South Pacific Industrial Limited who’s head office and manufacturing site is based in Ruakaka, Northland, have in the past managed a range of high profile projects including the Point Forward Project at Refining NZ’s Marsden Point site, the manufacture of off-shore patrol vessel modules for Tenix (BAe) and the Laminated Veneer Lumber Project for CHH

A multi-million dollar investment in a vertical integration strategy and manufacturing capability is paying off for New Zealand’s New Image Group. The natural health products company has invested more than $10 million in new technology and plant to enable it to efficiently deliver world class, high-value dairy products in to Asian markets. New Zealand Trade Minister Tim Groser today opened New Image’s third production plant in Auckland.

Manufacturing and wholesale is emerging as one of the bright spots of the New Zealand economy as the sector posted big revenue gains, despite difficult economic conditions and continuing pessimism about the pace of the economic recovery, according to a new study. The MYOB Business Monitor, a regular survey of over 1000 small and medium enterprises, found that the manufacturing and wholesale sector had the most revenue gains of any business group over the last 12 months. In 2011 44 percent of businesses in the sector reported revenue rises.

National Instruments Oceania has announced the participating teams for the annual National Instruments Autonomous Robotics Competition, a student robotics competition designed to encourage development and innovation in the field of robotics. A total of 24 teams will be participating in this year’s NI ARC, representing top universities from across Australia and New Zealand. The competition, which commences in April and concludes in September, 2012 will involve each team developing an autonomous robot that will ultimately compete in a live competition with the objective of autonomously completing a set of predefined tasks in the shortest amount of time and earning the most points. The theme for the 2012 NI ARC is ‘Search and Rescue’.

Associate Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister, Amy Adams, has commissioned one of the Southern Hemisphere’s largest CNC machining centres. The 36 station linear pallet automated horizontal machining centre is owned by Christchurch specialised machining company Integrated Hydraulics and will produce hi-spec hydraulic manifolds and a wide range of other precision machined components. To support this investment the company has also commissioned a next-generation TEM thermal deburring machine and Durr Ecoclean universal cleaning machine. Apart from a significant lift in manufacturing capacity, Integrated Hydraulics General Manager, Nick Lawry, says the new technology will help the company manage highly variable workloads through an unpredictable global economic climate.

Kiwis have embraced light emitting diode (LED) lighting with Philips Lighting reporting a 120 percent increase in sales of LED products in 2011 over 2010. Strong growth is expected to continue this year as more people make the switch to LED from compact fluorescent (CFL) or traditional incandescent lighting.

As part of a consortium which included Swedish companies Bizcat and FVB, Aurecon undertook one of three studies, commissioned by Christchurch Agency for Energy (CAfE) in late 2011, to examine the feasibility of New Zealand's first District Energy Scheme (DES).