Having just held our Annual General Meeting last week – we’re pleased to report that FY21 was a celebratory year full of validation.

Covid-19 proved that our focus on preparing our industry for digital disruption was justified… we just didn’t anticipate it would be for a global pandemic!

MBIE’s focus on  Building For Climate Change and the Climate Change Commission’s activities also validated our warning that the steel industry needed to pay greater attention to sustainability. 

This years’ annual report covers these experiences which we’re pleased to deliver in a more interactive and visual digital format for the first time. This is part of our commitment to drive digital uptake in business and Industry 4.0.

Of course, for those who prefer, we’ve also created a static pdf version as well.

May242021
Visit our new interactive digital annual report for FY21.

Board updates

HERA would like to thank our Board for their continued support throughout the year. Their contributions are integral to ensuring we continue to deliver value to our membership and the wider metals industry.

Moving into the new financial year, we’d like to advise that Dave Anderson, Technical Director at John Jones Steel; David Moore, Managing Director at Grayson Engineering Ltd; and Raed El Sarraf, Technical Principal – Materials & Corrosion at WSP have been re-elected unopposed.

Jane Warren, Director & Joint Owner of Dixon Manufacturing Ltd; Jayden Mellsop, Contract Manager & Director of Eastbridge Ltd; and Darren O’Riley, Manager of SCNZ have been secondered for a further year.

 

Key announcements

Despite the significant uncertainty and fluctuations in levy income, FY21 was an exceptional year for HERA.

We experienced both the lowest import levy income month and the highest import levy income month on record. However, overall the financial performance of HERA in this year was celebratory as we tightly managed expenditure during the periods of uncertainty and supported some strategic initiatives when there was greater financial certainty. 

This saw us launch some key initiatives at the AGM:

  • the Fab4.0Lab – large capital investments were made in transforming the welding workshop area into the Fab4.0Lab. This will improve HERA’s training, research and demonstration activities to better support our members adoption of Industry 4.0 and advanced fabrication technologies;
  • Sustainability Research Fund –These project ideas were sought from members and three of the five proposals have been green-lit for funding via the Steel Research Panels;
  • MetalMind – we had been working on the development of an industry app over the past year and were able to launch it at the AGM. This will improve members’ engagement by changing that way we interact with our members, and the members with each other; and
  • approval of two new policy documents – we continue to ensure that our policy and procedures are updated on a regular basis to meet legislation and industry standards. Our recent revisions on our health and safety policy and workplace privacy policy being approved during the AGM.

 

CEO outlook

In the coming 12 months, we have the following key focuses: 

  • Sustainability. We have plans to release: our zero carbon steel program; a report on steel recycling in New Zealand; a professional development program for Engineers on carbon in steel; an update the Living Standards Framework assessment for steel’s contribution to Aotearoa and the start of our Sustainability Research projects. Troy has have also been involved in the reinvigoration of the Sustainable Steel Council, which was legally incorporated in early 2021, as its inaugural Chair;
  • Industry 4.0. We plan to leverage the Fab4.0Lab to build a national centre of excellence in Fabrication 4.0 and grow it through partnerships with members, suppliers and researchers;
  • Positioning HERA. We plan to focus on positioning HERA as a key contributor to thought leadership in both the manufacturing and building/construction sectors, thus highlighting the significant role steel plays in these; and
  • Mātauranga Māori and Construction 4.0. In collaboration with Pūhoro STEM Academy, we plan to investigate the potential for this interface and the opportunities it brings for our industry and the construction sector more broadly.