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“PACKAGED”
To Suit Your Needs
Worm Gear Motors and Worm Gear Reducers
• Modular design with ISO standard flanged input together with output
flanges, torque arms, plus simple connection of multiple staged
reductions
• 100% compatible with ISO flange mounted motors
• Lightweight aluminium design
• Available in 10 sizes with power ratings .09kW - 15kW and ratios of
7.5:1 to 6,400:1
14 February 2020
Cheap, lookalike hydraulic cylinders
give NZ companies headaches
Global advanced industrial tools and services
leader Enerpac says the New Zealand market
is falling victim to cheap, lookalike hydraulic
cylinders that are causing significant
headaches when they fail in service.
Enerpac New Zealand Hydraulic Specialist,
Neville Stuart, says that unlike
genuine Enerpac branded gear, lookalike
cylinders have not been engineered
for rugged conditions and optimum
durability and are not backed by Enerpac’s
nationwide service and warranty
commitments.
“Everyone is conscious of working within
budget limitations, so when a $2,500
cylinder is available for under $500, it
looks like a good deal. But what costs
are incurred when that cylinder breaks
down prematurely?” asks Mr Stuart.
“It can be ten times that amount in terms
of lost time, and hundreds of times that
amount in terms of safety liability if they
fail.
“Not only does production grind to a
halt, but you now have to seek a replacement
part, because there is no warranty
or service with lookalike brands,” he
says.
Enerpac equipment is used in major
projects where safety, precision and
uptime are critical, in industries such
as building, construction, civil and mechanical
engineering, electrical utilities,
manufacturing, mining and exploration,
metal processing, oil and gas and transport
maintenance.
“At the end of the day it’s a case of
‘cheap comes out expensive’ because
when you add up all the bills, a lookalike
cylinder ends up causing far more costs,
downtime, delays and other problems.”
Mr Stuart has been raising awareness of
New Zealand’s lookalike cylinder problem
for years, but says that the lookalike
brands are persistent because they
know they can make a quick dollar, then
disappear before things go wrong.
“The lookalike cylinders are usually
painted in an almost identical yellow,
and catalogues can even use similar
part coding systems, but at the end of
the day, if it isn’t genuine Enerpac gear,
it can’t be serviced or covered under
warranty by us, and companies are often
left out of pocket due to dodgy cylinders,”
he says.
“It’s not surprising that lookalike companies
are targeting us. Enerpac is a
global market leader, and our hydraulic
lifting equipment is used on major
projects where safety, precision and
durability are paramount. We just urge
all companies to check that they have
RR Fisher & Co Ltd
PO Box 23293 Auckland
Auckland
Ph: 09 278 4059 Fax: 09 279 8286
Christchurch
Ph: 03 377 0025 Fax: 03 377 0086
EN082
No. 8 Wire bad?
Research by Redvespa may
help us understand the reasons
behind New Zealand’s slide down
the Global Innovation Index – from
9th in 2009 to 25th in 2019.
Redvespa’s Imagination in
Business research looked into
the place of innovation and
imagination in New Zealand
organisations and identifies the
limitations of our number 8 wire
culture if we hope to regain ground
on our innovation reputation.
The research took the view that
innovation doesn’t “just happen”.
Instead, innovation is about systematised
value creation. It has
to be nurtured through a number
of stages, of which innovation is
the end point. Other waypoints
include curiosity, imagination,
and creativity. Together with
innovation, they comprise the
Innovation Pathway:
The aim was to unpack how New
Zealand business understands,
uses, and values imagination
in relation to other facets of
the Innovation Pathway. “Kiwi
innovation in often closely
linked with our number 8 wire
culture,” says Keith Shering,
head of evolution at Redvespa.
That creates a problem, as then
innovation is aligned with finding
ways to fix existing things. Yes,
it’s often ingenious, but it’s also
an iterative and incremental
approach rather than a transformational
one. If the world is taking
big transformational steps, incrementalism
can’t keep up. We need
to make more imaginative leaps.”