During a McLaren press conference at the 2017 Goodwood Festival of Speed in the U.K., Chief Financial Officer Paul Buddin said the company’s new plant in Sheffield, England, building McLaren’s next-generation carbon-fiber tubs will have an annual capacity of 10,000 monocoque chassis by the end of 2019.

That number caught the ear of a number of automotive news outlets, including CarBuzz and Car and Driver, especially since McLaren had also claimed its target goal was to build 5,000 cars annually by the end of the decade. The discrepancy between 5,000 cars and 10,000 monocoque chassis, both outlets reported, is a result of McLaren’s desire to make room for any future sales expansion.

“It would be very short-sighted to limit ourselves to 5,000 cars,” McLaren CEO Mike Flewitt explained.

Flewitt also hinted that McLaren is considering using the Sheffield plant to build carbon fiber monocoque chassis for other car manufacturers looking to build limited-run performance cars.

“We won’t do it until we’re fully up and running ourselves, but it is something that we are considering as an obvious expansion.”

One of the innovations that will make this possible is the increase of automation. Back in March, new broke that McLaren aims to completely automate the carbon fiber production process its uses to create the lightweight “tubs” around which it builds its supercars. To do so, McLaren ended its contract with Austria’s Carbo Tech and moved the work to Sheffield. The production process at Carbo Tech, which also made the body for VW’s XL1 eco-car, is only 20 percent automated. McLaren wants to push that to 100 percent, allowing the British automaker to increase production to 20 to 25 cars a day, up from 15 now. The plant produces McLaren’s 720S supercars, the first of which has already rolled off the production line.

| A Composites Manufacturing release  ||  July 17,  2017  |||

Despite a wave phenomenon that kept ships from the harbour for a week Eastland Port and log marshaling and stevedoring companies ISO and C3 shattered monthly log throughput records this June.

A total of 287,349 tonnes of wood was loaded onto 14 log vessels as they berthed one after the other at wharf 8.

Eastland Port manager Andrew Gaddum says shifting that amount of wood is testament to the reliability and professionalism of ISO and C3 staff.

“Both ISO and C3 have worked hard to increase their ship load rates, and while we still collectively have work to do in this area, the huge volume exported during the month is testament to their hard work and focus.

“The fact that there were no significant safety issues identified or reported during that extremely busy month is also exceedingly pleasing.”

“When ships are alongside a port, it’s costing the exporters money, so these guys are the ones that through their skilfulness and shear hard work, can get the ship turned around and off to market as quickly as possible”

ISO employs around 110 people and C3 employs around 70.

Mr Gaddum says June’s throughput figures are the highest the port has achieved since Eastland Port, part of Eastland Group, was formed 14 years ago.

“We saw an 83 percent occupancy of wharf 8. With 14 ships docking during the month, and each one taking one to three days to load, we are getting closer to maximum capacity.”

The figures are all the more impressive because between June 12 and June 19 we couldn’t dock any ships due to infra-gravity waves rolling into the harbour, says Mr Gaddum.

“Long waves or infra-gravity waves cause problems in harbours around the world. These waves can’t be seen as they are usually masked by the sea and swell waves. But they can energise a moored ship and cause excessive movement and surging against the mooring lines.”

“When the time between wave peaks becomes extended we have issues in our port with ships becoming difficult to manage alongside the wharf, meaning we have to hold ships at the anchorage until the surge event passes.”

Mr Gaddum says the combined length of wharf 8 and wharf 7 is 360m. Eastland Port can currently accommodate vessels 200m long but with the greater volumes of wood forecast to arrive over the next 15 years, Eastland Port needs the capacity to berth two 200m ships simultaneously at wharf 8 and wharf 7.

“Within our port we don’t have enough wharf frontage to berth two 200m vessels at once. We need to extend wharf 8 by about 80 metres to get both ships in safely and we need to do it now.”

Gisborne Chamber of Commerce CEO Terry Sheldrake last week took part in a special Eastland Port onsite tour giving port staff a chance to share twin berth development plans with iwi, business groups, and members of the public.

Mr Sheldrake says standing at the southern end of the port gave him a chance to fully appreciate the port’s need to grow its capacity.

“It gave me, and other Chamber members who attended a real insight into what’s needed for the logging industry to continue to flourish for this city. I encourage other groups invited on the tour to take advantage of this unique opportunity and look behind the scenes.

| An Eastland Port release  ||  July 17,  2017   |||

At two minutes after midnight on May 12th, the hyperloop became a little bit less of a pipe dream and little bit more of a reality. On that day, the Los Angeles-based startup Hyperloop One conducted the first full-system test of its technology in the desert north of Las Vegas. As several dozen of the company’s engineers and executives watched an array of monitors nervously, a metal sled accelerated to 70 mph (112 km/h), achieved levitation, and flew about 500 feet (152 meters) down the length of a 1,600-foot (487-meter) steel tube that had most of the air sucked out of it.

On the surface, it seemed like a nondescript event, but nonetheless the group broke out into ecstatic cheers. Hyperloop One co-founder and chief engineer Josh Giegel nervously fumbled with a bottle of champagne as he thanked his wife, while executive chairman Shervin Pishevar wiped away tears.

A little more than two months later, Giegel and Pishevar sat down with me in a private club in midtown Manhattan to talk about that day — and more importantly, what comes next. The elation of that moment had worn off, and both men were eager to get back to work on their dream of building the world’s first hyperloop system. The concept of nearly supersonic travel through hundreds of miles of vacuum-sealed tubes will always seem outlandish to most people. But then again, most people haven’t heard of Hyperloop One.

Continue to read the full article . . .

Another America’s Cup is in the history books and although the actual Cup itself might not have been as exciting as the Louis Vuitton World Series competition with its capsizing, collisions and man overboard, the entire event was pretty impressive. And now, with a new Defender at the helm, the all-consuming, burning question is asked: “What now?”

On the AC site it read: “When Emirates Team New Zealand sped through the finishing line on Monday afternoon in Bermuda to win the 35th America’s Cup, the team also crossed a starting line of sorts – this time for the 36th America’s Cup.” Going on to state: “The moment Peter Burling steered the New Zealand boat across the line to win the America’s Cup, the RNZYS accepted a challenge from Luna Rossa’s Circolo della Vela Sicillia (CVS) for the 36th America’s Cup.”

That is the first installment of the many answers to the “what now” question and it’s definitely a big one – the “who” if you will. Luna Rossa has been part of other America’s Cups and many are glad to see them back in the game. For those who don’t know, the way it works now is that these two teams will huddle together and map out all the logistics, including the rules and boats, for the next event.

“We need to put in place an exciting event that takes a lot of what has happened here, because there is a lot of good that’s happened here…”

Emirates TeamNZ Grant Dalton

Hmmm. Is Dalton hinting that the race will once again be run in high-speed foiling catamarans? Hard to say but it’s probably safe to assume it will be another cutting edge style event. To the dismay of hard-core traditionalists, the smart money isn’t on the 36th America’s Cup being held on J-class yachts. However, there is talk, maybe rumor is a better word, of the Cup possibly returning to monohulls. Some have speculated that perhaps a foiling mono that employs much of the speed and excitement the cats have generated would keep the interest peaked and the technology moving forward. Not too long ago Beneteau announced its plan to race a fleet of foiling monos for the famous Le Figaro singlehanded race in 2019 and the legendary Volvo Ocean Race announced it will use “foil assisted” monos in 2017-18 edition. It certainly seems in the realm of reality that organizers would seize the opportunity to both push the envelope further and placate monohull purists, which there are many.

Of the criticisms of the 35th AC, this notion of meat over mastery has to be on the top of the list. Boiled down there were only a couple of men on the boat actually sailing – the rest of the crew simply generated energy, on bicycles no less! For sailing purists nothing was as disappointing as seeing exercise bicycles installed on flying boats and calling it sailing. But this is the interesting element of the America’s Cup event – rules are written specifically for the contest and design teams get to the business of cracking codes and solving engineering puzzles.

It’s still a rumor but definitely an interesting notion. Beyond the boat design, the new AC Defenders are also expecting more teams to participate. In a recent interview on New Zealand radio Peter Burling & Blair Turk said they anticipated most or all of the 35th teams would be back with expectation of more teams. It would stand to reason that the Kiwi team would concentrate on making the next AC as affordable as possible since they struggled firsthand with what was called an “extremely strict budget.”

For now, while the Challenger and Defender spitball what will become, we sailing fans can blab to each other what we think is best (post your thoughts below!). It’s fun for a while but anticipation gets old. Soon we will see the whats and wheres, only to no doubt be answered with some resounding “whys??!!?”

| A Sailing Association of Ametrica release  ||  July 14,  2017   |||

KiwiRail’s efforts to keep freight moving around New Zealand following the Kaikoura earthquake saw it take home an Australasian Rail Industry Award in Sydney last night.

KiwiRail won the Freight Rail Excellence category in recognition of its response to the November 2016 earthquake, which severely damaged New Zealand’s road and rail networks in the upper South Island.

“In the earthquake’s immediate aftermath up to 50% of rail freight moved to road and coastal shipping,” says KiwiRail Chief Executive Peter Reidy.

“The earthquake was an unprecedented event and its impact on the national supply chain has been significant. It challenged us to find ways to continue to support our customers and to provide strategic resilience options in the event of aftershocks.

“KiwiRail took a leadership role in finding solutions to problems the earthquake caused.

“We quickly invested in a freight hub in the upper South Island to support domestic freight forwarders and secured coastal capacity with major shipping lines.

“We also worked with customers as well as local and central government to protect tourism flows around the country.

“These strategies are all designed to retain and protect long-term customer freight volumes until we are able to re-open the rail network.

“We’re looking forward to once again being able to offer our customers the option of moving their freight on the line.”

“The rebuild of the Main North Line has been the biggest rail project in the South Island since WWII, and we’d like to thank our customers for their support and patience over the last eight months.

“This award recognises the dedication and hard work of our team, led by Group General Manager Sales and Commercial Alan Piper.”

More than 80 nominations were received across 12 categories in this year’s Australasian Rail Industry Awards, which recognise outstanding achievements by individuals and organisations across Australia and New Zealand.

| A Kiwi Rail release  ||  July 14,  2017   |||

The Reserve Bank has started a public consultation about what type of financial instruments should qualify as bank capital.

Capital regulations address not only the minimum amount of capital that banks must hold, but also the type of financial instruments that qualify as capital. The consultation that starts today is about the nature of financial instruments that are suitable, rather than the amount of capital.

Important considerations for regulations about bank capital include: the Reserve Bank’s regulatory approach; the resolution regime in the event of a bank facing difficulties; international standards issued by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision; the Reserve Bank’s experience with the current capital regime; and the fact that dominant participants in the New Zealand banking market are subsidiaries of overseas banks. The consultation paper discusses these issues and outlines five options for reforming existing regulations.

The Bank’s proposed reforms to capital regulations aim to reduce the complexity of the regulatory regime; provide greater certainty about the quality of capital that banks hold; and reduce the scope for regulatory arbitrage.

The consultation closes at 5pm on Friday 8 September. More information:· Consultation paper: What should qualify as bank capital? Issues and Options· Review of the capital adequacy framework for registered banks

|A RBNZ article  ||  July 14, 2017   |||

New regulations gazetted today will help revolutionise the way New Zealand’s commercial fisheries are managed and monitored, says Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy.

The regulations require the use of geospatial position reporting (GPR), e-logbooks, and cameras across the commercial fishing industry and are being rolled out from 1 October this year.

“Digital monitoring is going to revolutionise the way we make fisheries management decisions, and help ensure that we are protecting the sustainability of New Zealand’s fisheries. It will give us arguably the most transparent and accountable commercial fishery anywhere in the world,” says Mr Guy.

“This new technology will provide more accurate and up-to-date information allowing us to make quicker and better-informed management decisions.”

Digital monitoring replaces the paper-based catch and effort reporting system for commercial fishing, which was too inefficient. Fishers will be required to provide more detailed information in their reporting and all data will be integrated by MPI so that what is reported can be compared to the GPR data and camera footage.

“The reality of the industry has too often meant that what happens at sea has been out of sight. We expect this new system will act as a significant deterrent to illegal activity, as the information it captures can and will be used by MPI for prosecutions when the rules are broken.”

The first two stages of digital monitoring – GPR and catch reporting via new e-logbooks – will be brought in from 1 October this year, with cameras phased in to each fishery from 1 October 2018.

Trawl vessels 28 metres and over will be using the GPR and e-logbooks from 1 October, representing over 70 percent of the commercial catch volume. All other operators will have a 6 month period to install the new systems.

“This is the biggest change to the commercial fishing industry since the introduction of the Quota Management System, and I have instructed MPI to support the industry to achieve full implementation and compliance over a six-month period.

“By 1 April 2018 all fishing permit holders will be required to be fully compliant with the GPR and e-logbook systems.”

Digital monitoring is part of the Future of our Fisheries programme, which is strengthening the fisheries management system and making it fit-for-the future. The programme also includes ongoing policy work to help ensure sustainable fisheries.

This year’s Budget included a boost of $30.5 million in funding over the next four years to support these improvements.

More information on this new system and the Future of our Fisheries programme is available at www.mpi.govt.nz/futureofourfisheries.

| A Beehive release  ||  July 13,  2017   |||

HydroWorks Limited (“HydroWorks” or “Company”), a Christchurch based hydro engineering company, is pleased to announce that it has successfully commissioned five mini-hydro energy recovery systems (“Climate Defenders”) for the Melbourne Water Department (“Melbourne Water”).

The plants are located within Melbourne Water’s existing urban water supply network and have been designed to recover the excess energy present in the flowing water, convert it to electricity and export it into the Melbourne electricity network. The excess energy is a by-product of the height differences between Melbourne’s main water storage reservoirs and Melbourne’s inner suburb reservoirs and was “wasted” to the environment. HydroWorks plants trap and use that energy and give it back to the community. The Climate Defenders are located at Mt Waverley, Dandenong North, Wantirna, Boronia reservoirs and Cardinia Creek pumping station.

HydroWorks’ is committed to the principles of environmental sustainability and supports initiatives by clients to make use of energy sources that would otherwise be wasted. HydroWorks Climate Defenders are an exemplification of this commitment, harnessing energy for the community from within the community.

Climate Defenders are designed and assembled by HydroWorks using their own high-efficiency mini-hydro turbines (designed and manufactured in New Zealand) along with equipment from internationally-accredited suppliers. Each of the … Read More »

| A Bourse Communications release  ||  July 13,  2017   |||

The latest New Zealand Manufacturers and Exporters Association (NZMEA) Survey of Business Conditions, completed during June 2017, shows total sales in May 2017 decreased 2.34% (year on year export sales decreased by 5.68% with domestic sales increasing by 10.99%) on May 2016.

In the 3 months to May, export sales decreased an average of 14.4%, and domestic sales increased 7.1% on average.

The NZMEA survey sample this month covered NZ$251m in annualised sales, with an export content of 77%.

Net confidence fell to 25, down from 40 in April.

The current performance index (a combination of profitability and cash flow) is at 98.7, up from 97.7 last month, the change index (capacity utilisation, staff levels, orders and inventories) was at 100, up from 98 in the last survey, and the forecast index (investment, sales, profitability and staff) is at 104.2, down on the last result of 105.7. Anything over 100 indicates expansion.

Constraints reported were 60% markets and 40% skilled staff.

A net 10% reported productivity improvements in May.

Staff numbers decreased 2.28% year on year in May.

Supervisors, tradespersons and managers, reported a moderate shortage, while professional/scientists and operators/labourers showed a minor shortage.

“This month’s domestic sales improved on April’s results, showing growth of 10.8% on May 2017. Despite the negative result seen last month, domestic sales have experienced a largely positive growth trend in the last year. In the three months to May, there was an average monthly growth of 7.1% on the same months last year.” Said NZMEA Chief Executive Dieter Adam.

“Export sales, on the other hand, experienced another month of decline, -5.7% on May 2016, reinforcing the general negative trend felt over the last year. In the three months to May, average monthly sales decreased 14.4% on the same months last year.

“Export sales results were also reflected in the recent Overseas Merchandise Trade numbers from stats New Zealand. For example in May, both mechanical machinery and equipment and electrical machinery and equipment experienced decreases in export sales values on May 2016.

“Finding skilled staff has become a larger issue for manufacturers in May, with the skilled staff constraint having the highest value since February 2008, at 44%. It was commented by respondents that tradespeople are of particular need – a sentiment that was shared by a number of companies at a recent NZMEA event with the Prime Minister.

“Industry and Government need to work together to improve our education system and industry training to start to address these skill shortages that hold Kiwi manufacturers back. This can be done – there are a number of examples around the world of such skill shortages being address effectively, such as Germany.” Said Dieter.

For analysis tables and graphs, click here.

| An NZMEA release  ||  July 13,  2017   |||

Climate scientists will be able to more accurately study Earth’s temperature changes, thanks to a global database compiled with the help of a Victoria University of Wellington and GNS Science researcher.

The database has been released today in the Nature Scientific Data journal by a large international team of scientists, including Associate Professor Nancy Bertler. Associate Professor Bertler says the database—which expands on a version released in 2013—provides a rigorously assessed compilation of temperature reconstructions for the past 2,000 years. “The database gathers information on past temperature based on evidence from a number of sources including tree rings, corals, glacier ice, and marine and lake sediments. “It’s the most comprehensive collection of information on global temperature change ever, and has taken over three years to pull together.” This database is important because it provides much-needed information on regional temperature patterns and trends, says Associate Professor Bertler. “It enables us to critically assess and improve earth system models used to provide future projections. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s analysis of future change will include investigating the past 2,000 years, before looking into the future. How well they capture those past trends provides a tool to assess how realistic a model is, and helps to identify where improvements are necessary. This is the only tool to independently test and verify climate models beyond the past forty years.” The database gathers close to 700 records from 648 locations, compiled by 98 regional experts from 22 countries. It was coordinated by the Past Global Changes (PAGES) network of international paleoclimate scientists. Data for the Antarctic region was contributed by Associate Professor Bertler. “We contributed three ice core records from the Ross Sea region, a particularly climate-sensitive area of the Antarctic. We collected those ice cores over the past decade,” says Associate Professor Bertler. “Our reconstructions provided a detailed view of the region during the past 100 to 1,000 years, including ocean and air temperature, sea ice extent, atmospheric circulation pattern and ocean productivity. A particular focus of our work is to understand when and how quickly West Antarctica could collapse, leading to rapid increase in global sea level.” Associate Professor Bertler is an ice core scientist jointly appointed by Victoria’s Antarctic Research Centre and GNS Science. She manages the National Ice Core Research Facility at GNS Science—one of the most advanced facilities of its kind in the world—and leads Antarctic field deployments for ice core research. PAGES has released the database as an open resource, allowing anyone to download and use the data.

| A Victoria University release  ||  July 12,  2017   |||