The national society representing maintenance engineering has waded into the recent substandard steel mesh debate with a call for the government to show leadership before a tragedy occurs.
Maintenance Engineering Society of New Zealand (MESNZ) Chairman Barry Robinson says his society engaged with the government 7 years ago, highlighting the potential dangers of counterfeit materials. In Mr Robinson’s words, “The problem is endemic across the supply chain from steels and construction materials to stressed engineering elements. We are not talking single tragedies here, but the potential for a significant event taking out multiple lives.”
The Maintenance Engineering society has for several years gathered evidence of substandard steel, ball bearings, bolts, nuts, plumbing fittings, and others. “We are talking about vast quantities of very sub-standard materials and products infiltrating our society at every imaginable level, including automobile brake hoses, lubricants, food, health supplements, medicines, drugs and alcohol”.
The MESNZ points to potential issues with leaking houses, the reconstruction of Christchurch and significant infrastructure, and advocates among industry for awareness around false material certificates. “Most people don’t think of it, but these things form the very core of our society’s ability to function”.
“While the recent cases against Steel & Tube and Timber King highlight internal supply issues for New Zealand, soft trade barriers make us an attractive target for dumping substandard materials and the government appears frozen in the headlights when it comes to providing a solution that does not compromise our free market ethos. Practical and effective supply chain solutions are possible, along the lines of the Qualitymark model created by the Beef and Lamb Marketing Board. The government needs to show leadership in seeding such a solution before tragedy strikes or our international reputation is degraded.”
The QualityMark model works by accrediting suppliers who meet stringent product testing requirements. Testing is backed up with regular random sampling, giving continuous assurance to clients. The model was successfully introduced in the 1990’s to combat issues that included counterfeit meat. Such a model applied to the general supply chain would provide elective assurance for the market at minimal compliance cost.
The Maintenance Engineering Society’s members represent manufacturers and industries right across New Zealand industry and regularly report potential issues discovered with counterfeit materials, false certification and incorrect certification.
| An MESNZ release || June 9, 2017 |||
A 70-year-old international aviation law could save Qatar Airways from being completely grounded.
As reported by News Corp, Qatar Airways could save its international flights – that don’t include any of the countries its been banned by – thanks to one little loophole.
Earlier this week, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt all cut ties with Qatar, blocking movement between the countries, which included air transport. It also has prevented Qataris from transiting in airports of these nations.
As a result, Qatar Airways has suspended flights to these nations, while Etihad, flyDubai and Emirates have also stopped flights into Qatar. Yesterday, Qatar Airways responded to the ban in a statement provided to Travel Weekly and other media outlets.
The bans have resulted in the axing of about 100 flights a day, and the grounding of several aircraft.
Continue to read full article |||June 9, 2017 |||
They foolishly counseled the sidestepping of domestic issues especially the one of the crazed assassins active on UK streets
From the MSCNewsWire European Correspondent- Jun 10: Failure to identify priority issues has sunk UK premier Theresa May’s objective of attaining a decisive Parliamentary majority. Chief among them was a startling inability to confront the religious fanatic murders of passers-by in British cities.
This was covered by a wooden de-personalisation spectacular even by English bureaucratic standards.
It was officially delegated to the abstract as “attacks on democracy.”
Unbelievably these assassinations invoked a policy decision by the Conservatives to cut back on the police. No compensating investment for beefing up border or IT surveillance was given. Instead the Conservatives outlined a nebulous campaign to face-down Facebook.
Knowing that its constituency is composed of those of mature years, the Conservatives backed and filled on social spending notably in regard to the housebound infirm thus easily laying themselves open to cries of imposing a dementia tax.
Much the same thing happened to the school age generation where cuts were announced and again without any balancing counter-investments. This cup-half-empty exercise was repeated throughout the campaign, writes our European correspondent.
When these election-losing examples of social spending cuts at the poles of the age spectrum were drawn to the attention of Conservative policy makers, they simply U-turned, leaving their original errors unacknowledged.
It was the most bizarre Conservative Party election campaign in living memory. Mrs May came across as more elite and out of touch than any of the Euro-loving elites so spectacularly swept away in Brexit.
In contrast Labour’s leader Jeremy Corbyn, dismissed just a few weeks before as a looney-lefty, ambled donnishly and amiably around in an everyman manner conveying an impression of informed and sympathetic populism.
Mrs May meanwhile came across as the prissy headmistress of a posh boarding school trying to explain why she felt it necessary to use the cane quite so often.
All might still have been well if most of the votes from the imploding UKIP flowed on their anticipated course which was into the Conservatives.
Instead the UKIP votes flowed into Labour.
Mrs May’s snap general election was designed to give the conservatives a Parliamentary majority of sufficient size to hammer through Brexit without let or hindrance.
Instead quite the opposite happened – a hung Parliament which will be a breeding ground for boondoggling, and compromise.
Mrs May was decisive though over the SNP’s demand for another revolving door referendum on Scotland’s independence She gave a clear cut and unequivocal no with the result that the SNP seats were recovered by the Tories.
Elsewhere the signal was anything but clear.
Whether Mrs May remains or goes as premier now becomes the dangling conversation of Westminster
There is though one certainty.
Pedestrians slaughtered by crazed assassins might be categorised as unit casualties in an “attack on democracy”.
But those who were responsible for the Conservative campaign are due to have their heads displayed on the pikes on the bounds of Westminster.
They will include the obvious and visible candidates.
Also one highly decorated and much fawned over Austro-British back-room eminence who has learned as all showboating gamblers inevitably learn that pride does go before a fall however overdue the fall. .
| From This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. || Saturday 10 June 2017 |||