N E W S
New equity deal announced for industry
automation specialist An award-winning industry automation specialist is set to
significantly extend its market reach thanks to a new equity
partnership with a horticultural heavyweight.
Following recent collaboration on a number of projects, CR
Automation (CRA) has decided to sell a 50% equity stake to
Jenkins Group – a key industry player throughout Australasia’s
horticulture post-harvest industry.
With subsidiaries in New Zealand and Australia (Taurangabased
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www.engineeringnews.co.nz 15
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✉ sales@nyalic.co.nz
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Jenkins Freshpac Systems Ltd and NSW-based J-Tech
Systems PTY), Jenkins Group provides an extensive range
of labelling, packaging and handling systems to the fruit and
vegetable industry across both countries.
Hawke’s Bay-based CR Automation provides automation,
robotic and post-harvest solutions to a broad range of
industries including food and beverage, water and wastewater,
materials handling, cool storage, meat and wool processing
and general manufacturing.
Managing director Peter Richards says the 18-year-old tech
company has experienced exponential growth over the past
three years and has been looking for an equity partner who
could help sustain that growth and ensure longevity.
“We wanted a partner founded on similar ideals who would
add value and provide market access beyond our existing
client base,” Richards says. “Jenkins Group are an innovative,
family-owned company with 136 years of success behind
them. They are very client-focused and trade with a high level
of integrity which is an excellent fit for us.”
Innovation is at the core of both companies, and CRA won the
“Most Innovative Solution” award for ABB robotics at the 2019
ASIA Value Provider Conference.
Richards says he is immensely proud of the engineering
capacity the CRA team has developed and recent growth
was primarily due to a strategic initiative of developing
bespoke material handling and machinery for a broad range
of industry players.
“Jenkins were very impressed by CR Automation’s
engineering capacity and its diversity. They felt some of our
engineering services and products would complement the
sectors that are core to them including apples and kiwifruit,
but were very interested in CR Automation’s specialisation in
water and wastewater, and machine and functional safety as
they recognise the high demand for these services,” he says.
“I’m excited to see our company’s potential realised through
this new equity partnership with Jenkins Group and we’re
looking forward to seeing what the future holds.”
Managing director of Jenkins Group, Tony Sayle, says the
combination of skills, products and services that the two
organisations can now provide across a wide industry
segment is “formidable”.
“The Internet of Things (IoT) and automation are clear
requirements for our horticulture sector to excel and thrive
in a global economy and soar through its ambitious target of
being a $10 billion industry by 2020,” Sayle says.
“This new partnership will provide industry leading produce
handling capability to a post-harvest industry screaming out
for efficiencies and solutions to its labour supply woes and
escalating compliance needs.
“CR Automation are a world class developer and provider of
automation and control systems. Our horticultural clients
will certainly benefit from their services and products and
together we intend to lead the field across post-harvest
produce handling, FMCG production automation and
municipal asset monitoring.”
work well for some people where
mainstream education doesn’t,
particularly for those with limited
literacy and numeracy skills,”
Carmel Sepuloni says.
JBA founder and ceo James
Coddington says the benefit of
the tool is that jobseekers can try
out real tasks like driving a dump
truck by using the virtual headset.
The experience enables them to
make informed career decisions
and ramp up their employability
while employers can attract
potential workers and fully assess
their skills before making an offer.
Minister for Employment Hon
Willie Jackson says the new
tool may be virtual but its value
is very real. “Three-quarters of
the construction workforce are
millennials, so it’s important to
find tools they relate to. Virtual
reality is their thing. It’s about
getting people into work. It
matches people who need work
with employers who need staff.”
Ceo of Civil Contractors New
Zealand Peter Silcock says the
virtual reality scenarios make
industry more accessible for
people starting their careers and
showcases the reasons people
love working in civil construction.
“We have been working
closely with the Ministry of
Social Development to try and
overcome the barriers preventing
people from entering careers
in civil construction. There are
lots of jobs for people who don’t
mind getting hands-on. Civil construction
careers are challenging,
meaningful and lucrative. We
need to show people there’s a
place for them in our industry.”
Mr Coddington further says
education has been evolving
beyond the classroom
whiteboard for some time.
“This kind of VR education is new
on a global level. One of its biggest
advantages is full immersion –
no other medium can give users
the feeling of ‘being there’ better
than VR, because there are no
distractions. The experience fully
captures learners’ attention, and
in doing so boosts their retention
of information."
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