NZ Manufacturer September

September 2015

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COMPANY PROFILE Octopus inspired robot.

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Nelson Honey –In no way corporate.

Looking ahead...

METALS WEEK In Review.

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Manufacturing in 2050 will look very different from today, and will be virtually unrecognisable from that of 30 years ago.

Successful firms will be capable of rapidly adapting their physical and intellectual infrastructures to exploit changes in technology as manufacturing becomes faster, more responsive to changing global markets and closer to customers.

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COMPANY PROFILE

Successful firms will also harness a wider skills base, with highly qualified leaders and managers whose expertise combines both commercial and technical acumen, typically in science, technology, engineering or mathematics.

Constant adaptability will pervade all aspects of manufacturing, from research and development to innovation, production processes, supplier and customer interdependencies, and lifetime

continued on page 20

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THE SAFER FARMS PROGRAMME WHY A FARM SAFETY PROGRAMME? Farming kills more people than any other sector in New Zealand – 41 people have died working on farms in the last two years. That’s four times the number of fatalities in either forestry or construction.

There are also thousands of serious injuries that lead to a loss of productivity and income for farmers.

Farmers, their families and farming communities are directly affected, and bear the emotional and financial cost of deaths and injuries on the farm.

This is why WorkSafe New Zealand is partnering with farmers and their families, sector organisations, and the rural community as a whole on Safer Farms, a comprehensive farm safety information and education campaign.

WHAT IS SAFER FARMS? Safer Farms is a new way of working. It is a multi-year programme jointly funded by ACC. It aims to increase farmer awareness and understanding of their risks, support farmers to manage their safety, and build local and sector farm safety leadership. It will achieve this by: > Providing an easy-to-use toolkit and a comprehensive online resource - www.saferfarms.org.nz – so that farmers have clear health and safety advice and information. > A widespread media campaign in newspapers, magazines, on radio and online helping farmers identify and manage risks. > A seasonal information and education campaign highlighting the risks and how to manage them when they arise through the year (e.g. calving, shearing, picking). > Working with rural retailers to help them incorporate safety messages when dealings with farmers. > Training programmes to be delivered alongside rural stakeholder groups. > Education and information for rural kids delivered through school programmes and Dairy NZ’s Rosie’s World website.

Safer Farms was not developed in isolation. It was built with extensive input from farmers, their

WSNZ_00155_FEB 15

communities and the sector to ensure the focus was on helping farmers to take ownership of their health and safety.

WHERE CAN I GET MORE INFORMATION? Visit www.saferfarms.org.nz or call 0800 030 040.

KEEP SAFE, KEEP FARMING

SAFERFARMS.ORG.NZ

CONTENTS DEPARTMENTS

ADVISORS

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4 5 COMPANY PROFILE 6-8 MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY EDITORIAL

Manufacturing never stands still.

Technopak technology resides here.

Toyota invests big in AI. DesignSpark Electrical free design software.

Delcam launches 2016 FeatureCAM with new high-efficiency roughing.

Emirates Team New Zealand set to sail with Intercad.

9 COMPANY PROFILE 10 MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY 11 COMMENT

Craig Carlyle

Is Director of Maintenance Transformations Ltd, an executive member of the Maintenance Engineering Societyand the Event Director of the NationalMaintenance Engineering Conference.

8 Catherine Beard

Nelson Honey

Is Executive Director of Export NZ and Manufacturing, divisions of Business NZ, NewZealand’s largest business advocacy group, representing businesses of all sizes.

Solidworks keeps rail designer firmly on track.

Lies, damned lies and statistics that matter.

The building blocks of an economy.

12 DEVELOPMENTS

Bringing youth into industry.

Connecting manufacturers with their future workforce.

14 MAINTENANCE

Australasian conference says corrosion is not an asset.

16-18 THE FUTURE OF MANUFACTURING

Dieter Adam

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Chief Executive, New Zealand Manufacturers and Exporters Association has a Ph.D. in plant biotechnology, consulting and senior management roles in R&D, innovation and international business development.

Development of AI work orders based on Kaizen activity.

Machine learning quickly generates predictive models.

Registration open for 24th Automation Fair Kiwi IP champions declare nation’s future in high value technology.

19 HEALTH & SAFETY 20 THE FUTURE OF MANUFACTURING Injury prevention paramount.

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.

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How being open can give manufacturers the innovative edge.

21 MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY

Five questions to ask before you start 3D printing.

Clever new tool makes 3D printing easier.

Dr Wolfgang Scholz

Is HERA Director and a Fellow of the Institute of Professional Engineers NZ.

22 FOOD MANUFACTURING

Unmanned helicopters to revolutionise agricultural industry.

Business talent scouts looking for next superstar.

24-25 METALS WEEK

Determining our industry’s future.

HERA Awards presented at Industry Gala Dinner.

18 Bruce Goldsworthy

26 27 ANALYSIS

An advocate for NZ manufacturing for 40 years, he was Chief Executive of the Auckland Manufacturers Association for seven years He has been Manager of EMA’s Advocacy and Manufacturing Services, and lately manager for Export New Zealand in the north.

EXPORT NEWS Winning government business in Australia.

Bending instead of welding.

WORKSHOP TOOLS ProDetect adds SIGRIST measuring technology.

Black Series bearings efficient in challenging applications.

Rhino Linings minimise treatment plant spills.

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30 INDUSTRY 4.0

Self-Organising Factories.

Hello Industry 4.0

31 REAR VIEW

NZ economy: why view a half full glass as half empty?

26 www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz

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NZ Manufacturer September 2015

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EDITORIAL

PUBLISHER

Manufacturing never stands still

MANAGING EDITOR

Revolutionary technologies are changing the face of manufacturing in New Zealand and around the world.

Media Hawke’s Bay Ltd,1/121 Russell Street North, Hastings, New Zealand 4122.

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

CONTRIBUTORS

Holly Green, Kieran Ormandy, Gilbert Peterson, Yamini Chinnuswamy, Ben Connolly, Stefano Picozzi, Stephen Blair, Paul Kane, www.mscnewswire.co.nz

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

Remember when the first mobile phones came out? They looked like bricks, were the weight (practically) of bricks and there was really no place to put them. Walking down the busy street talking on one – with lots of other people around you doing the same thing – took up quite a lot of space.

And how it’s all changed. The phones we use now are so much better as is the technology we are using to drive our manufacturing environments.

DESIGN & PRODUCTION Kim Alves, KA Design T: + 64 6 879 5815 E: kim.alves@xtra.co.nz

WEB MASTER

If you can get your head around the on-going, refined technology, there are loads of opportunities staring you right in the face. And you can do it all in one place. Design engineers with their own research and development departments are taking on the world, developing products that five years ago would have been pretty hard to comprehend.

Julian Goodbehere E: julian@isystems.co.nz

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

DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTIONS E: info@nzmanufacturer.co.nz Free of Charge.

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

From Invercargill to Whangarei there are great examples of New Zealand companies finding success by rolling up their sleeves and getting stuck in – using the best of manufacturing equipment and technology.

Vol.6 No.8 September 2015 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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Manufacturers do need to focus on the TPP agreement. Currently sitting there like a very, very large pimple, this inter-arrangement may even see foreign workers in New Zealand performing jobs New Zealanders ought to be doing at cheaper rates.

The control of many workforces using Orwellian pay rates in a time when the price of an ice-cream is way over the top!

Ice-cream may be available using the latest technology – but who determines its price? Why should TPP serve us any better?

Technopak and Nelson Honey are prominent in this issue of NZ Manufacturer, companies who have been making it for a number of years.

They haven’t – over those years – needed any trade agreement to get them going, to keep them on track, just a good old fashioned desire to succeed.

Technopak build packing systems for export. They design and manufacture all of their machines from their East Tamaki base. Half of what they make is exported.

Nelson Honey, a family owned, 42 year old company produce and export high quality honey based products.

And high value bee venom and honey base cosmetic products. 85% of their products are destined for export – that is huge!

It can be done. Success wears many hats and whether there is a TPP agreement or not companies such as these are great examples of manufacturing never standing still.

Doug Green ASIA

MANUFACTURING NEWS

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NZ Manufacturer September 2015

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COMPANY PROFILE

Vision without action is a daydream.

Action without vision is a nightmare.

-Japanese proverb

COMPANY PROFILE Technopak technology resides here What makes giant US dairy industries choose a small New Zealand firm as their main supplier for powder packing machines?

Henri Hermans, Director of Technopak, knows it’s not for the sake of convenience: “People in New Zealand often question: why don’t US companies just build their own packing systems? But for high-value powders, and particularly for high-value dairy powders, the technology resides here, in New Zealand.”

Technopak was established in 2002, and has grown to become one of the top worldwide specialists in the production of powder packaging lines for the dairy industry. The company designs and manufactures all of their machines from their East Tamaki facility, with approximately half of the equipment produced going to export.

“Virtually all of our equipment is New Zealand supplied, and all mechanical and electrical components are assembled here”, says Henri.

Once the 20,000-odd components

Commercial & industrial growth

that make up the packing lines are assembled, they are wired and tested at the facility. “Quite often, the customer will visit us from overseas to witness the Factory Acceptance Testing. They will view the machine, and if they require anything extra, we’ll catch that before they’re dispatched”. The equipment is then disassembled and shipped overseas.

“We also send our engineers over to the site – typically three to four people per project – to supervise the unpacking of the containers and install, then commission the system.”

Why not simply rely on an instruction manual? : “The machines are not that straightforward to operate: people need to be trained to use them, and not just operators, but maintenance staff as well”.

Once the Technopak engineers return to New Zealand, the company must guarantee effective support and follow-up. How do they manage this from halfway across the world? First of all, Technopak ensures that customers maintain a constant inventory of spares parts, which circumvents the extra cost of having to urgently courier

components. Technopak also provides remote support to avoid stationing employees abroad.

“With the VPN system, we can view the machines online, and our experts can communicate directly with the customer”, states Henri. The company’s engineers also provide phone support.

“Typically, customers are mindful of the time difference – although if there’s an

Employment growth

emergency, we still get the odd call in the middle of our night!”

Overall, 90% to 95% of all issues are solved through remote support.

Technopak is now considering installing a permanent office in their main market, the USA, in order to deal with the remaining issues that require direct contact. “We have over 20

continued on page 6

Economic output

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

getba

getba.org.nz

Greater East Tamaki Business Association Inc.

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MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY

The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of childhood into maturity.

- Thomas Henry Huxley

continued from page 5 packing systems installed in the USA, so we have reached the point where the revenue we would receive from supporting these customers can sustain a permanent USA-based employee.”

Some of Technopak’s more recent customers are from the growing Chinese dairy industry. “We’ve installed four systems in China so far. We have employed Chinese engineers who travelled to site, provided technical

translations, and are available on phone support for these customers.”

The company now has an agent in Beijing who provides them with leads, but they know this market requires more time to fully develop: “Controls are a lot tighter than they used to be at the time of the melamine scandal, but the Chinese still trust their overseas suppliers more than their own. So some of our current market is not actually with China, it’s with dairy companies

supplying to China.”

With the exponentially growing demand in dairy products from Asian countries, it’s no wonder most milk producers around the world are gearing up to supply these new booming markets.

This is good news for Technopak’s future: in addition to their business with the USA and China, the company recently installed systems in Indonesia

and Malaysia, and have ongoing business with Australian customers.

Technopak has gradually established itself as a worldwide expert, all the while exercising caution in their expanding strategy. “The world is a big place, and we’re a small company”, concludes Henri. “The reason we’ve had success is the quality and reliability of our equipment. So we don’t want to spread ourselves too thinly, promising too much and not delivering.”

Toyota invests $US 50 million in artificial intelligence research Toyota will invest $US 50 million in the research and development of intelligent vehicle and mobility technologies with an ambitious new collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University, California.

Joint research centres will be established at each university with

Kiyotaka Ise, Toyota’s Chief Officer of its Research and Development Group.

Toyota investing $US50 million over the next five years.

Dr. Gill Pratt, former Program Manager at DARPA (the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency) and leader of its recent Robotics Challenge, has joined Toyota to direct and accelerate these research activities and their application to intelligent vehicles and robotics.

“We’re here to mark the beginning of an unprecedented commitment. We will initially focus on the acceleration of intelligent vehicle technology, with the immediate goal of helping eliminate traffic casualties and the ultimate goal of helping improve quality of life through enhanced mobility and robotics,” said Kiyotaka Ise, Toyota’s Chief Officer of its Research and Development Group.

Toyota believes the opportunities to improve every-day living through artificial intelligence supported technologies are boundless, with significant breakthrough potential for the development of life-saving intelligent vehicles and life-improving robots.

Combined research will be targeted at improving the ability of intelligent vehicle technologies to recognise objects around the vehicle, provide elevated judgment of surrounding conditions, and safely collaborate with vehicle occupants, other vehicles, and pedestrians. The joint research will

also look at applications of the same technology to human-interactive robotics and information service, said Dr. Pratt.

Both Universities already have computer science and artificial intelligence research facilities.

Beyond Toyota’s longstanding work on autonomous vehicles and advanced driving support systems, the company has been developing robots for industrial use since the 1970s, and for Partner and Human Support Robot applications for the last 15 years.

This collaborative effort will open up new avenues for systems and product development across a broad range of mobility applications.

Free design software with DesignSpark Electrical RS Components (RS), the trading brand of Electrocomponents plc, the global distributor for engineers, has announced the launch of DesignSpark Electrical, which brings the benefits of design software to all those not already using electrical CAD tools. The new software targets electrical design engineers and other electrical professionals, enabling them to save time and money.

This new free tool provides access to the functionality of electrical CAD for businesses that in many cases cannot reasonably justify the considerable price tag per seat for existing commercial electrical CAD software.

Supported by Schneider Electric, the global specialist in energy management and automation, DesignSpark Electrical joins the award-winning suite of DesignSpark engineering resources and continues to drive the initiative of removing the barriers to innovation for every engineer.

A key element of the DesignSpark Electrical software is the integration of a library that comprises more than 250,000 components and parts, including 80,000 from Schneider Electric and 10,000 from RS, which can easily be added to customer designs.

DesignSpark Electrical is a fully specified electrical CAD package with key benefits, to deliver time saving and error avoidance, for control panel, machinery and electrical system design.

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NZ Manufacturer September 2015

DesignSpark Electrical considerably optimises the methods of electrical and automation system design and helps enhance the design capabilities of RS customers, enabling them to compete in the market much more effectively.

Other key features of the highly intuitive and highly functional software include intelligent and specialist electrical design tools, real-time referencing and validity checking to allow the creation of

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accurate 2D panel layouts, all of which saves time and reduces errors. Also built into the software is Bill-of-Materials (BOM) quote functionality, enabling customers to order parts via RS for their designs, both quickly and easily.

The high cost and the learning time that is required of existing commercial electrical CAD tools have been major barriers to adoption for many companies.

Now, the introduction of the highly intuitive DesignSpark Electrical removes these cost barriers in a single stroke and passes on the key benefits

of electrical CAD to all engineers, allowing them to design more quickly, accurately and effectively.

Over the past five years or so, via the company’s DesignSpark initiative, RS has continually invested and worked with world-leading partners such as Schneider Electric to bring important design tools, component libraries and a host of other resources to engineers working in electronics, mechanical and now electrical design.

DesignSpark Electrical is available for free download at www.designspark.com.

If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way.

- Napoleon Hill

MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY

Delcam launches 2016 FeatureCAM with new high-efficiency roughing Delcam has launched the 2016 release of its FeatureCAM feature-based CAM software. This includes a range of enhancements, in particular more options for the Vortex high-efficiency area-clearance strategy, support for bar-fed mills, more efficient turning and user-interface improvements to make programming even easier and faster.

FeatureCAM was the world’s first feature-based programming software when it was launched in 1995.

Constant development since then has ensured that the system has retained its leadership in programming speed and ease of use, while an increased range of strategies has been added to provide more efficient toolpaths that give greater productivity on a wider range of machinery, including mill-turn machines, five-axis mills and wire EDM equipment.

The 2016 release includes a number of enhancements to the Vortex area-clearance strategy. Vortex gives the fastest safe metal removal from solid carbide tooling, in particular designs that give deeper cuts by using the full flute length as the cutting surface. It produces toolpaths with a controlled engagement angle and so maintains the optimum cutting conditions for the complete roughing

cycle, giving faster machining and longer tool life.

The ability has now been added to adjust and fine tune the non-cutting moves of 2.5D and 3D Vortex toolpaths, with options to retract the tool and/ or to increase the feedrate. These options can be set individually, or can be combined to achieve an optimum toolpath, with a reduced cycle time.

Other roughing improvements include the ability to take into account any remaining stock on the model during holder collision checking, ensuring that Z-level roughing toolpaths are completely free of tool-holder collisions.

Milling of inside or outside groove features has been upgraded with a number of improvements. These include support for different types of roughing links, wind-fan approach and retract moves for finishing, better gouge checking for plunges and retracts, and tool radius and partline cutter compensation support.

Support has been added to FeatureCAM for multi-tasking bar-fed milling machines, such as the Mazak Integrex I150, and the Willemen-Macodel 408T and 508T. Access to the back of the component is possible with an option to set the swivel angle of the machine,

with additional cut-off operations now available that use milling tools.

Five-axis swarf machining Five-axis swarf machining has been made more flexible in has been made more flexible FeatureCAM 2016. with a new option to control the upper and lower to the speed of programming but also Z limits of a simultaneous five-axis because collision checking is provided swarf toolpath. This is useful if there automatically during simulation. are limitations on the tool length that in combination with can be used or if the stepdown needs Used to be varied for different segments of PowerSHAPE, FeatureCAM now allows machining files to be selected and the toolpath. nested automatically in a single block For users of FeatureTURN, the selection to optimise stock material usage. of turning tools has been simplified with the ability to use a single tool Interface improvements include the in multiple orientations. This new ability to create additional setups automatic tool orientation categorises quickly during FeatureRECOGNITION, tooling into either outside-diameter via a new button in the Feature Wizard. or inside-diameter turning tools, so This reduces the overall programming shortening the time taken to program time significantly. parts and reducing the number of In addition, items within the part different tools required in the tool crib. view are now highlighted when the In addition, the engage angle can now be set for the lead-in approach move.

By controlling the approach move in this way, smoother chip formation and lower cutting forces can be achieved.

cursor hovers over them. At the same time, the items are also highlighted in the graphics screen, making it easier to find and select the desired items quickly.

FeatureCAM now allows the quick import and alignment of a variety of pre-defined vices and chucks into a machining project. The result is increased productivity, not only due

Finally, Autodesk RealDWG has now been integrated into FeatureCAM, bringing with it increases in the speed of import of DWG files and support for DWG solid model import.

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MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY

Flattery is telling the other person precisely what he thinks about himself.

- Dale Carnegie

Emirates Team New Zealand to set sail with Intercad Intercad, Australia and New Zealand’s largest reseller of leading design software, SolidWorks, has continued its relationship as Official Supplier to Emirates Team New Zealand, the yachting powerhouse hoping to once again bring the America’s Cup back to the Kiwi homeland.

Emirates Team New Zealand is no stranger to success, taking home the America’s Cup in 1995 and 2000. The design team pioneered the foiling seen for the first time in the 2013 series and this year is in the process of designing the latest AC50 Foiling Catamaran – using the software capabilities of the

SolidWorks 3D software solution – for the 35th America’s Cup to be held in Bermuda in 2017.

With each boat valued in the tens of millions of dollars and with the winning team able to host the next Cup, thus bringing hundreds of millions of dollars in sponsorship and exposure to their respective region, each race is high stakes. Setbacks in the design phase therefore equate to less practice; any slight design errors could lead to a loss.

“These boats are so fast and so high-performance that any advantage a team can find when tacking and

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gybing can mean the difference between winning and losing. Seconds saved at the race start or around a mark can equal an advantage of hundreds of metres over the duration of the race; a huge gain in the most competitive sailing event in the world,” said Loren Poole, Mechanical Engineer for Emirates Team New Zealand.

“It’s often in the design phase that the difference between winning and losing can be found. That is what is going to win this Cup.” The agreement with Intercad will ensure the team has the latest SolidWorks software updates and will have around-the-clock access to Intercad’s expert team of technicians.

Intercad, established in 1988, provides services and solutions to engineers and designers to create, simulate, publish and manage their design needs and outputs. The agreement marks the continuation of a long-standing relationship between the two parties dating back to 1998.

“Intercad’s support and the early adoption of SolidWorks was critical to our successful defence of the

America’s Cup in 2000 in Auckland.

We rely on our Official Suppliers to remain competitive, and Intercad, without question, provides us with a competitive advantage,” said Poole.

“We are constantly fine-tuning the design of the boat leading into each Cup to meet updated race rules, and even after each lead-up race such as the Louis Vuitton World Series being held at the moment. It means that any time we need support, we need it fast.

“With Intercad, we know we will not only get expert support on all aspects of the software, but we’ll get it when we need it.”

“It’s imperative, with the stakes as high as they are, that Emirates Team New Zealand can spend less time on software issues and more where it really counts: on making the boat as easy to sail as possible, and as fast as possible,” said John Atkinson, General Manager, Intercad Australia and New Zealand. “Their team knows they can rely on our expertise to get the most out of the design and the boat, and any issues will be addressed as quickly as you can say ‘come about’!”

It is the province of knowledge to speak, and it is the privilege of wisdom to listen.

- Oliver Wendell Holmes

COMPANY PROFILE

Nelson Honey Nelson Honey is a family owned producer and exporter of high quality honey based goods, based out of Motupiko, 50km south of Nelson.

Their focus is on producing high grade active manuka honey, although the larger section of the business revolves around high value bee venom and honey based cosmetic products.

First opening in 1973, the company has ties to the industry and region stretching back much further – the business was formed by Philip Cropp, a third generation beekeeper whose grandfather started beekeeping in the Nelson region over 100 years ago.

Nelson Honey employ around 60 people, many of which work to care for and maintain the 4000 beehives the firm has spread throughout the top of the South Island. Around 85% of their products are destined for export, with China, Australia, South East Asia and the USA being some of their primary markets.

They also established a UK-based office to further expand their export markets, marketing their honey products throughout Europe, which has been most successful in creating interest and demand for their cosmetic ranges so far.

One particular success for Nelson Honey has been their Royal Nectar brand, which is venom and honey based cosmetic range, with demand currently out stripping production.

“As a pioneer of this market Nelson Honey has managed to cement a solid position for the brand worldwide in a relatively short space of time” said Rob Hawkes, the Chief Executive of Nelson Honey.

Whilst the Royal Nectar range has a dedicated market following, Nelson Honey plan to continually expand and adapt the variety of products they offer as demand in certain markets changes. “All markets are continually evolving and we recognise the need to remain innovative and proactive,” said Rob. Rob Hawkes explained some of the keys to their model and success, particularly their customer focus,

“Some of the ‘points of difference’ from our competitors include our family history, location and small company approach. Nelson Honey remains a family business and has long term enduring relationships with many of our customers - we aren’t in any way corporate. We understand that our customers are our most important asset, and supplying them with high quality, innovative products at a fair price remains our primary aim.”

Around 85% of their products are destined for export, with China, Australia, South East Asia and the USA being some of their primary markets.

Building and maintaining customer relationships are vital for small businesses and Nelson Honey understand this and incorporate this approach into the core of their business. “Many of our customers have become members of our extended family over the years and we value their loyalty and support” said Rob. As a producer of high-quality goods, one of challenges Nelson Honey face is counterfeit and cheap, but lower quality products coming into markets.

Rob explained, As with any innovative business, success creates some challenges, as a market leader we are now seeing many other companies offering products similar to ours,“ says Rob. “Unfortunately we are also seeing an influx of counterfeit product coming out of China. In the past this was restricted to the Chinese market, however we are now seeing evidence

Rob Hawkes, Chief Executive of Nelson Honey.

of this in both our Australian and New Zealand domestic markets,” said Rob. As with many products, the Chinese market represents a huge opportunity for growth and expansion, due its vast size and rising middle class incomes.

However being successful in the Chinese market comes with challenges.

“The Chinese consumer in particular has a deep distrust of products on their own shelves, so we are working

at many levels on ways of combating this to promote the quality of our products. In the past New Zealand manufacturers were able to place a huge reliance on the fact that their goods were manufactured in clean green New Zealand. However the markets we operate in are demanding more than this these days, and proof of authenticity is high amongst these demands” says Rob.

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MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY

The time to relax is when you don’t have time for it.

- Sydney J. Harris

SolidWorks keeps rail designer firmly on track Peter Manning has been involved with railway rollingstock engineering continuously since the 1950s gaining experience and expertise in the design of wagons, locomotives. coaches and railcars, and also, in more recent years, an expert user of SolidWorks design software.

More than that, Peter is a locomotive and steam train enthusiast who has trains modeled up in SolidWorks and he even has an impressive CAD model of a virtual railway museum in his home.

At 78 years of age, Peter has not only been using SolidWorks for the past nine years but has also published four books within the past six years on narrow gauge railways, and says SolidWorks is the perfect solution for the specialist design work he does.

“SolidWorks was initially purchased for the preparation of drawings for a 100-ton bottom discharge railway hopper wagon,” said Peter.

designs to life—from the coolest gadgets to innovations for a better tomorrow and with its 23rd release, SolidWorks 2015 adds new tools and capabilities to help inspire innovative design and grow your business.

According Peter, SolidWorks with Intercad provides a number of other benefits in his design work.

“The benefits of SolidWorks have been mainly in the presentation of assemblies and parts, along with the ability to illustrate out of the way sections of railway machinery easily and accurately.”

who has been working with him over the past 16 months to further nurture and develop his skills, Peter even upgraded to SolidWorks Professional last year, and since then Suraj has helped him master some of the program’s new features like how to use the Toolbox and Photoview rendering.

better quality products with known performance can be achieved with SolidWorks.

In fact, said Peter, “SolidWorks has far more flexibility to reach a more detailed appreciation of the workings of the machine and it also provides a greater degree of realism in the final model.”

Even though has now officially ‘retired’, as a subscription user with Intercad, Peter has found a huge amount of value in Intercad’s team engagement and renewed his service last year and says that he will definitely renew again this year.

As to what was the most surprising aspect of the SolidWorks suite, he said: “The speed at which operation of the programme was grasped. It was found to be quite intuitive.”

SolidWorks has been engineered to provide extensive use of simulation early in the design process gives engineers better insight into design decisions, enabling them to confidently move forward with better designs.

Together with Suraj Sethi, Intercad’s certified Elite engineer by SolidWorks,

In turn, shorter development times, lower costs, increased revenue and

So while he is now an experienced SolidWorks user, Peter admitted he has only scratched the surface of the programmes’ capabilities.”

“While I mainly use SolidWorks in the drafting aspects, there are many areas which still remain to be explored and no doubt further features of the programme will be found” Peter concluded.

“Since then, I have used SolidWorks for various design aspects of railway rollingstock, including the calculation of the volume of hopper wagons to determine their overall loading capacities.”

“A sideline of this work has been the ability to draw historic steam locomotives from old nineteenth century ‘Blueprints’ for which few or no photographs exist. Thanks to SolidWorks, from this line of work, four books have now been published describing and illustrating historic locomotives in exquisite detail.”

SolidWorks with its intuitive, integrated 3D design environment covers all aspects of product development and helps maximise your design and engineering productivity.

Over 2 million designers and engineers worldwide use SolidWorks to bring

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Then contact Max Farndale on 06 870 4506 or by email at max@mscnewswire.co.nz.

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COMMENT

Character is the result of two things: Mental attitude and the way we spend our time.

- Elbert Hubbard

Lies, damned lies and statistics that matter You’ve probably heard the saying, and statistics are too easily misused, especially when it comes to the attention (read political influence) and money that politicians feel they can dispense on the basis of them.

Take for example, tourism, or the dairy sector. The first of these has been doing well so it warrants more government investment and other backing. Right?

The earnings from tourism just topped $8 billion a year - great, especially for incomes in some regions such as the West Coast. But let’s not get too excited. Jobs in tourism are on average not very well paid and not often highly skilled. And while tourism is often spoken of as our largest export earner, its hardly a single homogenous activity.

Rather it includes everything a tourist may do when they come here, from aviation to a visit to the zoo.

Our second largest export earner, dairy, is said to account for 23 per cent of total exports. Government reports state as much, giving that as the reason apparently why our dairy farmers are deserving of special care

and attention. So when the dairy farm pay out collapsed, cries of alarm rang out from every television and radio station. The recession word was talked of, solely on the basis of the one sector getting into financial trouble. The news ignored the fact that the farming part of dairying represents only a small part of its success.

The 23 per cent of our exports cited for dairy includes milk powders, traditional butter and cheese, milk solids such as proteins, and branded products such as yoghurts, ice cream, and infant formula. All of them are processed or manufactured from milk, and all incorporate a great deal more knowhow, R&D, skills, IP, and management and marketing investment than you find on the average farm. The price elasticity of the high value products that can be derived from dairy is also much greater than conveyed by the international auction price for milk solids alone, or from a fall or rise in the exchange rate.

But when the man and woman in the street hears that dairy earns 23 per cent of export income they think of

- by Gilbert Peterson

the dairy farmer, not the value added component. This may be good for the dairy farmer’s political influence, much more so than warranted, and it also conceals the important truth: if dairy farmers are not to suffer intermittently from boom bust commodity price cycles they need to invest far more vigorously in developing high value, branded and consumer products, and control the distribution lines for them.

When statistics are arranged in ad hoc ways as they seem to be for dairy they can create havoc. We don’t find forestry exports, for example, described as including all sawn timber, laminates, mdf, plyboards, paper products and wood framed housing.

Or petroleum exports including resins and plastics. Putting all processed milk derivatives under the same heading is just not helpful, and very confusing, and no other country does it.

We have well understood international definitions, in particular the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system, which provides the statistics categories I quote in my columns. We should always use them.

Last and importantly, making up ad hoc definitions to suit a political agenda can lead to major omissions.

An example is the gross lack of public and political awareness of one of our largest export successes; the design and fabrication of industrial plant and equipment and electrical and agricultural machinery. This highly skilled, innovative and capital intense sector earns over $2.5 billion every year from offshore, about double that of wine, and much more than either wool or seafood.

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The building blocks of an economy - by Yamini Chinnuswamy Parents are deeply interested in what their children will learn when they enter the school gates and how it will shape their future career, but few would think that the exercises they find on the whiteboard were influenced by the country’s trade policy.

The same parents would more likely link trade policy with the price and quality of life essentials such as groceries and medicine. Yet some are starting to question the merits of free trade as they experience slower or more precarious improvements in their lives in a more competitive global economy. Governments too are thinking hard about how best to marshall resources and prepare their workforce to compete with fast emerging economies in rapidly changing markets.

These questions make it more important than ever to gain a rigorous understanding of how international trade policy affects the building blocks of the economy, such as education and industry.

Education and trade – a two way street?

Education systems are under an ever brighter spotlight as countries wonder how to equip their new generations for a world where knowledge and innovation are the important competitive advantage. Countries with contrasting education systems are looking at each other for clues. Yet clues may also be found by looking at how existing education systems have been shaped by a country’s own trade pattern and intensity.

SoE Associate Professor Chang Pao-Li, along with fellow SoE colleague Associate Professor Huang Fali, studies how a country’s education system is linked to its industrial and trade structures.

In particular, Professor Chang investigates how curriculum centralisation affects the talent available to different industries. She observes that centralised education systems are prevalent in East Asian countries such as Japan and Singapore.

They often have a centralised curriculum council that sets and enforces a uniform curriculum via textbooks, instructional guides or national standardised tests.

In contrast, countries such as the United States have more decentralised systems, without standardised

curriculums or performance targets.

The free-spirited approach has helped the US build a diverse talent base for its creative industries whose needs are neglected by traditional school environments. Centralised education systems, on the other hand, are better known for consistently producing a homogeneous and well-trained workforce, which is advantageous for sophisticated manufacturing or services.

Professor Chang suggests that education designers go beyond focusing on the micro perspective of school performance, and consider their country’s global strategic position. This will differ according to a country’s niche in the global economy, she notes, and so there will be no universally optimal education style.

In fact, the existing education style may be further entrenched as a country participates more in trade, as her research shows. For example, Japan and the United States typify the most centralised and decentralised education systems practiced around the world, in spite of repeated calls and attempts to change them.

Better allocation across industries

of

resources

international trade theory and policy.

In particular, his research focuses on how global competition affects resource allocation among different producers and industries.

“The benefits and costs of trade have always been a hot topic but the gains from trade in terms of improving resource allocation are often overlooked,” says Professor Hsu, who examined this benefit in a recent publication.

While it is well known that monopolies make poor use of resources compared to competitive markets, he found that what may be even worse for the economy is uneven distribution in market power across firms and industries.

Professor Hsu offers the economic rationale for this: “People will be unhappy if goods are either produced in very low quantities at extremely high prices, or in massive quantities at very low prices. All things being equal, consumers would be better off if production resources are distributed more evenly. From a trade perspective, a country should seek to open up sectors that are highly protected rather than those that are already highly competitive.”

Like Professor Chang, SoE Assistant Professor Hsu Wen-Tai also studies

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DEVELOPMENTS

The more you lose yourself in something bigger than yourself, the more energy you will have.

- Norman Vincent Peale

Bringing youth into industry -Ben Connolly Industry for me started when I was 16 with a part time job in a plastics manufacturing plant. The company had some fascinating processes. I wasn’t allowed to do any of the ‘fun’ stuff though, my job was to sweep the driveway and process production waste.

At 16 I only had a few years left of school and needed to start making some plans for what I would do afterwards.

The good old gap year tends to be well advertised towards the end of school.

This was all pencilled in for me until I learnt about an engineering degree majoring in Industrial Management.

that year for the course, and with no further enrolments in the following year or the year after, the course was cancelled. Why weren’t people enrolling? Lack of knowledge about industry is my best guess.

Most youth won’t have an insight to the potential careers available in industry. I was fortunate that I was given a job in industry which gave me the inspiration to take my studies further and consider manufacturing and production as a career. The job opportunity was a gateway that led me to where I am now.

The course was a good fit giving me the base skills to do the stuff I had been watching others do in the factory.

I know few people who have followed a similar path into industry and even fewer who are getting the opportunities I got at the age I was.

I was the only person who enrolled

It is becoming a big issue in some

industries that there is no young following through to take the positions of their elders. Should we be putting more effort into attracting young blood into industry as a contingency for the future?

Could we be offering base level jobs to students and school leavers rather than them stocking shelves in a supermarket?

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Got a Trade Week:

connecting manufacturers with their future workforce Opening their West Auckland plant to students to host a Competenz Discovery Tour during August’s national Got a Trade Week proved a good way for award-winning winemaker Matua Valley Wines to help young people learn about a career in their industry and connect with a potential future workforce.

Matua winemaker Nikolai St George who led the tour says the company was pleased to host the students and help them learn about the career opportunities available to them.

“I can remember being in the situation these students are in, and I know that getting the right careers advice early on is really important,” says Nikolai. “It gives you direction and something to work towards – and that’s motivating.

Employers and schools need to do more of this.”

Students from Te Kura Kaupapa Māori a Rohe in Mangere, Auckland were among those attending the tour.

“Today was a great experience,” says student Ruhia Henare-Samuels. “I learnt the whole cycle of how wine is

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made and how it is put into bottles.

I’d like to thank the staff at Matua for having me on this taster day.”

Got a Trade Week was also a chance for students and jobseekers to hear from current learners, including apprentices, who are enjoying the benefits of training on-the job in their chosen trade. Trainees earn while they learn and finish their training with a job in their chosen field – not looking for one.

They also gain practical skills they can use from day one and qualifications that are recognised by employers across New Zealand.

Competenz customer Matua joined 18 other companies around the country in generously opening their doors to host a Competenz Discovery Tour.

A&G PRICE LTD A & G Price continues to demonstrate its commitment to investment in new technology The recent purchase of two “Artec” brand 3D Scanners has created a buzz with both the design and process engineers at A & G Price Ltd says the GM Nick Box. To ensure maximisation usage on small detail as well as larger scanning capabilities the company purchased an Artec “Eva” as well as an Artec “Spider” scanner.

The Eva has a wide scanning field and 3D accuracy of 0.1mm and can scan items up to 1 metre from the scanner.

The Spider has a smaller scanning field with 3D accuracy of 0.03mm.

The two scanners can be used in conjunction with each other to capture 3D data into a single STL file. The Eva is used to quickly capture the basic form of the 3D shape. The Spider is then used in areas that require higher definition or dimensional accuracy.

The captured 3D model is rendered in real time on the PC screen and can be immediately sectioned or measured directly from the scanned data. The scanned 3D data can be imported into most 3D modelling systems such as Solid Works which we use extensively in our foundry, machine and fabrication shops.

Alternatively the scanned data can be sent directly to our 3D plastic printer for rapid prototyping and pattern work.

3D Scanning allows us to quickly “Reverse Engineer” components eg, Non Supported OEM items, Break Down or Repair items.

This has led to vastly improved turnaround times for replacement items in the breakdown situation with our field sales engineers able to scan and capture measurements of components onsite.

One field that is showing promise is the Mining and Quarry industries, these operators often have the only machine in the country which ties them to the standard OEM supplied wear parts.

We are now scanning the components and modifying the working face to suit their particular requirements, we then router a 3D pattern in foam and cast the item.

This has allowed us a quicker turnaround time, no expensive up front pattern cost, more flexibility to explore alternative designs so if our customers requirements change in the future it’s only a matter of modifying the model and making a new casting.

Traditionally reverse engineering modelling of complex multi shaped and curved components is very difficult and time consuming, now we simply scan them and convert the model too solid works and produce shop drawings for manufacture. What was once a multiday job can take only a few hours.

Another benefit for our customers is required we can also use the scanners for “In Process” measurements of machined or fabricated items and final inspection of components within our Work Shops. This gives an accurate 3D model of the entire components instead of the traditionally checked machined areas.

There is no end to what can be scanned, if you have a sample we can scan it.

Contact us at A & G Price Ltd Sales Manager – Barry Ingle 07 8686060 or 027 544 6780

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MAINTENANCE

Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something.

- Plato

Australasian conference says corrosion is not an asset The impact of corrosion is spread through all areas of society and how to manage corrosion is a challenge for owners and managers of assets ranging from suburban industrial units through to the Sydney Opera House or a gas production platform on the North West Shelf. Corrosion is a physical threat to infrastructure and personal safety as well as an economic threat to industry and the wider community.

In order to promote a better understanding of corrosion, the Australasian Corrosion Association (ACA) will host the Corrosion and Prevention 2015 (C&P2015) Conference that allows all industry stakeholders to meet and discuss a wide range of topics relating to corrosion and its prevention or mitigation.

This year, the ACA will be highlighting the importance of Asset Management in terms of design, operation and

repair. Asset and facility management and maintenance professionals will benefit from opportunities to hear presentations by, and speak with, corrosion specialists from a number of disciplines.

C&P2015 will be held in Adelaide— the internationally regarded food and wine capital of South Australia— between 15 – 18 November. The conference brings together industry experts, academics and representatives of commercial organisations.

Seminars and technical papers will cover structural risk assessments and case studies of specific strategies for asset maintenance, in addition to presentations on the varying types of inspection technique.

They will also provide opportunities to explore best practice in corrosion management, environmental protection techniques, public safety

and economics.

The Association will bring together a panel of industry experts to discuss the challenges and the importance of maintaining vital infrastructure.

Members of the panel will come from a range of industry sectors, including water treatment, Oil & Gas, engineering consultancy, contracting and logistics.

Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions and debate the latest techniques and practices with representatives of water and port authorities, major national consulting companies, suppliers and companies including Santos and Chevron.

C&P2015 will also highlight the importance for corrosion prevention in the Oil & Gas industry with technical papers from a cross-section of the industry highlighting how costly

corrosion can be for the sector. A focus of this will be the ACA Petroleum Chemicals and Processing Industries Technical Group’s annual forum, discussing ‘Corrosion Under Insulation’.

This year’s P F Thomson Memorial Lecture—the keynote address of every C&P Conference since 1951—will be delivered by Dr Robert Francis covering the latest research into galvanic corrosion. The speech is named in honour of Percival Faraday Thomson, who, working through the first half of the 20th Century, is recognised as Australasia’s pioneer in the science and technology of metallic corrosion and its mitigation.

In addition to the technical program, the concurrent trade exhibition will allow attendees to see the latest equipment and products available to the industry and social events provide networking opportunities for sponsors, exhibitors and attendees.

The ACA was formed in 1955 and represents companies, organisations and individuals involved in the fight against corrosion and promotes cooperation between academic, industrial, commercial and governmental bodies. The industry association is a not-for-profit, membership Association which provides training, seminars, conferences, publications and other activities to disseminate information about corrosion and its prevention or control.

The Australasian Corrosion Association Incorporated (ACA) is a not-for-profit, industry association, established in 1955 to service the needs of Australian and New Zealand companies, organisations and individuals involved in the fight against corrosion.

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HEADING

If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.

- Albert Einstein

title text

18 – 19 November 2015 Claudelands Event Centre

Hamilton Sponsor and Exhibitor Enquiries Welcome Expo Open Day 17 November Delegate Registrations now open More information:

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Lifting the Game of Maintenance Engineering Speaker Sponsor

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THE FUTURE OF MANUFACTURING

The whole world steps aside for the man who knows where he is going.

-Anonymous

Development of AI work orders based on Kaizen activity Hitachi has announced the development of Artificial Intelligence Technology (AI) which provides appropriate work orders based on an understanding of demand fluctuation and on-site kaizen activity derived from big data accumulated daily in corporate business systems, and its verification in logistics tasks by improving efficiency by 8%.

By integrating the AI into business systems, it may become possible to realise efficient operations in a diverse range of areas through human and AI cooperation.

With the progress in Information Technology (IT) in recent years, IT systems have been introduced into various business systems to achieve work efficiency.

In the future, it is expected that taking factors such as daily demand fluctuations and changes in accompanying on-site responses on a daily basis, will become increasingly important in raising work efficiency.

Conventional business systems however operate on preprogrammed instructions, and therefore in order to reflect on-site kaizen activities or employee ingenuity it is necessary to have a system engineer redesign the system, making it impractical to frequently update the system.

Further, there was also the issue that in the event of a non-standard operation becoming necessary, it was also necessary to rewrite the work process and design, thus making it difficult to issue efficient work instructions in a timely manner for changes in demand fluctuation and corresponding on-site changes in response.

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To address these issues, Hitachi developed AI which provides appropriate work orders based on an understanding of demand fluctuation and on-site Kaizen activity derived from big data accumulated daily in business systems. By integrating the AI into business systems, it will become possible to incorporate on-site kaizen activities or employee ideas while flexibly responding to changes in work conditions or demand fluctuations to realize efficient operations. Main features of the AI are as follows:

Understanding of human ideas and Kaizen, and translating this to work orders Although workers on-site conduct tasks based on work orders issued by business systems analyzing big data such as those related to work details or results, in order to conduct the tasks efficiently, workers also devise and implement new approaches and Kaizen drawing from experience. The AI automatically analyses the outcome of these new approaches, and selects processes which produce better results and applies it to the next work order.

By understanding and applying the ideas of on-site workers and their Kaizen activity to work instructions on a daily basis, it is possible to create an environment where humans and AI mutually cooperate to continuously raise efficiency.

consideration in the design but this has not been able to accommodate for short periods of bad weather or sudden increases in demand. The AI automatically selects and analyses data similar to the actual work conditions of the day from past big data on work detail, work volume and weather, to provide appropriate work instructions in response to short period of bad weather or sudden changes in demand.

Quickly intake various forms of big data

Automatically select appropriate data from big data and flexibly respond to demand fluctuation

Business systems accumulate big data in various alphanumeric forms including symbols, such as amount, time and product codes. Thus, in order to analyse this data with AI, it was necessary to have a domain expert in the business task pre-analyse the data, making data analysis even more time-consuming.

When developing conventional business systems, expected busy or off-peak season related demand fluctuations are taken into

The AI analyses the statistical distribution of the data, and by automatically pre-categorizing the data notation format, enables new

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data to be integrated quickly without assignment by a human interpreter.

As a result, it becomes possible to automatically incorporate daily Kaizen by employees or demand fluctuation into the system to produce appropriate and timely work instructions.

To verify the benefits of the AI, an on-site demonstration with a warehouse management system equipped with this technology was conducted, measuring item collection efficiency in a distribution warehouse.

Comparative results of a warehouse system with and without this technology, showed an 8% decrease in work time based on instructions issued by the system with this technology.

In addition to logistics, Hitachi intends to apply the AI to various other areas such as finance, transport, manufacturing, healthcare, public works, and distribution, in order to contribute to business operations which can respond flexibly to changes society in an efficient manner.

Character is what you know you are, not what others think you have.

- Unknown

THE FUTURE OF MANUFACTURING

Machine learning quickly generates predictive models Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. has developed a machine-learning technology that can generate highly accurate predictive models from datasets of more than 50 million records in a matter of hours.

Current techniques for generating highly accurate predictive models need to examine every combination of learning algorithm and configuration, taking more than one week to learn from a dataset containing 50 million records.

Fujitsu Laboratories technology estimates machine-learning results from a small set of sample data and the accuracy of past predictive models, extracts the learning algorithm and configuration combination that produce the most accurate result, and applies it to the larger dataset.

This results in highly accurate predictive models from datasets of 50 million records in a few hours.

Predictive models produced by this technology can work to quickly make improvements, such as minimizing membership cancellations on e-commerce websites and enhancing response times to equipment failures.

Development Background The popularity of smartphones and other advances make it possible to gather massive quantities of sensor data, and machine learning and other advanced analytic techniques are being used extensively to extract valuable information from that data.

Using the access logs of e-commerce websites, for example, it is possible to discover when people are most likely to cancel memberships on a given website, to identify those people quickly, and to take measures to discourage cancellation.

Using detailed daily power-consumption data, it is possible to discover patterns of increased or decreased usage and to predict periods and times when power usage will increase. This can lead to a reduction in power costs by applying more precise controls over power generation, transmission, and storage.

Developing predictive models by machine learning is considered an effective way to obtain accurate predictions.

accurate predictions will also depend on fine-tuning its configuration.

Therefore, generating an effective predictive model requires examining combinations of algorithms and configurations.

Issues Attempting to examine every possible combination of algorithm and conditions causes the number of combinations to balloon quickly.

Furthermore, learning time of a combination can take days to examine, making it impractical to use machine learning extensively.

Instead, algorithms and conditions are typically selected by analysts based on their experience, so the results ultimately depend heavily on the analyst’s skill.

In cases where the volume of data is great and analysis ends up taking more than one night, examinations are usually limited to a restricted number of combinations, or analysis can only be applied to a small portion of the data, and it is not possible to automatically derive accurate predictive models in a limited period of time.

Features of the technology

run-time measurements are used for correction.

picking conditions in order for the analysis to proceed.

The company built up a database of combinations of previously used algorithms and configurations, along with the accuracy of the predictive model they produced, and uses this to estimate the predictive accuracy of new combinations. This makes it possible to make an assessment based on the smallest amount of data possible without sacrificing predictive accuracy.

This technology combines estimates of run time and predictive accuracy to select candidate combinations of algorithms and configurations that are expected to provide high improvements of predictive accuracy in return for short run time. Each selected combination is then run in a distributed manner.

Taking run time into consideration when selecting candidates makes it possible to execute each algorithm in an optimal order and quickly obtain the most accurate machine learning model. Because this technique automatically focuses on the most effective combinations, it does not depend on the know-how of an analyst.

Estimating the run time and the accuracy of a predictive model produces accurate predictive models quickly. Techniques for estimating the predictive accuracy of a single machine-learning algorithm do exist, but there has been no such technology that can be applied to multiple algorithms and multiple dataset sizes.

Results The company ran internal tests using a dataset of 50 million records and eight servers with 12 processor cores each. Existing techniques would take roughly one week to develop a predictive model with 96% accuracy; Fujitsu Laboratories confirmed that this technique reached that level in slightly more than two hours. It is also demonstrated that this technology would make the practical application of machine-learning possible when used for access-log analysis with 30 million lines of web access logs.

Because this technique incorporates actual run-time measurements into estimates based on the conditions for each machine-learning run (including the algorithm, number of records, number of attributes, infrastructural information, and so forth), it gets more accurate the more it is used.

Estimating machine-learning run time and predictive accuracy

Control technology to automatically tune machine-learning algorithms

For each standard machine-learning algorithm, Fujitsu Laboratories measured actual machine-learning run times while varying the number of records in a dataset and the number of attributes used to represent the data, and built a run-time estimation model based on those measurements.

Additionally, to improve the accuracy of those estimates, actual on-the-fly

This technology selects time-efficient candidates from among all the candidate combinations, and iterates over them efficiently and in parallel.

In existing techniques, there is no way to determine which combination of machine-learning conditions is best according to any ranking system; instead, they depend on the know-how of an analyst manually

This technology could, for example, also be used to provide services such as predicting electrical-power demand for every household, or detecting early-warning signs of intent to cancel among users of online services with hundreds of thousands of members.

There are numerous methods for machine-learning algorithms, each for a different purpose, and they all differ in their predictive accuracy and run time. The algorithm that will produce the best accuracy will depend on the data being analysed, and getting the most

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THE FUTURE OF MANUFACTURING

When you doubt your power, you give power to your doubt

- Honore de Balzac

Registration opens for 24th Automation Fair The world of manufacturing and production is undergoing unprecedented change with the convergence of information and operations technology, along with the emergence of modern technologies associated with the Internet of Things.

The opportunity to learn about the latest integrated control and information portfolio of products, services and solutions that can enable a Connected Enterprise will be the focus of this year’s Automation Fair event from Rockwell Automation.

Hosted by Rockwell Automation and members of its PartnerNetwork program on November. 18 and 19 in Chicago, the 2015 Automation Fair event will showcase the latest

advancements in tools, technologies, services and solutions that can help drive profound changes across the automation investment life cycle.

“Helping our customers realize greater productivity and increased global competitiveness through the Connected Enterprise is our passion and a top priority,” said Keith D. Nosbusch, chairman and CEO, Rockwell Automation. “The 2015 Automation Fair event will help attendees learn and apply the most contemporary industrial automation and information solutions to machines, plants and production, and fully leverage the power of IT/OT convergence.”

At this year’s event, more than 100

exhibitors will fill the west building of Chicago’s McCormick Place along with attendees of user-group meetings, hands-on labs, technical sessions and demonstrations. Attendees can experience Rockwell Automation products and technology at 19 hands-on labs, and participate in any of the 91 technical sessions. During nine industry- and audience-specific forums, customers and industry leaders will share best practices for the following industries and segments: automotive, chemical, food and beverage, global machine and equipment builders (OEMs), life sciences, metals, oil and gas, power and energy, and water wastewater.

The week will start with the Process Solutions User Group (PSUG) annual meeting on Monday and Tuesday and the Automation Perspectives global media forum on Tuesday morning.

PSUG will bring together more than 800 operations, IT and engineering professionals in process industries to share best practices and learn from peers. The event will include more than 30 hands-on labs and technical sessions, as well as presentations from more than 25 customers. Attendees can provide feedback to direct the development and technical roadmap for the PlantPAx distributed control system from Rockwell Automation.

The company will host its annual Automation Perspectives global media forum to provide global media and industry analysts with an update on the latest trends and an outlook on the future of automation. The event includes panels and keynote speeches from Rockwell Automation executives and leaders at global companies who will discuss their progress, challenges and successes in creating their own connected strategies.

Registration for the 2015 Automation Fair event, PSUG and the Automation Perspectives global media forum is now open online.

About the Rockwell Automation PartnerNetwork Program The Rockwell Automation PartnerNetwork program offers global manufacturers access to a collaborative network of companies mutually focused on developing, implementing and supporting best-in-breed solutions to achieve plantwide optimization, improve machine performance, and meet sustainability objectives.

Kiwi IP champions declare nation’s future in high value technology A year on from their website and brand re-launch, national intellectual property specialists James & Wells have released the latest addition in their campaign to champion Kiwi innovation - an animated video.

It captures the story of New Zealand’s lost innovation, illustrating James & Wells’ mission to ensure Kiwi businesses realise and capture the value of their ideas. For the firm, the video is the cornerstone of their brand overhaul to the ‘Champions of Innovation’.

James & Wells enlisted the expertise of Auckland-based content producers TOYBOX, charging the animation gurus with bringing the brand to life.

“To be honest we initially thought that being lawyers, they would probably want something safe, conservative and

dry! But from the moment we walked into their very non-lawyer-like offices we knew this project was going to be fun,” says Toybox Executive Producer Nanette Miles.

“They also wanted to push the boundaries and produce something that was visually fresh and funny, yet still be relevant to their audience.

They knew that as the champions of innovation, they had to be innovative themselves. It was a great place to start.”

The video highlights great Kiwi ideas like the egg beater, re-sealable tin lid, and John Callender’s farm bike, which unfortunately never reaped the rewards of their inventors’ genius.

These underline the video’s key message - that “knowledge is wealth and ideas are gold, but only if they are owned, controlled and protected.”

True to their brand, James & Wells has

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maintained a casual and irreverent tone to the video, but behind the humour the video delivers an important message - New Zealand can no longer rely on commodity products, and should instead look to high value technology as the future.

James & Wells partner Ceri Wells says the recent further slump in dairy prices once again reminds us how vulnerable the New Zealand economy is to price fluctuations for commodity products.

“It’s alarming that our most valuable exports are renewable commodity items - dairy, meat, logs and oil - and the message needs to get through that New Zealand Inc must diversify and start seriously encouraging and supporting innovation,” he says.

“But Kiwis just don’t seem to be able to get away from striving to sell a commodity for less and less - surely not a recipe for long term success.”

HEALTH & SAFETY

He who asks a question is a fool for a minute; he who does not remains a fool forever.

- Chinese Proverb

Injury prevention paramount Protecting staff from potential risk of injury and accident in the workplace is paramount for most organisations today. With workplace injury liabilities directed at staff, organisations or company directors, it is apparent that Health and Safety is not just a singular responsibility, it needs to be a cultural philosophy, duty and practice, prioritised by everyone in the work environment.

Directors and companies are liable for fines up to $3 million, if it is proved they could have or should have done more to prevent serious injury. In addition if a company, and or its leaders, are found to be negligent in their duties and an employee was critically injured then a jail term of up to 5 years may be incurred. a Most workplace injuries and subsequent litigation can be avoided by increasing responsibility and awareness and by applying contemporary health and safety protocols. New Zealand’s leading Management System Certification body, Telarc, is aiming to reduce the (potential for) incident of injury and litigation by providing

Most workplace injuries and subsequent litigation can be avoided by increasing responsibility and awareness.

Telarc ensures workplace certification and duty to protect by auditing and identifying all potential risks within the work environment and by providing compliance recommendations to be adopted by the host business.

By adopting Telarc’s recommendations, the organisation is committed to a duty of protection in its entirety and is able to gain certification. This reduces both the liability and the potential for incidence.

Equally important is the education and certification of staff. Having a safe workplace means very little, unless staff understand potential workplace risks and have adequate strategies to deal with these.

Being independently certified to a standard that is globally recognised is a solution that many companies are moving towards. It provides business leaders with an independent verification that the company is on top of it its game and is putting its best foot forward to minimise or mitigate risks that might result in a serious or fatal injury being sustained.

More and more New Zealand organisations are looking closely at their social and corporate responsibilities to not only protect workers but to identify and actively manage and prevent injury. It is a fact that certification reduces risk considerably and provides comfort and peace of mind at all levels that the organisation is doing everything in its power to protect their employees and business. Because prevention really is better than cure.

Are you and your business at risk?

• Are you fully compliant? • Could you be fined up to $600,000?

• Hidden dangers that could jeopardise the future of your business?

• Lengthy and expensive legal bills?

Mitigate your risk and get certified to an internationally recognised standard to help protect you, your business and employees.

Telarc certification provides clear evidence of a commitment to sound health and safety practices. We audit across a wide range of health and safety criteria and cater for every type and size of business.

You need to call us today to reduce your risk.

TEL5070_NZMANU

Health & Safety.

organisations with a multi-tiered audit and education approach, which enables business of all sizes to achieve Health and Safety certification for staff and their work environments.

info@telarc.co.nz 0800 004 004 telarc.co.nz

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THE FUTURE OF MANUFACTURING

Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.

- Henry Ford

How being open can give manufacturers the innovative edge

By Stefano Picozzi, PaaS business development manager, Red Hat A/NZ Organisations in many areas of business are increasingly seeing the value in the open source approach. The automotive sector is a good example. Digital design and automated manufacturing means developing a new car now takes a fraction of the time it used to. Tesla Motors’ decision last year to make all of its patents open to outside use has turned the industry on its head.

Most industries are affected by disruption from technology so, to remain competitive, organisations need to keep up. Technology advances affect manufacturing, in particular. The industry is changing quickly, and the manufacturers that continue to prosper are those that keep pace with technology.

Industrial solutions such as automation, resource management systems, and high-speed industrial design processes have helped manufacturers become far more agile and productive than they used to be. A manufacturer can only be as innovative and agile as the software on which these industrial solutions rely.

Tesla made this unprecedented move in the hope that it would help drive the adoption of electric car platforms. Likewise, open source software has the potential to expedite global innovation in a way that the traditional, proprietary software development model does not.

However, not all software is created equal. The bulk of software solutions used in this industry is proprietary; owned, managed, and developed by a single company. This means new developments can be slower when it comes to innovation and best practice.

As such, businesses looking for ways to make their processes easier, faster, more agile, and more productive, now have the option of turning to open source technology to ensure that the industrial equipment and processes they use are at the cutting edge of innovation and development.

Open source software, by comparison, is not owned by any single organisation; it is the result of a global community of millions of programmers. Because of the open and collaborative nature of this sort of software, with many minds contributing to its development, it can keep up with the agility and innovation that industry now demands.

One of the most innovative manufacturing developments of the past 30 years, 3D printing, has come a long way thanks to open source projects, such as the long-running RepRap self-replicating desktop additive manufacturing machine.

The open approach has aided swift innovation in 3D printing technology

Tesla Motors’ decision last year to make all of its patents open to outside use has turned the industry on its head.

through community collaboration and open sharing.

This is just one example of how new manufacturing processes and techniques can be driven by the open source philosophy and raise the standards of an entire industry.

Software is taking an increasingly central role in the way manufacturing machinery, and manufacturers themselves, operate. As such, the

open source approach is becoming the driving force of innovation in the manufacturing industry.

To continually improve organisational productivity and go-to-market speed, manufacturers need to innovate at a lightning pace.

An open collaboration approach, combined with open source based technology and tools can help achieve this.

continued from page 1

Looking ahead... product maintenance and repair.

Products and processes will be sustainable, with built-in reuse, remanufacturing and recycling for products reaching the end of their useful lives.

Closed loop systems will be used to eliminate energy and water waste and to recycle physical waste. These developments will further emphasise the key role of physical production in unlocking innovative new revenue streams, particularly as firms embrace ‘servitisation’ and manufacturers make use of the increasing pervasiveness

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of ‘Big Data’ to enhance their competitiveness.

medium sized enterprises are all internationally competitive.

researchers, and the supply of skilled managers.

In the public sector, policy frameworks that affect the manufacturing sector directly and indirectly will need to recognise the extended nature of value creation and the new ways it is being developed.

There is no easy or immediate route to success, but action needs to start now to build on existing support, and to refocus and rebalance it for the future.

Firms will need to pay much more attention to building multidisciplinary teams to develop increasingly complex products, and also innovative business models.

Public planning cycles should match the timescales of firms’ own long term planning requirements. And it will be important that flows of highly skilled workers, patient capital, and support to promote critical mass in small and

The quality and skills of the workforce will be a critical factor in capturing competitive advantage. It is essential that policy makers focus on the supply of skilled workers, including apprenticeship schemes, support for

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Above all, policy design will need to address entire system effects.

It will also be crucial to address the image associated with manufacturing.

Government and industry should work together to further promote and market the opportunities for careers in manufacturing industries at all levels of education.

Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune.

- Jim Rohn

MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY

Five questions to ask before you start 3D printing Want to get into 3D printing? It’s an exciting and evolving field for sure, but can also be an expensive one. Here are 5 questions every designer should ask themselves before taking the plunge...

Check out these articles: Will I be making moving parts?

How much money should I spend?

If your budget or storage space doesn’t allow for your own personal 3D printer, then fear not, you’re still able to print using a dedicated 3D printing service, such as Shapeways. This might be a better option for you as you can turn your ideas from digital designs into real products from your desktop and have them shipped to your door.

What material should I use?

Different products require different levels of 3D printing sophistication

Not all 3D printers cost the same First, consider what the printer’s main purpose will be. If you’ll be using it for an artistic venture, you should opt for a capable budget printer. However, if you want to create professional prototypes, to show clients and moving parts, think about investing a little more on a printer with a wider range of features and higher print quality.

This might seem like a strange question, but different 3D printers have different limitations, so you need to ensure it can do the job you require it to. For example, in some more complex models or parts, overhangs may not be able to be printed, or layer delamination may cause parts to break in certain machines.

Should I use a 3D print service?

Using a 3D print service takes a huge chunk of work out of the equation

Before you buy, check the materials options.

What software do I need?

Lots of software companies are vying for the 3D printing market, so it pays to shop around If you’re just getting started, there are a number of 3D modelling software options available that can be downloaded for free. SketchUp is fun and free and known for being easy to use. Blender is also a good free option, as are basic apps likeSculptGL and OpenSCAD – this software application creates solid 3D CAD objects using OpenCSG.

3D printers tend to use plastic filaments.

The most common consumables used by 3D printers using the FDM (fused deposition modelling) technology are ABS, PLA and PVA – all of which are used in a large variety of applications in the industry and come in a number of colours, diameters and lengths.

Clever new tool makes 3D printing easier Meet Retouch3D, a hand-held heated tool for designed specifically for finishing 3D prints.

would be the best way to clean it up.

And that’s how Retouch3D was born.

Retouch3D is a hand-held heated tool with variable heat settings and interchangeable tips designed specifically for finishing 3D prints.

the thermal properties of their printing material.

designed for specific 3D retouching tasks, including:

Retouch3D will be compatible with the mainstream materials used in 3D printing: PLA, ABS, and resin-based systems.

Removal of support material

If heat created a 3D print, then heat

imperfections

and

Blending print surfaces and infill gaps To account for future materials, Retouch3D’s fine temperature adjustment settings will allow users to increase or decrease heat by small increments.

Clean up 3D printing errors quickly with this new tool Until you own a 3D printer, what you don’t realise is that removing supports and getting rid of printing errors can be frustrating and time-consuming.

Refining layer stringing

Retouch 3D uses heat to smooth out your models

A 3D printed head before (left) and after (right) using the clean-up tool

Its ergonomic handheld design helps you clean up 3D prints with the assistance of temperatures matched to

It combines a control system for accurate and efficient temperature control, with interchangeable tips

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For early adopters, 3D 2.0 is offering the chance to become a beta tester.

Beta testers will exclusively help the company finalize the design of the Retouch3D’s control system and interchangeable tips.

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FOOD MANUFACTURING

Mistakes are painful when they happen, but years later a collection of mistakes is what is called experience.

- Denis Waitley

Unmanned helicopters to revolutionise agricultural industry The versatility of this new technology means that operators can spray weeds, crops, or spread seed in a more cost effective and accurate manner. Because RMAX is completely airborne, terrain is no longer an issue. Spraying dangerous aquatic weeds or accessing uneven ground is all part of the package, and can be done in a time efficient way.

Liquids and granules can be dispersed across a 400m range from the location of the operator, covering up to 2 acres in just 6 minutes depending on the target and payload.

Yamaha Sky Division New Zealand represents the future of the agricultural industry. The introduction of the Yamaha RMAX unmanned helicopters will enable property owners, licenced operators and contractors to maintain the land and crops remotely, from the air, and without the hassles that come with more traditional farming methods.

Weighing in at 99kg and at a total length of 3.63m and a height of 1.08m, each helicopter has a load capacity of 28kgs and runs on a 2 stroke, horizontally opposed 2-cylinder engine. The newest member of the Yamaha Sky Division is the ultimate piece of farm machinery for the 21st century.

The Yamaha RMAX unmanned helicopter has become the first drone to be certified for flight in New Zealand under Part 102 of the Civil Aviation Rules. Coming into effect in August 2015, the new law establishes a framework for the safe operation of unmanned crafts in New Zealand.

Yamaha Motor New Zealand received their operating certificate on the 1st August and wasted no time in conducting its first flight under the

new CAA rule regime at its test site near Auckland.

A high-performance Global Positioning System (GPS) combined with the Yamaha Attitude Control System makes operation incredibly simple. These sophisticated technologies, combined with a highly capable operator, ensure that the Yamaha RMAX maintains consistent and controlled speeds in all directions, as well as excellent flight stability. It is this reliability that guarantees accurate and even spraying every time RMAX takes off.

The Yamaha RMAX is available for purchase for individual owners, as well as through leasing and franchises.

This is the first time that users will be able to buy one of these technological marvels outright, including financing and insurance which Yamaha will cover for the buyer. New owners will be run through the CAA guidelines and pending approval will be able to operate their very own RMAX.

Business talent scouts looking for next superstar Business talent scouts are looking for a startup with the potential to be New Zealand’s next global agritech superstar.

Sprout, a national agritech business accelerator, is searching the country for eight budding entrepreneurs with embryonic agritech businesses for a new development programme.

University, Gallagher Group, Livestock Improvement Corporation, NZTE, Sir Stephen Tindall’s K1W1 fund, Enterprise Angels and Manawatu Investment Group.

The chosen eight will receive a cash injection of $20,000 and be placed in a 20-week part time and remotely delivered programme that will see them flown around the country for mentoring from world-class business and technical experts.

The Sprout accelerator programme was designed by BCC, a Palmerston North-based business incubator. Over the last two years BCC has helped

The programme will culminate in an opportunity to pitch for investment to a hand picked group of potential investors, business leaders and industry experts.

Sprout Programme Manager James Bell-Booth says Sprout wants to grow businesses in their hometowns.

“We’re looking for new businesses from around New Zealand that have big ideas but would benefit from the network, expertise and funding to grow globally. Those engaging in the programme have no need to move from their home locality. This initiative is about finding the next global stars, and boosting regional economies at the same time,” he says.

Sprout is being supported and funded by a mix of public and private sector leaders in agritech and startup investment, including Callaghan Innovation, Massey

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establish four globally focused agritech startups, BioLumic, CalfSMART, CropX and Polybatics, which have raised in excess of $15 million in growth capital from New Zealand and overseas investors.

Bell-Booth says lessons from those companies successful start up journeys have contributed to the Sprout

programme.

“Our focus is on helping entrepreneurs grow their startups from great ideas into investment-ready early stage companies,” he says.

To apply, see sproutagritech.com.

Entries are open until October 16, 2015. The programme commences on 2 November.

If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.

Introducing

- Albert Einstein

title text

HEADING A point of difference in today’s busy FMCG market.

Developed by AsureQuality, inSight™ provides shoppers with independently verified information about the products they are about to buy.

After a successful application process, producers can place the inSight™ logo and a QR code on their product packaging.

When shoppers scan the QR code at the point of sale they can access information about the product, including: • • • • •

Environmental sustainability Social and ethical concerns Nutritional information Safety and quality Origin

Call us now on 0508 00 11 22 to find out how inSight™ can add value to your business. www.aqinsight.com

A new innovation taking product assurances into the 21st Century www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz / NZ Manufacturer September 2015 23

METALS WEEK

The results you achieve will be in direct proportion to the effort you apply.

- Denis Waitley

HERA Session - Determining Our Industry’s Future The HERA session offered a perspective on the future prospects of our industry which was capped off by a panel discussion were business journalist Rod Oram facilitated a discussion between attendees and a panel of HERA Executive Members. HERA was gratified to see that many leaders of our industry participated and are recognising the need to be actively involved in shaping their future business and its industry environment.

The Factory of the Future

The HERA session was introduced by the HERA Director Dr Wolfgang Scholz who reported on a recent study tour to Germany with the theme Factory of the Future.

He was able to visit with his New Zealand team 13 German technical research institutions being part of either leading technical universities or the Fraunhofer Society, the world leading processing equipment fair Achema in Frankfurt and also three German metals-based manufacturing companies.

Wolfgang summarised his impressions with a view to provide some insight into novel developments and strategic thoughts which might be of assistance to the New Zealand heavy and general metals-based engineering industry and its associated research community for shaping their sustainable future.

As a result of a consistent innovations-flow in metallic materials, manufacturing and associated information technology, Wolfgang’s overall conclusion was that there is a bright future for competitive metals-based manufactured products.

This should give New Zealand fabricators and manufacturers the confidence to look forward to a sustainable future and actively forward-plan their business activities including investing in R&D in their respective fields of work.

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You can download Wolfgang’s Report on his study tour which is full will photos of innovations, conclusions and recommendations as HERA Report R5-58 from the HERA web site. Wolfgang’s presentation was followed by an update on additive manufacturing by TiDA CEO Warwick Downing, and the opportunities that rapid prototyping represents for the NZ metals Industry.

with a quote from Phil McKinney; “Innovation is not the result of chance, it’s the result of action.”

Managing Weld Quality

Therefore Rod gave the HERA Executive some homework before the discussion and a selection of 6 members fronted up as the Panel. They framed the discussion on the What, Who, How and When questions of Opportunity Mapping Process.

Time for Transformation

HERA General Manager Industry Development, Nick Inskip presented an interesting overview of opportunities in the marine energy and above ground geothermal and allied technologies markets at the HERA Stream of the Metal Industry Conference.

He spoke of the need to develop platforms from which a number of companies can benefit and how important it was for them to select a niche and aim at being a key player in it.

Nick contrasted the staffing models and level of sales of a typical New Zealand fabricator and a similar-sized clean technology manufacturer in Europe. He said that is the reason transformation focused on high value exports is required, rather than incremental change that comes with business as usual.

He presented examples of opportunities from wave energy powered offshore fish farms to Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) plants for waste heat applications before finishing

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prospects of our industry and agreed to expand on this theme by collecting ideas from HERA members on the process HERA will use to map and analyse the opportunities for its members in the general heavy engineering sector and its sub sectors.

Weld quality is at the centre of the Steel Fabricator Certification (SFC) scheme, and the welding quality management standard AS/NZS ISO 3834 and underlying fabrication standards AS/ NZS 1554 and NZS 3404.1:2009 are the key certification planks.

The Scheme ensures participating fabricators not only manufacture to the specified quality, but that they also have appropriate personnel and quality management systems in place that meet national and international best practice standards.

This paper presented by HERA’s Welding centre General Manager Dr Michail Karpenko at the Metals Industry Conference discussed essential aspects on the quality management systems for welding, the role of the welding supervisor, the relationship between in-house inspection, and third party inspection.

Determining our Future Economic commentator and business journalist Rod Oram facilitated discussion with our membership at the HERA session.

Rod Oram in his keynote address researched the mid to long term

We learned that basically opportunities exist from technology development such as IT, manufacturing equipment and materials development but equally from the development of new markets such in renewable energy, food processing, building and construction.

Both need to be considered and there is no shortage of development opportunities which our industry sector can engage with.

A great number of ideas where put forward and it was agreed to capture those in a formal process to be driven

by HERA staff and to be put back to the HERA Executive in its next HERA strategy review. Rod Oram and the HERA Director agreed to summarise those thoughts in a discussion paper which will be put to the membership – so watch this space.

METALS WEEK

You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.

- Dr. Seuss

Metals Week 2015

By Metals NZ CEO Gary Hook Metals Week 2015 was held at the Aotea Centre Auckland 1st - 4th September. In 2014, The Metals New Zealand Executive had the idea to create a significant and overarching event involving as many member associations as possible to: - Continue to deliver conferences to inform and inspire - Broaden industry opportunities

networking

- Deliver efficiencies in facility costs and event organization - By coming together communicate our industry scale and capability, and therefore relevancy to NZ’s economy aimed at both internal and external stakeholders - Celebrating excellence and recognizing the efforts and results of people working in our industry Events held over the week included the MRM Conference, Steelcon Careers Update, SCNZ Council Meeting, Industry Exhibition, StruMIS Workshop at HERA House, Networking Evening, Metals Industry Conference, Steel Innovations Conference, MRM AGM, HERA AGM, SCNZ AGM, SFC presentation of certificates, association meetings by HERA, SCNZ, NZSSDA and

NASH, and the Industry Awards Gala Dinner.

Over 400 people attended the flagship event in the Rendezvous Hotel Ballroom on 3rd September, the Metals Industry Gala Awards Dinner, to witness and acknowledge projects of excellence from across Metals NZ’s eight active metals-related associations.

Metals NZ Chairman Scott Fuller commented at the dinner that recognising our people and their work in front of our stakeholders in our Industry is a very important action on our Metals NZ calendar of events. After all, the people working in our industry are the most important asset we have.

It’s the time to calibrate our industry capability, reset benchmarks and to inspire others to excel and achieve even greater outcomes in the future.

This ambition is critical to creating that continuous business excellence drive needed from all businesses in today’s highly competitive market.

Fashion Week was held in Auckland the previous week….. It’s when the very best people in the industry come together to show what they can do and be recognised.

Quite frankly we are trying to set up

the metals industry equivalent - a place/event where the industry and interested stakeholders can come to meet, learn and be inspired about our industry capability, the products, the applications and to celebrate excellence.

A striking logo was developed that has attracted a large number of positive comments as to its quality and appropriateness to represent a

gathering for industry sectors and stakeholders involved in the diverse types of metals and metals-related activities.

Our profound thanks to our Platinum sponsor New Zealand Steel, and Gold Sponsors Steel & Tube, BOC, Easysteel, Onesteel and Worksafe, as well as our 35 exhibitors who have all supported the event and made it a resounding success!

Metals Industry Exporter of the Year – Cuddon Ltd From left: HERA Chairman John Frear, Cuddon CEO Andy Rowe, Freeze Dry Business Manager Steve Anderson, Director John Cuddon and Hon Todd McClay.

Innovator of the Year – Product Innovation Winner A-Ward Attachments From left: HERA Chairman John Frear, A-Ward Board member Chip Dawson, A-Ward Managing Directors Deborah and Simon Ward and Hon Todd McClay.

Innovator of the Year – Manufacturing Process Winner – Calder Stewart Ltd From left: HERA Chairman John Frear, Calder Stewart Operations Manager Jom Hands, Steel Manager Sean Lloyd, Technical QA Improvement Manager Brian Howell and Hon Todd McClay.

Keith Smith Memorial Award – Dr Nigel Evans From left: HEERF Chairman Noel Davies, Dr Nigel Evans and Hon Todd McClay.

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EXPORT NEWS

The shortest way to do many things is to do only one thing at once.

-Samuel Smiles

Winning government business in Australia

By Stephen Blair, Trade Commissioner and Consul General – Melbourne.

While New Zealand and Australia have one of the closest and broadest economic and trading relationships of any two countries in the world, competition for government contracts is fierce.

Potential partners to the Australian Government need to know how procurement is undertaken, who to contact and, importantly, how to find the opportunities and submit a competitive tender.

Access to key decision makers isn’t as easy to gain as in New Zealand and Australians are a lot more formal if you’re going to a meeting in Canberra, you wear a suit and tie (or the equivalent).

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Aside from the larger population and geographic size, Australia has other business and cultural differences including the multicultural nature of Australian society; the large distances between main centres; the more litigious business culture; the size of the middle class, and the relatively high average income.

Some differences are more subtle.

For example, access to key decision makers isn’t as easy to gain as in New Zealand and Australians are a lot more formal - if you’re going to a meeting in Canberra, you wear a suit and tie (or the equivalent).

It’s also important to understand Australia’s three tiers of government – and who has responsibility for what.

These are: • Australian Commonwealth Government (aka Federal Govt) • 120 departments and agencies including foreign policy, trade and commerce, defence and currency • policy and delivery

programme/service

• State/Territory Government

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• 6 states, 2 territories • schools, hospitals, utilities, roads/ rail, police, prisons, ambulance and emergency services • local councils • 560+ local councils • waste management, parking, recreational and cultural facilities.

The Australian Government spend on services and goods is large - in the 2012-13 year, the Federal Government spent $AUD39.3 billion services and goods in 67,854 contracts - and the market is open, transparent and accessible, with low barriers to entry. A tight budgetary environment requires value for money, so there is a focus on increasing productivity and efficiency.

New Zealand businesses that are resilient and competitive are positioned well to benefit in the Australian market, where great store is placed on efficiency and value for money.

A number are already doing so as reflected in the notable growth in the services, construction and IT sector.

Examples of these successes include:

• Smartrak - preferred supplier to operate Public Transport Victoria’s bus tracking system. The metro bus service carries 120 million passengers annually, • BECA – engineering design services for the $3.5b reverse osmosis desalination project for the Victorian State Government • Q-West – patrol boat for the Victoria Martine Police • Stabicraft – sales of patrol boats to the Australian Federal Police, Victoria Coastguard, NT Fire and Emergency Services, and Australian Customs and Boarder Protection Service • TracPlus – automated flight following service for NSW Rural Fire Service aviation assets • Datacom - $248m contract with the Australian Department of Health.

Also contracts with the customs service, Crimtrac, Department of the Environment, Australian Tax Office, the competition watchdog ACCC, Airservices Australia and the National Health and Medical Research Council.

ANALYSIS

It has been my observation that most people get ahead during the time that others waste.

- Henry Ford

Bending instead of welding An important component of many facilities and large-scale systems in the chemical industry or offshore industry, as well as in power plant construction is the integrated pipe system to transport the most varied media.

It is not unusual that pipelines have a considerable share in the overall systems - and thereby also in the costs.

An efficient and economical pipe production is therefore a decisive factor. Bent pipe systems offer some advantages in comparison to welded lines, which are traditionally produced from welded individual components such as welded bends and straight tube or pipe sections.

Costs and production times are noticeably reduced.

With regard to bending angle and geometries, plant engineers can enjoy distinctly more flexibility thanks to the bending.

One of the usual methods for the production of three-dimensional tube or pipe systems is welding these with individual tube or pipe bends, so-called welded bends.

The use of welded bends requires numerous working steps. As a result of modern technologies, the demand for application specific, individual and complex pipe geometries is increasing.

Complex geometries especially require numerous welding procedures which are both time and personnel intensive. The same applies

to the subsequent welding seam inspection. Precision-fit pipe systems can be produced clearly faster and more precise on CNC-controlled bending machines. These allow time savings of up to 95 percent as well as noticeable cost reductions.

CNC-controlled tube or pipe cold bending machines are designed for permanent operation under high load and produce three-dimensional geometries in a single work step.

For this purpose, the pipe is clamped in the bending machine and brought into the corresponding position for the first bend. After the first bend, the bending machine transports and turns the pipe automatically into the positions for the following bend.

These steps repeat as often as is necessary until the desired tube or pipe geometry is achieved.

Three-dimensional pipe systems can be produced very quickly without a single welding seam. The subsequent quality control is also very simple: A maximum of two welding seams - at that beginning and end of the pipe - have to be checked before installation.

In contrast, when using the method of pipe welding, numerous checks are required which demand time

another bending angle by hand with the help of an angle grinder or saw - a time and cost intensive method. If the required bends are not in stock, the whole production will come to a standstill in the worst case. In contrast to this, the bending machines produce the most complex pipe systems with flexibly arranged geometries.

and personnel and thus represent additional cost factors. The number of welding seams reduced to the absolute minimum also offers extra security against leakage.

This is a decisive advantage in particular with pipe systems which need to withstand high pressures reliably.

Bending highly-complex geometries As plants, power plants and ships are being built increasingly more compact, the pipe routings are also changing: They are becoming more complex to utilise the available space as best as possible.

Summary Pipe or tube processing takes on an important role in many industrial sectors. While the requirements on production with regard to quality, precision and complexity are increasing, production times and costs have to drop further.

Correspondingly high are the demands placed on pipe production.

Here, the bending process also offers decisive advantages. The bending angles are freely selectable and therewith allow the greatest possible flexibility.

Against this background, the switch from welded to bent pipe or tube systems offers distinct benefits, which achieve significant time and cost savings: * Cycle times reduced by up to 95 percent

The situation is different when using prefabricated welding bends. They require, inherent in the system, working with specified bending angles or need elaborate manual reworking to achieve the desired angle.

* Distinct cost savings * Reduced inspection scope * Space saving in raw material storage * Improved product quality

With this process, the standardised welding bends are reworked to

* Reproducibility

The bending of complex tube or pipe systems offers many advantages in comparison to welding. With the QR Code you can access an Animation, which illustrates the differences.

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WORKSHOP TOOLS

If you’re always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.

- Maya Angelou

New customised aviation reels for major airline Reel Tech, exclusive partner of Hannay in Australia and New Zealand, has just rolled out a new line of customised Aviation reels to one of the world’s major airlines.

spring rewind speed reducer to protect operators and aircraft, and increase the service life of the hose, thus avoiding expensive, premature hose replacement costs.

The client required a customised aviation hose reel for an Oxygen and Nitrogen Recharging Cart. And a high pressure spring rewind hose reel was ideal for this application.

This resulted in a hose reel system guaranteed to endure the harshest conditions and deliver high pressure performance. The Safe-R-Reel is also the ideal solution for Remote Site Refuelling applications where an external power source is not available

Fitted was the patented Safe-R-Reel

to rewind the reel.

Proven in the world’s largest airports, Hannay Aviation reels have become an industry standard. The standard range includes Refuelling, Remote Site Refuelling, Oxygen and Nitrogen Recharging, Sensing, Static Grounding, and Airport Hydrant Fuelling Operations, Reel Tech offers cable and industrial hose reels for any aviation, airfield or airport application.

Whether in the hangar or on the field, you can rely on their reels to improve p r o d u c t i v i t y, increase safety, and keep your operation running smoothly. Standard finishes include stainless steel mill finish and high performance enamel in a wide range of colours.

ProDetec adds SIGRIST measuring technology Leading Australian instrumentation supplier, ProDetec has acquired the SIGRIST exclusive distributor rights for Australia and New Zealand.

SIGRIST is globally renown for developing and producing optical measuring devices which monitor the quality of process variables in numerous industries.

Leaders in their field, SIGRIST’s photometers are manufactured to exceptional standards and are highly reliable. The photometers measure turbidity, dissolved substances, colour, oil or particulates. The company’s comprehensive range of photometers are used in water treatment, the food industry, industrial processes, environmental

protection and in the monitoring of air quality in roads and rail tunnels.

The partnership with SIGRIST will allow customers access to sophisticated analysers that can monitor water and other liquid properties in various processes and also in environmental protection.

The ProDetec range of SIGRIST photometers is very diverse and includes oil trace monitors, single and multi-parameters turbidity meters as well as colour and phase monitoring.

The SIGRIST OilGuard measures mineral oils in water and has a 40 year track record. Based on the fluorescence principle, the OilGuard devices use a free-fall measuring system that eliminates contact between the sample and the flow cell. Various types of oil can be detected by the device’s calibration curves.

These can be easily checked or recalibrated via a control glass. The

OilGuard equipment is suitable for use in numerous industries including the chemical and pharmaceutical industry, crude oil production, machine and metal industry, petrochemical and refinery, power plants, ship industry and waste water treatment.

The SIGRIST turbidity meters measure the turbidity and other parameters in water and liquids including DOC levels, colour and oil concentration. The meters quickly and efficiently detect any impurities or flaws in the treatment process so that they can be swiftly rectified. Specifically, the SIGRIST AquaScat HT Online Turbiditymeter measures turbidity of potable water according to IEC 27027 in a free-falling water stream.

The device features a contactless design which eliminates foiling and minimises servicing.

The AquaScat’s calibration can be checked with a calibration unit using

a glass reference. The AquaScat is suitable for monitoring turbidity in water in a range of industries including the food and brewing industries, chemical and pharmaceutical industry, crude oil production, dairy industry, drinking water treatment, machine and metal industry, petrochemical and refinery industry, power plants, pulp and paper industry and waste water treatment.

SIGRIST measuring devices utilise innovative, patented technology developed by the Swiss company. They feature a true, non-contact, free-fall measuring system. This ensures that maintenance is kept to an absolute minimum. Plus, SIGRIST turbidity meters deliver exceptional accuracy even at low concentrations thanks to the device’s sophisticated automatic adjustment with a built in reference for turbidity. .

Black Series bearings efficient in challenging applications The latest FAG radial insert ball bearing and housing units from Schaeffler Australia featuring easy mounting, smooth running, enhanced anti-corrosion protection and high reliability to allow particularly economical bearing arrangements.

The new Black Series Ball Bearing Units FAG – featuring a DUROTECT® B coating to provide improved anti-corrosion protection – are most suitable for challenging operating conditions where they require less maintenance and save operators time and money.

The robust units particularly suitable for medium-to-high load applications including: • Power transmission, conveying, materials handling, metals and steel • Mining and energy, construction and agricultural, textile, paper, packaging and woodworking machinery • Pumps and process industry exposed to wet conditions, including food

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and beverage, water and waste water, oil and gas processing plant Schaeffler Australia Pty Ltd – which markets the FAG and INA industrial and LuK automotive brands here – is part of the Schaeffler Group, one of Europe’s leading technology companies, with long-established Australasian operations, including its Bearing Engineering Services (BES) industrial bearing service centre and ASB competence centre focussing particularly on bearing and housing solutions for industry.

Major benefits of the Black Series include: Simple mounting Misalignments are compensated by the matched design of the housing and the radial insert bearing and the plus tolerance of the bore. Reworking of the shaft is no longer required. In addition, two self-retaining set screws that are offset by 120° securely locate the inner ring on the shaft. A suitable Allen key is supplied with every ball

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bearing unit, reducing outlay to a minimum.

mounting

Quiet running, energy-saving low friction Optimised internal geometry, honed raceways and high ball quality ensure quiet running. The low frictional torque of the radial insert ball bearings reduces the energy requirements of applications. Energy efficiency is further improved with the extremely low-friction plastic cage.

High reliability, long bearing operating life Minimum friction also involves minimum heat generation and therefore maximum grease operating life. The ball bearing units are supplied prelubricated and can be easily relubricated via a lubrication nipple if required.

The seal that is firmly staked in the outer ring retains the grease in the bearing and thus allows easier relubrication. It has a vulcanized seal lip that effectively prevent dust

and water entering the bearing. To protect the seal lip against damage, an outer flinger shield is fitted on the inner ring. In addition, the radial insert ball bearings have an improved anti-corrosion protection.

Product range The FAG Black Series Ball Bearing Units are supplied with both metric and inch bore diameters. The range of one pillow block housing unit as well as a two bolt and a four bolt flange units is presently being expanded with further housing series.

The dimensions of the FAG housings, made from flake graphite cast iron and with a primer paint coating, conform to JIS B 1559. These single piece cast housings can support moderate to high radial and axial loads.

You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.

- C.S. Lewis

WORKSHOP TOOLS

Rhino Linings minimise treatment plant degradation and chemical spills client’s operations. With a rapid cure time of three to six seconds and the ability to walk on it in a matter of minutes means that a facility can be back on line much quicker.

For one mining project, the larger tanks were cleaned and coated onsite, but transportable structures such as smaller tanks were trucked to one of the company’s yards where the blasting systems are in buildings that are design to limit the spread of the abrasive material and debris.

The durability of Pure Polyurea and Polyurea as surface protection means that money can be saved because the structure has a longer repair/replace cycle. Polyurea coatings are also easy to repair. The area around a damaged surface can be re-activated using special primers and then covered with a new layer of polyurea.

For more than half a century, municipal councils, as well as industrial and mining companies throughout Australia and New Zealand have invested billions of dollars into equipment and infrastructure to process waste water and sewage. Corrosion of this infrastructure, and in some cases the subsequent leakage, costs industry in excess of $1B each year.

The main assets that are impacted by corrosion in waste water treatment plants (WWTP) are the pipelines, storage tanks, clarifier ponds and sewage channels.

As much of the WWTPs infrastructure is ageing, it is starting to require refurbishment or replacement. One method of refurbishment of these assets is to carry out surface repairs and then apply protective coatings. These coatings must be strong, flexible and resistant to chemical attack.

Corrosion particularly affects the submerged parts of structures in WWTPs. Special consideration has to be given when coating structures in sewage treatment plants. One of the more corrosive by-products of sewage is hydrogen sulphide gas.

Hydrogen sulphide reacts with moisture on surfaces in a waste water plant and bubbles up to form sulphuric acid which really loves concrete. Hydrogen sulphide (H2S) attacks the cement, copper, iron and silver which gradually degrades the structure. In the case of a pipeline, this may ultimately result in the collapse of the pipe wall.

The modern requirement for capping storages in order to control excessive odours has the drawback of also increasing gas concentrations.

One type of coating from RLA that is ideally suited for waste water treatment is spray applied Polyurea.

The company has been working with this material since the early 1990s and now manufactures in Australia a range of consistent formulations which are suitable for a variety applications.

Pure Polyurea is a relatively modern material that has been developing rapidly during the past 10 - 15 years.

Polyureas and particularly Pure Polyurea came to the forefront in 1980 when the entire outer surface of the Alaskan oil pipeline was coated in polyurea.

Pure Polyureas are formed when a liquid isocyanate is mixed with an amine based resin solution. Isocyanates are reactive because the double covalent bond attaching the carbon atom to nitrogen and oxygen atoms is easily broken to form single bonds in the more stable tetrahedral configuration around the carbon atom.

The Rhino Linings Pure Polyurea comes as a two-part solution that is mixed under high temperature and pressure (3000 psi at 65∫C) in a specially designed spray apparatus. When applied, the excellent chemical cross linking produces a dense but flexible surface. The high density makes the coating almost impervious to abrasion, water and chemicals.

One company that is keenly aware of the benefits of polyureas is Queensland-based Satintouch, one of the premiere applicators accredited by Rhino Linings.

The chemicals utilised in the Polyurea and Pure Polyurea coatings means that most of the work Satintouch, and other applicators, carries out is defined as an Environmentally Relevant Activity (ERA) under government legislation.

The main activities undertaken fall under ERA 17, 38 and 57. These regulations require a licence for the abrasive cleaning and spray coating work to be conducted as well as special constraints on the subsequent cleanup in order to minimise the impact on the natural environment around the work site.

For projects involving heavy traffic and wear, Satintouch will usually install an indicator layer which is bright red before the final top coat. Once the red layer starts to show through the main coating, it is clear that the structure or surface will need re-covering soon.

Recording these wear rates enables better protection planning.

Spray applied Pure Polyurea and Polyurethane from RLA offer superior solutions for liquid containment. All coatings developed by the company for the water industry are continually tested to ensure they comply with the latest standards and have been certified safe for applications such as lining potable water storage tanks, marine aquariums, food freezers and grain silos.

RLA coatings are tested for compliance with AS4020 at the Australian Water Quality Centre in Adelaide.

Pure Polyurea coatings ‘snap cure’ to form a solid surface in a few seconds and can be walked on without damage in less than a minute. Another advantage is the ability for it to be sprayed at very high thickness (6000 microns and greater) on a sloping or vertical surface without sagging or running. The surface of a RLA coating is easy to maintain, clean and recoat if necessary.

RLA’s proprietary formulations, combined with innovative substrate preparations, result in excellent adhesion and a seamless surface over virtually any shaped structure.

Whereas epoxies and paints form a solid rigid shell, the flexibility of polyurea coatings allows them to move with the expansion and contraction of the underlying structure as temperatures change.

In addition to hydrogen sulphide being corrosive to structures and pipes at WWTPs, the flammable, colourless gas also poses a health risk to workers.

The typical rotten egg smell can be detected by people at concentrations ranging from 0.0005 to 0.3 parts per million (ppm).

Spray coating enables quicker application and less disruption to a

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Applied correctly, spray applied polymer coatings have attachment loads of at least 6 to 10 mPA (750 to 1250 psi). In most cases, the concrete substrate would give way before the coating peeled off.

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INDUSTRY 4.0

Leadership is the challenge to be something more than average.

- Jim Rohn

Self-Organising Factories From the computer to the production line, new technologies are shrinking the time between virtual In a vision of the future of manufacturing, the pervasive networking of people, things, and machines will create completely new production environments.

Manufacturers, researchers, and governments are working together to implement this concept for tomorrow’s factory.

As manufacturers look to the future, they are examining how advanced information and communication technologies can boost value creation.

In Germany, this development is called “Industry 4.0.

Similar initiatives have been launched in other European countries, the U.S., China, and elsewhere. Industry 4.0 aims to achieve production-related advantages by creating a networked, flexible, and dynamically self-organising manufacturing process for highly customisable products.

Over the next 15 to 20 years, it is expected to be accompanied by a paradigm shift that could justifiably be called the fourth industrial

revolution. The result will appear to be revolutionary from today’s point of view, but ultimately it will involve a large number of development steps in a process of evolution.

The first industrial revolution was triggered by the invention of the steam engine and the mechanisation of manual work in the 18th century. The second revolution was made possible by the introduction of electricity and involved the use of mass production techniques in the early 20th century, and the third was ushered in during the past few decades by electronic systems and computer technologies for automating manufacturing and finishing processes.

Now the rules are changing again in many sectors, due to the digitization of the entire value chain and continuous and pervasive access to a comprehensive range of information in the form of virtual models, data, and knowledge.

Germany intends to spearhead the modernisation of production by making its companies the leading providers of cyber physical systems (CPS). Germany’s National Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech) believes that new manufacturing processes will lead to a 30 percent increase in industrial productivity.

In addition, the academy points out that CPS will revolutionize not only production

but also mobility and healthcare. This development will ultimately lead to a huge increase in automation and in the intelligence of such systems.

As a result, market researchers at IHS Technology expect global sales of industrial automation systems to rise from $170 billion in 2013 to $209.4 billion in 2016. In Germany, industrial value creation accounts for twice as much of the total economic output as in the UK, France, and the U.S. Nobody can say at the moment what the smart factory of the future will look like in detail. However, the components, tools, shipping containers, machines, and conveyor systems in today’s advanced, automated factories are already equipped with sensors and communication systems that share and analyse thousands of pieces of information every second in order to manufacture mass-produced goods quickly and efficiently.

Many players in this development believe that the machines in the smart factories of the future will largely organise themselves, supply chains will automatically link themselves together, and orders will be directly converted into manufacturing information that is incorporated into the production process. Nevertheless, strategists at Siemens expect that an overarching production management system will still be needed even in the far future

the components of their production processes and closely integrate their software and hardware. Siemens has since then continuously enhanced its range of TIA offers. In 2007 Siemens introduced a comprehensive family of PLM software products, to which it is continually adding more modules.

PLM stands for product lifecycle management, which aims to optimize product development. To achieve this goal, design, prototype development, and simulation take place in the virtual world so that development times can be greatly reduced even for very complex systems such as the Mars rover Curiosity. PLM development software enabled scientists at NASA to test and assemble all of the rover’s components in a computer and simulate how the rover would operate on Mars.

Similarly, Sebastian Vettel’s world champion Formula 1 car was also developed using Siemens software.

The vehicle had to be redeveloped because the automotive association FIA had issued new rules for the 2014 Formula 1 season that required far-reaching changes in the race cars’ design. Siemens PLM software enabled engineers in the Infiniti Red Bull racing team to design and virtually test new components in record time. At the click of a mouse, they then had the components produced and data, and knowledge.

Development Times are reduced Long before the term Industry 4.0 was coined, Siemens had laid the groundwork for the digitization of companies. The introduction of Totally Integrated Automation (TIA) in 1996 enabled companies to coordinate

Hello Industry 4.0 The newest member of the KUKA robot family – the LBR iiwa lightweight robot

services in the fourth revolution – Industry 4.0.

At the KUKA booth, the visitors of this year’s Hanover Fair can deal with the increasing digitalisation of production and cooperative network of employees and machines.

Therefore, robots will be the defining component for industry in the future – while the human takes centre stage.

Sustainable automation concepts can only be developed with efficient, flexible and first of all safe production systems respecting the needs of the production staff.

As Europe’s leading supplier of industrial robots and automated production systems, KUKA directly participates with its products and

industrial

KUKA will not only present ways in which KUKA products can improve competitiveness, but also prove its compatibility with the digital world.

Across the more than 1000 square meters of space in the Industrial Automation area, KUKA will be presenting innovative solutions that have one key characteristic in common: they are all designed to meet

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the requirements of Industry 4.0 and bring flexibility in the utilisation of production capacity, in logistics, in the sustainable use of resources.

KUKA achieves this by merging the IT world and conventional high-tech industry solutions into complete Cyber-Physical Production Systems (CPPS).

In order to react in a flexible manner, to control process data streams from complex networks around the globe and to network digital controllers from different systems, interfaces based on Mainstream IT infrastructure are essential.

This was already a key concept at KUKA in the mid-90s when it brought the first PC-based robot controllers onto the market.

Subsequent KUKA innovations and developments also followed this core concept of simple integration. With the newest member of the KUKA robot family – the LBR iiwa lightweight robot and the controller Sunrise designed for direct cooperation between humans and robots – KUKA now takes it a step further, offering products that are truly “Industry 4.0-ready”.

Among other things, this means features such as a variety of external communication ports and an open and modular programming environment – or even just the ease of use and connection to external systems and machine control systems.

KUKA continuously focuses on open and interoperable standards.

REAR VIEW

The future depends on what we do in the present.

- Mahatma Gandhi

NZ economy: why view a half full glass as half empty?

Paul Kane, partner Privately Held Business, Grant Thornton New Zealand Ltd,looks at the state of the New Zealand economy through the eyes of his firm’s clients and the macro economic factors presently in play.

our export market, including tourism.

Then there’s falling interest rates, low inflation, a Government set of accounts on the verge of being in surplus, falling unemployment levels and strong migration.

If you listen to various political parties and economic commentators, you can be forgiven for having gloomy thoughts about the New Zealand economy.

If you took away the dairy industry and a short-term blip in China’s growth path, then New Zealand has a good set of growing conditions.

It’s important to work out what’s factual and what’s hearsay. We know from our work with clients that most are still turning a profit.

So why all the gloom and doom? If you start with a full glass (NZ economy in recent times) and feel that it is now approaching half empty, then of course the picture is not so rosy; but if you start with a glass almost empty (NZ economy 2010-11) then that half full glass is very promising.

If the same optimism questions being asked today were asked in 2010-11, then New Zealand business confidence would appear to be soaring.

Which brings us to today. We’re actually doing quite nicely, as evidenced by the performance of a wide cross section of our clients covering diverse sectors of the economy.

New Zealand is tracking at just under 3% growth, which, historically, is very solid. There’s no denying that dairying is weighing us down, but when you look at the other end of the see-saw, it’s not stuck way up in the air.

The macro conditions are strong.

Finally, we have a falling dollar, which will help improve the dairy situation and provide a substantial boost to Opinion Manufacturing Profiles Letters to the Editor Politics of Manufacturing Trade Fair World Diary of Events World Market Report Q/A Export News Machine Tools Business Opportunities Commentary As I See It Business News Appointments Around New Zealand Australian Report New to the Market Lean Manufacturing Equipment for Sale Recruitment Environmental Technology Manufacturing Processes

Kiwifruit, wine and meat are all blossoming, and in the much maligned manufacturing sector, we are starting to see niche players get market traction. As rising wages and conditions in China are putting more pressure on their margins thus requiring plants to seek larger minimum runs, smaller manufacturers in New Zealand are starting to win market share.

Dairying has annual exports in excess of $13.7 billion and employs 37,000 people according to Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand.

Statistics New Zealand says that international tourist expenditure to the year ending March 2014 accounted for $10.3 billion or 15.3% of New Zealand’s total exports. Tourism also directly supports 94,100 full-time equivalent jobs.

In the year ending May 2015, 2.977 million international visitors arrived in this country, an increase of 7% on the previous year with forecasts for this number to grow to 3.8 million by 2021.

China and India will be the two drivers of this international growth. According to Tourism New Zealand, 309,792 visitors arrived from China in the year

to May 2015, an increase of 29.3% on the year previous, while India’s figures grew 28.9% to 42,880.

underpins its importance. Recently Queenstown had 22 trans-Tasman international flights in a day.

The future looks bright with two extra airlines (Air China and China Eastern) establishing year-round services, and while India does not have a direct service at present, it is only a matter of time. The World Tourism Organisation predicts that India will account for 50 million outbound tourists by 2020.

There are currently only 28 million passport holders in India.

So instead of lamenting dairy’s cyclical low, why not celebrate and make headlines out of tourism’s growth and opportunities?

So back to that half full - half empty glass. If New Zealand businesses look at it as half empty, it won’t be long before it is totally dry as financial paralysis will choke cash flow and confidence.

Viewed as half full, then owners and managers will have the confidence to continue to invest in their businesses and staff.

Tourism is supported by its geographical spread.

There are well founded concerns that New Zealand’s economy is being driven by Auckland and Christchurch, so the fact that the tourist dollar is spent throughout the country

It comes down to how you view the glass.

NZ MANUFACTURER • OCTOBER 2015 Issue • Features

Preview: National Maintenance Conference Manufacturing Technology Agricultural Machinery The Bottom Line The Future of Manufacturing Advertising Booking Deadline – 19 October 2015

Editorial material to be sent to :

Advertising Copy Deadline – 19 October 2015

Doug Green,

Editorial Copy Deadline – 19 October 2015 Advertising – For bookings and further information contact: Doug Green, P O Box 1109, Hastings 4156, Hawke’s Bay Email: publisher@xtra.co.nz

P O Box 1109, Hastings 4156, Hawke’s Bay

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

Email: publisher@xtra.co.nz Tel: 06 870 9029 Fax: 06 878 8150

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HEADING

The shortest way to do many things is to do only one thing at once.

-Samuel Smiles

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