Founded by Max Farndale 1947 - 2018
Machine tool giant Mazak has passed another milestone in its embrace of “smart manufacturing” with full digitization of its manufacturing plant at Oguchi, Japan. The manufacturer emphasizes data analysis and machine connectivity in its designs — specifically using the MTConnect® open communications protocol and customized data-collection technology — and applies these in its own machine tool production processes, too.
“There is little doubt in the industry that MTConnect will soon be the standard worldwide and the foundation of tomorrow’s digitized manufacturing operations,” stated chairman Brian Papke. “At Mazak, we’ve experienced double-digit increases in productivity and machine utilization in each facility immediately after the implementation of digital process monitoring through MTConnect and our SmartBox technology.”
SmartBox is a network device that collects data from and supplies information to individual machines, and communicates with a wider network via the open protocol.
Oguchi is one of five Mazak plants in Japan, its headquarters location and the site of its R&D operations. The plant manufactures a range of horizontal and multi-tasking machines. A new plant Mazak is building at Inabe City, southwest of Tokyo, is designed according to the "iSMART Factory" concept and will begin producing machine tools in 2019.
Mazak’s first iSMART Factory is its plant in Florence, Ky., which manufactures the complete line of Mazak machine tools. The plant is organized as a series of advanced manufacturing cells and production systems in order to maximize productivity and flexibility. The MTConnect protocol links the machines, work cells, individual devices, and discrete processes, collecting process and product data from each one.
The iSMART Factory concept achieves “free-flow data sharing,” to optimize manufacturing by coordinating all available technology, information, and resources, in line with the theories projected as the industrial Internet of Things (IoT).
In addition to its two ISMART Factories and the one in development, Mazak indicated it would report further details in September.
| An AmericanMachinist release || Jul28, 2017 |||
Owning a boat is seen as an expensive exercise for most however Tauranga-based boat design company Hallmarine Design has come up with a solution: its Purekraft boats, which are flatpacked kitsets, a bit like IKEA furniture, making them far cheaper to ship around and easier to construct. Continue to full article . . .
One of New Zealand’s longest-running pioneering business success stories, Gallagher Power Fence Systems Limited, has announced plans to expand operations in Kenya at Tatu City. Gallagher will build 24 warehouses on four-acres at Tatu Industrial Park, the leading industrial area with Special Economic Zone status in East Africa. The warehouses will be used for storage of security products and for lease. Continue to full article . . .
HydroWorks Limited (“HydroWorks” or “Company”), a Christchurch based hydro engineering company, is pleased to announce that it has successfully commissioned five mini-hydro energy recovery systems (“Climate Defenders”) for the Melbourne Water Department (“Melbourne Water”). Continue to full article . . .
Recently run items on MSCNewsWire over the last few days . . . 
A buoy with the ability to “phone home” has been deployed in Wellington Harbour today to monitor currents, waves and water quality in the harbour. Continue to full article . . .
State-of-arts saws installed part of Health & Safety improvement
McClay says NZ-Thailand economic relationship upgraded
Chief Executive Wanted- Farra Engineering Dunedin based
Hundreds of offenders benefit from Employer Partnership Initiatives
A&G Price falls into liquidation
Immigration Policy Adjustments Helpful for Manufacturers - NZMEA
$1.25m boost for recycling farm plastic waste
Horticulture New Zealand has teamed up with WorkSafe New Zealand to create a health and safety toolkit specifically designed for horticulture businesses. Continue to full article . . .
Monday 31 July 2017 Vol:3 No:9
Delays at Aussie airports this week after Aussie ‘bomb plot’ raids Passengers travelling out of major Australian airports should plan their airport arrival to be earlier than usual from today, to allow for increased security screening after police and counter-terrorism agencies foiled a plot at the weekend to “bring down” a plane, reportedly an Australian domestic flight.
BusinessNZ today released its Election Manifesto.
A Taranaki Engineering company lays off all its staff
Seized phosphate shipment 'a tender situation'
Appeal for former A&G Price staff nets 40 job offers in 40 minutes
Tesla model 3 has landed - and it doesn't cost much more than a normal car
New Zealand start-up manufacturer REYEDR (pronounced rider) has announced the latest in augmented reality (AR) smart tech for the safety-conscious motorcycle enthusiast.Continue to full article . . .
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) and Airlines for America (A4A), have launched a year-long global campaign related to baggage tracking with the goal of reducing mishandled bags in addition to increasing efficiency in baggage operations. Continue to full article . . .
The most radi
cal of the new Ultime trimarans, the incredible Gitana 17 is designed to foil at over 50 knots and cross up to 900 miles a day, crewed by just one solo skipper. Elaine Bunting talked to designer Guillaume Verdier at the launch.Continue to full article . . .
An external central banking expert has commended the Reserve Bank’s forecasting and monetary policy decision-making processes.
As part of good practice peer review, the Bank regularly commissions reviews by external experts of its forecasting and monetary policy decision-making processes. It has modified its processes over the years in light of their findings.
Dr Philip Turner, former Deputy Head of the Monetary and Economic Department and a member of Senior Management of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), was requested to attend the February 2017 forecasting round, report on his assessment of the process, and make recommendations where relevant.
This issue of the Bulletin presents Dr Turner’s report back to the Bank.
Dr Turner comments that, in seeking to “avoid unnecessary instability in output, interest rates and the exchange rate”, the Bank’s mandate is realistic about what monetary policy can achieve.
“This mandate would not have been fulfilled in recent years, given the large shocks to international prices, by trying to keep the year-on-year inflation rate in New Zealand at close to 2 percent. To have achieved this, interest rates would have had to move by more than they have in recent years, and this would have created the unnecessary instability in output and the exchange rate that the RBNZ is enjoined to avoid.”
Dr Turner says it was clear that the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee, which advises the Governing Committee on the monetary policy decision, has in its sights key questions about what might be called the ‘new normal’ for monetary policy.
These include the lower natural or neutral rate of interest; the increased responsiveness of aggregate demand to any change in interest rates; and how macro-prudential policies will affect monetary policy.
He says that the Bank’s open working-level culture of challenging views or arguments in a constructive and professional way enables the Bank to avoid ‘policy blind spots’.
“The whole forecast round has been engineered to bring to bear a full range of economic analyses and to ensure an open and comprehensive debate.”
Dr Turner recommended further work on two topics.
“Both are on the radar screens of RBNZ economists. The first is what the changing labour market under heavy immigration means for non-tradable inflation. The second is what the ‘new normal’ for monetary policy after years of very low interest rates means for future monetary policy. The impact of interest rate increases on the financial industry and on the real economy may be quite different than in the past.”
Dr Turner concludes: “Results over the past few years speak for themselves. The RBNZ has helped steer its economy through several large external shocks. Because it has done so without becoming trapped at a zero policy rate and without multiplying the size of its balance sheet by buying domestic assets, it has retained more room to pursue, if needed, a more expansionary monetary policy than is available at present to many central banks of other advanced economies.” More informationBulletin: Reflections on the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s Monetary Policy Round
| A RBNZ release || July 28, 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
|
|
