NZ Manufacturer July 2020

July 2020

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COVID-19 BUSINESS Rushing shovelready projects comes with real risk.

PROFILE Tendai Masamba, Fonterra.

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VIEW 27 REAR The market is not our master.

Can We be More Productive?

By Ian Walsh, Managing Director, Intent Group Over the past 50 years, New Zealand has been on a negative GDP trajectory versus the OECD, sliding from 5th place to 22nd! The top 10 countries average 60% more productivity per person per capita in US$ than we do, and this gap has been widening since the mid 1980’s.* The general consensus is that we work hard, and the statistics say we work more hours than most. Clearly this is the harder not smarter argument. Perhaps Sir Paul Callaghan captured it best when he said, “In New Zealand we sense, somehow we are not as prosperous as we would like.”

Without highly productive businesses we will not be able to generate the income to invest in human and physical capital, to create the society and country we aspire to.

So why are we less productive?

There has been a lot of research over the years, with the traditional arguments being that our costs are

higher as we are further away from market.

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The research, however, shows that we should be 20% above the average** and playing in the top 10, but we are not. This is due to:

New version 21 is now the current version

Weak international connections.

New Zealand firms face reduced access to large markets and limited participation in global value chains, where the transfer of advanced technologies now often occurs.

Underinvestment in “knowledge-based capital”. In particular, R&D undertaken by the business sector is among the lowest in the OECD, reducing the capacity for “frontier innovation” and the ability of firms to absorb new ideas developed elsewhere (“technological

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NZ Set for Rapid Increase in Large Scale Manufacturing Post-Covid 19 New Zealand is set to see a rapid increase in large scale manufacturing in the coming months according to new figures from the country’s largest industrial and residential development.

More than a fifth of the 170 hectares of commercial land available at Drury South Crossing in South Auckland has been sold to a wide range of manufacturing, logistics, fabrication, construction and industrial businesses.

The development is expected to contribute $2.3bn to the economy, employ 6,000 in the manufacturing, distribution, food processing, tech and logistics sectors and provide affordable housing for 2,000 Kiwis when it is completed in 2027.

According to developers, Drury South Crossing will be one of the first large scale manufacturing hubs to be designed and completed in a post-COVID-19 environment.

Affordable CAD Software for professional designers.

30 day free trial download today hps://www.alibre.com/get-a-trial/ Stephen Hughes, CEO, Drury South Crossing

Design and planning for a number of the new plants are already well underway with construction on the first of the new facilities expected to come on stream

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Don’t delay, contact us now.

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CONTENTS 1 5 7

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DEPARTMENTS LEAD Can we be more productive?

NZ set for rapid increase in large scale manufacturing.

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COVID-19 BUSINESS

Kirk Hope

Techweek2020 goes digital.

Unless we improve the law, history shows rushing shovel-ready projects comes with a risk.

MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY Covid-19 means SME manufacturers need inventory planning more than ever.

Soul Machines and Florence to assist tobacco users quit during Covid-19.

Metal 3D printing helps NZ defence force veteran on his Invictus Games journey.

Is Chief Executive of BusinessNZ, New Zealand’s largest business advocacy body. He has held a range of senior positions at Westpac and is a barrister and solicitor.

6 Dr. Dieter Adam

Is the executive director of The Manufacturers’ Network. He has a Ph.D. in plant biotechnology, consulting and senior management roles in R&D, innovation and international business development.

PROFILE Tendai Masamba, Fonterra Logistics Planning Manager.

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EXPORT NEWS

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THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY

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SUSTAINABILITY

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SMART MANUFACTURING

Manco Rail boosts NZ engineering sector with multi-million dollar Sydney tunnel contract.

9 Leeann Watson

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

Sustainability makes good business sense, recession or not.

NZ Manufacturers and business to take action – Now!

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Tribo-polymers from Treotham increase service life.

Siemens delivers Artificial Intelligence-powered CAD sketching technology.

Mercedes-Benz and NVIDIA to build software-defined computing architecture for automated driving.

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FOCUS

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NEW PRODUCTS

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SUPPLY CHAIN

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DEVELOPMENTS

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REAR VIEW

Sustainability and Regeneration: Friends or Foes?

Lewis Woodward

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Is HERA Director, she has extensive experience in innovation, research management and product development, most recently as Head of Innovation and Product Development & Pacific Islands Export Manager at New Zealand Steel.

Reimagining supply chains to build long term resilience in a post-Covid world.

The IOT supply chain risk.

The market is not our master – only state-led business cooperation will drive real economic recovery.

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.

Dr Troy Coyle

Ensuring a safe welding environment.

Treotham announces exclusive partnership with long-time supplier Igus.

The future of thermoplastics.

Competenz CEO appointed to Workforce Development Council.

Money for regional apprenticeships.

ADVISORS

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Brett O’Riley

EMA chief executive Brett O’Riley has a background in technology and economic development.

Brett actually grew up with manufacturing, in the family business, Biggins & Co. He currently holds board roles with Wine Grenade and Dotterel Technologies and is also on the NZ Film Commission board.

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

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

CONTRIBUTORS Holly Green, Barbara Nebel, Ian Walsh, Tendai Masamba, Alexander Gillespie, Dominic Salmon, Femi Perumbally, Richard Morgan, Michael DeCesare, Johnathan Baker

The Covid-19 virus features in much of this issue of NZ Manufacturer through Sustainability, Covid-19 Business, Manufacturing Technology, Supply Chain and the Circular Economy.

We just can’t get away from it, can we? And in those sections, you can read how to make business better in these challenging times.

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

Questions are asked by Professor of Law at University of Waikato Alexander Gillespie about rushing the shovel-ready projects. Page 5.

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

In other articles Ian Walsh, Managing Director, Intent Group wants to know why we can’t be more productive. Lead Story.

And the Drury South Crossing announcement of the first large scale manufacturing hub to be designed and completed in a post-Covid-19 environment. Page 1. A wide range of manufacturing, logistics, fabrication, construction and industrial businesses will have their home there.

WEB MASTER Julian Goodbehere E: julian@isystems.co.nz

Our Profile of the Month is Tendai Masamba, Logistics Planning Manager at Fonterra who shares what she does and what inspires her. Page 12.

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

Manco Rail has helped boost the NZ engineering sector by securing a major contract for developments under Sydney Harbour. Page 14.

DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTIONS

Johnathan Baker, Lecturer in Business Strategy, AUT puts the case that only state-led business cooperation will drive real economic recovery.

Page 27.

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

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

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Manco Rail contract boosts engineering sector

And just as we are coming to grips with what the implications will be with the closing of Tiwai Point we have been alerted to the state of our steel industry and what the future might hold.

Never a dull moment!

Vol.11 No. 6 JULY 2020

Finally, there has been a lot of positive response to the campaign currently being run by this magazine to support our manufacturers. Businesses are more than willing to be featured in NZ Manufacturer and to share their picture, of what their focus is going forward. Have you contacted us yet?

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.

And the media platform www.nzfoodmanufacturer.co.nz is proving equally popular, spreading the word on what our food producers and suppliers are selling to the world. Are you one of them? Join the party and become better known, locally and overseas

NZ Manufacturer July 2020 /

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Doug Green

Success Through Innovation

EDITORIAL

COVID-19 BUSINESS Techweek2020 goes digital The global Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated a shift to a digital world and Techweek2020 is no different. The annual event series, which celebrates innovation in the New Zealand tech industry will for the first time be digitally led in 2020.

The week-long festival covers all aspects of technology and its possibilities for every New Zealander, whether they are experts or new to tech. This year’s events cover a range of topics including the post-COVID workplace, the future of education, the opportunity for New Zealand’s space industry, women in tech, and much more.

such an important part of our journalistic future, enabling us to connect with our communities and tell stories in new and diverse ways. Stuff is proud to help promote the innovation and collaboration taking place in Aotearoa’s tech industry.”

“Techweek is about giving our industry a voice. Unless we speak up about the expertise we have right here in New Zealand, it all flies under the radar,” says Gill.

Check out the full Techweek2020 programme or submit an event at www.techweek.co.nz.

Registrations are now open with all events happening online between 27 July to 2 August. Julie Gill, Techweek2020 Executive Lead, says that the digital events will allow more Kiwis to learn, connect and grow.

“Techweek is about ‘connecting our future’ and that doesn’t just mean the tech industry but everyone in Aotearoa, regardless of their location. With most events free to attend, this is a major step towards making our tech industry more accessible.”

Techweek TV, a series of more than 60 live video sessions from a range of New Zealand tech experts, will also be available free online during Techweek2020. This year Techweek TV will be available live at techweek.co.nz and on-demand via Stuff’s premier video destination playstuff.co.nz as part of a wider media partnership.

Sinead Boucher, CEO of Stuff, says “Technology is

Commercial & industrial growth

Employment growth

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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COVID-19 BUSINESS Unless we improve the law, history shows rushing shovel-ready projects comes with real risk Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato

If the road to hell is paved with good intentions, so too is the road to economic recovery if we don’t get it right.

The Covid-19 Recovery (Fast Track Consenting) Bill, currently rushing through the parliamentary process, certainly has noble aims. In simple terms, the new law is designed to green light a number of projects that would normally take much longer to be approved under the Resource Management Act. In the process, its architects argue, it will boost employment and kickstart economic recovery.

The trick will be balancing those aims with the law’s other lofty ambition “to promote the sustainable management of natural and physical resources”.

History shows this is not always the way it goes.

The past should guide us Governments often pass laws with vast powers during emergencies to drive economic recovery.

The law of unintended consequences can take a lot longer to repeal.

During the great depression in the 1930s, new laws to deal with mass unemployment were often degrading in practice. Unemployed people were sent far and wide from their homes to perform sometimes useless tasks.

In the late 1970s, the National government of Robert Muldoon tried to reduce the country’s dependence on imports with so-called “Think Big” projects.

Special laws were passed to circumvent normal planning mechanisms and we are still dealing with their economic and environmental consequences.

The Clyde Dam, fast-tracked as part of the Think Big policy in the 1970s but with long-lasting problems.

More recently, the Christchurch and Kaikoura earthquakes have pushed dozens of laws to one side.

This resulted in citizens and communities struggling to be heard, be treated fairly and have their rights protected under the emergency recovery process.

We are now inviting the same risks with the proposed fast-track consenting law. It will be the most radical shake-up of environmental regulation in a generation.

Moreover, although the law has a two-year lifespan, there is a risk it could become permanent if a sympathetic government is elected. There is the additional risk it will give the green light to projects that in normal times would never proceed.

Pace versus public protections The core of the proposed legislation is speed. This will be achieved by by-passing usual consenting process steps, including public consultation, hearing processes, and appeals to the Environment Court.

Judicial review is still possible, but it’s not clear how far this will go.

Once passed, critical decisions on large-scale projects will be made by “expert consenting panels”. This is a radical proposition. Public participation sits at the heart of our democracy. To shrink from this rather than strengthen it at this time in our history is very risky.

If environmentally sustainable development is to have any real meaning, people and participation are key to making better decisions that take into account all relevant community interests.

But for the next two years our biggest environmental decisions will be made by panels consisting of a current or retired Environment Court judge (or person with similar experience), someone from the local authority and one other nominated by the relevant iwi authority in the project area.

Given what is at stake, however, there should also be an independent voice for the environment, separate from the others, the government and its agencies.

The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment would be ideal. While this may require some legislative rejigging, without an independent voice tasked only with speaking to environmental protection there is a risk of imbalance in the system.

Public representation was a victim of emergency rebuild laws after the 2011 Christchurch earthquake.

Five ways to improve the law According to the new legislation, these expert

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NZ Manufacturer July 2020 /

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panels must “apply” the high level purpose and principles of the Resource Management Act and “act consistently” with the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi (and associated settlements). They must also “have regard” to relevant plans and to regional and national policy statements.

Cultural impact assessments will be mandatory and the law also requires the “actual and potential” environmental effects of a project should be assessed.

All of this is good, but it would be improved with five over-riding principles.

First, the decision makers should act in a precautionary manner. If there is significant uncertainty about a project’s environmental impact it should not proceed.

Second, while replacing damaged or destroyed ecosystems is an excellent principle, there should be clear “red lines” around certain irreplaceable places, landscapes, endangered species and ecosystems.

Third, the law should go beyond simply calling for the examination of environmental effects to requiring actual environmental impact assessments.

This would mean wider questions – such as whether there are alternatives to a given project – can be addressed.

Fourth, the right to compensation should be entrenched for citizens or communities directly affected by any proposed development.

Finally, if public participation is to be suspended, the ability to witness and have access to all panel deliberations should be underlined. When we are largely excluded from such important decisions, full transparency is the least we should expect in return.

MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY Covid-19 means SME manufacturers need inventory planning more than ever The impact of Covid-19 on the manufacturing sector will be larger than anything we have seen before. Small manufacturing firms are less likely to have deep enough pockets to get through the recession than large firms, and this pandemic could be the last straw for some that have been struggling.

This, along with some of the other factors mentioned However, it’s not all bad news and there are ways to Variable lead times tip the scale.

The pandemic will probably accelerate structural changes already happening in manufacturing – a threat to some, an opportunity for others.

Those that have streamlined their supply chain and use technology to eliminate wastage are at an advantage.

Covid-19 may prompt a worldwide shift toward shorter supply chains and slower growth in international trade. That will be an ill-tiding for some exporting manufacturers but could also be positive for firms selling into the domestic market that were struggling with international competition.

An example is the growth of F&B manufacturing driven by Paleo, Vegan, Organic and other health and wellness movements. When manufacturing products with such a discerning audience, sourcing the right ingredients and insufficient quantities and timing is critical.

The trend toward shorter supply chains will drive demand in other areas. Smaller warehouses for ‘just in time’ delivery , contract manufacturing, and software that can help predict the exact amount of ingredients or components required to fulfill orders is required.

Covid-19 may create the emergence of a two-tier manufacturing sector, with globally competitive firms and then many smaller firms restricted to meeting bespoke local needs.

SME manufacturers have high setup costs and most likely are still paying down debt. The necessity to conserve cashflow is a key focal point, so any tool that assists with retaining working capital in the business is a godsend.

is why StockTrim has seen a spike in interest from small and medium sized manufacturers particularly those in Food and Beverages.

Specific scenarios many are facing right now include; Supplier changes

The AI reads changing lead times and builds these into forecasts (it can also be manually adjusted to do artificial disruption).

Ability to forecast new products Adding a new line or version of a product? StockTrim allows users to predict what materials are required.

Cost cutting Reduced demand

Suggested order plans

Increased demand Variable and changing lead times All or some of these conditions have had to be dealt with by beleaguered manufacturers over the last 4 months. Some will be better equipped than others and that where StockTrim comes in.

So what is StockTrim?

StockTrim is an inventory planning and forecasting software that is easily attached to most Inventory Management Systems. It is cloud-based so accessible to anybody with an internet connection.

The software reads inventory data quickly and highlights issues with over-stocking and under-stocking. The average customer saves $800,000 per annum in overstocking and halves costs and lost profits due to under stocking. Clients conserve up to 40% of their working capital.

For any business this is ground breaking, however StockTrim has some other feature that really assist manufacturers. These include:

Bill of materials forecasting The ability to drill down and forecast all component parts in products, allowing a business to order the exact amount for a batch or shipment.

Remove mistakes in calculations and guesswork.

StockTrim will actually produce order plans that can be downloaded or pushed back into the your Inventory Management System.

There are many other features, the point is that SME manufacturers now have tools such as StockTrim inventory planning to help conserve cashflow, save considerable time (up to 75%), and reduce errors. All of these outcomes serve to retain profit when cash is so critical.

The team at StockTrim have essentially ‘democratised’ inventory planning specifically with small and medium manufacturers in mind. Prior to this only large businesses could afford to create software like this, now it’s accessible on subscription for as little as the price of a cup of coffee per day.

If you are a business owner wanting to use smart, AI-driven software to get a competitive advantage, StockTrim is extending to NZ Manufacturer viewers a limited time offer to upload their data, get some free analysis for 2 weeks and no onboarding costs.

(Please use code NZM) StockTrim is a Kiwi start-up and we are keen to help New Zealand manufacturers increase productivity. www.stocktrim.com

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MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY Soul Machines and Florence to assist tobacco users quit during Covid-19 Soul Machines has joined the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Access Initiative (AI) for Quitting Tobacco to help share WHO’s life-saving information during the Covid-19 pandemic, combat misinformation, reduce the risk of Covid-19 and help over one billion tobacco users quit.

Florence, the WHO’s first digital health worker, was created using Soul Machines technology and WHO technical guidance, with support from Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud.

Florence will help provide clarity and expel damaging myths around Covid-19 and will specifically address smoking and its consequences - heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and respiratory diseases - all of which are comorbidities with Covid-19.

With Florence, smokers can engage with a digital health worker to develop a quit plan and rely on a trusted source anytime and anyplace, to help them feel confident to reach their quit goals. Initially available in English, Florence will, over time, be available in all six official UN languages.

Smokers are more exposed to the Covid-19 virus and are at greater risk of having severe disease complications. Although around 60% of the 1.3 billion tobacco users globally want to quit, only 30% of them have access to tools that can help them quit.

As a digital health worker for WHO, Florence will help give the increasing numbers of people globally who have a desire to quit smoking during the Covid-19 pandemic a new, safe, easily accessible and

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engaging channel.

Florence can scale seamlessly and to talk to many individual people around the world and is available 24/7 with no wait times, as a simple video stream from the cloud to any device. This frees up critical people resources and provides a user-friendly solution to an overwhelming demand for clear, concise information that can be relied on. Florence will always be available when needed and ready to engage to give the user the confidence and support in that moment to help reach their quit tobacco goals.

“We are pleased to partner with the WHO to help reimagine the massive challenge of how to scale health communication in a high-trust way as cases of COVID-19 continue to rise globally,” said Soul Machines co-founder and chief business officer Greg Cross.

“The next-generation technology used by Florence will help the world’s 1.3 billion tobacco users access the reliable information they need to quit tobacco - helping to protect them from a potentially severe case of COVID-19 and many other diseases,” said Dr Ruediger Krech, Director of Health Promotion, WHO.

www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz

Florence represents a reimagining of how technology and AI can serve as a robust and efficient health communications and engagement platform.

Over time, AI for quitting tobacco will help millions of people improve their health and save lives. Soul Machines is committed to a continued exploration of this health mission on a global scale to help people take a more proactive role in their well-being and better and more easily manage their own health by engaging with trusted information.

Soul Machines is a global pioneer in artificial general intelligence (AGI) dedicated to delivering the full capabilities and goodness of human and machine collaboration in a responsive, relatable and unprecedented way.

They have deployed the world’s first Digital People with some of the biggest corporate brands in the world in Financial Services, Technology, Automotive, Healthcare, Entertainment, and Education industries.

Soul Machines has offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York City, London, Tokyo, Melbourne and Auckland. For more about Soul Machines, visit www.soulmachines.com

MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY Metal 3D printing helps NZ defence force veteran on his Invictus Games journey Ten years after a helicopter crash changed Cairns-based navy veteran, Stevin Creeggan’s life. Now a team of New Zealand Defence Force engineers is using additive manufacturing to help change it again.

In 2010, Stevin Creeggan’s life changed forever. He was the sole survivor of a helicopter crash at Pukerua Bay, north of the New Zealand capital, Wellington.

Stevin was left with multiple injuries including self-fused vertebrae in his neck and lower back, and severe damage to his right leg which has been reconstructed with plates, screws, and rods to hold his femur and lower femur together. It is also now shorter than his left leg by 2.5 centimetres.

After the accident Stevin found it difficult to find a way to maintain his fitness so turned to cycling, eventually putting his name forward to compete in the Invictus Games, founded in 2014 by Prince Harry, for current and former service personnel who have been wounded or injured. He is due to compete next year in archery, wheelchair basketball and cycling events.

With one leg shorter than the other Stevin first made himself a spacer, a thin or often tapered material used to fill small gaps or spaces between objects, to fill the gap between his right foot and his bike pedal.

3D printing was the way to go.”

Zenith Tecnica, an Auckland-based manufacturer, printed the final piece in titanium using a GE Additive Arcam Electron Beam Melting (EBM) Q10plus machine. Zenith’s technical manager, Peter Sefont, said the design was simply beautiful, “we only had to suggest a few small tweaks to get to the final design and it allowed us to get the most out of the additive technology.”

benefits to 3D printing, but the pedal spacer and cleat is not something we have manufactured before so it was great to be a part of it,” Peter continued.

Stevin agrees, “I have had quite a few comments on how beautiful the design is and questions as to how it keeps its strength. A lot of people don’t realize there is a spacer there at first and that’s a testament to 3D printing technology and titanium.”

Whilst the 2020 Invictus Games, scheduled for May, did not go ahead due to COVID-19, they are expected to take place next year and the titanium spacer and cleat has given Stevin added confidence, “the design team found that sweet spot in the middle of being light, functional and strong. My right leg is now ergonomically correct so it is now at the point where I can stand up to pedal and I have trust in my leg and my bike to push harder than I have been able to before. I am now doing 23 kilometres in 30 minutes in the track criterium, up from 18 kilometres.”

Zenith Tecnica usually works on parts for the aerospace, motorsports, marine and medical sectors so this was a foray into something new, “Our GE Additive EBM machines are certified to 3D print titanium aerospace and medical parts. We make quite a few customized patient specific implants and prosthetics, as mass customisation is one of the key

Beyond the rescheduled Invictus Games Stevin will continue with cycling, “since the accident, the spacer and cleat have been the biggest game changer for me for sport or anything else. I had the chance to go in and say thank you to the design team and their pride in helping to create something for me on my Invictus journey just blew me away. It was awesome.”

“I first used bog; the material that panel beaters use when they fill a dent in a car. It’s strong but very heavy. I spoke to my Invictus sports team manager, David Pilgrim, who took it to the NZDF engineering design team without me knowing. When I found that out you could have knocked me over with a feather, I was so surprised!”

Ewan Conaghan and Martin Campbell were the New Zealand Defence Force mechanical engineers at the receiving end of David’s request to make something lighter and more resilient to aid Stevin on his Invictus Games journey. An avid cyclist himself, Martin jumped at the opportunity. “I have a long history with pushbikes and when this job came in, I jumped at the chance, it was just made for me.”

But, as Ewan explained, it was a little out of the ordinary for a design engineering team more used to designing military vehicle parts through to tentage and bespoke prototypes.

“We are mechanical engineers, but people will knock on our door with all sorts of ideas. As soon as we saw David’s request, we knew immediately that

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NZ MANUFACTURER

FEATURES August 2020 Issue SUPPLY CHAIN COMPANY PROFILE THE TIN INTERVIEW

MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY RAM3D ramps up production runs in metal 3D printing RAM3D is a metal 3D printing facility and hi-tech manufacturing company 3D printing parts for a diversity of world-wide industries.

They have been involved in additive manufacturing for 10 years and are based in New Zealand.

DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES

Throughout most of the world, two of the early adopters of 3D printing technology are the high-priced aerospace and medical sectors. This has limited the growth of the industry in other sectors because of the desire for the cost of 3D parts to be more cost effective.

SMART MANUFACTURING

In New Zealand there is limited medical and aerospace markets and RAM3D have focussed on the wider market to meet the price point to make it work. As a result, the market sectors engaged is much broader. The result is some very innovative products.

FOODTECH PACKTECH PREVIEW (SEPTEMBER 20-22) FACILITIES INTEGRATE REVIEW Advertising Booking Deadline – 14 August 2020 Advertising Copy Deadline – 14 August 2020 Editorial Copy Deadline – 14 August 2020 Advertising – For bookings and further information contact: Doug Green, P O Box 1109, Hastings 4156, Hawke’s Bay Email: publisher@xtra.co.nz Editorial material to be sent to : Doug Green, P O Box 1109, Hastings 4156, Hawke’s Bay Email: publisher@xtra.co.nz Tel: 06 870 9029

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

Opinion

As I See It

Manufacturing Profiles

Business News

Letters to the Editor

Appointments

Politics of Manufacturing

Around New Zealand

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

Australian Report New to the Market Lean Manufacturing

Export News

Equipment for Sale

Machine Tools

Recruitment

Business Opportunities

Environmental Technology

Commentary

Manufacturing Processes

RAM3D Case Studies One of these innovative products is firearm suppressors. RAM3D have been working in collaboration with Oceania Defence, an early adopter of additive manufacturing technology to 3D print the most advanced firearms suppressors in the world. After rigorous design research and testing with Oceania Defence, they have the most desired outcome, a suppressor which is highly efficient, lightweight, compact and most important, cost effective.

RAM3D have been building drone engine parts for another company. The 3-cylinder engine has a weight of 50kg and aircraft wingspan of 6 metres; it can fly to heights of 18,000 ft and has a cruise speed of 60 knots. The parts RAM3D print for them cannot be manufactured any other way and are printed in Inconel 718 (a high temperature alloy) that require high precision especially where mass matters. They have printed production runs of manifolds, exhaust mufflers, collectors and engine sumps.

The advanced materials they use for additive manufacturing include: Titanium 64 (Ti 6AI 4V) – the most common titanium alloy used for medical and aerospace applications.

It boasts the highest strength to weight ratio of engineering metals and is extremely corrosion resistant.

Stainless Steel 15-5ph – provides high strength, moderate corrosion resistance and good mechanical properties at temperatures up to 316oC. It is a hardenable stainless up to 48 HRC. It is widely used in the aerospace, chemical, petrochemical, food processing industries.

Stainless Steel 316L – has excellent corrosion resistance in a wide range of media. This makes it particularly desirable for application where exposure to salt is an issue, it is mainly used in the food sector, marine and dairy industries.

Inconel 718 – is a nickel super alloy used for high temperature applications and is used in a variety of industries such as aerospace, chemical processing, marine engineering and oil and gas.

Aluminium (ALSi10Mg) is a typical casting alloy. It is perfect for applications that require a combination of good thermal properties and low weight. They can be machined, spark-eroded, welded, micro shot-peened, polished and casted if required.

Some FAQs asked by their clients Here are some the questions they deal with daily:

Question 1 – How do you charge for 3D printing Answer 1 - the main driver for price is weight. Weight is based on the amount of material that the part has and as a result the amount of time the machine will take to turn the powder into solid.

Question 2 – What file format is best?

Answer 2 - We work the following file formats; iges, STEP, Parasolid etc and native Solidworks files. The software we use to do our lattice work requires an STL file, so a good quality STL file works well.

Question 3 – Can any part be selectively laser melted?

Answer 3 - Generally yes, although success in metal 3D printing depends a lot on the shape of the part.

Parts that have intricate details which are difficult to machine or contain areas of curves and complex surfaces, lend themselves well to SLM manufacturing.

3D printing won’t do everything, it is another tool in the toolbox just like casting and machining, however, when used well, it can create new products and achieve new goals.

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

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09 278 6577

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PROFILE Tendai Masamba, Fonterra What is your role at Fonterra?

Logistics Planning Manager.

What do you do?

My team is responsible for supply chain resource forecasting and distribution planning across our 80 plus warehousing network in NZ. Where did you start your working life?

Zimbabwe, I completed an Electrical Engineering degree in Canada. After graduating I went back to Zimbabwe ready to contribute to my country.

Doing What?

My first job was in Electrical Wiring for new commercial buildings, I did that for three months and decided I needed something more exciting, so I moved into Supply Chain Consulting.

What projects do you enjoy doing?

I enjoy strategic and business improvement projects that strongly leverage IT and automation. I think I enjoy these sorts of investments because they create opportunities and purpose for our people and free them up to be able to focus on value added tasks.

How do you find current business conditions?

At the back Covid 19 or before.

Challenging as many others are, but as part of the food supply chain Fonterra’s operations were considered an essential service. Our farmers, our

factories and our supply chain continued to work and ensured that we provided access to dairy nutrition across all our markets.

Has the Covid-19 had much of an impact on your company’s activities?

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One of the strengths of our Co-op is our ability to adapt to change in the global market. We have learnt a lot over the last few years and build resilience and BCP capability. Like many businesses we had to respond to changing business requirements, for example redirecting milk meant for “out of home” (cafes and restaurants) consumption to ingredients and retail categories Looking back, I am very proud of our leadership at Fonterra through COVID. We were all focused on doing the right thing for our people, our farmers and our communities.

This has meant that we are in a good business position post COVID. We are now able to pay farmers earlier, we’ve been donating milk to our communities and have made a commitment to

pay 3,000 small – medium vendors within 10 days of receipt of invoice. It sends a shiver down my spine.

Do you see new opportunities coming from the virus?

New Zealand has done a great job in flattening the curve towards the path of eradication. While we have always been committed to producing safe, sustainable nutrition, now more than ever people want safe, reliable nutritious food and they can count on Fonterra and NZ to deliver on this.

I also think that we saw great support from our people and business partners – they all rose to the challenge with us. Those partners, Maersk, Kotahi, Kiwi Rail and Coda were equally essential in ensuring continuity in our supply chains and we will continue to build those supportive partner relationships.

Best business book you have read.

Recently “Becoming” by Michelle Obama. I see a lot of myself into her story. She is a great role model for me and my daughter Jacqueline.

Favourite quote: A bit long but here it is.

‘You cannot train alone and expect to run a fast time.

There is a formula: 100% of me is nothing compared to 1% of the whole team. And that’s teamwork.

That’s what I value.”

-Eliud Kipchoge How do you relax?

Growing up with my twin sister Tafadzwa we always wanted to be “somebody”, we dreamed big and for the longest time it was work, work and work.

Adam my husband and Timothy my son brought a lot of balance in my life. I now run (have done three marathons and the fourth one is schedule in September; Rotorua Marathon), I play tennis and enjoy gardening.

MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY Key technologies driving manufacturing While Covid-19 has been disruptive across industries, the manufacturing industry is presented with an opportunity to come out the other side stronger than before. Manufacturers must re-examine their processes and even their entire business model to find new efficiencies and ways to compete with offshore firms.

As the sector moves closer to Industry 4.0, it is essential for manufacturers to be aware of the technologies that are likely to shape strategies and priorities across the next five years, according to Epicor Software.

Greg O’Loan, regional vice president, ANZ, Epicor Software Corporation, said, “Manufacturing is a sector ideally placed to benefit from emerging technologies. Industry 4.0 is a global concept that predicts the manufacturing sector will experience a fourth industrial revolution, this time based on digital technology.

“With the right solutions in place, manufacturers will be able to make smarter decisions, optimise processes, deliver a better customer experience and, ultimately, outperform their overseas counterparts.

To achieve this, decision-makers in manufacturing firms need to gain a thorough understanding of the solutions lining up to transform the industry in the next five years.”

Epicor has identified the top four areas of technology that will drive digital transformation in the manufacturing sector: 1. Artificial intelligence (AI) AI and data strategies are fundamental for all

businesses, and organisations that do not already have a roadmap in place for AI could face an uphill battle to compete. Three-quarters of C-suite executives surveyed by Accenture said they believed if they did not scale AI in the next five years, they could go out of business entirely. (1) In manufacturing, AI can be used for everything from optimising production lines to automating defect checking, resulting in fewer costly defects and increasing overall productivity.

2. Internet of Things (IoT) and 5G IoT solutions are continuing to gain rapid momentum in manufacturing where they can be used for a huge variety of purposes. For example, IoT sensors can determine when conditions become suboptimal for machine operation and adjust the air conditioning accordingly.

The sensors can track the movement of components and products through the facility to ensure they’re following the most efficient pathways.

They can also continue to track finished products through logistics and supply chains to gain valuable insights into how these products are transported, sold, and used.

The 5G network will be essential to carry the weight of the traffic that will be created by IoT solutions, as more connected organisations add more IoT solutions.

3. Automation

programs are leveraging automation already; now, a new era of so-called hyper automation will use AI and machine learning to rapidly identify and automate all possible business processes. Manufacturers can use this technology to improve production efficiency and configure assembly processes for maximum productivity.

Greg O’Loan, regional vice president, ANZ, Epicor Software Corporation.

4. Blockchain Originally known as the system that underpinned digital currencies such as Bitcoin, blockchain will remain highly relevant for manufacturers as it provides a secure distributed ledger to maintain accurate and incontrovertible records on everything from contracts and transactions to financing and recordkeeping.

For example, recording transactions between multiple parties in a verifiable and permanent way can help manufacturers manage their supply chain more effectively.

Reference: (1) https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insights/artificial-intelligence-index

Automation has long been a key technology for manufacturing firms. Most digital transformation

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EXPORT NEWS Manco Rail boosts NZ engineering sector with multi-million dollar Sydney tunnel contract Auckland company Manco Rail has given New Zealand’s engineering sector a multi-million dollar boost by securing a contract to supply specialised equipment for two 15 kilometre rail tunnels being built under Sydney Harbour.

Manco Rail won an international tender against Australian and European competitors to supply automated equipment to transport the rail through the two tunnels, lay the sleepers, and then thread the rail onto the sleepers.

All this equipment is radio-remote-controlled.

Manco is also supplying the equipment to install the overhead wire to power the trains.

The New South Wales Government, via Sydney Metro Trains, is in the advanced stages of building the north and south tunnels under Sydney Harbour and a significant amount of equipment will be shipped out on 2 July.

Manco Rail managing director Bryan Black said the contract, worth tens of millions of dollars, will secure employment for about 300 people and provide new jobs for the 40 New Zealand companies supplying Manco with components.

“Manco Rail has about 75 employees at three locations in New Zealand but we have three times that number in long-term subcontractor alliances, mainly throughout the North Island. We have taken on six additional university-qualified design engineers, three auto-electricians, and a wide range of skilled engineering personnel from many industries including some redundancies from the airline industry.”

Manco Rail’s subcontractors for the Sydney project include: Gaminco, a large Tauranga machining company with world-class facilities which does extensive work for John Deere,

G90 Engineering and Juno Engineering in Matamata which supply machine and fabricated parts, Piako Engineering in Morrinsville which supplies fabricated parts, and 35 other New Zealand companies, mostly locally owned, which supply a range of hydraulics, electronics, and radio-control equipment.

Mr Black said the capability of the New Zealand engineering sector is constantly underestimated.

“Many of these companies are third-generation and go back to the days when import licensing and strong apprentice programmes created the level of innovation and initiative that prevails today. It is great to see the push for New Zealand manufactured goods at long last following Covid.”

He said the contract was won based on Manco’s decades-long history of supplying proven quality specialised rail equipment, particularly for electrification projects. Manco has designed and supplied rail plant for major projects in Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand, and Australia.

“Manco was chosen to design and build semi-automatic specialised plant for numerous construction facets in the Sydney rail tunnels due to the success of Manco-supplied equipment for significant Victorian State rail infrastructure projects in 2017.”

Manco was selected by Systems Connect, a joint venture between CPB Contractors and UGL, that will deliver the laying of track, power, communications, and signalling equipment to the project between Chatswood and Bankstown.

Compounding the standard complexities of installing new track, the project is constrained by having only three major access points for equipment and materials along 31km of tunnels. In addition, gradients in the tunnels are steep, at 4.5 per cent, said Paul Ryan, senior project manager at Systems Connect.

“Construction within this tunnel environment is inherently complex. Access is limited, spaces are confined and grades are steeper. We worked with Manco Rail to custom design equipment that overcomes these challenges,” he said.

Mr Black said winning the Australian contract has helped open new business opportunities for Manco in Australia and New Zealand including a new rail tunnel under the Brisbane River, the Auckland City rail loop and the proposed Papakura to Pukekohe extension.

He said the challenge of increasing rail services in cities where space is at a premium means many are going underground, offering more business opportunities for rail equipment engineering companies like Manco.

For the Sydney tunnels, Manco’s sleeper-laying trailers are equipped with a sleeper-grab straddle, rail threader trailer, tug units, sonar detection systems, and a track guidance system fitted to the equipment.

Developed over 14 months, the custom designed equipment lays the rail, spreads it out, places the sleepers, and then pulls the rail back over the top. The process of developing this one-of-a-kind equipment started with a blank slate.

“The design and interface of each plant item has involved hundreds and hundreds of design hours. Utilising a highly competent team of young mechanical engineers tasked with starting with a ‘clean piece of paper, and fresh ideas’, brainstorming meetings were held on a regular basis, where even the most radical concepts were discussed,” said Black.

“Ultimately, rational thinking prevailed. But the plans still incorporated some of the vast array of technologies available in electronics, motive power, hydraulics, fabrication materials and ergonomics.”

The entire process is radio-remote-controlled, crucially limiting the number of people in high-risk areas.

The Manco equipment will be used in two stages.

First, it will lay the track components.

Then the track form will be concreted, and mechanical and electrical systems and signalling equipment will be installed. Afterwards, the Manco track-laying equipment will return, including wheel excavators, trailers, and tugs, to assist with concreting activities, and electrical and mechanical installations.

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THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY Sustainability makes good business sense, recession or not - Dominic Salmon, 3R Group

During lockdown we often heard the post-pandemic period was our chance to do things differently – to be greener and kinder, to reimagine our world. Now we’re at Level 1, how do we balance these objectives with doing business in a time of economic uncertainty?

The reality is environmental sustainability makes good business sense, recession or not. The demands from customers, and the planet, for more sustainable practices and products remain and will continue to grow. Having gone through one crisis, we can use the lessons to prepare for the next, harnessing them to do what’s needed for our environment and our climate.

The outcomes from action on sustainability bring measurable benefits like efficiency gains, cost cutting, resilient supply chains, increased sales, and reduced risk. It’s all part of moving away from the linear “take, make, waste” model – where we expect unlimited growth from limited resources – to a circular approach where the use of materials and resources are maximised, and reutilised at end of life.

Research conducted by Sapere Research Group with the Sustainable Business Network in 2018 estimated the circular economy in Auckland alone could liberate up to $8.8 billion in additional economy activities by 2030. It would also reduce carbon emission by up to 2.7 million tonnes.

The opportunity is no different for the rest of New Zealand.

We know from experience that any time spent delving into inputs, outputs and processes through the lens of sustainability, generally benefits your bottom line. For example, something as simple as not paying to send rainwater to the tip. (As you can imagine, a lid was quickly added to that outdoor rubbish bin.)

While this might not feel like the time to think about sustainability, in fact there’s probably never been a better time to consider how it could help your business.

We’ve put together some of the key actions which businesses can take to pivot towards a sustainable, resilient, circular economy future:

Address your waste Most business activity generates waste in some form, but it could well be costing you more than necessary.

We have worked with businesses to cut costs, often through simple process improvements including reducing product wastage, removing recyclables from bins destined for landfill and removing excess packaging in the supply chain.

Hospitality, for example, can make significant gains through addressing food waste – a harmful

methane emitter in landfill. According to research The Business Case to Reducing Food Loss and Waste from leading sustainability organisation WRAP UK, hotels saved $7 for every $1 invested in food waste initiatives, with 70% getting their money back in a year.

There are yet more gains to be made if waste can be reused as a resource. PanPac, in Hawke’s Bay, for example, uses wood waste as fuel. EcoStock in Auckland collects surplus food waste products, which would otherwise create harmful methane emissions in landfill, and uses them to create animal feed, baled commodities and compost for worm production.

Ecogas (a partnership between EcoStock and Pioneer Energy) is currently developing New Zealand’s first anaerobic digestive system utilising source separated feedstock to capture the biogas and create energy and protein-rich bio-fertiliser.

Tackle carbon emissions Understanding where you use the most carbon allows you to target not only the carbon but the costs. If transport is significant for your business, fleet management offers an opportunity for substantial carbon reductions, with efficiency gains directly impacting the bottom line.

The new normal of web or phone-based contact with customers and suppliers can help reduce travel costs, time and emissions. COVID-19 has also shown us how we can influence the emissions our staff create on our behalf. Consider how you can reduce emissions from their commute and increase health and well-being by encouraging people to work from home or use alternative transport.

Localise your supply chain With an export and tourism focus, New Zealand businesses recognise better than most that we live in a global economy. However, keeping your supply chain as local as possible is one way to build resilience.

Using local suppliers as much as possible bolsters the local economy, builds secure partnerships which can also drive innovation, help design waste out of businesses, and reduce carbon emissions.

Procurement By reviewing your procurement through a different lens, can you increase your support of local, sustainable businesses or practices? Consider those companies which provide end-of-life solutions for

their products (helping you to reduce your waste bill), companies which manage their carbon, or those which offer sharing or leasing options over ownership.

The power of the collective No single company has the power to change the system on its own. In the food and beverage sector, producers are labouring under strong consumer demand for more sustainable packaging, a struggling recycling system and a lack of scale to develop effective solutions. Whether collaboration is with competing brands or others who use similar packaging for a different product type, working together is critical to future success.

In the Ministry of Transport Future Freight Scenarios Study, Freighthub estimated on average nine out of every 20 trucks are running empty in New Zealand – surely an opportunity for local collaboration to create efficiencies and new opportunities while reducing emissions.

Offer a service rather than a product Of the six actions, the last may sound the most unusual but is key to efficient resource use in a circular economy. Consider how many products are already offered as a service – fleet vehicles, laundromats, lawn mowers, construction equipment, accommodation, the list goes on.

If you need to pivot your business or are looking to broaden your service offering, consider how you might offer your product as a service. Benefits can be lower upfront costs for customers, consistent cashflow for the business, less waste from low usage of capital items, and a partnership approach.

Dominic works on sustainable solutions at 3R Group. 3R design, implement and manage product stewardship schemes for individual businesses or industry-wide groups. They also help businesses take a fresh look at their waste to first minimise and then recover what would otherwise be wasted.

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SUSTAINABILITY

NZ Manufacturers and Business to take action – Now! Why be Sustainable?

‘God’s Own’ country has a global reputation for natural beauty, egalitarian society, its nuclear-free stance, a clean green environment, world class food and innovative business.

New Zealand’s history, culture and economy has always been closely connected with nature. We have much to be proud of, and yet there is still plenty of progress required to make it sustainable.

Meeting today’s needs without compromising the future is a global consumer megatrend. Now more than ever, we need a sharp focus on economic revival, plastic waste, freshwater, marine life, zero carbon legislation etc. Irrespective of where your personal view stands along the spectrum of sustainability, the world is telling business to get better at it, and urgently!

“I don’t want you to be hopeful. I want you to panic.

I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. And then I want you to act. I want you to act as you would in a crisis. I want you to act as if our house is on fire.

Because it is.” Greta Thumberg, winner of the 2019 KidsRights Children’s Peace Prize Investors, communities, and consumers are all putting pressure on companies to act sustainably.

In 2020 KiwiSaver providers and the world’s largest investment funds banned fossil fuel investments.

Social media is buzzing for equality and inclusion.

Colmar Brunton research showed 48% of consumers choose brands with clear sustainability benefits and 86% of us say we want businesses to be ‘kinder’.

What does this mean for Kiwi businesses?

Sustainability is a wide-ranging subject, impacting

everything from architecture, biodiversity, and climate change, through freight, nanotechnology, urbanisation, and vegetarianism to zero waste.

It is no longer enough for a business to focus solely on economic prosperity. Today all stakeholders must be considered and balanced with the three elements focused on by investors - environmental, social and economic governance (ESG).

Social sustainability issues cannot be underestimated.

We have witnessed this with companies such as Unilever, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Starbucks, Target, Lego, Diagio, SAP, Sony, Honda and more, suspending their Facebook advertising.

Historically, in manufacturing, sustainability encompassed people safety, diversity, adding value and using resources efficiently (energy, water, land, raw materials, assets, capital, time). Today, manufacturers must also have a carbon management plan, consider greenhouse emissions and be transparent about environmental impacts.

Time to embrace Sustainability Imagine if you could lead your industry in sustainability. If it was embedded in your DNA, not a project to be ticked off. Everyone doing a little bit every day as the secret to gaining traction with this vast subject. What would you and New Zealand be known for?

Business leaders who weave sustainability into their company vision, strategy and objectives make a good start. The next step is building capability for every employee to implement this in daily tasks.

Lean Manufacturing is a good example of this approach, and well known for producing world-leading quality products whilst delivering customer value and minimising waste.

Only 14% of all our engineers are women.

We want to change that.

Join us and scores of other Kiwi organisations that have galvanised around one common goal: 20% more women engineers by 2021. www.diversityagenda.org

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What must you do?

We often see organisations convinced that sustainability is important, they have a rough idea of what they want to do, understand their objectives well enough, and are already doing some sustainability work. However, they often stumble when it comes to how to deliver on the next level of stakeholder expectations.

Building sustainable competitive advantage requires alignment with: People Processes Systems, and Stakeholders Working together, these embed the culture required to sustain transformational performance.

If you want traction, then get help with how to do this at the coalface. Use the skills and expertise of people who know what proven methodologies work in manufacturing and supply chains in the New Zealand context.

Consumers and investors trust brands like Meridan and Whittakers. In fact, 90% of New Zealanders say they will stop buying from a company they think is irresponsible or unethical.

Acting sustainability can be a time-consuming and challenging journey, so it is a good idea to bring a ‘Sherpa’ into your team to help guide the best way forward.

Intent Group and Siempre have partnered and together know how to guide you to deliver enduring results on your sustainability journey.

ADVISORS Mike Shatford

is an expert in the field of technology development and commercialisation. His company Design Energy Limited has completed over 100 significant projects in this vein by consulting for and partnering with some of New Zealand’s leading producers.

Among Mike and his team’s strengths are industrial robotics and automated production where the company puts much of its focus.

Matt Minio

Managing Director, Objective3D Matt has extensive hands on experience as a user and supplier of 3D Printing technology. He comes from a mechanical design and engineering background with 25 years’ experience in multiple high end 3D cad applications across a range of industries, including aerospace and automotive. He has been heavily involved in the 3D printing evolution - from initial early prototyping to todays advanced 3d printing technologies producing production parts straight off the printer. As Managing Director of Objective 3D, he provides Stratasys, Desktop Metal and Concept Laser 3D printing solutions to a host of industries across Australia and New Zealand.

Sandra Lukey

Sandra Lukey is the founder of Shine Group, a consultancy that helps science and technology companies accelerate growth. She is a keen observer of the tech sector and how new developments create opportunity for future business.

She has over 20 years’ experience working with companies to boost profile and build influential connections.

Greg Morehouse

Greg founded Motovated Design & Analysis in 1999 with a vision to “cost effectively engineer our client’s vision”; through the use of advanced techniques, superior tools, and boundless enthusiasm. Working for VW & Audi as a mechanic, and then with Boeing & Hercules Aerospace as an Engineering Analyst, provided Greg with 40+ years of real world design and analysis experience. Greg is a world-class analyst and provides training and advanced technical support to manufacturers and some of the FEA resellers throughout New Zealand.

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Tribo-polymers from Treotham increase service life Anyone who wants to be relaxed about a future with Industry 4.0 goes a long way towards getting things right by keeping a close eye on costs.

A consideration of service life must take account of for dry operation. Use is made of base polymers, The test laboratory as a reflection all those costs that are incurred over the long term, solid lubricants and, last but not least, strengtheners of industrial reality in addition to the costs of purchase, procurement and installation of a machine.

Operation, maintenance and repair are examples of what can lead to such costs. The use of wear-resistant materials and low-maintenance components reduces not only costs but also the risk of unscheduled shutdowns and extensive maintenance work.

Motion plastics specialist igus has many years of experience and knowledge in the development and production of wear-resistant solutions made of tribo-polymers, and also keeps a large database in its own test laboratory – all of which makes the company the ideal supplier for mechanical engineers.

The reason is that machines today are often utilised all day long in three shifts. In the light of the growing challenges, searching for the tribologically optimised component is time well spent for every mechanical engineer.

The combination is the secret Design engineers know all about looking for and finding the right material. Users often find that the best tribologically optimised component for them is to be obtained from the plastics specialist.

This is because igus develops polymers specifically

in order to develop even better materials for increasingly challenging applications and to achieve better wear results.

Continuous further development based on many years of experience Whereas some of these materials are developed specifically on behalf of individual customers who indicate special requirements, others become part of the catalogue portfolio.

In more than 12,000 wear tests per year on over 450 test stands, the engineers from igus analyse wear behaviour systematically. In this context, more than 135 trillion test movements take place.

The large number of tests is due to the different ambient conditions that are considered, such as temperature, humidity, the type of movement and the contact materials. All these factors have an effect on the wear patterns in the individual scenarios and have to be taken into account.

The analysis is used not only to evaluate the materials generally but also to create the basis for a service that is unique throughout the industry: namely, calculation of the service life of components in any application.

This large number of parameters alone, shows how much work is involved in the acquisition of research results that are essential for the successful development of high-strength polymer components.

This is why plastics specialist igus operates a test laboratory covering an area of 3,800 square metres.

The tribological quality of the polymers is tested here with linear, rotating and flexing types of motion as well as in combination with other materials.

But it is not just the mechanical properties that are important for the generation of relevant information and the continuous improvement of customer solutions; igus components are used in different branches of industry and, accordingly, must be able to withstand different external influences.

Examples of the latter are, on the one hand, classical manufacturing equipment and methods involving a normal degree of dirt and, on the other, extremely dirty environments or the presence of aggressive chemicals.

This is the case when components made of tribo-polymers are used in the area of agriculture, the building industry or offshore installations.

Other branches, other challenges. And this is exactly

igus develops and tests its plain bearings in the industry’s biggest test laboratory. 12,000 wear tests are carried out every year on more than 450 test stands.

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why the tests in the igus laboratory are so important.

Test laboratory: diverse influences have an effect on the polymer products In meadows and fields there is always a lot of dust, while ambient conditions tend to be aggressive in the building materials industry due to chemicals or in the offshore area due to salt water.

Components that are used in cleanrooms of the pharmaceutical industry or in environments where they come into contact with food have to cope with other conditions. Here, hygienic design is of utmost importance.

In the igus laboratory, the engineers are very well prepared for all the challenges they encounter, from tests underwater to the simulation of very dirty environments. Of course, such a large variety of test environments also includes the use of different temperatures and tests in a cold chamber.

All this has resulted in products such as iglidur plain bearings, drylin linear bearings, xiros ball bearings, energy chains and cables whose polymers have the best tribological properties for almost any application.

A continually growing database Year after year, the laboratory’s test databases are supplemented with more research data on the basis of which new materials are created, whose technical performance today is already at the level of what customers will not be looking for until tomorrow.

Just how closely and effectively the igus engineers focus on the future is also shown by the fact that, thanks to the huge amount of recorded test data, the service life of a product can be calculated in an expert system specially developed for this purpose.

This service, which is unique throughout the industry, is a significant benefit for the customer, especially when it comes to bearing technology products that are of central importance for the operational readiness of machines and installations. What is also important is that the consequences of a bad choice of material can be devastating.

Tribologically optimised polymers ensuring the smooth operation of bearings Anyone who wants a safe and reliable production process on a large scale should first think of the small things, namely the bearing. This component should be as wear-resistant as possible so that everything operates smoothly and also for a long time.

There are many different types of bearings such as

rolling bearings, linear bearings and plain bearings. The latter are supplied by Treotham as lubrication-free polymer bearings.

A product range with over 8,500 catalogue dimensions and specialist parts according to customer specifications made of more than 60 different tribologically optimised materials offers the user a wide range of choices.

Simply the fact that no lubrication is needed reduces the customer’s costs. Maintenance work is also reduced. igus polymers are corrosion-free and even able to withstand high loads. In addition to the classical plain bearings, Treotham supplies a wide range of polymer slewing ring bearings (iglidur PRT).

Last but not least, the tribologically optimised xiros polymer ball bearings are the result of intensive research. In many places today, they are the first choice of mechanical engineers for whom classical ball bearings made of metal are inadequate.

For customers who are looking for more freedom in the design of lubrication-free spherical bearings, it is worthwhile looking at the igubal series of bearings.

The complete system of self-adjusting bearing elements has the best tribological properties and consists of a wide range of swivel heads, clevis joints, flange bearings, spherical bearings and pillow block bearings.

Tribo-polymers: a good option for do-it-yourselfers as well Customers who love creating as much as they do freedom, can obtain iglidur sold by the metre, which is a type of bar stock that offers many possibilities of design. iglidur bar stock is a good choice for the creation of test samples, very small series and, last but not least, complicated prototypes, which often entail searching for the right material.

Where durability is more of a concern than design, the tribological properties of igus lead screw

systems, trapezoidal threads or high helix threads from Treotham are more important.

This is because the functioning of such products and therefore process reliability, depends on an abrasion-resistant surface structure. In the drylin series, mechanical engineers can find polymer solutions that do their job reliably and without fault, even under very stressful conditions. igus is able to say this for each of its products because of the tests it carries out in its own laboratory. Today, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow and even the day after that.

www.treotham.co.nz

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Siemens delivers Artificial Intelligencepowered CAD sketching technology Siemens Digital Industries Software is announcing a new solution for capturing concepts in 2D. The new NX Sketch software tool revolutionises sketching in CAD, which is an essential part of the design process.

By changing the underlying technology, users are now able to sketch without pre-defining parameters, design intent and relationships. Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to infer relationships on the fly, users can move away from a paper hand sketch and truly create concept designs within NX software.

This technology offers significant flexibility in concept design sketching, and makes it easy to work with imported data, allowing rapid design iteration on legacy data, and to work with tens of thousands of curves within a single sketch.

With these latest enhancements to NX, Siemens’ Xcelerator portfolio continues to bring together advanced technology, even within the core of modelling techniques, helping remove the traditional barriers users have experienced to dramatically improve productivity.

The ability to make intelligent changes to 2D entities that one imports into the new nsketcher is astounding,” said Steve Samuels, CEO of Design

Visionaries Inc. Analysis has shown that in an average day or workflow, around 10% of a typical user’s day is spent sketching. In addition, within current design environments most concept sketching is happening outside of the CAD software due to the level of rules and relationships that must be decided on and built into the sketch by the user up front.

Often designers in concept design stage do not necessarily know what the final product may be, which requires a sketching environment that is flexible and can evolve with the design. NX offers the flexibility of 2D paper concept design within the 3D CAD environment, as the first in the industry to eliminate upfront constraints on the design. Instead of defining and being limited by constraints such as size or relationships, NX can recognize tangents and other design relationships to adjust on the fly.

“Sketching is at the heart of CAD and is critical to capturing the intent of the digital twin,” said Bob

Haubrock, Senior Vice President, Product Engineering Software at Siemens Digital Industries Software.

“Even though this is an essential part of the process, sketching hasn’t changed much in the last 40 years.

Using technology and innovations from multiple past acquisitions, Siemens is able to take a fresh look at this crucial design step and modernize it in a way that will help our customers achieve significant gains in productivity and innovation.”

Siemens Digital Industries Software is driving transformation to enable a digitalenterprise where engineering, manufacturing and electronics design meet tomorrow.

The Xcelerator portfolio helps companies of all sizes create and leverage digital twins that provide organisations with new insights, opportunities and

Mercedes-Benz and NVIDIA to build software-defined computing architecture for automated driving Mercedes-Benz, one of the largest manufacturers of premium passenger cars, and NVIDIA, the global leader in accelerated computing, plan to enter into a cooperation to create a revolutionary in-vehicle computing system and AI computing infrastructure.

Starting in 2024, this will be rolled out across the fleet of next-generation Mercedes-Benz vehicles, enabling them with upgradable automated driving functions.

DRIVE platform. The computer system-on-a-chip, called NVIDIA Orin, is based on the recently announced NVIDIA Ampere supercomputing architecture.

Working together, the companies plan to develop the most sophisticated and advanced computing architecture ever deployed in an automobile.

The NVIDIA DRIVE platform includes a full system software stack designed for automated driving AI applications. NVIDIA and Mercedes-Benz will jointly develop the AI and automated vehicle applications that include SAE level 2 and 3, as well as automated parking functions (up to level 4).

The new software-defined architecture will be built on the NVIDIA DRIVE platform and will be standard in Mercedes-Benz’s next-generation fleet, enabling state-of-the-art automated driving functionalities.

A primary feature will be the ability to automate driving of regular routes from address to address. In addition, there will be numerous future safety and convenience applications.

Customers will be able to purchase and add capabilities, software applications and subscription services through over-the-air software updates during the life of the car.

A new computing architecture Automated driving functions in future Mercedes-Benz cars will be powered by the next-generation NVIDIA

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The new system’s state-of-the-art capabilities will be harnessed with a total focus on safety. As the technology and regulatory framework develop, it will be possible for every car to be updated over the air to enable new automated driving functions. Convenience as well as other safety features

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will also be available.

To develop the new models, both companies will be utilising NVIDIA DRIVE Infrastructure solutions to enable data-driven development and deep neural network development to handle the requirements of the regions and operational domains where the cars will be available.

FOCUS continued from Page 1

title

Can We be More Productive?

catch-up”).

The quality of management in New Zealand is low, which decreases the productivity gains from new technology.

I find these outcomes interesting, but not surprising.

90% of NZ businesses are SME’s who can’t afford HR or a training manager, let alone an innovation manager!

Most investment is managed by the entrepreneur who started the company, and as the company grows, they get pulled more into management. So who is managing the innovation pipeline?

Their ability to scale to gain capital is limited by a small domestic market and there is little or no co-ordination along the value chain to create efficiencies of scale or to protect them from overseas predators.

Just this last six months I am aware of three great innovative NZ companies that have been bought, manufacturing has been relocated and the IP has gone.

Overseas companies are providing capital and market access and benefiting from our ability to innovate, while reaping the rewards because we are unable to provide alternative options and pathways.

If we want to protect our future, we have to create industries of excellence, create a shared destiny and protect, nurture and grow these businesses, working collaboratively with business, Government, unions and other stakeholders.

This is why Japan formed the Ministry of Industry and Trade post war to protect the industries they were nurturing to secure Japan’s future.

continued from Page 1

By Ian Walsh, Managing Director, Intent Group

The quality of NZ management has been assessed as low relative to the OECD. Again, it is driven by our unique environment with a high percent of SME’s.

The investment in developing deep capable leaders and managers is almost non-existent compared to the USA, UK and even Australia. This is understandable, but not acceptable.

The last 50 years has seen the advent of significantly improved management and leadership practices with “Lean”, “6 sigma” and other methodologies now mature.

We are in the next industrial revolution and yet how do small businesses create great leaders who have the capability to implement world class practices and drive the business forward?

When I run seminars with leaders of NZ businesses, less than 10% know what these practices are, let alone adopt any!

Improvements of +60% in productivity are commonplace using these approaches and yet we don’t even teach this in a formalised way in universities.

In other countries it is called industrial engineering. Georgia Tech in Atlanta USA, has 3,000 students currently enrolled. It is a similar story in the United Kingdom.

In NZ, a Google search on this will lead to job ads and mechanical or chemical and materials engineering courses. How can we expect small business owners to take up the mantle to lead this charge on top of their day jobs?!

Most can’t and the outcome is we teach our best and brightest to manage the way we have always done,

while the world continues to progress.

Yet again we need a combined and integrated approach to enable business to succeed, by providing higher quality, prepared leaders out of our institutes, ready to make a difference.

My business, Intent Group, has been running its Diploma in Competitive Systems and Practices for over 10 years now.

I’m eager to see other educational facilities offer similar courses to provide managers and future leaders with the skills needed to transform New Zealand business.

Let’s ease the burden on business and give them the chance to succeed. The work ethic, culture and commitment are all in place, but we need modern management methods and to learn how to play as ‘Team NZ’, just as we have done with Covid-19.

Let’s fix this New Zealand. I am keen. Are you?

Without highly productive businesses we will not be able to generate the income to invest in human and physical capital, to create the society and country we aspire to. * OECD.org stats ** An International Perspective on the NZ Productivity Paradox 2014: The NZ Productivity Commission.

NZ Set for Rapid Increase in Large Scale Manufacturing Post-Covid - Expert

in 2021.

Stephen Hughes, CEO of Drury South Crossing says interest from local and international manufacturers has been strong, particularly from the agricultural sector with several food suppliers looking to establish high volume processing capability locally.

He says New Zealand’s success in controlling the virus has meant the country is well-positioned for an expected uplift in post-COVID demand for New Zealand made goods.

“The agricultural sector is seeing significant growth potential for New Zealand branded products as the pandemic stretches supplies around the world and consumers focus their attention on where their food is sourced from,” he says.

He says increasingly a new generation of businesses operating at a high volume throughput need sizable footage and heights of 25m in order to accommodate robotic automation.

“What we are seeing is a need from local food producers to store large volumes of export-ready product where it can be accessed using automated storage retrieval systems (ASRS), and robotic technology to access products from warehouses that are of a scale we have not generally seen in New Zealand.

“There are relatively few sites left in the Auckland region which can accommodate this scale of operation and it has been encouraging to see that local and international businesses are looking to invest at this level - which will be an essential part of the region’s economic recovery,” he says.

Hughes says there is also interest from a diverse

range of other industries including logistics providers and a 10,000 sqm data centre at their 361-hectare mixed-use development.

“One of the key drawcards for manufacturers is the ability to design their operations from scratch incorporating their post-COVID operating needs and the latest global industry insights.

“The greenfield sites at Drury South Crossing mean early movers will have huge flexibility in terms of their ability to accommodate a wide range of requirements for their manufacturing facility including shape and road access etc.

“The development has brand new infrastructure, including 30 hectares of new roads with 5.5 kilometres of shared paths. With a quarry nearby there is ready access to building supplies such as aggregate and concrete.

“We also have the ability to preload the ground prior to sale to cost-effectively provide high load floor ratings. Elsewhere in Auckland this would require more piling or moving hundreds of truckloads of material through the city. This means we can tailor our earthworks cost-effectively to incorporate these needs,” he says.

Hughes says the development’s strategic location can place a manufacturer within one hour of half of New Zealand’s population, providing access to all major North Island markets. The site is well positioned next to two state highways interchanges - providing access to motorway links within Auckland and through Hamilton to Cambridge.

Construction on the first of these new warehouses and commercial facilities will begin in late 2021 - with

this phase also expected to provide an employment hub for the region.

Hughes says the development has been designed to provide employers with live and work opportunities.

“A significant amount of consideration has been put into providing affordable accommodation, commuting access and open spaces for the thousands of workers which will be working from the development every day.

“Eight hundred houses will be built within Drury South and in excess of 30,000 new homes are planned

by Council within 5km.

“Two new commuter rail stations will be built in Drury, making it possible for workers to arrive by train and then bus, walk, scooter or cycle to work along 5.5km of shared paths.

“We will also oversee the creation of 90 hectares of public open space – including one of the largest wetlands (3.66 ha) developed in Auckland,” he says.

Hughes says the current pandemic has not dampened demand for the sites with many businesses purchasing land now and looking at how the new global environment will shape their operating requirements before launching into the design stage.

“There are few remaining areas in the country where manufacturers can purchase a site of between 0.5 and 20ha, and be as well-positioned near to their primary supply chain and distribution networks.

“A stable operating environment is essential for business confidence and New Zealand’s efforts and our significant sacrifices to manage the pandemic have given us an edge in this respect internationally.

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FOCUS

By Barbara Nebel and Femi Perumbally https://www.thinkstep-anz.com/

Sustainability and Regeneration: Friends or Foes?

In recent years, the term sustainability has lost much of its original significance and appeal; regeneration has entered the conversation as the crowd favourite to be its trendy new replacement.

Except that it is not new at all; the concept of regeneration has been around since the 1970s and originally refers to a set of farming principles that take inspiration from nature.

Regeneration is undoubtedly seen as one of the most revolutionary approaches in mainstream conscience for addressing environmental issues, but does it really have to be rivals with sustainability to achieve its goals?

Sustainability is generally understood as a concept that focuses on doing less bad to sustain the world for future generations, whether this takes the form of producing less emissions or waste, or less energy use.

Meanwhile, regeneration prioritises doing more good over doing less bad. While sustainability and regeneration approach environmental issues from different angles, they are not mutually exclusive, rather just two approaches to guide the journey to where we need to be.

As the conversation tides change, we can push forward with the momentum to go beyond sustaining the planet in its damaged state to restoring it to its natural potential by combining regenerative thinking with the best elements of sustainability.

The seven regenerative principles pluralism, protection, purity, permanence, peace, potential, and progress, as conceptualised by Robert and Maria Rodale, form the foundation for regenerative agriculture or regen ag and can help guide this process.

The regenerative principles encompass enough range to not only transform the environmental world, but also the social one—just as sustainability has more to offer than simply doing less bad. Although regen ag dominates conversation around regeneration, regenerative thinking extends far beyond just the agriculture sector.

From regenerative design as popularised by Cradle to Cradle to regenerative futurism, we explore how the regenerative principles can be applied across all sectors—starting with the adoption of a holistic approach to measuring environmental performance with life cycle thinking.

A holistic outlook for Progress & Potential Regenerative thinking demands a systems or holistic perspective and when it comes to environmental problem-solving a Life Cycle Assessment or LCA offers an effective way to extend this holistic thinking.

An LCA measures the environmental performance of a product using a wide range of indicators and considers impacts across a product’s full life cycle.

This means that it can avoid ‘burden-shifting’ and give access to the bigger picture to gauge the regenerative principles of Potential and Progress for products.

The environmental data contained in an LCA including water consumption, energy use and climate change (carbon footprint), provide the baseline to measure progress against, and find areas for improvement.

From a holistic point of view, LCA studies have the upper hand among sustainability tools because it has a sound understanding that products, much like everything else in life, exist as part of an ecosystem.

An LCA offers an extensive data-backed look into the environmental performance of a product whether it be building materials, car parts or a whole train.

When the sound data of an LCA pairs with the ambitious and innovative Cradle to Cradle® (C2C) concept, it provides an ideal environment for regenerative design to thrive.

Source: © EPEA GmbH –

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Part of Drees & Sommer Back to nature’s drawing board for Permanence & Purity The C2C design concept reflects most, if not all, of Rodale’s regenerative principles to some degree.

Like the seven regenerative principles, C2C also looks to nature and natural ecosystems as its main muse.

Founded by Michael Braungart and William McDonough, C2C envisions design to be a ‘regenerative force’. The principles of Purity and Permanence are especially evident with C2C’s emphasis on pure materials tying in with permanent or indefinite cycles so that materials can be used over and over again without loss of quality.

All materials used to produce something are redefined in C2C as ‘nutrients’ and stay in either a biological cycle where they are returned without harm back into the biosphere or in a technical cycle where the material is reutilized continuously without losing its value.

Source: © EPEA GmbH – Part of Drees & Sommer Cradle to Cradle Certified is a certification scheme that incorporates the C2C design concept in its assessment against five categories that address environmental and social areas.

Good environmental data enables regenerative practices such as those found in the C2C concept to be more tenable for claims against environmental performance. LCAs provide a reliable source for this information.

While an LCA is used primarily to measure progress and identify areas for improvement by reducing negative impact, it can be highly complementary to C2C. While an LCA study focuses primarily on reducing negative impact, a product’s environmental performance can be maximized by bringing together the quantitative LCA with the C2C design principles.

Ultimately, the holistic approach employed by both tools combined can help to bridge the gap between our current proclivity for sustaining and the need for a regenerative future.

A regenerative future for Pluralism & Protection Regenerative principles should not only reshape our thinking around products and services, but also how we think about the future.

Regenerative tools for future thinking offer Protection by helping to build an organisation’s resiliency to unplanned circumstances. These tools also reflect the Pluralism principle with their increased focus on the openness to new ways of thinking about the future and consequently, new action pathways for the future.

The end result is a more deeply-rooted company that is better able to withstand crises, the value of which cannot be overstated in a year of crises.

One of these tools is the Three Horizons framework which encourages a company to re-examine how they think about the future.

The ‘horizons’ in question represent three lenses of looking at the world and explores how they interact or connect over time. The first ‘horizon’ focuses on today’s challenges, the third ‘horizon’ on the visionary view of the future, and the second on the actions that can assist an organisation in the transition from the first horizon to the third.

The Three Horizons tool draws out multiple perspectives

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that can guide the transition from a sustainable today to a regenerative tomorrow, combining elements of both to drive transformative innovation in the process as exemplified by New Zealand based bio-venture Futurity’s upcoming biorefinery.

Bringing it all together for Peace To regenerate literally means to grow, but more importantly, grow better after loss or damage. In other words, it is not enough to simply reduce negative impact, we need to restore and further along, create a positive impact.

This ties in closely with Rodale’s principle of Peace which is about ending former damaging or destructive patterns to make room for positive replacements. In the energy sector, this will need to be the transition to 100% clean energy.

While NZ’s electricity generation is on track with over 80% renewable, a quick look at New Zealand’s emissions profile will make it clear that the energy sector as a whole has tremendous potential for climate action since it was responsible for 41% of NZ’s gross emissions as of 2018. Transport, manufacturing, and construction provide great opportunities to reduce emissions by phasing out fossil and oil-derived fuel use.

A reduced reliance on finite energy sources can only lead to a reduced negative impact. This doesn’t mean that attempts to minimise negative impact should stop, but it should go hand in hand with continuous innovation to bridge the gap between sustainability and regeneration.

Two such innovators in New Zealand are changing the bioenergy and biomaterials scene with pine trees. Co-founded by Dr Gaetano Dedual and Jacob Kohn, Futurity has a biorefinery in the works that will use locally sourced pine trees to create biogas and products that can replace their oil-derived alternatives for applications ranging from plastics to resins and adhesives to energy storage.

The duo plan on using sustainably managed trees and utilising the large amount of wood waste from the industry for the biorefinery, effectively improving carbon sequestration and reducing wood waste in the process.

Futurity’s innovative approach is strengthened by the use of LCA to measure the environmental performance of their products and open up further areas for improvement.

The road ahead Inspired heavily by nature, regeneration leaves us with the potential to have a positive environmental environment.

But first, we need to shift the target from simply sustaining to regenerating the planet.

However, the best way to bridge the gap between sustainability and regeneration will be to combine elements of both concepts when addressing environmental concerns.

While it is unlikely to be a linear process, Rodale’s regenerative principles offer a guide for this evolution which will also require continuous innovation backed by reliable data, a holistic approach to environmental problem-solving and a readiness to embrace a regenerative future.

NEW PRODUCTS Ensuring a safe welding environment Health and safety hazards are a critical consideration in any workplace for both the employer and employees, and the welding workplace is no exception. However, if safety measures are accurately implemented then much of the risk can be mitigated, if not fully eliminated.

Welding can present numerous health risks to the eyes, skin and lungs. Bright light and ultraviolet radiation, toxic fumes and gases, noise as well as heat and fuel to ignite a fire are all hazardous by-products of the welding process.

The correct risk assessment, implementation of procedures and the use of approved protective gear can however, make welding a safe procedure.

Burns Burns are one of the most common injuries in welding and can occur on the skin and to the eyes. The intense ultraviolet and infra-red rays from welding can cause symptoms similar to extreme sunburn if a welder’s limbs are not covered. Hot spatters can also burn unprotected skin.

All parts of the body including hands and feet need to be protected from burns. In the case of eye injuries, welding flash or arc eye is probably the most common eye injury among welders who refrain from wearing appropriate eye protection. While approved clothing, footwear and gloves will protect the limbs of a welder, the eyes and face can be safely protected by using the correct helmet.

Helmets that feature Auto Darkening Filter lenses and passive lenses (Approved Coloured Glass welding lenses), such as those found in the Kemppi welding helmet range, provide 100% protection against bright light burns and ultraviolet radiation.

Electrical Shock Welders can also suffer from electrocution if they come into contact with live parts. Welding involves the use of live electric circuits to create a pool of molten metal and therefore, the risk of electrocution is ever present.

However, wearing the appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) can help minimise the risk of electrocution. Hazardous environments such as damp areas, confined spaces and working on metal floors should also be avoided to reduce the risk. And all welding equipment should be in good working order, and serviced and maintained by a qualified repairer.

Fire The risk of fire is another safety hazard that welders need to consider. Welding creates heat, sparks and flames. When combined with fuel and oxygen, these sources of ignition can cause a fire or explosion.

Fire retardant clothing is a must for any welder and welders need to be mindful of isolating fuel sources from ignition sources. They should also refrain from storing flammable and combustible materials near welding areas, and if they are working with drums and tanks which once held flammable materials, any traces of the combustible substance need to be removed or neutralised prior to welding.

Fumes and Airborne Contaminants The inhalation of fumes and airborne contaminants as a result of welding can cause irritation of the nose and throat, tightness in the chest, wheezing, asphyxiation, asthma, metal fume fever, damage to the lungs, bronchitis, pneumonia or emphysema.

Exposure to welding fumes can also cause cancer.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) reclassified welding fumes from Group 2B (possibly carcinogenic to humans) to Group 1A (carcinogenic to humans) in March 2017.

The International Institute of Welding through its Commission VIII experts is evaluating the IARC’s findings.

Welding generates metal particulates and noxious gases including ozone, nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide. The types of fumes produced and the amount depend on the welding process in use and the type of material being welded. Welding metals,

solvents, flux, plastics or paint all produce different gases, and while some of the fumes are visible to the eye, many are invisible but real.

As with the other occupational hazards of welding, employers and employees can minimise the risk of inhaling welding fumes and airborne contaminants by using approved PPE. Welders can wear a welding helmet equipped with an appropriate air ventilation system to protect themselves from toxic fumes and airborne contaminants.

Respirator systems used by welders are officially graded by the protection level they offer the wearer, i.e. the level to which they exclude the contaminated air found in the welding environment.

This classification rates the efficiency of the filtering system and the total measured combined leakage rating of the respirator system, which is called the Total Inward Leakage (TIL) performance rating.

Helmets such as Kemppi’s Gamma GTH3 respirator models protect welders from 99.8% of airborne fumes and particulates to help minimise the risk of lung diseases.

Therefore, while the hazards of welding cannot be ignored, they can be effectively managed through approved PPE and the correct procedures to ensure a safe welding environment. h t t p s : / / w w w. k e m p p i . c o m / e n - U S / s u p p o r t / welding-abc/welding-safety/

Treotham announces exclusive partnership with long-time supplier igus Treotham New Zealand is pleased to announce that they have been appointed by igus as their exclusive distributor across the New Zealand market for their innovative motion plastics.

Treotham New Zealand and igus have been working closely together for over 9 years and have recently been appointed as their exclusive distributor across New Zealand. Treotham will continue to work closely with their trusted agents to provide igus products throughout New Zealand.

The range of igus products have been developed for moving applications and high levels of stress.

They include energy supply products, cables, bearing technology, linear technology, bar stock, 3D printing filaments and low-cost robotics. The range offers a long service life with no lubrication, are up to 70% lighter than metal products, are resistant to dirt, chemicals and corrosion, and are insensitive to heat

and cold. Every igus product is tested thoroughly in its 3,800m² in-house test laboratory.

With solutions for more than 50 different industries, whether in mechanical engineering, the automotive industry or the robot industry, Treotham can offer an igus product for nearly every application.

Treotham’s product managers who have accumulated many years of experience are available for personal consultations and visits by sales staff.

They are also able to offer tailor made solutions for special applications.

Treotham has recently expanded its warehouse by 50% to provide improved support for OEMs and key partners to ensure robust stock and effective supply chain management.

improve your application today. www.treotham.co.nz

Contact Treotham to find out how igus products can

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SUPPLY CHAIN Reimagining supply chains to build long term resilience in a post-Covid world

By Richard Morgan, Country Manager, Genpact

The Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted all facets of supply chains. Whether it is in the retail, telco, or transport industries both global and local supply chains have been severely tested, having to adapt to new demand patterns, supply constraints and logistical challenges.

This unprecedented disruption has only magnified changes in consumer behaviour, under-investment in supply chain tools, technology, and people that were already challenging organisations.

As the risk landscape is set to only get more uncertain and complex in the future, building resilient and more agile supply chains is crucial.

Learning the Covid-19 lessons If Covid-19 has taught us something is that the strength of a supply chain is only as good as its weakest link.

Organisations must use the current disruption as an opportunity to do a full audit and assess how well its supply chain functions can better respond to future disruptions.

unlocks operational margins and builds stability in an uncertain world.

analyse and make sense of data points collected throughout the supply chain.

Stabilising supply chains: a cross collaboration with risk management teams

Implementation of digital and data-driven technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) is what will allow businesses to reimagine and future-proof their supply chains in an unstable world.

To address the volatile nature of current - and likely future - supply chain operations, organisations should start by mobilising a dedicated crisis and risk management team that can help advise supply chain teams.

A cross collaboration with risk management experts can help build focused risk scenarios and assessments, as well as design new processes and frameworks for rapid replanning, demand forecasts, supplied engagement and reporting and governance.

To build long term resilience companies must re-examine their old supply chain assumptions and evaluate the strength of their end-to-end supply chains. Businesses need to fine tune demand planning, search for deeper visibility of material planning, test supply planning technologies and continuously evaluate logistics plans.

Working side by side with risk management teams will also help supply chain teams prioritise issues for resolution.

Supply chains must move from executors and a cost centre to a source of competitive advantage that

In today’s connected world, making informed decisions is highly dependent on being able to

Using technology and data-driven decisions to build long term resilience

The differing impact of Covid-19 across states, countries, and regions has created more hyper-local and time-sensitive demand patterns, making demand-sensing abilities more critical than ever.

Therefore, all dimensions of demand-sensing data must improve – in terms of accuracy, timeliness, completeness, reliability, and relevance Demand-forecasting models must be fine-tuned to ingest these unique patterns and rapidly revise demand forecasts.

In addition, current conditions have highlighted the need for better visibility of the availability and capacity of suppliers and contract manufacturers across multiple tiers. Organisations should combine control-tower solutions, capacity data, and delivery-performance data to analyse and assess their cumulative risk across supplier tiers for parts, ingredients, and finished products.

Understanding these risks will help organisations create a vertically integrated risk profile of finished products that enables proactive corrective actions such as finding alternate suppliers, minimizing SKU proliferation, and simplifying input material design and production.

Finally, as demand forecasting and deeper material planning continue to respond to new patterns, organisations should sweat their existing technology landscape to provide more robust analysis for allocating and distributing finished products.

Modelling tools such as Kinaxis, E2open, OM Partners, and o9 can provide extensive allocation-scenario analysis, and flag fulfilment risks so help take corrective actions for production plants and suppliers.

Over the past few years, the guiding principle of cost efficiency has had a major impact on supply chain design. Higher-risk tolerances have been sacrificed to reduce costs.

The pandemic has highlighted this approach’s fragility, leaving no other options but to look at other models to build long-term resilience. A closer collaboration with risk teams, as well as a better end-to-end management of data across complex supply chains is what will reduce cost and risk,

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SUPPLY CHAIN The IoT supply chain risk: Why everyone should pay attention to Ripple20 vulnerabilities

By Michael DeCesare, chief executive officer and president, Forescout.

We see IoT and connected devices all around us – there are billions of them, and they are hard to miss. I speak all the time about the cybersecurity challenges these devices pose, and advocate for organisations to protect themselves.

But sometimes the threat lies under the surface. The reality is that when you buy an IoT device, you are buying a lot of embedded components and you do not really know where those components come from.

For a variety of reasons, most IoT devices do not run standard Windows operating systems. Instead, they use organically developed and various third-party sourced code libraries for essential functions such as network communication.

These code libraries pose just as much of a risk as the devices themselves, if not more so because a user or company likely has no idea what lies under the hood.

Forescout Research Labs has been working closely on the disclosure of vulnerabilities of this type that could potentially impact tens of millions of IoT and OT devices. Working closely in partnership with JSOF, who first discovered the Ripple20 vulnerabilities, our researchers have leveraged the 12 million devices in our Device Cloud data lake to together identify nearly 100 vendors that are potentially affected.

The Ripple20 vulnerabilities are in a software library and TCP/IP networking stack made by Treck. You probably haven’t heard of Treck, but the company has been around for 20+ years and its TCP/IP stack is used in many common devices, including industrial control systems, medical devices, VoIP phones, printers, etc. In total, JSOF estimates these vulnerabilities could affect tens of millions of IoT and OT devices.

Given the widespread nature of the findings, JSOF has been working closely with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), national CERTS (Computer Emergency Response Teams), as well as Treck to ensure a proper disclosure and fix.

It’s not super common for researchers who found a vulnerability to partner in this way with other security vendors during discovery and disclosure.

This innovative approach was necessary because of the nature of the supply chain.

There is no public bill of materials for IoT and OT devices, meaning vendors do not have to disclose what parts make up their devices. In many cases the code library has spread through the supply chain in embedded, rebranded and repackaged components.

Sometimes the vendors themselves do not even know what is running inside the devices. All these factors can make identifying devices that could be compromised exceedingly difficult for any one company or even government organisations.

To identify potentially vulnerable devices and manufacturers, Forescout researchers used network traffic signatures and TCP/IP fingerprints provided by JSOF to analyse the 12 million devices in our large data lake – the Forescout Device Cloud.

Some of the more prevalent devices Forescout identified that are vulnerable to Ripple20 include medical infusion pumps, a UPS frequently used in data centres, and printers (which can be found in nearly every enterprise). Nearly a dozen vendors in total have already been confirmed, including HP and Intel, though together with JSOF we have identified nearly 100 more that could also potentially be affected.

The bigger picture here is that these are just some of the risks living under the surface of the billions of IoT and OT devices permeating our enterprise networks today, risks we are finding out more and more about through disclosures like this one. While there’s been a growing amount of focus on securing IoT devices overall, we also need to ensure we are securing every piece of the device’s supply chain.

Fixing these vulnerabilities presents its own set of challenges, even once they have been identified on the network.

Some already have patches available. But there are also complicating factors.

With these types of supply chain vulnerabilities and embedded components, the vendor that is creating the patch is not necessarily the one that will release it.

That can delay the issuance of a patch. There are also no guarantees that the device vendor is still in business, or that they still support the device. The complex nature of the supply chain may also mean the device is not patchable at all, even if it needs to remain on the network. In such cases, mitigating controls such as segmentation will be needed to limit its risk.

This is a real challenge. To help, we are releasing detection and mitigation templates for our products to specifically identify and protect devices using Treck. That way security teams can find and inventory devices that could be impacted and take appropriate mitigation actions, such as segmentation and containment, to limit their risk. These protection templates are available today to all Forescout customers.

We are seeing more and more of these types of

supply chain vulnerabilities discovered as IoT and OT devices become more widespread. While the embedded systems that underlie them are not new, we are just beginning to open our eyes as a security industry to the risk they pose. Let us all make sure we are paying attention.

It is not super common for researchers who found a vulnerability to partner in this way with other security vendors during discovery and disclosure.

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DEVELOPMENTS The future of thermoplastics There are two major types of resin used in the production of composites — thermosetting and thermoplastic. Thermosetting resins are currently the most common, but as composite use expands, thermoplastic resins are increasingly being explored.

Thermosetting resins are hardened via curing, using heat, to form heavily cross-linked polymers with insoluble or infusible rigid bonds that will not melt on exposure to heat. On the other hand, thermoplastics are branches or chains of monomers that soften when heated and solidify once cooled — a reversible process with no chemical bonding. Put simply, you can re-melt and re-form a thermoplastic, but not a thermoset.

Why thermosets rule Thermosetting resins, such as epoxies or polyesters, are popular for composite production because their low viscosity helps achieve good penetration into the fibre network. This allows for the use of more fibres and increases the strength of the final composite material.

The process for a thermosetting resin begins, in the pultrusion process, with the fibres being immersed in resin, which are then pulled into a die where heat is applied. This starts the curing reaction that converts the low molecular weight liquid resin into solid three-dimensional network structure, locking the fibres into this newly formed network.

Because most curing reactions are exothermic, once the reaction has begun it will readily propagate, making thermoset production easily scalable. Once set, the three-dimensional structure locks the fibre in place and gives the composite its strength and

rigidity.

The rise of the thermoplastic

per cent composite parts.

Thermoplastics and thermoplastic composites have been around for some time, especially for short fibre applications. But new attention is being drawn towards thermoplastics, due to the rising need for additional light weighting without the loss of structural stability, especially in the automotive industry.

There are many reasons why thermoplastic composites could easily become strongholds of the transport market. Components made from the material can be welded, reducing the need for adhesives, as well as over moulded to produce advanced geometries with superior mechanical properties compared to other materials.

One specific example is the potential to use thermoplastic composite to reduce the weight of the interior components of a car door. In fact, a major Japanese car manufacturer recently began redesigning its interior door components with thermoplastic composites. It is believed that this material shift could reduce the weight of the doors by almost half.

The universal advantage of thermoplastic resins is that they can be softened and reformed endlessly without major loss of physical properties. Once a thermoplastic product reaches the end of its life cycle, it can be melted and reformed for a new application, decreasing material waste. Other advantages can be found from the physical properties of the materials themselves, as well as potential new applications where thermosets have not been suitable.

The success of thermoplastics in the composite industry will depend on businesses developing products and processes that work. Exel Composites, the world’s largest producer of thermoset pultrusion and pull winding composites, is already developing its thermoplastic offerings.

Flying high It’s not just cars that will benefit from the adoption of more thermoplastic resins, especially since new commercial aircraft often comprise of more than 50

Competenz CEO appointed to Workforce Development Council Competenz CEO Fiona Kingsford has been appointed to the interim Establishment Board of the Manufacturing, Engineering, Logistics and Technology (MELT) Workforce Development Council (WDC), providing critical industry experience in the formation of the new standards setting body for industry training.

Her appointment will ensure the 37 industries currently represented by industry training organisation (ITO) Competenz will have a strong voice in the development of the new council, which is part of the Reform of Vocational Education.

“I am delighted to have the opportunity to join this interim Establishment Board, and will advocate to ensure that our future workforce is armed with the skills it needs to navigate the shift to industry 4.0 in this post-COVID-19 world of industry training reforms and critical skills shortages,” says Ms Kingsford.

Throughout her career within manufacturing, engineering and hospitality sectors, Ms Kingsford has been a strong advocate of work-based learning,

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embedding qualifications into workplace practices, understanding the benefits to productivity and career development.

Her background includes organisational design and development, vocational education and training, strategy, M&A and change management.

Recently, she was selected by New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology (NZIST) Establishment Board as Chair of Work-Based Learning Working Group, providing advice on this critical component to the reform of vocational education.

Ms Kingsford is a member of the Forest Industry Ministerial Advisory Board and Director of Group Training Organisation, ATNZ. She was previously a member of the establishment board and Chair of Auckland Maori and Pasifika Trades Training Consortia.

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There is still much research to complete before thermoplastic pultrusions become mainstream, especially because most production methods cater for thermosetting resins, and will have to be adapted.

Thermoplastic resins are showing great potential to produce strong, lightweight composites that are easily recyclable. While it’s not time to abandon tried and tested thermosets, it is wise to keep an eye on developments in thermoplastics, particularly if sustainability is a priority.

Money for regional apprenticeships Channelling $40 million from the Provincial Growth Fund into regional apprenticeships will be good for local economies, says BusinessNZ. The funding announced by the Regional Economic Development Minister today will be available to regional apprentices and employers once Maori and Pacific candidates and those laid off because of Covid-19 have been helped into apprenticeships.

BusinessNZ Chief Executive Kirk Hope says the regional areas of New Zealand have a great need for training resources, with the need for apprenticeship training particularly acute.

“More apprenticeship funding for the regions will help grow local businesses and provide a boost for post-Covid recovery,” Mr Hope said.

REAR VIEW The market is not our master — only state-led business cooperation will drive real economic recovery Jonathan Baker, Lecturer in Business Strategy, Auckland University of Technology

Like the coronavirus itself, joblessness can act as a pestilence on a society.

People who would have otherwise gone to their local restaurant, hairdresser, café or bar, taken a holiday in Queenstown or Taupo, or chosen to buy New Zealand lamb or beef in the supermarket, will stop spending.

In turn, the owners and employees of those businesses also stop spending. And so it goes on.

In the end, the fallout of mass joblessness will erode the social cohesion that has got New Zealand through the past few months.

winemakers and, most importantly, vast numbers of consumers – in multiple global markets.

Similarly, Swiss-based NGO The Global Fund has been extremely effective at market-shaping by driving production and distribution of basic medicines to the developing world. They have done this by encouraging cooperation and collaboration between pharmaceutical manufacturers, funders, distributors

Some of this is inevitable, of course. Despite the massive public resources pumped into keeping the economy afloat, some industries – most notably tourism and aviation – are facing severe drops in revenue that will drive joblessness and business closures.

the development of a collaborative market-shaping strategy. It will probably be temporary and would be best developed by the state, extending the excellent work already being undertaken by treasuries in New Zealand and Australia.

After all, governments are one of the most powerful market-shapers in the economy.

Second, this platform would coordinate and encourage shared strategy development on a national scale.

This will require diverse stakeholder groups to emerge from their various silos.

It will involve business leaders coming together with their competitors, supporting industries and supply-chain partners, regulators, shareholder representatives, unions, industry associations, and those calling for a genuine reset of economies around the world.

But it has been discouraging to see leaders in other industries trying to prepare their firms for a major recession driven by unemployment by creating yet more unemployment.

Markets are not all-powerful When this is happening in sectors comparatively unaffected by the COVID-19 crisis it is clear we urgently need fresh thinking and fast.

The plan will focus on minimising economic recession through maximising both employment and sustainable practice.

Traditional business strategy for many decades has stressed the need to adapt to the external environment. Businesses must be willing to change to meet the demands of the market or respond to external shocks.

But, contrary to received wisdom, markets are not just the product of external forces. Nor are businesses simply at the mercy of what markets dictate.

Our research explores what is called “market-shaping”.

Viewed as systems, markets include more than just buyers and sellers, but other actors such as regulators, supporting industries, adjacent markets, and even informal stakeholders like pressure groups.

Market systems are actively created through the actions, assumptions, exchanges and rules within them. You might say a market is in a constant state of “becoming” – it is never static or fixed.

In practice this means managers do not always have to default to adapting to the external environment.

Instead, a business – or any other market actor for that matter – can work to adapt the market to its own needs.

Sometimes cooperation trumps competition An example from the wine industry is instructive. In the early 2000s, the New Zealand Screwcap Wine Seal Initiative convinced one of the world’s most staid, traditional markets to accept that a screw cap could seal a premium wine.

The campaign was driven by the massive financial losses winemakers were suffering due to poor-quality Portuguese corks. It involved changing the closely-held beliefs and practices of critics, restaurateurs, sommeliers, supermarket buyers,

And third, implementation of the plan will involve a coordinated private sector response coupled with targeted public investment that goes well beyond so-called shovel-ready projects.

and local communities.

Geneva-based private-public partnership GAVI has successfully done much the same with vaccines for children in developing countries.

Market-shaping still preserves the beauty of markets as mechanisms that enable the generation of wealth like no other, and which reward entrepreneurship and innovation. And as long as they are shaped to deliver positive outcomes, markets can avoid the blunt instrument of over-regulation.

By extension, market-shaping is best achieved by multiple actors coming together and collaborating to achieve a shared goal. Much as multi-lateral international cooperation will defeat COVID-19 more effectively than countries going it alone, economic recovery will happen faster with collective action.

And, as those innovative New Zealand winemakers showed, a shared crisis is a great motivator for collaboration.

Market shaping in action: by cooperating, New Zealand’s wine industry changed the way the world viewed screw caps on bottles.

Governments must take the lead For this to happen there will need to be bold leadership and a willingness to do things differently.

Yes, the idea of competitors and their stakeholders coming together to agree on a shared path forward goes against every senior manager’s competitive instincts. And no, it will not be a silver bullet for businesses with immediate solvency concerns.

But it might just give the team of five million a shot at collectively beating the recession in the same way it beat the virus.

But it has been discouraging to see leaders in other industries trying to prepare their firms for a major recession driven by unemployment by creating yet more unemployment.

First, we need a shared platform for coordinating

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