Innovation and new product development forum. ZED, will up-skill your key people on how to create better products, services and ventures; from idea through to market and everything in between. You’ll learn from award winning companies including Rakon, Frucor, Gallagher and Kiwibank about improving your processes and increasing your profits.
Rod Oram Business Analyst and Commentator, Fairfax Media
Rod Oram has more than 30 years’ experience as an international financial journalist. He has worked in Europe and North America for leading publications such as the Financial Times of London. His FT career spanned 18 years (1979-1997) as an editor and writer based in London and New York. Rod and his family emigrated from the UK to New Zealand in 1997. He is currently a columnist for the Sunday Star-Times; a radio and television broadcaster; and a frequent public speaker. Rod is an adjunct professor in the School of Management and Entrepreneurship at Unitec.
Derek McCormack Vice Chancellor, AUT University
Derek McCormack was appointed Vice Chancellor of AUT University in April 2004. Mr McCormack previously held the position of Deputy Vice Chancellor, Administration, taking up the appointment in 2000. Mr McCormack completed his tertiary education at Otago University in Dunedin, with an MSc in Biochemistry. Mr McCormack began his career as a biochemist, working as a project scientist with the Nitrogen Fixation Group of the DSIR, and taught Biochemistry at the University of Otago and Otago Polytechnic before embarking on a career in tertiary education management.
Bryan Mogridge Chairman Rakon; Vice Chairman, UBS New Zealand
Bryan is currently Chairman of Rakon Limited, and on the Boards of Mainfreight Limited and Pyne Gould Corporation Limited. Additionally, Bryan Chairs Boards of Enterprise Waitakere, Waitakere City Holdings Limited, Trio Group Limited, Guardian Healthcare Group Limited, Momentum Energy Limited and The Starship Foundation. He graduated from Massey University with a BSc in Biochemistry. Bryan worked in various sales and marketing positions with ICI before becoming General Manager of Kempthorne Medical Supplies Limited and subsequently entering the wine industry. He was General Manager at Corban Wines Limited and the CEO and Managing Director of publicly listed Montana Wines Limited. In 1992 he became CEO and Managing Director of Montana’s parent company, Corporate Investments Limited. He has been a public company director since 1984.
Dr Peter Lee Chief Executive Officer, UniServices; Former Global Director of New Product and Process Development, International Paper; Former Chief Technology Officer, Tyco
Prior to joining UniServices Peter had spent most of his career in the United States. Between 1988 and 2003 he held executive positions with the $US30 billion International Paper Company, including Global Director of New Product and Process Development and, from 1995, Vice President, Corporate Research and Product Development. Peter returned to New Zealand in 2003. He was raised and educated in Auckland, where he completed a PhD in Chemical and Materials Engineering at The University of Auckland in 1975.
Michael Hamid General Manager of Research & Development, Gallagher Group
Michael Hamid has been the Research & Development Executive for Gallagher Group for over seven years. After failing to make a decent living as a surfer, Michael tried various pursuits including tree pruning, baking bread, selling books and teaching. Failing in all of these and being too honest for a life of crime, Michael fell into computing. After training in Computer Science, the New Zealand Dairy Group (NZDG) made the mistake of hiring Michael as a software developer. Michael spent ten years at NZDG managing various software development projects. In 1998 NZDG kindly sponsored Michael through an MBA. Michael being the ungrateful swine that he is thanked them by resigning and moving to Gallagher Group after his graduation. When Michael arrived at Gallagher Group there were two development groups; one developing for the Cardax access control product and the other developing energisers, weighscales and accessories for the Animal Management Group. Michael was responsible for bringing both groups together and implementing a structured development process.
Ian Wilmot Former Managing Director, McCain; Former National Marketing Manager, Kraft Australia; Principle, Wilmot Consulting Group
Ian commenced his career 1972 in the Product Development laboratories of Kraft Foods Ltd in Melbourne Australia. Ten years later, and after a 2 year stint at the Kraft Foods worldwide headquarters in Chicago, Ian commenced studying for a Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing, which resulted in a transfer to the Marketing Department at Kraft Australia, where Ian managed some iconic Australian brands including Vegemite and Coon cheese. In 1985 Ian joined McCain Foods (Aust) Pty Ltd as a Product Manager, and over the next 12 years progressed to National Marketing Manager. In 1997 Ian moved to New Zealand to the role of Managing Director McCain Foods (NZ) Limited, a position he held until 2006. Ian now has his own business, Wilmot Consulting Group in Hawke’s Bay.
Sam Knowles Chief Executive, Kiwibank
The Chief Executive of Kiwibank is Sam Knowles. Sam helped set up the bank and has been in charge throughout the launch of the bank in 2002 and for the last six years. The bank now has more than 600,000 customers. Sam has considerable experience in the banking industry. He has been a senior manager for trading banks in New Zealand and Australia, specialising in areas including strategic planning, retail services, marketing and business development.
Chris de Boer Former Chairman, Hong Kong Takeovers Panel; Chairman of Sonar6; Director of Macquarie Media Group and Mobilis Networks and Consultant to NZVIF
Chris has extensive experience in investment banking, regulation, private equity, venture capital and consulting in London, Hong Kong and Australasia. He worked in London until 1989, moved to Hong Kong for 7 years and then came to Auckland in 1996. He was an Adviser to Cable and Wireless plc in Asia/Pacific between 1987 and 2001, Director of Optus Communications, Chairman of the Hong Kong Takeovers Panel, Adviser to the Securities & Futures Commission, Investment Committee Member of GEMS Oriental & General Fund and Chairman of New Zealand Venture Investment Fund and Phitek Systems. Chris is currently Chairman of Sonar6, a Director of Macquarie Media Group and Mobilis Networks and Consultant to NZVIF.
Hans van der Voorn Chairman and Investor, Australo; Founder, Nova Gas
Hans van der Voorn trained as an engineer in New Zealand and worked in civil engineering and construction for 15 years. In 1994 he started the operation of Nova Gas Ltd , originally based on landfill methane extraction, processing and sale. Hans was a founder shareholder and Chief Executive of Nova Gas until 2001, continuing as a non-executive director and minor shareholder until 2006. Nova Gas developed its own pipelines to bypass incumbent monopolies, became an integrated gas supply company and is now wholly owned by Todd Energy with a turnover in excess of NZ$250m. In 2005 he became the sole financial investor in nanotechnology company, Australo Ltd, based in Dunedin, New Zealand. Originally a 50:50 joint venture with the founder scientists, it is now predominantly owned by van der Voorn interests. In early 2007 Hans took over executive management of Australo, with the founder scientists continuing to work on research and development. The company has an advanced technology platform based on dynamically adjustable nanopores. It is just commencing an international rollout of its platform and entering into research partnerships with universities and research institutes in different parts of the world. The first application if Australo’s nanopore platform is a virus counter, due for commercial release in July 2008. Hans van der Voorn is an experienced investor and entrepreneur with a number of public and private investments.
Lezlie Mearns Managing Director, Maxim Group
Lezlie is a founding partner and Managing Director of Maxim Group, one of New Zealand's leading brand and design agencies. Under her leadership Maxim has become an agency prototype with a full complement of in-house resources from research and brand strategy development to design and implementation. Lezlie champions branding as an organisation-wide activity that is actively led by the CEO.
Bill Day Entrepreneur of the Year (2000), Engineer & Founder of Seaworks
Bill Day is the Managing Director of Seaworks Ltd, a specialised marine company that he took from a startup to a small multinational. Seaworks lays underwater cables, runs underwater robots and works in the offshore Oil & Gas industry. In addition, Seaworks undertakes the marine management for movies for both Stephen Spielberg and Peter Jackson. Seaworks runs specialized ships and underwater robots throughout the Middle East from its base in Dubai. Bill has a BA, LLB and MBA as well as a host of professional qualifications and was the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the year in 2000. He has given three summers of his life to searching in the sub-Antarctic for the wreck of the General Grant and is a keen diver, skier and pilot.
Paul Adams CEO EveredgeIP
Paul Adams has over twelve years of experience in technology development and commercialisation. He is the CEO of everedgeIP (formerly Inveratek) New Zealand’s leading intellectual property commercialisation and management firm. everedgeIP clients include Forbes Fortune 100 companies, members of the NZX50 as well as local inventors and investors. Prior to founding everedgeIP Paul was employed as the Intellectual Property Manager of Navman, with revenues exceeding US$700 million, where he managed a multi-million dollar intellectual property portfolio and budget. He was also the founding Incubator Manager of The ICEHOUSE, the University of Auckland’s technology incubator. In 24 months, he developed the incubator from an empty warehouse to hold 15 high technology companies employing over 50 staff. Paul has also spent several years working in Silicon Valley and has practical experience in raising venture and development capital. Paul has an extensive legal background – he served as a litigation solicitor with Chapman Tripp and holds a Law Degree (Cum Laude) specialising in software licensing law from the University of Auckland.
Craig Meek Entrepreneur & Founder, iVistra
Craig Meek is a technology visionary and entrepreneur. He founded information visualisation company iVistra in 2003. The idea: businesses would be able to better manage their operations if business information was more visible. The solution: an Enterprise Visibility System (EVS) that delivers real time critical business information in a visual dashboard format. The first customer was NZ’s largest transport and logistics company, Toll TranzLink, who reported a 550% return on IT investment by being able to monitor the capacity and performance of all their trucks and rail-freight movement from a central control room. The first out of the box product was InsightFleetPro, a visual vehicle fleet tracking solution for small and medium sized businesses. Products are also being developed for airport logistics, food traceability and security visualisation. Prior to iVistra, Craig co-founded Virtual Spectator which provided real-time 3D graphics for the America's Cup and other sports. Prior to that Craig founded Terabyte Interactive, NZ's leading interactive media agency, which he successfully sold to NewsCorp in 1995.
Duncan Mackintosh General Manager (Commercial), WaikatoLink
Duncan Mackintosh is General Manager (Commercial) at WaikatoLink Limited and is responsible for technology and commercial development, and deal broking for University of Waikato Intellectual Property and start-up companies. Deals range from licensing and venture investment to the spinoff and interim management of new ventures. 2007 saw the creation of five new venture backed companies, helping WaikatoLink retain its top 5% ranking when benchmarked against US university technology transfer offices. Following 7 years clinical veterinary practice, Duncan’s experience includes commercialization of High Tech, ICT, Biotech through concept to company stages, and technology incubator development and management.
Mark Cowsill Group Managing Director, Frucor Beverages
Mark Cowsill has been Managing Director of Frucor Beverages Group Ltd for the past 15 years. Prior to this he spent 13 years at Goodman Fielder Watties, predominantly at Tip Top Ice Cream, where he was General Manager for three years. The foundation of Frucor was built on iconic juice brands; Fresh Up and Just Juice. In the last 10 years or so Frucor has diversified into other “new” categories through an aggressive innovation strategy. These new products (“V”, Mizone and H2Go) have led Frucor to market leadership positions. The creation of an innovative culture and strong consumer orientation has been the catalyst for Frucors success. “V” is undoubtedly the most successful new product. Frucor was Food and Beverage Exporter of the Year in 2001 and in 2002 was nominated by Forbes as one of the Top 20 small companies in the world.
Chris Quin CEO, Gen-i New Zealand
Chris Quin leads one of Australasia’s fastest growing and innovative ICT services businesses, generating annual revenues of NZ$1.49 billion and employing 3,300 people across 17 locations. Under Chris’ leadership, Gen-i is transforming the delivery and support of integrated IT and telecommunications solutions to around 3,300 organisations across New Zealand and Australia. Gen-i is consistently ranked as the number one ICT company in New Zealand for both mindshare and marketshare (according to the IDC). Chris successfully managed the company through the merger and acquisitions of Telecom Advanced Solutions, Gen-i and Computerland. He previously established Telecom Advanced Solutions as New Zealand’s leading ICT services group, and has led the establishment and growth of Gen-i over the last four years.
Geoff Ross Entrepreneur and Founder, 42 Below; Director, The Hyper Factory
Geoff spent 12 years in the advertising industry before leaving in 2002 to go full time on the Vodka brand he created. From a garage business, 42 Below grew from almost nothing to a value of 138 million in under 4 years, when it was scooped up by liquor giant Bicardi. 42 Below became a global liquor brand while on shoe string budget and it also became the world’s most awarded vodka, winning Gold in all major competitions. 42 Below was named by Deloitte as New Zealand’s fastest growing company in 2005 in their Fast 50 awards. Geoff himself was named marketer of the year in 2005 and also received a World Class New Zealander award in 2007. Geoff also won best groomed calf in the Paparimu A & P Show circa 1978. Geoff is now part of the mobile marketing company The Hyperfactory and its sister company Snakk Media which also features on the Deloitte Fast 50 list. Geoff is an investor and contributor in several other New Zealand growth companies.
ZED, The New Zealand Innovation & NEW Product Development Forum, will up-skill your key people on how to create better products, services and ventures; from idea to market and everything in between.
Entrepreneurship and innovation for your business - Why and How
Bryan Mogridge Chairman, Rakon; Vice Chairman, UBS New Zealand
Introducing a new product development process that gets better results
Dr Peter Lee Chief Executive Officer, UniServices; Former Global Director of New Product and Process Development, International Paper; Former Chief Technology Officer, Tyco Worldwide
- Visible and meaningful leadership as indicated by explicit company goals and strategy
- A well defined process tailored to the specific business conditions
- Adequate resources allocated specifically for this purpose
- Clear assignment of roles, responsibilities and accountabilities
- Implementation requires a well orchestrated Change Management Programme
Break Out Sessions:
[Please choose one session to attend when registering online]
A) MANUFACTURING AND TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES:
Product development from the trenches: An R&D perspective
Michael Hamid General Manager of Research & Development, Gallagher Group
- Our Development Process - a brief overview.
- Project Management and Risk Management
- The stuff up front that matters - voice of the customer, requirements, requirements, requirements
and design - The bit in the middle that everyone thinks is product development - development and manufacturability
- The stuff at the end that matters - testing, testing and more testing. Then cross your fingers!
B) FMCG COMPANIES:
Managing the product development and market launches
of profitable products
Ian Wilmot, Former Managing Director, McCain; Former National Marketing Manager, Kraft Australia; Principle, Wilmot Consulting Group
- Processes involved in the successful development and market launch of new products
- Identifying profitable opportunities for product development and new market entries
- Taking new products to market
- Pitfalls to avoid in the development and launching new products
C) SERVICE COMPANIES:
Sustaining rapid growth and innovation
Sam Knowles, Chief Executive, Kiwibank
- Innovation opportunities in mature markets
- Lowering the risk of fast growth and innovation
- Role of strategic partnerships in innovation
- Organisational context and lessons from Kiwibank experience
Morning refreshments and networking
Building a robust business case and accessing funding
Chris de Boer Former Chairman, Hong Kong Takeovers Panel; Chairman of Sonar6; Director of Macquarie Media Group and Mobilis Networks and Consultant to NZVIF
- Know your market and meet a need
- Go to market plan
- Who is going to make it happen
- Where to go for funds
Using rapid and ongoing innovation to gain competitive advantage
Hans van der Voorn Chairman and Investor, Australo; Founder, Nova Gas
- Real world learning examples of both kinds
- Understand the situation and your customers’ perspective
- Generating ideas and innovation
- Time and timing
- Create your own strategy
When brand meets product
Lezlie Mearns, Managing Director, Maxim Group
- Some of the characteristics of successful products
- What part of the brand gets the most attention?
- What's in a name?
- The role of design
- When should product and brand meet?
Panel discussion: How can my company maximise its innovation potential?
- Dr Peter Lee, Chief Executive Officer, UniServices; Former Global Director of New Product and Process Development, International Paper; Former Chief technology Officer, Tyco
- Hans van der Voorn, Entrepreneur; Chairman of Australo; Founder of Nova Gas
- Prof. Olaf Diegel, Director, Creative Industries Research Institute, AUT University
- John Hatrick-Smith, Design Specialist, Better by Design
- Andy Blackburn, Director, Ideas Accelerator
- Moderator: Vincent Heeringa, Editorial Director, Idealog
LUNCH AND NETWORKING SESSION
Thinking like an Entrepreneur
Bill Day, Entrepreneur of the Year (2000), Engineer & Founder of Seaworks
- Entrepreneurs have a sophisticated understanding of “risk” hardwired in
- Entrepreneurs are fabulous goal setters. How specifically do they do this?
- Entrepreneurs do not wait for the moment of absolute certainty before they act. They are prepared to take positions on limited information
What can government do for me?
- Hear from representatives from across government about initiatives including the 15% R&D tax credit, programmes to help with internationalisation, and the areas where government will focus its innovation funding
- Staff from the Ministry of Economic Development, Ministry of Research Science and Technology, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, Foundation of Research Science and Technology and Inland Revenue Department will also be on hand to answer your questions during the day
The Innovation Economy: Implications for commercialising technology and managing intellectual property
Paul Adams CEO, EveredgeIP
- Aligning IP strategy with Technology & Business Strategies
- Emergence of the Innovation Economy
- Ricardian vs. Schumpeterian Growth
BREAK OUT SESSIONS:
[Please choose one session to attend]
D) Developing a new product, from idea through to market success
Craig Meek Entrepreneur & Founder, iVistra
- Deciding which ideas to develop into products
- Moving from first customers to wider adoption
- Constant innovation
- The iVistra case study
E) Your 15% tax credit for research and development
Inland Revenue Department with information and advice on the 15% tax credit for research and development
F) Launching new ventures and business incubation
Presentation followed by Q&A with:- Jonathan Kirkpatrick, CEO, AUT Innovation Park; Chair, Incubators New Zealand
- Terry Allen, ICE Accelerator Director, The ICEHOUSE
- Duncan Mackintosh, General Manager (Commercial), WaikatoLink
AFTERNOON REFRESHEMNTS AND NETWORKING
Using consumer focused new product innovation to drive business growth
Mark Cowsill Group Managing Director, Frucor Beverages
- Consumer understanding through research
- The NPD process at Frucor
- Managing the risk
- What makes an innovative culture
Leading a high growth company
Chris Quin CEO, Gen-i New Zealand
- Develop a strong leadership and culture to attract and retain the best people
- Build a community of passionate and inspiring employees
- Create an organisation-wide culture of genuinely wanting clients to prefer you
- Transform client relationships to deliver results and drive innovation
Why a good plan violently executed today, is better than the perfect plan, executed next month
Geoff Ross Entrepreneur and Founder, 42 Below; Director, The Hyper Factory
- Have plenty of gas in the tank
- Ready, Fire, Aim
- Why having everyone at your board table saying yes is dangerous
- Problem solving - Get ready for lots of it
Panel discussion: How best can New Zealand support innovation and growth?
- Bill Day Entrepreneur of the Year (2000); Founder of Seaworks
- Mark Cowsill Group Managing Director, Frucor Beverages
- Chris Quin General Manager, Gen-i New Zealand
- Helen Robinson Executive Director, TZ1; AucklandPlus Advisory Board Member
- Bruce Goldsworthy Manager, Manufacturers Division, EMA Northern
- Moderator: Rod Oram
Closing Remarks from the Chair
