
Masdar City’s Net-Zero Model Sets Sustainability Benchmark, but AI Holds Key for Aging Cities, Experts Claim
A new white paper from Masdar City highlights the UAE’s leadership in net-zero urban development. Energy experts say that net-zero strategies could also be applied to most cities worldwide, even when the biggest challenge is in retrofitting old existing buildings. Built as a purpose-driven net-zero city, Masdar eliminates the need […]

How manufacturers can adapt to workforce changes through flexible working environments
Liam Merrick, sales engineer, ECI Solutions New Zealand’s manufacturing sector faces a significant challenge amid an ongoing skills and labour shortage. The Employers and Manufacturers Association (EMA) reports that 71 per cent of employers can’t find skilled people, an increase from 40 per cent in 2022, and 90 per cent […]

From Survive to Thrive: FMCG Strategies for Growth and Profitability in 2025
Chris Foord, Partner, Argon & Co New Zealand As we look forward to 2025 the outlook for business and NZ are improving. Many businesses in 2024 were focused on the “survive till 2025” mindset, controlling costs and avoiding discretionary spend. Very few though forgot about the consumer/customer and the need […]

How to build the skills needed for the age of AI
AI is changing how we work and what skills workers need to thrive in a world of intelligent machines and cognitive computing. Only a sliver of education initiatives are devoted to AI and these are not yet integrated into most education systems. Collaborative initiatives between education and industry can accelerate […]

BW Converting launches e-learning platform for enhanced customer training
New online training solution complements on-site training, offers flexible learning options and helps customers manage workforce challenges BW Converting has launched an e-learning platform aimed at transforming customer training across its entire brand portfolio. Designed to provide flexibility and support operational efficiency, this online resource allows customers to access detailed […]

Clearing the Way: Accelerating Industry 4.0 Adoption through Global Benchmarking
Adam Sharman, Senior Partner, Dsifer Introduction As organisations look for productivity gains, competitive advantages in agility scalability and sustainability, more and more are looking to technology to support, augment or accelerate their operations. A recent report from Westpac identified that, whilst digital tech adoption is growing, New Zealand’s manufacturers have […]

Securing the Smart Factory
Attributed to: Alex Nehmy, Field Chief Security Officer, Critical Industries, Japan & Asia Pacific, Palo Alto Networks The incredibly competitive manufacturing industry has evolved from labour-intensive manual processes to progressively more intelligent systems driven by the computing power of the digital revolution. Even more so with the supply chain shifts […]

Manufacturing and Production Industry is Fighting a 41% Increase in Ransomware Attacks over Four Years
By Sandra Lee, Managing Director of Southeast Asia and Korea, Sophos Wrapping up the first half of 2024, the Asia-Pacific region (APAC) is set to be the fastest growing region of the world economy1. It accounted for more than half of global GDP growth with the manufacturing industry becoming one […]

CT Semiconductor Inaugurates ATP Chip Semiconductor Training Center
HANOI, Vietnam. On October 1st, 2024, The ATP Semiconductor Chip Technician Training Center CT Semiconductor (a member of CT Group) was officially inaugurated and commenced operations at the National Innovation Center (NIC) in Hoa Lac High-Tech Park, Hanoi. The ATP Semiconductor Chip Technician Training Center at NIC is part of […]

Energy Experts on AI Tools for Building’s Sustainability:“Triple Win for Businesses, People, and Planet”
Donatas Karčiauskas, CEO of Exergio Research studies continue to highlight that aside from environmental benefits, AI-based platforms in building energy management deliver economic savings and improve occupant well-being. Energy experts provide real-case examples for these tools. Vilnius, Lithuania. Numerous studies delve into the potential of AI for buildings and their […]
Productivity is the only game in town!
Ian Walsh, Partner, Argon & Co It is great to see that finally we are talking as a nation about the need to be more productive. Our poor performance in productivity terms is not a new issue or problem, but given the current economic environment, it has become clear to […]
BLT Supports Successful 10km-Level Flight and Recovery Test of Longyun Liquid Oxygen-methane Engine
On June 23, 2024, JiuZhou Yunjian (Beijing) Space Technology Co., Ltd. achieved a significant milestone with the successful completion of a 10km-level flight and recovery test of its Longyun liquid oxygen-methane engine at the Jiuquan Dongfeng Launch Site. This maiden flight evaluation showcased stable performance across all parameters, including flawless […]
FactoryTalk DataMosaix puts data at the centre
Companies often spend a lot of effort and energy to figure out how they performed in the past. Rockwell Automation has released a solution that puts a company in control of how it will perform in the future. According to the World Economic Forum, in 2021 industries created, captured, copied and consumed 74 zettabytes of data – by 2023 that was estimated to rise to 130 zettabytes with one zettabyte equal to a trillion gigabytes. This rapidly growing volume of data is causing serious problems for organisations. While most sectors have seen rapid growth in data analytical solutions, industrial automation has been an exception. This is the case even though production data holds the key to insights into operational performance. Huge volumes of data on their own are not meaningful and engineers can spend up to 60 percent of their time gathering, cleaning, and collating data rather than driving insights. Putting data at the centre Rockwell Automation is taking a unique approach to address this issue. “Data is the centre of our strategy,” said Manish Jain, strategy leader – data, AI, and edge computing, Rockwell Automation. “Data needs to be organised, structured, and analysed to unlock insights that drive value for companies.” The company recently unveiled Factory Talk Data Mosaix which contextualises and merges engineering technology data with OT and IT data into one solution with the goal of full production automation. “AI will drive this process, but it needs valid data and good analytics,” said Jain. For example, data can provide insights into root cause analysis and future predictions, and function as a single source of truth to solve challenging problems. By integrating data from any vendor and all parts of the production system, it will make data available, meaningful, and useful so that standard applications and custom app […]