Nimble New Zealand exporters finding opportunity amid shifting trade terms
Global trade wars and uncertain tariff regimes could play into the hands of many New Zealand exporters, according to Gareth Coleman ANZ’s Head of Trade & Supply Chain.
Gallagher has won the supreme award from New Zealand’s industrial design community -- a group beyond the farmgate.
The company’s latest Weigh Scale system won the supreme ‘purple pin’ at the Best Design Awards run by the Designers’ Institute of NZ (DINZ).
It was cited for its high-quality design and functionality in the tough farm environment. Gallaghers also won, in the same category, the DINZ bronze pin for its insulated line post fencing system, a new approach that does not use steel or timber posts.
The awards judges described the scale as a complex digital management tool in a rugged but simple product, with user and location kept paramount during the entire design process.
They also appreciated the rigorous design process that included the clever post attachment and over-moulding details. It is a “truly Kiwi design in the best possible way,” they said.
The Weigh Scale were released earlier this year after Gallagher recognised the need to completely redesign a piece of equipment increasingly vital in farmers’ businesses. The work took four years -- but 15 ‘man-years’ -- and was developed through 15 prototypes.
The need for it to function in a tough, often wet, dirty environment meant it had to combine functionality with durability, while reinforcing the Gallagher brand and all it stands for.
A key feature of the Weigh Scale is its full colour display which has a high-visibility screen regardless of sunlight.
Also recognised was a need for the scale to interface easily with other gear for simple use by farmers, with an intuitive pathway easily activated via the touchscreen.
And the unit has no fiddly caps on the plug-in points at the base; plugs are instead protected by the scales’ body moulding – said to be a hit with farmers tired of having to try to fit plug protectors before or after use.
Gallagher Animal Management Systems’ marketing manager Mark Harris said the simplicity of touchscreen technology had made it a key aspect of the design process.
“We had learnt the touchscreen was the interface to deliver a simplified scale. It needed to be something any farmer would feel comfortable using, rather than just farmers already familiar with technology. It had to be as easy to use as the GPS in your car.”
Meat co-operative, Alliance has met with a group of farmer shareholders, who oppose the sale of a controlling stake in the co-op to Irish company Dawn Meats.
Rollovers of quad bikes or ATVs towing calf milk trailers have typically prompted a Safety Alert from Safer Farms, the industry-led organisation dedicated to fostering a safer farming culture across New Zealand.
The Government has announced it has invested $8 million in lower methane dairy genetics research.
A group of Kiwi farmers are urging Alliance farmer-shareholders to vote against a deal that would see the red meat co-operative sell approximately $270 million in shares to Ireland's Dawn Meats.
In a few hundred words it's impossible to adequately describe the outstanding contribution that James Brendan Bolger made to New Zealand since he first entered politics in 1972.
Dawn Meats is set to increase its proposed investment in Alliance Group by up to $25 million following stronger than forecast year-end results by Alliance.
OPINION: Ageing lefty Chris Trotter reckons that the decision to delay recognition of Palestinian statehood is more than just a fit…
OPINION: A mate of yours truly recently met someone at a BBQ who works at a big consulting firm who spent…