SAINT-GOBAIN Purchase of JTT Composites / Deal includes plant, R&D office as well as “RT2i” technologyWithout disclosing the purchasing price, Saint-Gobain (Paris / France; www.saint-gobain.com) in late May announced that it had acquired MIPNET Industries’ (Merignac / France) JTT Composites assets. The business, which operates a production plant near Bordeaux / France, produces composite parts for the aerospace market and also runs an R&D facility. The acquisition will allow Saint-Gobain to access JTT Composites’ proprietary “RT2i” weaving technology, which is said to combine the automated manufacture of 3D dry textile reinforcements in “Kevlar”, carbon or other types of fibre with…

June 15, 2016 - Jaguar Land Rover has officially opened a factory its first fully-owned manufacturing plant outside of the UK, in Brazil. The new South American plant will construct the Range Rover Discovery Sport and Evoque, which are the two most popular Jaguar Land Rover cars in Brazil. The opening of the site also marks the first time a UK-based car manufacturing company has opened a manufacturing site in Latin America. The new Jaguar Land Rover factory will be built in Itatiaia and signifies the next phase in the firm’s global expansion scheme after it opened a Chinese joint…

ABU DHABI // An industrial strategy that aims to add Dh165 billion to the economy and create thousands of jobs by 2030 has been approved by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai. The strategy sets out priorities for developing aerospace, maritime, aluminium and fabricated metals, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment, food and beverages, and machinery and equipment industries. The industrial sector is expected to grow by Dh18bn by 2030, creating 27,000 jobs, with exports forecast to rise by Dh16bn. Investment in research and development will increase by Dh700 million by 2030. “The Dubai Industrial Strategy aims to…

At the end of last year, Autodesk announced the creation of a new cloud-based platform for developers of cloud-based applications related to design and manufacturing, along with a $100 million investment fund with which Autodesk can support those who sign on to build apps for the program. An all-encompassing ecosystem, Forge features numerous application program interfaces (APIs) and software development kits (SDKs) that allow for a wide variety of applications, from viewing and presenting 3D models to transforming 2D images into 3D models. Since the initial December 2015 announcement, the Forge Platform has continued to evolve. Among the updates surrounding…

Tauranga will be the New Zealand port of call for Maersk's new service from North Asia to South America. ​ June 24, 2016 - New Zealand will be a "bus stop on the route" of a new south-bound weekly shipping service between North Asia and the west coast of Latin and South America. Maersk's Triple Star will arrive from North Asia on July 24, stopping at Japan, Korea, China and Taiwan. It will call at Tauranga, picking up goods from ports around the country and carry on to South America, calling at Peru, Chile, Panama, Colombia and Mexico. Maersk Line…

London, June23, 2016 -Technavio has announced the top 10 leading vendors for the global packaging market in their latest research report. This report also lists 10 other prominent vendors who are expected to contribute to this market’s growth over the forecast period. Technavio announces top 10 leading vendors for the global packaging market from 2016-2020.Tweet this To identify the top vendors, Technavio’s market research analysts have considered the top contributors to the overall revenue of this market. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated through the sales of different types of packaging materials. Request sample report:…

Tertiary Education Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce has today announced that the Workplace Literacy and Numeracy fund will be extended to include industry trainees. “Literacy and numeracy skills are critical to helping people succeed in the workplace and while they’re training. This change will mean that industry trainees starting out at Levels 1 and 2 on the NZ Qualifications Framework who need to improve their literacy and numeracy skills will be able to get help from specialist providers while they train.” “The Workplace Literacy and Numeracy Fund is doing a great job of providing training and support for businesses…

An alternative to government funding agencies handing out cash grants to small-to-medium-sized enterprises would be paying local organisations such as District Health Boards to trial their products so they can get New Zealand customers and data at an early stage, says start-up chief executive Siobhan Bulfin. Bulfin is founder of Melon Health, a patient engagement and behaviour change platform for the prevention and management of chronic disease. The company based in Wellington and San Francisco originally aimed to effect change in addictive behaviours such as excessive drinking but now targets patients with chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes which…

A textile and furnishings designer with an eye for high-tech is joining an expert in Māori textiles and an environmental scientist as keynote speakers at a conference co-hosted by Massey University that acknowledges the impact of the natural world on textiles and clothing. This year’s symposium, Nature Now, which will be co-hosted by Te Papa and Massey at the College of Creative Arts’ Wellington campus, focuses on the rich relationship between nature and the world of textiles and costume. The annual symposium to be held from July 7-8 is run by The Costume and Textile Association of New Zealand (CTANZ),…

Stainless steel fabricator, NDA Group, have added to their operations in the United States in purchasing World Wide Exchangers (WWE) who are based in the state of Oklahoma.  WWE are providers of heat exchangers to the gas processing and compression markets in North America and will complement NDA's existing operations in the region.   Mark Eglington, CEO of NDA Group, told DEMM magazine,  "WWE has an excellent reputation for innovative, cost effective designs delivered on time. These are critical drivers of the gas processing and compression markets. This innovative business is a great acquisition and a significant strategic step into an…

Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce and Communications Minister Amy Adams today, Tuesday 21 June 2016, welcomed a report showing the technology sector’s value to the New Zealand economy. The report, Digital Nation New Zealand: From Tech Sector to Digital Nation, provides analysis of the nature and size of the technology sector and its impact on the New Zealand economy. “The technology sector is a vital and rapidly growing part of the New Zealand economy and the information in this report underlines the role the sector is playing in transitioning New Zealand into a leading digital nation,” Mr Joyce says. “I…