From May issue, NZ Manufacturer www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz Brent Spillane, Managing Director, XPO Exhibitions Ltd. EMEX 2024, brought to the productive sector by XPO Exhibitions Limited, is with us at the end of the month, providing the ideal platform for manufacturing and engineering decisionmakers and visitors to sample technology and expertise to assist them on their company’s journey to success. In these challenging business times, EMEX 2024 provides us all with an opportunity to collaborate, share stories on the journey and even find cohorts to work closely with for a better business futur ..read more

Machine learning is a form of artificial intelligence that is able to learn without explicit programming by a human. For most of our history, we’ve thought that learning—the ability to adjust our behaviour based on collected information—was something only humans did. The past few decades have changed all that. We now know that animals of all kinds learn from experience, teaching, and even play. But it is not only animals that learn: there’s increasing evidence that plants do,too . And if you’ve ever unlocked a phone with facial recognition, or interacted with a virtual assistant, yo ..read more

From March issue, NZ Manufacturer www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz   -Scott Adams, Managing Principal, Argon & Co Many Kiwis have good instincts, or just good common sense, for our decision making. We might not be experts in all fields but we’re good enough to get by, and with a bit of focus we can adapt. We are, for example, certainly quite expert at managing rugby games from our couch: what combinations work, how to play against the opposition, and how much the interference of the TMO is destroying the game. But it would also be generally true that we are not so good with facts and data, w ..read more

In April issue of NZ Manufacturer www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz  we talk with Emily Townsend, Services Director, thinkstep-anz. Emily’s spent her career working in manufacturing, and with manufacturers, in New Zealand and the UK. Emily, what does ‘sustainable manufacturing’ mean to you? It’s become a buzzword but I think it’s about change – incremental and major. Incremental change involves things like producing more efficiently and ensuring products create less waste at their end-of-life. Major change is about powering factories with renewable energy and moving to responsible procurement to ..read more

From April issue of NZ Manufacturer www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz -Chris Foord and Natalie Russell, Argon & Co In a manufacturing business, where supply chains intertwine and customer demands fluctuate, Sales & Operations Execution (S&OE) emerges as a pivotal force. S&OE, a dynamic process that bridges the gap between strategic planning and day-to-day operations, sees the rubber hit the road in a manufacturing enterprise. At its core, S&OE entails aligning sales forecasts, production plans, and operational capabilities to meet customer demands efficiently while optimising resou ..read more

From April issue, NZ Manufacturer www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz -David O’Connor, Commercial Manager, The Learning Wave Much has been written about the need for New Zealand manufacturing businesses to increase productivity to remain competitive internationally, and subsequently, the benefits that adoption of new digital technologies and smart factories can deliver to NZ manufacturers. It is no great secret that the sector is in the midst of tough times. Many businesses are reporting having to cut back on shifts and overtime hours, pushing out innovation projects, and reducing their training spend t ..read more

From April issue of NZ Manufacturer www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz Adam Sharman, Senior Partner, Dsifer As manufacturers look to technology to support the productivity, efficiency and innovation of their operations, the convergence of Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT) stands out as a crucial strategy. As at 2024, the OT market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 8.69% and the solution options available to manufacturers to digitise their operations continues to grow. Whilst OT solutions provide significant benefit to manufacturers,  it is the integration of OT and IT ac ..read more

Editorial April issue NZ Manufacturer www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz In late March, the Minister for Manufacturing, Andrew Bayly, spent a week in Australia,  where he met with four ministers in the Australian Federal Government, including Senator Hon Tim Ayres, the Assistant Minister for Manufacturing and Assistant Minister for Trade. They discussed opportunities that exist for our two countries to work together, to grow manufacturing productivity on both sides of the Tasman. He also met with Maria Vamvakinou MP and Scott Buchholz MP, who co-chair the Parliamentary Friends of Manufacturing gro ..read more

 From April issue NZ Manufacturer magazine www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz  Andrew Bayly, Minister for Manufacturing In my February article, I announced the first meeting of my Manufacturing Productivity Advisory Group, a forum for business leaders keen to enable a brighter future for New Zealand’s manufacturing sector. I am pleased to say this group has already met again. Chaired very capably by Sarah Ramsay, chief executive of United Machinists and chair of the Advanced Manufacturing Aotearoa council, there are key themes emerging, which most people in the industry will already be wel ..read more

From April issue of NZ Manufacturer www.nzmanufacturer.co.nz   By Brett O’Riley, Chief Executive EMA *Brett O’Riley is stepping down from his role at EMA in June. What follows are his present reflections on manufacturing in New Zealand. Our manufacturing sector is struggling, and it pains me to say it. The release of this month’s Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI), a global measure of manufacturing activity, shows manufacturing activity in New Zealand has been shrinking for the past 12 months. While this might not be a surprise given the global economic slowdown, what is concerning ..read more