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In this Issue:
NEWS
High-tech trace of wool's origin
2009 PWC New Zealand Hi-Tech Winners
Finalists chosen for $1 million R&D competition
Research shows focused, confident businesses survive recessions
Sanitarium says good-bye TV, hello Twitter with 3D All Blacks campaign
Product innovation, not cost-cutting, top route to increased profitability for NZ firms
NZTE seeks 10 Orion wannabees for $500,000 US road-trip
Surviving the Recession: The sweet taste of success
NZ scores well in overseas trade
EVENTS - Upcoming
Auckland Networking Event - Tuesday 28th July
Sustainable Design for Business Workshop Series
Go Global Forum for International Business
Bayer Innovators Awards
EVENTS - Past
Auckland Networking Event - Tuesday 12th May
Survive and Thrive Through Innovation Workshops
BLOG
Project Management for Product Development Projects
CRI's
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Issue 5 - July 2009
Hi everyone
Some more interesting reading for you and events coming up, including the next Auckland networking event - check it out below.
We are keen for more Christchurch events, so if you are able to help (organise, provide venue or sponsor), please let us know.
PDMA-NZ team
www.pdma-nz.org
About PDMA-NZ
High-tech trace of wool's origin
 AgResearch-developed technology that can prove the origins of New Zealand carpet wool is being used to try to boost record low returns to wool growers.
Click here to continue reading.
2009 PricewaterhouseCoopers New Zealand Hi-Tech Winners
Winners of the 2009 PricewaterhouseCoopers New Zealand Hi-Tech Awards show Kiwi innovation succeeding in global market.
The winners of this year's PricewaterhouseCoopers New Zealand Hi-Tech Awards were announced at a Gala Awards dinner in Christchurch 1st May. The Awards recognise excellence across New Zealand's software, electronics, biotechnology, telecommunications and creative technology industries and this year saw a record 160 entries.
Click here to continue reading.
Finalists chosen for $1 million R&D competition
 The judging panel for Industrial Research Ltd’s (IRL) R&D competition What’s Your Problem New Zealand? has chosen ten finalists from a field of more than 100 entries.
The competition seeks to raise the profile of R&D and encourage New Zealand firms to improve long term productivity and profitability through increased R&D investment. The winning entry will be awarded up to $1 million in R&D services from IRL.
The ten finalists are Dynamic Controls, Fisher & Paykel Appliances, Glidepath, Gallagher Group, Group3 Technology, Mars Petcare NZ, Pacific Edge Biotechnology, PowerShield, Pultron Composites and Resene Paints.
Click here to continue reading
Research shows focused, confident businesses survive recessions
 Survival in a recession is all about balancing risk and opportunity according to research carried out by New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) into successful company survival strategies in a recession.
The ability to be grounded but to have the confidence to take opportunities is highlighted in the research findings.
Four of the seven factors identified as helping firms to survive recessions relate to dealing with the reality (focusing on the core business, improving efficiency, getting rid of non-core operations and business restructuring) while three deal with opportunities (acquisitions, increased advertising and marketing, and more research and development).
Click here to continue reading
Sanitarium says good-bye TV, hello Twitter with 3D All Blacks campaign
 Having spent $1.3 million developing and printing new 3D, webcam-activated All Blacks trading cards, Sanitarium has decided not to spend $400,000 on a media campaign to promote them. Instead, the FMCG company is pinning its hopes on Twitter, Facebook and Bebo.
Click here to continue reading
Product innovation, not cost-cutting, top route to increased profitability for NZ firms
Kiwi businesses have found product innovation contributing to increased profitability far more than cost-cutting measures.
And in following this course, New Zealand firms are up in the top end of the world league as measured by the Grant Thornton International Business report survey.
Among 27% of New Zealand businesses surveyed, product innovation was rated highest as the most successful initiative to increase business profitability – comfortably above the global average of 20% on this score.
Cost-cutting rated highest among only 9% of companies in New Zealand, well below the global average of 18% who had this as their highest profitability source among the 7,200 privately-held businesses surveyed internationally by accountancy and business advisers Grant Thornton
Click here to continue reading
NZTE seeks 10 Orion wannabees for $500,000 US road-trip
 New Zealand Trade & Enterprise is looking for companies with heath products or services that - with a little help - could crack a US healthcare market bulging with billions from the Obama stimulus package.
The idea is to foster the next Orion Health - the Auckland company that has grown to be New Zealand’s largest software company, with a workforce of around 300 - largely through its success in the US healthcare market.
NTZE’s Focus on Health challenge is calling for contenders to submit business plans by August 31.
For 10 finalists, there will $500,000 in cash and kind prizes, including a June 2010 road-trip around the US to meet potential investors, partners and buyers.
Click here to continue reading
Surviving the Recession: The sweet taste of success
 NZ Herald reporters have travelled the country to learn how people are coping with the recession. The Business Herald looks at six companies weathering the storm.
Click here to continue reading
NZ scores well in overseas trade
New Zealand has scored highly in a survey of international trade.
The World Economic Forum’s Global Enabling Trade Report 2009 ranks countries on services, policies and institutions that help foster open trade.
New Zealand has come in 11th – behind Singapore, Hong Kong, and eight Scandinavian and European countries.
Click here to continue reading
Auckland Networking Event - Tuesday 11th August
The Adoption of PLM Best-Practices
Join Graeme Preston as he describes the journey of implementing a PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) system in a high tech environment, from the initial discovery of PLM software through to post implementation lessons. See how PLM fits into a typical mid sized NZ company and hear about the challenges met and gains made through the cycle of implementation.
Graeme Preston is Quality Manager at Navman Wireless, where he has worked since its formation in July 07. Since 1990 he has worked at electronics and technology companies in NZ and the UK, and he has a strong knowledge base and expertise in production and manufacturing systems and controls. In his current role Graeme oversees Navman Wireless’ PLM system, Development Process and Document Management systems; is Project Manager for new products on the Navman Wireless roadmap; and has overall responsibility for the quality of the Navman Wireless hardware products.
Click here to find out more and register.
Sustainable Design for Business Workshop Series
Increasingly businesses are faced with environmental requirements from markets, customers and their supply chain. This course helps you understand and practice the key tools, strategies and approaches to ensure that your products, services and business are prepared to meet these challenges and lead in the market.
Wellington: 6/7th Aug
Dunedin: 13/14th Aug
Christchurch: 10/11th Sept
Auckland: 17/18th Sept
Click here for further details.
Go Global Forum for International Business
The Go Global Forum for International Business Conference will be held in Auckland on 30 September 2009.
The full day conference will be followed by the International Business Awards event in the evening.
For further details, click here.
 The awards recognise top innovators in the fields of Science and Health; Design and Engineering; Agriculture and Environment; Research and Development; and Information Technology and Communications.
The National Business Review will showcase the top innovators from each of the categories and winners will be announced at a special cocktail event on 25 August 2009.
Click here for further details.
Auckland Networking Event - Tuesday 12th May
The most recent PDMA-NZ meeting, held on May 12, was kindly hosted by Simpson-Grierson in their excellent conference facility overlooking Auckland Harbour.
Over 50 people, from a wide cross section of representatives from industry, government and university, attended the meeting.
 Guest speaker was Dr Jeremy Hill, Chief Technology Officer for Fonterra. Jeremy presented a comprehensive insight into Fonterra’s R&D organisation and practices, supported by case studies from various company business units. Subsequent feedback on the venue, the catering and the guest speaker voted the evening a great success.
Survive and Thrive Through Innovation Workshops
 TechNZ manages the business investments of The Foundation for Research, Science and Technology. They recently ran a series of workshops around New Zealand called Survive and Thrive Through Innovation. For the workshop they created a very handy booklet which helps companies to prioritise R&D projects. The "Survive and Thrive Through Innovation" workbook explains a six step process to research and development that will help you clarify ideas, establish which are viable and show you what is needed to become more innovative.
Project Management for Product Development Projects
David Stokes continues his blogging - this time about project management for product development projects.
You probably know of one or two of our CRI's (Crown Research Institutes). Did you know we currently have eight of them! Well, here they are and links to their respective websites. Remember they are there to help us, so don't be afraid to contact them.
- AgResearch Ltd (AgResearch).
- Industrial Research Ltd (IRL).
- Institute of Environmental Science & Research Ltd (ESR).
- Institute of Geological & Nuclear Sciences Ltd (GNS Science).
- Landcare Research New Zealand Ltd (Landcare Research).
- National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research Ltd (NIWA).
- New Zealand Forest Research Institute Ltd - trading as Scion
- The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Ltd (Plant & Food Research).
These's links are up on our website, along with a number of other useful links - click here. And if you have any other links that you think other pdma-nzers would find useful, let us know so we can include them.
We're only young, but we're growing and enthusiastic. Becoming a member of the PDMA (Product Development & Management Association of New Zealand) entitles members to a range of benefits including:
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favourable rates for overseas conferences and meetings of the international PDMA
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subscription to Vision magazine, an international quarterly featuring case studies
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networking with professionals and developers who will share your experiences
For more details, check out the membership page on our website: www.pdma-nz.org.
Product Development & Management Association of New Zealand (PDMA-NZ)
c\o Massey University
Private Bag 102 904
North Shore Mail Centre
Auckland, New Zealand
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