Kia mate ururoa, kei mate wheke: Fight like a shark, not an octopus.

 

I came across this Māori whakataukī earlier in the year, and it hit. At AMA we have often felt the pull to tackle everything at once. The perception challenges, the policy barriers, the talent shortages, the regional fragmentation. But this proverb reminded me that progress comes from focus, not flailing. And I am proud to say that even though it may not feel like it at times, in 2025 AMA has fought like a shark: focused and relentlessly forward-moving.

 

We set a clear strategy for 2024–2025: to improve the perception of manufacturing at home first. Because perception is the foundation upon which everything else is built:

·       If talent isn’t inspired to join the sector, we cannot grow the future thinkers and innovators we desperately need.

·       If schools and teachers do not understand the exceptional careers manufacturing offers, they cannot prepare the next generation with the right skills.

·       If major exporters and government procurement teams overlook the world-class capability on their doorstep, local industry doesn’t have the base from which jobs and exports can grow.

 

 

Delivering on AMA’s 2024–2025 Mandate

AMA entered 2025 as a young organisation, officially just one year old, with a small but deeply committed team of one full-time employee, our fearless CEO Catherine Lye, supported by a voluntary board of nine and a manufacturing community of the willing. Despite this, AMA delivered outsized national impact.

 

Our MBIE-funded mandate for 2024/25 focused on two pillars:

 

1. Perception: Telling manufacturing’s story

Through The Future Makers campaign, national careers expos, regional activation, the Minister of Manufacturing Awards and sustained engagement with media, educators, and partners, AMA has helped reposition manufacturing as modern, innovative and full of opportunity.

The Future Makers campaign reach has seen over a million impressions, over half a million video views, and thousands of career resources downloaded. Teachers, students, industry groups and employers are now leaning in, not looking away.

 

2. Talent: Helping young people access the sector

We’ve supported initiatives across the Country, AMA has helped thousands of young people better understand manufacturing. Such as Waikato’s Earn-as-You-Learn programme, to the Hutt Valley Passport initiative, Youth Without Borders, InZone experiences, and regional activations such as Otago’s manufacturing & engineering Academy.

 

 

A Sector Under Pressure, but Moving Forward

2025 has been difficult for parts of the manufacturing sector. Macroeconomic indicators point to contraction. But statistics alone never tell the full story.

Across the country, high-tech manufacturers are expanding, adopting automation, exporting at pace, and leveraging an agile and highly skilled workforce. Our sector is innovating and doing so quickly.

AMA’s role has been to help elevate these stories, bring coherence to fragmented efforts, and give industry and government a clearer picture of the opportunities ahead.

Our submissions on Procurement Rules, Going for Growth and Science System Reform, informed by members leaning in and volunteering their time, thoughts and efforts; helped ensure manufacturers’ voices were heard in critical national conversations.

 

 

2025: By the Numbers

A consolidated snapshot of AMA’s measurable impact this year.

Membership

·       1,296 individual members (up from 942 in Oct 2024)

·       854 firms (up from 605 in Oct 2024)

Future Makers Campaign

·       532,550 video views

·       1.3 million impressions

·       1,380 career guide downloads

·       648,000+ organic impressions

·       4,000+ monthly website visits

Student & Teacher Engagement

·       60 students completed the Hutt Valley Passport programme

·       21 students began Earn-as-You-Learn (17 completions, 81%)

·       Tens of Thousands of students across 7 regional Careers Expos

·       Hundreds of teachers engaged via CATE conference + too many school visits and presentations to count!

·       $84k distributed to regional high-school engagement initiatives 

Industry & Regional Engagement

·       Supported activity across 12 regions: Northland, Auckland, Tauranga, Waikato, Hawke’s Bay, Wellington, Nelson, Christchurch, Dunedin, Southland, Invercargill, Central Otago

·       56 expressions of interest, 38 entries, 11 judges, 15 finalists for the Minister for Manufacturing Awards

·       Manufacturing showcase at SouthMACH Machine Show

Advocacy & Government Interface

·       Major submissions on:

• Procurement Rules
• Science Reform
• Going for Growth
• Energy Focus Group, Transpower submission

·       Facilitation of the Minister for Manufacturing’s Productivity Advisory Group (MPAG): 30+ business leaders contributing to 3x yearly workshops

·       Partnerships with MBIE, Hanga Aro Rau, MSD, Competenz, Universities, Industry Bodies and Chambers of Commerce, and regional Economic Development Units.

 

 

Looking Ahead

MPAG: A Strategic Focus on Process Innovation

Reflecting on my involvement as Chair of the Minister for Manufacturing’s Productivity Advisory Group (MPAG), our message was clear: Process Innovation must sit at the centre of lifting productivity and resilience.

 

Talent, capital, and innovation are co-dependent. Companies that strengthen their internal process innovation capability unlock:

·       Higher productivity

·       Greater resilience

·       Faster product development

·       New commercialisation pathways

 

AMA’s work in perceptions and talent has laid the groundwork. What comes next is building the sector’s capability to innovate.

New focus: 2026–2027

 

We are delighted to have secured renewed MBIE funding of $650,000 per year through to June 2027. Since we have laid the groundwork on the Perceptions and Talent campaigns, we now have the capacity to expand our efforts into two new pillars:

 

1. Investment

·       Helping manufacturers access capital and growth pathways

·       Working with the finance and investment sector

·       Stronger export story development

·       Supporting firms into global markets

2. Innovation

·       Deepening partnerships that pull manufacturers into existing innovation systems

·       Showcasing process innovation success stories

·       Building capability through collaboration rather than duplication

·       Leveraging our Universities and students

 

 

How – Collaboration & Leverage

 

To deliver on these pillars we’ll be dialling up activity across the Country that physically brings together more people; manufacturers, future talent, government, educators, investors, research institutions and technology partners; more often, and in more places.

 

With two FTEs and no intention to grow beyond that, we aren’t going to be doing everything ourselves! So we look forward to partnering more with groups like NZ Trade & Enterprise, InvestNZ, NZ Product Accelerator, Universities, Polytechs, Chambers of Commerce and other Industry Groups to put together a programme of manufacturing content and events that members have been asking for.

 

There are some fantastic examples across the Country of regions doing great things. We want to support and grow their visibility and hopefully connect regions together to mentor / share successful initiatives. Such as:

-          Hutt Valley Manufacturing & Innovation Summit

-          Otago & Southland SOREC Academy

-          Otago MET Series

-          MAKENZ Canterbury Production Manager meet-ups

•          Regional Manufacturing meet-ups & factory tours (Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty)

 

2030 and Beyond

Finally, as we look to the future, we should remember from where we’ve come and why. In late 2023 and early 2024 the MPAG group was formed to provide feedback to Government on what industry needed. A passionate group of 30+ manufacturing business leaders from across NZ established the bones of our why – I think it’s really important and special that as a collective group, we don’t forget that our catalyst call to action was to improve outcomes for our people. 

 

MPAG members are a purpose driven group on a mission to improve productivity in New Zealand. We KNOW that Manufacturing Process Innovation drives greater capital intensification, delivering higher productivity per worker, improved sustainability and ultimately better outcomes for our people.
Purpose	Mission
•      Improved Manufacturing Productivity is the greatest opportunity to create prosperity for ALL New Zealanders •      To keep our companies ‘making’ in New Zealand •      To provide career opportunities for ALL our Rangatahi •      To build a resilient and internationally competitive sector	•      Join the dots across Government – Industry must play a greater role in shaping policy on: •      Education – NZ is not producing fit for purpose graduates for industry. •      Innovation & Science funding – innovation is not just about new novel products, r&d funding to incentivise manufacturing exports not just IP, more commercialisation/manufacturing of IP in NZ,  to shift the dial on productivity we need process innovation that lifts capital intensity/ productivity. Invent and invest in new ways of making things, not just entirely new things. •      Taxation / Treasury – Accelerated depreciation, easier access to investment for process innovation projects •      Collaborate – manufacturing is a function of most industry verticals, together for the first time we have huge opportunities to: •      Advocate collectively •      Share industry knowledge •      Attract manufacturing to NZ •      Improve the perceptions of manufacturing

 

 

A Strategic Foundation and a Shared Responsibility

So, as we look to the year ahead it is super clear that AMA has built remarkable momentum, but the scale of the opportunity in front of us is far greater.   

 

We have been privileged to support MBIE and Minister Penk to develop talent in the manufacturing sector, promote the sector as an employment and investment opportunity and support uptake of the technology and innovation.  This has allowed us to shift national perceptions, connect thousands of young people to our sector, and begin rebuilding the story of manufacturing in New Zealand.

 

But if we want AMA to endure and to expand our reach, our impact, and our ability to serve the sector, we cannot rely on government alone. Long-term sustainability will depend on manufacturers, partners, and supporters stepping forward with us..

 

We will not build this by layering yet another membership fee on already overstretched manufacturers. Instead, we will work with industry and existing groups to design a funding strategy that augments, not cannibalises, what already exists.

 

If you have some ideas, would like to be part of a working group, or your organisation can partner with us nationally or regionally: our door is wide open.

 

The sector needs you!

 

See ya later 25

A final huge thank you to Minister Chris Penk for your commitment to listening and pushing through real change on behalf of the sector. To our friends at MBIE who have helped us convert industry passion to real action and to our all our industry partners.

 

My biggest thanks to our CEO Catherine Lye, whose energy has no bounds. To our enormous community of manufacturers who put up their hands every-time help is needed (you know who you are). And to my fellow Board members who have really rolled up their sleeves this year and got the job done – Rachel Barker, Amos Breyfogle, Glenn Hansen, Nathan Hay, Chris Komatas, Charlie North, Alan Sutcliffe and Vicky Webb.

 

I hope everyone has time to disconnect these summer holidays…. and recharge for 2026!

 

 

Sarah Ramsay
Chairperson
Advancing Manufacturing Aotearoa