Manufacturers Success Connection website a shining light

amongst the doom and gloom that many paint the picture of manufacturing in New Zealand as is the recently launched Manufacturers Success Connection website.

Certainly the sector [manufacturing] has taken a hammering over recent times.  It appears to have become the favorite sport – political ping pong – of certain sections of the Beehive.

But the reality is that behind all the political posturing and those cries of doom and gloom there are the manufacturers themselves who by their very nature are head down and busy just doing it.  Every day brings a new set of challenges for them; but isn't that normal for most businesses.  And it is not New Zealand’s problem alone? 

So why is manufacturing being  singled out as a sector in New Zealand that is heading for disaster?   

The reality is far different.  Manufacturing forms the backbone of many of our industry sectors, agriculture in particular so why shouldn't it continue to do so?   Certainly the face of it [manufacturing] is changing as technology continues its march into every nook and cranny it can find and that’s not a bad thing at all.

What New Zealand does need to do though is protect its knowledge base.  To  find effective ways of connecting and passing this knowledge into the hands and into the creative minds of future generations. 

Many of our manufacturers tend to under estimate the value of what they have achieved and that’s a shame because manufacturers in New Zealand have succeeded and they have connected with the industry sector they are involved with.

The late Sir Paul Callaghan had some thought provoking words to say about manufacturing in New Zealand and you can read a series of his articles on the website along with a video of a presentation that he made a couple of years ago in Christchurch.

The arrival of www.manufactuerssuccessconnection.co.nz  is quite timely really.