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In this Issue:
In the Media
Outsourcing 'can cost competitive advantage'
Farmer fizzes over cola 'milk'
Fieldays Innovation Centre Awards
NZ sleep enhancing milk popular in Taiwan
Icehouse makes Forbes magazine's top 10
Tindall leads investment in solar company
Promising NZ Wound Care Treatment One Step Closer To Market
$1m investment fuels Weta
Export wine focus turns to top table
Tech sector beats recession but room for improvement
EVENTS - Upcoming
PDMA-NZ Networking Event – NextWindow’s Journey
Training: New Product Development – Managing the Process
Bayer Innovators Awards
PDMA 2010 Global Conference on Product Innovation Management
EVENTS - Past
Dunedin company wins prestigious national award
New Zealand Company Takes Out Top Prize In International Design Awards Program
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Issue 8 - June 2010
Hi everyone
Here’s another newsletter for your latest dose of product innovation news and events.
Our next networking event is scheduled for 24th June and we are excited to announce that Al Monro will be speaking about NextWindow’s ( www.nextwindow.com) journey from start-up in 2001 to being a major player in the global touch screen industry. Al will take us through how NextWindow went from a typical ICT start-up trying to develop new innovative technology and raise capital, to now engaging in global markets with major brand customers and the lessons learned along the way.
We’re sure everyone will find this kiwi success-story interesting, from budding start-up’s through to established companies that are looking for ways to bring new technologies and products to the global market.
If you'd like to join us for this great evening, scroll down to the events section of the newsletter.
As our database continues to grow, we have had interest expressed in starting a sub-chapter of PDMA-NZ in BOP, so if you are in that area or know of people in BOP who might be interested, please let us know by clicking here.
Cheers!
PDMA-NZ team
Outsourcing 'can cost competitive advantage'
Technology firms should be wary of outsourcing manufacturing overseas en masse, says the author of an annual IT industry report.
Firms looking to cut costs could lose something more valuable. "If you divest manufacturing out of your value proposition and don't have that close integration between manufacturing and design and development ... you potentially abdicate a competitive advantage," says Technology Investment Network director Greg Shanahan.
Click here to continue reading.
Farmer fizzes over cola 'milk'
 A Te Aroha dairy farmer who developed a carbonated milk drink has been banned by Coca-Cola from selling it at the National Agricultural Fieldays.
Richard Revell, who expects the first cans of the mo2 drink to go on sale in Hamilton in the next few weeks, spent six years developing it in his dairy shed and then commercially.
The cola and lemonade drinks – made using milk instead of water – have cola and lemonade tastes but with a pleasant extra dairy kick. Mr Revell said he and his Waikato Innovation Park backers were shocked when they learned Coca-Cola would not let him sell the drinks in the Kiwi's Best marquee at this month's Fieldays, where the theme is innovation.
Click here to continue reading.
Fieldays Innovation Centre Awards
 While we are on the topic of the Fieldays, if you are planning to attend (16th – 19th June), remember to look out for the Innovation Centre Awards – it’s always interesting to see what the cow-cocky’s can build with number 8 wire and bits and pieces lying around the farm!
Click here for more details.
NZ sleep enhancing milk popular in Taiwan
 Taiwanese trials of a New Zealand sleep enhancing milk product proved there was interest. But joint venture partners New Image Group and Somnaceutics have been stunned by the demand for the milk powder-based drink since it launched six weeks ago.
Stephen Lyttelton, chief executive of health and wellness product group New Image (NZX: NEW), says the first shipment of Sleep Time sold out to its 20,000 Taiwanese distributors within half an hour of the product’s launch.
Click here to continue reading
Icehouse makes Forbes magazine's top 10
Auckland business growth centre the Icehouse has been named one of the top 10 start-up incubators in the world by Forbes magazine.
The charitable trust - founded by the University of Auckland Business School in 2001 - was the only non-United States incubator on the list compiled by the New York magazine.
Forbes wrote that the Icehouse had "launched 75 technology companies and has raised $50 million for them through its angel-investor network, the largest in New Zealand".
Click here to continue reading
Tindall leads investment in solar company
 Nelson-based SolarCity has successfully concluded a multi-million dollar private equity financing round led by Sir Stephen Tindall.
Tindall's investment fund (K1W1) led the financing, which has also included participation from Nelson-based investors, into the all-in-one solar-power company.
The company says the $2 million in new capital will enable them to expand nationally and invest further in innovation and product development to make solar power more affordable to homeowners and businesses across New Zealand.
Click here to continue reading
Promising NZ Wound Care Treatment One Step Closer To Market
A drug co-invented by a University of Auckland researcher and part funded by a New Zealand venture capital company is one step closer to entering the multi-billion dollar wound-healing market.
Phase 2 testing of the drug NEXAGON®; is demonstrating startling results in tissue repair. The results have been described as "extremely exciting" and "very impressive" by leading specialist wound healing physicians in the United States.
The drug is being developed by CoDa Therapeutics Inc., a company with dual operations in NZ and the US that has been co-funded by BioPacificVentures, a New Zealand venture capital group and other international investors
Click here to continue reading
$1m investment fuels Weta
Tonnes of waste wood left by loggers can be turned into bio-fuel for industrial boilers thanks to "commonsense" innovation and an investment of more than $1 million in Hamilton.
Progressive Group, searching for a sustainable bio-fuel source, spent more than four years designing and building the Wood Weta, a machine which takes logs and branches and turns it into kindling.
Click here to continue reading
Export wine focus turns to top table
 A new Government-backed push into the US aims to build a super premium wine category for the billion-dollar export industry.
Economic Development Minister Gerry Brownlee said the wine industry was at a turning point as it was starting to produce quite large volumes although small compared with world consumption.
Wine exports have soared in value from $125.3 million in 1999 to more than $1 billion.
Click here to continue reading
Tech sector beats recession but room for improvement
Technology companies’ average growth rate for 2009 was 39%, according to a new survey, but this number could be much higher if strategic approach was widely implemented.
The second annual market measures survey of sales and marketing activity in New Zealand, conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Concentrate, revealed last year’s growth rate was down from 58% in 2008.
Click here to continue reading
PDMA-NZ Networking Event – NextWindow’s Journey
 As mentioned above, our next networking event is scheduled for 24th June and Al Monro will be speaking about NextWindow’s ( www.nextwindow.com) journey from start-up in 2001 to being a major player in the global touch screen industry. Al will take us through how NextWindow went from a typical ICT start-up trying to develop new innovative technology and raise capital, to now engaging in global markets with major brand customers and the lessons learned along the way.
There will also be a presentation about the recent Budget increases for TechNZ and how organisations can access TechNZ business investments to support R&D and product development.
Click here to find out more and register. Training: New Product Development – Managing the Process
Wednesday, 21 Jul 2010 - Thursday, 22 Jul 2010
The University of Auckland Business School has a new course added to its Short Courses program. Through a combination of theory, practical examples, New Zealand case-studies and group discussions, you’ll learn how to:
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Pick the right ideas and position your projects for success.
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Effectively manage the projects, focusing on timely delivery within budget and scope.
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Manage conflicts and negotiate successful outcomes.
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Create an effective team.
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Fast-track your projects.
See the Short Courses website at http://www.shortcourses.ac.nz/courses/414/ for more details.
There is a special 15% DISCOUNT FOR PDMA MEMBERS! All you have to do is type PDMA into the special code box on the website and the discount will be deducted on the payment page automatically.
In today’s economic environment, it has never been more important to invest in innovation. That’s why the National Business Review is once again teaming up with Bayer New Zealand to find this country’s leading innovators – those who use their knowledge and commitment to improve the lives of New Zealanders and the wider world.
Their search for innovative people spans five categories:
Entries close on Friday 11th June, so you need to be quick!
PDMA 2010 Global Conference on Product Innovation Management
If you are able to organise a trip or are going to be in that region around this time, the next PDMA Global conference is worth going to. This is product innovation networking on a global scale!
Dunedin company wins prestigious national award
TracMap was named top emerging company at the national Hi-Tech awards announced at a gala dinner attended by 600 people in Auckland May 7th.
TracMap was one of four New Zealand technology leaders selected as finalists in the NZX Emerging Company Award, one of the most important honours in the prestigious event that acknowledges excellence by New Zealand's producers of high-technology products, services and software solutions.
The other three finalists were established New Zealand companies LanzaTech, Sonar6 and Xero.
Click here to continue reading
New Zealand Company Takes Out Top Prize In International Design Awards Program
 New Plymouth-based medical bed manufacturer, Howard Wright, has won the 2010 Australian International Design Award of the Year for its M8 Intensive Care bed.
The Australian International Design Awards is a division of Standards Australia and one of the world's most renowned design assessment programs, recognising product design and innovation excellence. Winners were announced in Sydney on Friday 4 June 2010.
Howard Wright's M8 Intensive Care was recognised for its outstanding design, attention to detail and innovation. The M8 is cleverly designed to reduce patient handling and risk of injury by allowing for a wide range of medical procedures to be performed without the need to transfer the patient from the bed.
Another New Zealand company, Simcro, was also one of only nine finalists nominated for the overall Australian International Design Award of the Year.
Click here to find out more.
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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