Fresh thinkers 2014

SUCCESS STORIES
FROM OUR COMMUNITY

CONTENTS
Access Automation��4
Acma Industries��5
AROTEC Diagnostics��6
Booker-Spalding��7
Callaghan Innovation��8
Contherm Scientific��9
Dulux�� 10
ESG Asia-Pacific�� 11
Eurofins�� 12
Fraser Engineering �� 13
GlycoSyn�� 14
GNS Science�� 15
Groenz�� 16
HTS-110�� 17
Im-Able�� 18
Label and Litho�� 19
Macaulay Metals�� 20
Open Polytechnic�� 21
Pertronic Industries�� 22
Racetech�� 23
Rembrandt�� 24
Resene�� 25
Robinson Seismic�� 26
RPS Switchgear �� 27
Steel Tube�� 28
Tekron�� 29
Times-7�� 30
WelTec�� 31
Woolyarns�� 32
“We need to instil
an awareness of
our remarkable
successes and our
capacity to do a
whole lot more.”
Sir Paul Callaghan

Contherm
Scientific
Arotec
Diagnostics
Eurofins ESG Asia
Pacific
Macaulay
Metals
Steel
Tube
Groenz
Im-Able
GNS Science
Dulux
Tekron
GNS Science
(National Isotope Centre)
HTS-110
Glycosyn
Callaghan
Innovation
RPS Switchgear
WelTec
Booker-
Spalding
Label Litho
Access
Automation
Open
Polytechnic
UPPER HUTT
LOWER HUTT
TAITA
WINGATE
AVALON
NAENAE
GRACEFIELD
SEAVIEW
HUTT CENTRAL
SH2
Hutt River
To Wellington
PETONE
Resene
Rembrandt
Robinson
Seismic
Racetech
Times 7
Acma
Industries
Fraser
Engineering
Woolyarns
Pertronic
As at April 2014

Fresh Thinkers is a
celebration of science,
engineering and technology
in the Hutt Valley. It tells
the stories of some of the
Hutt’s innovation and
high tech manufacturing
champions.
These innovators give many reasons for
making the Hutt Valley home-base: the
central geographic location; the availability
of a skilled and entrepreneurial workforce;
the access to raw materials; the proximity
of the transport hubs for effective national
and international distribution; as well as
family roots and opportunities for a great
outdoor lifestyle.
City leaders are committed to transforming
the Hutt Valley into one of New Zealand’s
leading export and economic growth
centres, based on science, engineering
and technology. Whilst acknowledging the
proud history of industry in the Hutt Valley
spanning nearly a century, our Fresh Thinkers
demonstrate the transformation that has
occurred in New Zealand’s manufacturing
sector – in what we make, and where we
sell it to.
We hope that the diverse range of
organisations and businesses profiled here
will create awareness amongst existing
businesses of the many success stories
right here on our doorstep, encourage future
businesses to make the Hutt Valley their
location of choice and inspire our young
people to consider science, engineering and
technology as a career.
Ray Wallace
Mayor
FRESH
THINKERS

3
3,900+FULLTIMEEMPLOYEESIN826LOWERHUTT
BUSINESSESINTHEHIGH-TECHSECTOR
115HEACTARESZONED
INDUSTRIAL-COMMERCIAL
115HEACTARESZONED
INDUSTRIAL-COMMERCIAL
5CROWNRESEARCHINSTITUTES,
2RESEARCHCAMPUSES,
AND2TERTIARYINSTITUTIONS
ZERODEVELOPMENTFEES
(CONDITIONSAPPLY)
$473MOFGDPACCOUNTEDFORIN
HIGH-TECHSECTORBUSINESS
4TH
LARGESTINNEWZEALAND
FORNUMBEROFPEOPLE
EMPLOYEDINMEDIUM-HIGH
TECHMANUFACTURING

Ask Mark Galvin if he can design something
to get your guests up a 150-metre cliff and
he’ll say yes without a second thought. That’s
because he knows his team will find a way.
Access Automation began
designing cable car systems for
Wellington houses in chalk on
their workshop floor and are now
renowned throughout Asia-Pacific
for projects no one else will touch.
Simple mechanics lies behind
their success. A patented self-
levelling design ensures that no
matter how steep the slope, the
car will stay level. “No one else
has done this as far as we know.
Others have levelling systems
that use pumps and hydraulics,
all of which can fail.” Likewise,
the fail-safe braking system uses
a mix of physics and gravity.
“Most cable car companies
change the landscape to suit
the cars. Our cars follow the
landscape, so we’ve got cable
cars that turn and self-level.
It’s a much softer way of travelling.
”Such differences landed them
projects such as the Bulgari Resort
in Bali, where guests are delivered
up a nearly vertical cliff. “We
stood on a plateau 150 metres
above the Indian Ocean and they
said ‘we’re going to need a cable
car to get our guests down to the
sea – can you do that?’ And you
say, yes, I can do that – and you
go back to New Zealand and say
how am I going to do this?
But you find a way.”
And they will continue doing
it from the Hutt. “All our
suppliers are here. You really
wouldn’t want to be anywhere
else. It’s cheaper to have your
manufacturing base where all the
engineering is, in a cluster.”
ACCESS AUTOMATIONaccessauto.co.nz
Mark Galvin
Director

ACMA INDUSTRIESacma.co.nz
Elderly people around the world may soon
be thanking an invention by Acma for helping
keep them free from injury.
The company produces moulded
polyurethane foam components
– chair bodies, seat cushioning,
tackle bags, bike seats, even
props for movie sets. Their biggest
lines are in healthcare, including
producing 6,000 liners a day for
sleep apnea masks for the US, and
transportation, where their flame
resistant graphite foam train seats
are in demand in Australia, Europe,
the US and China.
But it’s a radical floor tile,
developed in conjunction with
Otago University, which could be
about to take the world by storm.
The patented cellular internal
core of the “Kradal” tile has
been proven in trials in Swedish
rest-homes to absorb 70% of the
impact of a fall. Founder/director
Alan Bowmar explains: “In a
facility there, half the rest-home
had Kradal and half had vinyl. They
had perhaps 30 or 40 falls on each.
On the vinyl there were broken
bones and soft-tissue injuries.
On the Kradal tiles there were
no broken bones and no tissue
injuries. At $20,000 to $30,000
for a hip operation, you don’t
have to have many people to fall
over to save quite a bit of money.
And people do fall over a lot. We
expect to make big numbers of
this product.”
The Hutt is home: “For us, being
in the Hutt is about having the port
quite close – most of our exports
go by sea. And we don’t have too
much trouble getting technical
staff here. We tend to get a certain
number of people from Massey.
And Callaghan Innovation works
with us on projects.”
Alan Bowmar
Director
5

It would be a fair bet that AROTEC
Diagnostics have more PhD’s, Master’s and
Honours degrees per square metre than most
other commercial laboratories in New Zealand.
These detectives of the scientific
world work to precise and
demanding specifications to extract
and purify protein antigens which
are used to identify auto-immune
diseases in humans.
The process starts with the
gathering of raw materials such as
animal tissue, primarily bobby calf
sweetbreads and pig meat, and
discarded white cells from human
blood. Using a range of separation
techniques to ensure the very
highest purity, proteins specific to
each disease are then extracted and
packed into dry ice. Some 99% of
the final product is exported to the
US, Germany, Japan, and China for
including in test kits for diagnostic
laboratories, which use it to target
and identify “complex” diseases
whose symptoms often overlap –
including thyroid, lupus, Crohn’s,
inflammatory bowel, rheumatoid
arthritis, cardiovascular.
At $1,000 per milligram it’s
valuable stuff. “A lot of it is trial
and error,” says CEO Neil Cook.
“It’s a bit like creating a recipe,
baking a cake – and then getting all
the steps right, all the ingredients
right. Antigens have to have
certain specifications that are really
important. They have to be highly
reactive and very pure. The specs
are very demanding and there is
a lot of process control so we can
produce large amounts at very
high quality.”
Being in Petone is ideal. “We
interact with Victoria University
about technologies and techniques
that we use. We need to know
we’re doing it right. And having
the airport so close is vital. Our
products go exclusively by air.”
AROTEC DIAGNOSTICSarodia.com
Neil Cook
Chief Executive

It’s a long way from the lights of Paris and
the catwalks of Milan to Hutt Road, but for
Booker-Spalding the drive to produce only
the best-designed quality clothing is no less
than the big labels demand.
The designer, manufacturer,
and distributor of branded high-
end corporate wear provides
prototype garments for trial on
their own version of a catwalk
before production begins; either
in-house, for made-to-measure
wear, or in China.
They service both the New Zealand
and Australian markets locally,
with Australia being a growing
part of the business. Quality is
a vital part of the business with
Booker-Spalding's in-house design
team producing bespoke client
ranges as well as working with
guest designers and brands to
provide even more differentiated
offerings. CEO John Maurice says
“every client is looking for a point
of difference and often this starts
with design.”
Technology is the company’s
backbone, from design, to
pattern cutting, to client ordering.
An in-house web team builds
websites so clients’ staff can
order from their desktops,
making selection, sizing, and
repeat ordering a breeze.
Business is growing in Australia
and Asia.“We’ll always be here
because it’s central. Being here is
better than being in Christchurch
or Auckland because we can
service the whole country and
Australia from one place.” A two-
way relationship with the council
helps. “They are accessible. This is
a different scale to a bigger city.
“They know we’re here.”
BOOKER-SPALDINGbookerspalding.co.nz
7
John Maurice
Chief Executive

CALLAGHAN INNOVATIONcallaghaninnovation.govt.nz
Mary Quin
Chief Executive
The formation in 2013 of Callaghan
Innovation, which incorporated the
former Industrial Research Ltd and its
Gracefield campus, is taking shape as one
of New Zealand’s most significant recent
innovations.
The Crown entity accelerates the
commercialisation of innovation
by businesses in New Zealand,
especially focusing on the growth
of high-value manufacturing
and services companies. It is
becoming a one-stop-shop of
talent, resources, knowledge, and
connections to help businesses
turn ideas into internationally
marketable products and services
faster and more successfully.
It does this by providing research
and technical services, awarding
$140 million of RD grants
each year, funding internships,
coordinating networks to connect
businesses with New Zealand’s
and the world’s best minds,
helping companies develop skills
to take ideas to market, and
fostering a culture of innovation.
Chief Executive Dr Mary Quin:
“We want to get as many
technology-intensive firms as
possible growing faster, and that
means linking them up to any RD
capability and commercialisation
help that exists in New Zealand.
We also have a role to get more
people excited about starting
new companies and growing the
companies we have.”
Change has been rapid.
Partnerships are being formed
with other innovation-focused
organisations, while appointments
are being made to coordinate
national technology networks
in fields such as information
and communications, advanced
materials, and sensing
technologies. The campus,
which houses not only Callaghan
Innovation’s labs but more than
a dozen companies and two
research institutes of Victoria
University, is ideal for innovation
with its “real, live entrepreneurs”
to test ideas on.
“We are thinking through what
might attract even more companies
to avail themselves of the advanced
RD resources that are available
here, and link the campus to other
innovation and education initiatives
around the country.”

It’s a world away from the laboratories
of the world’s universities and testbeds
of the multinational companies to the
end of Cornish Street, but that is of little
consequence to Contherm Scientific.
Their laboratory ovens, incubators,
and environmental chambers
remain in demand some 50 years
after the early models were built in
a converted garage. They use the
latest in computerised technology
and production techniques to
design and manufacture the
cabinets to control temperature,
light, humidity, movement, and
sound. Probes ensure an even
distribution of temperature
throughout, in a range between
minus 40o
C and plus 300o
C.
The ovens and incubators are used
in universities to propagate seeds
and grow plants, and by public and
private research laboratories for a
wide range of applications.
The environmental chambers
are used to test the shelf life of
products – by programming a
cycle to switch between a range
of temperatures and humidities,
major international pharmaceutical
companies can test the entire age
of a product over a period of two
months. Some 75% of production
is exported to the Asia-Pacific
region, and lately to India and the
Middle East.
General Manager Nathan
Reynolds says they rely a lot on
the expertise available in the Hutt
Valley for their development work.
“We work very closely with local
tertiary institutes. They’ve been
brilliant. Having access to their
knowledge is very handy. We use
local industry extensively. The
valley is full of people who have a
lot of knowledge. There are many
industries in a very small radius, so
that is definitely an advantage.”
CONTHERMSCIENTIFICcontherm.co.nz
Nathan Reynolds
General Manager
9

You know the world has changed when one
of New Zealand’s biggest paint manufacturers
spends almost as much time worrying about
what happens when the brushes are washed
as it does developing the paint itself.
It’s called environmental
responsibility, and Dulux NZ
prides itself in its advances in this
area. But seeking improvements
in its paints is core business.
Its laboratories are constantly
producing new variations,
including anti-mould and
waterbased paints that perform
as well as solvent-based, on the
back of a continued consumer
trend away from solvent based
paints. They are also actively
looking to extend reach into
speciality coatings for the
infrastructure and engineering
markets.
General Manager Richard
Hansen is proud of both these
advances and the award-
winning environmental side
of the business. This includes
development of low-odour paints,
providing a service which accepts
left-over paint for recycling, re-use,
or safe disposal, and portable
wastewater treatment systems
that allow trade painters to remove
contaminants from brushes, rollers
and tins.
“We are always focused on
protecting the environment, in
terms of the types of paints we
make, the way we make them,
and the way consumers dispose of
the waste.”
Dulux have spent $30 million on
a plant upgrade in 2011. “The
board was very supportive of
our investing in the future in
New Zealand and strengthening
our presence here. Being here is
central. It allows us to maintain an
efficient distribution and supply
chain. We’ve got a really good
system for getting our product
to the South Island and up to
Auckland. We’re very happy with
where we are here. We also have
access to a skilled workforce.”
DULUXdulux.co.nz
Richard Hansen
General Manager

When Ernest Sime formed his company
in 1923, little could he have imagined his
descendants would be at the forefront of a
world-leading renewable energy solution.
Firsts are nothing new at ESG
Asia Pacific, having introduced
car seat belts, mag wheels, air
horns, and quartz halogen bulbs
to New Zealand. A raft of “green
washroom” products are now their
bread and butter – soaps, Purel
hand sanitizer, and toilet tissue plus
paper towels made out of recycled
paper with unique dispenser
systems.
Their reach recently moved beyond
Australia into Asia, but the real glint
in the eye of Chairman Malcolm
Sime comes from the HyLink
System which produces hydrogen
gas from water for heating and
cooking, developed by scientists
at Callaghan Innovation. Hylink has
been incorporated into the Green
Energy Pod, a portable shipping
container energy power station
which uses a wind turbine and solar
panels to provide electricity and
produce the hydrogen.
Since ESG became the project’s
business partner, the scientists
have made a breakthrough in the
hydrogen technology that will see
improved performance for the
HyLink System when available
in NZ and exported to remote
communities, such as in the Pacific
and at ESG’s multipurpose complex
in Uganda, within a few years.
“Using sun,wind or micro hydro,
and less than 1 1⁄2 litres of water
will fire a two-burner BBQ full bore
for over three hours, so there’s
huge potential”.
This all fits neatly into ESG’s
philosophy of “making our
planet a better place to live”, and
their success will be the Hutt’s:
“We are here because we are
a local family, plus many of the
freighting companies have hubs
here, enabling us to provide
effective national and international
distribution from the Hutt”.
ESG ASIA PACIFICesgasiapacific.com
11
Malcolm Sime
Chairman

Babies born with a rare genetic deficiency
will soon have the expertise of Lower Hutt
scientists to thank for giving them a chance
at life.
The world-leading “chemistry
providers” at GlycoSyn, the
discovery, development, and pilot
manufacturing arm of Callaghan
Innovation, are at the forefront of
drug development. They design
therapeutics for debilitating and
life-threatening diseases and
disorders such as gout, MS,
Parkinson’s, psoriasis, HIV and
cancers – like the ingredient
recently synthesised for a trial
melanoma vaccine for the
Malaghan Institute. The work is
highly complex, demanding utmost
purity, safety and consistency as
they develop targeted drugs on
behalf of drug companies before
they go to clinical trials for testing
for safety and efficacy in humans.
With a high level of attrition –
probably just one in 10,000 of
discovery leads make it to full use
by humans – successes such as
making a treatment to combat a
genetic deficiency in babies are
most satisfying.
General Manager Dr Paul
Benjes: “This is an hereditary
disease where if the babies are
not given this drug they will die
within months of being born. A
biologically-derived version of the
drug has been shown to work, and
we were asked to synthesise it.
We were the only organisation in
the world they were able to find
to successfully do this. It took us
two years – it was very difficult
material to make. We do difficult
chemistry that no one else really
wants to tackle.”
Being on the Callaghan Innovation
campus is essential. “GlycoSyn
couldn’t really function if it
wasn’t here, because we are
very dependent on a lot of the
infrastructure and fantastic
intellectual nous here.”
GLYCOSYNglycosyn.com
Dr Paul Benjes
General Manager

Rob Deacon wishes for lots of zeros. Not the
kind associated with dollar signs, but ones
that tell him that the 105,000 samples his staff
test each year are clear of E. Coli, salmonella,
listeria, legionella, heavy metals, algal bloom
and other deadly nasties.
Eurofins Scientific help ensure
our manufactured food,
pharmaceuticals, community
drinking water, and swimming
water are safe from contaminants,
effluent is safe to discharge
into waterways, air conditioning
cooling towers are free from
bugs, and meat and poultry meet
export standards.
Every day several hundred
samples arrive at their lab and
go through a rigorous testing
and reporting process. New
food products and batches are
tested before sale as a check
on companies’ manufacturing
processes, while shelf-life
experiments are conducted
to ensure claims are accurate.
Human blood serum and urine are
checked for heavy metals for the
health and safety industry.
“What we see in the lab is
lots of zeros – zero bacteria,
zero pathogens – just lots
of zeros,” says Managing
Director Rob Deacon.
“But when we do get a positive
listeria, everything goes on to high
alert. The factory comes to see
us to make sure our processes
have been correct and we visit
their factory to identify the source
of the problem. In the meantime
they can’t sell their food.” Being
in the Hutt has many advantages.
“We grew up here, but we’ve
been able to grow up because it’s
central. We can get samples from
anywhere in the country within
prescribed time frames. We get
them in from the Chatham Islands,
deepest darkest Central Otago at
St Bathans – and we can get them
north within the time frame.”
EUROFINSeurofins.co.nz
Rob Deacon
Managing Director

Martin Simpson and his staff are living every
boy’s dream – they play with fire engines.
Lots of them. They are also living every man’s
dream by taking on the world and winning.
Fraser Engineering uses
the latest in lathe and laser-
cutting technology in one of
New Zealand’s biggest privately
owned machine shops to produce
metal components of all types for
industry. They have done work
for Weta Workshop and made
components for generators,
aircraft engines, and missile
launching systems. But their
flagship is the fire engine and
rescue vehicle brand which they
export and which is about to go
bigger with a push into Europe.
Using 3D printing and
modelling software which cuts
development time from six
months to six days they can print
actual working parts not just
prototypes, and manufacture
every component except the
chassis and cab. They are
now the biggest fire engine
manufacturer in Australasia,
and are renowned for reducing
whole-of-life costs for their
customers due to the high-quality
equipment designed to the
different requirements of each
client fire service.
CEO Martin Simpson says they
can make anything they want.
“We can compete with anyone
in the world. We can compete
with the Chinese, no problem.
Our intention is to become a
billion-dollar company and we
are heading towards that.” On
being in the Hutt, “There’s a real
advantage to being where we
are – the fishing’s great! There are
good people here. The Hutt Valley
has a history of engineering and
a fundamental understanding of
making things. We take graduates
out of Massey and Vic and Weltec,
and we’re looking to expand
collaboration with them to further
develop our products.”
FRASER ENGINEERINGfraser.org.nz
Martin Simpson
Chief Executive
14
Raewyn Fraser
Company Director

If GNS Science didn’t write the geosciences
textbook, it should have.
The Crown company provides
basic research and advice through
to product development on a
wide range of subjects related to
the earth’s crust and its impact
on New Zealand’s economy
and society. Strategy General
Manager Dr Des Darby explains:
“Our research ranges from the
atomic to the planetary scale,
and we apply our knowledge of
natural Earth system processes
and resources to create wealth,
protect the environment, and
improve people’s safety.
The organisation’s most visible
role is probably operating
GeoNet to monitor earthquakes,
volcanoes, tsunami, landslides,
and tectonic deformation on
behalf of EQC. These data are
used for research that flows
directly into natural hazard
assessment and risk modelling.
Lesser known work is the analysis
of geological structures using
seismic and other geophysical
surveys to provide government
and industry with two and three
dimensional maps of likely oil and
gas, geothermal, groundwater
and mineral resources. The
materials side of the business
uses nuclear isotopes to identify
and trace natural processes, and
ion-beams to modify surface
properties of natural materials
for a variety of industries. These
include identification of food
content, control of corrosion, and
development of low-cost sensors.
GNS Science obtains about half
of its revenue from government
sources and about half from
commercial contracts within
New Zealand and from overseas.
It sees their location as ideal.
“Real estate for science
companies is affordable in the
valley. Companies can afford
to operate here, whatever the
size of their footprint. We have
all the facilities we need to run
our business, we enjoy all the
recreational, educational and health
amenities we need for our families,
and it’s only a 15 minute drive to
Wellington, with beautiful views of
the harbour and the Matiu/Somes
Island nature reserve.”
GNS SCIENCEgns.cri.nz
15
Des Darby
Strategy General
Manager

Groenz Ltd has gained something of a hero
status among many top chefs and restaurants,
cafés, hotels, hospitals, and fast-food outlets
throughout the Asia-Pacific.
That’s because they make easy
some of the fiddliest jobs in
any busy kitchen – everything
from sauces, dressings, spices,
and seasonings, to marinades,
mayonnaise, mustards, and
gravies. And they do so in a special
way: their three branded lines,
French Maid, Kiwi Style and In
House Systems, are designed and
refined by their own chefs in their
in-house test kitchen, resulting
in high-quality base products that
chefs can either add their own
touch to, or use straight from the
bottle or sachet.
Groenz also make products to
order, including for large quick-
services restuarants. Their custom-
made production plant enables
them to manufacture low and
high-volume runs 24 hours a day
with more than 165 variants at any
one time.
They can make volumes as small
as 250 litres for special orders, as
well as large batch sizes of 1,000
litres. Managing Director Fred
Groen says they have a policy of
buying locally.
“I always give the local guy the
first hit-out.” And local suppliers
can expect that to continue.
“The big market is in Auckland
but the advantage of being in the
Hutt is freight – here, we’re right
in the middle of the country. There
would be a commercial advantage
for us to have our plant there, but
it’s not overwhelming. We’re here
because we like living here.”
GROENZgroenz.co.nz
Fred Groen
Managing
Director

HTS-110 make pickaxes — but not like any
you have ever seen.
Theirs are powerful electro
magnets which help customers
‘push the envelope’ in high-tech
research and development.
The key to this world-leading
magnet technology is high-
temperature superconducting
(HTS) wire. This wire conducts
250 amps of electrical current
with no loss and is less than
1mm thick. HTS wire operates
below minus 163˚C, compared
with minus 269˚C of standard
superconductors, allowing very
compact, very high magnetic
field instruments. Primarily
because of their size, HTS-110
magnets have a range of unique
usages, including measurement
instruments for beam lines and
neutron sources, similar to the
Large Hadron Collider which found
the so-called ‘God’ particle; quality
control equipment in hard drive
manufacturing for the computer
industry; and nuclear magnetic
resonance spectrometers which
allow companies such as Pfizer
to look at chemical fingerprints in
the search for the next cancer or
retroviral drug.
CEO Tye Husheer describes
it as “cutting-edge, micro,
micro science” which enables
companies to do science that
wouldn’t otherwise be possible.
“Our customers are like gold
miners – they’re the researchers
looking to make the next scientific,
technological, or industrial
breakthrough. We make and sell
pickaxes to these gold miners.”
HTS technology was discovered
in the Hutt at Callaghan Innovation
“The great thing about being
on the Callaghan campus is that
there are world-leading experts in
all sorts of fields here – we have
materials design questions that
pop up all the time – having them
right here makes our job easier.”
And that number in the title? 110
degrees Kelvin (-163˚C) is the
temperature at which the HTS
wire in the magnets becomes
superconducting.
HTS-110hts-110.com
Tye Husheer
CEO
17

From a modest office, Im-Able Ltd is
taking on the world and changing people’s
lives dramatically.
Their unique rehabilitation system
is designed to help accelerate
recovery for people with arm
disorders caused by strokes and
head trauma, as well as early stage
dementia and ADD.
The main tool is the Able-X,
which consists of fun exercise
computer games using a hand-held
steering-wheel-type controller.
By stimulating the part of the
brain that has been damaged to
learn new ways of doing things,
the Able-X helps improve arm
movement and brain engagement.
It was invented by Marcus King at
Callaghan Innovation and further
improved by Sunil Vather and his
team four years ago with help from
health professionals and scientists,
and till recently has been sold
by word of mouth. But it is now
starting to sell in many countries.
“We know we have the right
product, and we know it makes a
significant difference to people’s
lives, and we know there’s a
massive market out there for us.”
And they intend doing it from the
Hutt. “This is an amazing place
to do business. Everything is
so close, and if you want to get
something done you just have to
pick up the phone and ask. It’s
much easier to do things here, I
would say, than in a lot of other
parts of the country. It’s like a small
village and people are ready to
help each other. There’s no such
thing as ‘I’m too busy’. You ask for
a coffee meeting and people will
come and give you the time. It’s a
lovely place to work.”
IM-ABLEim-able.com
18
Sunil Vather
CEO

Examples of Label and Litho’s expertise are
seen every day in many countries around the
world – but you would never know it.
The high-tech printing company
produces labels for manufacturers
of some our best-known food,
beverage, and pharmaceutical
products. Camilla Welch and her
brothers, Hamish and Angus
Kincaid, pride themselves as
being at the leading edge of
printing technology. They recently
imported the first machine in
New Zealand capable of inserting
radio frequency tags under labels
to prevent product theft, and they
remain the only label printer which
offers that technology.
They also pride themselves in
solving customers’ problems, such
as trialling fluorescent inks for a
client who wanted a black label
for his beer that can be read only
under UV light. “We don’t say no –
we think about how we can do it,”
says Camilla Welch.
“We understand that the label
on a product is often the closest
a customer gets to a brand – it’s
the first point of contact between
them and the item they’ve taken
off the shelf – so it needs to be
right every time.”
And, despite most of their
customers being outside the
Wellington region, the Hutt will
always be home. “Auckland
people would see being based
in the Hutt as a disadvantage.
The reality is it’s not, because in
Auckland you overnight courier,
and down here we overnight
courier to Auckland. It’s just
educating people. They still buy
their undies from China so what’s
the difference. If they’re prepared
to buy from China, why can’t
they buy from here? We love the
lifestyle in the Hutt. It’s a much
better lifestyle than we would
have in Auckland.”
LABEL AND LITHOlabel.co.nz
Camilla Welch
Managing
Director
Angus Kincaid
Director and
Operations Manager
Hamish Kincaid
Director and
Factory
Manager
19

MACAULAY METALSmacaulaymetals.co.nz
Macaulay Metals is not your traditional
run-of-the-mill metal recycling company.
Because not only do they gather, process, and
export almost any metal on the periodic table,
they are also delving into the fast-moving
world of IT.
From their headquarters in
the Hutt, and branch depots
in Palmerston North, Rotorua,
Kawerau, Whakatane, and
Gisborne, they export 2,200
containers of scrap each year
to Asian countries and the
Netherlands.
A big part of the collection
process involves providing bins
for companies to fill with scrap,
which Macaulay Metals then
buys. But they were losing track
of the 2,000-something bins. So,
working with a local IT company,
they developed a software tracking
system which they called Retreva,
which drivers use on their mobile
phones to scan special barcodes
stamped on the sides of bins. This
information is then relayed back
to head office where the bins are
tracked and decisions made about
when they need to be dispatched.
Managing Director, Jeff Harris says
Macaulay Metals are now looking
at what else they can do with the
software. “We took it to a trade
show in Florida this year and there
was pretty positive interest in it.
We’re now looking at where to go
from here. It’ll work in any industry
– that was the whole aim of it.
It was always in the back of our
heads that we could do something
more with it.”
And the advantages of being based
in the Hutt? It’s a big resource for
scrap, and “it’s as close to the port
as we can be without land costs
being too high.”
Jeff Harris
Managing Director

Making sure your 34,000 students are taken
care of is a massive job in anyone’s language,
but when more than 95% of them rate that
service highly then you know you’re doing
something right.
The Open Polytechnic is
New Zealand’s biggest provider
of vocational distance and flexible
learning and a major educator
of the country’s workforce. The
majority of students are adults
combining study with work, but
include those under contract
arrangements through schools,
industry training organisations or
sector organisations.
Some 1,200 courses and 100
qualifications are offered, from
certificate, diploma and degree
level, to blended learning for
industry. Subjects include early
childhood education, business,
humanities, social sciences,
information studies, real estate,
communication, trades training,
psychology and health. Delivery
ranges from ‘pure’ distance
learning through to variations
of blended learning, where the
polytechnic works with other
polytechnics or organisations to
combine distance and
face-to-face teaching.
At all times, industry is involved to
ensure qualifications are relevant.
In 2013 a survey of student
satisfaction showed 96% believed
their employers would consider
their qualification valuable, and
90% rated tutor support in the
range excellent to good. CEO
Caroline Seelig: “The key for us is
to design the appropriate learning
solution and mix of delivery media
and partners, where required, to
best meet the needs of a specific
industry or learner group.
Nearly 1% of New Zealand's
population enrols with us.
There are very few institutions
in the world with that level of
enrolment.”
She says Lower Hutt is an
excellent base from which
to deliver to every part of
New Zealand. “We’re one of the
Hutt’s biggest employers. We have
international visitors constantly
tell us what an attractive campus
setting we have.”
OPEN POLYTECHNICopenpolytechnic.ac.nz
Caroline Seelig
Chief Executive
21

PERTRONIC INDUSTRIESpertronic.co.nz
The operators of major complexes across
New Zealand and Australia, and increasingly
in Asia, have Pertronic Industries to thank for
being able to sleep soundly at night.
The company designs and
manufactures microprocessor-
controlled automatic fire alarm
panels and control indicating and
mapping systems. These range
anywhere from off-the-shelf
systems for smaller buildings,
where conventional fire panels
can report fire in a general
area, to multi-level complexes
where sophisticated and
complex custom-made analogue
addressable systems can narrow
alarm information to a specific
detector and report it to Pertronic’s
FireMap graphics system – often
remotely monitored using cell
phone technology.
The list of sites the company has
designed systems for is long and
varied: from Hutt Hospital and
Westfield Queensgate Mall just
down the road, to power stations,
shopping malls, high-rise office
buildings, hotels, prisons, sports
stadiums, and road tunnels across
Australasia and China. It even
includes an ocean-going research
ship. But while owner David
Percy points to the complexity of
many of those projects as some
of his 90-strong team’s biggest
challenges, an outsider would
probably be most impressed that
a system designed for Scott Base
can be monitored 4,000km away in
Christchurch. The future, though,
lies in warmer climes, particularly
the growing markets of Australia,
which is served by five offices,
and with distributors in Asia. “Our
FireMap graphics display system
is a world-leading product with its
highly intuitive setup and operator
capabilities.”
Being in the middle of the Hutt’s
manufacturing base means easy
sourcing of metalwork and plastics
components. “Close proximity
to that is important. We can also
backload goods to Auckland at
very good freight rates. The valley
is good for manufacturing – and I
prefer to live here than Auckland.”
David Percy
Managing Director

Having the lives of thousands of drivers of the
fastest touring, rally, drag, and speedway cars,
and even offshore powerboats, in his hands is
not something that seems to faze David Black.
The former champion rally
driver’s company, Racetech,
make composite and carbon
fibre race seats which are world
renowned for their robustness and
innovation. The company works
with the Fédération Internationale
de l’Automobile (FIA) on
development and testing projects,
as well as refining seat standards,
and is regularly consulted by
national motorsport organisations
over technical standards and
safety issues.
One of Racetech’s first
innovations, now adopted by other
manufacturers, was a cooling
system fitted into the seats. It
takes air from outside the car and
forces it onto a driver’s lower back
where it evaporates moisture and
creates cooling through latent heat
transfer. Their latest innovation has
the potential to go even further –
they have developed a seat that is
mounted from the rear, as well as
from the floor. This means there
is less flex in the shoulder area,
so the driver’s ‘feel’ of the car
is enhanced, fatigue is reduced,
and safety on impact improved.
Racetech seats are endorsed
and used by some of the world’s
leading racing categories, including
the FIA World Rally Championship,
the British Touring Car
Championship, Swedish Touring
cars, USA World Challenge, and
most teams in the Australia V8
Supercar series.
David Black sources many of
the seat components locally.
“I’ve always believed the Petone
industrial area is a very good one.
In fact, we buy raw materials from
companies all over the valley – it’s
got a lot of things going for it.”
RACETECHracetech.co.nz
23
David Black
President/Managing Director

Rembrandt Suits will likely be following
Oklahoma City Thunder basketball team
in the NBA, but not because they make
basketball gear.
Nothing could be further from
the lines of this designer and
manufacturer of menswear, from
smart jeans, jackets, shirts, and
ties, up to the main product of
top-end suits. And not just its
own suits – Rembrandt have
made them for almost every
New Zealand retailer which
sells suits.
Whatever the label, they are
more than likely to have been
made either at their Naenae
factory, where most made-to-
measure work is done, or under
supervision by craftsmen in Asia.
The Rembrandt-branded suits
are sold through its 12 stores,
as well as department stores
and retailers in New Zealand
and Australia. To keep pace with
trends, Rembrandt’s designers
visit stores in London, Paris, and
Milan, and buy from Europe’s
best fabric mills.
Managing Director David Lyford
says the connection with
Oklahoma comes via Steven
Adams, who recently secured
a contract there. “We heard an
interview where someone said
‘make sure he gets a good-fitting
suit’, and I got on the phone and
said we would be delighted to
make one. He was here within the
hour. Getting clothes to fit for a
guy of his size is a real challenge
and we were delighted we could
do something.
Excellent fitting, well-made
garments using the best raw
materials at an affordable price is
what we stand for, and we were
able to show that off in Steven’s
suit. Being able to produce our
own garments locally is hugely
important to us. Our staff,
knowledge, and skill-sets have
been developed in the Hutt, and I
wouldn’t like to try to create that
somewhere else.”
REMBRANDTrembrandt.co.nz
David Lyford
Managing
Director

Sending container loads of black goo to
Nigeria and the Caribbean doesn’t sound like
the sort of business a major paint company
would get into, but it’s one example of how
Resene Paints have diversified to stay ahead
of the game.
From being established when
Ted Nightingale couldn’t find
an alkali-resistant paint to cover
concrete, Resene have expanded
into manufacturing a huge range
of paint and specialist coatings
for residential and commercial
buildings, marine, heavy industrial,
road marking, automotive and
agricultural use, and retail these
from a network of 60 shops. A
subsidiary company focuses on
claddings and plaster-based top-
coat systems which link colour
from the outside to the inside of
buildings, while another produces
the black goo that helps waterproof
roofs. But the core business is
making their paint, which is big in
Australia and the Pacific.
The founder’s grandson, Managing
Director Nick Nightingale, says
the environment is top of mind
as they constantly search for new
ways of repelling light and making
paint more durable. “We want to
be the best. If you’re the best in
New Zealand you’re probably the
best in the world. The quality of the
paint is better than anywhere else.
That includes our competitors – we
can’t let them get too far ahead.”
Despite having operations
elsewhere, HQ is in the Hutt.
“There’s quite a strong coatings
community here. The coatings
industry has been here for a
long time. There’s been a lot of
acceptance here. Being in the
centre of the country is a bonus. I
can’t imagine us being anywhere
else. It’s a nice environment, it’s
green, and you can see the hills.”
RESENEresene.co.nz
25
Nick Nightingale
Managing Director

In the best traditions of Kiwi DIY, Chris
Gannon works mostly alone with huge
hydraulic machines to replicate the most
powerful earthquakes.
Robinson Seismic’s innovative
protection base isolation devices
have been leading the world since
they were invented and perfected
in the 1970s and 1980s. The
rubber, steel, and lead-bearing
devices appear in new buildings
and as retrofits in countries such
as Japan, Turkey, Iran, India,
Indonesia, Europe, the US … and
also in earthquake zones such as
Christchurch and Wellington.
Their robustness, reliability, easy
replacement, and simplicity,
topped by the fact that they
can absorb some 80% of the
energy of an earthquake, ensures
they are in high demand. In
New Zealand, the isolators
protect treasures such as
Te Papa, Parliament Buildings,
and the Old Supreme Court.
Chris Gannon works with
consulting engineers to custom-
design for each site, and is
continually working on advances
in the technology.
The latest of these is a ‘slider’
which is under test for the
Japanese market for small loads,
such as houses, and which forms
part of ‘Quakesurfer’ technology
newly introduced to protect data
storage systems.
It all happens at the Callaghan
Innovation campus. “Being on the
campus here works really well for
me, because this place is used to
developing new things. If I come
up with a cunning plan this is just
the ideal place for me to do it.
Callaghan Innovation have helped
me build up some really good
and simple drive mechanisms for
these test machines, as well as
data logging and stuff. It works
really well. We swap equipment.
It’s a great place.”
ROBINSON SEISMICrobinsonseismic.com
Chris Gannon
Development
Engineer

Helping protect Singapore from flooding,
ensuring Hong Kong International Airport
can handle its 360,000 flight movements a
year, and keeping a large chunk of the Sydney
CDB alight is no mean feat.
But it’s everyday stuff for RPS
Switchgear. The company make
customised medium-voltage
switchgear – essentially giant
power switches in sub-stations
which distribute power to suburbs
and big industrial complexes such
as hospitals and mining sites.
The switchgear uses intelligent
monitoring equipment to detect
faults or surges in the 11,000-volt
circuits and automatically opens
and closes safety protection
devices to prevent damage.
The switchgear incorporates
vacuum circuit-breaker technology
which was introduced by RPS in
the 1980s as a safer alternative to
oil-filled breakers, and which is
now in common use around the
world. Some 75% of its business
is overseas, and it frequently
sends its own teams to do the
installation work.
In addition to the massive
responsibility behind keeping
Hong Kong Airport operating
and the Sydney CBD alight, one
notable project is Singapore’s
Marina Barrage, one of the
world’s biggest pumping stations,
where the switchgear is used to
protect giant pumps that drain
threatening storm waters away
from downtown Singapore at
the equivalent of an Olympic-size
swimming pool each minute.
Managing Director Geoff Hay says
people are the key to the business.
“We’re a specialist company in a
very niche part of the electricity
industry and the people we’ve got
here are not easily replaced. The
main reason we are in the Hutt
is because our people are here.
The local suppliers we have got
are great. They work really, really
hard to meet some quite unusual
and sometimes short lead-time
demands, and we get great
support from them.”
RPS SWITCHGEARrpsswitchgear.co.nz
Geoff Hay
Managing Director
27

Being flexible is vital for any business to stay
ahead of the game, and for Steel Tube that
is exemplified by its latest contribution to
seismic engineering.
The NZX top 50 company is
an importer, distributor and
manufacturer of a 30,000 steel
product range – from nuts,
bolts, nails, piping, roofing, and
farm fencing, to residential and
commercial construction, and
steel for custom-made 50-tonne
bridge beams.
Fitting neatly with a revamp
which welded 11 divisions into
a “One Company” philosophy
and structure, is an enhanced
capability of supplying total steel
requirements for buildings – from
reinforcing in the foundations, fire
suppression systems, ventilation
systems, and fastenings, up to
the cladding. CEO Dave Taylor
is upbeat about their new range
of seismic reinforcing mesh,
particularly in the wake of the
Christchurch earthquakes.
“Previously, reinforcing meshes
in concrete plinths for floors were
brittle, so they would sheer if there
was movement. Our new mesh,
developed to meet expectations
around ductility following the
Christchurch earthquakes,
complies fully with all dimensional
requirements of the New Zealand
standard and boasts full quality
traceability.”
The company has been happy in
the Hutt for over 35 years. “I get
asked a lot about when are we
going to relocate to Auckland. One
of the differences is we would be
just another big organisation there.
There are not many significant
publicly listed companies in this
region. Being one of just a handful
puts us in a good position when
it comes to recruiting people with
the right competencies who want
to work for a big company, and
that is a key differentiation for us.”
STEEL TUBEsteelandtube.co.nz
Dave Taylor
Chief Executive

When you're preventing the electricity grid of
the eastern seaboard of the US from closing
down, you know you're doing something
special.
Working with time sync devices
and GPS clocks doesn't sound
like the most exciting job in the
world, but the stakes are high
when you're ensuring the data
stream of millions of cell phones
is uninterrupted. Tekron does just
that by designing world-leading
devices that ensure the power and
the data keeps flowing in more
than 60 countries. In the electricity
industry, its devices in sub-stations
talk to each other to improve the
accuracy of fault diagnosis and
ensure the grids are operating
within their limits by synchronising
equipment. Without these clocks
there would be energy wastage
and ultimately serious damage to
the network, as happened in the
disastrous power blackouts in the
US and across Europe in 2003. In
telecommunications, Tekron’s
GPS clocks, which work to a 10
billionth of a second accuracy,
synchronise the hand-over
between cell towers of 4G data
streaming to mobile devices,
ensuring continuity of signal.
CEO Charles Norwood says
synchronising time is becoming
more and more best practice in
today’s world, and transmission
companies around the world are
increasingly using his company’s
clocks. “We’ve done very well
for a small company. We have
established relationships with
some of the biggest players
in the world – the billion-dollar
companies.”
They are based in the Hutt
because two of the owners live
there, though that’s not the only
reason. “It works being in the
Hutt. We need to be in a place to
attract the right people. We pride
ourselves on having a very skilled
team and we’ve managed to
attract them.”
TEKRONtekron.com
Charles Norwood
CEO
29

Times-7 takes its name from the number of
times radio waves can travel around the world
in one second.
Now the company is in the midst
of its own version of stellar travel
by making a big push into some
of the biggest markets on the
planet. Times-7 makes UHF radio
frequency identification (RFID)
antennas which transfer data
for automatic identification and
tracking.
Its cutting-edge technology can
record split-second times in mass
finishes in sports events, read
hundreds of items of industrial
stock at a time, or keep track
of luggage in airport baggage
systems, resulting in fewer lost
bags and faster check-in times.
Key New Zealand customers
include BCS Group, Glidepath,
Skyline Enterprises and Barfoot
Thompson. But while the local
market holds promise, the larger
opportunites will always
be overseas.
With fast growing interest from
Asia, Europe, and the Americas,
in its world-leading ultra-low-
profile antennas, CEO Antony
Dixon is confident and excited
about technology manufacturing
growth for the Hutt Valley.
In particular, a breakthrough
relationship with Motorola
Solutions in the USA for ultra-thin
shop-counter antennas that can
price an item and make real-time
adjustments to stock inventory
– all without any contact. “Some
of the potential orders are now
very big numbers, and because
of that we have moved to
larger premises, in the Hutt. It’s
important for us to have local
expertise and supply. People
are at the core of what we do,
and we have established trusted
relationships with our suppliers.
There are some fantastic
companies in the Hutt that
help us to create and make
these products.”
TIMES-7times-7.com
Antony Dixon
Chief Executive

It’s a classic case of win-win in the Hutt Valley
where companies join with students from
WelTec to help each other break new ground.
WelTec offers practical solutions
to help businesses grow through
the provision of RD services,
including technical advice, design,
and prototyping in engineering,
engine performance, construction,
electrical, and IT, with students
helping develop products or build,
select, or install new equipment
through to staff training.
WelTec specialises in working
with businesses to assist their
training needs which can be quite
varied. From providing on the
job workplace literacy training
to employees by expert tutors
through to advice on process
efficiency, an ability to “speak
the language” offers companies
help with applications for
government funding support. In
many instances, third-year degree
students work with a company’s
team while being supervised by
professionals. Projects on the
go at any time can vary from in-
house training of supervisors, and
developing a technology platform
using experimental applied
research, to helping design
specialised equipment for the
food industry.
Chief Executive Linda Sissons
says WelTec lines up students
with industry needs. “The
students come away with great
learning, and industry comes
away with a problem solved.
WelTec gains knowledge from
sunrise industries with special
skill sets, and can inject that into
its teaching.
We can build that knowledge into
other sunrise industries. That’s the
communication that’s going on.
We’re not sitting in front of classes
all the time. We’re out there and
connecting. Later, we provide
industry with a pool of talent.”
They often have more projects
than students to fill them.
“There’s a huge demand for the
type of services we offer. That’s
part of the fantastic story about
the Hutt Valley. Manufacturing
here is alive and well, so there’s
a real ongoing need for help
with product, skills, and process
development systems.”
WELTECweltec.ac.nz
31
Linda Sissons
Chief Executive

From high-fashion Paris label Hermes, to
private jets, and the most luxurious of homes,
Woolyarns fibre has clothed or carpeted it all.
And now the company is poised
to use those experiences to make
a serious move into the United
States market. Most of their fibre
comes off the back of hardy South
Island merino sheep and the much-
maligned Brushtail possum. The
“yarn engineers” use these fibres
to supply high-end yarns to apparel,
hosiery, and carpet makers, and
weavers in Australia, the US, Asia,
North Africa, and Europe. They
even make their own brand of yarn
for hand-knitting, which is making
something of a comeback.
But it is their Perino mix of possum
fur and merino or cashmere fibres
where they are starting to really
make their mark. Possum fur,
which is 55% warmer than merino
weight-for-weight, is plucked
fresh by trappers up and down the
country and scoured, dyed, carded,
and mixed to order in combinations
which can also include alpaca and
mulberry silk.
Managing Director Neil Mackie
says Woolyarns is probably the
world’s biggest manufacturer
of the wool/possum yarn, and
demand for that and their INZpire
carpet yarn has been phenomenal.
“That’s where our future lies, and
we are planning a big push next
year into international markets.”
That will all be planned from their
Wingate plant. “There’s a good
steady labour force in the Hutt,
and a lot of the employees we
have had through here are inter-
generational. I’ve lived in the Hutt
Valley for over 40 years and it’s a
lovely family-based environment.
I travel a lot and always appreciate
coming back.”
WOOLYARNSwoolyarns.co.nz
Neil Mackie
Managing
Director

Fresh thinkers 2014

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to Fresh thinkers 2014

Similar to Fresh thinkers 2014 (20)

More from Council2016

More from Council2016 (17)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Fresh thinkers 2014