NZ Manufacturer December 2021 by Media Hawkes Bay Limited

December 2021

www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz

Q&A Wayne Carson, Managing Director, D & H Steel.

11 INNOVATORS 2021 – 13

14 ANALYSIS What gets measured gets managed.

Sustainable ways of working = business innovation - think-step nz

In a tough year for many manufacturers, it’s heartening to see innovation continuing to show up through more sustainable ways of working. In this article, we bring you three local people and businesses who’ve used Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and responsible procurement to build ‘new’ into their packaging, their manufacturing processes, and their products. The business benefits? Opportunities to gain market share, build reputation, strengthen relationships with suppliers, manage supply chain risk, and reduce the costs of materials and disposing of waste.

Lorde: making a zero-carbon album

“

Early in making this album, I wanted to look closely at the environmental impact of its manufacture and distribution. Working to achieve zero-carbon status for Solar Power was an eye-opening experience. Lorde

to help our Kiwi songstress meet her zero-carbon goals.

LCA measures a product’s carbon footprint over its life. In this case, this involved calculating the carbon in the raw materials used to make the Greenbox (including paper, inks, and glue), to transport the Greenbox to music retailers, and to landfill the Greenbox at the end of its life. (We hope Lorde’s many fans are ardent recyclers, but we assumed a worst-case scenario, landfilling. In any case, we suspect they’re unlikely to part with the Greenbox easily.) We also calculated the operational electricity needed to download the album. What did we learn? That most of the emissions associated with the album’s carbon footprint (74%) are released when fans download the music.

“

Grammy Award-winner Lorde is determined to reduce her carbon footprint. That’s why one of the formats of her long-awaited third album, Solar Power, released in August, is zero-carbon. (Even the name is environmentally apt!) How has Lorde achieved this? By releasing a discless album in a ‘Greenbox’. A Greenbox is an innovative, discless album package made of cardboard.

Her innovative approach to packaging her product is now benefitting forests (and people) in Golden Bay, New Zealand and Vanuatu’s Espiritu Santo.

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So, we set to calculating the packaging’s carbon footprint using a sustainability tool known as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).

Having done the sums to calculate the carbon, we arranged for an independent third party to verify the result, and calculated the offset Lorde needed to make to have a certified net-zero carbon product. Lorde chose to purchase her carbon credits from Ekos™’ restorative forest carbon projects.

Now, we have a few Lorde fans in our thinkstep-anz team and there were plenty of technical experts eager

Listen to uniquely Kiwi stories contributing to New Zealand’s future

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CONTENTS Contents

DEPARTMENTS 1 LEADER LEAD

ADVISORS

Sustainable ways of working = business Get your carbon diet on track. innovation.

EDITORIAL 4 EDITORIAL

Whenmoving EMEX 2021 comes to town. Keep forward in 2022.

Kirk Hope

BUSINESS NEWS NEWS 65 BUSINESS

Manufacturing in the age of sustainability. New technical director at NanoLayr. Is NZ’s Covid response class? Manufacturing SMEs – world a capital-hungry industry. UKK’s CPTPP a win for exporters. Graduate programme launched to combat tech skills. MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY

8 &Code A can make manufacturing more 8 QNZ competitive.

Wayne Carson, MD, D & H Steel. Dewalt Design Assist breaking new ground.

9 MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY 10 SixANALYSIS months to EMEX 2022

Is Chief Executive of BusinessNZ, New Zealand’s largest business advocacy body. He has held a range of senior positions at Westpac and is a barrister and solicitor.

Ian Walsh

8 8

Ian is Managing Director of Intent Group, a master black belt improvement specialist and global lean practitioner. He is passionate about improving productivity and helping to create world class New Zealand businesses.

Timefuture for change. The of manufacturing by Charlie Wood. Anatomy of a data-driven supply chain.

11 INNOVATORS 2021 14 EMEX 2021 14 ANALYSIS Floor Plan and Exhibitors. -15 What gets measured gets managed. ANALYSIS 16 THE INTERVIEW Achieving carbon neutrality: One company’s Tellfrankie.com lessons learnt.

Leeann Watson

Is the Chief Executive of the Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce (the Chamber).and is a strong voice for Canterbury business.

MANUFACTURING 17 SMART SMART MANUFACTURING gives laser job shops a boost for 17 ToolBox suite Industry 4.0. Australia launches lunar exploration mission. Lewis Woodward

Improving energy Cutting edge tool efficiency. for underwater recovery. Matrix 320 reader empowers REPORT CARD 2021 traceability for 20 NZ automation and logistics. NEW PRODUCTS 21 QUALITY CONTROL 21 Flexible operating concept allows a clear view NDC sensors control manufacturing at the in construction machinery. fromt line. Cost effective automation.

NEW PRODUCTS 22 DEVELOPMENTS 23 Structural bearings deliver extreme low-level

SAECOWilson now operating under Motion friction performance. NZ Cost-effective and lubrication – free mounting Hydrothermally altered rocks changing the of solar panels. plumbing of our volcanoes AC Servo System provides highest-level safety.

LAST WORD 24 THE Covid has changed Australian DEVELOPMENTS 25 How manufacturing.

Mint Innovation raises $20m to build gold biorefineries.

12 11

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.

Brett O’Riley

19 14 25

EMA chief executive Brett O’Riley has a background in technology and economic development. Brett actually grew up with manufacturing, in the family business, Biggins & Co. He currently holds board roles with Wine Grenade and Dotterel Technologies and is also on the NZ Film Commission board.

HRS highlights steam injection for food sterilisation. Is automotive ready for hydrogen?

REAR VIEW Climate Change Commission calls for decisive action.

28 22

Keep moving forward in 2022

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

We are an innovative country and the light continues to shine on those in industry who are doing remarkable things.

CONTRIBUTORS Holly Green, Barbara Nebel Sanjay Galal, HERA Charlie Wood, Ian Walsh Georgie Fenwicke

Just as it does on rural businesses, whether they be growing crops, running sheep in the high country, or bottling wine in the nether regions of Hawkes Bay and Marlborough.

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

All of these businesses are striving, to get ahead, achieving success or suffering pain in a time of continual rising costs in a small, over regulated country that sweats out every dollar. Except in the property market.

DESIGN & PRODUCTION Kim Alves, KA Design T: + 64 6 870 8133 E: kim.alves@xtra.co.nz

And a lot have fallen by the wayside, not necessarily due to circumstances they were in control of. Where the virus has reduced business, some have not made it. A government focussed on caution and safety has had a significant effect on livelihoods, choosing to make decisions that will have severe repercussions in the years ahead.

WEB MASTER Julian Goodbehere E: julian@isystems.co.nz

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

DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTIONS E: publisher@xtra.co.nz Free of Charge.

No one goes into business not to be there. Not to be successful…but to realise a dream.

MEDIA HAWKES BAY LTD

Keep moving forward in 2022. For those companies that are no longer operating, rise again, find a new form, start again, reinvent yourself, do what it takes to achieve the dream…be resilient.

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

Remember, business innovation is the private sector. Taxes are the government.

Vol.12 No. 11 DECEMBER 2021

Best wishes for the holiday season.

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.

As the year draws to an end, it is worth reflecting on the business world and how it has managed in this time of the virus.

NZ Manufacturer December 2021 /

In 2022 we will continue to bring you the information to assist you on your journey.

www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz

Doug Green

Success Through Innovation

Editorial

Business News New technical director at NanoLayr Auckland-based Deep Tech manufacturer NanoLayr has appointed Dean Barker as Technical Director to lead the company’s future growth and expansion as a global leader in advanced textiles manufacturing. Barker, whose previous roles include R&D Manager at Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, has taken over from NanoLayr co-founder, Director, and current Technical Director Iain Hosie. Hosie has transitioned to a governance role, enabling him to focus on the future direction of NanoLayr which use proprietary Sonic Electrospinning Technology to produce nanofibre at scale. Hosie will also continue to champion Electrospinning Technology as a global manufacturing platform. NanoLayr has undergone a significant growth phase after raising $6 million in a Series A funding round,

led by technology investment firm Movac in April 2020. Hosie, who co-founded NanoLayr (formerly Revolution Fibres) in 2009, said Barker had the expertise and a future-driven approach that will take NanoLayr to the next level, enhance its focus on innovation, and continue to build on the exponential growth it has undergone in the last 18 months. “NanoLayr pioneered advanced nanofibre technology and the capability to manufacture nanofibre products at scale, and Dean has the experience to help establish NanoLayr at the forefront of the

global textiles industry and as the centre of excellence for nanofibre.” Barker, who returns from a two-year stint in the Netherlands, has worked in a diverse range of science and engineering roles over the last 20 years, both within government research and commercial organisations. Specialising in product development, engineering research, and management of large teams, Barker is looking forward to evolving and growing what NanoLayr has created.

Manufacturing SMEs – A capital-hungry industry Do you find yourself needing more capital for your manufacturing business? If so, you’re not alone. According to RFi research commissioned by Prospa in July 2021, 44% of manufacturing SMEs need more credit than they have access to - a significant discrepancy from the overall average of 25%.

using funds for? What are the benefits? And more importantly, how can manufacturing SMEs access more capital when they need it?

Manufacturing SMEs are also most likely to hold a business overdraft and have the highest average number of unique borrowing products – topping many statistics when it comes to borrowing.

The top three uses include needing funds for working capital, purchasing inventory, and paying suppliers.

As one of the most capital-hungry industries in New Zealand, what are manufacturing businesses

When compared to pre-lockdown levels, Prospa has seen a 24% increase in average loan size for Kiwi manufacturing SMEs.

There are many cases whereby manufacturing SMEs have needed funds to assist with cashflow while they wait for customer payments to come through, or to access better production materials and upgrade

tools or machinery to allow them to take on more work. Prospa had a customer purchase specialised equipment, which led to a 40% increase in revenue for their business.

Adrienne Begbie, NZ Managing Director, Prospa

Ongoing supply chain disruptions have also proven to be a challenge for manufacturing SMEs. Significant delays and increasing costs to import goods from countries such as China and Vietnam are forcing many to rethink their business-as-usual approach.

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NZ Manufacturer December 2021

Business News Qual IT launches graduate programme to combat tech skills Qual IT welcomes six full-time employees with the launch of their inaugural graduate programme. A recent report from IT Professionals New Zealand/ Te Pou Hangarau Ngaio and NZTech on behalf of the New Zealand Government is described as a sector wake-up call, citing an over-reliance on immigration and lack of investment in developing domestic talent as resulting in a significant mismatch in skill supply and demand.

Professional analysts from Qual IT have lent their expertise as guest lecturers at Whitireia and WelTec, and they have provided useful advice that helped develop Qual IT’s graduate programme. Dalvir Singh is a Whitireia graduate grateful to be among the inaugural group of employees embarking

on the graduate programme at Qual IT. “It really is a privilege to be able to transition straight into the industry like this,” says Dalvir. “The job security is so reassuring. My studies were great, but this is the real thing now and I’m learning so much with all the benefits of full-time employment.”

Prior to the border closure more than 50 per cent of new IT jobs were filled via immigration. Qual IT has found a pro-active, long-term solution to this problem by investing in upskilling and training people locally. The first intake of graduates has just completed foundation training, a four week course of classroom-based learning at Qual IT, followed by two weeks of further technical training and they have now embarked on an eight week learning placement on a client assignment. An established relationship with Wellington vocational education provider Whitireia and WelTec and their IT training programme has also paid dividends for both Qual IT and the polytechnic.

The graduates from Left to Right top row: Vrajesh Choksi, Dalvir Singh, Connor Peirce; Bottom row, Left to Right: Romina Mautone, Melita Joshua, Jesse Morton. Far Right, Jaap Koop, Training/Capability Manager

What to know about tardigrade biomanufacturing malware attacks Article by industrial cybersecurity company Claroty Biomanufacturing facilities are being urged to inspect their industrial networks—many of which are used in the production of critical medicines, vaccines, and other applications—for signs of a newly disclosed advanced attack designed to steal intellectual property.

analyst said she conducted dozens of tests on the malware, and each time it compiled differently and communicated uniquely with command-and-control servers. If that backdoor access is somehow cut off, the malware will continue to deploy its payloads.

According to BIO-ISAC’s report, the version of SmokeLoader used by Tardigrade is more autonomous than previous versions and can make decisions on lateral movement or file manipulation based on internal logic.

Polymorphic uncommon.

The BIO-ISAC report has made a list of indicators of compromise available, as well as detection statistics; 34 of 69 antimalware vendors detect it as malicious as of yesterday.

malware

advanced,

but

not

Nicknamed Tardigrade, the attacks are spreading among biomanufacturing companies, according to the Bioeconomy Information Sharing and Analysis Centre (BIO-ISAC).

Tardigrade stands out because, according to details released by BIO-ISAC, it is able to recompile its loader from memory and not leave a consistent signature. This would complicate detection efforts.

The malware is highly customisable, adapts to the environment it has infected, and can act autonomously if cut off from the attackers’ command-and-control server, said researchers from BioBright.

How is it Delivered? The malware is delivered via numerous vectors, including phishing emails and infected USB drives. It uses a malware loader known as SmokeLoader, or Dofoil, to inject modules onto compromised machines, including keyloggers, password-stealing utilities.

BioBright, a BIO-ISAC member, investigated attacks at two facilities. Both facilities initially reported ransomware attacks on their respective networks, another strange twist to these incidents given the noisy nature of ransomware attacks, which are in stark contrast to the inherently stealthy nature of the malware. BIO-ISAC released some technical details about these attacks yesterday; given that the group says the attacks are ongoing, users in this industry need to be vigilant about cutting off the intruders’ access to these critical networks. Here’s what you need to know: What is Tardigrade? Tardigrade is polymorphic malware. This is an advanced malware technique where the code changes depending on its environment as a technique to avoid detection. According to an article in Wired, one BioBright

NZ Manufacturer December 2021 /

It also creates a backdoor connection that allows for downloading files and commands from the attacker’s server, deploying additional attack modules, and remaining hidden on the network. Its purpose is espionage, and BioBright and BIO-ISAC believe it’s the work of an advanced persistent threat (APT) group, likely state-sponsored. SmokeLoader, meanwhile, has been available on underground forums for a decade. It’s been linked to numerous attacks, including some involving cryptocurrency mining and data exfiltration attacks. It’s armed with numerous plug-ins that enable persistence on compromised networks, and also tools ensure its stealthiness, including some that obfuscate values in the malware, and processes designed to determine if it’s executing within a virtual machine, which would indicate that it’s been found and quarantined.

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Why is Biomanufacturing a Target? The concern is that Covid-19 vaccines and treatments are being developed within this sector, and since the start of the pandemic, espionage efforts targeting these companies have ramped up. BioBright CEO Charles Fracchia declined to connect the victims to Covid-19 research, according to Wired, but said their processes play a role. Stealing private research related to Covid-19 vaccines, for example, would alleviate an adversary state’s research-and-development time and costs significantly. Recommendations • Biomanufacturing companies should scan their networks for indicators of compromise pointing to a Tardigrade infection. • Proper network segmentation is a key mitigation step for operators of industrial networks, including as a tactic for fending off Tardigrade. Operational technology networks should be segmented from enterprise networks, and any crossover points between IT and OT should be guarded. • Segmentation likely would involve virtual zoning that allows for zone-specific policies that are tailored to engineering and other process-oriented functions.

Manufacturing Technology CFO 4.0 instrumental in building the factory of the future SYSPRO has announced new research into CFO 4.0, which reveals that the manufacturing CFO will play a critical strategic, innovative and financial role in the business moving forward. The study, which was conducted in July to September 2021 and led by SYSPRO, assessed the sentiment amongst senior level Chief Financial Officers within manufacturing sectors across the Americas, APAC and EMEA. The participants encompassed financial leaders across both SMEs and larger enterprises, indicating that these results reflect the insights of a wide range of players in the Manufacturing and Distribution space.

The diversification of business operations The study revealed that the disruptions caused by the pandemic played a catalytic role in the diversification of manufacturing businesses. In order to thrive, 65% of CFO respondents surveyed indicated that they have shifted expenditure into new markets, product lines and technologies. Drilling down further, the SYSPRO survey found: • 33% of businesses expanded into new markets • 29% of businesses innovated through the introduction of a new production line • 39% of businesses will explore new routes to markets such as eCommerce channels In order to enable the diversification of business models, 29% of CFOs indicated that they would

Commercial & industrial growth

invest further into R&D.

Building and securing a digital future When asked about future areas of investment to ensure continued success, 56% of CFO respondents indicated that they would be investing in warehouse automation, 37% of respondents confirmed that they would investigate migration to cloud-based services and 37% would be exploring SMART technologies including 3D printing, IoT, machine learning and artificial intelligence. 47% of CFOs also indicated that they will be investing in ERP to increase visibility, enhance transparency and data-driven decision making.

Winning the war for talent When exploring the key reasons behind business disruptions in 2021, it comes as no surprise that 43% of respondents point to the delayed procurement of raw materials or inventory from either onshore or offshore suppliers. Not surprisingly, however, is that this figure is followed closely by the procurement of talent and skills, which comes in at 38%. “The pandemic highlighted the importance for digitally-savvy talent as businesses continue to invest in smart technologies and automation. The skills vacuum is vast and

companies have acknowledged a growing need to onboard highly specialised individuals and rapidly upskill their current staff,” states Sanjay Galal, SYSPRO’s Chief Financial Officer for APAC.

Proactively managing business risks With increased pressures on global supply chains, survey respondents noted that the costs of inventory management have the potential to rise to unforeseeable levels. When asked about top business risks for 2022, 40% of CFOs highlighted the management of rising inventory costs, 36% of respondents were concerned about managing cash flow and unsurprisingly 35% pointed to the management of local and global supply chains. According to Rob Stummer, Asia Pacific CEO at SYSPRO, ”While the pandemic continues to have an impact on the global road to recovery, it has also allowed businesses to shift operations and adapt. We are seeing the industry explore new territories, expand production lines and evolve business models. The CFO has been an instrumental catalyst in these shifts and is evolving the face of manufacturing as we know it.”

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.

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NZ Manufacturer December 2021

Q&A Wayne Carson, Managing Director, D & H Steel Steel industry leading the charge into the next industrial revolution D&H Steel is one of the oldest and most respected steel fabricators in New Zealand. It is behind some of the largest projects in the country including Auckland Airport, Deloitte Tower, Viaduct Event Centre, and the Kopu River Bridge. In a sector that is constantly changing to meet the latest technological advances, D&H Steel is an industry leader. From an early adopter of welded beams to the latest ISO standards, the company has placed innovation at the heart of its business. HERA spoke to Managing Director, Wayne Carson, about the future of the steel and construction sectors and the opportunity and challenges they face. How are you finding current business conditions? We are enormously thankful to have full order books and our facilities are working 24/6 to keep up with demand. The Auckland market is still very buoyant, and I do not foresee this changing as demand for apartments, office space, and large infrastructure projects continue. The regions are also benefitting both from an increase in government spending and ironically the growth of Auckland as a world city. Auckland is simply becoming too expensive for some industries that are moving to the regions to grow and develop. We are working on several large regional projects including the building of hospitals and large industrial warehousing.

Has the pandemic business?

affected

your

Our market share is still strong, but the pandemic has certainly affected our business. Lockdowns, managing close contact staff isolation, skyrocketing labour costs, increases in the cost of materials, and supply chain disruption have been the cause of some very challenging conditions. We are fortunate to be of a size to be more resilient to change but I suspect many smaller manufacturers, are less able to recover from exposure to these risks. Fortunately, as an industry we still have capacity, and we are very supportive of each other. As a result, we

NZ Manufacturer December 2021 /

have collaborated with other companies across the country to ensure projects are managed efficiently and delivered on time.

What has been the most frustrating aspect of the pandemic? We are working on many interesting projects, but our biggest concern is finding workers to meet this demand. We have a great and loyal workforce, nearly a third of our team have worked with us for over ten years (and many much longer), but we were still reliant on a steady stream of skilled migrant workers. Locked borders and changes to the immigration policy pushing payrates to unrealistic levels have made it nearly impossible to source new people. We are hopeful the opening of our borders should ease this situation.

decision-making processes easier and faster. It is all pretty exciting. We are working with engineers and architects much earlier in the process and we can provide smarter solutions faster, increasing productivity, decreasing costs, and improving efficiencies. It feels like the pace of change is accelerating fast.

How is Industry 4.0 affecting your business?

COP 26 just concluded in the UK, what is your company doing to mitigate climate change?

As a company, we have always taken pride in being innovative. It has driven us to become one of the leading steel fabricators in the country.

This is a big topic and not one I can do justice to in a few scant words. That said, we are very aware of the impact our industry has on the environment.

We were the first company in New Zealand to be awarded ISO 3834 quality standard and we continue to embrace new technology.

I mentioned earlier that we can work more closely with clients and get involved in projects in their infancy. Reducing carbon is one of our primary goals.

The pandemic has highlighted the need to be reactive and agile.

We plan to use HERA’s soon-to-be-launched zero carbon steel program to offset a project’s carbon footprint and provide a consistent benchmark and measure of carbon.

The pandemic has highlighted the need to be reactive and agile. We are very quick to implement new technology. Recently, this has included the tools we use to manage data. We deal with thousands of pieces of data each day. This needs to be managed and more importantly conveyed and understood by all stakeholders. Adopting new technology has provided us with unprecedented visibility and has made our

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This gives us information that makes for good decision-making based on fact. By working with clients early in the process you can avoid poor decisions being made based on misinformation that quickly compromise environmental objectives. We encourage an ‘eyes open’ approach based on good design. We are also seeing more and more clients demanding sustainability as part of the procurement process. We are proudly a member of the Sustainable Steel Council, are complying with Greenstar, and are on the cusp of achieving ISO 4001 accreditation. We are committed to minimising our impact on the environment.

Manufacturing Technology Six months until EMEX 2022 The long awaited EMEX 2022 expo is only six months away and runs from 31 May to 2 June 2022. With 200+ exhibitors already booked and over 4,500 visitors expected, the show is looking to be one of the busiest to date. EMEX brings together the technological advancements over the past four years, including applications of the Internet of Things and an exceptional line-up of speakers, show features, new products and new suppliers. Exhibitors at the show include those specialising in

Additive Manufacturing; (CNC) Machine Technology; Control and Instrumentation; Health and Safety; Industrial Automation; Industrial Engineering and Maintenance; Industry 4.0 and IoT Applications; Robotics; Tooling; and Welding, Forming and Cutting. Over the years EMEX has worked hard to deliver the best line-up of speakers, presenting on up-to-the-minute topics and 2022 will be no exception. Day 1 starts off with the hot topic, 3D printing, and EMEX presenters bring a range of information on leading edge additives and metal componentry. On Day 2 a stellar line-up of speakers and topics powered by Callaghan Innovation will frame up “what is Industry 4.0?” and how this set of advanced and connected technologies can help a business secure a bright future. Day 3 is all about innovation and how New Zealand companies succeed by doing

things differently. With over 40 years hosting EMEX, the team at XPO Exhibitions are looking forward to reuniting the thousands of people in the engineering, manufacturing technology and electronics sectors. Many professionals in the industry won’t have seen each other for three to four years and the opportunity to catch-up with colleagues and technology makes this the most anticipated show ever. NZ Manufacturer has again partnered again with EMEX and you can expect to hear more about the up-and-coming show over the coming months. For those looking to exhibit, limited space is available by contacting Aad van der Poel on aad@xpo.co.nz or 021 314 199. Registrations are open for visitors at emex.co.nz. We look forward to seeing you there!

The Future of Manufacturing By Charlie Wood, CEO, Wiise The manufacturing and supply chain industry has undergone a massive change in the last two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lockdowns and travel restrictions have caused immense disruption locally and globally but have also accelerated technology adoption in the sector. While global markets remain volatile, trade is starting to bounce back. There are exciting opportunities ahead for businesses that invest in the right processes and technologies for the new era of the supply chain. These three tech trends will be key: The rise of anywhere economy and asynchronous model Today’s supply chains are increasingly complex, involving an ever-wider range of parties across the globe. As we’ve seen with the pandemic, one problem affects the whole chain - but it’s not always initially clear where the bottleneck is or how to resolve it. If a factory in China can’t supply a particular component, can it be sourced elsewhere? Once every part of the supply chain gets connected digitally, companies will be able to get a real-time pulse of their business. Through intelligent ERP systems, they’ll know what stock is where and be able to track and divert shipments, with backup routes and providers to avoid any obstacles and outages. If there’s a sudden change in border restrictions or a shipping route is closed (e.g., the Suez Canal blocking in March 2021) the system will help calculate and re-route alternative options. Businesses will also look for more efficient ways to collaborate with customers, employees, and partners. With the rise of the asynchronous model, we will see the increase of shorter, “button-click”,

in-app meetings like Slack’s “Start Huddle” to replace longer, scheduled meetings. Democratised IT is the new norm Businesses of any size can now access sophisticated platforms that leverage AI and machine learning. Businesses are “buying up” - getting access to higher-level products than they used to. Formerly enterprise-grade technology is now accessible to much smaller businesses. Thanks to cloud-based, SaaS platforms, there’s no longer a need to worry about having upfront capital to invest in a solution. Instead, the latest technology available in the market is accessible to anyone, including the cost of IT support and maintenance. It also means that smaller companies can connect with larger partners and suppliers using the same or inter-compatible systems. Trust and transparency will prevail 2022 will be a critical year for all stakeholders. Trust will be a key currency for all transactions, with customers increasingly demanding robust ethical policies and processes. Forrester notes that “consumers swinging toward trust are willing to believe in a brand’s good intentions; those gravitating toward distrust doubt that companies will keep their promises”. Transparency will also become paramount in corporate culture and practices, from operations

to supply chain. Technology has an important role to play here, being able to provide real-time data as well as manage security and privacy aspects. Most SaaS platforms take care of the security side, along with legal compliance and upgrades. This enables smaller businesses to have enterprise-grade, SOC-2 cyber security compliance, which they otherwise would struggle to implement. Given that manufacturers are experiencing increased cyber attacks, with supply chains and logistics partners also targeted by ransomware, the industry needs to ensure that all participants have maximum protection. As supply chains become more integrated, there’s even more potential for breaches and ransomware attacks. Trust is a major competitive advantage these days, not a cost. It’s linked to better profits and productivity, higher talent retention, and better business outcomes. Ethical policies and standards are also a regulatory requirement these days, not simply a nice-to-have.

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NZ Manufacturer December 2021

Manufacturing Technology AI supercomputer for robotics NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin, is the world’s smallest, most powerful and energy-efficient AI supercomputer for robotics, autonomous machines, medical devices and other forms of embedded computing at the edge. Built on the NVIDIA Ampere architecture, Jetson AGX Orin provides 6x the processing power and maintains form factor and pin compatibility with its predecessor, Jetson AGX Xavier. It delivers 200 trillion operations per second, similar to that of a GPU-enabled server but in a size that fits in the palm of your hand. The new Jetson computer accelerates the full NVIDIA AI software stack, allowing developers to deploy the largest, most complex models needed to solve edge AI and robotics challenges in natural language understanding, 3D perception, multi-sensor fusion and more. Jetson AGX Orin features an NVIDIA Ampere architecture GPU and Arm Cortex-A78AE CPUs, along with next-generation deep learning and vision

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accelerators. High-speed interfaces, faster memory bandwidth and multimodal sensor support provide the ability to feed multiple concurrent AI application pipelines. Comprehensive Software and Ecosystem Support Customers using the Jetson AGX Orin can leverage the NVIDIA CUDA-X accelerated computing stack, NVIDIA JetPack SDK and the latest NVIDIA tools for application development and optimisation, including cloud-native development workflows. Pretrained models from the NVIDIA NGC catalog are optimised and ready for fine-tuning with the NVIDIA TAO toolkit and customer datasets. This reduces time and cost for production-quality AI deployments, while cloud-native technologies allow seamless updates throughout a product’s lifetime. The Jetson embedded computing partner ecosystem encompasses a broad range of services and products, including cameras and other multimodal sensors,

carrier boards, hardware design services, AI and system software, developer tools and custom software development. For specific use cases, software frameworks include NVIDIA Isaac Sim on Omniverse for robotics, NVIDIA Clara Holoscan SDK for healthcare, and NVIDIA DRIVE for autonomous driving. The latest Isaac release includes significant support for the Robot Operating System (ROS) developer community. NVIDIA has also released the new Omniverse Replicator for synthetic data generation and Isaac GEMs, hardware-accelerated software packages that make it easier for ROS developers to build high-performance AI-enabled robots on the Jetson platform.

Sustainable ways of working = business innovation

Eagle Lighting: introducing new ways to procure responsibly Grammy Award winning singers don’t have a monopoly on innovation. If you’re a trans-Tasman manufacturer like Eagle Lighting overhauling your procurement system to source more responsibly, you’re innovating too. You’re introducing new, better ways of working that make sense for the planet, people, and your business. How does a Down Under lighting manufacturer contribute to the global sustainability challenge? By taking actions that support the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For Eagle Lighting, this means helping to ensure affordable, clean energy (SDG 7), create sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11), promote responsible consumption and production (SDG 12), take climate action (SDG 13), and reduce social inequalities (SDG 10). With these goals in mind, the company has developed a ‘framework’ for action. Their expectations of their suppliers sit at the heart of this framework. For example, to help them make progress on SDG

7, Eagle Lighting expect their suppliers to invest in renewable energy and energy-efficient products and solutions. To reduce inequalities (SDG 10), they are calling on their suppliers to employ a diverse team. They also want them to help their team stay safe at work, and build relationships in their own supply chains with businesses that contribute to local communities. Backing up these expectations is a suite of new tools and processes, starting with a supplier code of conduct. This document sets out clearly what Eagle Lighting expects of its suppliers, and the evidence suppliers need to provide to meet the company’s standards. A questionnaire follows, asking suppliers to explain how they run their business. Finally, a new process requires the Eagle Lighting team to screen potential suppliers based on this information.

YY Nation: building a Zero Carbon Certified footwear collection For New Zealand-based YY Nation, innovation has taken the form of a new Zero Carbon Certified product and new brand. In November 2021 YY

Nation launched its Legacy Footwear Collection. All shoes in the collection are Zero Carbon Certified. This certification means that the business has balanced the emissions which the shoes create by removing an equal amount of CO2 from the atmosphere. To achieve Zero Carbon Certification, YY Nation asked thinkstep-anz to calculate the carbon involved in manufacturing its shoes, distributing its shoes, and disposing of the materials the footwear contains when the product reaches the end of its useful life. Local company Ekos™ then reviewed our assumptions and calculations. With the life cycle footprint verified, YY Nation bought offsets from Ekos™ to compensate for the emissions its product creates. The new footwear collection is also an example of minimising waste. According to the manufacturer, every part of YY Nation’s shoes, including the soles and laces, is made from natural or waste materials. These materials include wool, bamboo, pineapple husk, recycled post-consumer plastic, algae, and sugarcane.

Sustainable ways of working are innovative ways of working As we near the end of 2021, we hope these three examples will inspire other manufacturers to see that sustainable ways of working can be innovative and create value for your business.

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Innovators 2021 Busy people were out and about making things in 2021. Each year, NZ Manufacturer selects the creatives and innovators who benefit the country with what they make and achieve. Here are some of those people… Surf Loch creates the perfect wave Surf Loch has been developing wave-making technology since the 1980s, and is using software from Siemens’ Xcelerator portfolio and automation technology to create wave pools that deliver ocean-quality waves which can be tailored to each individual surfer. By combining the digital and real worlds in a comprehensive digital twin, Surf Loch has been able to master the creation of custom waves through software simulations, before building and testing in a physical facility. This has enabled Surf Loch to deliver waves that match the needs of the surfer and produce them consistently and reliably according to their individual skill level. In addition to its software solutions, Surf Loch leverages other parts of Siemens’ Digital Enterprise portfolio, such as automation and drive technology, to optimise their surf pools.

Innovation to grow wool markets

Surf Loch’s vision is to make the sport accessible to anyone anywhere while not compromising on the unique ocean experience. As surfing continues to increase in global popularity, Surf Loch aims to attract and serve more surfers in their pools to reduce the overall human impact on natural beaches. Surf Loch uses a range of solutions from the Xcelerator portfolio to create different wave variances while still ensuring they feel like surfing on the ocean. The team creates a digital twin of the wave, and then uses computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis and multidisciplinary optimization to identify all the key set points of the wave generation equipment to produce the desired wave. Surf Loch also uses Teamcenter software to manage data and documents, and through cloud capabilities can work with partners to revise drawings and design collaboratively.

Wool Research Organisation of New Zealand Inc (WRONZ) explores new uses for strong wool and has developed unique wool particles, powders and pigments with global export potential for applications as diverse as cosmetics, printing, luxury goods and personal care.

wool sector, creating new value for our economy and communities.

Commercial development company, Wool Source, develops the new products and assesses market demand for the strong wool innovation.

New Zealand’s wool production, 90% of which is strong wool, is at a low point with declining sheep numbers.

WRONZ manufactures from 100 per cent biodegradable, renewable and sustainable New Zealand strong wool. MPI is contributing $1.95 million via its Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures (SFF Futures) fund alongside $2.92 million from WRONZ. This three-year programme aims to prove the commercial viability of the new deconstructed wool particle products. The goal is to develop more sustainable product ingredient alternatives for global manufacturers and consumers – while revitalising New Zealand’s strong

Additionally, The Strong Wool Action Group (SWAG) announced it was jointly funding Wool Source’s market engagement alongside WRONZ.

With many farmers selling wool at a net cost this season, the industry is desperately seeking innovation to boost strong wool demand and prices. WRONZ has completed its pilot plant facility at Lincoln University, which the WRONZ board backed and funded from its own capital. Wool Source will operate the pilot production plant to run production trials, develop market samples, and engage with parties interested in new product development. Wool Source is looking for local partners, especially in personal care, cosmetics, pigments, and printing.

Reduce emissions and change an industry at the same time Kāinga Ora is on a mission to make its buildings climate friendly now and in the future - and it’s influencing the whole construction sector to do the same. Dramatically reducing emissions associated with buildings is part of the agency’s participation in the Carbon Neutral Government Programme (CNGP)* which was announced last year. Buildings are a big contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in New Zealand – both during construction and while people live in them. As the Government’s urban development agency and housing provider for approximately 190,000 New Zealanders, Kāinga Ora has a strong focus on building healthy homes and sustainable, thriving communities. The need to reduce building emissions was clear for the organisation – 99 percent of its overall emissions are from constructing new buildings and operating the older ones.

Kāinga Ora Manager Sustainability Strategy Alex Baker says the majority of these emissions are locked in when a home is designed, dictating the construction materials used, the amount of energy occupants will need and the maintenance it needs. “Where the building is located and how people can access it matters. For example, if we’re building homes people can only access by car, then they will have no choice but to access them by car, which of course increases emissions,” Alex says. “Low carbon buildings are also healthier, require less maintenance and are more affordable to live in.” The Kāinga Ora Carbon Neutral Housing Programme is accelerating the adoption of low carbon buildings, materials and construction techniques through leading-edge pilot programmes and collaboration with the construction industry. The organisation has made the 6 Homestar standard,

a mandatory requirement for all new public housing, and has recently launched two key projects to reduce carbon emissions even further. By collaborating with the construction industry on these projects and leveraging its huge building portfolio, Kāinga Ora is leading greater adoption of climate friendly construction materials and systems throughout New Zealand.

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Innovators 2021 AFCryo unveils Green Hydrogen Production System for zero-emission refuelling Christchurch-headquartered cryocooler developer AFCryo in conjunction with Clean Power Hydrogen (CPH2) has unveiled its Green Hydrogen Production System to provide a cheaper and more reliable way of generating green hydrogen from renewable sources for refuelling transport, generating power and industrial use. The revolutionary system, which splits water into pure hydrogen and medical grade oxygen without the polymer membrane used in common electrolysers, combines AFCryo’s world-leading cryogenic technology for gas separation and hydrogen liquefaction with unique and patented Membrane-Free Electrolyser technology from UK manufacturer CPH2.

AFCryo and CPH2 have signed a landmark agreement to collaboratively develop and market the on-demand green hydrogen and oxygen production system. AFCryo is set to ship its first production unit to CPH2 in the UK, for integration with its electrolyser technology, for a commission to deliver Ireland’s first 1MW (megawatt) electrolyser-based system to produce pure hydrogen and oxygen. Christopher Boyle, Managing Director and co-founder of AFCryo, says the company is on a mission to add hydrogen to the global energy network to help governments, businesses and energy consumers reach bold emission reduction targets.

Christopher Boyle, Managing Director and co-founder of AFCryo.

Jetkrate creates export opportunities for food manufacturers Freight consolidation service, Jetkrate, makes it easier for Kiwi food retailers to enter export markets and remove the need for intermediaries. In a first for the country, start-up business Jetkrate offers a small parcel, freight consolidation service which allows consumers to purchase goods from Kiwi businesses and have them shipped to an Auckland address - where they are repacked and sent as one package to any offshore market. The service replaces the daigou (personal shopper) channel which uses personal shoppers to purchase commodities from local retailers and ship them to customers in China as well as reduce the cost of freight for ex-pat Kiwis living overseas. Varun Khetrapal, Jetkrate co-founder, says the daigou channel is inefficient and lacks transparency. “There are two major barriers to Asian consumers

shopping directly here for products like Manuka honey, dairy, wine and woollen clothing. “The first is not all NZ retailers ship overseas or if they do, the shipping costs become prohibitively expensive if customers are buying across multiple businesses. “The second is about trust; in the same way New Zealanders might struggle to identify suitable online retailers to buy from in a country they have never visited, Chinese buyers rely on personal shoppers to select a supplier on their behalf. “The new consolidation service removes the shipping barrier and makes it easier to get goods overseas once purchased - that allows the retailer to concentrate on building confidence levels across their customer base. “The concept isn’t right for a business like Fonterra which is a B2B marketing body but we believe it does have potential under a business-to-consumer model.”

Digital Boost looks after small businesses The Digital Boost skills training initiative aims to make on-the-go digital education more easily accessible through a Digital Boost Live app.

In response, access to support via mental health support services, such as Clearhead, are now available to all Digital Boost users.

The Mind Lab built the free Digital Boost Live app for iPhone and Android in partnership with The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) on the back of a new Better for Business report, which evaluated the impact that Digital Boost has had on the small businesses participating in the initiative.

“More than ever, small businesses need to adapt to digital demands and our research confirms they know this too, with 83 percent of businesses surveyed indicating the importance of becoming more digital in order for their business to survive,” says Valintine, who is also the founder of the company.

Motivated, more small businesses now have a website since Digital Boost began this year.

The Digital Boost Live app is an extension of digitalboost. co.nz, with added features such as a real-time view of learning progress, podcasts, push notifications, and a single sign-on.

Digital Boost Live is designed to work for busy small business operators who need up-to-date digital information in the palm of their hand. The Mind Lab CEO Frances Valintine says her team is acutely aware of the pressures small business operators are currently facing with Covid-19 alert level fluctuations.

• Podcasts with business owners. • Hundreds of downloadable learning summaries. • Case studies featuring Kiwi small business owners. • Live Q&A sessions with experts and past recordings. Digital Boost Live is available for free now on the App Store and Google Play.

The Digital Boost Live app provides access to:

• Over 500 short three-to-five minute learning videos, including how to use digital marketing to increase sales, real world case studies and Q&A sessions with experts.

Hey Yabble Hey Yabble is an artificial intelligence-powered super engine, revolutionising the speed and efficiency by which data is transformed into rich insightful knowledge. Comprised of cutting edge AI tools and algorithms, the New Zealand-made market research insights product allows businesses to save hours in data analysis, dramatically improving productivity and allowing them to use their data smarter. CEO of Hey Yabble, Kathryn Topp says “Hey Yabble is a “disruptive” market research tool, changing the way we traditionally approach market research.

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“By combining five different technologies and more than 20 years of market research expertise amongst our team, we are extremely proud to have been able to deliver a first-in-class AI powered insights generator that will impact the industry and businesses, both big and small, around the world.” On average, an expert coder would take approximately 3.3 hours to handle 1000 survey responses. Hey Yabble can process the same data in just 47 seconds and provides a full analysis of the coded data with an insight report of its findings and actionable priorities.

Innovators 2021 Industry-led quality assurance scheme reaches new heights Industry-led quality assurance initiative Steel Fabrication Certification (SFC) recently welcomed the fiftieth qualified member to its ranks.

used on projects.

It means that approximately 88 percent of the structural steel sector’s annual output is now produced by companies that are certified to manufacture structural steelwork in line with international best practice.

Scott Miller, Principal at Silvester Clark Consulting Engineers, agrees: “With compliance, quality and traceability of product being of high importance and a concern to parties in the construction industry, SFC certainly gives us confidence that the end product will be as specified at completion.”

“SFC remains a cornerstone of our structural steel industry’s quality and compliance activities,” says Darren O’Riley, General Manager, Steel Construction NZ (SCNZ).

The scheme also enjoys national coverage, says Mr O’Riley. “There are SFC-qualified structural steel fabricators throughout the country, from Whangarei to Dunedin.

“We’re delighted to say that there is increasing recognition of the scheme amongst specifiers, particularly structural engineers, who value SFC’s ability to provide certainty of product quality and significantly reduced compliance risk.”

“No matter where in New Zealand a project is being rolled out, there is a certified structural steel contractor with the appropriate personnel and quality management systems in place to deliver projects to global best practice.”

Vijay Patel, Beca’s Technical Director – Structural Engineering, says that SFC provides him with confidence in the quality and compliance of the materials being

Recognising experience and training is central to the SFC scheme and is based on the competency requirements of the personnel involved.

SCNZ and the Heavy Engineering Research Association (HERA) have partnered to develop training modules to support the success of SFC. Participating structural steel contractors are certified by an independent auditing authority, HERA Certifications. Certification is valid for five years but is subject to an annual surveillance audit to ensure the integrity of the independent scheme.

Construction materials made from mushrooms and food waste Biohm uses natural vegetative material to ‘grow’ insulation panels. It has also developed a new type of composite material that is 100% biodegradable and vegan. Biohm was one of 17 companies in The Circulars Accelerator Cohort 2021. What if we could use waste or carbon-negative materials to make buildings? Biohm,a ‘biomanufacturing’ company is doing just that, creating building materials from mushrooms, orange peel, cocoa husks and other food waste.

They have developed an alternative to wood-based sheet materials made from waste by-products from the food or agricultural sectors. Called Orb, the composite material is 100% biodegradable and vegan and can be moulded into shapes. It has also developed a world-first insulation panel made from mycelium – the white, thread-like roots that grow from fungus. The natural mushroom fibres can outperform some insulation products.

Red Steel - a story of resilience Structural steel contractor Red Steel has a story of resilience to tell that stretches back 90 years to the Napier earthquake of 1931. Red Steel’s head office and manufacturing facility, which was completed in 2014, features reused 90-year-old structural steel that originally formed part of the Napier rebuild. In 1931 the steel was on a ship from England and destined for use on the Sydney Harbour Bridge but was diverted to Hawke’s Bay to help with the region’s rebuild.

be melted down, our team derigged the rolled steel joists beam by beam. “The beams were in excellent condition and perfectly suited for reuse in the construction of our planned new Pandora-based headquarters,” says Red Steel Managing Director Bob Hawley. In all, the new facility has 90 tonnes of structural steel, of which the repurposed steel makes up 12 percent. “None of the original steel was wasted – offcuts of the material were used to create furniture for our reception area and office space,” says Hawley

The steel was first used in the construction of woolstores located on Napier’s foreshore, now known as Ahuriri.

Steel boasts strong sustainability credentials, key of which is its recyclability.

Worldwide, it is estimated that 90 percent of steel from demolition sites is returned to steel mills for recycling.

When the woolstores were converted to apartments, the steel was decommissioned, giving Red Steel the opportunity to claim the material and repurpose it for its new facility.

“Steel can be recycled and reused endlessly without compromising its remarkable physical properties. The material can also be dismantled and removed from one building and repurposed and installed in another without altering its performance,” says Hawley.

Organised by the World Green Building Council, World Green Building Week is the world’s largest campaign to accelerate sustainable buildings globally.

“Rather than sending the material to the scrap yard to

Red Steel was a finalist in the Excellence in Steel Awards for its work on the Hawke’s Bay Airport expansion.

Advanced NZ-made filter media kills coronavirus NanoLayr has developed and launched an innovative filter media for face masks and air filtration systems that kills bacteria and viruses, including the Human coronavirus 229E. NanoLayr, a deep tech manufacturer specialising in nanofibre production at scale, has added manuka oil to its patented nanofibre filter product FilterLayr, to create a N95 rated filter media. The properties of the manuka as well as the high surface area of the nanofibres, means that FilterLayr is one of the most effective filter media in the market.

NanoLayr testing has shown FilterLayr with manuka infused nanofibres kills 99% of bacteria as well as bacteriophage. Independent testing has also shown FilterLayr to be effective in killing/inhibiting the Covid-19 surrogate virus, Human coronavirus 229E and further testing on similar viruses such as Covid-19 is underway. NanoLayr CEO Ray Connor says the development is a breakthrough in the fight against future pandemics, as FilterLayr can be produced at large scale to help meet global demand for face masks.

NanoLayr CEO, Ray Connor

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Analysis What gets measured gets managed Ian Walsh, Managing Director, Intent Group

I have recently visited a couple of companies and was surprised to see little, if any, data collection in real time. What’s more surprising is that many SMEs don’t even have good in-process data collection. “Oh, that old chestnut”, I hear you say. It is fundamental to any improvement program to have a good understanding of what is going on in your process. Yet here we are nearly in 2022 with a significant number of companies having little-to-no structured data collection to manage their processes. What’s even more criminal is that in this new technology-enabled Internet-of-Things (IoT), industry 4.0 stage, that there really is no excuse. There are many off-the-shelf systems that can be installed, connected up and set going in just an afternoon! These aren’t expensive either – compared to the cost of manual collection, they pay for themselves many times over in a year, not only in the time saved, but also in the quality of information provided. The critical thing with many processes is that many of the “losses” (time, quality defects, lost product and other wastes) are not easily visible as you move further and further from the process. The quality of the data available therefore becomes more and more critical to driving improvement efforts and maximising the best use of your critical resources. The best manual systems can achieve up to 95% accuracy, but most are operating in the 70-90% range and this require overhead to maintain. The issue with these systems is that the data that is usually not captured is the high-frequency short-duration stops. Of course, the low-frequency long-duration stops (like mechanical breakdowns) everyone knows about

because everything has stopped. The short duration, high frequency stops however, is more like death by a thousand cuts.

because there was no downtime recorded due to this conveyor.

It seems barely worth recording when it takes just as long to record as it does to fix! The operator or process owner repairs the problem, resets the process and away we go until it happens again!

The operators were frustrated, and this had been going on for 4 years. It took just 2 days to solve.

And again, and again, and again… Because manual systems are so poor at capturing this data, it’s not prioritised and therefore not addressed, even becoming accepted as “just the way it is”. The problem with this is that because these stops are recurrent, they are easy to observe and usually easy to fix. The benefit for fixing them is received almost immediately, so these are the problems you want to address first. Empirical data gives you the case for tackling these issues and getting support from the affected teams to fix them, which in turn makes the repair process easier and more impactful, as well as giving it the priority it deserves. Information is critical to give visibility to plant performance and priorities. I went to a plant in the UK where one process stopped 455 times in an 8-hour shift and was the bottleneck on the whole process – that’s nearly once per minute. The operator, intervened every time to lift a fallen bottle, replace the guard and hit the restart. No downtime was recorded for the entire shift. Nothing was done as the management were unaware

Another critical area to have good data around is the process running speed. Speed loss is invisible downtime as the process is still running everything looks ok, but if you are going at half speed your biggest loss is process speed. This can vary depending on the process, human or mechanical systems and product mix. Every business, however, should know what each process’s potential is to measure their true efficiency and identify gaps. Without this visibility you will not know why the process has been slowed down and what problem is the causing the team to do this. All of these losses are very hard to address without good data capture systems in place reporting on a shift-by-shift basis at minimum, and real-time at best. Of course, simply just having the data will not make your business world class by itself, but having no data will guarantee that outcome. As the old axiom says, what gets measured gets managed. If you want to know more about some of the available solutions, I am happy to share my experience. Drop me a line. iwalsh@intentgroup.co.nz

NZIER study finds major economic gains across the supply chain A report from the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) finds that digital trade solutions have the potential to drive fundamental changes in the supply chain and unlock economic benefits equivalent to a major trade agreement for every country pairing that adopts digital trade. The report titled “Digital Trade is the way forward for New Zealand,” was commissioned by TradeWindow to quantify the possible economic benefits from increased adoption of digital trade. The study found that a further NZ$9-18 billion of value could be unlocked over 10 years by trade between New Zealand and its APEC trading partners if digital trade is more fully adopted. NZIER’s Chris Nixon said the New Zealand Government is making positive strides towards operationalising digital trade initiatives. “Our report highlights there is a long way to go to realise the full benefits of digital trade globally, however more trade agreements are starting to take account of international digital transactions, with a number including binding commitments on data flows. “Emerging international agreements, such as the Digital Economic Partnership Agreement - DEPA which includes NZ, Chile, Singapore and hopefully

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soon South Korea and Canada are among the pace-setters on this,” he says. The report notes that China has recently formally requested to join the other members and applicants of DEPA, and that the economic case is strong for it to do so. NZIER quantifies possible economic gains of NZ$405 million - $1,584 million per year in the New Zealand-China trade lane alone through the adoption of digital trade. The 28-page report identifies an array of gains from the increased adoption of digital trade. These include: • productivity gains from moving away from paper-based systems • connectivity gains as digital systems for building trust break down long standing cultural and regulatory barriers • predictive gains from being able to ‘foresee’ supply and demand with greater accuracy and plan accordingly • visibility gains – enhancing security and certainty of provenance; and • inclusiveness gains – enabling smaller and less sophisticated exporters and importers to get started sooner, easier and more safely in global trade.

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“It comes as no surprise to those working in the supply chain that the cost reductions are significant. Recent examples showed that a single shipment could pass through thirty different organisations, with up to two hundred communications about that shipment. “These communications are impeded if they use systems that do not talk to each other, e.g., pieces of paper. If a form is missing or there is a problem with some information, then delays are inevitable,” Mr Nixon said. Mr Nixon says the benefits of digital trade have been particularly apparent during the pandemic and this has increased the openness of exporters – large and small – to adopt digital solutions for trade documentation. “The benefits of digital trade solutions have been brought into stark contrast during the pandemic when it has not been possible to deliver the right paper (with wet signatures and stamps) to the right ports in the appropriate timeframe,” he says. “If we can increase understanding through outreach programmes to MSMEs and SMEs and demonstrate the value of digital trade, we will begin to realise that the cost reductions are truly significant.”

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The Interview Tellfrankie.com Georgie Fenwicke, CEO and Founder What do you do? Frankie is a Property and Operations Control Centre to get ahead of downtime and breakdowns. We build worldclass software that gets Ops teams and technicians/contractors on the same page.

Create simple data driven decision making in a complex world of manufacturing and property maintenance Areas of activity? Potential growth areas?

Is yours a growing business?

We’re going Global!

Absolutely - we launched in 2020 through the first covid winter. That sounds a bit dark, but for us - it was extremely valuable as we were able to build a really useful product with our customers.

How difficult is it to get the staff required?

Why did your business start? Operational chaos and complexity of managing property and equipment at scale on budget. We experienced the tools first hand and knew there was a better way. What opportunities do you see? Improve maintenance dollars spent and reduce downtime Increase productivity and revenue for contractors

Staff incentives in place? We’re building a worldclass team at Frankie and have a mixture of Kiwis and American-Kiwis. Sam Minnee, former CEO/CTO of Silverstripe just joined on and in 2022 - we’re looking for great minds in Operations and Software Engineering We have a strong belief in ownership and getting s*** done at Frankie. Our remuneration is a combination of salary + ESOP Do you export? We’re just getting started here! What do you do?

I’m the CEO and founder. My background was working in Supply Chain and then transport tech at Uber and Lime. I’m fascinated by workflow at a micro and macro scale and how it has the ability to level up how cities and businesses operate How do you see the current business climate? Positive and full of opportunity in the right places. You only have to start a discussion with a manufacturer in NZ or Australia to get into some pretty fascinating areas of automation, logistics, parts inventories and people strategy. People in the industry know where the gaps are - we just need to work together to solve them at scale.

Four steps for developing a successful IT infrastructure monitoring concept By Sebastian Krueger, Vice President for Asia Pacific at Paessler AG IT and traditional engineering environments don’t tend to be bundled together rather one tends to be a support extension that allows the other to work more productively.

2. Segment the network

However, as more New Zealand companies embark on their digital transformation, more businesses are increasingly relying on multi-cloud strategies, diverse applications and complex infrastructures to drive business outcomes and enhance outputs.

Define points of measurement

With the many layers and complexities, analysing performance and reliability is increasingly difficult. IT Monitoring should be at the core of IT environments of any size, but observability becomes even more crucial in larger environments that feature more than 1,000 monitored devices and applications – such as manufacturing. If large New Zealand enterprises optimise and organise their monitoring better they will save time and money while delivering better IT services to their employees, partners, suppliers and customers. A good way of looking at it is, if IT is the foundation of large organisations, then monitoring is the insurance for their IT. To ensure business continuity, IT teams have had to adapt several IT strategies, from expanding VPN capacity to finding different ways of doing unified communications (UC). Gartner says that SD-WAN solutions will serve two to three per cent of the global remote workforce by the end of 2021, driven by the need to improve and secure work-from-home connectivity. Monitoring is a vital but complex task in large enterprises, in order to create a successful concept for monitoring a large IT infrastructure, these four steps are crucial to developing a successful monitoring concept: 1. Define points of measurement, thresholds, and alerts

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3. Build a centralised overview 4. Define response teams and set up notifications Prior to planning a monitoring architecture, it is important to understand the entire environment. And at the core of that, organisations will need to know how many points of measurement they have. Obviously, the more points of measurement there are, the more processing power and planning will be required for their monitoring concept. For everything they want to monitor, there will be several points of measurement. If they want to monitor devices themselves, they will need to monitor things like device temperature, fan speed, storage remaining, CPU power, or other metrics that might be relevant. Define thresholds To give each point of measurement a meaning, they need to define thresholds. So not only do they need to know what they want to measure but they need to define an accepted range of operation for each component they are monitoring. Examples of thresholds: a device shouldn’t get hotter than a specific temperature, available storage should not get below 10% and so on. When thresholds are exceeded, an alert is triggered and the relevant teams are notified. Segment the network In large networks, it’s not feasible to simply have potentially thousands or even tens of thousands of polling engines all over the network sending data back to one central monitoring server. Rather, they will need to logically segment their infrastructure. Build a centralised overview Regardless of how the monitoring is set up, enterprises will probably have several monitoring

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servers collecting data from different parts of their infrastructure. It is imperative that they put it all together so that it can help them manage their entire IT infrastructure all from one central point. The way to do this is to create dashboards with an overview of the infrastructure so they can see immediately if there are potential or current issues. Depending on how they segment the network, they might be able to manage everything from one location, in which case one central dashboard providing an overall summary would make sense. Alternatively, they might have sites administered separately, each with their own separate dashboards. Define response teams and set up notifications In order to manage a large IT infrastructure, the IT department is often divided into areas of competencies and they will have separate teams for different functions. For example, one team might be responsible for the online storefront, another team for the email services, and so on. These teams would of course be responsible for monitoring their respective areas, too. Developing a successful IT monitoring concept To develop a successful IT infrastructure monitoring concept, enterprises should define the user groups according to the areas that they focus on. Then, they need to define notifications for failures in those areas to go to the specific teams that need to know. This sophisticated level of proactive monitoring ensures full observability for enterprise IT infrastructures, allowing them to predict or identify performance problems before they become urgent and ensures that network resources always operate as intended.

ADVISORS 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.

Iain Hosie

Iain Hosie, NanoLayr, Technical Director and Founder Iain is the co-Founder and Technical Director of Revolution Fibres. Iain has been deeply involved in nanofibre production and the development of many unique nanofibre products in the past ten years. Iain co-founded Revolution Fibres in 2009 and led the business since 2012, taking it from a small start-up to a recognszed leader in nanofibre production. Iain has recently moved to the Technical Director role – with a focus on keeping Revolution Fibres at the forefront of textiles innovation.

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.

Georgina Fenwicke

After working in fast paced Supply Chain and Transport teams at Deloitte and Uber EMEA, Georgina Fenwicke founded Frankie in February 2020. Frankie is an Operations Control Centre for Industrious Property Teams to maintain assets and equipment at scale with their contractors. They work with Industrial, Education and Food processing clients across New Zealand.

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ToolBox suite gives laser job shops a boost for industry 4.0 A new laser cutting and fabrication quoting tool suite is being introduced to Australasia and Asia-Pacific to save job shops time, and keep quotes accurate and consistent, no matter who is preparing them. The ToolBox digital tool kit from Tempus Tools Inc turns a CAD drawing into an accurate quote in seconds, and the time saved can be used to allow laser job shop staff and resources to be reallocated into areas such as business growth. Toolbox can also provide an innovative 3D unfolding service, whereby it can be fed full 3D schematics of a product and it will select precisely all the 2D sheet metal surfaces required to be cut by a laser workshop. It’s also possible to create the drawing without using any CAD software, using Toolbox’s Quick Part parametric parts library. Quick Part has a broad range of customisable parts, including brackets, flanges, gussets, and plates that can be adjusted to the specific needs of the user.

“ToolBox is designed to put the tools in the hands of small laser cutting and fabrication workshops that are looking to grow their business. It helps with cleaning drawings, part creation or extraction, and laser cutting calculations, so the business can quote more jobs and expand its operations,” says Mr Felipe Lechuga, President, Tempus Tools. “With the shift to Industry 4.0, slow quoting processes just aren’t competitive anymore, so job shops need new tools to get the job done faster, more accurately, and with total consistency,” says Mr Lechuga.

by manually inputting parameters, or by selecting fold or bed lines directly from the CAD drawing for calculation,” explains Mr Lechuga. “Using ToolBox’s simple, user-friendly interface, users can feed these useful calculations into ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), MRP (Material Resource Planning) and other systems quicker,” he said. “And, you don’t need someone with a highly specialised CAD skillset. Anyone in the business can use ToolBox to create fast, accurate and consistent quotes.”

The laser cutting market is growing due to its importance to vital industries such as automotive, aviation, architectural and construction products, defense, engineering electrical, manufacturing, metals, mining and energy, shipbuilding and textiles.

In addition to the suite of new tools being released, Mr Lechuga says Tempus Tools will provide the service and back-up to assist job shops with getting the most out of their new software.

“Customers in these demanding industries need fast quotes. ToolBox empowers job shops, particularly smaller ones, to win more projects through quicker turnaround times,” says Mr Lechuga.

Time-saving Tools

ToolBox allows the user to select shapes, sizes, quantities and materials, and can also provide a folding quotation service by calculating the estimated time to run the press brake for the part’s requirements. Key parameters are all configurable by the user.

The new Tempus Tools ToolBox suite is comprised of four key time-saving and labour-saving components: Drawing Doctor, Quick Part, 3D Model Sheet Metal Extractor, Calculation “The culmination of these tools is that the job shop can create a fast quote, send it out to the customer with their branding, and continue generating more new business,” says Mr Lechuga.

“Configuring parts for folding can be done either

Siemens adds NVH system prediction capabilities to Simcenter Siemens Digital Industries Software’s system NVH prediction, is a new Simcenter software application that can bring the benefits of a comprehensive digital twin approach to accurately and easily predict the interior and exterior Noise, Vibration and Harshness (NVH) performance of a vehicle before a physical prototype is available for any type of vehicle: hybrid, fully electric or internal combustion engine (ICE). This application helps engineers front load full vehicle NVH analysis and detect potential component NVH performance issues earlier by using measured and simulated component models to build a virtual prototype assembly. Simcenter is part of Xcelerator, Siemens’ integrated portfolio of software, services and application development platform. In today’s fast-moving automotive manufacturing market, NVH engineers need a new level of tools to carry out the in-depth analysis required to optimise performance. Electrification means the powertrains of today (and tomorrow) are much quieter than ICE units, so they won’t mask noise sources such as tires or auxiliaries including HVAC systems and wipers. Meanwhile, the need for greater numbers of variants

NZ Manufacturer December 2021

means that building physical prototypes for every variant within a reasonable timeframe and budget is impossible.

This systems-based approach allows rapid reuse of available data and expertise by a much wider community of users within an organization.

Simcenter uses a systems-engineering approach to enable the rapid creation of multiple vehicle variants. System-level component models based on test and/ or simulation data are created by NVH experts and published to a library.

By enabling non experts to conduct performance prediction studies, it facilitates NVH performance assessments to be carried out at all stages of vehicle development.

These take advantage of the latest technology, such as component-based transfer path analysis which allows engineers to characterise the NVH sources independently from the final receiver, to ensure that they are validated, scalable and reliable. These validated components can then be rapidly assembled by non-NVH experts to represent a new variant and performance assessment can begin, reducing set-up times to a matter of minutes.

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Improving energy efficiency For most businesses, it’s becoming more and more critical to understand energy output. In 2019, Argosy (with a portfolio consisting of fifty-five industrial, office and retail properties) set the following sustainability goals: • Obtaining independent energy efficiency ratings on all office buildings by 2022, and working towards achieving both Green Star and NABERSNZ ratings • Collecting energy consumption data (electricity, water and gas) in a consistent and accessible way.

Solution? Quasar – a Schneider Electric partner and the leading supplier and integrator of advanced energy and power quality monitoring systems (and a certified Schneider Electric EcoXpert™ ‘Master’ for these types of systems in New Zealand). Quasar was able to provide Argosy with a reliable and consistent platform that will grow with the company, and provide them with the information they need to inform stakeholders whilst they deliver on their energy efficiency goals. This energy management system, is able to provide energy consumption and efficiency data across all of Argosy’s commercial property portfolio. “We have a number of buildings in our portfolio with four already certified and others in the process of becoming NABERSNZ and Green Star rated,” said Saatyesh Bhana, Head of Sustainability at Argosy.

the client due to the way they account for costs throughout their portfolio. 3. This allows each building to be assessed and priced separately over time using the one overall design strategy. The system consists of a number of connected devices which send information to power monitoring software. Argosy is then able to log in and view energy data for twelve properties with more being added regularly. They can view near real-time information via a suite of dashboards and comprehensive reports that categorise consumption data into a range of measures.

Argosy is now able to easily export then submit for the rating process. Key benefits: • A consolidated system - stakeholders can access data for all buildings in one place. • Trusted data. Two-stage validation implemented. • Able to set energy reduction targets now that baseline energy usage has been established. • Notification of abnormal usage - allows teams to investigate and rectify issues. • Ease of generating reports to meet energy efficiency ratings - data is exported in the required format saving time.

Historical data is also saved, allowing the client to compare present and past usage.

• Achieving energy efficiency ratings – properties have received 5-star Green Star ratings.

The energy information is also normalised into per square metre and per workstation to allow efficiencies to be compared across the portfolio.

• Ability to attract higher-quality tenants for longer lease periods.

Reports have also been created that meet the reporting requirements for NABERSNZ and Green Star.

Quasar is all about providing businesses with intelligent data and solutions to enable them to reduce costs, maximise operations and meet business goals.

“We needed a system that would allow us to easily view the relevant data for each building in our portfolio. Quasar’s consolidated portal system was a perfect solution for us”. Saatyesh also said “Partnering with Quasar has allowed us to measure that energy usage and know where we are using it. The system goes further to monitor and advise of abnormal usage to allow maintenance teams to investigate and rectify issues in an efficient manner”. Quasar’s approach centred on two key points: 1. Designing a customised solution to fit the client’s needs now and into the future and presented data appropriate to their company structure. This incorporated a mixture of real-time and historical-only connections depending on the building, and extensive use of the digital product’s hierarchies to slice the data in a variety of ways. 2. A solution of a base build of the product with just one building in stage one and further buildings added over time. This was more beneficial for

Argosy Building, 107 Carlton Gore Road, Auckland.

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IN 2021 NZ report card 2021 Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato As school and university students ponder their end-of-year results, it’s only fair we cast a critical eye over the country, too. Using international and domestic indices and figures, it’s possible to get an idea of how well – or poorly – New Zealand has done in 2021. It’s not definitive or exhaustive, of course, but it might help provide a bit of perspective after what has been, most people will surely agree, a trying and tiring year of social, political and economic self-analysis.

Domestically, New Zealand recorded better-than-expected results on four fronts:

Must do better

• unemployment continued to fall, hitting 3.4% in September, better than most comparable OECD countries

The global good news

• by mid-year, median weekly earnings from wages and salaries had increased by NZ$32 (3%) to $1,093 compared to the previous year

Undeniably, the most negative trends involved housing and poverty. In the year to June, average house price growth (already high by international standards) was clocked at 25.9%. Good for some, maybe many, but terrible for the young and others locked out of the housing market by extreme prices.

The Global Peace Index ranked NZ third for safety and security, domestic and international conflict, When it came to being corruption-free, New Zealand was equal top of the class (with Denmark), according to Transparency International. The Index for Economic Freedom (which covers everything from property rights to financial freedom) puts NZ second (behind Singapore but up from third last year). The Global Peace Index ranked NZ third for safety and security, domestic and international conflict,and degree of militarisation (down one place). Watchdog Freedom House scored NZ 99 out of 100 – three Scandinavian countries scored a perfect 100. The Global Gender Gap Report recorded a rise from sixth to the fourth most gender-equal country. The World Justice Project’s Rule of Law Index has NZ at seventh-best in the world. The Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index ranked NZ eighth. NZ was the ninth-most-cheerful country, according to the World Happiness Report, behind eight European and Scandinavian nations, and we were equal sixth (down from second) for internet affordability, availability, readiness and relevance, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit.

National progress

• while still comparatively (and unacceptably) high, suicides decreased in the year to July 2021, down to from 628 the year before • the most up-to-date police reports suggested crimes against people and property had declined by 6.6% over the whole of 2020. On the other hand, those crime statistics still represent a total of 265,162 “victimisations” (73% against property, 27% against people), still too high. Similarly, improvements to wages and salaries are being offset by rising inflation, now at an annual rate of 4.9%. But despite increased social tensions due to pandemic restrictions and mandates, the country’s official terrorism threat level remained “medium” in 2021. And incarceration rates seem to be dropping, with a prisoner population of 8,034 (as of September 2021), a drop of more than 1,400 on the year before.

The not-so-good news For life expectancy, education and income, NZ comes in 14th according to the latest Human Development Index. We fell a spot to 20th in the 2021 Global Competitiveness Report, but stayed at 26th place on the Global Innovation Index. According to the latest (2020) Yale Environmental Performance Index, which measures environmental health and ecosystem vitality, NZ ranks 19th – which is at least higher than our ratings on climate change. The Climate Action Tracker, an independent scientific analysis that measures 39 countries plus the EU, gave NZ an overall (pre-COP 26) assessment of “highly insufficient”. The Climate Change Performance Index pegged us at 35th place (down seven). Maybe New Zealand’s COP 26 pledges will reverse this poor showing. Finally, having set a global gold standard for its Covid-19 response, NZ struggled to equitably roll out vaccination to Māori and also dipped in the Bloomberg Covid resilience index to 32nd. But these rankings have been highly volatile, and we may find our accelerated vaccination rate, combined with still-stringent border restrictions as the Omicron variant spreads, propel us back up the charts.

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An estimated 102,000 people are now living in severe housing deprivation, including 3,624 without shelter, 7,929 in temporary accommodation, 31,171 in severely crowded dwellings and 60,000 in sub-standard housing (lacking one of six basic amenities such as tap water or a toilet). New Zealand’s child poverty rate remains above the OECD average. While the numbers have decreased according to the various measures used, this still meant 18.4% of all children – around 210,500, or one in five – were living in households with less than 50% of the median disposable income. Slight improvements in the numbers living with material hardship were also recorded. But this may well have reversed due to the impact of the pandemic, with estimates of up to 18,000 more children ending up in poverty in the 12 months to March 2021. At the other end of the scale, someone in the wealthiest 1% of adults (about 40,000 citizens) now has a net worth 68 times that of the typical (median) New Zealander. Wealth inequality remains stubbornly high. In short, while New Zealand can claim some bragging rights in important areas, there is less to celebrate when it comes to the lives and fortunes of many of its citizens. As ever, the final verdict has to be: room for improvement.

As ever, the final verdict has to be: room for improvement.

New Products Flexible operating concept allows a clear view in construction machinery Construction sites can be daunting, given all the machines, material and people. Keeping track of everything is difficult. A flexible new operating concept for driver’s cabs from Gessmann helps to ensure that operators always have the best possible overview of their surroundings. Because the igus tribo-plastics used in the machinery require no lubricants or maintenance and therefore it remains reliable over a long period of time. The fact that there are no road traffic regulations on construction sites makes it all the more important for construction machine drivers to have good all-round visibility. This is not always easy, especially with particularly wide excavators or wheel loaders, whose field of vision is very limited. To achieve a full view of his surroundings, the driver must stop the vehicle and leave his seat. Gessmann’s operating concept focuses on offering the driver maximum flexibility by shifting his control station and using igus linear technology makes lubrication and maintenance unnecessary. Durable solution for a wide range of machines During development, the objectives of W. Gessmann GmbH were clear: the driver’s seat needed to rotate around its own axis and to move transversely in the direction of travel. The operator was to be able to change position within seconds in order to have an overview of the entire machine environment, again as quickly as possible. In addition to the high degree of flexibility, the seat operation must also withstand the harsh construction

site conditions and require minimal maintenance. The designers therefore used drylin linear technology from igus. The tribologically optimised high-performance plastics are light, corrosion-free and, most importantly, require no external lubrication. This increases service life in the moving application, dirt will not stick to the bearing point. This was also the conclusion the Gessmann developers reached after initial tests. The design was originally to be guided with recirculating ball bearings and a stainless steel guide shaft. The hardened steel balls rolled over the ground stainless steel guide, so the system was not optimal for the planned application due to the construction machines vibrating. This can cause the steel balls to damage the stainless steel shaft, increasing shifting force and greatly reducing service life. The designers used a far more cost-effective system, drylin W guide rail and drylin hybrid double roller bearings. The drylin W series require a small installation space, meaning that the guide system can be mounted below the machine floor. This protects the system from the weather and contamination. Varied igus construction machinery range Over 20,000 customers worldwide in the construction machinery sector are already capitalising on these advantages. Wear-resistant plain bearings for heavy-duty applications can be found in excavators, wheel loaders, and telescopic handlers. Available directly from stock or as a custom-made product. For example, igus has introduced the new

In the Gessmann displacement system, lubrication-free igus linear technology prevents dust and dirt from sticking.

iglidur TX2 slide bearings this year for use in bearing points subject to particularly high loads. The high-strength composite fibre construction with incorporated solid lubricants ensures low-friction and a maintenance-free operation. By eliminating external lubrication means that no greases are released into the environment. In addition to bearing technology, energy chains such as the E4.1 ensure cable protection and guidance in the construction machinery sector, in such applications as handling excavators, telescopic handlers, and drills. Treotham also offers UV-resistant and temperature-resistant igus cables for dynamic continuous movements. The service life of all components can be calculated. Online tools that can be used free of charge are available for this purpose on the igus website. They are freely accessible.

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New Products Cost-effective automation: igus presents the world’s lightest cobot Automation made very easy: with the new ReBeL, Treotham now presents a plastic cobot from igus that weighs only ten kilograms. Together with low costs, low maintenance and simple operation, the ReBeL makes new innovative ideas in service robotics feasible for smaller companies and start-ups – from installed use on agricultural drones up to mobile support as household help. In nursing, in dispensing machines, in the field or in factories, collaborative lightweight robots can help automate monotonous tasks. To enable interactive service robotics concepts to be implemented quickly and inexpensively, igus has developed the new generation of the ReBeL. The lightweight plastic robot has a fully integrated tribo strain wave gear with motor, encoder, force control and controller. Electronic components in the fully integrated strain wave gear allow human-robot collaboration to be possible (HRC). This is because the encoder technology enables forces and torque to be determined and limited via the motor current in combination with the angle measurement. For this, igus relies on a double encoder, in which a measurement is carried out in front of and behind the joint. This detects forces and torque levels and responds accordingly.

Plastics is a game changer in automation The use of plastic in the ReBeL results in an extremely compact, lightweight design. With a net weight of less than ten kilograms, the robot is the lightest

cobot on the market. Its payload is two kilograms and it has a reach of 700 millimetres. Thanks to the low starting price, the ReBeL can even be used in areas where the use of robotics was not previously worthwhile. Many new innovative ideas are now becoming feasible: from use in an automated guided vehicle system to use as a bartender. “Many young companies are currently showing what is possible with low cost automation,” says Alexander Mühlens, Head of Automation Technology at igus. “An example, in the textile industry, as at ADOTC. Here an igus articulated-arm robot undertakes the automatic feeding and removal of textile pieces to and from the sewing machine. Since energy prices for robots are comparable worldwide, this automated product is worthwhile.”

Entry barriers for robotics continue to fall In addition to the price, igus also lowers other entry hurdles such as complexity. For example, the new ReBeL, like the other articulated-arm, delta or linear robots from igus, can be tested and operated very easily.

Cost-effective, lightweight and easy for human-robot collaboration: the new igus ReBeL with polymer gearbox.

For this purpose, igus offers free control software. It is easy to define and simulate the movements of the robot quickly. This saves companies commissioning costs and makes them less dependent on integrators. Those who require further support can also make use of the new RBTXpert service, which helps in the selection of the right low cost automation solution. After a free online consultation with the RBTXpert, the suitable automation system can be tested. Based on the tests, the RBTXpert can then quote the customer with a price. This is made possible by the low cost automation marketplace RBTX.com where components, hardware and software from different manufacturers can be found. Among them are various robot kinematics, cameras, GUIs, grippers, power electronics, motors, sensors and control systems. In line with the “Build or Buy” approach, customers can configure individual components for their robot or ready-made robotics solutions and order them from Treotham.

Kemppi adds powerful 535 welding model to MasterTig range Kemppi, has released the latest addition to its MasterTig family – the MasterTig 535 ACDC GM. It is the most powerful TIG welding source in the Kemppi portfolio.

to help increase productivity. Welders select the material thickness, joint type and welding position so that Weld Assist can help them determine the best parameters for the welding task.

Apart from providing welders with greater choice, the 500A welder delivers excellent performance, welding characteristics and functionality.

It also provides recommendations for the electrode size, filler wire, gas flow, groove type, pass profile and travel speed.

The MasterTig 535 ACDC is a world-class solution that offers true mixed TIG capability so that welders can use the machine to weld a wide range of materials regardless of whether they are heavy or thin metals.

Welders can also weld up to 30% faster, thanks to the MasterTig 535’s Double Pulse function. Double pulse accelerates the travel speed in DC hand welding and mechanised applications. This not only allows welders to power through work, it reduces distortion levels and delivers excellent weld appearance.

The inverter welding power source has a maximum welding current of 500 A at 40% load and allows welding in AC TIG, DC TIG and MMA mode. The MasterTig 535 ACDC has been designed with the professional welder very much in mind. The machine has a large, easy-to-use, interactive digital display panel. What’s more, its Weld Assist feature lets welders’ setup faster

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Double Pulse also reduces heat input by 20%, helping to minimise welding costs. The machine’s MicroTack function lets welders complete multiple, repetitive tacking on thin sheet applications quickly and without forgoing quality or the visual appearance of the weld. The MasterTig 535 also features 99 memory channels so that users can set and save a range of parameters for fast retrieval. The ability to save customised settings means quick and easy set-up to help save precious time, while increasing productivity.

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Plus, the MasterTig 535 ACDC lets users enjoy the magic of wireless remote control. With the HR45 bluetooth handheld remote control or the FR45 wireless footswitch, users can control the welding power source and select memory channels from a distance of up to 100m. Other advanced features of the MasterTig 535 ACDC include iTEC, which is engineered ignition technology. This ensures a reliable arc start every time and is particularly useful with long torch extensions for site welding or precise thin materials and low current applications. The Optima AC feature is a customised waveform that combines the best of the traditional sine and square forms. It improves welding quality while reducing the noise level in AC TIG welding by 20%. The machine is also highly energy efficient. The new MasterTig Cooler MXL (1.7kW) features increased cooling capacity. Dynamic gas and water cooling ensure optimal temperature control and power efficiency. It is also built to last. Designed using strong, energy absorbing, recyclable plastics, the machine’s structure also incorporates impact bridges that protect the power source from everyday knocks.

Developments SAECOWilson now operating under Motion NZ SAECOWilson will be a key division of Motion New Zealand Limited in the first part of a major growth phase that includes the launch of its MiMotion Centre store in Dunedin. The change comes as SAECOWilson and other trading divisions, HCD Flow Technology, Seal Innovations Ltd (SIL), and Conveyor & Transmission (C&T) consolidate under parent company Motion New Zealand Limited.

The change is pivotal for the business as it continues to drive growth, meet increasing demand, and significantly increase capacity and efficiencies across the country.

It will make Motion New Zealand Limited – which has its roots in Wilson Bros, a company started in Invercargill in 1919 – the largest supplier of industrial parts and products locally.

Mark Forster, Executive General Manager Motion New Zealand Limited, says the name change and launch of Dunedin’s MiMotion Centre – a branch that will bring three trading divisions under one

roof (HCD Flow Technology, Seal Innovations and SAECOWilson) – is the start of a significant growth period. Motion New Zealand’s Dunedin MiMotion Centre is the first of its kind in New Zealand and is being used as a blueprint for the roll out of similar branches in Christchurch and Hamilton before the end of the year, with more locations planned in the future. “Our roots are in regional New Zealand and continuing to service customers locally is key to the business,” says Forster. Dunedin was chosen as the first Motion Centre because the three existing branches – SAECOWilson, HCD, and SIL – were already a sufficient size and covered a wide range of industries. The consolidation also includes upgrades to Motion New Zealand’s ERP system to enable it to provide a higher level of service and increase access to a wider range of products and inventory for customers across New Zealand.

Hydrothermally altered rocks changing the plumbing of our volcanoes Analysing rocks ejected from Whakaari has provided a better understanding of the hydrothermal changes of the rocks inside a volcano and the impact those changes could have on the behaviour of a volcano. Geoscientist Shreya Kanakiya, from the University of Auckland’s School of Environment, and co-authors recently had their EQC-funded research published by the American Geophysical Union (AGU) (Click here). The research identifies a complex change that happens to the chemical and physical properties of rocks, such as dissolving and forming new minerals, that can have an effect on the flow of volcanic fluids through them. They find that these changes occur differently in lavas and tuffs (porous rock) deep within a volcano’s interior. If hot fluids can easily circulate within the volcano, pressures below the surface are mostly released at fumaroles. The research however shows that hydrothermal alteration of porous rocks, alongside the immense pressure rocks undergo inside a volcano, can cause pathways to become reduced. If that flow gets blocked, fluid pressures can build up and potentially be released in explosive eruptions. Kanakiya and her fellow researchers also studied how the properties of these rocks change because of this alteration process, which could have an

impact on the strength of a volcano and can be used to constrain geophysical data used to monitor the volcano. “Volcanoes are extremely complex systems to characterise and monitor. The ability to help decrease this complexity by measuring different rock properties in the laboratory is something that inspires me,” Kanakiya says. EQC’s Research Manager Dr Natalie Balfour says the project is an important step in understanding more about volcanic risk in New Zealand. “This research gives new insight into how a volcano might build up to an eruption and provides extremely useful data for building a picture of how New Zealand volcanoes behave.” Kanakiya says that for her research, large sections of altered volcanic rocks were collected from the crater floor of Whakaari in 2018, which had ejected from inside the volcano during a previous eruption. “The research is motivated towards solving problems with a data-driven approach and assist in transforming geophysical images into rock physical properties to help scientists understand a volcano’s

plumbing system. “Understanding how hydrothermal alteration affects rocks in a volcano’s interior will aid geoscience researchers and hazard modellers with monitoring and understanding mechanisms for pressure build-up, and hopefully help to reduce risks and injuries,” Kanakiya says.

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NZ MANUFACTURER

FEATURES

How Covid has changed Australian manufacturing

February 2022 Issue

The pandemic has had a dramatic, global-scale impact on a variety of businesses and manufacturing has certainly not been spared.

CLIMATE CHANGE

However, while manufacturing in Australia is the subject of a targeted $475 million government drive to boot a dwindling industry, the country’s unique management of the Covid crisis has had some startling results.

INDUSTRY 4.0

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the country had managed to stabilise and begin to rebuild the total number of manufacturing jobs between 2015 to early 2020. Even with the disruption of Covid and the loss of 56,600 jobs in the latter half of 2020, the industry has not been as severely affected as most others.

ROBOTICS & AUTOMATION

The Alternative Path of a Pandemic Recession Previous Australian recessions have seen large declines in a variety of manufacturing industries. These include textiles, clothing, footwear, passenger car assembly and more. Recession during Covid has brought a very different landscape – mainly driven by the activity restrictions that have hit industries such as hospitality, travel and the arts the hardest.

RENEWABLE ENERGY

Manufacturing that concentrates on areas that support these related industries, such as beverage products and pulp, paper and converted paper products, have reported job losses of 10.2 per cent and 8.1 per cent respectively for the period from 14 March to 19 September 2020 (according to ABS-ATO payroll data).

Advertising Booking Deadline – 7 February 2022 Advertising Copy Deadline – 7 February 2022 Editorial Copy Deadline – 2 February 2022 Advertising – For bookings and further information contact: Doug Green, P O Box 1109, Hastings 4156, Hawke’s Bay Email: publisher@xtra.co.nz

This can be directly attributed to the closure of restaurants and hospitality venues for the former and the rise in home working for the latter. Conversely, the manufacturing of chemical and chemical-related products – for example, hand sanitiser and pharmaceuticals – has increased over the same period. The demand for personal care items and health supplements has risen, with many of these being made by local manufacturing firms.

Editorial material to be sent to : Doug Green, P O Box 1109, Hastings 4156, Hawke’s Bay Email: publisher@xtra.co.nz Tel: 06 870 9029

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NZ Manufacturer December 2021 /

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• Global stock shortages The ability to be able to manufacture vital goods on Australian soil has been dramatically highlighted as countries around the world have struggled to secure the items they require to supply their citizens with their needs. Because of this, many Australian manufacturers are reportedly thinking of reshoring production activities back onto home soil. This is apparent not only in the aforementioned chemical and pharmaceutical industries but also in those of machinery, metal products, building materials, furniture, wood and more. This represents a pivotal shift in the mindset towards and within our national manufacturing industry as a whole – and one that could be the turning point for the country’s future. As more funds are ploughed into the industry, the demand for local products increases and employment opportunities arise, and so too does Australia’s economic and social strength. There’s a long way to go to get back to the heyday of the 1950s, 60s and 70s when industry employment peaked at 1.46 million. While figures from October 2020 suggest that the Covid-19 recession might be transitioning to a more traditional path, the realisation that we need to ensure our internal ability to manufacture for our needs is a critical shift in attitude. While it might be hard to take any positives from the pandemic, perhaps the awareness that we need to decrease our dependence on globally sourced raw material and goods and channel efforts into those produced on Australian shores bodes well for the industry. Only time will tell if this comes to fruition – but the grassroots of change are showing, something that has the potential to benefit everyone who lives here. *Jason De Silveira is the founder and managing director of the custom robotics and tooling business Nexxis.

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NZ Manufacturer December 2021