Makenz

12/05/2025

Calling all production and operations managers!
Make NZ is hosting a dedicated Manufacturing Industry Conference just for you on May 28th at SouthMACH. "Tuning your production engine" is the theme – get ready to learn, share, and elevate your team's performance.

23/08/2022

A fantastic turnout at our Fireside Chat last night!

So good to see some regulars and fresh faces mixed in. We heard some really interesting things from Andrew Dallison of Moffat Group and Philip Benson from AW Fraser Ltd.
There were some very good points raised and discussed about how we can look to combat skills and labour shortages.
We also announced the official launch of www.makenz.org/ !
This is our new website that will host news, events, and has a forum for members to discus and share. Head on over and sign up to become a member, with your involvement we’ll be able to grow our community, so get involved!

09/08/2022

Last night we saw the return of our Production Managers’ Meetings.
Previously we'd found these get-togethers really beneficial for the sake of putting heads together to share issues and any thoughts about solutions. We had a mix of operations, manufacturing, and production managers all keen to share their thoughts. By regularly having these meetings we can start to build more of a community and help each other grow.
There was a mix of problems discussed within the group, but mostly the focus was on the lack of skilled and/or willing staff, troubles with importing and freight, and generally just being unable to keep up with growing demand. All of these seem to be issues a lot of companies in New Zealand have been struggling with in the past two years and right now there seems to be few signs of these problems going away. That means it’s a perfect time to start sharing alternative strategies and learnings. In our MAKE│NZ community, we can offer new ideas and workshop new solutions, while not taking time away from getting on with the job at hand.

We’re looking forward to having our next meeting in 6 weeks’ time- please let us know if this is something you or someone in your team would be interested in joining! We try to keep things small and comfortable for discussions, but new people are always welcome.

02/08/2022

International news-

A report has come out in Germany that’s found every second business surveyed is short staffed. Previously they were already suffering from a lack of skilled labour in industry, but now several different sectors are suffering. In the manufacturing sector the numbers of businesses saying they’re short staffed is concerning- 58.1% of food manufacturers, 57% of electronic equipment, metal products, and furniture manufacturers, and 30.5% of the car industry. Even those more dependent on the operation of large machines rather than predominantly manual labour are feeling the effects.
It's estimated that every year up to 400,000 more people leave the work in force in Germany due to age than new people are joining from leaving school. The potential workforce is likely going to be reduced from four to six million over the next 15 years.

Labour shortages are a growing problem the world over, not just in our own backyard. A hollow comfort. The answers to this issue are still very much a work in progress it would seem, so now is a prime opportunity to start putting our heads together to try and come up with some new solutions.

01/08/2022

Re-launch success!

Last night we had the launch of MAKE│NZ paired with a presentation from Dion Orbell, the Chief People Officer for Buckley Systems Ltd. Their success story is beyond amazing and we're so pleased Dion was able to come out and share it.
Hearing such an inspiring story from a New Zealand manufacturer and having the opportunity to discuss and share this kind of information is exactly what we want to come from MAKE│NZ. Being able to get together in person and online and build our community is what we're all about.
You saw a preview of our upcoming website and forums, and we can't wait to share it with you.

31/07/2022

Empowering New Zealand Manufacturers to Succeed and Grow

MAKENZ is a tightly knit community focused on improving what we do in manufacturing together.
Our community is made up of manufacturing leaders at all levels- from Team Leaders to Managing Directors. Online we're open to all manufacturing leaders across New Zealand, and we host in-person events in Canterbury.

We care about manufacturing- on a personal level and a national level. Sharing knowledge and insights among our community is vital- no one knows everything, but together, we know a whole lot more.

31/07/2022