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Manufacturing in the age of sustainability

For companies to be truly sustainable, they not only need to limit the impact of the manufacturing process but create products that benefit society, writes Iain Hosie.

Globally, the heat is on companies to continue to reduce waste and prioritise sustainability when developing or manufacturing products. Constantly fine-tuning processes and researching new, environmentally friendly methods is essential to making this change happen. So, using safer, less toxic solvents, or monitoring and changing production processes to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill, is great. But as a manufacturer, there is more to sustainability than being clean, green, and doing your bit for climate change. Key to being a sustainable business is creating a range of products and applications that make a difference in society – while also working to limit its impact on the planet. Companies and manufacturers also have an opportunity to influence and encourage sustainable customer behaviour through the way they design and produce their products. This needs to be an increasingly important consideration for manufacturers if they want to be taken seriously in the sustainability stakes. Take the unique technology behind Revolution Fibres’ nanofibre skincare product, ActivLayr, which uses collagen to deliver natural actives deep into the skin. This is in stark contrast to the excessive amount of chemicals found in traditional creams and serums. ActivLayr technology also has strong potential beyond the skincare industry. With the ability for different ingredients to be added to the ActivLayr formula it could one day enable a controlled drug dose to be delivered to a patient for more effective and efficient treatment. The beauty of nanofibre – a class of textile made from superfine fibres 1/500th the width of a human hair which can create vast changes in strength, reactivity, and absorbency – is that it can be used to enhance a wide variety of products. From skincare and the highest quality filtration media that exceeds N95 standards, through to strengthening Formula One car. In the textiles sector, nanofibre offers distinct advantages because the volume used to create materials is a fraction of what is needed using traditional textiles. One kilogram of polymer can create a nanofibre that would reach to the sun! As a manufacturer, using sustainably sourced and bio-derived materials is an ideal starting point. For example, ActivLayr uses sustainably sourced premium New Zealand marine collagen. In face masks, the unexpected fashion trend of 2020, nanofibre filtration provides better protection than traditional melt blown filters. They can also be used for up to 200 hours compared to the 72 hours recommended for common N95 masks, which significantly reduces the number of masks going to landfill at a compatible price. Nanofibre also helps make products stronger – and last longer. Composite strengthening nanofibre improves the durability and lifetime of products and is used in everything from space rockets to cars and fishing rods. There is no finish line when it comes to sustainability. However, constantly innovating and striving to create products and applications that truly benefit society can help to ensure a strong sustainable legacy. Iain Hosie is co-founder & Technical Director at leading global nanofibre manufacturer Revolution Fibres based in New Zealand.

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

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Greater East Tamaki Business Association Inc.

Is NZ’s Covid response world class?

By Ian Walsh, Managing Director, Intent Group Limited

The re-emergence of Covid-19 in our community has got me thinking, as I am sure it has many of you. Of course, our normal reaction is to leap to solutions to ‘solve’ or eliminate the problem we’re facing, including measures such as shutting the borders, denying travel and so on.

Upon reflection, I’m certain we are thinking the wrong way about how we manage returning New Zealanders. Is it our objective to fill the available managed isolation capacity to maximise the number of people per capita returning? If so, we’re probably succeeding. Great! We’re truly world class. But, if our objective is to ensure that everyone who leaves managed isolation is COVID free, then we’re not so successful. There is a significant difference between a world class mindset and the ‘also-rans’. A world class company identifies its core objective and aligns all systems and processes to achieve this objective. Inputs, variables and outputs are measured and anything impacting the goal is eliminated. All leading indicators of failure are addressed. A great example which springs to mind is Alcoa. Paul O’Neil changed the focus of the organisation from output, to safety, with a goal of zero incidents. He was relentless in leading this approach and transforming the organisation, and achieved outstanding safety improvements and exceptional business outcomes, as a result. This leadership lesson is inspirational. I had the privilege of visiting Alcoa’s centre of excellence in Davenport, Iowa, a few years ago, and their culture of safety clearly underpinned everything. It still does. We can think of managed isolation as a processing facility very similar to a manufacturing or processing plant. The goal is not to maximise capacity, but to deliver quality (by being COVID free). If you were producing food, let’s say baby food, everything you would do first and foremost would be aligned with food safety and quality. You would ensure the site, plant and equipment was fit for purpose, clean and hygienic; all people and operators would follow the correct cleaning, sanitation and equipment protocols; all ingredients would be tested and certified to ensure they met required specifications; and the manufacturing process would follow agreed QC and QA procedures to ensure compliance with manufacturing instructions. All packaging would be tested, and the final product examined before release for consumption. Retention samples would be kept, environmental swabbing carried out to ensure cleaning was effective, audits conducted and so on. The goal would be for no one to become ill from consumption of your product. World class companies achieve 100% compliance, with no safety incidents, minimal loss and waste, no environmental impacts and extremely high efficiencies (over 90%). In our managed isolation facilities, we are processing people. We have processed a large number with minimal incidents, but there are reports of rooms not left clean, non-compliance with social distancing upon arrival, PPE failures and so on. These are leading indicators of future failure. To achieve zero failure, we need to move the goal from throughput to quality (i.e no one leaves with COVID). How can we ensure this? Certainly, no one would go into a room that was not certified and tested as sanitised and safe. To be sure, we could leave rooms empty for a period of time to ensure any lingering trace of the virus had decayed. Of course, this would sacrifice some throughput for the real goal of quality. We could also audit and mandate the correct PPE with zero tolerance for non-compliance. We could provide additional transportation to create social distancing, require returnees to wear additional PPE, and so on. 0, In our regular briefings we are assured that we have improved our processes, and I am sure we have, but these improvements appear to be a reaction to failures or near misses, rather than a designed system to achieve zero failures. We should firstly determine what rate of throughput we can sustain without compromising the primary goal (to be COVID free) and then determine what we need to do to safely raise the bar. Another way of looking at it is this - you would not release a food product that killed people, ever. You would never take the risk and yet it is still possible for COVID-19 to get into our community and do the same. If this was a manufacturing plant, and perhaps they could and should be considered as high hazard facilities, they would be shut down until they could demonstrate that the required standards are met, in the same way that shops that don’t meet Ministry of Health standards are closed to protect the public.

If this was a manufacturing plant they would be shut down until they could demonstrate that the required standards are met.

UK’s CPTPP inclusion a win for exporters

The UK’s addition to the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) would reduce barriers and give exporters a much-needed boost in the wake of Covid-19, BusinessNZ Network Chief Executive Kirk Hope says.

“I expect to see significant gains in both economies if the UK is able to join. While there is still a lot to work through, the news will be welcomed by exporters in the face of significant economic uncertainty. It will achieve greater cross-border investment, improving productivity and innovation and potentially creating new jobs. “The UK is a major export market for New Zealand. It is our fifth-largest trading partner, fourth biggest agri-food export destination and fifth-biggest source of investment.”