UK soft drinks firm Britvic has said it has reached a major milestone in efforts to develop a wood fibre bottle.
The firm revealed the advance in its 2016 sustainability report and said it could revolutionise packaging across multiple sectors.
Britvic has been working on the packaging over the last three years in partnership with Innovate UK and UK-based SME Natural Resources (2000).
It said that this year it had managed to produce bottles on a prototype manufacturing line using the technology and had also begun to develop a bottle closure system using similar wood fibre-based material.
“This new technology has the potential to significantly reduce the environmental impact of packaging as the materials are sustainably sourced, renewable and fully recyclable,” said Britvic.
It added that the new process requires less energy to produce a bottle than its contemporary equivalents.
In the report CEO Simon Litherland said the company had made significant investment in manufacturing sites to improve productivity and resource efficiency.
Investments made in the firm’s Leeds plant last year have led to water and energy consumption falling by 22% and 45% respectively, relative to production.
“These upgrades have also allowed us to access the latest in packaging technology, resulting in lighter bottles and less packaging materials being used,” he added.
The company reported 84% of its manufacturing waste was recycled in 2016.
Some 90% of direct suppliers are linked on the company’s responsible sourcing platform, Sedex.
And while the company’s road mileage has increased this year, resulting in a 5% increase in emissions to 25,177 tonnes of CO2, part of the reason for this increase was temporary changes to production locations.
The company said it had optimised pallet movements to maximise efficiency, which had helped to save the equivalent of 265 tonnes of CO2.
And during 2016 the company identified which of its sourcing regions are at risk from water scarcity and discussed with suppliers how they were managing these threats.
“Next year will see us continue our engagement activity, aiming to educate our suppliers on responsible water practices,” said Britvic.
| A SupplyManagement release | March 30, 2017 |||
Computer services and machinery manufacturing firms led the way in an almost 30 percent lift in business spending on research and development (R&D) in 2016, Stats NZ said today. Businesses spent $1.6 billion on R&D in 2016, up $356 million (29 percent) from 2014.
The computer services sector had the biggest dollar-value increase in R&D within the business sector, up $125 million (40 percent) to $436 million in 2016. Computer services firms include New Zealand businesses providing services such as producing and distributing software, and web design.
The second-largest increase in business-related R&D spending was for machinery and equipment manufacturing, up $105 million (37 percent) to $392 million in 2016. These firms include high-tech manufacturing firms developing new products and services for sale in New Zealand or overseas.
Total spending on R&D by businesses, government, and higher education was $3.2 billion in 2016, up $531 million (20 percent) from 2014. R&D in the higher education (university) sector lifted and government R&D had a modest rise, but the bulk of the overall increase was from business spending.
“R&D spending is about investing in New Zealand’s future. It paves the way for new and better products or more efficient ways of doing things, although the process can take years,” business performance senior manager Daria Kwon said.
“While higher R&D spending is a key driver of economic growth according to some studies, it is not a guarantee that a business will be more creative or profitable.”
All services sector groups spent more on R&D in 2016 than in 2014, with an overall $203 million (32 percent) increase to $835 million. In the higher education sector, universities' R&D spending was up $143 million (18 percent) from 2014 to $960 million in 2016.
Graph, Research and development expenditure, by sector, 2008 to 2016.
Data and analysis
Research and Development Survey: 2016 – for more data and analysis
| A STATSNZ release | March 29,2017 |||
With a new year comes an inevitable update of your CAD package, and that always begs the question, should I keep my license or upgrade? Well, with Autodesk Inventor and the company’s new subscription-based plan, that decision has likely been made for you, and now it’s time to reap the benefits.
Inventor 2018 has been on the market since last week, and for those looking for the latest features in their CAD tools, here’s what you can expect from the latest version of Autodesk’s flagship mechanic design package.
MBE Tools Demanded, MBE Tools Delivered
Demand and model-based engineering (MBE) as a standard CAD paradigm is increasing throughout the design world. Not only are big-time movers and shakers like the DoD insisting that fluency with MBE be a prerequisite for any contractor, the ever-tightening integration between design, prototyping and manufacturing is making MBE coin of the realm.
To give users the tools they’ll need to meet this new design focus, Inventor comes equipped for model-based design (MBD) tools that make it easy to annotate models with tolerance information, critical dimensions and manufacturing notes so that a project can move from modeling to CMM and CAM in a flash. In addition, Inventor users can output 3D PDF files so that design information can be effectively communicated to manufacturers off-site.
Interoperability Expanded
Designers today have to deal with a number of variables when building a product. One of the most consistent of those variables is that a team will likely be interacting with a number of third-party vendors and, most likely, a few different CAD file formats.
In the past, having to juggle multiple file formats made collaboration with third-party products awkward and time consuming, but in Inventor 2018, the software supports a number of different file flavors and formats, making it easy to leverage the design work that’s already been done by others so that workflows are streamlined.
Customer-Driven Enhancements Round out 2018
Aside from MBD and interoperability enhancements, the Inventor engineering team has tapped its deep user base to implement over 50 Inventor Idea requests into 2018. Whether it’s improvements to such essential features as “Chamfer,” “Extrude” or “Hole” commands, Inventor’s refinement is reaching a level that’s difficult to match by other CAD programs. But modeling features aren’t the only aspects of the software that have seen improvements thanks to user input. In Inventor 2018, the “Measure” tool has been simplified and improved to make it easier to use, and bill of materials (BOM) and parts list sort orders have been made easier to organize based on user input commands.
For more information about Inventor 2018, visit CADPROSystems
| An engineering.com release - visit site for images & videos | March 28, 2017 |||
Colour Graphic Services is offering free ‘colour health checks’ for offset, digital and wide-format printers at PacPrint in May.
Printers can print the free test forme to the best of their ability on the device of their choice and bring it to CGS’s stand B62 at PacPrint, where ‘Colour Doctor’ David Crowther will analyse and provide feedback on their colour performance. “The test provides printers with a report and detailed information about where their colour quality is at on the device they printed it on. We’re measuring it against the ISO standard for print, which is the basis for colour quality, so they can see how close they are and we can advise what they should do,” Crowther said.
The health check will be performed using ISO 13655-compatible Techkon spectrophotometers, and compared against the ISO 12647 colour standard using Mellow Colour software. The program will provide a detailed report within seconds, identifying colour issues and suggesting remedies.
Printers interested in the health check can obtain the forme by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. “The file we send in advance is big, around 200MB, so either high bandwidth or a file sending service such as DropBox or SendStuffNow can be used. It’s a PDF so can easily be put into the workflow and printed out,” Crowther said.
A CGS press release says taking advantage of the free service at PacPrint could provide a saving of hundreds of dollars, as the same process in a metro area would cost between $495 and $995 to produce, measure and report on the test forme.
| A CGS release | March 27, 2017 |||
ABB has announced the launch of the world’s first digital distribution transformer at the ABB Customer World event in Houston, Texas.
According to the conglomerate, the new TXpert™ will be able to provide information to maximize reliability, while optimizing operating and maintenance costs.
With integrated sensing and monitoring technology, the transformer’s system will be able to collect this data, storing and analyzing it in order to offer insights on its operations.
| An ABB release \ March 27, 2017 |||
The first three months of 2017 have brought several surprises that can possibly impact the global transformer industry. These article series will examine the possible impacts that these events could have on the global transformer industry. Only time will tell which if any of these events will come to pass.
January 2017 saw the inauguration of a new president in the United States and a major shift in how the U.S. will look at the world as stated by President Trump in his inaugural address, ‘Buy American & American Made’ being a prime focus. ABB announcing the close of a plant in New Zealand. The British Parliament’s vote to confirm BREXIT. And finally the commissioning of a new GOES production line in Brazil. These are just a few of the events that we examine.
Part I of this report will concentrate on events that can possibly impact global transformer manufacturers. Part II will focus on the possible impacts to the North American transformer industry.
Let’s start with recent BREXIT vote in the United Kingdom. We now know that the UK Parliament will activate Rule 50 on March 29th. In response the EU Commission has stated that terms of the departure will be such that no other country will want to leave the EU.
What will BREXIT do to the transformer industry? Will the UK maintain the import duties on grain oriented electrical steel (GOES)? What about efficiency standards?
Duties on GOES crossing the Channel?
At this point UK does have a mill producing grain oriented electrical steel (GOES), the CORUS Division of Tata British steel. It is possible that with BREXIT that the EU will look at this mill in the same light that they have with mills in Japan, China, South Korea, Russia and the United States. In that case there would be duties on GOES crossing the Channel.
Which brings us to the Tata British Steel / ThyssenKrupp joint venture. Currently Tata British Steel is in negations with ThyssenKrupp to merge Tata’s specialty steel division. Will ThyssenKrupp want to have production facilities across the Channel in a non-EU country with the possibility of import duties, or will they want to move that capacity into their plants in France and Germany?
Experts stated in 2016 that the UK, on its own, could not meet the EU 2020 Efficiency Standards. Not being a member of the EU, will they decide to adhere to the 2020 Efficiency Standard or will they decide to adopt a less strict standard. If the UK adopts a less strict standard will UK transformer companies be forced to produce a line of transformers for export to the EU and a separate design of the UK.
In recent years we have seen the EU transformer industry out-sourcing their transformer core manufacturing. Much of this has gone to Turkey and the Middle East. Some of the reasoning for this has been the duties imposed by the EU on imported GOES and the continued efforts to reduce costs.
EU transformer manufacturers should be concerned about their supply chain
With the relations between the EU and Turkey becoming more strained, should European transformer manufacturers be concerned about their supply chain, not only, for cores but also magnet wire.
The global GOES supply is undergoing changes also.
In 2016 Allegheny Technologies announced that they were leaving the GOES market, while in China the merger of Baosteel and Wuhan Iron & Steel (WISCO) was announced. This meant that the United States lost one of it’s two GOES producer and 115,000 tons of capacity.
The merger of Baosteel and WISCO could represent a reduction in Chinese GOES capacity since neither company has been operating their GOES facilities at capacity for at least the past year.
Just recently AK Steel has stated that they expect reduced shipments of GOES through the first half of 2017.
To offset these concerns, Aperam has just commissioned a new GOES processing line at their Brazilian operation allowing them to produce HiB. This would be a first for South America.
In India, late 2016 the Russian steel producer NLMK signed a LOI with the Indian government to build a mill in India capable of producing GOES. Maybe they will have better luck than POSCO.
| A Power Transformer release | March 27, 2017 |||
It's always a buzz to see whatt's going on on the factory floors of businesses in New Zealand. Here is a prime example of innovation, persistance and application about Nick Fentan MD of Tino Marine and published in the mornings NZHerald . . .
> > > Continue here to read the article in full with images . . .
Out of Europe is the new visual identity features for Fanta Orange an innovative spiral bottle and a new recipe which contains a third less sugar.
Nearly two years in the making, the bottle is an industry-first, replacing traditional, symmetrical designs with a spiral version which twists the plastic to form a unique, eye-catching shape.
CCEP said driving the new look is a fresh new logo which was created using hand cut paper and transformed into a digital logo to depict movement and spontaneity.
Fanta’s personality is brought out by a hidden smile, and the iconic Fanta orange is highlighted by a new colour palette, which has been designed to create impact on shelf.
The logo also complements a fresh twist on the Fanta bottle.
Simon Harrison, operational marketing director at CCEP, said: “The evolution of Fanta is another example of how we’re energising our portfolio of leading brands to ensure they remain relevant to consumers whilst helping to drive sales for our retail customers.
“This year looks set to be the biggest in Fanta’s history, with a fresh new look inside and out and a multi-million pound investment support plan.”
| A packaging News release | March 26, 2017 |||
Mechanical fastening has long been the standard method of keeping manufacturing assemblies together, but adhesive bonding has seen a rise in popularity as an alternative technique.
Mechanical fastening with screws and rivets, welding or soldering and brazing are effective, yet insufficiently distribute load stress, which compromises structural strength. Additionally, they present a risk of galvanic corrosion and can add weight to a product.
Proponents of structural bonding with adhesives tout advantages in weight, greater structural strength and minimization of galvanic corrosion as primary benefits of using bonding agents such as epoxy resins versus traditional mechanical fastening.
Additional benefits of adhesive bonding include:
Despite these benefits, engineers need to carefully plan and execute the application of adhesive bonding – it’s not like a piece of tape you can just tear off and reapply.
It’s important to be mindful of joint designs, performance properties of the adhesive, surface preparation requirements, curing requirements and polymer chemistry options.
Whether you need an epoxy resin, hot melt, contact sprays or other chemistries will depend on your application. It’s important to work closely with your adhesive supplier to clearly define how you can meet your application requirements.
> > > Select herre to read this engineering.com article in full | March 24,2017 |||
New Zealand is missing a prime opportunity to combine its sustainable timber resources with an innovative manufacturing system to build faster and more efficiently.
Daryl Patterson, Head of Operational Excellence at Lend Lease Australia, states Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) is that missing link.
CLT is an engineered wood system made from several layers of dimensional lumber boards, stacked crossways and bonded together.
Speaking at the Wood Processors & Manufacturers Association of New Zealand (WPMA) and Property Council New Zealand Tall Timber Buildings seminar last week, Mr Patterson questioned why, given New Zealand’s ample timber resources, there is not greater use of CLT in our construction sector.
“New Zealand is fortunate as all manufactured timber is made here. In Australia, we import manufactured timber as we don’t have the large timber resources to supply the raw product.
“You also have the design talent, a market that accepts timber and local manufacturers who have invested heavily in the technology to deliver and supply CLT.”
Mr Patterson says he investigated CLT after seeing how 3D printing and robotic technology could be used to manufacture multi storey buildings.
“We had a design team look at this and the challenge was not the printer but the ink. We had to ask what will we make these buildings from. We needed a lightweight, strong, easy to manufacture, raw material.
“We looked at over 100 options and it kept coming back to timber: easy to construct, sustainable, durable and cost efficient.”
CLT provides the dimensional stability, strength and rigidity of alternative products at similar costs and can be digitally fabricated.
“This technology allows for mass customisation as the tools of design talk to the tools of production.
“We can now design and manufacture an entire apartment block in a warehouse, from a computer software program and robotics operated by one guy.”
Mr Patterson cites London’s Graphite Apartments as an example.
“We looked first at the 2008 construction of the Graphite Apartments, in London. This was social and affordable housing where CLT was being used in very economically tight circumstances. They had to make it work and reducing cost was the rationale for using CLT. They could build faster, cheaper and break the height record for timber buildings by 50 per cent.”
Mr Patterson believes the cost saving is partly due to the speed of construction and the ability to make the building water tight far earlier in the construction process than can be achieved with traditional materials.
Bringing that knowledge back to Australia, Lend Lease went on to build the Forté, Melbourne’s tallest timber building in 2013.
“What we found using CLT was, not only was it faster to build than a conventional building by 30 per cent, we also reduced truck movements to and from the site by 90 per cent.”
Mr Patterson says other benefits included a quieter construction site, a smaller construction crew and significant thermal properties. He adds the feedback from buyers was overwhelmingly positive.
“Buyers were not concerned about what the building was built out of. They just wanted a nice, modern home and we were able to deliver that on time, at a reasonable price using CLT.”
Mr Patterson also made reference to the recent, $150 million 5 King development in Brisbane, which is busting the scale for timber buildings at 52 meters high and features over 25,000 square meters of CLT.
“Brisbane is a tough market to sell commercial buildings in. We wanted to bring construction costs down to reduce rent and attract tenants.
“There is strong interest by investors in sustainable, well-designed, CLT constructed buildings as they are known to attract and retain tenants.
“These buildings offer a lower carbon footprint than other building materials and they are also great environments to work in.”
The implications for New Zealand, Mr Patterson argues, are huge.
“In Christchurch, you have 1000 new buildings constructed with steel and concrete. These products are being imported from other countries when New Zealand is growing and manufacturing even better buildings in timber frame.
“CLT has the durability, strength, stability, seismic resilience, thermal performance, fire resistance, moisture management and vapour diffusion, healthy indoor environment, and design flexibility. New Zealand should champion this system and become the world leader in CLT constructed buildings.”
| An NZLife release | March 23, 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