and Snorkel Guard secondary guarding system as standard. Proportional joystick controls operate all functions, including platform rotation and leveling.
At HIRE 16, the Snorkel 460SJ is on display alongside the larger Snorkel 660SJ in Ahern Australia’s stand in the Outdoor Area (A8).
Both models are now available for ordering worldwide.
At the show, Ahern Australia is also officially launching Snorkel’s new line of hydraulically driven electric scissor lifts. The new Snorkel electric scissor lift line includes six models, three of which will be on display at the show. The S3219E, S3226E and S4732E will make their first appearance in the Australian market, showcasing features such as twin-door ‘inside-out’ access to components, upsized kingpins, dual shear scissor stack for increased rigidity, and on-board diagnostics for easy maintenance. The new scissor lifts are now available to order.
HIRE 16 is also seeing Ahern showcase telehandlers and trailers manufactured in Snorkel’s New Zealand facility, including two products designed specifically for the Australian market. The MHP13AT is a robust and reliable towable boom lift, offering 12.9m working height and 6.4m of outreach, that is ideal for tradespeople and facilities maintenance. The Snorkel S2255RT is a narrow and lightweight compact rough terrain scissor lift that can lift up 420kg to a working height of 8.5m. Designed predominantly for working in constricted areas on uneven ground, this lift can be towed on a trailer behind any vehicle with 3.0 tonne GVM or greater, making it ideal for multi-site applications.
Ahern Australia will also display an Xtreme Manufacturing XR1255 rough-terrain telehandler at the show. Now available to order in Australia, the heavy duty XR1255 can lift up to 5,400 kg and has a maximum reach of 16.0m, making it ideal for multi-story construction projects.
A Lift&Access Release
Last week I was asked to visit a small company that manufactured and installed kitchen bench tops and to discuss their future health and safety (H&S) requirements.Napier, 5 May 2016 - The company had been in business for eight years, they operated out of an old orchard pack house, had a very good reputation in the building industry and were very busy. The company had three employees.
No H&S systems were available. Like so many SMEs I visit, the business owner had very few management systems in place.
In the owners opinion H&S was a dirty word but he was now receiving many enquiries from his key clients stating if he wanted to continue to supply them and to work on their building sites he would have to have his H&S systems into place. His insurance broker had also asked him to address the issue.
After getting over the initial introductions and hearing his opinion that H&S was all B-S and nothing more than common sense and that he had never had an accident, we got down to business of identifying what and how he made bench tops.
It was during my observations that I noticed an employee approach the glue spraying booth, pick up a respirator off the work bench, put in on and then proceeded to spray the adhesive onto the laminate.When I asked the business owner if that was the normal process he nodded and then proceeded to tell me they have always done it that way and in my opinion was anything wrong with the way they did the spraying.
Here’s how the discussion went:Q - How often is the spray booth used during the day?A - Continually by all the staff, including myself
Q - Where is the extraction system turned on and by whom?A - We don’t have one as it’s too expensive to install.Q- Do you carry out annual medical checks for your employees?A- No why should we, do we have to?
I then proceeded to explain why this has to happen and especially with the type of exposure that he and his employees have to highly toxic solvent based glues.I then asked him if he had trained his staff in the safe use and application of the glues according to the Glues material safety data sheet. (MSDSA- What’s an MSDS?
Another explanation followed.
At this stage I picked up the respirator that was laying on the workbench and asked.Q- Do all the employees use this respirator?A- Yes, what’s the problem with that, they only use for a few minutes at a time?
I then proceeded to fold back the Latex face mask and showed him the sweat, spittle, MDF dust and other nasties trapped inside the mask.Q- Do you also use this?A- There was a stunned silence for a few moments and then he said shaking his head, not any longer.
He then said, I see what you mean but the cost of buying a respirator for each employee would be expensive, I can’t afford to do this.A- You can’t afford not to.
Q- What do you mean?A- If one of your employees was to come to work with the flu or a chest infection or worse and he, as well as all the other staff used the respirator, then there was a very high risk of all the staff and yourself contracting the flu resulting in all of you being off work for 3-5 days.
Q- What financial impact would that have on your business lest alone your clients and your business reputation?In addition, you also have a legal obligation under the Health and Safety at work Act to manage and to monitor the health and safety of your employees.
Q- How often do you clean the respirator or change the filters?A- Never, I have never really thought about it. It sounds like I really do have an H&S issue, how do I fix it?
DOES THIS SOUND FAMILIAR? If it does then here’s an action plan
1. Ask your glue supplier to send you the latest copy of the MSD sheet for the glue. 2. Discuss the MSD information with your employees, especially the use of PPE and the emergency procedures. 3. Have an extraction system installed in the spray booth to remove any surplus glue spray in a controlled manner. 4. Consult with a specialist supplier and purchase a respirator for each employee. 5. Ask the supplier to train your employees in the safe use, cleaning and the replacement of the filters 6. Purchase four plastic Click Clack containers , put their names on them and mount them on the wall near the spray booth 7. When not in use, the respirators must be • Cleaned after use and or on a weekly basis with sanitizing wipes. • Placed in a zip lock plastic bag • Stored in a snap lock plastic container. • Depending on the type of filters used, they can work 24/7 when exposed to the air. Read the manufactures instructions. • Change the filters on a scheduled basis.
And lastly, I recommended that YOU identify and engage a qualified Occupational health nurse to undertake the health monitoring assessments for yourself and your employees.
Gordon Anderson is the managing director of Hasmate Ltd of Napier. Since 1993 he has worked extensively in the area of health and safety as an adviser, systems development, auditing and management training. He works with a wide range of industries in Hawke's Bay and in other centres.
These Regional Research Institutes are to be new research centres developed in areas outside of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch
Wellington, 27 April, 2016 - Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce today announced that three proposals to establish new Regional Research Institutes (RRIs) have been shortlisted and that applicants will now enter the business case development stage of the selection process.
Regional Research Institutes are to be new research centres developed in areas outside of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch that help build research and development intensity and lift innovation in key regional industries.
“Our regional economies have unique resources and strengths. The Regional Research Institutes initiative looks to harness these and build on economic potential by establishing independent and industry-focused R&D facilities,” Mr Joyce says.
A total of 24 proposals, from 16 different locations, were received for consideration.
“There were a number of credible and exciting proposals submitted, and the three shortlisted represent those considered at this stage to have presented the best plans for delivering the strongest growth in business R&D and innovation in regional areas,“ Mr Joyce says.
“For New Zealand to achieve its economic potential, we need all our regions to thrive. Regional growth is a priority for the Government and this initiative supports the Business Growth Agenda and its goal to increase business R&D expenditure to 1 per cent of GDP.”
The three shortlisted proposals are:
New Zealand Institute of Viticulture and Oenology, Marlborough, led by the New Zealand Winegrowers – research to support the growth and continuing success of the New Zealand wine industry.
Centre for Space Science Technology, Central Otago, led by Bodeker Scientific – research allowing the use of space-based measurements and unique to New Zealand satellite imagery to develop solutions tailored to regions and key sectors, for example, in water resource management and regional planning.
Earth+Vantage, Southland, led by Venture Southland – research using real time satellite and ground-based data to lift primary industry productivity across New Zealand, in areas such as precision farming, forestry and marine management.
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment will work with the three applicants on a more detailed analysis of their proposals and determine the preferred options that deliver the greatest value from the potential institutes. Once this process is complete, Cabinet will make its final decision on which new institutes will be established.
The development of privately-led regional research institutes was announced as part of Budget 2015, with funding for up to $25 million over three years to support the initiative. Proposals were invited from groups of businesses, researchers and private investors in November 2015.
“MBIE will also contact those applicants who were not successful in proceeding to the next stage at this time and provide evaluation feedback for them to consider when building on their initial concepts and for applying to any future funding rounds,” says Mr Joyce.
“The high level of interest from all applicants illustrates that there is plenty of potential for further regional growth in research and development.”
Lest we forget. Poignant words that mean so much to all New Zealanders.
Auckland, 27 April 2016 - So why then were 5 wheelchair bound servicemen from World War Two not allowed to march in the dawn parade at the Auckland War Memorial Cenotaph on Monday.
Because they were in wheelchairs and would "slow the march down" according a report in the NZHerald this morning. The organisors also commented that health and safety was an issue - hope they are not hiding behind the new H&S law to try and justify their decision.
Come on, whoever is responsible for this decision has got it wrong these guys will not be with us for much longer and deserve to be included in the march, not just placed at the Centotaph, on the very day that celebrates the sacrifice they and those who didn't return made all those years ago. Do we have to go so fast that we leave behind, or in this case don't include, the very people we gather to respect each year. To sacrifice a small amount of time in a case like this is not to much to ask, is it?
If you missed the Herald article you can read it here
Image Credit: stuff.co.nz
New Zealand’s new Brighter Money $5 note has been named Banknote of the Year in a prestigious international competition.
Wellington, 26 April 2016 - The $5 note was awarded the IBNS Banknote of the Year title at the International Bank Note Society’s annual meeting.
The IBNS Banknote of the Year award recognises outstanding achievement in the design, technical sophistication and security of a banknote or banknote series. Twenty banknotes from around the world were nominated for the award, and the winner was voted by IBNS members.
The IBNS says New Zealand’s $5 note was the competition’s “clear winner”, with Sweden’s 20 Kronor note, Russia’s 100 Ruble note, Kazakhstan’s 20,000 Tenge note and Scotland’s (Clydesdale Bank) 5 Pound polymer note voted the runners-up.
New Zealand’s new banknotes are designed and printed by Canadian Banknote Company in Canada.
Reserve Bank of New Zealand Deputy Governor Geoff Bascand says the award is testament to the hard work and innovation by the Bank and its partners that has gone into developing the note.
“We are proud of all of New Zealand’s new banknotes, but to have our $5 note recognised internationally is very special. The note incorporates some of the world’s most advanced security features, yet still beautifully showcases New Zealand’s history, culture and heritage.”
The $5 and $10 notes have been in circulation since October. The new $20, $50 and $100 notes will come into circulation from May 16.
More informationBrighter Money websiteInternational Bank Note Society websiteCanadian Bank Note Company website
An outstanding cross-section of New Zealand companies have made it through as finalists in the 2016 Air New Zealand Cargo ExportNZ Awards for Auckland and Waikato.
Auckland, 26 April 2016 - From household names to start-up businesses, judges have been impressed with the calibre of entries received this year, especially as this is the first time the awards have been opened up to Waikato enterprises.
Overall, there are 25 finalists in seven categories (see below).
“I’m delighted with the diverse range of finalists we have in this year’s awards. We have a mix of service industries and manufacturers. These awards are designed to give recognition to our exporting community, and acknowledge the hard yards they have put in to help transform our economy. This year’s awards will showcase a cross-section of some of our most ingenious and innovative businesses,” says Catherine Lye, ExportNZ Manager Auckland, Waikato & Bay of Plenty.
Exports account for 29% of New Zealand’s GDP (NZ$69.3 billion).
ExportNZ Auckland and Waikato are divisions of the Employers and Manufacturers Association. The 2016 awards will be presented at a black-tie gala dinner on Thursday, June 23 at The Langham Hotel, Auckland.
Air New Zealand Cargo ExportNZ Awards 2016
2016 finalists for the Air New Zealand Cargo ExportNZ Awards
Award category 1:Westpac Exporter of the Year (export revenue over $25 million)1. Gallagher Group Ltd are renowned for innovation and marketing of animal management, security, fuel systems and contract managing solutions. [Waikato]2. Hobbiton Movie Set Tours provides a fascinating two hour guided tour of the set used for filming The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies which has experienced spectacular growth in visitor number in the past five years. [Waikato]3. Leigh Fisheries are New Zealand's largest and leading fresh chilled seafood exporter providing a sustainable premium product directly to USA, Europe, Asia and Australia on a daily basis. Working with artisan fishermen nationwide employing the art of long line fishing with the principles of "just in time" process of hook to plate internationally and domestically. [Northland]4. Vista Group Ltd is the global leader in film industry software solutions. Building on the dominant market position of Vista Entertainment Solutions, Vista Group has expanded to include a number of complementary businesses offering solutions across the wider film industry. [Auckland]
Award category 2:QBE Insurance Exporter of the Year (export revenue $10 million - $25 million)1. Auckland Institute of Studies is an independent tertiary education institution offering quality education and strong support services to international students. [Auckland]2. BBC Technologies are developers and manufacturers of advanced fruit and vegetable processing equipment, specialising in small, delicate commodities such as berries. [Waikato]3. Bobux International is a baby footwear developer and manufacturer which designs from a foot health first perspective which recognises that while barefoot is best it is not always practical. [Auckland]4. James Dunlop Textiles is an international converter and wholesaler of premium furnishing fabrics. Established more than a hundred years ago, it has been recognised internationally as a leading premium brand from the Southern Hemisphere. [Auckland]5. Waikato Milking Systems is a New Zealand success story. Founded in the Waikato in 1967, the company is today one of the leading designers and manufacturers of dairy systems in the world. [Waikato]
Award category 3:
BDO Exporter of the Year (export revenue $1million - $10million)1. API Consumer Brands is a leading New Zealand developer, manufacturer, supplier, marketer, and distributor of high quality pharmaceuticals, toiletry and cosmetic products. From the two state of the art manufacturing plants they bring to the market the high quality toiletries and over-the-counter pharmaceuticals and a range of controlled drugs. [Auckland]2. Dulux Powder & Industrial Coatings NZ with a reputation for quality and service, manufacture in New Zealand, and market internationally, a comprehensive range of colourful, innovative, and technologically advanced powder coatings. [Auckland]3. Rayglass Boats was established in 1989 and is a leading manufacturer of high quality power boats, with the Rayglass Legend and the Rayglass Protector being its two key prototypes. [Auckland]
Award category 4:Endace Services Exporter of the Year (export revenue $1million - $10million)1. Eagle Aviation Consulting Ltd is an independent consulting firm specialising in commercial aviation advisory and solutions for investors, airlines and governments. [Auckland]2. ICL Education is a group of education providers offering a range of tertiary business, computing, teaching English as a second language and early childhood education programmes. [Auckland]3. Keedup Ltd provides a 24/7 service to the international celebrity image business - editing, captioning, keywording and distributing the latest shots from celebrity hot spots such as Hollywood and Cannes. [Auckland]
Award category 5:TNT Emerging Exporter of the Year1. Triumph & Disaster is a modern day apothecary and skincare foundry using bespoke aromas and natural blends to deliver a product that’s reminiscent of simpler times. [Auckland]2. Virsae provides cloud services to allow its clients to manage their technology and communication systems to peak performance levels, so channels remain open and customers can always get an answer. [Auckland]3. Zealong Tea Estate Ltd produces organically certified tea which is handpicked from New Zealand’s only commercial tea estate. [Waikato]
Award category 6:Baldwins Intellectual Property Best Use of Commercialisation of Innovation for Export1. Adept Medical sells a range of ear, nose, radiology, cardiology, neuroradiology and sterilisation service products directly to hospitals. [Auckland]2. BBC Technologies are developers and manufacturers of advanced fruit and vegetable processing equipment, specialising in small, delicate commodities such as berries. [Waikato]3. Methven Ltd create amazing water experiences every day with their range of beautifully designed showers, tapware and valves. [Auckland]4. Quantec Ltd is a biotechnology business focused on capturing value from dairy, through innovation business activities in animal and human health. [Waikato]
Award category 7:Quantium Solutions Best Use of Digital Strategy for Export1. Metal Heart Ltd make fashion jewellery from the finest minerals and gemstones, with an emphasis on quality and brand experience. [Auckland]2. Natural Ringa Company create holistic products that enhance individual beauty and provide rejuvenation of body, mind and spirit. [Auckland]3. Triumph & Disaster is a modern day apothecary and skincare foundry using bespoke aromas and natural blends to deliver a product that’s reminiscent of simpler times. [Auckland]
Supreme Winner (selected from the winners of award categories 2-5)Simmonds Stewart Exporters Champion (for exemplary services to export)8. Supreme Winner (selected from the winners of award categories 2-5)9. Simmonds Stewart Exporters Champion (for exemplary services to export)
Droids or Drones? Which Will Be the Future of Delivery?
Princess Leia bet on droids, not drones, to get her priority package delivered. And that turned out OK, except for her planet getting blown up. A Skype founder's new hope is that droids can work just as well on Earth.Bloomberg News, 19 April 2016 - In the shadow of Greenwich’s 02 Arena - the futuristic dome originally built as London’s showpiece for the Millennium - what looks like a picnic cooler on wheels zips among groups of gawking children. This little delivery robot, designed to autonomously navigate sidewalks, not roads, later this year will begin making deliveries from local businesses direct to customers.
In doing so, it may just conquer e-commerce’s final frontier: the Last Mile, the least efficient and most problematic step in the delivery process.Starship's robotic delivery droid is designed to detect and give way to pedestrians.“Thirty to forty percent of the cost of delivery comes in the last mile,” says Allan Martinson, the chief operating officer of Starship Technologies, the company building this robot. The venture is the brainchild of Ahti Heinla, one of Skype’s original developers, and is backed by billionaire Skype co-founder and tech investor Janus Friis.
The little delivery robots designed by Starship and a competing U.S. startup called Dispatch are the BB-8s and Wall-E's of e-commerce. These scrappy droids are up against tech's strongest forces. Amazon is testing airborne drones, as are Wal-Mart and Google. Google has also sought patents for a driverless truck that would carry an array of storage lockers that unlock with a text message. And Uber is deploying drivers for food delivery, a concept that could be expanded to other products. And don't forget incumbents from Federal Express and UPS to government postal services.
While Starship's robot may be first to market, victory isn't assured. The droids have limitations, with economic viability confined urban areas. Drones have a higher sticker price and bigger regulatory hurdles to surmount, but may prove less expensive on a per-mile basis. And for the foreseeable future, some logistics experts say, humans still have the edge over any sci-fi inspired contenders.
Heinla, a tall, gaunt Estonian with shaggy blond hair and the disheveled look of an engineer for whom form matters more than fashion, says delivery droids have their advantages. Smaller robots are easier and cheaper to build. Because Starship’s droid weighs less than 35 pounds and travels slowly, it's less likely to cause damage. As a wheeled vehicle, there are no spinning rotorblades that could cause injury - unlike drones. Continue to full article . . .
Mainmark’s Christchurch Art Gallery project has been shortlisted for the International Project of the Year Award category at the 2016 Ground Engineering Awards in the United Kingdom.
Mainmark release, 22 April 2016 - The International Project of the Year Award recognises projects that have delivered geotechnical innovation that stands out on the international stage for credentials in sustainability, health and safety, and value engineering. Judges consider client satisfaction, innovation, value for money, performance against prediction, the quality of design and construction, safety, and application of quality management.
The Ground Engineering Awards celebrate engineering excellence of the finest firms in Britain and beyond, with 14 award categories spanning innovation, project and stakeholder management, sustainability, health and safety, and technical excellence.
We are thrilled to have the Christchurch Art Gallery project recognised on a global scale and in company with an outstanding cohort of engineering firms. We commend the organisers of the Ground Engineering Awards for recognising and showcasing the achievements of our active and growing industry, and we look forward to the interesting discussions that will emerge during the live judging stage in May.
I would also like to extend my congratulations to the Mainmark team, whose technical expertise and application of Mainmark technologies ensured the re-support and re-levelling of the Christchurch Art Gallery in just 52 days and under tight project management. The Gallery’s 6,500 square metre foundations suffered significant damage during the Christchurch earthquakes of 2010 and 2011, causing the 33,000 tonne building to sink. For more information on this project, click here.
We wish our team luck as they travel to London to attend the face-to-face judging by members of the 43-strong jury, made up of clients, contractors, consultants and academics; and we look forward to attending the Awards ceremony when the winners are announced on the 30th June.
Author: Philip Mack, Founder and Chairman of Mainmark
Philip Mack is the founder and chairman of the Mainmark group of companies. Following involvement in the Newcastle earthquake restorations in the early in 1990s, Philip added to the company’s grouting expertise by obtaining the exclusive distribution rights for the innovative Uretek resin injection technologies in 1994. Since then, Mainmark has established fifteen offices across the Asia Pacific region and now offers suite of ground engineering and asset preservation solutions, supported by state of the art equipment and expert technicians.
High Pressure Processing (HPP) equipment manufacturers for the food industry are experiencing a growing demand for their equipment and technology as we move through 2016. A prominent HPP equipment manufacturer who is represented here in New Zealand is Hiperbaric.
Auckland, 21 April 2016 - HPP is a preservative technology which does not involves heat and is applied to already-packed products, any possible recontamination that may occur during packing will be controlled. With the growing popularity and demand of raw, natural and additive free products, the global food industry is facing fundamental changes to conquer a customer that is becoming more and more informed and exigent by the day.
In a recent edition of the New Zealand Food Technology magazine an excellent article appeared tracing the development of nonthermal processing technologies. It is repeated here or you can read it in the New Zealand Food Technology Magazine:
It was 1898 when B H Hite, a chemist from West Virginia, introduced milk in a manual press he had made for achieving high hydrostatic pressures; he realised that milk lasted longer after doing so. Pressure has killed the spoilage bugs, he thought and he was right.
Almost at the same time and following Becquerel’s discovery of radioactivity in 1895, first research on the use of ionising energy to destroy microbes in food was published in a German medical journal. In the late 1940s, B L Flaumenbaum observed in his lab in Germany that fruit subjected to quick pulsed electricity saw their permeability increased, and microbes were inactivated.
Over a century after these initial discoveries and thanks to the evolution of designs and materials, we are seeing that these old solutions have, finally, become available to the food industry in a profitable way. The first method is now known as High Pressure Processing (HPP); the third, as Pulsed Electric Fields (PEF); the second, food irradiation, had an earlier adoption (it was firstly approved in the United States in 1986 and irradiated foods started to be commercialised in the 1990s).
In the last few years other technological advances have appeared in the food manufacturing space. 
With ultrasound, food manufacturers can take advantage of the cavitation generated by sound waves passing through the food and breaking the cell membranes of bacteria. Cold plasma, the most recent development in the sector, is still in the experimental phase. Plasma, aka the ‘fourth state’ of matter, is obtained applying extremely high energies to a gas, creating a gliding arc of ionised, nonthermal plasma that is able to sterilise the surface of foods.
These new techniques fit well in schemes pursued by food manufacturers, such as the hurdle concept and the minimal processing scheme which, respectively, promise food safety through putting barriers to the presence and growth of bugs along the food processing chain, and nutrition, functionality and retention of freshness in case of the latter minimal, gentle processing. Something else is shared by irradiation, high pressure processing, pulsed electric fields, or plasma treatment: they are all nonthermal technologies, meaning they don’t involve heating. These processes are applied to the food usually in chilled or ambient temperature condition so the components can stay fresh.
Heating the food is the traditional way of preserving foodstuffs and getting rid of undesirable spoilage microorganisms and pathogens. It is a great and effective way for obtaining safe products that last longer in our fridge or on the shelves. But it tends to flatten flavours and colours, and to harm the functionality and nutrition of the fresh, destroying for example vitamins or antioxidants. Additives and preservatives are the second common tool for making foods stable and safer, but consumers don’t want to see them on the labels. Overall, consumer demand is generating the need for new processing solutions and meals that are fresher, more natural, minimally processed, and with no artificial ingredients. These are precisely the most complicated to handle in the factory from the perspective of food safety and preservation, and this is why new hurdles and solutions are being implemented.
HPP systems are probably the highest growth category, with foods worth more than 750,000 Tons of product being processed annually, according to Hiperbaric, S.A., Burgos, Spain, a leading manufacturer of these industrial installations. The technique basically consists in applying pressures around 6,000 bar (6,000 atmospheres or 87,000 psi) to food during three to five minutes. Imagine submerging your bottle of fresh juice or your luncheon meat in the bottom of an ocean that was 60Km deep – 6 times more than the depth of the Mariana Trench, and that’s what high pressure processing is about. The microbes are destroyed but the food stays intact because pressure is isostatic, transmitted by water, and then equal from all sides.
HPP has seen spectacular growth over the past decade, and is projected to become one of the key factors of the new food industry and the most promising emerging technique, according to a Campden BRI (UK) study published in the journal Innovative Food Science and Emerging Technologies this year.
According to Hiperbaric, Cold Pressure Tecnology or HPP (High Pressure Processing) is becoming more mainstream in certain food spaces outside the traditional ones (mainly guacamole, continental meats, lobsters, to name a few), and two particular segments are now driving its growth: cold pressed juices, and HPP Tolling.
In the past three years, the cold pressed juice category has experienced explosive growth with well known names such as Suja, Evolution Fresh, Blueprint, Coldpress, Harmless Harvest etc. All of them are Hiperbaric customers. The Spanish company is growing this year to a turnover of more than 70m and has an order backlog for 2016 that indicates it might surpass 100m in 2016.
The second segment in which HPP technology is becoming more widely implemented is the Tolling/Copacking business model, in which contract service companies, refrigerated service suppliers and logistic platforms are adding Hiperbaric lines as a way to add value to their services. Using the network of toll HPP services, any food maker with a need for a pathogen lethality intervention, a extension of the product shelf life, or access to export markets, can access high pressure technology and pay on a per Kg, per pack or per batch basis, without the need of investing in its own Hiperbaric system.
In Australia and New Zealand, currently a total of 14 HPP systems are operating in most of the different segments including meat, shellfish, juices, nut milk, guacamole, RTE meals etc.
From laboratory to final industrial practice, gentle physical processes are helping the food industry in the making of hopefully safer, better eats and displacing chemicals from our diets. If evolution continues as expected and the price of these systems is progressively brought down, we will increasingly see pressurised meals and cold plasma hygienised dinners on our table.
For more information contact:
Scanz Technologies Ltd.This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.Phone: 09 520 2544
Speciality packaging manufacturer, Parkside, has developed in conjunction with a technology partner, a revolutionary protective packaging solution for the transport of high value, delicate items in a compact format.
United Kingdom, 21 April 2016 - Rockpocket™ is a flexible laminated bag that contains polystyrene beads between its outer layers. A vacuum extraction pump is applied to the pack to evacuate the air between layers, which creates a solid pack that protects goods from damage during transit.
Developed over several months by the Advanced Packaging Expert (APEX) innovation team at Parkside, Rockpocket is available in multiple sizes and offers a lightweight and compact solution for the transportation of items.
Steve McCormick, new product development director at Parkside, said: “More people than ever before are shopping online and Rockpocket offers the ideal solution for online retailers who want to ensure their customers receive items in perfect condition.
“The design is totally versatile, creating a protective packaging around any shape of item and we can print bespoke high definition graphics and branding on pack to meet customer requirements.”
Many secondary and security packaging solutions that offer full product protection are a combination of several packaging materials such as boxes, void fill and bubble wrap. Rockpocket, however, is a ‘one pack fits all’ solution, requiring no additional packaging and eliminating the need to over-pack products in order to achieve a high level of protection. Packaging waste is reduced significantly as a result.
The outer film is manufactured from recyclable LDPE or PET and the pack itself is made from up to 90 per cent air, reducing transportation weight and the associated carbon footprint and costs.
As no assembly is required, the design speeds up the packing process and its flat edges enhance ease of packing and stacking.
Tamper proof sealing tabs and document windows can be incorporated into the pack design, as well as track and trace features such as an RFID tag or embedded image.
To enhance its environmental credentials even further, Parkside is developing a valve less Rockpocket pack that will be made from 100 per cent compostable materials, enabling the pack to compost at the end of its service life.
Paula Birch, Parkside’s Head of Sales commented: “Brands understand the importance of their packaging in the online retail world and the “moment of truth” is often disappointing today, which consumers are happy to share on social media. Goods are often over-packed in dull secondary packaging materials, wasting valuable communication opportunities and consumer engagement. The branding and packing efficiency opportunities that Rockpocket offer are significant and a number of online retailers are exploring it for their next generation packaging solution as a result.
A new online system will streamline property transactions and make it easier to link property information held across central and local government, says Land Information Minister Louise Upston.
“Every day, kiwis buy and sell homes, subdivide land and build new houses. Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) processes more than 3.5 million transactions and property information searches a year,” says Ms Upston.
“But the current system for this is aging and in need of replacement. It uses technology that was cutting edge in the 90s but which no longer reflects the way LINZ’s customers work. The new system – Advanced Survey and Title Services (ASaTS) – will ensure that the cost and time for these transactions remains low, and will make the most of changes in technology.
“Improvements will include an online search so property buyers can get title information without specialist help. It’ll be a more interactive system for surveyors and conveyancers. They’ll be able to plug their own software into the system to reduce rework, use it on tablets and mobiles, and represent property boundaries in 3D.
“It will also give us the ability to link property information held across central and local government, like ratings valuations and titles. This function is essential to the Government’s work towards Integrated Property Services, which will make it easier and quicker for property owners, builders and developers to get what they need.”
LINZ is taking an ‘as a service’ approach to developing ASaTS. Instead of paying a vendor to build a system that LINZ would then own, LINZ will select a vendor that can deliver a suitable system that LINZ will pay to use – similar to renting. LINZ will still own property data.
“The as a service approach will deliver the same benefits to customers while LINZ continues to do what it does best. LINZ staff will continue to use the system to process and quality assure New Zealand’s property transactions.”
More information about ASaTS is available on the LINZ website.
Published Wellington, 20 April 2016 -
The recent release of the Safeguard state of the nation health and Safety survey raises some interesting questions on just how far we have come or in some case not progressed.
Napier, 20 April 2016 - Business owners and senior managers must be more confident due to the fact that the responsibilities are more prescriptive and defined, they now have guidance instead of the subjective and non-prescriptive legislation they had to work with previously. This can only be a positive step in the right direction of H&S improvement
Someone once said that you should educate before you legislate.
As an independent health and safety advisor who has worked in the industry for 24 years, I too am a little bit sceptic as there has been twenty four years of resistance by 95% of NZ businesses to H&S. It’s a shame that it has taken the lives of 29 men to bring about the changes but dramatic events sometimes requires drastic action.
H&S in NZ has been in place as a compliance issue since 1992 and millions of dollars have been spent on the education process and information abounds on the WSNZ and the ACC web sites. There is no longer to make excuses that information is not available. I believe that this is one of the reasons why 78% are more optimistic about health and safety now starting to work.
It’s interesting to note from a number of postings on the Goggle Earth H&S Alerts of the comments stating that business in certain provinces are not prepared or aware of the changes to H&S, hello, where have they been?Is H&S improving, here in the province of Hawkes Bay I believe it is if all the calls for assistance are anything to go by?
Many businesses are now considering affirmative H&S management systems as an opportunity to improve their business rather than just to comply with the law. In fact many are now capitalising on this to gain contracts and a greater share of the market place.
H&S is now a key part of the selection criteria for all local body and larger businesses to do business with, so are the changes making a difference, they certainly are with my clients. The government set a goal to reduce the fatality rate and the number of work place serious ham incidents by 25% by 2020. Is 2020 vision not hindsight?
Will the Government reach this goal considering 2020 is only 4 years away? I believe this is ambitious considering the H&S culture that still exists in NZ. The proof or success of the H&S pudding will be the measurement taken by business like Safeguard.
Change takes time but with the different attitude and approach now being taken by Worksafe NZ and the many hundreds of independent professional H&S advisors in the market place it can only improve for the betterment and safety of the NZ workers and for the NZ economy.
Gordon Anderson is the managing director of Hasmate Ltd of Napier. Since 1993 he has worked extensively in the area of health and safety as an adviser, systems development, auditing and management training. He works with a wide range of industries in Hawke's Bay and in other centres.
The Expo is one of the highlights in the University’s year with value for both members of the College, ENSOC student members and industry members.
Christchurch, 20 April 2016 - Students are given the opportunity to gather ideas and insights to make informed decisions about their engineering careers. Undergraduate engineers gain assistance with choosing their career and study paths, while final year students are provided with a range of recruitment possibilities.
You are invited to set up a stand to promote your company to current students of all levels. The Expo day can also be used to attract and recruit next year’s graduates to your company. Stalls are positioned in the Undercroft located in the ground floor of James Hight Library. This gives you a unique opportunity to communicate with students in a relaxed environment. Likely topics include information on your company’s products and services, the kind of people your company employs and recruitment opportunities. We welcome employers from a range of disciplines to come along meet our students
The date for the Expo is set for Tuesday the 19th July, with the event running between 10am and 4pm. Due to the event being a student initiative, a payment of $500 (incl gst) towards expenses is required to secure your position. Food and refreshments will follow the day’s activities and car parking is available.
Confirmation of attendance is required by Monday 20th June
If you are interested in attending or have any questions please feel free to contactENSOC Industry Representative, Cameron Brewster on 027 711 7418 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Click here for stand registration form
ENSOC is the largest student society in New Zealand with over 2000 members. Fonterra is sponsoring the event in 2016. The popularity and value of the event is constantly increasing, and student turnout and appreciation is always very high.
The purchase price of US$435 million represents 8.5 times PBITDA. Alusa – which includes Alusa (Chile), Peruplast (Peru), Aluflex (Argentina) and Flexa (Colombia) – is owned by Techpack S.A. and Nexus Private Equity.
Amcor, 18th April 2016 - The business has four plants and a broad range of capabilities including film extrusion, flexographic and gravure printing and lamination. It is the largest flexible packaging manufacturer and supplier in Chile and Peru, and a leading participant in Colombia and Argentina, with one plant in each of these four countries.
Alusa has strong, long standing relationships with large multinational and regional customers and generates sales of approximately US$375 million from the supply of flexible packaging for food, personal care and pet food applications.
Inclusive of synergy benefits of approximately US$25 million and growth in the underlying markets, PBIT is expected to be approximately US$65 million at the end of year three. The return on cash invested is expected to have reached approximately 15% at that time, taking into account costs to be incurred to realise synergies and working capital benefits. Given the unique and scalable position this provides in the South American region, further growth opportunities underpinned by a strong customer value proposition provide a pathway for returns to reach 20% by the end of year five.
Amcor CEO and Managing Director, Ron Delia said: “With the creation of a new Flexibles Americas Business Group in July 2015, there was an expectation this business could accelerate growth in both North and South America. It is pleasing that over a relatively short period of time, our flexible packaging sales in the region will almost double to nearly US$1 billion with the acquisition of Alusa, and the recently completed acquisition of Deluxe Packages in the USA."
“Alusa comes with a strong management team and provides a unique platform in an important growth region. A large number of Amcor’s multinational customers operate in South America, and this acquisition significantly improves our ability to support their needs and to grow with them in these markets.
“Along with our leadership positions in Europe and Asia, Amcor’s customer value proposition will substantially improve with a strong presence in South America. A truly global product offering differentiates Amcor in the flexible packaging marketplace, positioning us as a partner of choice for customers.”
Techpack S.A. is listed on the Santiago Stock exchange. The acquisition is subject to approval by Techpack shareholders as well as approval by the relevant regulatory authorities. Completion is expected in the coming months.
Doing business with China is set to become even easier under new China – New Zealand border initiatives currently underway, says Customs Minister Nicky Wagner.
Wellington, 19 April 2016 -Our customs agencies have agreed to launch a new Joint Electronic Verification (JEV) system to streamline and accelerate customs clearance procedures,” Ms Wagner says.
“Currently exporters and brokers are required to provide a Certificate of Origin to prove that their goods are of New Zealand Origin and to gain tariff preference.
“Under the new Joint Electronic Verification System initiative, exporters will need to enter their unique Certificate of Origin reference number on their electronic export documents, which will then be matched to the electronic data shared between the two agencies.
“Moving to an electronic verification system will make goods trade between our countries even easier, while significantly reducing the risk of New Zealand goods being held up at the Chinese border because of minor technical issues.
“New Zealand will be the first country to have a Joint Electronic Verification System with China, which will be launched later this year.
“China is our largest goods trading partner, with two-way trade more than doubling since the NZ-China FTA came into force.
“I am pleased our Customs agencies are working together to make it easier for our businesses to maximise the trade opportunities created by the FTA,” says Ms Wagner.
Our MP's are on the move, and you can read what they up to below:
PM meets China Premier Li Keqiang
18 April 2016 - Prime Minister John Key today met with China Premier Li Keqiang at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing for wide-ranging talks, which included the upgrade of the NZ-China Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
“The NZ-China FTA has been a real success for both our countries,” says Mr Key. “China is now our second-largest trading partner, with two-way trade more than doubling since the agreement came into force.
“Premier Li and I discussed our intention to upgrade the FTA, to reflect the growth in trade between our two countries and to ensure it continues to drive our relationship forward.
“We also discussed the importance of continuing to cooperate across the board, including in science and innovation, UN Security Council issues and tourism.
“We talked about the growing law enforcement and legal cooperation between our two countries, and agreed to foster increased communication on international legal issues between our two foreign ministries.
“Following our talks, Premier Li and I witnessed the signing of a number of arrangements, which reflect the significant engagement between New Zealand and China.
These include arrangements on:
“In addition, earlier today I was pleased to witness the signing of a cooperation arrangement between New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) and Chinese internet giant Alibaba.
“NZTE and Alibaba have agreed to work together to provide services aimed at helping New Zealand businesses maximise the opportunities on Alibaba’s online platform.
“This is good news for New Zealand exporters looking to grow their business through direct sales to Chinese citizens.
“Our relationship with China is increasingly broad based and these arrangements will help ensure this continues,” says Mr Key.
Joyce leads GPA Mission to the US
18 April 2016 - Economic Development and Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce leaves for the United States tomorrow to promote US-New Zealand business links, and leverage New Zealand’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Government Procurement Agreement (GPA).
In August 2015, New Zealand joined the GPA, providing New Zealand companies guaranteed access to US government contracts.
“The US Government is the world’s largest purchaser of goods and services. Federal government spending is worth more than US$600 billion per annum. New Zealand’s GPA accession improves the contracting environment for New Zealand firms. We also value the US as a key science and innovation partner,” Mr Joyce says.
“New Zealand has a strong international reputation for honesty, integrity, quality of government and reputable business practices and legal systems. This is a great “brand” for New Zealand companies to build from.”
The mission aims to attract interest in New Zealand solutions for US state and federal government and to secure the attention of key US government department leaders, buyers and influencers.
Mr Joyce leads a delegation of New Zealand exporters targeting government procurement at a two-day CEO Summit in Washington DC, organised by New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE).
“US procurement is committed to transparent and competitive government procurement that delivers the best value for money. It is a very lucrative, complex market, and GPA membership gives New Zealand businesses the right to bid for government contracts,” Mr Joyce says. “There are opportunities for New Zealand businesses in almost every sector in the US.”
While there, Mr Joyce will also visit Berkeley and Georgetown universities, and call on the Assistant Secretary of State to talk about New Zealand's wide range of academic, cultural and educational flows between both countries.
Mr Joyce will also visit San Francisco and Houston. He will return to New Zealand on 22 April.
Foss to honour veterans in South Korea
18 April 2016 - Veterans’ Affairs Minister Craig Foss will travel to South Korea tomorrow to mark the 65th anniversary of the Battle of Gapyeong.
The 16th Field Regiment of the Royal Regiment of New Zealand Artillery played a significant role in defeating the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army during the Battle of Gapyeong on 24 April 1951. The Regiment was awarded the Republic of Korea’s Presidential Citation.
“It is a privilege to be going to Korea for this commemoration, and attending an Anzac service in Seoul the following day makes it extra special. No matter where or when our military personnel served, they deserve to be honoured,” Mr Foss says.
“While in Korea I will pay my respects to our fallen soldiers buried in the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Busan and visit New Zealand Defence Force personnel deployed to the United Nations-controlled Demilitarised Zone (DMZ).
“It will be my honour to present five New Zealand General Service Medals — Korea, and two New Zealand Operational Service Medals to military personnel finishing their deployment to the DMZ.”
Mr Foss will also meet his South Korean counterpart, Minister of Patriots and Veterans’ Affairs Sungchoon Park, and in his role as Minister for Small Business, the Korean branch of the International Council for Small Business.
McCully to New York and Europe
15 April 2016 - Foreign Minister Murray McCully travels to New York this weekend for UN Security Council related meetings, and will then travel to the UK, Germany and France.
Minister McCully will participate in a UN Security Council meeting on the Middle East region on Monday 18 April and will undertake a series of related bilateral meetings in New York.
In London Minister McCully will be meeting with British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and will be attending a meeting of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group. Minister McCully will also travel to Berlin to meet German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and will continue on to Paris for meetings in support of New Zealand’s engagement in the UN Security Council.
“My meetings in the UK, Germany and France are an opportunity to discuss how New Zealand can work with our European partners on issues of common interest on the UN Security council agenda,” Mr McCully says.
“I will also be using my time in Europe to support Helen Clark’s candidacy for UN Secretary-General, and to discuss the New Zealand/ EU Free Trade Agreement.”
In France, the Minister will represent New Zealand at centenary commemorative services in Longueval in the Somme.
“New Zealand has a long history with Europe, and our First World War centenary commemorations underline this shared history, and our shared values. I welcome the opportunity to pay my respects in this centenary year of the Battle of the Somme,” Mr McCully says.
Dunne to attend UN Special Session on Drug Policy
15 April 2016 - Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne is travelling to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on the World Drug Problem (UNGASS), which takes place over 19-21 April.
“Major themes of the UNGASS meeting are likely to include the death penalty, new psychoactive substances and the impact of technology,” says Mr Dunne.
Along with a number of other health ministers and heads of state from across the globe, Mr Dunne will participate in panels and policy roundtable events ranging over human rights, international cooperation and evidence-based policy.
“The Conference provides an excellent opportunity to discuss drug policy at a global level. New Zealand is one of a number of countries that have in recent years moved towards treating drug use as a health issue, rather than a criminal justice issue. While we still have work to do here in New Zealand, it is my view that we are making good progress in how we address wider drug-harm issues.
“At an international level, we often share common problems but frequently differ in our solutions. There is no one-size-fits-all approach as geographical, social and cultural features all play a role, but UNGASS nonetheless represents an outstanding opportunity to discuss and share ideas, views and approaches”, Mr Dunne said.
Leading Chinese agribusiness representatives will gather in Auckland next month for a new event to promote New Zealand agricultural technology, products and services.
WELLINGTON, 18 April 2016 (Xinhua) -- The inaugural China-New Zealand Agribusiness Investment and Trade Conference on May 25 would include "match-making" meetings for New Zealand companies with Chinese counterparts who had matching business needs, the Bank of China's New Zealand subsidiary announced Monday.
The growth potential for New Zealand agricultural industry was immense, while innovators operating in the supply chain and logistics sectors were also substantial, according to the Bank of China (NZ), which is holding the event.
"By hosting 70 Chinese agricultural companies here, we aim to introduce local agribusinesses to people who can potentially help them access the Chinese market and grow their business," Bank of China (NZ) chief executive officer David Lei Wang said in a statement.
Despite China's agricultural output being the largest in the world, it was set to become the largest importer of farm products due to its arable land constraints and housing over 20 percent of the world's population.
China was forecast to import 150 billion U.S. dollars worth of chicken, pork and beef by 2020, while water constraints were predicted to significantly impact horticultural production.
China's Ministry of Agriculture was talking up the need for more imported lamb in the next five years in anticipation of domestic demand growth.
"Food safety and health benefits, including growing demand for organic and gourmet produce, are increasingly important factors among China's middle class. New Zealand's reputation for clean, innovative and efficient production provides it a powerful competitive edge in a highly competitive international market," Wang said.
The New Zealand government was aiming to increase exports from 30 percent of GDP to 40 percent by 2025 and agribusinesses would be a critical component in reaching its target.
Prime Minister John Key is currently visiting China to discuss upgrading the existing free trade agreement between the two countries.
The one-day conference would be supported by the New Zealand government's New Zealand Trade and Enterprise agency and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in New Zealand.
Swinglift’s long history of continuous improvement dates back to the 1960s, leading to a new evolution of its innovative container side-loader that will debut at the Melbourne Truck Show in May.
Trailer, 18 april2016 - Since 2005, container side-loader expert Swinglift has been flourishing under the Patchell Group, a heavy transport trailer manufacturer based in Rotorua, New Zealand.
A decade has passed since the Swinglift product joined the Patchell catalogue of specialised equipment – including log transport trailers, food grade stainless steel tankers, drop decks and skel trailers – but the long and successful Swinglift story goes back a lot further than that.
According to Swinglift Australia General Manager, Gordon Dyson, the company’s practice for developing innovative equipment began in 1968 with the advent of the first truck-mounted container side-loader in New Zealand, purpose-built to carry 10’ rail containers and later modified to accommodate 15’ sea freighters.
The development continued in May 1976 when the first road legal 20’ side-loader in NZ was introduced. Invented by Swinglift’s founder, Robin Wynyard, the first unit stood out for its utilisation of New Zealand’s then newly-introduced super single tyres on the front axles of a truck, a lift capacity of 20 tonnes and for being the first to comply with NZ road regulations for a 20’ Swinglift.
The full story has appeared in the April edition of Trailer. To get your copy, click here.
The Levin Water Treatment Plant upgrade is helping future-proof the town's water supply.
Levin, 15 April 2016 - Phase one of the upgrade features the construction of a new six-million-litre reservoir tank, measuring 31 metres in diameter and nine metres high. It adds to two existing concrete reservoirs - a four-million-litre tank built in 1965, and a 2.5-million-litre tank built in 1943.
The new reservoir at the Gladstone Road plant was blessed by Muaūpoko Iwi representatives at an official opening ceremony this morning, attended by Horowhenua District Councillors, staff, and contractors.
Council's Projects Manager Gerry O'Neill says this will provide the town with at least 24 hours of water storage capacity. Previously storage capacity had been 19 hours typically, but only 13 hours during peak demand in summer.
Mr O'Neill says the new reservoir tank is made of glass-fused-to-steel which makes it corrosion-resistant and easy to maintain.
Manufactured in the United Kingdom, the components were shipped to New Zealand and then assembled on site at the water treatment plant.
Mr O'Neill says the tank consists of seven rings and a roof structure. The first two rings were bolted together and then the roof was constructed on top of them. After that, the entire structure was jacked up off the ground to allow the successive steel rings to be bolted underneath.
"It was really quite a simple process, and then it was just a case of connecting the pipework between the new tank and the two existing tanks."
District Mayor Brendan Duffy said it was important to acknowledge the symbolism of this morning's ceremony, including the importance of the relationship with tangata whenua.
"It's not just a blessing and a walk around the tank, followed by a cup of tea; it symbolises the conclusion of this part of the project and it recognises the significance of the awa and the water from it that will be delivered to this community for the next 100 years," he said.
"You can drive past and see the tank, but what you don't see is what's under the ground and the magnitude of work behind it."
Future phases of the upgrade to be carried out in the next year include a new clarifier and UV treatment system. Mr O'Neill says this will improve the water quality to achieve a higher grading under the Drinking Water Standards of New Zealand.
Horowhenua District Council operates five drinking water supply schemes, with Levin's the last to be upgraded, following Tokomaru, Shannon, Foxton and Foxton Beach.
One of the world-leading sausage casings company, Devro, has overcome an ammonia discharge issue in its Glasgow plant.
Meat Trades Journal, UK,14 April, 2016 - Problems were being inflicted at a local sewerage works as a result of the ammonia discharge, threatening the company’s strong eco-friendly record.
Devro was able to find a long-term solution to this issue by partnering with a water supply and waste water services company, BusinessStream.
Mobile equipment was initially provided to Devro from Business Stream to allow for a swift, temporary treatment solution. While this was taking place, Business Stream began laboratory work and ran diagnostic tests in conjunction with the Devro team to identify the problem and provide a permanent solution.
“Business Stream’s superior knowledge and expertise in this field made them the ideal partner – we challenged each other to come up with a unique solution,” said Muir Sneddon, site engineering manager at Devro Scotland.
Over a nine-month period of intensive work, a solution was developed that could eliminate ammonia pollution without interfering with Devro’s other plans, such as the ability to recycle the effluent waste water in future. The solution that Business Stream developed is designed using a combination of chemical treatment and an ‘air stripping’ process that neutralises the effects of the ammonia.
As a result of this partnership, Devro has achieved its aim of remaining within discharge consent levels, satisfying the regulator and preserving its environmental reputation.
In addition, the long-term resolution offers a saving over the alternative solution, which would have been to transport the ammonia-rich liquid offsite at an annual cost of £500,000.
Business Stream is now working alongside Devro to make its waste water system even more efficient, by recycling much of its effluent back into its processes.
Editors Note: Here in New Zealand SCANZ Technologies Ltd offer advice on waste water recycling processes, technologies, equipment and installations. They represent Netherlands based AQUA Industrial Watertreatment who have developed the Curieau technique, a system which Tony Rumbold, principal and founder of SCANZ says is ideal for industrial situations in New Zealand. Tony is based in Auckland and they also have an office in Victoria.
The Commerce Commission is alerting businesses that they are under no obligation to pay an invoice being sent in the post by TM Publisher to New Zealand trade mark holders.
WELLINGTON, 14 April 2016 -The invoice for $1,638 relates to an overseas trade mark registration service, which is not necessarily a service that the recipient has agreed to buy. Anyone who does not want the service has no obligation to pay the invoice.
The Commission is investigating TM Publisher; a company based overseas which purports to offer a web-based trademark registration service. TM Publisher’s bank account has been frozen while decisions are made about how to deal with the $200,000 in payments that have already been made into the account by New Zealand businesses.
If your business has paid this invoice, you may be able to get a refund. Please contact the Commission on 0800 943 600 or through our online form.
Commerce Commission General Counsel, Mary-Anne Borrowdale, says that unfortunately, this type of pro-forma invoicing model hits New Zealand businesses on a fairly regular basis.
“The trader here uses a similar method to the Corporate Portal and Global Map Index letters we’ve warned about before, as businesses are misled into thinking that they are obliged to pay for a service that they have not agreed to.”
“These schemes aim to exploit businesses by sending seemingly legitimate invoices in the hope that companies will pay them without reading all the fine print. In this case, some businesses have paid the fee, not realising that it was for an on-line listing on a private trade mark directory,” Mrs Borrowdale said.
It appears that TM Publisher has used details of the businesses and their trademarks which are available from the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ) website as the same details have been used in the letter. TM Publisher is not connected to IPONZ.
Mrs Borrowdale said that unlike similar pro-forma trade mark registration schemes this trader has a registered New Zealand address and bank account, in this instance with ANZ Bank NZ, although the trader is based overseas.
“This example is another important reminder for businesses to always be vigilant in checking any unsolicited mail thoroughly, no matter how believable it may seem,” Mrs Borrowdale said.
Unlike the rest of the world New Zealand has a plentiful supply of water so the pressing issues are allocation, quality, distribution, storage and future planning for water which is critical to the nation’s future, New Zealand Planning Institute (NZPI) chief executive Susan Houston says.
Dunedin – April 13, 2016 -Whether it’s a water treatment facility or a system to irrigate the country’s dairy farms, water is a major issue being discussed at the NZPI annual conference in Dunedin this week. More than 500 planners, resource managers, urban designers and environmental practitioners from all over the country are attending.
Global demand for water is expected to increase by 2050 as the world’s population is forecast to grow by one-third to more than 9 billion, according to the United Nations. This in turn will lead to a 70 percent increase in demand for food, putting more pressure on water through farming, which is already the biggest consumer of water.
As climate change contributes to rising sea levels and extreme weather, at least one in four people will live in a country with chronic or recurring shortages of fresh water by 2050, the United Nations estimates, making it more important to focus on expanding rainwater harvesting and recycling wastewater.
Houston says consent agencies around the country are facing disputes and challenges to water consent applications from dairy and environmentalists, agriculture and energy generation and horticulture and recreational users.
“The annual conference is debating how small dairying communities respond to increasing water supply and allocation pressures on their local groundwater resource. We want to see collaboration as a solution to allocation issues. We need to improve knowledge of groundwater resources over time and resource management decision making.
“Many Maori are concerned at the modification of rivers and what they perceive to be inappropriate flow regimes. Maori want to see instream flows that are not limited solely to a consideration of ecological and economic values,” Houston says.
“Water resource management is a key issue for resource planning in New Zealand. Managing water effectively to meet competing expectations and values can be complex, confrontational and costly. We are discussing the Resource Management Act framework over-arching our management of water resources and are looking at potential solutions.
“Urban expansion onto new greenfield sites inevitably changes our water environment. Threats to water quality from urban growth were identified around two decades ago. Maintaining existing water quality in areas where urban growth is occurring, requires new urban development to employ active stormwater management techniques that reduce the volume of stormwater and improve its quality, as close to the source as possible.
“Major cities such as London, Philadelphia and New York are facing estimated costs of over $US1 billion to address water pollution stemming from an overreliance on costly to maintain or upgrade traditional hard-engineering drainage solutions. In the push to increase urban areas and housing supply, there is an opportunity to build in future safeguards on water quality.
As New Zealanders, we do not want to repeat the mistakes of other overseas cities. Growing cities do not need to conflict with water quality goals, but if not well managed, it will,” Houston says.
Press release from Make Lemonade
New Zealand now has the highest melanoma rate in world.
Will bring much needed internationalism to White House
Palace of the Alhambra, Spain
By: Charles Nathaniel Worsley (1862-1923)
From the collection of Sir Heaton Rhodes
Oil on canvas - 118cm x 162cm
Valued $12,000 - $18,000
Offers invited over $9,000
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242
Mount Egmont with Lake
By: John Philemon Backhouse (1845-1908)
Oil on Sea Shell - 13cm x 14cm
Valued $2,000-$3,000
Offers invited over $1,500
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242
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