Items filtered by date: Tuesday, 02 December 2014

Argenta, the New Zealand company dedicated to the creation, development and manufacture of products for the health of animals, is celebrating its 10th birthday this year.

Originally a small, South Auckland-based contract research company, Argenta is now a highly innovative and profitable international business with four locations in the US and New Zealand and 300 staff globally.

Argenta was borne out of a vision to create a company that could both invent, research and manufacture products for the global animal health industry – something that no other company was doing at the time. This specialty remains unique 10 years on.

“It’s quite unusual for a New Zealand company to find themselves in the position that Argenta finds itself in on its 10-year anniversary – it’s exciting and humbling, plus its pretty good going given there was a global financial crisis thrown in the mix,” says Argenta co-founder and managing director, Dr Doug Cleverly, who is based in Argenta’s South Auckland headquarters.

“We have matured as a company and are now being sought after by large American multinationals for both our research and manufacturing services, as well as for our intellectual property, which is pretty neat.

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Argenta, the New Zealand company dedicated to the creation, development and manufacture of products for the health of animals, is celebrating its 10th birthday this year.

Originally a small, South Auckland-based contract research company, Argenta is now a highly innovative and profitable international business with four locations in the US and New Zealand and 300 staff globally.

Argenta was borne out of a vision to create a company that could both invent, research and manufacture products for the global animal health industry – something that no other company was doing at the time. This specialty remains unique 10 years on.

“It’s quite unusual for a New Zealand company to find themselves in the position that Argenta finds itself in on its 10-year anniversary – it’s exciting and humbling, plus its pretty good going given there was a global financial crisis thrown in the mix,” says Argenta co-founder and managing director, Dr Doug Cleverly, who is based in Argenta’s South Auckland headquarters.

“We have matured as a company and are now being sought after by large American multinationals for both our research and manufacturing services, as well as for our intellectual property, which is pretty neat.

“We have several IP license deals in play that increase the Mana of the business,” he says.

Earlier this year, the company opened a new, 13,500-square-metre manufacturing facility in Fort Dodge, Iowa, to complement its New Zealand operations and support continued growth in the US. The acquisition followed the company’s opening of a drug product research laboratory in the world-renowned science precinct of Kansas University, Lawrence, Kansas City in 2011, and the purchase of a New Jersey-based clinical contract research subsidiary, AlcheraBio, in 2008.

“Our latest expansion into the US has unleashed an unprecedented interest in our business, which is benefitting our American divisions, as well as bringing significantly more research business to New Zealand,” says Cleverly.

He says a key contributor to the company’s success story has been attracting a dedicated team of highly-skilled experts who are driven to excel.

“Argenta is a story of a collective vision to create exceptional products and do the right things by our clients. We take on projects that on the face of it are impossible, but we go out and do it. It’s a thinking and a culture that we strive to embrace as the company continues to grow”.

The engine behind Argenta’s growth and expansion has been research and innovation. Creating its own revenue streams, both in research, and subsequently in manufacturing, have a natural link to the company’s ability to innovate.

Cleverly comments: “Innovation has been a constant thread in the company’s development and we have invested heavily in this area, about $2 million per year, in particular over the past three or four years. It’s quite a commitment, but we believe it is important for sustainable growth and also one of the key reasons why clients want to talk to us.

“Like any investment into the unknown, innovation is a mix of trepidation and excitement. We find ourselves able to innovate with the world’s best but the leap into the research abyss is not taken without some anxiety,” he says.

Looking to the next 10 years, Argenta plans to focus on maximising investment in innovation, and to expand the business into the European market, and the Middle East or Asia.

Source: NZBIO

Auckland precision electro magnets manufacturer, Buckley Systems is involved in the development and manufacture of the nuBeam proton accelerator machine for an alternative cancer treatment that has been announced overnight in Helsinki, Finland.

Boron Neutron Capture Therapy is not a new treatment, but making it a practical proposition has only been possible as a result of co-operation between Buckley Systems and engineers who used to work for GT Advanced Technologies in Danvers, Massachusetts and a Helsinki medical team. A new company, Neutron Therapeutics, has been set up to make the technology viable as a compact, affordable and hospital ready source for a single neutron irradiation treatment.

"It’s a three way partnership," said Bill Buckley, the President of Buckley Systems. "We’re the machine experts, Danvers develops the equipment and the Finns have the medical knowledge and experience."

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Wellington-based small business Method Recycling have won the $50,000 Westpac Growth Grant for 2016!

The company, co-founded by husband and wife team Steven and India Korner, creates stylish and functional recycling options for corporate offices.

Even though they’ve only been operating for a couple of years, they have already had great success, with customers in Australia,

“We’re a bit blown away to be honest”, Steven says. “We were privileged to being the top 6, but to take out the $50k, we’re pretty humbled by it.”

India agrees. “It will make such a difference to our business. We’ve got a good product and to really push it to the next level, it’s just amazing.”

Steven and India from Method

Steve and India spent three years designing the perfect rubbish bin for the modern and environmentally conscious corporate. Not only are the bins super stylish, but their stations are also easily customised so customers choose how many recycle bins they need, which recycling streams, and where they want them.

Steven says the Growth Grant will go towards their exporting goals to Australasia, and hopefully further afield too.

Source Westpac RedNews

Gross domestic product increased 0.9 percent in the June 2016 quarter, following a revised increase of 0.9 percent in the March 2016 quarter, Statistics New Zealand said today.

“Growth this quarter is being driven by strong domestic and export demand,” national accounts senior manager Gary Dunnet said. “Household spending was up 1.9 percent, with Kiwis spending more on going away, eating out, and furnishing their houses.”

Strong international demand saw exports increase 4.0 percent, with exports of goods posting its biggest quarterly increase in nearly 20 years. This increase was driven by exports of dairy products, meat, and fruit.

“Eleven of the 16 industries were up this quarter, with construction once again providing a boost to production.”

Construction grew 5.0 percent, with all construction sub-industries showing increases. This growth also reflected higher construction-related investment, with investment in residential building strongly increasing.

Service industries continued to grow, with a 0.7 percent increase. The main drivers were rental, hiring, and real estate services; retail trade; and health care.

GDP per capita increased 0.5 percent this quarter, following a 0.3 percent increase in the March quarter.

Annual GDP growth for the year ended June 2016 increased to 2.8 percent. The size of the economy in current prices was $252 billion.

The latest research shows the strength of manufacturing inNew Zealand – earning $22 billion in real GDP, employing 250,000 New Zealanders and growing regional economies around New Zealand. Manufacturing media weekly earnings are $959 per week, compared with the NZ economy as a whole - $882 per week. Manufacturing is expanding – and manufacturing is hiring.

Take a deep dive into the real story about manufacturing –recent growth stats... how NZ manufacturing is performing better than in Australia, USA, Europe and others... manufacturing is investing for future growth... manufacturing pumps over $12 billion in wages into NZ household each year... The importance of manufacturing to the New Zealand economy.

Cintinue Here To Download Presentation ⟶

Houman Nikmanesh wanted a personal propulsion device to move himself or a small watercraft through the water. Along with his team at Bixpy he has developed the Bixpy Jet, a modular and portable water-jet propulsion system. The Bixpy Jet is currently running a Kickstarter campaign to fund their first five hundred production units.

The jet can be attached to a kayak or paddleboard to make their watercraft motorized, or an attachment will allow swimmers to be propelled through the water. The page says that an average adult can swim at a speed of 2.2 miles per hour with the jet, on a battery charge of 45 minutes.

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The latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey shows Australian job seekers can expect to find the strongest employment opportunities in the Transport & Utilities sector as we head into the final quarter of 2016.

Of the 1,500 public and private employers surveyed, 20 per cent of Transport & Utilities employers indicated they intend to increase their headcount over the October and December timeframe, while the majority (76 per cent) said they would not make any change to their current workforce.

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The Maintenance Engineering Society’s 2016 SKF National Maintenance Engineering Conference is returning to Hamilton’s Claudelands Showgrounds this November with more new developments to add value to engineers assembling from all around the country.

For many years, the society has created a host of activities preceding the conference, designed to add value to the attendee’s experience. The annual field trip to local industry is a special opportunity enjoyed by all, taking place whist the public have a peek at the Trade Expo. The evening icebreaker cocktail evening is not to be missed too, for its fun, food and friendliness.

While engineers have come to enjoy the benefits of participation, the society has been quietly working away on one of its longer term goals; bringing training opportunities to the attendees.Organisers believe that engineers will appreciate linking their conference presence in with the opportunity to improve or refresh their technical skills with short course training. Minor options have been offered in previous years with encouraging support but the focus has been low key and the venues have tended to been offsite.

This year the organisers reckon they have it nailed, unveiling the first true Conference Training Village which will run on Tuesday November 8 at the conference venue. Purpose built as an adjunct to the Conference and Exhibition Hall, the concept is rapidly gathering favour as attendees and technical suppliers cotton on to the benefits of the concept. Already, the menu of available training is an attractive add-on to the Hamilton conference; asset management, materials, compressed air systems and health and safety are available to attendees and the general public, providing an opportunity to get alongside some of the main conference speakers:

Asset management is a feature topic of this year’s conference and the training village offers a brace of options for attendees. Society asset management spokesman Dr Steve Boshoff is offering a valuable “Introduction to Asset Management” session, while Guy Brandon is focusing on RCM for those wanting to concentrate on one topic. Conference international speaker and SKF Global Business Manager Egon Doyer will deliver a dedicated asset management workshop.

Kaeser Compressors offer an opportunity to attend their hugely popular session on compressed air fundamentals, terminology, control systems and troubleshooting specifically tailored to New Zealand industry.

Barry Robinson from SAFE Engineering is back with another of his technical training sessions on fundamental connections between material selection, manufacturing processes, and failure. Aimed at up skilling everybody in the organisation from apprentices to managers, the Training Village session will feature the latest technical tips on preventing common welding failures.

2016 has seen significant focus on health and safety and to help deliver their nationally acclaimed Health and Safety Made Simple and JSA Made Simple sessions, HasTraks Danica Wells will be assisting Craig Carlyle with a number of training slots.

Such a wide ranging choice of topics and presenters at an one-stop location has never been offered to engineers before and the society is excited about the opportunity to help engineers lift their game. MESNZ is acting as the facilitator for the Training Village and bookings are made directly with the training providers. A number of further opportunities in HVAC, infra red thermography and instrumentation are in the pipeline as we go to print so to stay up to play with the latest offerings, download flyers or book, readers should go to http://www.mesnz.org.nz/conference/training-village/

Meanwhile, the conference proper is swinging into full gear with an expanded Exhibition Hall, a full programme of national and international speakers and registrations filling up rapidly for the two day event on November 9,10 at Claudelands Event Centre in Hamilton. The 2016 SKF National Maintenance Engineering Conference is specifically designed to provide engineers a forum to explore solutions for their workplace from technical to preventative maintenance, health and safety and maintenance management. Delegates will hear from international and national experts as well as their own peers and spend a lot of time rubbing shoulders with those who share common solutions as well as exploring the latest technical solutions from the largest maintenance engineering focused exhibition in New Zealand.

Representing maintenance engineers, the non profit society strives to keep the entry cost as low as possible and has once again managed to provide the lowest cost opportunity in the Southern Hemisphere with entry fees as low as $495+GSTpp (subsequent delegate) and single day pass options available. RRP is $725+GSTpp. Pre-registration is essential and this can be done on line at http://www.mesnz.org.nz/conference/registration/ or by calling Leanne Powley at 09 296 1333

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA--(Marketwired - Sep 13, 2016) - To enable IT service providers to capitalize on fast-moving trends in key technology sectors, Westcon Financial Services has opened offices in Australia. The move signals a strong commitment by the company to support its customers with innovative financial services that can help accelerate their growth potential. Industry veteran Mark Hegarty has been appointed director of Australian and New Zealand (ANZ) operations with responsibility for leading the company's business strategy and operations, as well as managing and delivering its financial solutions and products portfolio for Westcon-Comstor's Australian and New Zealand customers, partners, and manufacturers. Based in Sydney, Hegarty will report directly to London-based Christian Roelofs, managing director, Westcon Financial Services.

"Mark brings a great deal of industry and financial services experience to the Australian operations," Roelofs said. "He is ideally suited to help us expand both our team and product offering in a rapidly changing marketplace."

Hegarty has more than 25 years' experience in the financial services industry, working recently for CNH Industrial Capital as national sales manager and, prior, as managing director of Future Finance Corporation.

"Investment decisions are no longer about lease versus buy, and Westcon Financial Services can provide creative and innovative financial solutions tailored to today's 'Everything-as-a-Service' business model," Hegarty said. "We are now in a unique position to provide Australian and New Zealand partners and customers with an integrated offering from the beginning of the engagement."

"The expansion of the team signals a strong commitment to the international financial services business. We now have a foundation across core geographies to accelerate the strategic objective of providing Westcon-Comstor customers with financial solutions that enable a genuine competitive advantage," Roelofs said.

Westcon Financial Services has also recently invested in a director for its North American operations, Paul Christensen, as well as a commercial director for its U.K. operations, Paul Tweehuysen.

About Westcon-ComstorWestcon-Comstor (WestconGroup Inc.) is a value-added technology distributor of category-leading solutions in Security, Collaboration, Networking and Data Center. The company is transforming the technology supply chain through its capabilities in Cloud, Services and Global Deployment. Westcon-Comstor combines expert technical and market knowledge with industry-leading partner enablement programs. Westcon-Comstor delivers results together through deep partner relationships. The company goes to market under the Westcon and Comstor brands.