NZ Manufacturer August 2016

August 2016 Award winning supplier of SOLIDWORKS in Australia and New Zealand

www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz

5

14

BUSINESS NEWS Workplace leadership: No meaning, No work

22

PROFILE It’s your game, Light it up

SMART MANUFACTURING Holoportation: Is this how you’ll get to your next meeting?

Think Pokemon Go has nothing to do with the metals industry? Think again!

Workers need to be as safe as possible The new Health and Safety at Work Act (HSWA), which was in large part a response to the Pike River tragedy, has now been in place since April this year.

We have seen a lot of engagement from manufacturers on these changes, and it appears that a lot of work has been done to understand and adapt to these changes, adding to Health and Safety (H&S) efforts of manufacturers in the past.

We all want to make sure workers are as safe as possible - it is still early days for the legislation, and time will tell if the changes have translated into

If you have no idea what Pokemon Go is, it’s safe to assume you’ve been living under a rock – and if so, it’s time to crawl out! As potential disruptive technologies surface, our industry can’t afford to have our head in the sand - it’s time to be alert and reactive if we’re to stay competitive.

the software developers around NZ $2.3 million a day from Apple devices alone - in fact, in the time it’ll take you to read this article it’s estimated an additional 24,000 odd people would have downloaded the game for a $55,000 profit. Not bad for five minutes work.

So, if you’re busy telling your kids to stop obsessing over the game, or judging those adults who are doing the same – you may want to be a little more open-minded and consider if you’ve got something to learn from them… because what you really should be thinking is what does it mean for your current business model?

A glimpse into the future

real positive outcomes in terms of incidents in the workplace.

So what’s this Pokemon Go all about?

As with any change, it will need to be reviewed in the coming years, with feedback from industry, once we have a better picture through the statistics on how whether it has achieved the aim of bringing down the number of workplace injuries.

An augmented reality (AR) game from Nintendo launched earlier this month, the game centres around a real world map that now has millions of people wandering around with their noses in their phones excitingly chasing virtual monsters across the countryside. And while many are fully engaged with the technology, most of us consider it a complete waste of time, but is it?

At this stage however, it has at least achieved the aim of bringing H&S to the forefront of thinking in manufacturing companies – this alone

continued on page 16

Downloaded by over 15 million people in its first week, it has now amassed over 21 million active users generating

From a base level, local marketing potential off the back of this game is quite an interesting concept to ponder – with users now spending more time in the Pokemon Go app than in any other social media platform. Now that SnapChat, Twitter and Facebook are no longer the front runners, understanding how you can leverage Pokemon Go is where clever businesses are profiting and even improving market awareness.

Rogue & Vagabond Bar in Central Wellington have tapped into the game investing in luring Pokemon to their bar - and in turn punters looking for them. While this concept seems a bit too far-fetched for professional engineering establishments to consider, it certainly gives food for thought on how this model could be manipulated to benefit us in a better way - perhaps

continued on page 18

Affordable 3D design Still the best value-for-money investment for designers.

Not just for solid parts and assemblies.

Powerful tools for sheet metal design and development.

Purchase annual maintenance to receive new versions and upgrades, access to user forum and support. Geomagic Design provides all the features and tools for mechanical and sheet metal design.

Geomagic Design can be installed on as many computers, at any locaon that has internet access, as you want and you can acvate/de-acvate the installaons yourself as you move between locaons.

enquiries@baycad.biz

06 8337093

www.baycad.biz

THE SAFER FARMS PROGRAMME WHY A FARM SAFETY PROGRAMME? Farming kills more people than any other sector in New Zealand – 41 people have died working on farms in the last two years. That’s four times the number of fatalities in either forestry or construction.

There are also thousands of serious injuries that lead to a loss of productivity and income for farmers.

Farmers, their families and farming communities are directly affected, and bear the emotional and financial cost of deaths and injuries on the farm.

This is why WorkSafe New Zealand is partnering with farmers and their families, sector organisations, and the rural community as a whole on Safer Farms, a comprehensive farm safety information and education campaign.

WHAT IS SAFER FARMS? Safer Farms is a new way of working. It is a multi-year programme jointly funded by ACC. It aims to increase farmer awareness and understanding of their risks, support farmers to manage their safety, and build local and sector farm safety leadership. It will achieve this by: > Providing an easy-to-use toolkit and a comprehensive online resource - www.saferfarms.org.nz – so that farmers have clear health and safety advice and information. > A widespread media campaign in newspapers, magazines, on radio and online helping farmers identify and manage risks. > A seasonal information and education campaign highlighting the risks and how to manage them when they arise through the year (e.g. calving, shearing, picking). > Working with rural retailers to help them incorporate safety messages when dealings with farmers. > Training programmes to be delivered alongside rural stakeholder groups. > Education and information for rural kids delivered through school programmes and Dairy NZ’s Rosie’s World website.

Safer Farms was not developed in isolation. It was built with extensive input from farmers, their

WSNZ_00155_FEB 15

communities and the sector to ensure the focus was on helping farmers to take ownership of their health and safety.

WHERE CAN I GET MORE INFORMATION? Visit www.saferfarms.org.nz or call 0800 030 040.

KEEP SAFE, KEEP FARMING

SAFERFARMS.ORG.NZ

CONTENTS DEPARTMENTS

ADVISORS

4 EDITORIAL 5 BUSINESS NEWS

Punching above our weight.

6

Craig Carlyle

Is Director of Maintenance Transformations Ltd, an executive member of the Maintenance Engineering Societyand the Event Director of the NationalMaintenance Engineering Conference.

Workplace leadership: No meaning, No work.

6 COMMENT

Technology could be the best or worst thing that happened to inequality.

7 MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY

8

Multi-functional CAN-to-Ethernet gateway.

Lean solution for track and trace.

9 MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY

Catherine Beard

Is Executive Director of Export NZ and Manufacturing, divisions of Business NZ, NewZealand’s largest business advocacy group, representing businesses of all sizes.

Case Study: IoT: Drives commissioning from anywhere.

10 FOODTECH PACKTECH 13 DEVELOPMENTS

MHL show to run alongside Foodtech Packtech.

Got a Trade? Got it Made! Week -Building skills for the future.

Engineering needs a more diverse pool of recruits.

Dieter Adam

Chief Executive, New Zealand Manufacturers and Exporters Association has a Ph.D. in plant biotechnology, consulting and senior management roles in R&D, innovation and international business development.

12

14 PROFILE 16 DEVELOPMENTS

16

20 SMART MANUFACTURING

18

It’s your game. Light it up.

Lewis Woodward

Is Managing Director of Connection Technologies Ltd, Wellington and is passionate about industry supporting NZ based companies, which in turn builds local expertise and knowledge, and provides education and employment for future generations.

Workers need to be as safe as possible.

Volvo and Uber to develop autonomous driving cars.

EMA mobilises membership to top Contractor Bill.

GM sees self-driving cars as gradual rollout.

FeatureScript lets 3D CAD users design faster.

New Portacom-built satellite station is saving lives.

Realising the Internet of Things.

24 FOOD MANUFACTURING

Westland Milk Products. Finding answers to sustainability questions.

Moana New Zealand to ensure biodiversity.

Food safety drives demand for high performance plastics.

26 WORKSHOP TOOLS

Factory Talk Asset Centre software simplifies life-cycle management.

Arc fault protection.

28 ANALYSIS 29 PROFILE

Dr Wolfgang Scholz

22

Garth Wyllie

24

Resource efficiency in the supplying industry.

Down to Earth.

30 BUSINESS NEWS 31 REAR VIEW

Using IoT to its full potential.

NZ heavy steel fabrication sets new record.

Is HERA Director and a Fellow of the Institute of Professional Engineers NZ.

31

Is EMA’s Executive Officer, Manufacturing & Industry Groups.

He is a strong advocate for the manufacturing sector. In his 20-plus years with the organisation Garth has managed a range of sector groups, with manufacturing being a key focus.

Punching above our weight

PUBLISHER

Media Hawke’s Bay Ltd,1/121 Russell Street North, Hastings, New Zealand 4122.

MANAGING EDITOR Doug Green T: +64 6 870 9029 E: publisher@xtra.co.nz

CONTRIBUTORS

Dieter Adam, Holly Green, Kim Campbell, Yusuf Azizullah, Dr Wolfgang Scholz, Bert Zorn www.mscnewswire.co.nz

ADVERTISING

Doug Green T: + 64 6 870 9029 E: publisher@xtra.co.nz

Playing to our strengths is probably the key to our successful medal haul at the Rio Olympics. As a country surrounded by water in the Pacific, it makes sense that our success has centred around events where water-based craft are involved.

So the specialisation has paid off.

There will be head scratching around the cycling, hockey and rowing returns but it can’t always be the case that what is predicted comes out on top.

All of these key sports have huge support needs and of course manufacturing and product development is integral to their success. My preference would be – slightly idealistically – that the equipment and professional services they use are made in New Zealand.

DESIGN & PRODUCTION Kim Alves, KA Design T: + 64 6 879 5815 E: kim.alves@xtra.co.nz

WEB MASTER

Jason Bowerman E: jason.bowerman@gmail.com

High technology developments for the cyclists has been an enormous fillip allowing the team to improve and further refine their strategies.

PUBLISHING SERVICES On-Line Publisher Media Hawke’s Bay Ltd

Tradespeople. We’re always searching for the trained and skilled person to help our manufacturing company get ahead. As you have probably noticed Engineering is getting a lot of notice of late and NZ Manufacturer is profiling engineers who are pursuing their dream and loving what they do!

DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTIONS E: info@nzmanufacturer.co.nz Free of Charge.

MEDIA HAWKES BAY LTD T: +64 6 870 4506 F: +64 6 878 8150 E: mediahb@xtra.co.nz 1/121 Russell Street North, Hastings PO Box 1109, Hastings, NZ NZ Manufacturer ISSN 1179-4992

Vol.7 No.7 August 2016 Copyright: NZ Manufacturer is copyright and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the written permission of the publisher. Neither editorial opinions expressed, nor facts stated in the advertisements, are necessarily agreed to by the editor or publisher of NZ Manufacturer and, whilst all efforts are made to ensure accuracy, no responsibility will be taken by the publishers for inaccurate information, or for any consequences of reliance on this information. NZ Manufacturer welcomes your contributions which may not necessarily be used because of the philosophy of the publication.

Affiliates

At present the marketplace is short of skilled people in manufacturing and the building and construction industries.

There is an ebb and flow in all this and enthusiastic people studying in our polytechnics and universities need some assurance that after all their efforts to graduate – carrying student loans on their shoulders – that longevity is part of the equation.

They need to be able to plan their tomorrow – home, family, career - knowing that their chosen profession is going to be there for them for a long time. That the opportunities exist with some certainty.

ASIA

MANUFACTURING NEWS

4

NZ Manufacturer August 2016

/

www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz

Success Through Innovation

EDITORIAL

Doug Green

BUSINESS NEWS

I have never worked a day in my life without selling.

If I believe in something, I sell it, and I sell it hard.

–Estée Lauder, Co-founder of Estée Lauder Companies

Workplace leadership: No meaning, No work This glimpse of the future was crafted by: Georgina Mahony.

Our leadership approach to ‘being an employer’ hasn’t changed significantly in decades. Managing people in a work environment involves seeking to gain their best efforts, in exchange for reward – but is it time we redefined reward?

As barriers to mobility between projects, companies, countries and industries disappear – a ‘job for a decade’ let alone a ‘job for life’ is now a thing of the past.

Money may make the world go round, but as a new generation of employees come to the workforce, it is clear that it doesn’t always buy happiness. Enlightened organisations are realising that it certainly doesn’t buy job satisfaction either for their new experience-hungry workforce.

If an organisation doesn’t show their employees they are valued – they’ll move on to the next one who does.

With employees increasingly working in project delivery environments, how do project managers apply the change needed in organisational leadership to project leadership in order to engage and retain their teams?

Within

today’s

rapidly

changing

Commercial & industrial growth

business environment, creative thinking and collaboration in order to achieve differentiation have taken pride of place.

“Companies are focusing on innovation and unique differentiation – and almost exclusively are looking at people, not machines, to provide it,” writes The Digitalist. In addition to employees becoming critical to an organisation’s success, their expectations have changed.

Gen X and the Millennials (born between 1982 and 2004) are at very different points in their careers (with some yet to start theirs!). It is clear that the Millennials’ definition of prosperity encompasses far more than just money.

Interestingly, many Gen Xers seem to have reached a similar conclusion – as their careers have progressed, they find themselves looking for greater meaning in their roles.

This combined workforce craves shared values, ones that take into account the well-being of others, ones that are underpinned by a sense of worth, consideration and ‘togetherness’. In short, it turns out that as a workforce, they are starting to ‘care’.

For today’s project teams, money alone has ceased to engender loyalty as it once could. With so many projects and opportunities, being paid equitably simply isn’t enough. Increasingly demanding project delivery environments mean that growth and development opportunities on projects are key; staff want to feel valued, appreciated and do work that has significance.

Will the ‘warm and fuzzy’ impact on output? The good news is that all evidence points to soft skills translating to commercial success stories.

Sceptics might ask: but what’s the cost in terms of project productivity?

Project leaders need to move from

A person who feels appreciated will always do more than is expected – and isn’t this the most basic definition of a high performing team? It turns out that truly valuing staff is not just a ‘nice to have’, but an essential element of successful project delivery.

continued on page 30

Employment growth

Economic output

Crime rate East Tamaki is the largest industrial precinct in Auckland with 2000 businesses and a growth rate higher than the regional average.

getba

getba.org.nz

Greater East Tamaki Business Association Inc.

www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz

/

NZ Manufacturer August 2016

5

COMMENT

It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership.

–Nelson Mandela

Technology could be the best or worst thing that happened to inequality I live in the future. I drive an amazing Tesla electric vehicle, which takes control of the steering wheel on highways. My house is a “passive” home that expends minimal energy on heating or cooling. With the solar panels on my roof, my energy bills are close to zero – including running the car.

My iPhone is encased in a cradle laced with electronic sensors that I can place against my chest to generate a detailed electrocardiogram. With this, I can take a reading virtually anywhere on Earth and send it to my doctors.

Because I have a history of heart trouble, including a life-threatening heart attack, knowing that I can communicate with my doctors in seconds instead of hours takes the fear out of hiking the open space reserves in the hills.

I spend much of my time talking to entrepreneurs and researchers about breakthrough technologies such as artificial intelligence and robotics. These entrepreneurs are building a better future, often at a breakneck pace. One team built a fully functioning surgical-glove prototype to deliver tactile guidance for doctors during examinations – in three weeks.

Another built visualisation software that can tell farmers the health of their crops using images taken by off-the-shelf video cameras flown on drones. That technology took four weeks. You get the idea. I do, in fact, live in the future as it is forming. It is forming far faster than most people

realise, and far faster than the human mind can comfortably perceive.

Technology: the great leveller?

The distant future is no longer distant. The pace of technological change is rapidly accelerating, and those changes are coming to you very soon, whether you like it or not.

Look at the way smartphones crept up on us. Just about everyone now has one.

We are always checking email, receiving texts, ordering our goods online, and sharing our lives with distant friends and relatives on social media. These technologies changed our lives before we even realised it. Just as we blindly follow the directions that Google Maps gives us – even when we know better – we will comply with the constant advice that our digital doctor provides.

I’m talking about the artificially intelligent app on our smartphone that will have read our medical data and monitor our lifestyles and habits.

It will warn us not to eat that eat slice of cheesecake lest we gain another 10 pounds.

So you say that I live in a technobabble, a world that is not representative of the lives of the majority of people in the US or in the world? That’s true. I live a comfortable life and am fortunate to sit near the top of the technology and innovation food chain. So I see the future sooner than most people.

The noted science-fiction writer William Gibson, who is a favourite of hackers and techies, once wrote:

“The future is here. It’s just not evenly distributed yet”. But, from my vantage point at its apex, I am watching that distribution curve flatten, and quickly.

Simply put, the future is happening faster and faster. It is happening everywhere. Technology is the great leveller, the great unifier, the great creator of new and destroyer of old.

The greatest shift since the dawn of humankind Once, technology could be put in a box, a discrete business dominated by business systems and some cool gadgets. It slowly but surely crept into more corners of our lives. Today the creep has become a headlong rush.

Technology is taking over every part of our lives; every part of society; every waking moment of every day.

Increasingly pervasive data networks and connected devices are causing rapid information flows from the source to the masses – and down the economic ladders from the developed societies to the poorest.

From biology to energy to media to politics to food to transportation, we are witnessing unprecedented shifts that are redefining our future.

We are only just commencing the greatest shift that society has seen since the dawn of humankind. And, as in all other manifest shifts – from the use of fire for shelter and for cooking to the rise of agriculture and the development of sailing vessels, internal-combustion engines, and computing – this one will arise

from breath-taking technology.

advances

in

This shift, though, is both broader and deeper, and is happening far more quickly than the previous tectonic shift.

The dark side of the technological revolution – and how to avoid it Such rapid, ubiquitous change has, of course, a dark side. Jobs as we know them will disappear. Our privacy will be further compromised. Our children may never drive a car or ride in one driven by a human being.

We have to worry about biological terrorism and killer drones.

Someone you know – maybe you – will have his or her DNA sequence and fingerprints stolen. Man and machine will begin to merge into a single entity. You will have as much food as you can possibly eat, for better and for worse.

The ugly state of politics in the United States and Britain illustrates the impact of income inequality and the widening technological divide.

More and more people are being left behind and are protesting in every way they can.

Technologies such as social media are being used to fan the flames and to exploit ignorance and bias. The situation will get only worse – unless we find ways to share the prosperity we are creating.

We have a choice: to build an amazing future. It really is up to us; we must tell our policy-makers what choices we want them to make. The key is to ensure that the technologies we are building have the potential to benefit everyone equally; balance the risks and the rewards; and minimise the dependence that technologies create.

But first, we must learn about these advances ourselves and be part of the future they are creating. *This article is based on Vivek Wadhwa’s upcoming book, Driver in the Driverless Car: How our technology choices will create the future, which will be released this winter.

6

NZ Manufacturer August 2016

/

www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz

Leadership is doing what is right when no one is watching. –George Van Valkenburg,

MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY

Multi-functional CAN-to-Ethernet gateway The new IXXAT CAN@net NT 200 is a CAN-to-Ethernet gateway which allows users to connect CAN and Ethernet. Thanks to its two operating modes, CAN@net NT can be used as CAN-Ethernet-CAN bridge and as CAN-to-Ethernet gateway. Equipped with two CAN interfaces, it supports an even wider range of use cases compared to the well-known CAN@net II.The CAN@net NT (now in new black housing) allows users to connect CAN and Ethernet

Linking of CAN networks One of the key features of the CAN@ net NT - which is especially useful in building automation - is the ability to separate CAN networks that are distributed over large areas.

CAN@net NT couples the CAN networks via a backbone Ethernet system, allowing existing infrastructures to be used. This segmentation also increases the reliability and stability of the overall system.

Enables remote access Designed for high performance in harsh environments, another common application for CAN@net NT is remote access to CAN networks via Ethernet - e.g. in wind power plants or in the manufacturing sector. CAN@net NT enables service staff to get access to plants all around the world, simplifying

control, service and monitoring of CAN-based plants, reducing costs and downtime significantly.

as from embedded systems, by using a simple ASCII protocol over a standard TCP/IP socket.

Besides the bridge operation, linking two CAN networks via Ethernet, the CAN@net NT 200 can also be directly accessed from Windows, Linux, VxWorks or QNX based systems as well

CAN@net NT supports all CAN baud rates from 5 kBit/s to 1 Mbit/s, as well as simultaneous use of 11 and 29 bit identifiers. The TCP/IP-based protocol ensures that no CAN messages are lost

www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz

when transmitted over Ethernet. The device configuration is easily made by using a Windows configuration tool.

More variants of the CAN@net NT, with PC interface operation mode, 4 CAN channels and CAN FD support will soon be released.

/

NZ Manufacturer August 2016

7

MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY

If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, don’t ask what seat! Just get on.

–Sheryl Sandberg, technology executive, activist, and author

Lean solution for track-and-trace on the device also indicate status.

All-in-One RFID Reader BIS M-4008The BIS M-4008 from Balluff is an All-in-One RFID Reader with integrated processor.

The 13.56 MHz reader with IP67 protection and a rugged die-cast zinc housing features a Profinet interface, needs no additional processor and can communicate directly with the control level.

The new reader supports data carriers conforming with RFID standard ISO 15693.

Anyone needing faster data transmission can simply choose Balluff high-speed data carriers with a transmission rate of up to 8x faster than the standard and extra-large memory capacities of up to 128 kB.

The reader is an ideal choice wherever a lean solution is needed for detecting data carriers on workpieces and workpiece carriers at individual stations. Typical applications include material flow control in production facilities, conveying systems and assembly lines.

The BIS M-4008 saves the user much time and money in as-sembly and installation.

The die-case zinc housing can be in-stalled directly on metal in a variety of ways. Direct connection to Profinet also represents reduced wiring expense and effort. Yet another benefit is the use of cost-effective 4-pin, M12 standard cable for the power and Profinet connection.

The device is the only all-in-one reader on the market with an integrated 2-port Ethernet switch for constructing simple line- and ring topologies.

An integrated webserver provides conven-ient status monitoring from a distance. Highly visible LEDs di-rectly

Device master data are available as a GSDML file for type-specific parameterization.

Ready-made

function blocks provide for simple S7 programming.

NI announces Industry’s highest precision PXI source measure unit NI, provider of platform-based systems that enable engineers and scientists to solve the world’s greatest engineering challenges, has announced the NI PXIe-4135 source measure unit (SMU) with a measurement sensitivity of 10 fA and voltage output up to 200 V. Engineers can use the NI PXIe-4135 SMU to measure low-current signals and take advantage of the high channel density, fast test throughput and flexibility of NI PXI SMUs for applications such as wafer-level parametric test, materials research and characterization of low-current sensors and ICs.

De Wachter, researcher at IMEC. “The new NI PXI SMU allows us to accurately measure these low-current signals while benefiting from the speed improvements offered by the PXI platform and the flexibility of programming the system with LabVIEW.”

to custom-tune the SMU response for any device under test.

Engineers can use modular NI PXI SMUs to build parallel, high-channel-count systems in a compact form factor and benefit from up to 68 SMU channels in a single PXI chassis that can scale to hundreds of channels to address wafer-level reliability and parallel test.

“Increasing complexity in semiconductor devices requires us to rethink the conventional approach for research, characterization and reliability measurements, and that’s been a key motivator for our SMU investments in PXI,” said Luke Schreier, director of automated test at NI. “NI SMUs reduce test time, increase channel density, and now, offer even better measurement quality with 10 fA sensitivity.”

Additionally, users can increase test throughput by taking advantage of a high-speed communication bus, deterministic hardware sequencing and a digital control loop technology

“Our in-line parametric tests require us to acquire millions of data points, often with leakage current in the picoampere range,” said Dr. Bart

They can also control the SMU response through software, which removes unnecessarily long wait times for SMU settling and offers the flexibility to help minimize overshoot and oscillations even with highly capacitive loads.

Delivering the ease of use expected from a box SMU, the interactive soft front panels on NI PXI SMUs can be used for making basic measurements and debugging automated applications.

The driver features help files, documentation and ready-to-run example programs to assist in test code development, and includes a programming interface that works with a variety of development environments such as C, Microsoft .NET and LabVIEW system design software.

Engineers can also use NI PXI SMUs with NI’s TestStand test management software, simplifying the creation and deployment of test systems in the lab or production floor.

Are you a Kiwi manufacturer who is NOT appearing in NZ Manufacturer?

Why Not? We offer: •Case Studies•Analysis•Interviews•Opinion Articles•New Products to the Market from our Innovators and Developers FOR New Zealand and overseas readers.

Is your company busy making fantastic products and we haven’t heard about you?

Why Not? Contact us now to enhance your market share.

P 0064 6 870 9029 8

NZ Manufacturer August 2016

/

publisher@xtra.co.nz www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz

Doug Green Publisher

www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz

People don’t buy for logical reasons.

They buy for emotional reasons.

–Zig Ziglar

MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY

CASE STUDY Industrial Internet of Things: Drives commissioning from anywhere When Newton Tesla sets up new variable speed drives for their customers, they can do configuration, re-programming and monitoring from any location. By connecting a Netbiter gateway to their drives systems, they can offer their customers immediate assistance and do remote commissioning during the critical start-up period.

Newton Tesla drives control and Netbiter Newton Tesla is a leading experts in variable speed drives and a supplier of advanced automation systems to factories and plants across the world.

Specialising in Mitsubishi products, they have been working with drives and inverters since 1987.

When commissioning an automation system, it is often hard to solve everything in one go. Usually, there are certain processes you have to wait for or other systems that need to be installed before everything is 100% finished. That means that you often have to go back to the site several times resulting in expensive and time-consuming service trips.

Another issue is physical access. George Newton, Managing Director at Newton Tesla and drive system expert explains: “At some sites, we need special permits or have limited access to our drives. For example, we recently built a system for a silver and platinum processing plant in America. Security was so tight that our mechanical commissioning engineer could not take any tools, mobile phone or even his laptop into the area. This makes on-site commissioning a challenge.”

To get access to their drives systems remotely, Newton Tesla had been looking for a remote management

system for some time, but no system had quite lived up to their demands.

George Newton continues: “I always had the fear that a remote management system would be complex — that it would be hard to establish a connection and, above all, that the connection would be unstable which could really be a problem if you are programming a PLC. But when we found Netbiter, it was surprisingly easy.”

How it works When Newton Tesla delivers a new drives system, they connect a Netbiter EC350 gateway to their Mitsubishi PLC which controls the drives. The Netbiter communicates via the cellular network and sends data from the PLC to the cloud-based Netbiter Argos service.

By logging into www.netbiter.net, Newton Tesla can see data such as operating frequency, running hours, energy consumption and much more.

George Newton in action commissioning cranes at a customer site.

Quick return-on-investment

When programming a PLC, you do not want the connection to go down as it can corrupt your programming and cause the system to malfunction. So naturally, connection stability was a main concern for Newton Tesla.

The first time Newton Tesla used Netbiter in a customer project, was when they shipped a system to a customer in Phoenix, Arizona. After the initial set-up on site, they could handle the rest of the commissioning remotely from the office in Warrington, UK. “Naturally, the Netbiter quickly paid for itself on the Arizona project, but the return-on-investment is quick even if the customer only is a few kilometers away,” says George Newton. “If you calculate the costs for a service engineer to get all the gear ready, take the car to a customer and connect everything on site, you quickly realiSe that even a short service trip is costly.”

“The Netbiter connection is really robust which is very important for us,» says George Newton. “In fact, I have

Nowadays, Newton Tesla always equip their systems with a Netbiter EC350 gateway. Since the Netbiter itself is

By using the function called »Remote Access they can also use the gateway to establish a secure data tunnel to the PLC, through which they can debug, program and commission the drives system. They simply open the tunnel, and can then access their Mitsubishi PLC, just as if they were connected on site.

Connection stability important

quite easy to connect, this process can be done by someone who isn´t a PLC programmer, giving the PLC programmer more time to focus on the system itself. “Netbiter has given us the convenience of not having to travel to the site every time we need to adjust a system. It has given our offering an edge since we can spare our customers expensive service trips and offer faster support and commissioning,” finishes George Newton.

so much confidence in the connection that I even operate our drives remotely.

On a recent project, I moved a crane to a specific position from the office, being confident that the connection wouldn´t be interrupted.”

Factory Robo-Imager, factory automation solution Factory Robo-Imager is a system that combines the Faro Factory Array Imager with a collaborative-robot to provide highly adaptable, safe and automated in- and near-line inspection solutions.

and deliver automated measurements while the Robo-Imager Mobile is the same Robo-Imager mounted on an instrumented cart that can be quickly moved to wherever measurement tasks are required.

This product line pairs the FARO Factory Array Imager, with a human-collaborative robot in two configurations: either a fixed installation or turnkey mobile station.

The Faro Factory Array Imager is a new metrology-grade 3D sensor with blue light technology, capable of quickly capturing high-resolution measurement data for dimensional inspection on parts, assemblies and tools. When coupled with a collabora-

The Robo-Imager fixed installation can be mounted anywhere in the factory

“To that end, Faro is committed to developing new metrology solutions for Factory Automation.

The Robo-Imager does just that, moving metrology from the QC lab to the shop floor for improved productivity.”

tive-robot, the Robo-Imager provides a turnkey solution to automate the inspection and verification of parts at any location in the production environment.

“The manufacturing world is quickly evolving, with smart factories, LEAN thinking, and emphasis on automation, driving the need to shift quality control and inspection processes closer to the production line,” stated Dr. Simon Raab, President and CEO of Faro Technologies.

www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz

/

NZ Manufacturer August 2016

9

HEADING

The shortest way to do many things is to do only one thing at once.

-Samuel Smiles

SEE US AT STANDS #3078 AND #3155

title text

AURORA

PROCESS SOLUTIONS Providing market leading solutions to the process industry for over 18 years. Specialists in specifying, supplying and servicing critical components of your process. We cover bulk materials handling, fluid process, quality assurance and more. Call us today - Unlock your process potential.

MAGNETS ELIMINATE FOREIGN MATTER

Remove ferrous and work hardened stainless steel contamination from your product stream. Ultra-high strength magnets for dry, liquid, viscous, bulk applications and much more. HACCP endorsed verification service of existing magnets.

HEAT TRANSFER

• • • • •

TAYLOR Open mouth and valve bag fillers Form fill seal and belt packers Bulk bag filling and dispensing Net or gross weighing FISHBEIN Bag closers Portable & automatic systems Consumables and servicing

Conveying systems for a huge range of powder and granular product.

Vertical, horizontal, high-speed or drag. FLOVEYOR aeromechanical conveying. Screw feeding and custom hopper units. Bag conveying equipment and accessories.

CALL US AND EXPERIENCE OUR QUALITY SERVICE TODAY.

10

0800 55 77 33 | sales@aurora-nz.com | www.aurora-nz.com

NZ Manufacturer August 2016

Recover valuable product from your transfer lines and equipment with a LIAG pigging system. Recover product, clean process lines, reduce cleaning fluids. Wide range of hygienic valves and consumables.

PRODUCT CONVEYING

BAG FILLING & CLOSING •

Fuji-Ace No.1 Palletising Robot with over 10,000 installations worldwide. Bag, sack and box palletising, Pallet dispenser, wrapper and transfer accumulation options available.

PIGGING SYSTEMS

Plate & Tubular heat exchangers. Skid systems. General warming & cooling duties, Energy recovery, Pasteurising, CIP heating and much more.

•

ROBOTIC PALLETISING

/

www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz

HEADING

If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.

- Albert Einstein

title text

ASB Showgrounds Auckland New Zealand

KEEPING BUSINESSES MOVING

BE PART OF ONE OF NZ’S LARGEST INDUSTRY EVENTS New Zealand's only dedicated materials handling, warehousing and logistics trade show. Get face-to-face with thousands of industry professionals and decision makers.

REGISTER TO ATTEND FOR FREE USING PROMO CODE: NZMANUFACT

www.mhlexpo.co.nz INTERESTED IN EXHIBITING? sales@mhlexpo.co.nz +64 9 976 8367 | +64 (0) 21 487 552 Co-locating with Foodtech Packtech REGISTER AND ATTEND THE MHL EXPO, FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A FORD UP TO THE VALUE OF

+ ORC*

www.foodtechpacktech.co.nz

*Visit website for T&C’s

www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz

/

NZ Manufacturer August 2016

11

FOODTECH PACKTECH 2016

The real leader has no need to lead — he is content to point the way.

–Henry Miller

Materials Handling & Logistic show to run alongside Foodtech Packtech

Continued from Page 24

With less than 8 weeks to go the countdown has begun for this year’s largest combined trade only industry event - the Materials Handling & Logistics Expo (MHL) running alongside Foodtech Packtech (FTPT).

The first of what are planned to be monthly working bees was held last month, with both Moana and NIWA staff involved, with the intention to work on small areas at a time and monitor the effect to ensure a long term positive outcome, says Lynette.

Event organisers, XPO Exhibitions have already confirmed in excess of 200 exhibiting companies across both shows and are expecting thousands of industry attendees across the three days.

This is a unique industry opportunity to view latest products and cutting edge technologies across food & beverage manufacturing, food and industrial packaging as well as materials handling and logistics solutions.

This year’s Materials Handling and Logistics Show already has 50 exhibiting companies - a number that’s well up on the previous event in 2013. We’ve had a great deal of interest from forklift providers right through to 3PL providers.

“MHL is under new management and back alongside FTPT where it all began more than 10 years ago. Food specific materials handling and logistics solutions have always been popular exhibitor features within FTPT so the formal alignment of MHL is simply helping the combined show grow. The materials handling and logistics side of things completes our ‘New Zealand pasture (or sea) to plate’ capability story which is so important to realise our export market potential.” Says Tony Waite Events Director of XPO. “Now we’ve got MHL onboard we’ll also be cross referencing our database of close to 300,000 industry professionals registered for other successful trade shows we run - to send out relevant invites to a wide variety of industry interested in materials handling and logistics solutions.

“Examples will include general engineering and manufacturing, homewares importers, retail and even the construction industry – anyone storing, moving or distributing good in New Zealand or internationally.”

The organisers are quick to point out that Foodtech Packtech itself has grown a great deal since the past event too - with a growing pipeline of exhibitors onboard. “We’ve grown the show into another hall since our 2014 show” explains Waite.

“The interest has no doubt been helped along by our long time supporters and show partners including (but not limited to) the NZ Institute of Food Science & Technology, The New Zealand Food Innovation Network, Massey University and their successful NZ

Moana New Zealand to ensure biodiversity

She is a member of Moana New Zealand’s Sustainability Working Group, which meets every two months to come up with initiatives that further its sustainability journey across the business.

Food Awards whom have aligned their national awards night dates to coincide with our show).

“The food manufacturing industry as a whole is continuing to enjoy high growth rates – hence a growing need for our event to empower food manufacturers to network, learn, research and procure the latest food technology solutions.”

Across three very busy day’s visitors will enjoy free seminars led by industry experts. On the MHL side of things the Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport will be running a series of sessions, and the NZ Institute of Food Science & Technology have arranged a very full schedule for the Foodtech side of the show. “We’ll be releasing full details of the schedule shortly on the show websites www.mhlexpo.co.nz and www. foodtechpacktech.co.nz “

“It’s been really inspiring to be part of the group. Our team have been so supportive of any changes, because they see that it’s not just that we’re sustainable in how we farm, but how we operate, and how we care for our community and the environment,” she says.

Moana New Zealand – blue abalone is also working towards its Aquaculture Stewardship Council certification to meet the toughest global standards for responsible aquaculture.

It aims to go through the auditing process later this year and if successful, will be the fourth abalone farm in the world to achieve certification.

There’s going to be a full schedule of VIP networking events, show features, education and prize draws, all of which are entirely free to attend.

In the meantime it is documenting existing processes that already meet the best environmental and social aquaculture standards, and putting in place others to ensure it is meeting best practice in this area and gains certification.

A combined audience across FTPT & MHL Expo of 4,000+ industry professionals and 200+ exhibitors showcasing the very latest innovations and technologies, 3 days of industry lead seminars, special features, show specials, and visitor prizes including the chance to win a brand new Ford, exclusive VIP networking events. the MHL Expo is an event not to be missed.

Already Moana’s farmed blue abalone is 100 per cent sustainable in that it spawns abalone, preserving wild brood stock for its equally sustainable wild abalone operation.

The majority of production is also through a circulation system and it is self-sustaining in terms of how the abalone is cared for.

Other industry organisations supporting the event include: CILT, AIP, Plastics NZ, NZFIN, Pride in Print Awards, What’s New In Food, Food Technology Magazine, NZ Manufacturer, FTD Magazine, APPMA.

In addition, Moana’s blue abalone is traceable as a result of a breeding programme that can tell which trays they’ve been in from when they are spawned to growing them into spats and edible abalone. It’s not only a key part of a sustainable operation, it’s increasingly important in international markets.

The Materials Handling & Logistics Show and Foodtech Packtech runs from 11-13 October at the ASB Showgrounds, Auckland.

Industry professionals can register to attend for free at www.mhlexpo.co.nz

“Our business is built on natural resources and people, and sustainability is at the heart of what we do both out in the environment and in our own operations. Our values of whakatipuranga and kaitiakitanga – of being true to nature and to future generations – are the essence of our efforts in this area,” says Moana New Zealand Chief Executive Carl Carrington.

Moana New Zealand has been built through the collective efforts of many and is the country’s largest Iwi-owned fishing company. Iwi are the true guardians of the world’s most pristine and sustainably managed fisheries.

Moana New Zealand has a deep sense of responsibility to all people and respect for kaimoana, and is dedicated to contributing to the wellbeing of future generations. It connects the world to the true taste and rare magic of New Zealand’s best kaimoana.

12

NZ Manufacturer August 2016

/

www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.

–Anne Bradstreet, poet and writer

DEVELOPMENTS

Got a Trade? Got it Made! Week – Building Skills for the Future Got a Trade? Got it Made! Week is back for 2016. The national campaign to raise awareness of on-the-job training and careers in New Zealand’s trades and services is returning 22-26 August.

The week also celebrates the talents and achievements of Kiwis making headway in their vocation.

The multi-channel campaign has been co-organised by Competenz and seven of the country’s industry training organisations representing more than 140 trades and services, including the manufacturing sector. Got a Trade will be promoted on TV, radio and via digital channels throughout August and into the beginning of September.

Competenz’ CEO Fiona Kingsford says that there are misconceptions on what a trade can represent. And that on-the-job training encompasses industries as diverse as manufacturing, to butcher, to refrigeration and air conditioning.

“Genuine career opportunities currently exist in 140 trades and services in New Zealand, yet the current housing crisis has led the public to mostly focus on the opportunities in

the building and construction sectors,” said Kingsford.

“The manufacturing sector is most in need and calling out for 40,000 new people for it to keep up with growth and demand in the next four years.

That’s an astounding yet exciting number of people learning new skills and contributing to moving our economy forward.”

In an increasingly technical world, the practical skills that can be gained in workplace training teach apprentices to help turn ideas, innovation and great thinking into reality.

“In today’s job market practical intelligence and technical trades are in very high demand, and this translates in to excellent earning potential,” said Kingsford.

Plastics graduate and 2016 Plastics Apprentice of the Year Ben Ellis has been working in the industry since finishing school.

“I decided to apply for an apprenticeship with a local plastics company as the use of plastics is widespread throughout the world. The industry is very mechanical intensive

which suits me,” said Ellis.

“I’ve completed my training at Alto Packaging focusing on injection moulding and thermoforming. I was able to spend time training in the tool room learning how to use mills and lathes and service moulding tools.

I then was able to spend time in the maintenance workshop learning about welding, hydraulics, pneumatics and fitting work.”

Ben Ellis.

downtime and waste – as well as boosting employee confidence, job satisfaction and loyalty. All this means a more competitive business. It also means the industry as a whole benefits from a more skilled pool of talent,” says Kingsford.

Kingsford says young people like Ben will ultimately reap the rewards of a country demanding a skilled workforce.

“With only 28 percent of school leavers going to university, Got a Trade Week is about showcasing the opportunities that exist out there for the other 72 percent.”

“Trades and workplace training offers a genuine career pathway and there are rich opportunities for the trades in New Zealand now, with the well-documented skills shortage and the demand for skilled labour into the future.”

Got a Trade Week will be launched at Parliament on Monday 22 August.

The week also features the Future Business Leader’s Forum and The Edge Got a Trade Future Business Leader’s Awards on Thursday 25 August where New Zealand’s ‘bright young things’ in trades and services will gather to learn about furthering their careers.

Employers benefit from training their people to nationally recognised qualifications.

“Businesses who employ apprentices are building the skills that help their operations run productively and safely, while lifting quality and reducing

Engineering needs a more diverse pool of recruits The recent Diversity in Action summit shone a spotlight on engineering diversity, with keynote speakers including Australian of the Year Lieutenant General (Retd) David Morrison.

About 13 per cent are Asian.

Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand President Elena Trout says the summit, was designed to help industry leaders take action on diversity.

According to global research by McKinsey, gender-diverse companies are 15 per cent more likely to perform better than average, while ethnically diverse companies are 35 per cent more likely.

IPENZ research suggests there are a number of barriers to increasing diversity, including non-inclusive workplace cultures, a lack of challenging part-time or flexible work and gender pay gaps.

“We need to make sure we’re tapping the whole pool of people who could

“IPENZ is proud to support and encourage a more diverse and inclusive

In New Zealand, only 13 per cent of engineers are women. Only 6 per cent are Maori, and only 2 per cent Pasifika.

“Diversity isn’t just about gender and it’s not just a female issue. Diversity is everybody’s issue. Having a diverse and inclusive workforce is good for business,” Ms Trout says.

be engineers, not just those who look like the engineers of the past,” Ms Trout says.

engineering profession.

“We’re working with groups and firms throughout the industry to share best practise and provide useful tools for those who need help.”

“New Zealand needs more engineers and we can’t afford to select from a limited talent pool.”

www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz

Ms Trout announcde at the Summit that all assessors that IPENZ employs in-house will receive unconscious bias training.

“The purpose of unconscious bias training is to develop awareness of biases that you don’t even know you have. It’s about creating a level playing field for everyone.”

/

NZ Manufacturer August 2016

13

PROFILE

The man who will use his skill and constructive imagination to see how much he can give for a dollar, instead of how little he can give for a dollar, is bound to succeed.

–Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company

It’s your game. Light it up When Christchurch’s temporary sports stadium lit up in 2012, it was hailed a spectacular success. “Truly heartening!” said Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee.“Spectacular!” said Christchurch Stadium Trust’s Jim Anderton. David Farrier catches up with the young engineer who electrified the stadium.

But perhaps even happier during those first few games was Electrical Engineer Levi Martin, watching on from the sidelines. Recently graduating with a Bachelor of Engineering Technology, he’d been directly involved in getting the stadium up and running.

“It was fun, because you never realise how much design goes into making something like that work,” says 25-year-old Martin. “At one stage they had about 1,000 people working on it, crawling over each other!” Martin was one of those writhing bodies, and his mission was key: To light the whole thing up. Literally.

“We had to make sure the stadium was all completely uniformly lit. Not just for those in the stands: Sky was shooting down there, and they had to have the right lighting to broadcast live video.

We also designed the emergency lighting system to guide people to safety”. He pauses. “Fortunately that hasn’t had to be used yet, which is great!”

But it wasn’t all washing machines and racing cars. During his final year of study, he saw how the skills he was learning could bring about change that mattered on a global scale. A final year project saw him analysing the lighting systems in a giant industrial warehouse. Thanks to his findings, not only did he make the lighting efficient, but CO2 emissions were lowered at the same time.

For Martin, giving back to Christchurch was key. Proudly of Ngāi Tahu descent, he feels a deep connection to the place.

“This was my ancestor’s home, it’s my home, and it’s my future generations home,” he says. “I feel a great sense of worth of being able to give something back to my community”.

Becoming an Electrical Engineer was always his dream. As a child, he was drawn to electricity. “You couldn’t see it,” he laughs. “I loved that.”

“When I was a kid I was into slot sets, and remote control cars. And we had Lego and K’Nex, and I got motor add-ons which made it so much better.”

Before he knew it, he was doing night courses while still at school so he could become a sparky, before setting his sights on electrotechnology.

“Initially I wanted to be a linesman, as I saw these videos on YouTube of guys being carried around on helicopters to get to powerlines and I thought, ‘This looks like fun!’”

But as he began studying towards a Bachelor of Engineering Technology, he became increasingly fascinated by the electrical systems that made things tick. “Me and another student made an electric go-kart, out of an old Fisher & Paykel washing machine. You know those Smart Drives? Well, we took one of those out of a washing machine and rewired it.”

14

NZ Manufacturer August 2016

/

pumps and lights. I design control systems to allow people to live and work. I make sure the designs and installations of building services actually function correctly: Everything has a purpose.”

After finishing the three year degree, Levi flourished. He worked as a consultant for a large firm, before founding his own consultancy business.

He’s worked on everything from the Lyttelton Primary School earthquake rebuild to the Cashel Mall project.

If Martin does his job right, when he’s finished the temperature and airflow in this warehouse will be perfect the building itself like a perfectly calibrated organism, a living and breathing entity. “Everyone thinks a building just has a heat-pump that comes with a remote control. It’s a bit more complicated than that,” laughs Martin. “If you went to a building and there was no services... it would be like a cave.”

Like with this work on the temporary stadium, it was a chance to give back to his home - and the mall was one of the first major central buildings going up in town post-quake. “I used to enjoy visiting prior to the quakes, and it was exciting to shape and see how the new mall is going to be”. There was also another important motivating factor: “Bringing back Wendy’s!”

As a commissioning engineer, the projects he works on are wide and varied. “No Monday is ever the same,” he says. Recently he found himself working rural hospitals in Kaikoura and Rangiora, both of which held special significance for him. “I grew up in Rangiora for 13 years, and have whakapapa back to Kaikoura, and still have family up there,” he says.

As he talks, Martin is in the middle of a vast, brand new industrial Warehouse.

He’s fiddling with some wires. They snake around in an impossible mess, but he knows exactly what each one does.

Around him, men on huge scissor lifts are installing massive ducting systems.

Most people see problems as burdens - something to be avoided at all cost.

But with the mind and philosophy of an engineer, Martin embraces them.

“Engineering encompasses creativity.

You are given the problem, but not the solution. And the solution you find is for the benefit of mankind.”

“To put it simply, I work with heat

All his work reflects this in some way,

www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz

whether it’s uniting the people of Christchurch to watch rugby again, or making a lighting system more environmentally friendly. Martin sees each job as a puzzle to solve.

“You can’t come up with solutions if you don’t think outside the square.

You might hear some oddball comments, but you have to be careful in engineering because some aspects of those oddball comments have the solutions in them. You have to be open-minded.”

The fact engineers actually make the world we live in doesn’t escape Martin, either. “Without engineers, we’d be without a lot of technology.”

He pauses. “But it goes further than that: Sociologically, we went through an age in the UK where they machined everything - the Industrial Age - and that created a whole different mindset on how people worked. The way we currently operate and talk, that was led by engineers!”

As to his future, it seems fairly bright for Martin and his inquisitive mind.

“As an engineer, you always want to learn more and how things work. So once I’ve enjoyed myself enough in the current niche I am in, I’ll move to another sector and apply my thinking to some of those problems.”

He pauses. You can see a million problems flicking through his head.

“Maybe working on a Tesla car. I’ll take it as it comes.”

HEADING

If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.

- Albert Einstein

title text

9 – 10 November 2016 Claudelands Event Centre

Hamilton Sponsor and Exhibitor Enquiries Welcome Expo Open Day 8 November More information:

www.nmec.co.nz

Lifting the Game of Maintenance Engineering Speaker Sponsor

www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz

/

NZ Manufacturer August 2016

15

DEVELOPMENTS

Best Way to sell something: don’t sell anything. Earn the awareness, respect, and trust of those who might buy.

–Rand Fishkin, cofounder and former CEO of Moz

continued from page 1

Workers need to be as safe as possible Another case has involved a processing plant that used a belt slicer machine with a conveyor system. On three separate occasions staff were clearing blockages in the equipment, and the conveyor belt and rollers pulled their hands into the blades, causing serious injury. This resulted in fines of $169,406 for a total of 6 offenses, as well as $57,000 in reparation to each of the victims.

may improve outcomes by improving buy in and understanding of H&S issues, from the CEO across to the factory floor.

One concern from many manufacturers has been what legal action Worksafe may take when incidents do occur.

Worksafe highlighted the need to have proper guarding to these machines, a timed interlocked device to cut the power to the belt slicer when the guard was opened, and more comprehensive training and procedures for dealing with jams in the machine.

One concern from many manufacturers has been what legal action Worksafe may take when incidents do occur, and what ramifications and costs follow.

Many of the recent case occurred well before the new legislation was introduced, but can still give an idea of things to think about.

The policy for machine guarding in regards to manufacturing has been something the NZMEA has worked with Worksafe to get right in the past.

These cases highlight how things can go wrong, and what Worksafe is currently doing in response. Incidents can still happen, unfortunately, even with the best of practises, and while the above cases appear to be fairly clear, determining negligence or fault in future cases may not always be as black and white.

One case that recently ended, having started before the legislation came into force, was with the Lyttleton Port.

In a very sad situation, a father of three was killed in 2014, when a scissor crane fell. It was found the worker was not trained to use the lift, and the company was ordered to pay $138,000 in fines and reparations.

In a recent address to a NZMEA Leadership Network meeting Gordon McDonald, the CE0 of Worksafe, emphasised the attention his organisation is now paying to preventing damages to health resulting from long-time exposure to noise, dust and vapours.

Two weeks after the incident occurred, another case started with the same company – issues about a Snorkel Boom were raised with the company, and two weeks later a mechanical fault with the equipment was found, however, it was not removed from use.

This is a notoriously difficult area in terms of connecting cause and effect, but one that ultimately can cause more damage over time than accidents do. In this area, the emphasis should be as much on reducing emissions at the source as on personal protective measures, Mr McDonald said.

Luckily, this did not result in the same disastrous injuries. Worksafe found there were failings within management and they did not take all practical steps to ensure the safety of their employees, and a $75,000 fine was imposed for the breach.

-Dieter Adam, Chief Executive, New Zealand Manufacturers and Exporters Association (NZMEA)

One take-home message from this case is the vital importance of regular maintenance on machinery, and taking immediate action when any problem is identified, taking the equipment out of use, fixing it and ensuring staff are aware and do not continue to use any risky equipment - there are consequences for not doing this, even if an injury or accident does not occur.

16

NZ Manufacturer August 2016

Volvo and Uber to develop autonomous driving cars Volvo and Uber, have formed a strategic alliance to develop next generation autonomous driving cars.

The two companies have entered a $411M joint venture to develop new vehicles that will be able to incorporate the latest developments in AD technologies, including fully autonomous driverless cars.

Both Uber and Volvo will use the same base vehicle for the next stage of their own autonomous car strategies. This will involve Uber adding its own self-developed autonomous driving systems to the vehicle.

Coby Duggan NZ national manager said the strategic alliance will see a blending of revolutionary technologies.

“Volvo has a history of forming synergistic partnerships which integrate new types of technology into vehicles. This new venture will take the development of fully autonomous vehicles a stage further, and into a new segment of the transport industry.”

The Volvo-Uber project marks a significant step in the automotive business with a car manufacturer joining forces with a new Silicon Valley-based entrant to the sector, underlining the way in which the global automotive industry is evolving in response to the advent of new technologies.

The alliance marks the beginning of what both companies view as a longer term industrial partnership.

/

www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz

Travis Kalanick, Uber’s chief executive, said: “over one million people die in car accidents every year. These are tragedies that self-driving technology can help solve, but we can’t do this alone.

That’s why our partnership with a great manufacturer like Volvo is so important.

“Volvo is a leader in vehicle development and best-in-class when it comes to safety. By combining the capabilities of Uber and Volvo we will get to the future faster, together.”

The new base vehicle will be developed on Volvo’s fully modular Scalable Product Architecture (SPA).

SPA is one of the most advanced car architectures in the world and is currently used on Volvo Cars’ award winning XC90 SUV, as well as the S90 premium sedan and V90 premium estate.

SPA has been developed as part of Volvo’s 15bn global industrial transformation programme, which started in 2010, and has been prepared from the outset for the latest autonomous drive technologies as well as next generation electrification and connectivity developments.

The development work will be conducted by Volvo and Uber engineers in close collaboration.

This project will further add to the scalability of the SPA platform to include all needed safety, redundancy and new features required to have autonomous vehicles on the road.

DEVELOPMENTS

To speak and to speak well are two things.

A fool may talk, but a wise man speaks.

–Ben Jonson

EMA mobilises membership to top Contractor Bill EMA has mobilised its 4500 strong membership to stop the Minimum Wage (Contractor Remuneration) Amendment Bill currently before Parliament.

It has urged its members to write to MPs in order to have the bill thrown out.

“As a member organisation we have done our utmost to bring the flaws of this bill to the attention of our membership and urge them to raise their concerns with MPs,” says Kim Campbell, CEO, EMA. The EMA has sent members the email addresses of all MPs along with key facts on why the bill in its current form should be rejected. This is part of a national campaign by business organisations from North Cape to Bluff, including Business Central, Canterbury Employers Chamber of

Commerce and Otago Southland Employers Association, co-ordinated by their business lobbyists, Business New Zealand.

“The impact of the Bill in its current form will be have a significant negative impact for our members while failing to achieve its original objectives.

“While the Bill appears to have been generated to address a certain issue, in practice its heavy-handed intervention will create more problems than it seeks to resolve.

“We do not condone poor management of contractors, and firmly believe the current legislation in place is adequate to address this.

to discuss this with government, opposition parties, unions and other concerned stakeholders, if the evidence can be produced that such a problem exists and that current legislation is failing,” says Mr Campbell.

The Contractor Bill is a private member’s bill promoted by Labour Party MP David Parker. It is expected to have its third reading next week and maybe passed into law following that.

Kim Campbell, CEO, EMA.

“We do not condone poor management of contractors, and firmly believe the current legislation in place is adequate

“We have yet to see any objective evidence or facts of the scale and scope of the issue the Bill seeks to address.

to address this.”

However, we are certainly willing

Electric Torque Wrenches YOUR SIMPLE SOLUTION

FOR SMART BOLTING

• Durable & robust design • Display & controls on tool • Simple operation • Data recording Visit www.enerpac.com/en-au/etw AUS 1800 225 084 sales@enerpac.com.au www.enerpac.com.au

Opinion Manufacturing Profiles Letters to the Editor Politics of Manufacturing Trade Fair World Diary of Events World Market Report Q/A Export News Machine Tools Business Opportunities Commentary As I See It Business News Appointments Around New Zealand Australian Report New to the Market Lean Manufacturing Equipment for Sale Recruitment Environmental Technology Manufacturing Processes

NZ 0800 363 772

neville@enerpac.co.nz www.enerpac.co.nz

PNG +675 7988 9115

patrick.molloy@enerpacpng.com www.enerpac.com.au

NZ MANUFACTURER • SEPTEMBER 2016 Issue • Features

www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz

*Smart Manufacturing

*Food Manufacturing

*FoodTech PackTech Preview

*Disruptive Technologies

*Manufacturing Technology *Regional Manufacturing Advertising Booking Deadline – 16 September 2016

Editorial material to be sent to :

Advertising Copy Deadline – 16 September 2016

Doug Green,

Editorial Copy Deadline – 16 September 2016 Advertising – For bookings and further information contact: Doug Green, P O Box 1109, Hastings 4156, Hawke’s Bay Email: publisher@xtra.co.nz

P O Box 1109, Hastings 4156, Hawke’s Bay

At NZ MANUFACTURER our aim is to keep our readers up to date with the latest industry news and manufacturing advances in a tasty paper morsel, ensuring they do not get left behind in the highly competitive and rapidly evolving manufacturing world.

Email: publisher@xtra.co.nz Tel: 06 870 9029 Fax: 06 878 8150

www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz

/

NZ Manufacturer August 2016

17

DEVELOPMENTS

It is not your customer’s job to remember you. It is your obligation and responsibility to make sure they don’t have the chance to forget you.

–Patricia Fripp, executive speech coach, President at FrippVT

Chevy Volt 2016

GM Sees Self-driving Cars as Gradual Rollout General Motors believes in autonomous vehicles as a safer mode of transport, and expects the technology to come more quickly than most people think.

“There isn’t going to be a particular moment or day when we see it -- it will unfold in a gradual way, but it will be a lot faster than people are expecting,” said GM president Dan Ammann at the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference in Colorado.

Amman declined to comment on the fatal accident involving a Tesla electric car in semi-autonomous driving mode but said GM believes the technology will lead to safer roads.

“It’s our fundamental belief that autonomous technology will lead to lower fatalities,” Ammann said.

Amman, appearing on stage with Lyft co-founder John Zimmer, said the auto giant’s strategy on autonomous cars is linked with the ride-sharing

startup in which GM has invested some $500 million.

“We think ridesharing is interesting and we think autonomous vehicles are interesting and we think we can put the two together” with Lyft, he said.

Zimmer said autonomous driving technology is a key element in Lyft’s long-term vision of changing the model of car ownership.

He said that in the United States alone, spending on car ownership

amounts to some $2 trillion annually “so we believe in cities that the majority of that spend will transform to transportation as a service.”

On July 11, GM and Lyft announced an expansion of their deal allowing Lyft drivers to Los Angeles, San Francisco and Denver.

The companies said Lyft drivers would also be able to use the soonto-be-launched Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicle.

continued from page 1

Think Pokemon Go has nothing to do with the metals industry? Think again! attracting younger people to the industry, connecting with apprentices or launching a special on services or products?

electronic devices – so it’s not too unrealistic to think that in the future it could be an expectation in day-to-day business versus a novelty.

It’s certainly a marketing gateway that we shouldn’t underestimate, particularly if a youthful demographic is who we’re chasing. But, perhaps the true value the metals industry can glean from this phenomenon is not connecting with Pokemon chasing players, but more so its success in making AR technology mainstream to the public.

In fact, we’re already seeing the proliferation of this with Westpac Bank recently launching the first AR reality banking app in New Zealand allowing users to instantly see their recent transactions and spending trends in 3D when they hold their MasterCard or Visa under their phones’ camera.

Augmented reality in engineering The view of a physical real world setting combined with computer generated graphics is becoming more common place for users of portable

18

NZ Manufacturer August 2016

/

www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz

For our industry we’ve relied on drawings (and lots of them) to precisely plan and guide fabrication, manufacturing, design and build of simple and complex structures - imagine the day when we could integrate construction drawings into a virtual image so we’re able to determine how a detail corresponds to the physical world on a building site.

The potential for AR in engineering is great, yet achieving it is to be some time off as a need for accuracy in data hinders our ability to harness it – yet the successful launch of Pokemon Go indicates it’s not a matter of IF it will be integrated into engineering processes, but WHEN.

So what next?

We’d like to remind you of the five steps to response success that our Executive Board member Troy Coyle raised earlier in the year – the key message is don’t ignore potential disruptions, but take the time to understand how they affect you… even the ones we think have no relevance! You’ll also be happy to know we’ve introduced research strategies to help our industry consider and respond to emerging and potentially disruptive technologies.

If you’d like to know more about this or have any thoughts you’d like to share, please contact Heavy Engineering Research Association (HERA) Director Dr Wolfgang Scholz on +64 9 262 4848 or via email on exec@hera.org.nz

DEVELOPMENTS

Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.

- Maria Robinson

UNIST engineers octopus-inspired smart adhesive pads With increased study of bio-adhesives, a significant effort has been made in search for novel adhesives that will combine reversibility, repeated usage, stronger bonds and faster bonding time, non-toxic, and more importantly be effective in wet and other extreme conditions.

A team of Korean scientists-made up of scientists from Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) and Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) has recently found a way to make building flexible pressure sensors easier--by mimicking the suction cups on octopus’s tentacles.

In their paper published in the current edition of Advanced Materials, the research team describes how they studied the structure and adhesive mechanism of octopus suckers and then used what they learned to develop a new type of suction based adhesive material.

According to the research team, “Although flexible pressure sensors might give future prosthetics and robots a better sense of touch, building them requires a lot of laborious transferring of nano- and microribbons of inorganic semiconductor materials onto polymer sheets.”

In search of an easier way to process

this transfer printing, Prof. Hyunhyub Ko (School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, UNIST) and his colleagues turned to the octopus suction cups for inspiration.

An octopus uses its tentacles to move to a new location and uses suction cups underneath each tentacle to grab onto something. Each suction cup contains a cavity whose pressure is controlled by surrounding muscles. These can be made thinner or thicker on demand, increasing or decreasing air pressure inside the cup, allowing for sucking and releasing as desired.

By mimicking muscle actuation to control cavity-pressure-induced adhesion of octopus suckers, Prof. Ko and his team engineered octopus-inspired smart adhesive pads. They used the rubbery material polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) to create an array of microscale suckers, which included pores that are coated with a thermally responsive polymer to create sucker-like walls.

The team discovered that the best way to replicate organic nature of muscle contractions would be through applied heat. Indeed, at room temperature, the walls of each pit sit in an ‘open’ state, but when the mat is heated to 32°C, the walls contract, creating suction,

Schematic representation of microcavity arrays within a octopus-inspired smart adhesive pad.

therby allowing the entire mate to adhere to a material (mimicking the suction function of an octopus).

on a flexible substrate and also used it to move some nanomaterials to a different type of flexible material.

The adhesive strength also spiked from .32 kilopascals to 94 kilopascals at high temperature.

Prof. Ko and his team expect that their smart adhesive pads can be used as the substrate for wearable health sensors, such as Band-Aids or sensors that stick to the skin at normal body temperatures but fall off when rinsed under cold water.

The team reports that the mat worked as envisioned--they made some indium gallium arsenide transistors that sat

Light modified material modifies light A material whose optical properties can be modified on a small scale by laser light promises a wide range of applications.

Properties of small areas of a versatile optical film can be tweaked by applying ultrashort pulses of laser light, researchers at Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, show.

This tunability makes the material suitable for various light-based applications, from lenses to holograms.

When the shutter button on a camera is depressed, it focuses by electrically adjusting the positions of the constituent parts of the lens. Similarly, the parameters of optical components in many devices and scientific instruments are adjusted by moving their parts, or by stretching or heating

them. Being able to use light to adjust optical components would offer many advantages, including fast response and easy integration into small and robust systems.

states between completely crystalline and completely disordered. By scanning the focused laser beam across the glass film, they could modify regions as small as about 0.6 micrometers (see image).

Now, such an optically adjustable system has been developed by Qian Wang, along with collaborators at the University of Southampton, UK, and the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

“This technique allows us to build optical devices with smoothly varying properties across the surface, to erase them and then to rewrite a different structure, all on the same piece of optical canvas,” notes team member, Edward Rogers, of the University of Southampton.

The team studied a material widely used in CD and DVD disks — chalcogenide glass. In rewritable CD and DVD data-storage devices, microsecond or nanosecond (10−9 second) laser pulses are used to switch the medium between two states — crystalline and disordered. In contrast, Wang and her team used a tightly controlled series of much shorter femtosecond (10−15 second) optical pulses to set the glass into incremental

levels of gray shading.

Another advantage of the device is its compact size. “Compared to conventional bulk optical components, our optical devices are flat and much smaller, only tens of micrometers. This makes them easy to integrate into optical systems,” explains Wang.

The method currently involves scanning a laser beam across the film, but in future it may be possible to use an optical-pattern generator, which would speed up writing of the film.

“It can even be used to write complex structures like lenses, diffraction gratings, holograms and advanced resonant structures known as metamaterials, directly into a phase-change chalcogenide glass film.”

The researchers used their system to make various optical components, including a hologram that had eight

www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz

/

NZ Manufacturer August 2016

19

ADVISORS

Chris Whittington

Senior Lecturer at AUT, Chris Whittington is a versatile Engineer, Educator and Researcher. Chris has had many years experience in senior engineering and product management.

Chris has a strong background in computational modelling, 3-D scanning and printing, and a strong interest in engineering education.

Mike Shatford is an expert in the field of technology development and commercialisation. His company Design Energy Limited has completed over 100 significant projects in this vein by consulting for and partnering with some of New Zealand’s leading producers.

Among Mike and his team’s strengths are industrial robotics and automated production where the company puts much of its focus.

Sandra Lukey

Sandra Lukey is the founder of Shine Group, a consultancy that helps science and technology companies accelerate growth. She is a keen observer of the tech sector and how new developments create opportunity for future business.

She has over 20 years’ experience working with companies to boost profile and build influential connections.

Katalin Csikasz

Katalin is a highly knowledgeable engineer with strong capabilities in; industrial design, quality assurance, product compliance, technical expert support, troubleshooting and process improvement.

20

NZ Manufacturer August 2016

/

www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz

Phillip Wilson

Phillip Wilson of Nautech Electronics has over 25 years of experienced in the development, commercialisation and implementation of advanced manufacturing technology, robotics, automation and materials. Serving companies operating within the aerospace, automotive, offshore, defence, medical and scientific industries on a global basis.

More recently specialising in change management and business re-alignment for a range of commercial entities from medium sized SME’s to divisions of large corporates.

It’s easier to explain price once than to apologise for quality forever.

–Zig Ziglar

Carne Technologies develops Stun Monitor and Logger (CTSML) Consultancy and technology development company Carne Technologies, based in New Zealand, has developed a state-of-the-art Stun Monitor and Logger (CTSML). This device monitors and logs electrical stuns in real time, ensuring stun effectiveness and compliance with industry standards.

Carne Technologies General Manager Dr Nicola Simmons says their CTSML is more than a simple logging device.

leading international trade fair for processing, packaging and sales in the meat industry, held in May 2016 and generated plenty of interest.

Nicola says Carne Technologies is currently working to bring on board agents based in France and the UK, in addition to their Australian-based agent, to facilitate sales thanks to the strong interest in the industry.

The benefits of the technology are wide reaching

“This does more than just log information: this device pinpoints the causes of poor stunning and gives operators immediate feedback to improve performance, as well as identify problems with procedures or with equipment,” Nicola says.

The CTSML records detailed and extensive stun data for compliance and audit requirements, measures operator performance and assists with stun operator training, and provides simple summary information to identify faulty procedures or equipment.

This means the CTSML becomes an important training tool, and, for this reason, goes much further than most other products of its type currently available in international markets.

Crucially, the CTSML also monitors stun effectiveness to meet animal welfare standards. With recent developments in EU regulations regarding the use of electrical stunning equipment in meat processing, it is important operators get feedback across all aspects of the

The company launched the latest version of the product at IFFA, the

has found it to be an invaluable tool in their day to day operations.

stunning process.

“Just logging stun information, without the tools to act on any problems immediately, isn’t ideal.

With our system, all stun information can be accessed and displayed in real time, via any device such as tablets or phones. This means managers and supervisors can view stun operations from anywhere” Nicola says.

Managing Director Fred Hellaby says the CTSML has improved productivity and operator performance while giving the company a solid database on stun performance.

“The CTSML has proven to be a valuable tool for us in the training of our operators and therefore improving our overall output and performance. The technology provides meat processing companies with the peace of mind they are performing to international welfare and safety standards.”

“The logger automatically emails summary reports and alarms if problems are detected, and we can provide remote support to help interpret the data and troubleshoot problems.”

The CTSML is compatible with most electrical stun systems and the 12 inch touch screen displays the stun amperage and voltage in real time while immediately alerting operators of any aspect of the stun that fails to meet requirements.

New Zealand meat processing company Auckland Meat Processors has been using the CTSML for many months and

FeatureScript lets 3D CAD users design faster Recognising that the design challenges for each industry and every company are different, Onshape is introducing FeatureScript, a new open programming language that lets CAD users create their own built-in parametric features or modify existing ones.

Ever wish you could change the way your CAD system’s features work?

FeatureScript lets you do just that. It is the same language used to develop all of Onshape’s current features (Extrude, Fillet, Shell, Loft, etc.) and has already been used millions of times by Onshape users without even realising it.

By making FeatureScript public – available to all Free, Professional and Enterprise Customers – full-cloud Onshape is now offering the first truly customizable parametric CAD feature set.

“This is the first time that a professional CAD system has made the implementation of its parametric features open and extensible,” says Ilya Baran, Onshape’s Director of FeatureScript. “In the past, the only way to change your feature toolbar would be to submit an enhancement request to your CAD vendor and wait forever. And most of those requests are never fulfilled. FeatureScript swings the pendulum back and puts you in control.”

In traditional desktop-installed CAD systems, it is possible to write add-on or macro features, but they are never as good as the built-in ones. FeatureScript offers the first opportunity to create features that are first-class citizens – as much a part of the system as the ones the development team wrote themselves.

Under the open source MIT License, Onshape is also sharing the FeatureScript source code for all of its own features, allowing customers to copy, modify or adapt them as they see fit. New Onshape features can now be created in Onshape’s new “Feature Studio,” a user-friendly development environment with a powerful editor, in-line help and documentation.

modeling has relied on a limited set of off-the-shelf features. With FeatureScript, we are ushering in a new era of custom parametrics,” says Onshape founder Jon Hirschtick. “Our early adopters have proven that with the ability to use custom features that they write or have others write for them, they’re able to significantly speed up their design process.”

pocket.

• Filling in some current gaps in CAD functionality, such as a customised extrude option, or a particular type of 3D spline curve through points or driven by an equation.

• Creating surfaces using data from uploaded CSV or other data files.

• Building specialised patterns, such as sinusoidal or other unusual pattern geometries with unique per-instance behaviour.

“Customers who develop new features in FeatureScript are free to do with them as they please,” he adds. “Some may wish to sell them or share them with the community. Others might choose to keep their FeatureScript features proprietary as a competitive advantage.”

• Building a specialised toolkit for a company (custom gears or enclosures or connectors that are used over and over again).

For

30

years,

feature-based

Possible uses for FeatureScript include: • Creating new high-level parametric features that perform complex or customised geometric modeling tasks. Features like these let users design products faster than they can with traditional off-the-shelf features.

• Customising existing features to suit user preferences for working fast and efficiently, such as a surface split feature that splits and preserves exactly the pieces that a particular user prefers.

• Combining existing features into one, such as a drafted filleted

Created with Onshape’s FeatureScript, “Hex Infill” is a customised CAD feature designed to save material and time when 3D printing parts. FeatureScript is the first open programming language for adding new parametric CAD features. Although “Hex Infill” is a user-written feature, it behaves exactly like Onshape’s own built-in features.

www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz

/

NZ Manufacturer August 2016

21

The first step toward creating an improved future is developing the ability to envision it.

- Anonymous

Holoportation: Is this how you’ll get to your next meeting?

-Yusuf Azizullah, Founder and CEO, Global Board Advisors Corp (GBAC) as Holoportation and the HoloLens, offer broad potential. Using 3D Cameras, Microsoft has developed an innovative technology that can “virtually Holoport” an individual in real time, thus allowing face-to-face interaction for individuals thousands of miles apart.

Recently, a large Australian company asked me to invite a top multinational Brazilian CEO into the boardroom.

However, when I reached out to him, he declined amicably due to his reluctance to travel from South America to Australia to attend multiple board meetings and ad-hoc sessions in a given year.

Since the global financial crisis, boardroom industry statistics (PwC & Mckinsey) reveal that, across the US, UK and EMEA, chairmen are conducting more board meetings to intensively question management.

Some developed markets have seen the number of hours’ board members are spending in sessions significantly increased and more than doubled.

Glimpse of the future: Virtual Reality is set to change working culture.

After learning about this, the Brazilian CEO decided to accept the Australian company’s invitation and will be using the HoloLens, upon commercial release.

Global companies have been experimenting with Virtual Reality board meetings in the form of shareholder meetings. Intel’s 2016 annual meeting was entirely virtual.

In 2015, 90 companies used virtual shareholder meetings and in addition to Intel, GoPro, SeaWorld Entertainment, PayPal and Yelp have all held virtual shareholder meetings over the last year.

Source: Microsoft Holoportation

This kind of technology gives a competitive advantage and is one of the ways in which the Fourth Industrial Revolution is playing out in the boardrooms of the future.

Chairmen often ask which disruptive technologies, such as artificial intelligence, robotics, 3D printing or platforms, will enable them to propel themselves into the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Holoportation has the potential to change boardroom culture in the same way that iPads and other tablets already have. Disruptive technologies such as Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality will be rippling through boardrooms.

The answer varies by industry; however, Microsoft’s Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) solutions, such

The responsible Hologram Shareholders expect board members to be physically present and attend all board meetings. Chairmen, committee leads, shareholders, regulators, and litigation lawyers all review board meeting minutes to ascertain if board members were physically present while performing their fiduciary responsibilities - essentially, that they act on behalf of the shareholders in good faith.

This put limits on attracting international expertise into the boardroom. It also requires companies to state in their Board Committee Charters and regulatory filings how the board members will be attending sessions.

With traffic and pollution significant issues in many cities, increasingly global companies are allowing employees to telework: is it not time to allow board members to be virtually present for

boardroom sessions and special ad hoc urgent meetings?

The Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) markets were worth approximately $4.5 billion last year (2015), and the market is expected to grow by a staggering 2,500% by 2020, to $105.2 billion. This is a huge growth market and its applications will be boundless - from gaming, medical education to executive training.

If accurate, this rate of growth would have a curve similar to that of the early smartphone market between 2006 and 2010. Moreover, both these technologies could provide even greater utility to users in the long term and, to some extent, may even replace smartphone use.

One thing is certain, boardrooms are going to innovate and experiment with disruptive technologies to gain competitive advantage.

New Portacom-built satellite station is saving lives (MEOSAR) satellites orbiting the earth.

As a result, the station is detecting beacons more quickly and locating them more accurately within RCCNZ’s 30 million square kilometre search and rescue region.

Thanks to a new satellite station based 20 km east of Reporoa, trampers, hunters, boaties and others who activate an emergency distress beacon are being reached earlier.

Rodney Bracefield, RCCNZ and Safety Services Deputy Manager for Maritime New Zealand gives kudos to Portacom Building Solutions for helping to fast-track the process of constructing the building that houses all the processing equipment, which allows RCCNZ to tap into the new global satellite system.

Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand (RCCNZ) is using this station, a purpose-built, modular Portacom equipment room, and six satellite tracking antennas to connect with new Medium Earth Orbit Search and Rescue

“Portacom managed the entire process end-to-end; they custom designed, built and partially fitted-out the equipment room in under five weeks,” he said. “They were also responsible for delivering and setting the station

22

NZ Manufacturer August 2016

/

www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz

up onsite before McMurdo Marine, an American emergency company, configured the last of the satellite software.”

“The fact that we could tap into Portacom’s switchroom expertise and have the station pre-built at their manufacturing site has helped us tap into the new satellite system quicker and improve our search and rescue efforts.”

While the MEOSAR satellites are still being launched globally, there is no denying the station’s ability to provide earlier, life-saving intelligence; especially when beacons have been registered by their owners, says Rodney.

“We recently received an alert for a beacon in the Ruahine’s over an hour faster, this helped us gain valuable

time in rescuing a man and his seven year-old nephew who were trapped by swollen rivers.”

“In an incident involving two deer hunters trapped on a steep Hopkins Valley mountainside, one with a serious leg injury, the new station and its technology detected their beacon 56 minutes faster.”

“In fact, there was even a rescue that would not have even been possible if we were still reliant on the old system.

We picked up a distress alert from a tramper with a fractured ankle in the Kaikoura mountains that our old system failed to receive.”

Later this year the Australian arm of the MEOSAR project (Australian Maritime Safety Authority) will be fully operational and integrate with the New Zealand system, improving

When I was young I observed that nine out of every ten things I did were failures, so I did ten times more work. - George Bernard Shaw

Realising the Internet of Things At the EF International Language Centre in Oxford, system integrator Global Electrical Solutions Ltd. has installed a building management system to keep track of heating, ventilation, water, lighting etc.

By connecting Netbiter Remote Management gateways to Rockwell control panels in the building, users can see current temperatures, levels, and consumption online. They can even turn on lights or open windows remotely truly realizing the Internet of Things.A Netbiter gateway is connected to the controlling Rockwell PLCs. Users access the premises at www.netbiter.net.

Global Electrical Solutions (GES) is a system integrator specialising in assembling highly efficient control panels used in buildings, power and energy and manufacturing. At one of their recent installations they used the Netbiter Remote Management solution to remotely monitor and control the building premises.

The Netbiter Argos web interface works as a front end towards the user displaying current values from the building and also allows users to generate reports and get alarms whenever certain thresholds are

reached.

Real values, real pictures GES have used pictures from the actual premises in the school when creating Netbiter dashboards. In these dashboards, users can see exact values in real-time and control heating and ventilation remotely.

How it works A Netbiter EC310 gateway is connected to the Rockwell Micro800-series PLCs which control the different systems in the building. The Netbiter gateway sends data to the cloud-based Netbiter Argos service where it is stored and accessed. GES and the building owners can log in to www.netbiter.net to see current values and even start or stop equipment, open windows and turn lights on or off from their Netbiter Argos dashboard.

create graphical dashboards in Netbiter Argos, so we basically use it as the front end for our Building Management System.»

Fewer service visits means quick ROI

The remote management solution has been well received by Global Electrical Solution´s customers as it gives both better control and lowers costs for maintenance as costly service trips can be reduced to an absolute minimum.

Since the price of a remote management gateway usually equals the cost of a service visit, the return on investment is usually just a couple of months.

Furthermore, they can get alarms via email if certain values are reached (for example if CO2 levels are too high). It is also possible to generate reports on consumption and performance over time.

Mark Jenkyns explains: “When the customer reports a heating problem, there is a good chance it´s a sensor failure which would normally require an engineer visiting site with test equipment. With the Netbiter onsite we can now log in to any one of the buildings controllers and inspect the real time values to determine if the sensor is faulty or not without leaving the office. A new part can be ordered and installed within a fraction of the time.”

“It works really, really well,” says Mark Jenkyns, Managing Director at Global Electrical Solutions. “It is easy for us to

Mark Jenkyns experienced one of the benefits himself when installing the remote monitoring solution in one of

the rooms of the school: “When I got back to the office, I realised that I had forgotten to turn the hot water back on.

But since the room now had Netbiter installed, I could easily go in and turn it on with a click of the mouse. Many service trips and maintenance issues are usually simple fixes like this, so with Netbiter we can save a lot of time and money for both us and our customers.”

GES has now installed Netbiter at two schools and a hotel and can see many other applications for Netbiter connected to their control panels.

“It really gives our offering an edge as it provides customers with an easy-to-grasp overview of their systems and keeps costs for maintenance down” concludes Mark Jenkyns.

Design Energy Specialists in Industrial Automation Giving local manufacturers a globally competitive edge

Production from $2 per hour?

• Machine Tending • Welding • Product Life Testing

• Palletising/Packing • Machining • Labour Replacement

• Assembly • Labelling and Marking • Custom Processes

Let us show you how! Call Today

• High Performance Industrial Robots • World Leading Collaborative Robots • Production Engineering • Turn-key Solutions Distributors of:

www.designenergy.co.nz

0508 ROBOTS (0508 762 687)

info@designenergy.co.nz

www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz

/

NZ Manufacturer August 2016

23

FOOD MANUFACTURING

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.

— John Quincy Adams

Westland Milk Products Finding answers for sustainability questions

Going beyond the obvious Gareth Mentzer from 3R Group has spent hands on time at Westland’s factory looking at processes in the factory, identifying waste that can be diverted from landfill, and making that practice as easy as possible. Gareth sees the company as a catalyst for change.

Westland Milk Products sells to some of the world’s biggest companies – and they are customers who ask tricky questions about sustainability.

Having the right answers to those questions isn’t just a matter of triple bottom line reporting, or good PR - it is a question of survival.

Beyond maintaining their ISO14001 Environmental Management standard, Westland need to show tangible proof that they – and their 430 farmer-shareholders – are up to scratch, environmentally.

“Yes, we find outlets for materials that can be recycled, but we also take time to really understand the drivers for our customers.”

For 3R customers – like Westland – their environmental intiatives can’t just be ‘nice to haves’.

“Environmental benefit is critically important to some customers, but also our work must offer real economic benefit, help to meet compliance requirements or provide competitive advantage.

Helping them meet those demands is 3R Group, specialists in turning waste into resource.

According to Westland’s Environmental Manager Chris Pullen, 3R’s experience in waste diversion and finding innovative uses for the materials, combined with their own ISO14001 accreditation, made them ideal partners.

To this end, part of 3R’s work is in collaborating with customers, a network of recyclers, local government, and other organisations like quality assurance providers.

Meeting international demand

“It’s in those collaborative relationships where we can deliver true value to our customers,” says Gareth.

“3R was invaluable at identifying waste that could be recycled and helping us develop FarmEx, a programme that works on the basic philosophy that what happens behind the farm gate impacts on Westland’s ability to sell in a highly competitive marketplace.

Supporting behaviour change For Westland it wasn’t going to be as simple as tweaking a few operations in their factory– they had to convince their farmers to get on board too.

“The work with 3R made it far easier to maintain our ISO14001 standard and provide real environmental solutions that satisfy our customers.”

With 3R, Chris took the message on the road, hosting information events for their farmer shareholders. They needed to understand that the co-operative’s ISO 14001 accreditation was a critical part of their success – without it, they’d be at risk of losing some of their most valuable clients.

According to Chris, 3R’s work supports the cooperative’s “genuine enthusiasm for environmental sustainability.”

“At the end of the day, it’s about our ability to compete on the world stage.

But we’re not just ticking boxes.”

They looked at the increasing plastic

waste generated on farms and 3R now run events where farmers can drop off hazardous agrichemicals, farm plastics, and oil.

“3R offered our farmers options and initiatives for sustainability, helping the shareholders to do the right thing.”

Protecting brand reputation The 3R team is also always on the hunt for companies that make products from recycled materials – it’s that proactivity that makes 3R so valuable, says Chris.

“They’re willing to find a fit-for-purpose solution for our recycling. They show a true aptitude there.”

It’s something that had positive impacts on brand perception too, says Chris.

“It wasn’t difficult to see which solid waste came from us – it has our branding all over it. We were caned in the media for it, but not anymore.”

3R – not just a one-off To keep on top of the sustainability issue, Westland’s work with 3R is ongoing. They have regular checks, take advantage of any recycling initiatives and stay abreast of new technologies for processing waste materials. With this ongoing help, the co-operative is ready for any audits, and farmer shareholders are kept up to speed with recycling operations.

“3R have always got their ears to the ground, looking for ways we can do better with our recycling. They are a big part of Westland keeping our accreditation.”

“I would recommend 3R – they’re a truly passionate group of people.”

How 3R has helped Westland Milk Products: • Putting standard procedures in place

operating

• Creating documentation recycling initiatives

around

• Identifying waste that could be recycled • Finding companies that can make use of waste • Reducing waste volumes going to landfill • Bringing shareholders onside • Helping maintain ISO accreditation • Boosting local and international reputation • Ongoing recycling initiatives Chris Pullen.

24

NZ Manufacturer August 2016

/

www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz

Lynette Suvalko of Moana New Zealand – blue abalone at work helping restore the dunes at Bream Bay.

Moana New Zealand to ensure biodiversity Working on the very edge of Northland’s east coast with sand and sea only metres away is both a necessity and an absolute treat for staff at New Zealand’s only commercial pāua farm, Moana New Zealand – blue abalone.

However, it also means extra care needs to be taken too.

Scientist Lynette Suvalko says that in all its operations Moana works to minimise its environmental footprint, and taking on the care and restoration of the dunes in front of the Moana site in Bream Bay is a key part of that.

“It’s literally our backyard, the sand dunes are right outside our offices and lunchroom on the NIWA Bream Bay Aquaculture Park. They’re so important because not only are they part of the natural character of the coastal environment, but they play a huge role in maintaining coastal water quality, and provide the land with protection,” she says.

Lynette took the initiative and contacted Northland Regional Council (NRC) to find out if Moana could take ownership of the care of the foreshore. The land is owned by the Crown and managed by the Department of Conservation, and the NRC Environmental Assets Division has come up with a plan for restoration and to improve biodiversity. Local iwi, Patukarakeke, is also very supportive of the initiatives.

The plan largely consists of cultivating and planting native species and weeding out exotic species to create an environment that is more hospitable for species such as the endangered Fairy Tern, which are moving further afield from the traditional nesting site at Ruakaka.

Continued on Page 12

FOOD MANUFACTURING

Timing, perseverance, and ten years of trying will eventually make you look like an overnight success.

— Biz Stone, Twitter co-founder

Food safety drives demand for high performance plastics Higher safety demands faced by food, beverage and agribusiness processors and packagers are driving demand for advanced engineering plastics to withstand the demands of the latest cleaning and hygiene systems.

Clean in Place (CIP) systems, enzyme systems and aseptic packaging are important areas where such plastics can offer high performance in terms of resistance to temperatures, radiation, chemicals and water.

Efficient food packaging equipment no longer has to be disassembled for cleaning, being fitted instead with a built-in “flush” (or CIP Clean in Place) system, says Mr Pat Flood, NSW Manager of the national and international engineered plastics specialist Cut To Size Plastics.

retains its high mechanical and impact strength, stiffness and dimensional stability at elevated temperatures. It is one of the few plastics compatible with ultra-high vacuum applications,.

In addition, PEEK thermoplastics offer an excellent wear resistance over a wide range of working conditions. As a result, for example, distribution valves made of such materials are increasingly replacing stainless steel parts, which cause valve housings to wear easily and result in high maintenance costs.

Materials such as Wearlyte PET are also preferred over stainless steel in order to

components for applications across Australasia and the Asia-Pacific from its Head Office in Sydney, where facilities include CNC machining facilities coupled with GibbsCAM and Solidworks software.

minimise wear of the expensive mating part in vacuum shoes on high-speed, high-volume food packaging lines.

Cut to Size’s general-purpose Wearace grade, meanwhile, is especially suited to create durable wear components because of its excellent versatility, dimensional stability and good wear properties.

Easier to machine than stainless steel, Wearace is a superior material because of its limited expansion and low moisture absorption during process and cleaning applications.

Safeguarding safety and hygiene is a priority for the food, beverage and agribusiness industries

Cut To Size Plastics manufactures

Introducing

A point of difference in today’s busy FMCG market.

Acid-based cleaning solutions are automatically routed through CIP machines’ plumbing so the tear-down and set-up cycles that previously took many hours can be reduced to a matter of minutes.

Better hygiene and equipment utilisation outcomes are also produced by advanced agribusiness systems where enzymes are used for cleaning tanks and equipment such as ultrafiltration membranes or heat exchangers in the dairy industry, for example.

“Both CIP and enzyme systems make demands on the materials with which they come in contact. CIP systems are generally acid-based or, more commonly, chlorine-based. Depending upon the concentration, these cleaners can be moderately to extremely caustic.

“Plastics such as our Wearlyte PET (polyethylene terephthalate) are highly resistant to acid and chlorine. At the same time, its non-porous surface resists staining, clearly outperforming widely used alternatives,” said Mr Flood.

Developed by AsureQuality, inSight™ provides shoppers with independently verified information about the products they are about to buy.

After a successful application process, producers can place the inSight™ logo and a QR code on their product packaging.

When shoppers scan the QR code at the point of sale they can access information about the product, including: • • • • •

Environmental sustainability Social and ethical concerns Nutritional information Safety and quality Origin

Wearlyte PET’s dimensional stability, excellent wear resistance, high strength and its ability to be used continuously at higher temperatures also make it an ideal candidate for replacing stainless steel components.

For example, coupled with its stiffness and ease of fabrication, Wearlyte is commonly used in food presses. Here too, the material resists the highly-chlorinated sanitising solutions.

Why the Need for inSight™? inSight™ takes product assurances into the 21st century inSight™ is a new brand developed by New Zealand Government owned AsureQuality, global experts in food safety and quality.

Packaging For packaging food in plastic containers under sterile, or aseptic, conditions, a variety of engineering plastics can be selected to operate in the higher operating temperatures required to kill bacteria. Under these conditions, traditional materials like polyethylene may not provide adequate physical strength, says Mr Flood.

Cut to Size products such as PEEK (Polyether ether ketone) High Temperature, on the other hand,

We know how important food safety and quality is to you.

We wanted a way that you could get independently verified information about a product, that would give you confidence in it before paying for it. inSight™ makes sense because: • You want to know more about the food you are eating

A new innovation taking product assurances into the 21st Century

Freephone 0508 00 11 22 | www.aqinsight.com

www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz

/

NZ Manufacturer August 2016

25

WORKSHOP TOOLS

You don’t learn to walk by following rules.

You learn by doing and falling over.

— Sir Richard Branson, Virgin Group founder

Factory Talk Asset Centre iPlex NX industrial videoscope software simplifies life-cycle - the new ‘gold standard’ management tasks.

Streamlined life-cycle management improves how a project scope is developed. For instance, an engineer needs to know how many devices are running in production during a firmware update, especially those devices near end of life.

Manufacturers and industrial producers are gaining insight into their operations through connected technology. Now, they have a single tool for managing automation assets.

FactoryTalk AssetCentre v7.0 software from Rockwell Automation automates discovery and tracks the status of devices, network switches and software on workstation computers across an entire facility or production operation. The software streamlines life-cycle management and helps decrease unplanned downtime.

The asset-inventory agent will automatically discover all of the current firmware, IP address and additional data that will help define the project.

The automated discovery will also help when patching security vulnerabilities.

For instance, when a vendor issues a notice and fix to vulnerability in a device’s firmware, engineering would manually inventory each device to determine the risk and threat exposure.

A modern production environment contains hundreds to thousands of assets. In the evolving world of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), assets are becoming more intelligent, but it remains a challenge to identify and inventory every asset in a system.

With the asset-inventory agent, engineers quickly discover the affected devices and put a plan in place to mitigate the risk.

The FactoryTalk AssetCentre asset-inventory agent scans a network to discover hardware, firmware and software information for assets active in the facility. The devices are then tracked in an active asset inventory.

The latest version of FactoryTalk AssetCentre software also includes a mobile-friendly dashboard, providing anytime, anywhere access to information about the status of last search results with drill-down capabilities to view failures and successes.

The asset-inventory agent can be scheduled to scan at regular intervals or run on demand. New discoveries are compiled for user confirmation before they are added to the active inventory.

The dashboard displays an audit log of changes and asset performance, helping users remotely access the system and address potential issues from device of their choice.

Ongoing tracking of updates provides a history of how a system has changed and potential hasards, such as workstation computers running unauthorised software. Manual entry is still available for devices that are not identifiable during the scan or to fill in missing information or attributes for discovered devices.

For further convenience, FactoryTalk AssetCentre software enables unattended installation.

Remote software installation is available for difficult-to-reach locations, reducing labor and transportation costs.

The asset-inventory agent increases efficiency for a number of operational

Catastrophic failure of machinery or structures is usually expensive to repair and can pose a threat to the health and safety of workers and the public.

Remote Visual Inspection (RVI) of materials, components and structures can give inspectors and technicians warnings of many potential failures before they cause problems.

A videoscope is an inspection instrument that consists of a small camera mounted on a length of cable that permits inspection of internal surfaces and other features of an engine, machinery or structure without causing damage to delicate parts or the need to dismantle.

Olympus—a world-leading manufacturer of optical, electronic and precision engineering products— has been at the forefront of videoscope development for many decades and with the introduction of the iPlex NX industrial videoscope, the company enters a new era of precision with a unit that has the greatest measurement accuracy on the market allowing the detection of the smallest defects.

An iPlex NX can help locate flaws that were previously undetectable, as well as streamline inspections in even the most difficult-to-reach areas. The scope combines an industry-leading high-pixel CCD chip, an ultra-bright laser diode light system delivered through the tip of the probe, and Olympus’ unique PulsarPic™ processor to automatically adjust light output, to deliver the clearest images possible in changeable inspection conditions.

The iPlex NX has the highest resolution of any scope on the market. The new design and other enhancements mean that the NX can accurately measure areas up to four times larger than conventional scopes.

The iPlex NX also offers a unique multi Spot-Ranging function that enables real-time measurement of the distance from the scope tip to multiple points on the inspection surface.

This provides real-time surface shape information with no pause or break in the inspection.

FactoryTalk AssetCentre software automates discovery and tracks the status of devices, network switches and software on workstation computers across an entire facility or production operation.

26

NZ Manufacturer August 2016

/

www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz

The videoscope camera can be controlled remotely by an operator while it is inserted in the cavity to be inspected. Olympus’ pioneering TrueFeel electric articulation has been enhanced with reduced mechanical lag and greater sensitivity giving the NX ultra-responsive articulation and an increased range of motion in four directions.

The NX is also the first high-end scope with a touch screen interface. You have the choice between the touch screen or Olympus’s ergonomically designed manual controls to suit the environment and inspection application.

The touch screen is manoeuvrable for optimised ergonomics and viewing comfort allowing for more than a dozen commonly used functions to be changed with a single touch.

The NX videoscope can be configured for a variety of inspection tasks, with 6.0 mm probes ranging in length from 3.5 m to 7.5 m and 4.0 mm probes with lengths of 3.5 m and 5 m. The finer probe tip allows access to very confined spaces such as between heat exchanger tubes or turbine blades.

The compact and robust construction of the NX design has achieved International Protection Rating of IP55 and complies with stringent US military standards for dust and rain resistance, as well as drop testing.

The 8.4-inch display screen has an anti-reflective daylight-view monitor, allowing accurate inspections even in direct sunlight. The smaller size makes the iPlex NX ideal for locations with limited operator access including boilers, aeroplane fuselages and engines, and wind turbine gear boxes.

Post-inspection tasks such as archiving and reporting are simplified as operators can quickly recall and give titles to captured images from the NX display console. Olympus’ optional InHelp data management and reporting software automatically saves images in folders organised by inspection location.

\

All humans are entrepreneurs not because they should start companies but because the will to create is encoded in human DNA. — Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn co-founder

Motor range expands The IMfinity induction motor range developed by Leroy-Somer has now been expanded with the Liquid Cooled (LC) series.

Designed to withstand harsh environments and meet specific requirements, the LC motor range is a step forward to satisfy the most demanding customer expectations in terms of high reliability, energy savings and ease of integration into their facilities.

A design performance

that

enhances

Based on the success and reliability of the IMfinity platform, the LC motors achieve the highest electrical and mechanical performance, including some innovative characteristics: • The latest generation frame housing, with cast iron or steel flanges for DE and NDE bearings, allowing excellent heat dissipation • A sophisticated cooling system which maintains the thermal efficiency, enabling the motor to be used together with a variable speed drive, for heavy duty applications that require constant torque • Reduced noise level, decreased in average by -10 to -20 dB (A) compared to air-cooled motors due to the lack of fan, offering ultimate comfort • Improved modularity thanks to its fabricated steel design, providing higher flexibility for retrofit installation The liquid cooling system of LC motors, provided by water circulation over the frame housing, offers additional significant advantages, such as the power-weight ratio (increased power in the same motor frame size) and compactness (saving up to 25% of volume compared to an air-cooled motor for easier and less costly integration within a machine or a system. Moreover, LC technology makes it possible to eliminate external components, such as ventilation equipment.

A design that optimises energy efficiency Based on the new IMfinity induction motor range, the LC series has been designed to achieve the efficiency levels defined in IEC 60034-30-1. As standard, LC motors are IE3 Premium from 150 to 1500 kW.

extended speed range. In order to meet particular requirements, options can be provided upon request, including reinforced winding insulation and insulated bearings.

The motor can also be equipped with an encoder for applications that require precise positioning.

Variable speed can generate immediate operating profits, such as up to 50% energy savings (depending on the application and operating conditions) or increased productivity as a result of improving the process and reducing machine downtime. The return on investment is consequently extremely quick.

A design giving priority to safety and reliability Benefitting from optional IP56 or IP65 protection to safeguard against external hazards, the LC range is fitted with a water leakage detector to control the water circuit reliability.

Another option, space heaters, ensure safety during motor start-up, while winding and endshield thermal protection control and monitor the motor temperature.

A design facilitating maintenance Developed to reduce operating costs without compromising industry needs, LC motors are equipped with a patented breathable membrane. This completely waterproof (IP 66 minimum) feature considerably reduces condensates, whose evacuation is achieved by drain plugs.

The Liquid-Cooled technology ensures a clean surrounding environment, as there is no pollution associated with airflow. Moreover, there is no impact on ambient temperature, as the waste heat from the motor is carried away by the cooling circulation. For these reasons, the risk of installation ageing and malfunctioning due to air pollution and high temperatures is considerably lowered.

WORKSHOP TOOLS

Arc fault protection Schneider Electric has launched a new arc fault detection device (AFDD) which will cut power the moment a dangerous electrical arc occurs. This means that the new AFDD will do for fire prevention what RCDs have done for electric shock prevention in homes and premises for many years.

Developed following the recent release of IEC/EN 62606, a design standard for the operation of AFDDs, New Zealand is the third country in the world to gain access to the technology.

The range has five devices which cover from six to 25 amps. Integral to each device is a miniature circuit breaker which provides all the protection of a typical MCB. When the circuit breaker is activated by the AFDD, it delivers broader protection against additional risks.

The new AFDD offers distribution board based protection against all significant risks to people and property along with protection of the electrical installation itself and appliances and cords plugged into it.

This type of protection has been around for a long time in medium voltage installations, but now we finally have a device to take care of low voltage distribution.

The product works by detecting these dangerous arcs in milliseconds, and then activating the MCB before sufficient energy is released to cause a fire.

It does this through sophisticated electronics that monitor in real time a number of different electrical parameters in the circuit it protects.

It is designed to pick up any change to a waveform that confirms the presence of an electric arc, and will only trip if the arc is dangerous. Harmless electric arcs appear frequently during normal electrical operation – in the switches, relays, contactors and motors of the various loads plugged in to a circuit.

To remove any possibility of these normal arcs causing nuisance tripping we had to design algorithms that would distinguish harmful arcs from normal arcs as they occurred, and isolate the faulty circuit instantly.

Schneider Electric also carried out further testing on the AFDD in New Zealand to make sure there are no local supply conditions that would compromise its effective operation and cause nuisance tripping.

Easy installation Wiring an AFDD is as easy as installing an RCBO and its pricing is similar. All you have to do on existing installations is remove the MCB from each circuit you want to protect and install the two-pole AFDD to replace it.

The electrical regulator is backing the use of AFDDs and is likely to cite IEC/EN62606 in Schedule 4 of the Electricity Regulations in the next amendment to provide for its use in New Zealand.

An easy-to-select and easy-to-install solution, the new LC motors are particularly recommended for plastics & rubber, test stands, industrial refrigeration, marine and nuclear applications, and crushers for the food and animal feed industry.

Perfectly suited for use in variable speed, the LC motor has been designed to integrate specific features as standard, such as a thermal reserve for maintaining the rated torque over an

www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz

/

NZ Manufacturer August 2016

27

ANALYSIS

The biggest risk is not taking any risk. In a world that’s changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.

— Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder

Resource efficiency in the supplying industry -Bert Zorn Subjects such as sustainability and green technology have been discussed in the media for several years or serve as popular anchor for company reports.

Nonetheless, the reality in industry is still not consistently sustainable because producing enterprises use the major part of the gross production value for material, an average 45 percent.

The upshot of this is a major savings potential, both for sustainability and the operating costs of companies. In the light of rising costs for raw material and energy, one thing is sure, however: Those wishing to stay competitive need to use resources sparingly, streamline production processes and thereby increase efficiency.

The resource ‘human’ should also be taken into consideration comprehensively in this context because operator-friendly and safe production processes make a major contribution towards profitability of companies.

Reduced lubricant consumption

and

Fully automatic bending cells enable fully automatic manufacture of bent tube systems.

Useful means are, for example, energy recovery modules or regulated hydraulic pumps, which drive bending tables via a separate pressure cycle.

energy

For large-scale production of tubes, the dosage of lubricants harbors a significant savings potential with regard to material.

Lubricants counteract the high tribological loads on tool and work piece which occur during cold bending.

Just in time – Time as a scarce resource Today, the processes in the producing industry need to be conducted faster, more cost-effective and more individualised. Saving only a few seconds has a definite effect on the production efficiency.

With most lubrication methods, the lubricants are introduced into the tube to be bent in large quantities.

To remove the lubricants from the bent tube after forming, they need to undergo an elaborate cleaning process where further chemicals are used.

Automatic lubrication systems achieve a far lower consumption.

The resource time, together with the material input, plays a decisive role in large-scale production. The central question for mechanical engineers therefore is: At which point can technical improvements be conducted, to save time in addition to material?

With the help of compressed air, they only moisten the bending mandrel surface and inner wall of the tube. As a result of this optimal dosage, both the costs and the effort for the subsequent cleaning of tube and machine are considerably reduced.

For faster tool change there is the rapid clamping system “Quick Tool Unlock.” It consists of a split tension rod with clamping lever as well as a swivel device.

Whereas in the case of standard market models, the continuous tension rod to the swivel arm crossbeam needs to be unscrewed at the top on the bend former for tool change, the procedure is much simpler with the Quick Tool Unlock: In this case only the clamping lever is actuated and the connection to the swivel arm crossbeam is separated.

The micro-lubrication from Schwarze-Robitec works according to this principle. For this procedure, the lines for oil and compressed air pass through the mandrel rod all the way to the mandrel, where the oil is dispersed by the compressed air.

During the bending process it exits from the mandrel through small drill holes. This way, the system combines an appropriate lubrication with minimal lubricant consumption. Saving resources not only means reducing the use of material, but also the use of energy.

28

NZ Manufacturer August 2016

Then the swivel device can be opened, so that the bend former is exposed to the top. In interaction with the automatic tool clamping, the bend former can be removed without difficulty and without unscrewing anything. Long machine downtimes,

/

www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz

due to complicated conversions, can therefore be reduced significantly.

A relief which is of benefit to the operator because he can attend to his core tasks. If different radii or whole tube systems are to be produced, it is recommended to equip tube bending machines with multi-radius bending tools. With these, set-up times can be reduced by up to 70 percent and at the same time the utilization of the machines increased.

Such time advantages pay off to a particular degree in the production of large-scale series.

Thus also in the fast-cycle vehicle construction, more precisely in the production of complex bend in bend systems for exhaust systems. Especially suitable for this purpose are, for example, the CNC MR series bending machines fitted with stacked tooling.

They enable production of exhaust pipes with a bending radius of 1 x D without bending straight intermediate lengths between two bends.

Thanks to the stacked tooling, the set-up times are minimal.

Time-efficient design of work steps CNC controls, which can run individual procedures simultaneously where possible, have been available on the market for some time already and help to save valuable seconds per production process.

While developing its new machine control, the bending specialist from Cologne took this concept a decisive step further. It prepares the respectively following work step already while still carrying out the current procedure.

An example While the tube is fed to the tool, the clamping functions close almost completely. That means that the tool is immediately ready for the next bending step when the tube reaches its target position.

In the past years, the number of machine functions has increased strongly. The integrated diagnostic and maintenance tool guides the operator through all setting and optimisation steps, checks all data reliably for validity and so leads to an optimal production result.

Automatic bending cells During cost-effective serial production of injection lines, cooling water and axis tubes, tie rods as well as various bodywork, exhaust system and chassis components it is worthwhile to expand machines to a fully automatic bending cell.

They allow a completely automated production of bent tube systems: from the tube separation and welding seam positioning via the bending process all the way to integrated quality controls, bending or separating systems, as well as the further transport without personnel.

Bending cells simplify and accelerate not only the machining process but also offer a high degree of operational safety. Designed for durability, the machines have no problems in coping with the two to three-shift operation and therefore not only have a positive effect on the productivity but also on the resource of money.

PROFILE

A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business.

— Henry Ford

Down to Earth Five years after arriving from Tonga, Poini Palu has established himself as a qualified engineer working for Dempsey Wood, one of Auckland’s largest civil engineering companies.

As project engineer for the new Whenuapai Village subdivision in west Auckland, the role is a demanding one as the 28-year-old strives to ensure the completion of the earthworks before winter rain sets in. Knowing he’s helping to build a part of Auckland – a rapidly growing and increasingly appealing city – in his role, means Poini wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

From Monday to Saturday Poini Palu leaves his Mt Wellington residence in Auckland’s south-east to head across town to Whenuapai in Auckland’s north-west.

Making the journey through Auckland’s traffic isn’t a problem for Poini (known as ‘Poi’), because he loves what he does.

Poini allocates the jobs for the machine operators, and orders the materials required for the day, ensuring they have the quantities and quality required. All this while keeping an eye on proceedings, to ensure that at the end of the day they’ve achieved what they aimed for.

“Ordering materials is very important because you don’t want to be too short, or over order. Knowing the maths is very important,” he says.

“On a subdivision, what you can’t have is big machines sitting around doing nothing because they cost hundreds of dollars an hour. But one thing you can’t control is the weather. When it’s raining, it’s hard to do anything.”

Although Poini agrees it sounds stressful, he thrives on the pressure and responsibility that goes with it.

“With this job, the earth movement is just the start. We’re building roads and retaining walls, setting up storm water and waste water systems, street lights, and electricity for the homes.

“We’re creating something,” he says.

“I’ve worked on projects around Auckland and enjoy driving past them when they’re completed. I think to myself, ‘I helped build that’. It gives me a lot of pride.”

Whenuapai Village is just one of a number of subdivisions to house Auckland’s rapidly growing population.

Poini became part of that population growth in 2011, having arrived in New Zealand’s most populous city from the village of Havelu in Tonga.

He describes his upbringing as “tough”.

Physics, and Chemistry, securing a Diploma in Construction Technology.

After initially staying with members of his family, Poini chose to live at the residential village within the campus.

“Living within the campus made it easier for me to focus on my studies,” he says.

Yet he knows it instilled the strong work ethic he has today.

After completing his three-year Bachelor of Engineering Technology degree in 2013, Poini secured a job at an engineering firm, specialising in the geotechnical aspects such as ground improvement, slope stability analysis, foundation designs, site investigations etc.

Poini describes his father, Nikolasi, as his role model.

“My dad was a road supervisor in Tonga. I grew up watching him at his job,” he recalls.

The couple flew to Europe and were married in her home town during the Christmas holidays. Poini says travelling through Europe and the United States has opened his eyes to the world even more.

He received a scholarship to study in New Zealand and arrived in Auckland five years ago.

As the eldest of five (three boys and two girls), it was largely a subsistence lifestyle with the family living off the land. They grew their own plantation, mainly taro and yams, and maintained cows and pigs.

“My mother (Kaimapa) never had a job, but she always made sure that we went to school and my Dad went to work, we had lunch and everything was prepared for us.”

workplace.

“I’ve been to places that I thought I’d only see on TV or the movies.”

But he adds that such opportunities wouldn’t have existed if it wasn’t for his determination to fulfil his parents’ desires for him to make the most of his education.

“I didn’t have any transport hassles and could study whenever I wanted without other distractions.”

The environment in Tonga that Poini grew up in is far cry from where he is today. But his determination and ability to adapt and make his mark on this world cannot be denied.

For Poini, his desire to motivate others is just beginning.

“There are so many opportunities in Auckland. The city is growing fast and there are new subdivisions being set up all over the place,” he says.

He says much of his time was spent in front of a computer at their office. The occasional offsite visit fuelled his desire to work on subdivisions.

“There’s a demand for skilled and experienced workers and we need to see more young Pacific people stepping up to fill those roles.”

“He started from the bottom as a labourer and worked his way up. He didn’t get the same opportunities that I did in education, but he’s very smart.

“I don’t go to our offices (based in Penrose) much, probably once every few weeks because I need to be on site.

I like to ensure everything is ticking along.”

“He thought pursuing a career in engineering was not only good for me, but for my brothers and sisters.

After work Poini likes to stay fit by going to boxing training in Panmure, Auckland.

“That’s why I’ll always support my family in Tonga whenever I can.”

“A great place to keep fit, release any stress and make new friends”, he says.

The key to that, Poini stresses, is to choose the right subjects to study while still at school.

Also moving along is his personal life, having married Karlien, who is originally from Holland.

“We initially planned to finish this in August, but the way we’re going we’ll probably have it all done by mid-July … it’s always good to complete a job before schedule.”

While at college in Tonga, Poini studied Calculus, Statistics, Computer Studies,

They met in Auckland when Poini worked across the road from her

For more engineering stories, visit maketheworld.nz

www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz

As we conclude our meeting, we head out of the small portacom to a grey windy day with a threat of rain. When asked if he has any concerns about the weather, all he has to say is;

/

NZ Manufacturer August 2016

29

BUSINESS NEWS

Prospecting – Find the man with the problem.

– Ben Friedman, political economist

Using IoT to its full potential New Zealand’s IT industry allows skilled workers to job-hop To realise the full potential of the Internet of Things (IoT), organisations need to consider the broader impact on the world, rather than focus on individual cases, according to Teradata.

Alec Gardner said, “We are in the early stages of transformation based on finely-tuned data sets available through IoT. These technologies offer an unparalleled chance to collect, measure and digitally record information about humans and systems, and use this to deliver unique insights.

Alec Gardner, general manager, advanced analytics, ANZ, Teradata, said, “IoT represents an unprecedented opportunity to access ground-breaking insights, and new ways to understand and engage with both customers and “things”.

“Businesses need to develop the organisational and technological capabilities to use IoT data at scale, as well as understand the relationships and dependencies across complex systems, for example smart cities, factory floors and supply chains.

“However many companies approach IoT too narrowly, and are not seeing expected results.”

The McKinsey June 2015 IoT report found that less than one per cent of IoT data is currently being used. Of that one per cent, the uses tend to be for straightforward processes like alarm activation or real-time controls, rather than advanced analytics to help optimise business processes or make predictions. (1)

“Businesses should look to invest in an integrated, scalable, analytical platform to enable staff to make sense of the data generated by IoT. It’s only through the deeper application of IoT data that companies can realise new innovations, revenue streams and cost savings.”

Organisations that develop a larger, systems-wide vision are more capable of embracing the full benefits of IoT. These include IoT initiatives that optimise entire systems, and that automate and augment complex decision making. With the right tools, analysing large IoT data sets will let organisations develop more nuanced data-driven decision-making processes.

Ultimately, this will help businesses be more productive and profitable than competitors.

In addition, a 2015 Enterprise Management Associates global report found 46 per cent of respondents indicated an IoT strategy was not yet vital to their business processes, and a further 25 per cent were yet to adopt any IoT strategy. (2) Both reports highlight that the full promise of IoT is yet to materialise for businesses.

IoT is being used to achieve greater reliability, resource efficiency, and cost reduction, but the results are often small, sometimes just benefiting a single person or process. Organisations that maximise the possibilities of IoT more competitively, with a large-scale focus, will realise IoT and data analysis go hand-in-hand.

References: ( 1 ) h t t p : / / w w w. m c k i n s e y. com/business-functions/business-technology/our-insights/ the-internet-of-things-the-value-ofdigitizing-the-physical-world

To get the most from of IoT, businesses must use advanced analytics to give context to the data collected by IoT devices.

continued from page 5

(2) Enterprise Management Associates, 2015, Insights Across the Hybrid Enterprise: Big Data 2015

The research shows that, on average, 60% of workers across five key job fields; DevOps and Infrastructure, Financial Services, IT Executive, Software Development, Testing and QA, and Project Management, intend to look for a new role in the next year.

The Guide, released by specialist technology and digital recruitment company Global Attract, reinforces that demand for talent is still outstripping supply, says Dave Newick, Director of Experis and Global Attract New Zealand.

Newick says New Zealand is a breeding ground for innovation and skilled workers have confidence in the local tech industry and are willing to change roles frequently.

“The New Zealand IT Recruitment Market Insights & Salary Guide shows the main reasons for job-hopping include a lack of training and a lack of flexible benefits. The desire for more annual leave, flexible working arrangements and an enticing annual bonus scheme are also factors behind the movement.

“Employers need to be smarter about training, recruitment and retention strategies for contractors and permanent staff to avoid and fill voids as skilled workers move around from one job to another”, says Newick.

The report also indicates that, on average, 22% of those surveyed have

not undergone any formal training relating to their role.

Those most likely to look for another role work in Project Management; 73% of that talent intend to change jobs in the next year. High demand and lack of supply of skilled workers in this sector are driving contractor growth and mobility.

The DevOps and Infrastructure arena also remains buoyant, with 59% of those surveyed indicating they intend to change jobs in the next year. While this is a growing industry, 27% of candidates have never undergone formal training related to their role.

In the Software Development, Testing and QA space, sentiment is similar; 56% of professionals intend to change jobs within the next 12 months.

In the IT Executive sector, 69% of respondents are either “very” or “fairly” satisfied in their roles, and 54% will be looking to change jobs in the next 12 months. Big changes are afoot in the IT Executive field as the Chief Information Officer (CIO) role evolves from traditional technology manager to key innovator. Some 39% of respondents believe the biggest change to role of the CIO is a stronger business focus. A further 17% say CIOs are required to show how and where they add value, 14% think the role is more customer centric and 12% say it’s more marketing/digital focused.

Workplace Leadership: No Meaning, No Work

delivering monologues to engaging in dialogues. Open channels of communication will ensure greater understanding of what matters to the people who work in their team. It takes a confident leader to listen to the project team first without jumping in with direction from on high. This form of respectful project leadership leads to a relationship built upon mutual trust.

When staff feel ‘heard’ and they have jointly shaped their project’s vision, they’re more likely to stay and do their best work for the project.

NZ Manufacturer August 2016

and mega corporations, need to think about replacing dictating the brief and then microscopically scrutinising compliance.

By listening to the needs of their workers, they will be able to create a culture that allows employees to succeed and grow.

Successful project outcomes should be more important – allowing informed and intelligent project staff to use their passion and intellect to define the problem, and then co-create the pathway to solving it, may result in a shared commitment to achieving the project’s success more than any end of project bonus could instil.

A project and the people who make up the project shouldn’t be mutually exclusive – rather, they should form a symbiotic relationship which draws on and feeds off one another, enabling better outcomes for both.

By this yardstick, tomorrow’s most successful organisations and projects won’t only be highly profitable, but also highly engaged with their teams.

Taken a step further, project initiators, including governments, financiers

30

More than fifty percent of New Zealanders working in technology and digital jobs are planning to change jobs within the next 12 months, reveals the Global Attract New Zealand IT Recruitment Market Insights & Salary Guide.

/

www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz

Systems-based management will become meaningless in the future unless we are able to overlay these inflexible systems with ones that take into consideration the human needs of a workforce that is smart enough to know if they are viewed as a cog in a

money-making machine.

In fact, you can have as many systems in place as you like, but if the people operating within those systems feel unheard, undervalued and unappreciated, you will never get the right results – no matter what any graphs tell you.

In today’s project landscape of KPIs and KRAs, the value of keeping your staff happy is immeasurable. Successful organisations in future will be those who pay their staff more than just a salary, but also pay them their attention.

REAR VIEW

Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishments.

- Jim Rohn

NZ heavy steel fabrication sets new record

By Heavy Engineering Research Association Director Dr Wolfgang Scholz

Congratulations fabrication industry members – you’ve just set an all-time record in the use of heavy steel!

Every year we put together a diagram combining Statistics New Zealand and our internal data to better understand how our industry is performing – and this time around, it’s clear to see consumption of steel subject to the heavy engineering research levy has exceeded 2008 figures set just prior to the Global Financial Crisis (GFC).

The new record stands at 170,697 tonnes and outdoes the pre GFC tonnage by just over 2,000 tonnes - and if we were to add non-levied heavy steel pipe for structural purposes (which nowadays has become common place) - the difference would be even more pronounced!

Yes, I admit the GFC came as a surprise, so it’s not unexpected that something in the world or locally could no doubt knock us off course again... in fact, next year will be our seventh year of fabulous growth averaging close to 8% annually – so if we’re following the seven-year cycle theory it would seem its due to drop any time now.

In my view, the likelihood of this happening again in New Zealand in the near future is greatly reduced with the regulatory corrections that have taken place in the banking sector - but we can’t underestimate the negative world impacts caused by economic and political events that are likely to occur. Following the current pattern such international events seem to have increased immigration pressure which for the construction sector would mean a continued and welcomed growth in the construction sector market.

Additionally, most of you will recall the mad and very challenging steel cost increases which were part of the

pre-GFC money grab.

As you can see in the HERA import statistics shown in this newsletter, the cost of landed steel is back to circa 2000 level, and as the relentless battle for survival of the steel makers with the deepest pocket continues, it’s likely that steel prices will stay flat for the next few years to come, supporting competitiveness in steel based solutions.

The difference to eight years ago is the forward outlook The construction industry is a main driver for this growth, and as the just released construction industry pipeline indicates - the peak in activity isn’t happening until later and should stay stable until at least 2021.

SCNZ’s April snapshot reported that New Zealand’s market share of steel construction in buildings over the last two decades has grown significantly and is now over 50% nationally and 80%+ in Christchurch. Additionally, in the past year over 90+ fabricators, steel distributors and erectors with a combined workforce of around 5,000 have delivered well over 100,000 tonnes of structural steel into buildings and bridges.

in Christchurch and the Skycity International Convention Centre in Auckland opting for a mix of both local and overseas supply, challenging the traditional ‘local only’ supply model.

And, as the April quarterly SCNZ survey of local steel construction forward capacity shows, imported steelwork tonnage has already had an effect on the local spare capacity - estimated to be 40,000 tonnes for the final two quarters of 2016 and representing 45% of a total estimated capacity of 110,000 tonnes per year. Based on this, I feel any argument that the local industry alone can’t deliver large projects in the current demand cycle is not justified.

Looking forward our industry needs to start thinking about our long term sustainability and how we’ll adjust to the emergence of new business models - this may mean looking at export opportunities for our very competitive steel construction supply chain with its extensive expertise - especially in seismic construction. With this in mind, the HERA Executive has approved the scoping of a comprehensive steel construction business model study aimed at providing essential background information on available options to address disruptions.

Looking forward our industry needs to start thinking about our long term sustainability and how we’ll adjust to the emergence of new business models - this may mean looking at export opportunities for our very competitive steel construction supply chain...

I’m sure there are very divergent views out there on this matter and I welcome your feedback to exec@hera.org.nz – and if you’d like, we’d be happy to publish any of your responses or views so that collaboratively we can make positive steps forward.

However the demand predictions have also put international suppliers on the scent of fabricated steelwork opportunities, and there is hardly a big project now where the tender process doesn’t consider overseas fabricated steel options as well. This is all despite the very high risk for those engaging in the import pathway, especially from the New Zealand seismic performance requirements perspective – recently seeing the Acute Services Hospital

Speaking the language of microstructures Researchers are developing a common language that can be used by computer software tools to describe materials at their smallest scale, with the ultimate aim of designing faster and better materials for our everyday lives.

Designing materials for use in the large variety of gadgets and structures that support our everyday lives involves understanding them at their atomic, electronic and macroscopic scales.

Integrated computational materials engineering is a field of science that develops computational models so scientists can understand materials at these various scales, allowing them to tailor and optimise custom-designed

microstructures with the necessary properties for the functions they are destined for.

Several software tools are already available for this purpose. However, the “languages” they use to describe materials vary. This makes it difficult for materials scientists to interchangeably use data from these tools.

A team of researchers at Access, a research centre associated with the Technical University of Aachen in Germany, has developed a “common language” for modelling and simulation tools used in studying the microstructures of materials.

Advanced Materials.

The microstructures of materials undergo changes as they are processed and as materials operate. Their description must thus be able to cover all the various changes that occur in materials over the course of their lifetime.

Metadata are data about data. They provide information that enables the categorization, classification and structuring of data. In materials modelling, metadata play an important role in defining the properties, functions and eventually the performance of any component.

The team, which provides software tools for microstructure simulations, identified the needs and benefits of seamless communication with a variety of computational tools. They developed a set of “metadata descriptors” to describe the three-dimensional microstructure of any generic material.

Their method was published in the journal Science and Technology of

www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz

The common language, or set of descriptors, developed by the team can only describe the microstructure of a material at a given instant in time.

Future research will need to consider the addition of descriptors that cover dynamic and kinetic changes that happen in materials over time.

/

NZ Manufacturer August 2016

31

HEADING

The shortest way to do many things is to do only one thing at once.

-Samuel Smiles

title text

Manufacturers focused on

SUCCESS Join with...

32 tell us your www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz publisher@xtra.co.nz NZ Manufacturer Auguststory 2016 / www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz