NZ Manufacturer September 2021

September 2021

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8 MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY Gyro Plastics and Industry 4.0

12

ANALYSIS Pursuing sustainable business growth

14 PRODUCTIVITY The way forward.

Reimagining manufacturing in New Zealand: turning adversity into opportunity

Manufacturers around the world have been following a just in time principle for their operations.

Simply speaking, just in time is an inventory management method in which goods are received only as they are needed.

This method gained significant traction during Global Financial Crisis (GFC). Out of necessity, businesses learned how to run on a much leaner inventory as budgets were tightened and expenses cut.

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As the world grappled with supply chain disruptions and delays as a result of Covid-19 lockdowns and restrictions, manufacturers found themselves dealing with long delays and shortages of critical goods and products.

Peter Jones, Managing Director and Founder at Prological says this revealed a vulnerability in just in time principles, which has presented an opportunity to re-imagine manufacturing in New Zealand.

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Europe and the US – many manufacturers in New Zealand were faced with long delays and significant shortages of critical goods.

As the global aviation industry reached a near standstill, there was no air freight capacity into the country.

With 60 to 65 per cent of air cargo usually carried on passenger aircraft – the price of air freight started to rise exponentially.

After the GFC, many organisations throughout the world continued to follow the principles of just in time – largely because it worked.

At the same time, the global shipping industry was also facing significant delays alongside freight costs growing exponentially.

However, just in time only works on the assumption that everything is working perfectly all the time.

As soon as Covid-19 started to rip through China,

These delays and disruptions not only impacted manufacturers in New Zealand, but also retailers – as

continued on Page 14

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CONTENTS Contents

DEPARTMENTS 1 LEAD LEAD

ADVISORS

Reimagining manufacturing in NZ Get your carbon diet on track.

NEWS 54 BUSINESS EDITORIAL Tether closes $1.75m seed funding round.

6 7 8

Whentechnical EMEX 2021 comes to town.

Value staff and be considered competitive.

BUSINESSawards NEWSto showcase region’s best Prestigious businesses.

Manufacturing in the age of sustainability.

Is NZ’s Covid response world class?

MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY UKK’s CPTPP aThe winfuture for exporters.

Automation: of logistics companies in Asia Pacific.

MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY Gyro Plastics NZ Code4.0 canand make manufacturing more Industry EMA. competitive.

Red Steel shares story of resilience.

Dewalt Design Assist breaking new ground.

11 CASE STUDY ANALYSISand NIG Nutritionals generate clean 10 Hydroxsys water from waste products.

Time for change.

12 ANALYSIS Anatomy of a data-driven supply chain.

Pursuing sustainable business growth.

EMEX 2021 14 THE ECONOMY 13 Floor CIRCULAR Plan and Exhibitors.

-15 Life cycle thinking and product design: Don’t leave LCA to the last minute.

ANALYSIS 16 Achieving carbon neutrality: One company’s 14 PRODUCTIVITY lessons learnt.

The way forward.

SMART MANUFACTURING 17 MANUFACTURING Addressing the six biggest losses in mission.

Australia launches lunar exploration

19

manufacturing.

Cutting edge tool for underwater recovery.

SMART MANUFACTURING Matrix 320 reader empowers traceability for automation and logistics.

Advanced NZ-made filter media kills coronavirus.

QUALITY CONTROL 21 After 40 years, HRS enters new chapter.

NDC sensors control manufacturing at the fromt line.

PRODUCTS 23 NEW Lubrication-free igus spherical balls from NEW PRODUCTS 22 Treotham.

Structural bearings deliver extreme low-level What is Speedglas Generation 5? friction performance.

Good questions get better results for critical Cost-effective and lubrication – free mounting seals and gasket solutions. of solar panels.

AC Servo System provides highest-level safety.

25 DEVELOPMENTS Kevin Cowie appointed SCNZ Technical DEVELOPMENTS 25 Director.

MintZealand Innovation raises $20m to build gold New construction industry - suppliers biorefineries. under pressure.

HRS highlights steam injection food Research platform secures $1M for investment. sterilisation.

New literacy partnership breaks down barriers Is automotive readyemployer. for hydrogen? for manu facturing

REARLAST VIEW WORD 28 THE

Climate Change Commission calls for decisive The business of coffee. action.

Kirk Hope

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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.

5 Ian Walsh

8 7

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.

Leeann Watson

9 9 12 12

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

Lewis Woodward

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

Brett O’Riley

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.

25 21

28 27 3

GROW OUR OWN TALENT

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

In this time of the virus there is

CONTRIBUTORS Holly Green, Barbara Nebel, Ishan Galapathy, Rebecca Reed, Barbara Nebel, Femi Perumbally, Alistair Gordon, Ian Walsh Peter Jones, Aik Jin Tan Jarrod Kinchington, Rob Stummer Matt Hale

plenty of time to look at company structures and plan the way forward.

There are so many issues to consider and not one of

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them has a magic key for regenerating businesses and

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

walking down a yellow brick road.

Alistair Gordon (Page 5) starts the discussion in this

DESIGN & PRODUCTION

issue by explaining the value of technical staff. Now,

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

we all know this but there is nothing wrong with being reminded (again) as to how to treat better and

WEB MASTER

improve the effectiveness of key specialists within our

Julian Goodbehere E: julian@isystems.co.nz

companies.

PUBLISHING SERVICES

Jarrod Kinchington (Page 12) tells us that digital

On-Line Publisher Media Hawke’s Bay Ltd

investment and supply change resilience are key to driving sustainable (and profitable) business growth.

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

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is now. Organisations that have been

MEDIA HAWKES BAY LTD

traditionally slow to move still have time to catch up.

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

Ian Walsh (Page 14) says that improving productivity through better practice can yield 20-50% improvements in productivity quickly.

Part of the secret to this is

Vol.12 No. 8 SEPTEMBER 2021 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.

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growing our own talent. The days of going to the market and finding the resources we need available are coming to an end.

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Doug Green

Success Through Innovation

Editorial

Business News Tether closes $1.75m seed funding round Building performance technology company Tether has successfully closed a $1.75 million seed capital raise, led by the Impact Enterprise Fund (IEF).

Tether, founded in 2018, is a New Zealand-based tech company with a vision to reduce the impact they have on the planet by providing ‘the world’s best’, evidence based, building performance insights and outcomes.

Tether’s goal is to solve building performance problems which will improve people’s health, reduce cost and create a sustainable future through a range of software and hardware products designed, developed, and manufactured from the ground up in New Zealand.

The company’s proof-of-performance solutions enable data driven insights through modelling, monitoring and data analysis.

Tether chief executive Brandon van Blerk said the capital raise will enable the business to scale, innovate and open access to new market verticals, clients and talent.

The company secured investment of $1.75 million split into an initial tranche of $1.5 million with a $250,000 option to be executed in the next six months.

The lead investor was the social-enterprise focused Impact Enterprise Fund (IEF), the umbrella fund for the Akina Foundation, New Ground Capital and Impact Ventures.

Also joining the raise was NZ Growth Capital

Partners, a government-run investment arm, under its Aspire NZ seed fund and the privately owned company Greenside Energy Solutions, which is also a customer of Tether’s technology.

Van Blerk said his team wrote an attractive pitch deck and re-engaged with Peter Watson, chief financial officer at New Ground Capital. Watson had previously expressed interest in investing in Tether.

The Impact Enterprise Fund (IEF), New Zealand Growth Capital Partners (NZGCP) and Greenside teams are excited about their latest investment partnership with Tether.

Peter Watson, Manager at the Impact Enterprise Fund, said, “ the Human Rights Commission has described New Zealand’s well documented housing crisis as a massive human rights failure.

“The housing situation is a real concern for us, and Tether is the most exciting catalytic solution we’ve seen to change that.”

Investment Director at NZGCP, Marcus Henderson, said, “We are proud to be supporting the innovation of Tether and their mission to ensure everyone has a healthy home to live in”.

The Government’s commitment to healthy homes and carbon neutrality through the implementation of the Healthy Home Standards and The Carbon Neutral Government Programme means that Tether is well positioned to provide the objective data and evidence needed to drive these programmes.

On the back of that announcement, Tether signed

Crown entity Kainga Ora, one of the largest landlord and construction companies in the country, as an anchor client to roll-out its solutions.

Other customers now include Auckland City Council, Motu, Dunedin City council, Otago University, Wellington University, Panuku Development Auckland and BRANZ. Van Blerk said Tether’s technology is maturing nicely and the start-up is a “force to be reckoned with”.

He said the new capital will be spent on building up the brand’s equity, landing new customers and adding extra value and features to the existing technology.

“We know our technology can create healthier, efficient and sustainable buildings. The next step is to show New Zealand why our product can help create healthier homes. Our aim is to enable those that care to build better buildings, live in healthier homes and learn how to be sustainable while saving more money,” Van Blerk said.

Value technical staff and be considered competitive -Alistair Gordon

Technical specialists such as engineers, software developers, scientists or economists are expensive to hire and require great effort to retain.

And despite the expense and effort, often they don’t create the value or innovation that business owners expect.

Our organisation has been coaching technical specialists for 10 years. I am still surprised by how much money is spent on the hire of technical specialists, and once they are hired, how little attention is paid to their performance.

In an organisation that takes a “hire and forget” approach to these specialist roles, innovation is challenging, not least because the process to pitch and adopt new ideas will be long, impractical, and frustratingly opaque.

On one side, specialists don’t know how to pitch, network or commercialise ideas. On the executive side, ideas that aren’t well pitched, with clear commercial benefit, are blocked before they get anywhere near the executive suite.

Want to improve competitiveness in an organisation?

Challenge each of its experts to master broader business effectiveness, not just technical expertise – to become a “master expert”.

But to make innovation reliable and consistent, organisations must reframe their goals for specialist training, development, manager expectations, expert career paths and appraisals, with all supporting the goal of mastery.

Experts don’t have their commercial skills developed, but they should Why such a radical change? It’s because experts, to date, have not had the development they need.

Consider the career of a manager – not a technical specialist, but a high-performing people leader.

They are appraised and promoted on their ability to achieve commercial goals, to communicate strategy and manage upward.

From the first days of their career, their development, career ladder, appraisals, and mentoring all challenge them to master business and relationship skills.

In other words, they are trained and supported to learn to be “good at business”.

A technical specialist has no such training. Through their career, they succeed by continually increasing their technical expertise. They are sent to technical conferences rather than on business programs. Some pick up relationship and commercial expertise on their journey, but the skills are usually self-taught and inconsistent.

That lack of training causes communication breakdown. It also leads executives (and HR!) to assume experts are “difficult” or “uncommunicative”, and impossible to hold to account. Innovation targets are not set because specialist teams are assumed to be incapable of, and disinterested in, hitting them.

Take a better approach – build toward innovation First steps first. As a first step toward more consistent innovation, consider your organisation’s expert capability framework. Does it extend beyond the technical? Does it challenge technical specialists to master an advanced skillset including: • Understanding business strategy and priorities • Pitching technical innovation to make commercial sense • Tapping into, or creating, internal sponsor networks • Writing technical business plans that reflect commercial reality • Prioritising and managing upward

projects?

To digress for a moment, people managers are trained in many of these skills, but don’t confuse their training with that needed for specialists. Leadership training helps prepare an employee to lead teams, where specialists want to prepare to lead projects, ideas and innovation - not people.

It’s demotivating for an expert to be sent on a leadership program, where much of the content is irrelevant. Or, worse, being a senior expert sent on “communication skills 101”.

Offer the challenge – you’ll be surprised In a recent survey we ran across tech, health, insurance, regulation, and other specialist-heavy sectors, 87% of the experts we surveyed said they have more to contribute, but they felt “blocked” from doing so – they didn’t feel understood, or able to drive change.

In my coaching practice, I see experts wanting to give more – a lot more. Challenge them to develop commercial skills, support them in the journey to do so, and you will be repaid with innovation. *Alistair Gordon is the CEO of Expertunity, an expert coach, speaker and author, and a long-time veteran of the media and organisational-development worlds. He is the co-author with Dominic Johnson of Master Expert: how to use Expertship to achieve peak performance, seniority and influence in a technical role (Expertship Press $49). Find out more at www. expertship.com

• Coaching and mentoring others to drive innovation

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Business News Prestigious awards to showcase region’s best businesses Wellington’s diverse business community given a chance to shine post covid Entries are now open for the prestigious Wellington Region Business Excellence Awards, to be celebrated at a black-tie gala hosted by the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce and its sponsors in November.

The Awards, now in its 14th year, celebrate the dozens of local businesses that contribute to the region’s vibrant and successful business community.

Mark Skelly, President of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, says after an extremely disruptive and challenging 18 months, the Awards are more important than ever.

“Business is the unsung hero in our community.

From keeping people employed in uncertain times, to increasing inclusion and diversity in the workplace, to tackling environmental issues, and supporting charitable and community groups; our local businesses do so much good work. The awards are an opportunity for businesses to celebrate their efforts, drive, and determination as well as their contribution to our communities.

I encourage businesses to enter and tell their success stories because they deserve to be recognised and celebrated.”

This year there are 10 categories for the Awards, which include: Manufacturing & Distribution, Innovation & Technology, Hospitality, Tourism and Retail, Service and Support, Trades and Infrastructure,

Not for Profit, Best Emerging Business, Young Business Person of the year, Employment Excellence and Environmental Excellence.

The awards are free to enter and are open to any business to any business based within the Wellington Region.

“The gala event is a great way for many businesses to show their appreciation to the staff and customers by hosting them to a fabulous night out with plenty of entertainment, glitz, great company and of course, a very special dining experience that is sure to wow,” says Mark Skelly.

The overall winner elected from the category winners will be awarded the Supreme Business of the Year Award.

Entries close on Wednesday 29th September at 5pm and finalists will be announced Monday 4th October 2021 and celebrated at a Finalist Function on 21 October.

Previous winners include Cuttriss Consultants Ltd, who won the 2019 Supreme Business of the Year Award, who also took out the Professional Services category.

Entry forms and further information are available online at https://businessexcellence.awardsplatform. com/

Reflecting on their achievements, Director Colin McElwain said, “It was a really great evening to celebrate business within the region. It was well organised and at a fantastic location. The first win was quite a surprise and the second just bowled us over. A lot of us were buzzing all weekend. We received a lot of publicity and positive reaction from various quarters which was great.”

For the first time this year, the Awards will induct a business into the Hall of fame.

The gala event, which takes place on 19 November, is expected to attract up to 500 guests and will be held at the Lower Hutt Events Centre.

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Manufacturing Technology

Automation: The future of logistics companies in Asia Pacific -Aik Jin, Tan, Vertical Solutions Lead, Zebra Technologies Asia Pacific In recent years, Asia Pacific (APAC) has seen a rapid growth in e-commerce adoption, but the pandemic has undoubtedly accelerated digital transformation, leading to an even bigger surge in e-commerce.

Between 2020 and 2025, the Asia market is estimated to account for 57% of the growth of the global e-commerce logistics market1.

As more consumers switch to online delivery platforms, click-and-collect models, and curbside collections, supply chains are being challenged to adapt quickly.

Though container shortages, shipment delays2 and the growing demand for air cargo demand in Asia3 have affected fulfillment in recent months, industry leaders are rapidly investing in technology solutions to ease these growing pains – especially automation.

There are several different automation solutions that enable manufacturers, warehouse operators and logistics providers to get goods to consumers faster with greater accuracy and efficiency, and at a lower cost.

And now that technological advancements are making automation solutions more accessible to companies of all sizes, it will be easier for entire supply chains to keep up with evolving consumer demands, process more orders, and expand operations, all while keeping workers safe.

Automation Solutions Have Become More Scalable and Flexible Companies in APAC that are looking for new ways to meet changing business requirements are beginning to realise the importance of automation in warehouse processes. Zebra’s Intelligent Enterprise Index found that nearly half of transport & logistics (46%) and manufacturing (42%) organisations had already deployed Internet of Things (IoT) solutions on a company-wide scale by 2019.

Fortunately, warehouse automation solutions have become much more scalable and flexible in recent years, delivering significantly faster returns on investments (ROI) than were previously possible, a result born from the need for innovative technologies that could be rapidly deployed. Necessity is truly the mother of invention.

Forward-thinking organisations are now deploying smart fulfillment that leverage a combination of radio frequency identification (RFID), real-time location systems (RTLS), and wearables to optimise operational efficiency – and the results are staggering.

Picking assignments, for example, are now

dynamically assigned based on a picker’s location or urgency of an order. In turn, workers can simultaneously pick multiple orders and put away items all on a single trip. Heads-up displays and other wearables can deliver next-step guidance and streamline data capture to help simplify processes and improve workflow efficiency.

And now that analytics can be automated, decision makers can receive detailed insights into both worker and workflow performance as well as recommendations on what actions to take to ensure performance goals are achieved.

Harnessing the Power of Robotics to Increase Productivity To complement the manual picking process, many warehousing and logistics companies are also increasingly turning to robotic material handling solutions, such as autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), to move materials between pickers and transport completed orders to the packing area. As reported in Zebra’s Warehousing Asia Pacific Vision Study, several decision-makers plan to use robotics for inbound inventory management (27%), packing (24%) and the receiving of goods (21%) by 2024.

Thanks to advancements in technology, warehouse operators no longer need to set up a dedicated, human-free zone to employ robots’ help. Today’s AMRs can safely navigate warehouses filled with people, lift trucks, pallet racks and inventory shelving and easily integrate into existing operational processes.

Robotics platforms such as collaborative robots (cobots) are also highly effective in automating tasks that previously required fixed mechanisation deployments. Large-scale conveyor systems, automated storage, and retrieval systems certainly still have their place.

However, robotics automation brings new levels of flexibility with lower costs and less risk. Besides, “hiring” these cobots no longer requires huge capital investments, as the emergence of robots as a service (RaaS) options now offer companies the choice of leasing cobots rather than buying them.

Effectiveness of Intelligent Workflow Automation Though hardware components are key to automation, more warehouse operators are turning their attention to software’s role in automation as it presents them with a plethora of opportunities to increase efficiency in new ways.

For example, prescriptive analytics is gaining

increased traction for its unique ability to simplify complicated operational decisions. This new intelligent analytics solution uses machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to detect patterns in data collected from several different edge sensors and devices to help define potential problems in real time.

It then communicates what must be done to resolve issues immediately, delegating precise tasks to the best-positioned front-line worker.

The task alert, which is automatically sent to the worker’s handheld mobile computer, tablet, or wearable, describes the identified problem and explains step by step how to resolve it.

The worker, using either the prescriptive analytics solution or perhaps an integrated task management app, can then notify a manager the issue has been taken care of. This automated process removes the extra layer of human decision-making that may potentially lead to a wrong decision.

Everyone knows what to do – when, where, how and why – and there is trust that each task will be executed in a timely, error-free manner.

On the loading dock, intelligent sensor-based solutions now give workers and managers visibility into key load metrics such as package dimensions, number of packages scanned and loaded per hour, trailer fullness and load density, as well as dock door turnaround times and worker efficiency rates.

These solutions automatically collect and analyse loading data before sending real-time alerts to help workers and managers optimise the packing process and, in some cases, adjust their resource allocation or overall load strategy as the trailer is being loaded.

Such solutions help supply chain companies ensure every trailer is optimally loaded in the most efficient way possible, which is important when fewer drivers or trailers are available, and more packages need to be shipped quickly.

With supply chains still strained by the Covid-19 pandemic and other disruptive events, the resiliency of warehousing and logistics companies is being tested more than ever.

Those who want to keep customers happy and stay competitive in the industry must accelerate their digital transformation plans, focusing on new ways to automate workflows, performance analysis, and decision-making.

Choosing technologies that are simple to deploy, use and manage will make it easier to remain agile as new challenges arise and customer demands grow.

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Manufacturing Technology Gyro Plastics Industry 4.0 and EMA Gyro Plastics is one of the leading plastics engineering companies in NZ. The company made its first plastic moulded product way back in 1968 and since then have become known as expert plastic manufacturers.

They provide products to the infrastructure sector in New Zealand with a broad range of distribution pillars and cabinets as well as taking on custom design and manufacturing projects.

Gyro pride themselves on applying the same dedication and commitment to achieving the best result possible for custom products as we do with their own proprietary product.

Since July 2016, Gyro have been operating out of new premises in Feilding, after moving from Wellington where they were based since the company’s inception.

Their services and products are available nationwide and they have become one of the key plastic manufacturers in New Zealand.

Background Gyro are committed to providing customers with a seamless and engaging end to end experience.

One area that they identified as an opportunity for development was around the way they interact with customers at the beginning of their engagement.

Gyro have a number of different ways for potential customers to initiate contact, predominantly via direct phone calls, emails and web forms.

As it was usually a small, busy team who were fielding these initial contacts, they felt that they didn’t always do justice to the initial conversations, having to be provide information on the fly.

The team were also mindful that quickly assessing the needs of the customer and streaming them to the most appropriate place was incredibly important for both that customer and the business, but this was often difficult to do.

There were also challenges with mobile reception when remote working led to difficulty taking and progressing calls.

The team felt that an additional mode of communication would be beneficial, but that it

would need to allow for immediate and dynamic conversations to happen.

Solution After reviewing the available options, a solution was identified to enable a live chat function on the Gyro website. It was decided that this chat application needed to have simple plug and play integration as well as functionality that supported mobile use and the ability to connect a chat request with the most relevant person at Gyro.

To ensure that customer queries weren’t lost or delayed, they also wanted the ability for all team members to be able to respond if required. The team also decided to take a “Minimum Viable Product” approach to quickly test the concept.

Drift was identified as the product that provided the required functionality, and they began building this into their website.

As the new functionality was being implemented, the team also worked on the internal processes they felt were needed to support this new method of communication, which included: • Agreement on who would have access to utilise the application to respond to initial customer queries • Confirmation of the rules of engagement – what level of detail to go to regarding pricing and quotes etc before referring through more formal channels • Development of an informal set of questions that could be used at the start of the conversation to help gather the relevant information • Mapping the website pages to the people at Gyro who were most relevant to respond to live chat requests.

From identifying the need for an additional mode of communication through to having the identified solution live and available took less than a week and once implemented, the system proved to be a significant success with the majority of all initial contacts coming in via the live chat function on the Gyro website.

An unintended consequence of the success of the

implementation was the large volume of information arriving through the app.

This was leading to a significant amount of work for the team to provide direct support to potential customers that didn’t progress through to a full customer relationship.

The team recognised that it was really important for them to qualify the leads that were being generated and to highlight the most relevant queries coming in.

This was done by first developing a profile for their ideal customer and then mapping the characteristics of both target and off-target clients – this mapping included specifying flags to help categorise the queries and creating a set of questions to help guide this categorisation.

Embracing a culture of continuous improvement, the team have identified many further opportunities through leveraging this new “live chat” functionality.

One key enhancement identified is to implement an automated lead qualification process.

This process will be developed utilising the rules and process flow created to help categorise their target and off-target customers and then automatically divert them to the most appropriate value-added channel. The team is also looking at creating more formal integration into their CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system.

Key benefits • Improved accuracy of information being provided to potential customers around the Gyro offering • Having a documented record of the conversations between Gyro and potential customers • No longer a need to write customer conversations into emails following a call – saving time • Achieving a significant improvement in accuracy and reliability of data collected re. customer requirements • Having a clear structure to support the dynamic qualification of customer leads • More time spent working with strategically selected target customers and sectors.

Key takeaways • Technology can be leveraged quickly to release opportunities identified by the team • When implementing a new technology don’t forget to organise your internal processes to support its successful adoption • Remember to consider how the functionality of your current systems can be enhanced through easily accessible and available add-ons • Always think about where the generated data and information created by the new technology should be stored to allow maximum benefit (e.g. customer conversations recorded in CRM) • Look for further opportunities for improvement when reviewing any unintended consequences and unexpected results – embrace a culture of continuous improvement and innovation around new technology.

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Manufacturing Technology Red Steel shares story of resilience ahead of World Green Building Week The theme of World Green Building Week 2021, which runs from 20-24 September, is Building 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.

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

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.

“Rather than sending the material to the scrap yard to 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 Steel boasts strong sustainability credentials, key of which is its recyclability.

“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.

infrastructure asset for the region and increase the terminal’s size from 2,500sqm to 4,340sqm with the use of structural steel.

“We’re delighted to have been part of this fantastic project,” says Hawley. “Receiving industry recognition for the quality of the steelwork involved is testament to our team’s commitment to best practice, value, teamwork, efficiency and innovation.”

Instead of hiding the elements of strength, the structural steel used to complete this project is exposed, making the building’s resilience a celebrated and visible feature of the design.

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

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

More recently, Red Steel is a proud finalist in the Excellence in Steel Awards for its work on the soon-to-open Hawke’s Bay Airport expansion. The Airport’s terminal expansion will enhance this key

Find a great home for your business EAST TAMAKI A great place to do business

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Comment Closure of Marsden refinery increases barrier to low emissions transport The announcement that the Marsden refinery is to be closed will increase the barrier to easy achievement of low emissions transport, says the Bioenergy Association.

Brian Cox, Executive Officer of the Bioenergy Association said that “The Bioenergy Association is concerned that the refinery at Marsden Point is being decommissioned without serious consideration of how the remaining equipment not used for import of petroleum fuels, can be repurposed for production of biofuels.

developing domestic biofuel.

“We understand that the facilities could easily be repurposed for the refining of biocrude to produce some renewable biofuels. We understand that at certain ratios some types of bio feedstock can be co-processed on existing hydrotreating units without equipment upgrade.”

This will require Government assistance which is no different than has been provided to: the NZ Battery Project; expansion of electric vehicles; development of a hydrogen market, and the Ministry of Primary Industries is doing to attract biocrude production investment to New Zealand.

“Government is about to introduce a mandate for use of biofuels in transport and there are several initiatives underway to have domestic production so that we are not always dependent on imported biofuels.

Internationally the repurposing of petroleum refineries to be biofuel refineries has provided quick transition pathways.

“Such a biorefinery could produce biofuels for heavy transport, marine (InterIslander), rail and sustainable aviation fuel. Economies of scale will drive the market to have a very limited number of biorefineries.”

It is in the national interest that the refinery manufacturing equipment be repurposed for biofuels from the very start of the conversion process.

Otherwise, domestic biofuels production will face a significant barrier if a new biorefinery will have to be built from scratch.

“Use of the existing site will be very important if domestic biofuels are to be available sooner, with the consequential greenhouse gas emissions reduction. Obtaining resource consents to build new green-field biorefineries and further development of the production capablitiy can be expected to take up to 10 years. This is a new market development problem where Government assistance will be required to get a new industry started.“ “It is likely that biocrude production will be regionally spread, depending on the feedstock resource with the biocrude being transported to a biorefinery. These challengies will be in any scenario with biofuel production and they shouldn’t prevent

To maximise the future opportunities, and reduce potential cost barriers, and ensure that the required equipment at the refinery is maintained in a suitable form, the objective should be to provide incentives for Refining NZ to keep assets that may be used for refining of alternative fuels.

However because the biofuel markets are in their infancy the modernisation often requires the assistance of Governments.

For example, the Australian Government have just decided to provide AU$2.3 billion to keep the last two Australian refineries operational as they transition to more strict EURO 6 emission standards.

BP are also undertaking a feasibility study into the production of green hydrogen at the site of recently shuttered Kwinana refinery, roughly 30km south of Perth, to add to plans already underway to produce sustainable aviation fuel and “renewable diesel” at the facility.

“The maximum value of the refinery for future biofuels production would be achieved if the Government assisted Refining NZ to keep the facility operational, at least for a period in which to develop a future plan for repurposing the assets.”

“The Stage 1 report of the Wood Fibre Future Project being undertaken by the MPI indicates that biocrude production using our forest resource is likely to be viable but will require refining capacity.

“It is the association’s concern that a barrier to attracting potential investors will be the lack of refining capacity.

“We understand that the existing refinery would provide a significant foundation for early production of biojet and renewable diesel.

“We understand that some of that equipment has already been decommissioned and is unusable.

Currently, the incentive for Refining NZ is to mothball the as much equipment they can as it will be an on-going cost to them.

If the facility can be kept operational this maximises the opportunities likely to emerge from the MPI project and other projects such as hydrogen being developed.

“If the facility can be kept operational this maximises the opportunities likely to emerge from the MPI project and other projects such as hydrogen being developed. It also allows a proper investigation of the repurposing options. Time is of the essence and decisions are necessary in terms of weeks and not months.”

“The knowledge and expertise of skilled workforce at Refining NZ will be very important in establishing alternative fuel supply.

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“This expertise, if lost, would take years to rebuild so repurposing the refinery and including Refining NZ in undertaking an immediate investigation of options for going forward, will be very important.”

“There appears to be a strong rationale for establishing an entity that can work with Refining NZ on a sound plan moving forward which would act in the national interest with regard the ownership and maintenance of the available equipment for future use in a biorefinery. “ “Most importantly there needs to be a strategy and plan for developing capability for producing transport biofuels using New Zealand’s wealth of renewable natural resources.”

Case Study Hydroxsys and NIG Nutritionals generate clean water from waste products Clean technology company Hydroxsys has partnered with an Auckland based dairy processor to deliver novel wastewater treatment capability that delivers clean water from the processing of milk and milk products.

NIG Nutritionals has been working with Hydroxsys during the past 12 months to deliver this ‘world first’ technology, and since the start of 2021 has been trialling Hydroxsys equipment at its facility at Paerata, south of Auckland.

The outcome has been the confirmation of the capability of Hydroxsys’ systems in providing a genuine, commercially effective solution to one of the big issues for food processors – management of wastewater from processing operations.

Hydroxsys CEO Mark Hartstone says the company has developed proprietary “world first” filtration technology that challenges current clean in place (CIP) and waste treatment systems not only in dairy, but also wider food and beverage manufacturing and industries like wastewater and mining sectors.

For now, he says, Hydroxsys is focusing on food and beverage (including dairy) manufacturing. Water is a key resource in the manufacturing of all food products and especially milk products.

Hydroxsys comes from the same start-up technology space in Auckland where New Zealand technology champions LanzaTech, Rocket Lab and Mint Innovation found their feet. Now it is following their developmental path by building a commercial sized plant.

The plant at NIG Nutritionals will be complete in about four months and will also be used to demonstrate Hydroxsys’ technology to potential customers.

“Once that plant is operating, it will prove we have scaled our technology from laboratory to mobile demonstration plant and to a commercial operating plant – this one 10 times the capacity of the mobile units we built for field trials,” Mark Hartstone says.

“Proving scalability is vital. Delivering this scale within a significantly reduced real-estate footprint is an extra bonus” .

Chris Macbeth, CEO of NIG Nutritionals, says liquid milk processing activities generate liquid waste products that need to be treated prior to discharge under consent from Auckland Council and WaterCare.

“NIG Nutritionals values and ethos are built around nurturing our customers with the best in nutritional solutions,” Chris Macbeth says. “This extends to our environment as we believe that what we put into the environment is what we will receive from it in the future.

“With this in mind, we wanted to find new ways of reducing our environmental impact and improving our contribution to environmental sustainability.”

By introducing the Hydroxsys system, NIG Nutritionals substantially improves the quality and cleanliness of its wastewater discharge.

“With the installation of the Hydroxsys process as part of our existing systems, we can effectively

reduce our ‘waste’ and return up to 90% of the wastewater volume back to our system as a source of clean water,” Chris Macbeth says.

“Further work will be required to provide assurances that this clean water is able to be recycled back into our manufacturing plants or returned to the environment to replace the water that we take from the aquifer. However, we are very confident, based on the results we have gathered over many months of trials, that we can deliver clean water from our manufacturing processes.”

Hydroxsys’ systems use its proprietary family of polyethylene membrane-based filters, which have been patented internationally.

At NIG Nutritionals solid waste like milk fat, protein and oils are removed from the liquid phase, providing a vastly cleaner waste product. The system doesn’t stop there though and is proven to greatly reduce biological oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) in the processed waste water, which are key parameters in determining if the water can be released back into the environment.

high anti-fouling properties, meaning it can run consistently for days without having to be shut down to clear blockages. Importantly, the physical footprint of the system is relatively small, and the system itself is modular, meaning it can be purpose built for almost any situation and it does not take up excessive amounts of high value real estate.

“That, combined with our membranes being able to operate at high heat, with greater chemical resistance, and the system being able to capture and recycle those chemicals, means manufacturing plants can save huge amounts of money,” he says, “and we will be releasing more solutions over the next year”.

“We have seen almost 100% effectiveness at removing suspended solids, but what we didn’t expect was the huge reduction in BOD/COD that was also achieved,” Chris Macbeth says.

The solids that are removed also become more concentrated which makes them easier to manage and saves money through reduced treatment systems.

Hartstone and Macbeth agree that this non-toxic solid waste is a future resource and could be used to create new value such as food to worm farms for conversion fertiliser, or for use as a source of safe biomaterial that can be used to generate energy.

The waste then becomes a resource.

Of the processed wastewater 95% is reclaimed and has been independently tested by Watercare and shown to be suitable for re-use applications and in some cases to be returned to the environment.

Even if the treated water is not discharged to the environment, disposal fees through existing municipal waste treatment plants will be greatly reduced and the demand on those systems reduced, effectively increasing the net capacity of those plants without direct investment costs.

Mark Hartstone says Hydroxsys’ innovative plant is not a huge capital expense and the new technology delivers operational savings. The system has

The chart above shows some of the results from trials at NIG Nutritional’s. Because the waste stream input varies so much the membrane efficiency is shown here as percentages instead of absolute values. The waste stream consists of diverse dairy wastewater including washdown, general process cleaning and powder dryer CIP effluent.

• Total Suspended Solids (TSS) was reduced by greater than 99% on input streams • Fat, oils, and grease (FOG)were reduced by 95% without significant fouling.

• Biological oxygen demand (BOD) was reduced by 65%. The membranes reject about 99.8% of protein in the waste so the residual BOD is mainly composed of residual lactose.

• Chemical oxygen demand was reduced by approximately the same 65%.

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Analysis Pursuing sustainable business growth

By Jarrod Kinchington, Infor ANZ managing director

As the manufacturing world continues to evolve to meet new challenges, there’s a step-change in innovation for the products and services that are delivered and supported.

Industry insiders are expressing the need for a focus on driving sustainable (and profitable) business growth. Deloitte suggests digital investment and supply chain resilience as the key pillars.

Partnerships are also increasingly important to achieving sustainable business growth, whether that’s upstream or downstream within your supply chain or enabling partners such as application and technology providers.

In all of those partnering scenarios, it’s important to have a common understanding of your desired outcomes, so you can ensure you’re all speaking the same language, which helps shorten the time to value.

Manufacturing is shifting towards industry-specific applications and these applications are now nearly always delivered in the cloud to maximise adoption, flexibility, availability, and security, as well as reducing through-life cost of ownership. In fact, Gartner forecasts end-user public cloud spending to grow by 18% through 2021.

Horizontal versus industry-specific applications If you consider yourself a well contained, low risk, low complexity organisation with customers who will continue to remain happy with the status quo and you see no real threat of disruption, a horizontal, one-size fits all approach to ERP may still suffice.

However, most companies need to simplify the management of their complex business and look to differentiate through the application of technology.

Horizontal applications can manage a particular business function: typically finance and procurement but with everything else just bolted-on. Organisations that I speak with are coming to the realisation that industry-specific capabilities and new technology are needed.

The old ways no longer fit their purposes.

Industry-specific cloud ERP offers capabilities that match the way that you do (or should do) business.

You can do things right and operate in real time to unlock your business’s potential.

It’s also faster to implement, so you’ll see success more rapidly.

An industry-centric, single view or digital twin of your business helps you identify variations to expected operational performance early, so they can be analysed and managed long before your finance teams would typically become aware of them.

The finance role can then transition to focus on strategic operational and financial improvement, fostering a continuous improvement mentality.

As Jim Collins talks about when referring to the “flywheel effect,” good-to-great transformations

are unlikely to occur in a single step.

A clearly articulated and communicated strategy that results in measurable, incremental improvements is key to successful, long-term transformation.

Industry enabled Unsurprisingly, when it comes to triggering organisational change, the business drivers are often a complex mix of customer expectations and demands for a better experience, a focus on operational effectiveness, and the need to meet stricter industry regulations and operating conditions.

That’s why it’s important for your applications software technology vendor to speak the same language as your business.

As an example, optimising the order to delivery process in an engineer-to-order or configure-to-order environment demands a single view of the product from concept through quote to build, delivery, and then on through life support. Anything less adds risk to the whole process.

Why now?

As the old saying goes: “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is now.”

Organisations that have traditionally been slow to move still have time to catch up.

The challenge is often creating the internal momentum—the first push on the flywheel. In true partnerships, when everyone speaks the same language, multiple stakeholders come together to create a more powerful outcome.

Don’t wait too long. Early adopters are now more agile, flexible, and efficient—and they could already be making inroads into your share of the market.

The right partner, with the right industry experience and knowledge, will understand the value you can gain by helping you solve your challenges.

They can assist your organisation in defining a roadmap to success.

Job losses mitigated by helping people reimagine careers Job losses and the near collapse of some sectors during the ongoing Covid-19 crisis may be an opportunity for those affected – and for government and industry – to address the shortage of certain skills in New Zealand if the ‘displaced’ are helped to radically rethink their careers.

“Job losses and a crisis like the current pandemic is a painful experience, but it is also a time of change and opportunity – let’s not waste it. A flight attendant does not become an electrician, unless we help her by putting in support structures and incentives to make it possible.”

Brent Mulholland, the CEO of a national labour-hire company, ELE Group – which operates across multiple industry sectors such as security, construction, transport and manufacturing – said he could place 500 people into employment tomorrow if he had the people.

Mulholland said that the collapse of the tourism industry, for example, opens the door for people who lost their jobs to wipe the slate clean and do something completely different – like taking up a trade.

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“Lots of jobs are automated. Many are redundant,

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but we still need hands and feet in range of sectors from food processing, horticulture and infrastructure and construction to warehousing and distribution, now and in the foreseeable future. We are desperately short of skills in these sectors.

“Hands on skills are becoming more and more valuable. There are many other sectors with countless opportunities.”

Mulholland suggests a few simple principles to help those thinking about reinventing their careers include personal development, have a plan and find your passion.

The Circular Economy Life cycle thinking and product design: Don’t leave LCA to the last minute!

- By Barbara Nebel

There is no such thing as a green product, only greener or more sustainable options. However, the differences in impact between products can be significant.

This is an important distinction to make as it recognises that all products have some impact on the environment.

Some common-sense knowledge and an overall understanding of how something is made and what it is made of can help you form ideas around how sustainable your product is.

However, unless these ideas are tested and backed by credible data, they will remain as vague claims.

LCA as a biopsy, not a postmortem LCA studies are becoming increasingly popular for businesses from SMEs like David Trubridge and Futurity to large companies like NZ Post and Tetra Pak Oceania.

While this is encouraging, the next step is for LCA to be considered earlier in the product development phase.

This is where sustainability tool life cycle assessment (LCA) comes into the picture to quantify a wide range of environmental impacts across a product’s whole life.

Many of a product’s environmental impacts are locked in during the design phase. For example, research from the EU suggests that over 80% of all product-related environmental impacts can be influenced at this stage).

In this article, we explore the principles behind LCA, the many uses and benefits of LCA, and how to optimise LCA to create the most sustainable products and services.

This is where LCA can really shine! An LCA study can help to identify environmental hotspots across a product’s whole life cycle — before they are locked in at the manufacturing stage.

Life cycle thinking and LCA Every product has a life cycle. It starts when the raw materials are harvested or extracted and finishes when the final product is disposed or used at the end of its functional life.

Life cycle thinking — the concept around which LCA is built — understands that each stage of a product’s life cycle contributes to its overall environmental impact.

Life cycle thinking also understands that sustainability is about more than just carbon.

An LCA takes a broad definition of environmental sustainability with a wide range of indicators including carbon footprint, energy use, water consumption.

Finally, life cycle thinking as a principle and LCA as quantitative tool understand that decisions around one area of a product’s sustainability can also affect others.

Part of an LCA’s objective is to consider these trade-offs that can occur to ensure a positive impact in one area does not come with unintended negative consequences in another.

Applying life cycle thinking at the beginning of product development also contributes to a better understanding of the full supply chain, including potential risks such as modern slavery, material shortages, and supply chain disruptions.

Rethink design with LCA: David Trubridge

enabled them to decrease the volume of packaging required, leading to better packaging efficiency and lower related costs for packaging and transport. It also led to better environmental outcomes for their products, including a significantly lower carbon footprint.

Ensuring sustainability decisions that can stand scrutiny: New Zealand Post Customers and clients now care more than ever about the environment and the impact what they buy has on the environment. Sometimes people’s environmental concerns about products are shaped by their own perceptions around what is ‘green’ and what is not — even if this may not always be based on the most up-to-date information.

For example, plastic packaging is often seen in a negative light even though — in some cases — it can be the most environmentally friendly option viable.

An LCA study by NZ Post found that recycled plastic performed better in most environmental categories than paper for a courier bag product.

An LCA study provides quantitative data on environmental impacts that can help companies back up their sustainability decisions. It also provides a sound basis for companies to communicate the bigger environmental picture to their stakeholders.

An LCA study is at its most impactful when used at the early stages of product design and planning, but it can also be used to test the performance of existing products.

NZ Post’s packaging LCA study enabled them to explain to stakeholders and customers why the company decided to choose a NZ-made courier bag with 80 percent recycled plastic over compostable and paper packaging options.

Award-winning designer David Trubridge used an LCA to better understand the environmental impacts and hotspots of his popular lighting products.

Don’t leave LCA to the last minute

The results revealed that transporting products was an area of concern and led to the redesign of their lighting products with a ‘kitset’ design.

Unlike pre-assembled products, a kitset design can be packaged flat and is assembled by the customer.

Re-thinking the design of products can positively impact sustainability performance along with process efficiencies and productivity.

LCA studies are becoming increasingly common as a product sustainability tool in New Zealand and Australia. While an LCA is beneficial at any stage, the data it provides is most useful right at the beginning of product design. The next step then is to use LCA to guide design, rather than as a ‘postmortem’ when many of the impacts of a product are locked in or hard to change. https://www.thinkstep-anz.com/

For David Trubridge’s products, the kitset design

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Productivity Productivity: The way forward -Ian Walsh, Managing Director, Intent Group.

Over the last few weeks, I have been reflecting on the current situation we find ourselves in New Zealand. Many suppliers and manufacturers are struggling with unprecedented demand, growth, and expansion, in a scale of activity that I have not seen for over 20 years.

It is a confluence of many factors: global demand for NZ produce with growth in many markets, internal demand perhaps fueled through lack of travel options, and people diverting their cash into their houses, lounge suites and other home living quality improvements, along with a construction boom trying to meet the increasing infrastructure and house demand of kiwis returning from overseas and the omnipresent housing crisis faced here.

This is happening in a disrupted world with fragile supply chains, while managing Covid-19 and limited labour supply, through MIQ limitations and access to RSE (Recognised Seasonal Employer) and other labour sources constrained.

Given this environment how can we adapt to these challenges? Whilst government policy, covid response and other macro events may take some time to change, there are some things you can do in the meantime to improve your business.

The current Covid outbreak and subsequent lockdown provide a further opportunity to review your business and key drivers.

On the supply chain front, you should ensure to have your inventory policies, demand and forecasts reviewed and adjusted based on the nature of the good, the lead time, the safety stock, and the fragility of the supply chain.

This is especially important for importers - you can’t sell what you don’t have. For exporters, there is no better time to collaborate, aggregate volume to secure shipping or charter, to assure delivery. If you haven’t looked at some of these options, now is the time.

There are several large players adopting all the

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above and reviewing weekly to ensure they stay on top of this. You may also want to look at securing a secondary supply of certain items to reduce the risk to your supply chain.

A procurement review may yield some good opportunities to reduce costs, improve service and release cash.

On the labour front, improving productivity through better practice can yield 20-50% improvements in productivity quickly. This can enable redeployment of resources to the business needs.

A review of current practice against benchmarks is a quick exercise and can identify opportunities. Is your work optimized for best flow, reduced movement and travel waste, minimal handoffs and pick-ups and put-downs? Are your teams effective with clear roles/leadership and targets?

Do we have good processes for solving problems and removing bottlenecks? If you are saying no to these questions, then you have an opportunity to optimise your people’s hours and your business effectiveness and future proof your business.

This current labour crisis presents an opportunity to do more with less, and to rethink the way we work.

Let’s grab this with both hands.

The alternative is lost customers, or unhappy customers with extending lead times, and subsequently lost sales.

There is no doubt we need more skilled labour and more access to labour in the short to medium term but having a more productive company and defined systems and processes to onboard these folks in future is a virtuous cycle regardless of labour availability.

In this closed labour market, we should therefore look to grow our own talent. The days of going to the market and finding the resources we need available are coming to an end, if this isn’t already the case. I get asked weekly “who do you know who could….”

Most good folks are headhunted before a recruiter gets near them, through word of mouth in their given industry. The goal now is to grow and retain these great talents.

What systems, processes and incentives do you have to do this?

As I have mentioned in the past, we are near the bottom of the OECD in first and second level leadership. Improving our leadership capability through good processes and systems, and tailored development would make a massive difference to most businesses I see.

These are challenging times, and we have some exciting opportunities to capitalise on a positive economic environment despite Covid, for many (not all) industries. We should take this chance to improve our organisational health, build better processes and systems and develop our people’s capability to lead our future businesses.

I am keen, let’s do this.

Improving productivity through better practice can yield 20-50% improvements quickly.

Reimagining manufacturing in New Zealand: turning adversity into opportunity

New Zealand is an importer of finished goods.

your 2nd and 3rd tier supply chain partners well.

Now is a good time for leaders in the New Zealand

There are many stories across the industry of major manufacturing companies’ entire global operation coming to a standstill because of a shortage of one small component in their second or third tier supply chain.

But it also offers an opportunity for New Zealand manufacturers to become more self-reliant by manufacturing onshore.

manufacturing industry to re-think their market and

As an example, a European manufacturing company based in Northern Europe worked with a German electric motor company to source their motors. The German company outsourced the manufacturing of a silicon rubber O-ring to a small manufacturer in Northern Italy.

As Northern Italy become one of the first regions in Europe to go into a hard lockdown, the small but significant O-ring forced this manufacturing company to pause much of its global manufacturing operation.

It’s likely that this European manufacturer had no idea that their O-rings were made by a small manufacturer in Northern Italy until the moment they could no longer source them.

We’ve seen the same stories globally, and there are many similar anecdotes here in New Zealand. What this has done is highlight the importance of knowing

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If you are a manufacturer based in New Zealand: what do you need to do to rethink your operations and look at manufacturing locally?

Not all manufacturing in New Zealand is commercially viable – but there is a significant profile that is.

The profile consists of high value goods that can be manufactured using automation and Covid-19 has presented the ideal time to re-look at your supply chain and think about bringing manufacturing of this nature back onshore to boost efficiencies and opportunities.

A fundamental part of this journey is to re-think the size of your market opportunity. Traditionally in New Zealand, we tend to think of our market reach as the 30 million people who live in Australia and New Zealand and a little beyond.

When we look to manufacturers in Europe and Asia – they see the world’s 7.5 billion people as their market and its imperative that Australian and New Zealand businesses start doing the same.

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become a truly global brand.

Once you start to think your customer base is the 7.5 billion people in the world – then manufacturing high-value goods in New Zealand just may become an attractive opportunity.

Once you start to think your customer base is the 7.5 billion people in the world – then manufacturing high-value goods in New Zealand just may become an attractive opportunity.

Chillers - a cost-saving, environmentally friendly cooling solution for your applications No industrial process, equipment, or motor is 100 per cent efficient, with heat being the most common byproduct of those inefficiencies.

If this heat is not removed, it accumulates over time, causing reduced production times, equipment shutdowns, and even equipment failure. It is necessary to incorporate cooling into the process system design to avoid these issues.

Laboratories and clinical environments often require an abundant source of cool water for chilling samples. Over the years, relying on a predictable supply of fresh water for laboratory cooling has become increasingly unpopular.

The growing cost of water and wastewater has made finding an alternative source of cooling paramount. Chillers are the answer, combining an excellent resource-saving solution by reducing water consumption to zero with an incredibly short return on investment.

Chillers, however, are not only of interest in terms of cost and water saving but also because they offer many technological advantages.

With low working temperatures and better efficiency, chillers achieve higher recovery rates when condensing gases. In contrast to tap water cooling, chillers can be set to the desired target temperature, ranging from -20 °C to +40 °C. The consistent pressure and constant flow negate pressure drops having a positive effect on application conditions, allowing reproducibility of research results.

Recirculating chillers provide a consistent and reliable source of temperature-controlled fluid for cooling in laboratory, clinical, or industrial applications.

They provide better temperature stability and accuracy and protect valuable process equipment, reduce associated maintenance costs, and enable a cost-effective use of facility resources.

These chillers typically use water or an ethylene glycol/water mix, which removes heat from a process and transports it back to the chiller.

However, the chillers themselves generate heat from the system’s fan motor, compressor, pump and electronics, which is then released into the room.

Accurately determining the amount of heat released enables users to select the most appropriate chiller – either air-cooled or water-cooled.

As an innovative leader in temperature control, Thermo Scientific has the expertise to help enable you to optimise your liquid cooling applications while increasing productivity and reducing operating costs.

With over 50 years of service and countless successful installations worldwide, we have successfully provided product and applications expertise to meet the most demanding temperature control requirements.

From lab bench to large manufacturing processes, Thermo Scientific chillers are used across research and analytical, biotech and pharmaceutical, automotive, printing and packaging, and semiconductor industries.

Developed with customer feedback, our range of Thermo Scientific ThermoFlexTM and ThermoChillTM chillers represent a breakthrough in performance, configurability and technology that provide the following advantages: • Flexibility: We can configure a flexible, scalable, cost-effective temperature control system that suits your specific requirements.

• Innovation: Our research and development team focuses on designing innovative products based on your feedback.

• Global Service and Support: Our extensive global footprint and service and support capabilities can support you anywhere in the world.

The Thermo Scientific ThermoFlex platform’s low noise recirculating chillers promote a safe and reduced-stress environment in your critical application labs.

These low noise models are designed to remain quiet over the entire operating range of the chiller while maintaining temperature control accuracy.

The Thermo Scientific ThermoChill series of chillers is a compact line of refrigerated recirculators offering cooling capacities of up to 2000 watts with minimised plumbing connections and an integrated full-flow fluid strainer to maximise product reliability.

Simply put, chillers are faster and more effective than other equipment. Instead of managing the cooling substances by hand and controlling temperatures manually, lab users can rely on the automated functions of air-cooled or water-cooled chillers to handle the entire cooling process.

Optimise your cooling The cost-saving, environmentally friendly cooling solution Thermo ScientificTM recirculating chillers provide a consistent and reliable source of temperature controlled fluid for cooling in the laboratory, clinical, or industrial applications. They provide better temperature stability and accuracy and protect valuable process equipment, reduce associated maintenance costs, and enable a cost-effective use of facility resources.

Learn more at thermofisher.com/recirculatingchillers For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures. © 2021 Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. All rights reserved. Trademarks used are owned as indicated on thermofisher.com/trademarks 20210311-805-011

For more information or to discuss your lab’s chillers needs, visit thermofisher. com/chillers

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Manufacturing Rfider wins FDA accolade in its New Era Food Safety The United States has found a new food traceability champion – in New Zealand.

Rfider is a winner in the “Food and Drug Administration (FDA) New Era of Smarter Food Safety Low or No Cost Food Traceability Challenge”.

It is the only company outside of North America to get the FDA accolade.

The FDA says about 48 million people in the US (1 in 6) get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die each year from foodborne diseases, according to recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Rfider will now be promoted widely by the FDA as part of its “New Era Smarter Food Safety” campaign.

Now it is taking a new approach to food safety, leveraging technology and other tools and approaches to create a safer and more digital, traceable food system. The goal is to “bend the curve of foodborne illness in the United States by reducing the number of illnesses”.

Chief executive John Pennington says the validation of Rfider as globally capable comes at a time when countries like the United States are encouraging firms to voluntarily adopt tracing technologies in all sectors producing human and animal foods.

Rfider has developed a next generation digital food traceability platform.

“Anyone in the supply chain network can be up and running in minutes, collecting critical event data in a highly efficient way, without the need for costly integration or app development – we’ve taken care of that,” Mr Pennington says.

“Frontline staff at every point in a food’s supply chain, from growers through to logistics providers and distributors can now scan products to access mobile first tools which

simply traceability and provenance information capture. Consumers can also scan the same codes to get real-time updates on an item’s safety, allowing them to make more informed purchase and usage decision.

“Take our coffee customers, for example. We not only help them trace every lot of beans from harvest to consumer, but we also empower a significant number of process and supply chain efficiencies along the way. Transparency is becoming a major untapped source of value, which could be turned into a competitive advantage for brands that are built on integrity and sustainable practices.”

The FDA challenge comes off the back of its “New Era of Food Safety Blueprint”, which has been designed to enhance traceability, improve predictive analytics, respond more rapidly to outbreaks, address new business models, reduce contamination of food, and foster the development of stronger food safety cultures.

Rfider has developed a next generation digital food traceability platform.

MANAGING ENERGY EFFICIENTLY

HRS provide a range of Tubular and Scraped Surface heat exchangers, components, modules and complete processing systems that help you to optimise production, make the most of raw materials, while reducing energy consumption, waste and emissions: Pasteurisation

Evaporation

Sterilisation

CIP System

Aseptic Filling

Plant Automation

info@anz.hrs-he.com AU: +613 9489 1866 NZ: +64 9 889 6045 www.hrs-heatexchangers.com/anz

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Manufacturing Addressing the six biggest losses in manufacturing -Rob Stummer, APAC CEO,SYSPRO

As the manufacturing sector continues to navigate chinks in the global supply chain while trying to meet customer demand in a COVID era of restrictions, the fact remains that manufacturing is an industry that the pandemic has put under the spotlight and one which continues to be more competitive than ever.

For manufacturing organisations, the priority remains on reducing waste, being more efficient and continuing to have a competitive edge over others.

Being able to identify what is referred to as the six big losses will provide businesses with an equipment-based perspective on lost production time that they can use as part of their improvement program.

Some manufacturers have implemented programs like Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) and focused on improving Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) with the aim of streamlining manufacturing processes and increasing output.

While TPM is an equipment maintenance model that aims to achieve perfect production with no breakdowns, slow running or any other machine related problem that affects throughput. OEE is a metric that measures how well the machine is being utilised, otherwise known as uptime, the speed of the machine and the quality of the production.

In the past, due to legacy Operational Technology (OT) systems, manufacturers had no clear visibility into the manufacturing process and could not always tell where equipment bottlenecks were.

OEE supports TPM based initiatives by measuring progress towards the nirvana of perfect production and one of the most effective ways of improving OEE is to identify the six big losses.

adjustments include setup, changeovers, major adjustments and tooling adjustments. From the general standpoint of planned stops, other regular reasons include cleaning, warmup time, planned maintenance and quality inspections.

3. Idling and minor stops Idling and minor stops represents time where the equipment stops for a short period of time, typically a minute or two and can usually be resolved by the machine operator. An alternative term for idling and minor stops is small stops and it is regarded as a performance loss.

Standard reasons for idling and minor stops include misfeeds, material jams, obstructed product flow, incorrect settings, misaligned or blocked sensors, equipment design issues and periodic quick cleaning.

This category usually includes stops that are well under five minutes and that do not require maintenance teams to intervene, so most companies do not accurately track idling and minor stops. The fundamental issues can ultimately have a damaging result, but because of the small duration of the stops, there is ambivalence as to their impact.

4. Reduced speed

from a first pass yield perspective. Reduced yield can occur after any equipment start-up; however, it is commonly tracked after changeovers. Reduced yield is a quality loss.

1. Equipment failure

Reduced speed accounts for time where equipment runs slower than the ideal cycle time (the theoretical fastest possible time to manufacture one part).

Another name for reduced speed is slow cycles and it is regarded as a performance loss.

Equipment defects and failures result in downtime, financial impact, inventory discrepancies and poor quality-control. This situation can occur for several reasons and can be because of unplanned downtime, no available operators and a lack of raw materials.

Examples of common reasons for reduced speed include dirty or worn-out equipment, poor lubrication, substandard materials, poor environmental conditions, operator inexperience, start-up and shutdown.

When equipment is scheduled for production but is not running for any significant period due to a failure of some sort, it is categorised as equipment failure and is an availability loss. A simpler way to think of equipment failure is as any unplanned stop or downtime.

This category includes anything that keeps the process from running at its theoretical maximum speed, or the ideal run rate or nameplate capacity, when the manufacturing process is running.

Now manufacturers have a single source of data and in turn, full visibility of production using a Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM) system.

5. Process defects

While MOM may seem like the obvious next step for manufacturers to optimise operations, many have been reluctant to move away from their traditional legacy systems. The reality is that the industry has reached an inflection point, where digital transformation and the need to fast track to a smarter digital factory is vital to remain competitive in the coming months.

Typical reasons for equipment failure include tooling failure, breakdowns and unplanned maintenance.

From the broader perspective of unplanned stops, other common reasons include no operators or materials, being starved by upstream equipment or being blocked by downstream equipment.

2. Setup and adjustments As the name suggests this refers to when equipment is scheduled for production but is not running due to a changeover or other equipment adjustments. A more universal way to classify it is as a planned stop and is regarded as an availability loss.

Examples of common reasons for setup and

Process defects account for defective parts produced during stable, steady state production. This includes scrapped parts as well as parts that can be reworked, since OEE measures quality from a first pass yield perspective. Process defects are a quality loss.

Examples of common reasons for process defects include incorrect equipment settings, operator or equipment handling errors, and lot expiration, for example in pharmaceutical production.

6. Reduced yield Reduced yield accounts for defective parts produced from start-up until stable, steady state production is reached. This includes scrapped parts as well as parts that can be reworked, since OEE measures quality

Examples of common reasons for reduced yield include suboptimal changeovers, incorrect settings when a new part is run, equipment that needs warmup cycles, or equipment that inherently creates waste after start-up, for example a web press.

The role of MOM in reducing these losses

Manufacturers should ideally consider a MOM solution that adheres to world-class manufacturing standards and is importantly fully integrated into their ERP, to leverage a single platform to monitor and improve factory performance. This will transform how an organisation manages people, equipment and processes to drive better business performance and strategic outcomes.

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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.

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.

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.

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Advanced NZ-made filter media kills coronavirus A New Zealand company 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. Auckland based 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.

“The pandemic has highlighted the importance of providing effective protection for workers on the front line and the large numbers of people who wear masks daily. The beauty of this product is that it provides highly effective protection against infectious bacteria, viruses and airborne particles,” he says.

NanoLayr is the first manufacturer to use manuka oil as a microbial agent in air filtration applications. The bioactive manuka oil is contained within a nanofibre fabric that stops viruses and bacteria from passing

through it, meaning any bacteria or virus trapped in the nanofibre fabric are deactivated and killed. This delivers a far superior result to filters coated with bactericidal actives, where the active coatings can wear off and risk entering the users body.

Connor says the bioactive nanofibre filters can be used in facemasks to not only greatly reduce the possibility of contamination and infection, but it also results in a more sustainable product.

“The nanofibre used for these filters is made from specific polymers that are effective at absorbing and carrying active ingredients like manuka. The nanofibre enables the controlled release of these actives over a prolonged period, meaning masks can be worn for longer, they can be used multiple times, and they provide a better experience for the person wearing it,” says Connor.

NanoLayr supplies filtration media to multiple overseas face mask manufacturers, including HALO Life in the US, and HVAC systems to local home solutions company HRV. FilterLayr was developed with investment by NanoLayr as well as a $950,000 contribution from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s Covid-19 Innovation Acceleration Fund (CIAF). CIAF was set up last year to support New Zealand’s response to meet global and local PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) demand.

Connor says NanoLayr’s FilterLayr platform will also support future pandemic responses and the company is currently upscaling production of the new product.

NanoLayr CEO, Ray Connor

“We have developed incredible platform technology that is leading the world in the production of nanofibre. We have a focus on using our technology in a way that we can make a positive impact on the lives of as many people as possible.

“For us, this development of FilterLayr was the right thing to do, not only does it have the ability to benefit frontline responders, but as a novel media, it will also help put New Zealand at the forefront of the global textiles industry and establish the country as the centre of excellence for nanofibre.”

The development is a breakthrough in the fight against future pandemics.

Connections driving students to automotive employment Connections with local businesses are helping students develop the necessary skills and experience to gain employment in the automotive engineering industry.

For more than ten years Tony McDonald from Capital City Motors has been taking two to three apprentices every year from WelTec’s Certificate in Automotive Engineering (Level Four) (Managed Apprenticeship) programme. He sees this as beneficial to both parties, giving students a chance to gain valuable work experience and allowing Tony to find quality new employees.

“The students are well-skilled and ready for work when they arrive. I’ve been doing this for over 10 years, and every apprentice has been fantastic,” Tony

says. “The WelTec classes keep them up to speed and means they’re constantly learning and equipped to progress to more technical jobs.”

Tony’s focus is on upskilling the students and giving them a wide range of experience so they can gain practical experience in all aspects of automotive repair. Many of his current employees are students who have come through the WelTec apprenticeship scheme and have stayed on afterwards.

Michael Jordan, 23, is an Upper Hutt local currently completing his apprenticeship at Capital City Motors

in Wellington. He wasn’t sure what his career would look like upon leaving school, but after returning from overseas travel the Government’s Fees Free programme convinced him to enrol in WelTec’s New Zealand Certificate in Automotive Engineering (Level Three).

He is now only months away from completing WelTec’s Certificate in Automotive Engineering (Level Four) (Managed Apprenticeship).

Students can balance their classes at WelTec with full-time work due to flexible class times. Students work during the day and then attend a night class from 5.30 pm to 8.00 pm once a week.

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Change your bearing now

No corrosion, no additional lubrication, light weight. This is what makes our high-performance plastics special.

They replace metal in plain, spherical and ball bearings, in slewing ring bearings and in linear technology.

Less cost and higher service life for moving applications, proven in the igus test lab; get a competitive edge with our dry-tech® range. All motion plastics can be configured and calculated online. igus.co.nz/dry-tech

Moving energy made easy

Our comprehensive range matches energy chains and cables to the movement on your machine. For vertical, horizontal or rotary motion, as standard or as special solutions, with smart technology for predictive maintenance. From individual components with no minimum order quantity to harnesed, readyto-intstall systems. All motion plastics® can be configured and calculated online. igus.co.nz/the-chain

igus® products exclusively available from Treotham New Zealand Ltd www.treotham.co.nz 20

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After 40 years HRS enters new chapter

By Matt Hale, International Sales & Marketing Director

The recent acquisition of HRS Heat Exchangers by Canada-based Exchanger Industries Limited (EIL) is just the latest development for a UK company with worldwide reach, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.

We look back at the last 40 years of the business that was founded by Steven Pither in his spare bedroom and speculate on what the future might look like.

Early years Back in the early 1980s the world was still feeling the aftershocks of the oil crises of the 1970s and energy efficiency was becoming a key concept across various industries. As part of this agenda, heat recovery technology was gaining in popularity, and Steven recognised that these trends were only going to become more important as time went on.

“I was working for a company called Marine & Industrial Heat,” explains Steven, who until the acquisition was CEO of the HRS Group. “This included selling heat exchangers produced by a Swedish company.

“When it was decided to stop selling them, I thought it represented a good business opportunity, so I set up Heat Recovery Systems (HRS) and offered 15 per cent of the business to Marine & Industrial Heat. I started working from home and things progressed from there.”

Over time HRS took on more control over the selection and design of the heat exchangers it was selling, initially to allow quotes to be delivered in a timelier manner.

The next step was to subcontract some of the manufacturing in the UK, including the production of skid-mounted heat exchanger packages.

Corrugated tubes After ten years HRS was so successful that Steven was able to purchase Marine & Industrial Heat, the company he had originally worked for. This provided HRS with its own manufacturing facility where it could also build heat exchanger frames.

Shortly after this, the Swedish company was taken over by a competitor, so HRS and the company’s agents in Spain worked together to design and manufacture their own range of tubular heat exchangers.

HRS was the first company to launch corrugated tube heat exchangers in the UK, which are renowned for their superior thermal performance and resistance to fouling.

1990s to manufacture our corrugated tube range for us and formed a joint venture in 2001.

“Later on, that company decided to return to its roots building alcohol plants, so we bought out the department that was handling our heat exchangers and in 2006 set up our own Indian company – HRS Process Systems Ltd – which opened its own factory and offices in 2007. They have grown over the years and today they are completely self-sufficient in terms of design and manufacture.”

International growth has come organically to HRS, and the circumstances behind each international business vary with location and timing. In 2004 HRS Group established HRS Process Technology Inc. in Phoenix, Arizona to develop the US market for HRS products, and HRS Heat Exchangers SDN BHD was formed as a hub for Asian markets in Malaysia in 2011.

“The ingredients that we are looking for overseas are people that we trust and can work with; a strong local market for our products and solutions; and the resources to support it,” says Steven. “In each case, whether it’s the US, Australia, Malaysia, Mexico or so on, there has been the right combination of these factors.

“We set up our Australian & New Zealand business when a New Zealander who had been working for HRS in the UK returned home in 2014, as it seemed like the right moment for us to open an office there.”

As well as its own overseas subsidiaries and offices, HRS has a joint venture with Hi-Prom Bureau to service the Russian market, and works with approved agents in other key countries, such as France and The Netherlands.

Looking ahead Increasing demand has seen significant expansion of the company’s manufacturing facilities in Spain and India over the last five years and, as with other global businesses, HRS is now adapting to operating in a post-pandemic world with increasing use of digital technology and remote working.

The latest development for HRS Heat Exchangers is its acquisition by Exchanger Industries Limited, the globally recognised designer and manufacturer of heat transfer products for the energy, petrochemical, industrial and clean power generation sectors.

There is a good fit between both companies not only in terms of geographical spread of operations, but also in terms of the markets served and the size of heat exchangers produced. This synergy will open up new ways of working and new markets for both companies.

The acquisition will see Mark el Baroudi of EIL take over as CEO of HRS Heat Exchangers, while HRS founder Steven Pither will continue to serve on the board of the new group.

Looking ahead, EIL will provide HRS with the scale necessary to continue to develop its market-leading range of tubular and scraped surface heat exchangers, as well as specialist systems for use in industries such as food production and AD/biogas.

We set up our Australian and New Zealand business when a New Zealander who had been working for HRS in the UK returned home in 2014, as it seemed like the right moment for us to open an office there.

Over the years it has developed its own designs for corrugated tube and scraped surface heat exchangers, a number of which have been patented.

The arrangement with Spain was subsequently converted into a formal joint venture, which provided not only market access to Europe, but also access to further production facilities.

After a decade of this relationship, Steven bought out his Spanish partner in 2009 and HRS acquired the trademarks, designs, software and facilities, all of which became the basis for the current HRS business.

International growth At the same time, HRS was beginning to expand around the world, as Steven explains. “As well as Spain, we also have a strong business in India. We originally licensed a company in India back in the

Steven Pither.

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NZ MANUFACTURER

FEATURES

title

October 2021 Issue text 3D MANUFACTURING THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY RECRUITMENT MACHINE TOOLS REGIONAL MANUFACTURING

Drawing software simplifies 2D path design for users of CNC cutting A unique 2D drawing tool simplifies the design and creation of executable G-code files for CNC cutting machines.

Known as NUMcad, the new drawing software runs directly from the machine’s operator panel and also under Windows on any standard PC. Its user interface mimics that of many popular CAD packages and is highly intuitive, making it ideal for people with minimal design experience.

NUMcad is suitable for both design origination and design modification.

Simple drawing tools are provided for functions such as Line, Polyline, Arc 2P and Arc Center-Radius; and they are backed by a suite of editing tools such as Meet Two Lines, Shrink or Extend – and even Insert Micro-joint – which enables users to very easily customise and modify shapes.

Advertising Booking Deadline – 8 October 2021 Advertising Copy Deadline – 8 October 2021

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

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

Opinion

As I See It

Manufacturing Profiles

Business News

Letters to the Editor

Appointments

Politics of Manufacturing

Around New Zealand

Trade Fair World Diary of Events World Market Report Q/A

Australian Report New to the Market Lean Manufacturing

Export News

Equipment for Sale

Machine Tools

Recruitment

Business Opportunities

Environmental Technology

Commentary

Manufacturing Processes

Using NUMcad, each segment of a cut can be set to rapid, marking, rough, medium or fine cut qualities, to achieve the user’s desired finish; the properties associated with the cut type are pulled from a Technology Table.

Both standard shape and custom fly cutting functionalities are available, and associated functions include the ability to control the cut-side placement (kerf compensation) and tilt angle of the machine’s cutting nozzle.

The added alignment settings allows the shapes to be rotated and offset for the minimisation and optimisation of uncut space – that could turn into scrap.

New plasma systems with built-in intelligence Three new air plasma systems called Powermax SYNC™ feature built-in intelligence and a revolutionary single-piece cartridge consumable, and are unlike any other plasma in the world.

ease of use, lower operating cost, and better performance than any other air plasma before it, and is a groundbreaking new product to the fabrication industry.

Powermax SYNC and its SmartSYNC torch replaces the traditional five-piece consumable stack-up with a single color-coded cartridge.

This simplified operation serves to help fabricators address many of the toughest challenges they face today by eliminating operator errors, downtime, troubleshooting, waste, and training time.

Technology embedded in each cartridge automatically sets the correct amperage, air pressure, and operating mode and lets operators know when a new cartridge is needed.

Additionally, controls on the SmartSYNC torch allow operators to adjust the amperage and change the cartridge without returning to the power supply.

The cartridge is manufactured as a single piece so everything within it is perfectly aligned and optimized. As a result, the Hypertherm cartridge for Powermax systems will last up to twice as long and deliver cleaner cuts versus traditional consumables.

The cartridge can even track data, like starts and arc-on time, to identify trends and make a user’s operation more efficient.

The Powermax SYNC series delivers incredible

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The NUMcad software package includes a post processor; shapes or patterns that have been drawn or imported can be automatically converted into an executable G-code file for the CNC cutting machine.

Nesting gives the user the option to create complex paths containing the same pattern. With settings like nesting type, number of pieces, sheet size, and scaling, the user can create a path that is sized and optimised to their liking.

BUSINESS UPDATE Editorial Copy Deadline – 8 October 2021 Advertising – For bookings and further information contact: Doug Green, P O Box 1109, Hastings 4156, Hawke’s Bay Email: publisher@xtra.co.nz

If a user already has a CAD file and wishes to modify it, NUMcad allows AutoCad DXF files to be imported. And in the event that the user does not have a DXF file, but has created the shape on the CNC cutting machine itself, NUMcad also allows this shape to be imported from their customisable parametric shapes library.

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New Products Lubrication-free igus spherical balls from Treotham Heavy dirt accumulation, dust and swarf are commonplace for pillow blocks and fixed flange bearings. Constant lubrication and maintenance is therefore necessary.

With the injection-moulded igus spherical balls, customers can resort to a lubrication-free and maintenance-free solution for their metallic pillow blocks. igus has now developed new spherical balls made of the high-performance plastic iglidur J, specifically for cost-effective sheet metal housings.

The igubal spherical balls come directly from injection moulding and are therefore cost-effective.

Within a few seconds, they can be mounted in place of ball bearings in existing classic metallic pillow blocks and flange bearing housings and now also in low-cost sheet metal housings.

Metal and lubrication are found close together in mechanical engineering. igus proves that this does not always have to be the case.

The bearing system consisting of sheet metal housing and igubal spherical ball is available from Treotham.

The plastic spherical ball has a high durability and its service life can be easily calculated online.

The motion plastics specialist has developed its igubal exchangeable spherical balls especially for pillow blocks and fixed flange bearings with metallic housings.

The igubal spherical balls are currently available in three dimensions for low-cost sheet metal housings (Ø 20mm, 25mm and 30 mm) as well as for cast housings (UC204-210).

Lubrication-free operation thanks to iglidur J

These consist of the high-performance polymer iglidur J, which reduces costs since lubrication and maintenance are eliminated.

The spherical balls made of iglidur J are not only cost-effective, but also have a very low coefficient of friction in dry operation. The material absorbs only a little moisture, so that the use of the spherical balls is also suitable for outdoors.

The use of polymers prevents dirt and dust from settling in the bearing, which additionally reduces the sealing and prevents an unplanned machine downtime. The use of exchange bearings is also suitable in agriculture and farming, in the food industry or in plant and mechanical engineering.

Due to the chemical resistance of the high-performance plastic, the use of exchangeable spherical balls is also suitable for use in chemically demanding applications such as agricultural technology or even glass processing. iglidur J displays its advantages especially in soft shafts.

The lubrication-free and cost-effective solution: igubal spherical balls made of maintenance-free high-performance plastics in low-cost sheet metal housings replace metal bearings.

What is Speedglas Generation 5?

Generation 5 is the latest collection of Speedglas welding helmets that showcase a truly groundbreaking array of never-before-seen features.

Each helmet is designed from inception to be uniquely tailored to a specific application, from heavy-duty welding in hard-wearing environments to critical precision TIG work.

However, this is not to say these helmets are rigid in their capabilities. On the contrary, the Generation 5 series has been built on the premise that any high-performance welding helmet should be fully customisable to the preferences of each individual welder.

The result, after extensive input from professional welders, is an elite welding helmet range that manages to be both highly specialised and versatile in equal measure.

Speedglas G5-02: a new world standard in precision viewing As with past 3M Speedglas designs, the concept for the Speedglas G5-02 Welding Helmet originated from consulting professional welders. When it came to creating a helmet specifically for TIG welding, the feedback from TIG welders was unanimous: a wide view rated significantly higher than a taller view.

The only way to achieve these exponentially wider views without the compromise of making the helmet wider was to invent a curved welding lens: and now, after dedicating two decades to this goal, Speedglas have delivered the world’s first curved auto-darkening lens!

This groundbreaking new arrival has been designed to follow the shape of your head and maximise your natural range of vision by 100% when compared to a conventional flat lens.

The curved G5-02 lens also provides highly advanced electronics, with four arc sensors that will detect an arc down to an industry-leading 1 Amp.

In summary, while designed for TIG welding, the G5-02 is suitable across the entire spectrum of arc welding processes.

After all, most welders can appreciate the superior colour and contrast of TrueView optics, a 100% wider scope of vision, a light state of 2.5 and the comfort and mobility of a slimmer, lighter helmet.

Speedglas G5-01: the ultimate in heavy-duty protection While the risk posed by welding fume is serious, keeping yourself safe can be straightforward. This is where the Speedglas G5-01VC Flip-Up Welding Helmet with Heavy-Duty Adflo Powered Air Purifying Respirator (PAPR) comes in.

The respirator fully complies with the Australian and New Zealand standard for powered air respirators (AS/NZS1716) and offers a Required Minimum Protection Factor (RMPF) of 50, meaning it will supply a minimum 50 times cleaner air than a welder would otherwise breathe unprotected.

This in turn ensures the lens can reliably react to the extremely stable arcs offered by the latest high-end inverter based TIG machines. Bluetooth enabled, so you can securely pair your smartphone to your welding lens via the 3M™ Connected App. You can then use your phone to program up to four memory modes, each with its own settings for dark shades, sensitivity, and delay.

This option, when combined with the more intuitive, user-friendly control panel on the lens itself, means it has never been easier to adjust your lens settings to suit your requirements.

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New Products igus heavy-duty rol e-chain for maximum service life The new generations of cranes demand increasingly more from energy supply systems. Now an energy chain meets precisely these requirements for longer travels, higher accelerations and speeds as well as reliability. manner.

smart monitoring sensors.

All parts can be replaced in case of maintenance. To monitor the service life, smart plastics sensors can be integrated into the pin/bore connection.

The comb-like autoglide crossbars keep the chain in its track, increasing the safety of the system and reducing costly unplanned downtime. In the new pin/bore connection, igus uses its expertise from polymer plain bearing technology and relies on a proven iglidur material, which also significantly increases the service life of the chain.

From a defined wear limit, the sensor sends a signal to the igus i.Cee:plus module, by which the maintenance of the rol e-chain can be planned in advance. It is integrated into a side part of the chain, which does not lead to any restrictions in the usable inner width.

They are getting faster, longer and have to carry heavier fill weights: the energy chains in the new generations of ship-to-shore cranes. “Especially for these emerging trends in the world of cranes, we have already developed a new rol e-chain with the longest service life”, says Jörg Ottersbach, e-chains Business Unit Manager at igus GmbH.

“Tests in our in-house 3,800 square metre laboratory conclude that the P4HD has up to 50 per cent longer service life than its predecessor series P41.56”, explains Jörg Ottersbach.

This is why igus has launched a heavy-duty version based on its P4 rol e-chain range. The chain is said to have a service life - depending on the application - of up to 15 years. For this purpose, igus relies on tribologically optimised high-performance polymers.

Fast and maintenance

The new heavy-duty P4HD rol e-chain from Treotham is made of highly abrasion-resistant materials. Special side parts, newly designed joining links, roller links as well as a triple stop-dog system minimise wear and reduce the drive energy even further.

In order to further reduce abrasion at all points of the chain, igus has come up with a few design refinements. Amongst other things, a triple stop-dog system and a symmetrical design.

The integrated rollers reduce the required drive energy by 57 per cent compared to a gliding chain.

The rollers run on top of each other in a staggered

predictive

In case of maintenance, all parts of the chain can be replaced 1:1.

Existing P4 energy chain systems can also be quickly retrofitted with the new chain thanks to identical dimensions.

This reduces the effort, costs and materials required for maintenance. As an option, the P4HD can also be fitted with

The P4HD heavy-duty rol e-chain uses new materials and a special pin/bore connection to provide a fail-safe energy supply on modern STS cranes.

Good questions get better results for critical seals and gasket solutions Pumps and valves are one of the technologies at the heart of many new process and automation innovations that depend closely on the efficiency of optimum seals and gaskets Sometimes they may look pretty familiar and insignificant – but seals and gaskets are rapidly advancing fields of technology that perform functions vital to safety, testing, manufacturing, mining, energy and liquid and gas reticulation operations.

They play a key role in ensuring the efficacy and longevity of valves, pumps, reticulation systems, machinery and automation solutions, where they are essential in avoiding leaks of fuel, fluid power mediums, harmful emissions, vapours and chemical and aggressive process solutions.

And because they may look so simple and familiar, users may assume that what has done a job previously will continue be ok to meet a whole host of issues that may arise in the future, including new challenges where they are essential to the integrity of process automation, materials handling, machine construction and maintenance and safety, hygiene and export compliance.

Sometimes this approach may be right. Proven can be good – if the application is the same, or very similar. But trusting old solutions with new tasks may also be wrong.

Because new machinery technologies (faster, higher pressure, more automated) may demand new seal and gasket capabilities.

And new seal and gasket material capabilities may themselves have advanced considerably since material selection was last addressed.

Pumps and valves are one of the technologies at the heart of many new process and automation innovations that depend closely on the efficiency of optimum seals and gaskets

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Material selection isn’t always just a simple matter of reading a compatibility chart or accepting a component manufacturers’

headline statement, such as “food-compatible” or “purpose compatible” at face value. Sometimes such statements are perfectly true in relation to one particular part of a range, but may not be intended to apply to the entire range, he says.

The right questions 1. What range of applications are we looking at?

2. What range of materials do we need to seal?

3. What are the operating conditions, including temperatures, chemicals and pressure loads?

4. What are the particular traceability, compliance and Standards criteria you must meet or exceed?

5. What do you like/not like about what is currently being used/proposed?

6. What are the seal/flange conditions? Is there sufficient engineering/load capacity/space available?

7. What is the design life of the joint?

8. What is the target price range? Are we basing on price or performance?

CSGtech www.csgtech.com.au partners with clients in diverse industries to customise high performance solutions for complex problems where seals and interfacing components must achieve durability, reliability and precision.

Developments New literacy partnership breaks down barriers for manufacturing employer It was a simple online survey that led Solo Plastics’ CEO Alan Sutcliffe to discover many of his production staff were struggling with digital literacy, language and unable to use a computer.

“Only around five per cent of staff returned our questionnaire and when I asked why no-one was filling the form out, it turned out that many had limited digital skills and most had little experience using computers.

There were also challenges around English language skills to understand the questions.

“At the same time, we were about to implement some automation in the factory meaning staff would have to use computers more and more, so we made the decision to pause that rollout and instead focus on how to upskill our staff in English, numeracy, digital literacy, and leadership,” says Alan.

Coincidently, Competenz Workforce Development Business Partner Debs Wand was finding that, through the course of some manufacturing qualifications, many learners were struggling with their literacy and foundation skills.

This led Debs to partner with workplace training providers Upskills and Jupiter Training to create bespoke literacy training to run alongside existing workplace qualifications.

“There is no standard training programme,” says Debs.

“Upskills and Jupiter Training design programmes that are tailored to the employer, often including the type of documentation or machinery employees or trainees will encounter in their work.”

Solo Plastics is an Auckland-based company that designs, manufactures, and installs pipe and fittings for infrastructure projects including water, wastewater, and electrical industries.

Among its 70 staff are two Competenz apprentices and the first literacy training programme saw 20 staff take part.

“The aim was to increase the team’s knowledge and motivate them to own their processes, accept new technology, and to give them confidence to speak up and suggest ideas. The course was taught at their pace and absolutely delivered – the feedback and morale boost has been amazing, and we now have 10 people enrolled on a second, more advanced course and three

on a leadership course.”

greatest reward”.

“The intangible benefits are obvious,” says Alan.

“Staff morale is vastly improved as not only do they see an investment from the company in them, they see development in themselves.”

“We hope to continue this training for as long as possible. Competenz has been fantastic throughout the whole process and we are currently working with them on setting up a new nationally recognised NZQA qualification in Plastics Fabrication, so our whole industry can work towards a common standard.”

Upskills has always had a strong connection with the manufacturing sector. “What we are seeing is the creation of a learning pathway where participants might firstly upskill their general literacy and numeracy initially, then as a workplace programme matures, the drive for recognised industry qualifications becomes desirable and achievable with an embedded literacy and numeracy approach. Our relationship with Competenz continues to evolve to ensure we are meeting the learning and development needs of the sector,” says Upskills director Sarah Balfour.

Jeff Tufnell from Jupiter Training has been working with Competenz for the past 20 years and delivers the literacy programme at Solo in conjunction with Upskills.

Debs says combined literacy/workplace qualification training is a great way for employers to reward and recognise their staff and being tailored to each company, training sessions can fit around production scheduling.

“Employers tell us that this training has resulted in increased staff engagement, greater productivity and more autonomous decision making. For the learners, they achieve a nationally recognised qualification, increased confidence and better communication skills.

Ultimately it results in more enjoyment at work.”

“Upskills provides a lot of the NZQA and unit standards translation which helps me to deliver the learning that is more focused on workplace outcome. Most of the challenges in manufacturing industry training are around translation and language. At Level 2, most are competent at demonstrating skills, but often have difficulty explaining what they do and interpreting NZQA questions. Our bespoke training programmes can include numeracy, literacy and digital learning, depending on the technology or information systems each company utilises,” explains Jeff.

Alan says seeing his team grow in terms of confidence Caption: Litmaps’ users can discover science related to a subject matter of interest faster - to help and spirit has been “the build knowledge and find research gaps to accelerate breakthroughs.

Research platform secures $1M investment discovery of 200+ million published and peer-reviewed studies Wellington-based science-software startup Litmaps has secured $1M in a seed funding round led by Icehouse Ventures. The investment will help Litmaps accelerate international adoption of its research platform, which allows subject matter experts such as scientists and engineers to discover science faster.

Litmaps’ research platform combines interactive citation maps, modern search tools, and models of a researchers’ existing knowledge to create a more efficient research discovery experience to help accelerate scientific breakthroughs.

Over 30,000 researchers worldwide, from public research organisations to development teams in science-heavy companies, have already used Litmaps since its launch in November 2020.

CEO and co-founder Dr Kyle Webster says feedback

from early users of the platform shows it’s already providing significant value as a tool to accelerate and inform research.

“We’ve just scratched the surface,” says Dr Webster, “The opportunity for Litmaps is significant, and we’re excited to enter the next phase of growth. Litmaps changes how experts can understand and navigate our collective knowledge – which previously has remained trapped in systems developed decades or even centuries ago.

“As a result, we’re improving the usefulness of the 200 million published and peer-reviewed studies to help accelerate all sorts of existing research: from medicine to policymaking to space travel.

“The investment will also help us develop a version for R&D companies that will zero in on verticals such

as artificial intelligence and biotechnology to help enterprise-level R&D teams bring superior products to market more quickly. The capabilities of our technology could create a decisive advantage for companies, particularly over the long term.”

Lead investor Icehouse Ventures says, “We are excited about the potential for Litmaps to change the way research is done in academic and commercial applications. Kyle and his team have a deep understanding of the research landscape and unique perspectives on how to create value.”

Quidnet Ventures and other investors, including Angel HQ, K1W1, Exponential Founders Fund, and several strategic independent angel investors, also joined the financing round.

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Developments New Zealand construction industry suppliers under pressure The EBOSS 2021 Construction Supply Chain Report gives fresh insights into the challenges the New Zealand construction industry is currently facing – with freight, price hikes and staff shortages shared concerns across the board.

The Report, released to over 900 industry professionals, surveyed 240 suppliers across major product categories for residential and commercial construction on logistics, price impacts, the sustainability of New Zealand’s supply chain, operating in a global market, and staffing.

The survey was conducted by EBOSS, which works with leading building product suppliers to assist in material selection by specifiers and is trusted by 30,000 architects, designers, builders, sub-trades, council planners and engineers, supported by BRANZ and funded by the Building Research Levy.

The aim of the survey, carried out in July, was to provide data on the current and future state of the building product supply chain and help specifiers and builders to better plan ahead.

It is the largest known survey of the New Zealand construction and building industry to date, focused on the state of the current product supply chain to the construction industry – an industry impacted by the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The EBOSS 2021 Construction Supply Chain Report Key Findings: o 8 out of 10 suppliers were having issues supplying the market. o 90% of construction products sold in New Zealand are either imported finished products or manufactured locally from at least some imported components. o 91% of those who rely on imports say they’re experiencing issues supplying the market, compared to just 58% for those wholly reliant on

domestic supply. o 40% of suppliers don’t have enough staff to meet current demand and 56% say they don’t have enough staff to meet future demand o 67% of suppliers surveyed say the increased cost of freight is their biggest issue (regarding their ability to supply their products), followed by worldwide shipping issues (65%), freight lead times (65%) and delays at NZ ports (62%). o 94% report the cost to buy materials from overseas has increased in the past 6 months (including both freight and supply cost increases) – 50% say this has ‘increased significantly’, 44% say this has increased slightly. 84% expect prices to increase over the next six months (27% significantly, 57% slightly). o 84% have increased the cost to customers and 16% haven’t made any changes to the cost to customers. 79% expect further increases to the cost to consumers over the next 6 months.

“Those who work in the industry have told us that freight costs, particularly shipping, have increased significantly in the past six months – it is common to hear of increases of over 100 percent,” says EBOSS Managing Director Matthew Duder. “Freight issues are experienced by four out of five suppliers.

Suppliers are constrained by the ongoing impacts of Covid, and a demand boom in both New Zealand and around the world.”

The EBOSS 2021 Construction Supply Chain Report provides considerations for better outcomes for the

EBOSS Managing Director Matthew Duder.

industry, such as increasing infrastructure at all New Zealand ports, investment in local manufacturing and greater efficiency of local councils to consent and inspect building work.

Kevin Cowie appointed SCNZ Technical Director Structural Steel NZ (SCNZ) has appointed Kevin Cowie to the role of Technical Director. Cowie has been a steadfast member of the SCNZ team since he joined as Senior Structural Engineer 12 years ago.

SCNZ General Manager Darren O’Riley says that, in that time, Cowie has tirelessly supported the organisation to advocate the use of structural steel in construction.

“Kevin’s well-deserved new title is a reflection of his standing in the construction community, where he has earned the deep respect of his colleagues, peers and the wider industry,” says O’Riley. “It also recognises Kevin’s exceptional technical skills, commitment to best practice and ongoing contribution to the sector.”

Cowie has been involved in multiple standards committees from chairing NZS 3404 to participating in AS/NZS 2327, 1252 and 5131. He has co-authored

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and contributed to countless design guides and industry guidance documents, chaired numerous industry working groups, and is a regular presenter at engineering seminars, conferences and on SCNZ’s own webinar channel.

Internationally, he has participated in invitation-only workshops on steelwork connections and other specialist conferences.

“All the while, Kevin has unwaveringly provided invaluable project-specific technical advice to engineers,” says O’Riley. “SCNZ and the wider industry are fortunate to have Kevin driving our technical team to excel.”

The last word The business of coffee Paul Baker is the GM of Vivace Espresso, a 100% NZ owned and operated business supplying high quality coffee to cafes, hotels and restaurants nationwide.

With more than 25 years hospitality experience under his belt, Paul is no stranger to facing upheavals and challenges. He shares his insights and provides some advice for those in the trade to get through the pandemic and back on track as quickly as possible.

Does the ongoing Covid situation raise the question for you: “Why don’t I do something else?”

No, not really. Every industry is affected in one way or another, so whatever industry you are in there would have been issues.

At least in this industry once we can operate again properly (or semi) we do bring relief and enjoyment to people.

the trade is owned by Vivace Espresso and many repairs/ scheduled preventative maintenance work are also covered by Vivace Espresso.

Of course, this cost in general is accounted for in our normal trading environment however this has impacted on us prior to the Lockdown.

Can you reposition your coffee company in other ways -direct selling to the consumer or a rebranding?

I note that coffee sellers have various prices – from $3 to $7 – can the price not be easier on the consumer and at the same time allow you to make a profit?

After the first lockdown in 2020, we assessed our model and looked at different revenue streams for opportunities. We explored the supermarket route but decide against it as felt we would lose control on the quality of our coffee with beans sitting in warehouses longer than the recommended ‘use by date’.

The final cup price is determined by the cafe operator due to their own circumstances. From our perspective our wholesale price point comes down to the quality of our main ingredient, the green beans.

Many supermarkets go on to sell ‘used by’ coffee at discounted prices or they just send it back.

We source our beans internationally which are traded on the commodities market so the cost can and does vary substantially throughout the world due to grade, quality, weather conditions as well as ever increasing supply demands.

Although it was tempting to go down the supermarket route in terms of revenue, we didn’t want to compromise on our reputation for delivering fresh quality beans.

Coffee companies make a commercial decision how they price their wholesale coffee based on their ideals and ethics. Some companies may choose to use a low-grade bean, also referred to as a bulker bean.

Instead, we decided to explore the e-commerce route, with a rejuvenated brand/ image and website and make it more user friendly for customers.

We are looking at different office packages including machinery supplied on a leasing base similar to what we currently offer within the café market.

We have developed a training manual to introduce an office barista course to ensure quality coffee is served to a café standard.

I am also exploring looking at changing how we roast. At the moment we work out roasting schedules on a daily basis based on historical throughput, but I am playing with the idea of roasting to order for our wholesale customers.

For all orders taken on a day we will roast the next day with a small percentage of allowance. This should minimise roasted stock on hand and prevent any issues of wasted coffee stock if we hit another lockdown anywhere in New Zealand.

How much business are you currently doing?

Currently around 5% of our normal turnover.

It is not necessarily the case that your business won’t continue…maybe find another way of operating?

If our business doesn’t continue after all this and we couldn’t find another way to continue, I would still love to work in the industry and take on an advisory/consultancy role to help people understand the business side of the trade.

How much is the supply chain affecting your business?

At the moment with regards to green bean supply we are fine, as we work up to 6 months in advance for supply.

However, for machinery and parts associated with machines, that’s a different story, for example we have had to fly in machinery from Italy at an excess extra cost of over $1000 per machine.

Parts these days are also being flown in, adding to the cost which directly affects our margins, as most machinery in

Bulker beans don’t bring any flavour, character, or purpose to the final cup but it is sold at a lower price to the company so they can keep the price of a coffee down. Others choose (like us) to use better quality, higher grade green beans that you will taste and experience but still stay commercially competitive.

The difference in a kilo rate for a café operator, of around $6 translates to cost difference of only 12 cents per cup but for a better experience.

However, some coffee companies that trade within the supermarket route offer the same blends within the hospitality sector therefore the cost to produce the coffee must be lower to accommodate the margins required by the supermarket chains.

Other factors such as milk, alternative milks, rent, location of cafe, and fair labour costs will always affect the final cup price.

You must always remember a café runs on various margins over many different products, so if the price of a coffee was to be lowered an additional item that has a slimmer margin will be affected so a balanced overall margin is maintained.

As a roaster we would be ok if a standardised price was set for coffee as long as people were still concerned about quality, but the café operator will may not be - they need to have the margin to offset the lower margin of another café item, for example, a panini.

At the end of the day, the cup quality is imperative. I was once told when I first started in the trade that all a diner remembers are the first five minutes and the last five minutes of their experience. Imagine how important coffee is for those last five minutes.

If hospitality businesses may not survive the ongoing Covid situation in their form, is lateral thinking needed for a ‘homegrown’ consumer market?

Oh yes. But it also needs to be New Zealand owned, many artisan producers are being squeezed big time by companies that were once owned by New Zealander’s but are now owned by multinational organisations and the profits go overseas.

We have had to fly in machinery from Italy at an excess extra cost of over $1000 per machine.

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