Horticulture and agriculture have both characterised the majority of New Zealand’s exports up until now, but manufacturing and various other industries are now finding an increasing foothold in this country. Industrial warehouses serve both the local Kiwi population and consumers overseas… but what does that mean for local industry professionals?
It means this: industrial automation is now an essential factor, not just a nice-to-have. Industrial automation is the bedrock of New Zealand’s continued evolution toward faster, better, and safer production across sectors from food and beverage to energy.
The key to getting this right is to understand why industrial automation has become so essential now and how you, as a professional, can implement it in your factory or site. Let’s unpack that together.
What does industrial automation involve?
This can be a vague term or even a buzzword when misused. But at its core, ‘industrial automation’ is actually deeply tactical.
Essentially, industrial automation involves integrating control systems into the line to automate industrial processes, with minimal human intervention. To use a metaphor, it’s like using PLCs, sensors, and robotics to build a mechanised nervous system that can control the production of products from one end of the line to the other.
Industrial automation can exist at almost any scale, whether it’s solving a single problem or spanning the entire factory floor. The degree of its implementation depends on you and how extensive you want your investment/return to be in this forward-thinking technology.
Why has industrial automation become so non-negotiable in New Zealand?
If you step into almost any modern manufacturing environment today, you’ll see one challenge repeating itself over and over: demand is increasing while the labour pool is tightening. Factories are expected to produce more, produce faster, and produce consistently, even as staffing becomes more difficult and margins become more competitive.
Around the world, factory owners have been using industrial automation to bridge that gap. Done well, industrial automation is a mechanism for re-prioritising human effort. Instead of doing repetitive tasks, humans can focus on optimising systems or overseeing the more complex aspects of the production or manufacturing process.
Automation also meets another pressure that has been growing steadily year after year: traceability. Consumers and regulatory bodies expect verifiable data on how products are handled, processed, and delivered. Automated systems collect that data continuously, without human error and without pause. For many manufacturers, this level of accountability is no longer optional.
With so many international manufacturers entering this level of industrial automation, New Zealand manufacturers must do the same to remain competitive. It’s the simplest truth in the world of business: never fall behind the curve.
Luckily, adopting this practice in your factory can actually scale your returns, so upgrades like this can essentially pay for themselves in time.
How can you scale with industrial automation?
One thing that often gets lost in automation conversations is that automation is not “all or nothing”. You do not need to transform your entire line overnight. The most forward-thinking manufacturers start with the key bottlenecks, using their first investment to remove the issue that slows everything else.
Then, once that small change proves its worth, the next step becomes obvious. Automation grows with your factory, allowing your systems to strengthen over time rather than forcing your team to adapt to massive changes overnight.
So, our first suggestion is this: identify the bottleneck. What is the one process that slows down your factory from end-to-end, regardless of whether it touches every part of the process? Which process do you have the most trouble managing? Which process creates the most injuries, downtime, or financial damage to your company?
Once you identify these gaps in your metaphorical armour, you have a built-in priority list for robotics or systemised automation improvements ready to go. From there, you can work with an automation designer to adapt consistent, safe, and fast industrial automation practices that allow you to not only compete with, but outdo your rivals in the industry.
In short, industrial automation is how Kiwi businesses level the global playing field. This is how you can create a resilient, adaptable factory that can compete internationally without eroding your team's well-being.
And the best news is that as automation technology continues to improve, it is becoming more accessible to small and medium manufacturers who may have once believed it was out of reach.
Trust CNC Design for scalable, forward-thinking industrial automation strategies.
We at CNC Design supply and install world-leading components for industrial automation, but our job doesn’t stop there. We are automation designers and experts, helping you to find vital weaknesses in your factory that you can turn into strengths with the right fix.
Curious about how industrial automation could positively impact your output and bottom line? Get in touch with the team at CNC Design today.
