NZ Manufacturer November 2013 November 2013
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Developments
Business News
Business confidence soars.
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We need the good ideas.
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www.solidtec.co.nz
Report
The changing world of mechanical design.
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Kiwi manufacturing success Is manufacturing story takes on Australia important?
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t a time when many manufacturers are struggling to survive, there is one Kiwi manufacturer that has grown over 1,000 per cent in the last three years - and has just launched across the Tasman. Earthwise, locally manufactures environmentally-sound products for home and body. Earthwise general manager Rory Garvey said.”We have grown over 200 per cent in the last year alone, and have launched in Australia in the past five months, so we are very eager to ensure that we have the strategy in place to fulfil our business contracts and keep our retailers satisfied,”. The company has a range of almost 60 products it supplies into supermarkets in New Zealand and now Australia, ranging from household cleaners to laundry items to baby washes and bubble baths. All of the Earthwise main range is Environmental Choice accredited, and the total portfolio commands almost 40 per cent of the environmentally sound product category. The success of the Earthwise range has helped grow the ‘green’ category of all household cleaners to about 11 per cent of the total sold. But it’s not enough for Earthwise, which has a business goal of gently
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Earthwise general manager Rory Garvey
winning over the household shopper that hasn’t yet thought about buying green. “Our products are designed and made to appeal to mums who want the best for their families, at a reasonable price point - but who also want something highly effective,” says Rory. “We know our products are every bit as effective as the nongreen products - and they are safer for families.” “We also offer the satisfaction of knowing that, even with just the small act of buying a detergent Continues page 26
e regularly see in the media - and general public - discourse and some confusion about what manufacturing actually is, and consequently further discussion on what it might mean and how important it might be to our economy becomes increasingly obscure. These are ideas that need to be crystal clear in order to properly inform and support judgments around policy. What exactly is manufacturing? What do you think right now? Surprisingly, this is often misunderstood. Manufacturing is not simply the act or process associated with the production of goods. Production or the production process is only one part of the manufacturing process. Manufacturing is the art of choosing what to produce, what supporting research and development to fund, how the product or process will go to market, at what price and via what channels, production is the door that connects the intellectual effort to the value acquisition effort post production. That value chain, the focused intellectual effort, the act of production and the process of value captured is the essence of manufacturing and like any system
– John Walley
Chief Executive, New Zealand Manufacturers and Exporters Association all the parts require attention. Once the all embracing nature of manufacturing as a system is in mind as opposed to production as a component of that wider system, then the value of manufacturing to the community can be properly considered.
Manufacturing provides job growth
Manufacturing has the highest job multiplier of any industry; this means that every job in
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