Category Archives: Manufacturing

August 30, 2007 Posted in Business, Design, Efficiency, Manufacturing, Strategy 3 Comments

Nokia and public relations….

By Ben Kepes

This is a post that I hope will find its way into Nokia NZ or Nokia international’s public relations department. A month or so ago I acquired a new Nokia 6630 phone. Pretty much straight away it was obvious that the phone was buggy and needed repairs. I took it

August 20, 2007 Posted in Business, Design, Economic Development, Manufacturing, New business, New Zealand, Strategy, Uncategorized 1 Comment

Designing for success…

By Ben Kepes

An old buddy sent me a link to this on the UK design council site about Cycle Clothing entrprise Rapha. From start up to 900,000 quid per annum turnover is an impressive statistic. It is an example of what I have been saying in terms of having an all-encompassing view

August 17, 2007 Posted in Branding, Business, Design, Economic Development, Manufacturing, My businesses, New Zealand, Strategy 4 Comments

Authentically made in China and painted with lead……

By Ben Kepes

Will has a good post over here giving some sag advice to startups to be authentic. It’s a valid viewpoint, especially given the recent cases involving dodgy lead paint, poisonous toothpaste and killer dog food. Recently we have seen a number of products come to market which leverage off some

August 17, 2007 Posted in Business, Business and the Environment, Manufacturing, New Zealand, Strategy Leave a comment

Windflow going international….

By Ben Kepes

I’m not 100% sure about Windflow’s two blade turbine design – I have no reason to say that other than gut feel and aesthetics. It is pleasing however to see that Windflow has signed a deal to sell some turbines to a Hawaiian windfarm. Selling just one or two turbines

August 13, 2007 Posted in Business, Economic Development, Manufacturing, New Zealand, Society Leave a comment

Buy NZ Made, Roasted, Ground and Sold

By Ben Kepes

An excellent post over here about the recent Chinese made NZ peanut butter fiasco. I can’t add much to what has been said already other than that consumer apathy is a strong foil to the Buy Kiwi Made campaign, as is the price differential between sweaty shop and shiny, happy,

August 12, 2007 Posted in Business, Manufacturing, Society 1 Comment

Whatever happened to consumer rights?

By Ben Kepes

The other day I bought a new mobile – a Nokia 6630 smartphone. I got it from Noel Leemings. Now this is where the tale starts – when I got the phone it intermittently dropped the screen out. Must have been a loose connections or something. As it was only

August 9, 2007 Posted in Business, Economic Development, Manufacturing, New Zealand, Society, Strategy 3 Comments

MEA comes clean….

By Ben Kepes

I posted a week or so ago about the Boiled Tuatara website. Today the NZ manufacturers and exporters association owned up to posting the adds and the site is now down and linking to the MEA main site. The MEA site has much of the story behind the Boiled Tuatara

August 7, 2007 Posted in Business, Manufacturing, New Zealand, Strategy Leave a comment

Sir Angus Tait passes….

By Ben Kepes

I’ve been busy and haven’t been around to post of late. News however that Sir Angus Tait dies this morning. His passing is a huge loss to the Christchurch/New Zealand electronics sector in particular and manufacturing/industry in general. It will be an interesting time at Tait’s – Angus was always

August 6, 2007 Posted in Business, Economic Development, Governance, Manufacturing, My businesses, New Zealand Leave a comment

CMA please don’t do this to manufacturers…

By Ben Kepes

Jim pointed me to this article which discusses that fairly vitriolic attack that John Walley from the Canterbury Manufacturers Association made against Business New Zealand and the Canterbury Employers Chamber of Commerce among others. The gist of the attack centred around the supposition by Walley that the other business groups,

August 3, 2007 Posted in Business, Governance, Manufacturing, New Zealand, Strategy Leave a comment

I smell a rat here….

By Ben Kepes

LWR has extended it’s takeover offer for POD yet again. meanwhile POD announced that it’s prospective sale of a 3.58hectare industrial site has been withdrawn. Why do I smell a rat?; The property sale was reported to be a sell and lease back arrangement but POD now tell us that

Ben Kepes is a technology evangelist, an investor, a commentator and a business adviser. Ben covers the convergence of technology, mobile, ubiquity and agility, all enabled by the Cloud. His areas of interest extend to enterprise software, software integration, financial/accounting software, platforms and infrastructure as well as articulating technology simply for everyday users.