Tuesday, October 4, 2016 1:34 PM: The New Zealand Institute of Economic Research's (NZIER) closely-watched Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion showed that New Zealand's business confidence perked up in September quarter to a two-year high. In seasonally adjusted terms, a net 26 percent of firms were optimistic about the general outlook, up from 19 percent in June. Net confidence about businesses' own activity over the next quarter improved to 32 percent from 22 percent in the June quarter (the highest since mid-2014). Construction and retail business confidence improved, while manufacturing sector confidence was steady. Services sector confidence also improved. A net…

The new design of the Green Fibre Bottle was unveiled at the Sustainable Brands 2016 Copenhagen conference.  Carlsberg green fiber500 business leaders joined the Sustainable Brands community at the conference, aimed at inspiring business success through innovation and ‘Activating Purpose’ towards a sustainable future. As part of the work of the Carlsberg Circular Community, Carlsberg kicked off  the development project in 2015with Danish packaging company EcoXpac to develop a beer bottle made from sustainably sourced wood fibre. The first prototype of a fibre-based bottle was revealed in January 2015 by Professor Flemming Besenbacher, Chairman of the Carlsberg Foundation, at the…

Manufacturing the UK’s new nuclear submarine fleet will generate a supply chain spend of between £8bn and £9bn.  efence secretary Michael Fallon said construction on the four Successor Class submarines would begin this week, as he announced nearly £1.3bn of new investment for BAE Systems. The defence company will build the new submarines at its shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. Continue to full article

New Zealand aircraft manufacturer Pacific Aerospace is poised to open a new manufacturing facility for its P-750 XSTOL single-engined turboprop in Changzhou, eastern China, which will be dedicated to producing the extremely short take-off and landing type for the Chinese market.  The announcement comes as the Hamilton-based airframer prepares to deliver the first Garmin G600-equipped P-750 to Papua New Guinea, where it will be used for medical evacuation services. “The glass cockpit replaces the P-750's analogue dials and is being offered as standard on all models ordered from October,” says Pacific's general manager, global sales, Mark Crouch. “The older system…

SEALORD, New Zealand’s largest fishing company, has turned to Norway to help it extend and modernise its fishing fleet. The company has placed a NOK 400 million plus order for a new factory trawler with Simek, based at Flekkefjord on the southern Norwegian coast. This is Sealord’s first newbuild for more than 20 years. The 82.90m trawler will be able to process all of Sealord’s target species at sea. Designed by Skipsteknisk, it will be delivered in 2018. Sealord’s shareholders, Maori owned Moana New Zealand and Japanese company Nippon Suisan Kaisha, said they are committed to part-funding the vessel. Sealord’s…

The company argues that control over LinkedIn's data would be anticompetitive.Microsoft made a splash earlier this year when it announced the largest acquisition in its history, signing an agreement to buy LinkedIn for US$26.2 billion. But now, Salesforce is trying to convince the European Union to block the deal. Salesforce Chief Legal Officer Burke Norton will argue to the EU's competition authority that Microsoft's control of LinkedIn's dataset following an acquisition would be anticompetitive. EU competition chief Margarethe Vestager said in January that her agency would be looking directly at whether a company's use of data is bad for competition,…

Uflex and Perfotec showcased Flexfresh Liner Bags in Asia Fruit Logistica 2016 following reported success with the product in several other regions including New Zealand.   Teams from Uflex and Perfotec showcased the Active Modified Atmospheric Packaging (MAP) technology to over 100 companies in the Asian Region explaining the open architecture technology for Shelf Life Extension. Speaking during the show, Bas Groeneweg, chief executive Perfotec said: “I am honored to present the Fast Respiration Meter to the Asian Fresh Produce industry for them to benefit from the Shelf Life extension solution brought together by Perfotec and Uflex.”  “Several trials have…

Okuma America Corporation, a world-leader in CNC machine tools announces that System Insights Inc. is the newest member to join Partners in THINC. System Insights provides technology for Smart Factory, Industry 4.0, and IIoT client initiatives.  They are a leader in providing technology to connect assets that monitor, analyze, and optimize the factory floor for improved operational performance. VIMANA by System Insights securely connects to factory assets using MTConnect and OPC UA. It enriches and analyzes machine data to provide real-time visibility and actionable insights for improved control over operations. VIMANA integrates with mission critical systems to optimize processes to…

HONG KONG, Sept 29, 2016 - (ACN Newswire) - Ausnutria Dairy Corporation Ltd ("Ausnutria" or the "Company", together with its subsidiaries, the "Group"; stock code: 1717.HK), a dairy company which specializes in the manufacture and distribution of infant formula with production facilities based in the PRC and the Netherlands, is pleased to announce today that Ausnutria and Westland, the second largest dairy co-operative in New Zealand, will form a Joint Venture to establish a new manufacturing plant at Rolleston in New Zealand for the production and sale of dairy based powder products, including infant milk powder, follow-up formulation and other…

The Steel Fabricator Certification (SFC) qualification will soon be mandatory for all Steel Construction New Zealand (SCNZ) fabricator members. Launched in 2014, SFC is an industry-led quality assurance scheme that aims to reduce risk for specifiers. It ensures participating structural steel fabricators are capable of manufacturing product to the specified quality standard by certifying that companies have the appropriate personnel and quality management systems in place. Members of industry organisation SCNZ voted unanimously to introduce the compulsory requirement at its AGM in Napier on September 16. Bob Hawley, SCNZ Chair and Managing Director of structural steel fabricator Red Steel Limited, says:…

ORLANDO, Florida — With the acquisition of APC Logistics nearly complete, C.H. Robinson Worldwide is living up to its name, increasingly looking overseas for new routes to global markets. The APC acquisition gives the $13.5 billion company a bigger presence in Australia and ports such as Napier, New Zealand. At the same time, the largest US logistics provider is pushing boundaries in Europe, naming a new transportation operations director and opening shop in Slovakia. At $225 million, the APC Logistics buyout is the largest acquisition by C.H. Robinson since the $635 million acquisition of Phoenix International in 2012. “We’re primarily…