March 2017
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COMPANY PROFILE
Mach 3 Engineering.
Bringing back jobs of the past We have recently talked about various Western countries positioning themselves to take industrial and manufacturing policy more seriously. It is worth further considering the future of manufacturing in relation to technology, productivity and jobs to help think about what policy moves may work, and those that may not be successful.
the move into new niche areas, be that by existing companies or start-ups.
The biggest criticism of such industrial policies currently is that some of the rhetoric is around bringing back “jobs of the past”– this has been most obvious in the United States. But it can’t be about bringing back ‘old jobs’. In most cases, those jobs are gone for reasons that can be understood, be that in the US, or here at home.
How technological change effects future production will have a big part in determining what industrial jobs in the near future will look like. We continue to see automation becoming increasingly accessible, with associated industry 4.0 technologies further adding to increases in productivity.
All our industries have faced intense competitive pressure as manufacturing capability around the world increases, while at the same time as a country our productivity has lagged behind, and our companies have faced some relative cost increases, while our competitors have sought positions to better fit into supply chains, for example - commercial logic still dictates largely what jobs disappear overseas.
There have been numerous reports on this subject, attempting to estimate how technological change will impact jobs. Such estimates suggest an increase in jobs, but in different areas and with high skill levels, while others envision a decrease in job numbers.
What this really means is we need to look hard at taking measures to improve the competitive positioning of manufacturing in New Zealand. For our Government this means creating a set of policies and conditions that help our businesses grow and adapt, while facilitating
Remaining globally competitive, and getting even better at it, means relentless innovation in a world where we see accelerating change in everything from consumer behaviour to product technology, methods of production and methods of doing business.
It is too early to tell what will be the reality, but one certainty is that skill requirements will continue to change. This is an area where government as the owner and manager of most of our education and training infrastructure has to take a leadership role.
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The second part of this discussion, is what businesses are doing themselves to stay competitive and remaining manufacturing and providing jobs in New Zealand.
Since the GFC, our manufacturers have gone through a particular tough set of circumstances: slow global demand for many products, and a period of considerable overvaluation of our currency - our manufacturers have had to become leaner and adjust business models to survive – relentless innovation. That is not going to change, and the industry is facing some structural challenges beyond our overvalued dollar. Lack of scale is one of them. In one sense smaller manufacturers are more nimble and able to change quickly, but innovation
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