Meet the high tech engineers who are building a better place. Join the conversation in Christchurch on 25 May.
What's it all about?
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As our lives become increasingly digital, our reliance on smart machines grows. But who's making those machines and how can those manufacturers ensure the production of new technologies has minimal negative impact on the world? New Zealand's high tech manufacturing sector is thriving, with innovators finding brilliant ways to turn unlikely materials into high value items, and to construct technology that is used in coveted products globally. Join us in Christchurch, the city of opportunity, and meet the New Zealand innovators who are building a better place.
Speakers
Technologies. He is passionate about creating manufacturing tech solutions that are accessibleto everyone. Brett’s studies in mechatronics led him to discover a niche market in affordable CNC desktop solutions. The first Vertigo CNC was manufactured in 2016 and has seen the company grow into a 400sqm workshop. Having sold 145+ Vertigo CNCs New Zealand wide the Vertigo team has grown to 10 employees. Brett’s passion for the provinces is why he started Vertigo Technologies in Westport. He believes Industry 4.0 and micro-factories can make a difference for those areas who have been impacted by a downturn in employment. Brett sees the Vertigo CNC as the beginning of a range
of tools that could be offered from the Vertigo Technologies workshop. Vertigo Technologies is currently gearing up to export to Australia and Canada and are looking for investment to move to that next stage.
David joined the IMCRC in June 2016. Prior to this, he was CEO of MHG Asia Pacific from 2014, and a member of Futuris Automotive’s executive leadership team from 2001.
David holds a first-class Honours Degree in Manufacturing Engineering and Management from the University of Bath (UK), and is a Chartered Engineer with the Institution of Engineering and Technology.
David is a Director of the CRC Association (www.crca.asn.au) and a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
David spent 13 years at Microsoft, in New Zealand and as regional director for South East Asia, and has set up and run successful businesses of his own. David is a published author on New Zealand Innovation, with two highly successful books – No.8 Re-wired, and No.8 Recharged. He’s a ex-comedian, TV and Radio actor, and a recent cancer conqueror.
Garry joined Tait as CEO in 2014. He also sits on the company board as Executive Director and earlier worked as a consultant to company founder Sir Angus Tait. It's now just a few months short of 50 years since Angus Tait shook off an earlier business failure and began again by registering the current Tait business. Sir Angus was our first ever recipient of the Flying Kiwi lifetime achievement award and one of the things he hoped to achieve through business was to encourage other technology enterprises to start and grow alongside Tait.
This background enabled Henry to found the global VRAR Studio 'Corvecto', specialized in delivering professional Virtual and Augmented Reality solutions from small to multi-billion dollar organisations around the world in all manner of industry sectors from aviation and construction through to medical and agriculture.
Henry is also a founding executive of New Zealand's 'EPIC Innovation', a collaborative eco-system business-housing model with two Innovation Campuses in New Zealand and involving partnership with Google, Cisco and multiple large NZ organisations.
Henry is frequently engaged by TVNZ (New Zealand's primary broadcast network) as their Go-To expert for speaking on subjects involving Innovation and Technology for national television, and is one of New Zealand's 7 faculty members of Singularity University.
Richard grew up in Melbourne and was educated at Scotch College and Swinburne University where he completed a degree in Manufacturing Engineering. He started working for Sutton tools in Melbourne in 1984 and held the positions of production engineer and drill plant supervisor before transferring to NZ to take on the role of operations manager. The main focus of his work has been on smoothing workflow, reducing work in progress and shortening lead times. This is being achieved with a combination of lean practices and the introduction of automation.
Rick has been on the council of the New Zealand Manufacturers and Exporters Association (The Manufacturers Network) since 2003 and has been president since September 2016. He was part of the Manufacturers Network tour to Germany and the Industry 4.0 themed Hannover fair in April of 2017. Sutton Tools is currently in the process of introducing data gathering systems and collaborative robots in its New Zealand factory.
This led him to create NZ’s first digital agency One Fat Sheep (OFS) based in Christchurch. The defining moment was when OFS created the world's first 3D Zombies Shooter on a pizza box for Hell Pizza, utilising augmented reality. It was the most downloaded app in NZ - over Facebook and Trademe - for a number of weeks in the app store.
Off the back of this, Rupert recognised the enormous potential of Augmented Reality (AR) to solve practical problems and set out to create a tool that would enable anyone to build their own AR experiences with ease. This led to the formation of Plattar. In April 2016 he successfully raised A$1.1 million in a seed funding round led by News Corp.
Since being founded in 2014, Plattar has established a blue chip client base in Australia, New Zealand and the US including Fortune 500 and ASX 100 companies.
His current projects include ‘Additive Manufactured Tooling’, ‘Tooling for Robotic Applications’ and applied ‘Industry IoT’ (Factory-in-a-Box Project) in collaboration with DMTC.
Dr Dowey’s Industry 4.0 focus is on the ‘The Smart Enough Factory’, where the issues of legacy systems (cost), security and STEM skills are addressed to ensure the benefits of Industry 4.0 can reach SMEs, no matter where they are located.
Schedule
What does high tech manufacturing in New Zealand look like? In 2018 the answer is rapidly evolving, but one thing is for certain: it’s not a production line in a dark and dingy factory. As traditional modes of mass-manufacturing have moved overseas, New Zealand’s industry has adapted to become a sophisticated niche player in specialist manufacturing. In this myth-busting session, key note speaker David Chuter will take everything you know to be true of high-tech manufacturing and turn it on its head.
How helpful is the Kiwi “No.8 wire” trope in a time of unprecedented technological change? In this panel discussion, you’ll meet the innovative New Zealand high tech manufacturers that have seized upon global industry pressures as opportunities to create thriving businesses. Whether they’ve worked out how to manufacture something no one else in the world can, or - thanks to clever high tech solutions - can do it faster than anyone else, they’re proof that it’s possible to retain a competitive edge in a tough global climate.
A new era in manufacturing demands a workforce with a more diverse set of skills than ever. In this session, three people working in a new category of design roles in high tech manufacturing will share what they do for a day job, and how they got there. It will also explore methods for attracting creative talent for design engineering.
Option 1. How to use the art of storytelling to connect with your global customers
Learn how being of New Zealand (as opposed to ‘from New Zealand’) can play a powerful role in building and creating meaningful relationships with your customers and distributors. The hands on workshop will help you engage with your customers through storytelling and by infusing the values and characteristics that make us the ingenious Kiwis we are. “Marketing is no longer about the stuff that you make, but about the stories that you tell.” Seth Godin
Option 2: The future is female: the skills shortage and how to fix it
High tech manufacturing is critically short of skilled workers, and yet many young people are not even considering manufacturing despite the attractive career opportunities it offers. Women in particular are drastically under-represented. This workshop – with three 10 minute presentations followed by Q&As - looks at high tech manufacturing demographics, and how initiatives to make them more reflective of the general population will benefit the industry at every level.
Option 3: How SMEs can employ advanced manufacturing effectively
Whether it’s the use of collaborative robots or smart logistics, advanced manufacturing technologies can dramatically streamline workflows, and are no longer out of reach for small to medium businesses. This workshop looks at the two key mistakes SMEs tend to make when it comes to adopting advanced manufacturing technologies, and how to avoid them.
Revolution Fibres is a world-leader in a nanofibre prodcution process called sonic electrospinning. Their nanofibre has a multitude of applications, including one product, Xantulayer, which strengthens carbon composites and another, Activlayer, a water soluble, collagen-based fibre that carries skincare ingredients directly to the skin. In this session Founder and Managing Director Iain Hosie and his team will tell their story and showcase the latest applications of their product all over the world.
Seismic shifts are coming to high tech manufacturing, and the prospect of jobs lost as automation approaches has governments and people working in manufacturing nervous. But are they right to be scared? What exactly does the fourth revolution in manufacturing mean for the workforce? What does the economy stand to gain? Offering a glimpse into the future is Professor Olaf Diegel, a professor of product development at Lund University, Sweden, and expert in industrial consumer design and 3D printing. He’ll present the good and the bad news for high tech manufacturing, and lay out some of the educational challenges that lay ahead.
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