The Balex System solving common pain points felt with loading and unloading boats into the water through technology at a push of a button.
Elly Strang in her article for Idealog quite rightly wrote that anyone who's owned a boat or been out for a ride on one knows it's a bit of an awkward process actually getting a vessel into the water. But last year, Balex set out to change that with its invention of an hydraulically-powered automated boat loader that helps launch and retrieve boats from the water with the click of a button, while being three times as fast as an electric winch.
Automated boat loading company Balex went into liquidation earlier this year, but two Kiwi expat businessmen, Daniel Given and Reon Oak, have come to the rescue. They've relaunched the brand and are rolling out plans to take it global, solving common pain points felt with loading and unloading boats into the water through technology.
Continue here to the full article on Idealog || October 24, 2017 |||
New Zealand’s recent election and the political uncertainty which has followed is having a major impact on business sentiment, with seven in ten businesses indicating politics will influence their ability to grow in the next 12 months.
This is one of the key findings from the latest Alleasing Equipment Demand Index, and it comes after the rapid emergence of Labour leader Jacinda Ardern, who has been confirmed as the country’s youngest Prime Minister in a coalition Government.
Upper corporate businesses were most sensitive to the political environment, with 77.5 per cent expecting politics to have some impact on their business. For SMEs, the figure was 70.4 per cent against a national average of 71.2 per cent.
The SME constituency have traditionally been the heartland of the National Party, and this segment showed less sensitivity to politics as they pondered the possibility of a Labour Government. Of upper corporates, 77.5 per cent anticipate an impact on their business, opposed to 70.4 per cent of SMEs.
At industry level, hospitality is the most wary of the potential impact that politics could have, with 76.9 per cent expecting politics to impact them in some way. A quarter of manufacturing businesses expect a significant impact from the political environment, while the figure from the agriculture, fishing and forestry sector was 22.8 per cent. This fell away to 11.1 per cent in the transport sector, and 9.1 per cent in construction.
Daniel Blizzard, chief executive of Alleasing, said it is clear the recent New Zealand election has been a focal point for businesses across the country, with many concerned with how the results would impact their operations.
“Seven in ten businesses have demonstrated concern regarding the impact the election result will have on their business,” noted Mr. Blizzard.
“‘Jacindamania’ has had a major influence on business sentiment, and now that Ardern is Prime Minister in what could be a volatile coalition, we expect the business sector will be watching the new Government’s movements closely, particularly at the beginning of 2018.”
Although there could be a period of political volatility, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and (OECD) is forecasting that the New Zealand economy will continue its strong growth trajectory. This could relieve some pressure on the new Government as it settles into the Beehive in Wellington.
Under the National Party, the New Zealand economy has gone from being one of the most regulated in the OECD, to one of the most open according to the 2017 Index of Economic Freedom by the Heritage Foundation.
New Zealand businesses are now more exposed to international competition than ever before. While the ability to compete with these businesses is a key driver for a number of firms to upgrade to the latest technology (16.4 per cent), a greater number of firms are concerned with their ability to compete against their local competitors. This was cited as the biggest issue for 22.4 per cent of executives should they not upgrade.
Alleasing’s Daniel Blizzard notes that among New Zealand businesses, the manufacturing sector is the most sensitive to international competition.
“While 16.4 per cent of New Zealand business said failure to upgrade technology exposes them to international rivals, the figure among manufacturers is 28.6 per cent,” Mr Blizzard said.
“With Chinese manufacturers leading the way in implementing automation and industry 4.0 technology, this sector’s concern is understandable.
The Index reveals that some businesses are reacting to these pressures, with 47.6 per cent of businesses planning to increase their asset base this (December) quarter. Of those businesses, 23.5 per cent intend to acquire automation equipment, drones, artificial intelligence and big data.
“New Zealand businesses are beginning to embrace transformation. This is a good start because the opportunities that come with implementing Industry 4.0 technology will increase productivity and attract more capital to the country.”
To date, Alleasing Index data continues to track the percentage of businesses planning to acquire assets in the next quarter in-line with trends in Statistics New Zealand data on Gross Capital Formation over the first two quarters of 2017.
Matching the Index forecast for third quarter of the 2017 calendar year, Trading Economics is also forecasting a slight dip in Capital Formation for this period.
| A Alleasing release || October 24, 2017 |||
ConnecTire is a sensor-based smart wheel which enables data sharing at multiple levels, reducing the risk of tire slippage on the rim. It allows farmers to leverage the Internet of Things for safer and more efficient operations.
Operating key farm machinery at the lowest safe pressure is a key challenge – being in control of this maintains the safety both of machine and operator as well as ensuring minimum impact on topsoil. During operations tire pressure can change due to a number of factors including ambient and soil temperatures, as well as the intensity of task being performed and the configuration of the machine itself.
ConnecTire constantly monitors two key variables – tire pressure and temperature – which it relays to both tractor and farm mainframes via Bluetooth and wireless connectivity. Operators set their target tire pressure and can then monitor how tire pressure deviates from that target and act accordingly. Should corrective action be required, ConnecTire automatically sends an alert via its App, ensuring minimum disruption and maximum machine safety.
Piero Mancinelli, R&D Director at Trelleborg Wheel Systems, commented: “ConnecTire is about ensuring efficiency and sustainability; tires are required to work intelligently and to be at the right pressure at all times. Farm machinery is exposed to many variables throughout a working day, all of which can impact upon efficiency – ambient temperature, humidity and soil conditions. Being able to be in control of these allows farming operations to reduce inefficiencies. The alert via App capability is an essential feature of ConnecTire; changing conditions can require immediate action in order to maintain maximum efficiency and prevent rim slippage. ConnecTire’s communications functions enables fingertip control.”
Beyond tire monitoring, ConnecTire delivers further advantages: An inbuilt GPS capability identifies the live position of the tractor helping to keep lone workers safe and even safeguarding the tires and machine against risk of theft. In addition, with the help of precision farming software, farm managers are able to track the number of machine passes over every square centimetre of land, helping to limit soil compaction and erosion as much as possible.
Mancinelli, continues: “Repeatedly driving over the same ground at different stages of the crop cycle has a long term impact on yield. With ConnecTire, we saw an opportunity to help reduce this effect by providing the data that allows farms to identify at risk areas and mitigate this. Efficient use of land is essential and by reducing the number of machine passes, ConnecTire helps soil to rapidly recover fertility and yield potential.”
ConnecTire will be on display at Agritechnica 2017, November 12 to 18 in Hannover, Germany. Further information will be available at Trelleborg’s Agritechnica Press Conference on Monday November 13th 2017.
| A Trelleborg release || October 19, 2017 |||
Palace of the Alhambra, Spain
By: Charles Nathaniel Worsley (1862-1923)
From the collection of Sir Heaton Rhodes
Oil on canvas - 118cm x 162cm
Valued $12,000 - $18,000
Offers invited over $9,000
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242
Mount Egmont with Lake
By: John Philemon Backhouse (1845-1908)
Oil on Sea Shell - 13cm x 14cm
Valued $2,000-$3,000
Offers invited over $1,500
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242