Latest news with #Anzco
Otago Daily Times
07-07-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Christchurch agritech firm behind new tool to improve workplace safety
Christchurch agritech company Onside has unravelled a complex problem to come up with a map-based tool highlighting risk areas and increasing worker safety at many agriculture workplaces. The "industry-first" PCBU Enterprise platform has potential hazards laid out on a map so drivers, contractors and other workers entering a farm get an alert identifying them via an app on their mobile devices. Hazards are tailored to large agri-businesses and organisations legally bound to manage workplace risks. The software technology can also plot out other risk areas such as depots, machinery yards and processing facilities. In a partnership with meat processor Anzco Foods, the company has just rolled out the risk management tool over the past few weeks after a year of development and further testing. Trials are being carried out in other countries. Onside was co-founded by chief executive Ryan Higgs, Michael Falconer and Juliet Maclean in 2015 when they began working together initially in a large dairy farming venture in Canterbury. The online platform combines Onside's mobile app, which has already mapped more than 21,000 Australasian rural properties and logged millions of contractor and visitor check-ins, as well as machinery and plant movements. Onside said the data helped users easily manage health and safety, compliance and biosecurity risks. Mr Higgs said the PCBU Enterprise solution for large-scale agri-businesses was the company's most ambitious risk and safety product yet. The challenge was to make simple, easy-to-use software for operators from complex data flows, he said. "Ultimately, it was a problem that Anzco came to us to solve and it was around large-scale organisations like them which have a responsibility to ensure everyone part of the organisation understands the risks so they can be managed and stay safe. It's complex because of the scale of these operations so Anzco has thousands of farms and hundreds of truck drivers going to farms in all hours of the day and night." High-profile accidents, including significant fines against senior executives for breaching worker safety and health legislation, had reinforced the need for co-ordinated safety management across the agricultural sector, he said. Onside's initial idea resulted from the founders trying to track the movements of hundreds of workers, contractors and other visitors coming and going on 13 dairy farms. A first version was created to manage who was on the properties and keep everyone safe and informed. Nearly two years ago, Onside began working with Anzco to tackle the difficulty of managing safety duties in a supply chain and this has been extended to other companies and organisations. Risk areas such as loading yards, accessways, trucks, plants, paddocks, runways and irrigation trenches are marked out on the farm maps. Mr Higgs said likely users would be any organisation providing services to farms, orchards and vineyards. "They would be anyone who sends their team or third-party contractors out to farms and has an obligation under the law to manage the risk. Typically, we find these businesses really care about their people and actually want to ensure they are safe — so they could be ... another meat or dairy processor, freight companies, lines companies, insurers or banks." He said the platform followed workplace health and safety regulator WorkSafe's consult, co-operate and co-ordinate safety rules for duties overlapping in a shared workplace. This ensured everyone knew who was managing a risk to create a safer and more efficient supply chain. "Anzco took the initiative, deciding it wasn't good enough to wait for someone else to figure it out. The result is we've created what we believe is a world-first agri-enterprise solution that will improve safety outcomes across the sector." Among those involved during the testing was the National Livestock and Transport Safety Council (NLTSC). NLTSC president Derek Foley said it was a giant step forward for drivers' on-site safety. Mr Higgs said offshore trials included large poultry firms in the United States using the software to map out feed manufacturing sites, processing facilities and farms. "We have a big operation right across Australia and we've just started to make some progress in North America and we have trials running with companies in Mexico and the US."
Otago Daily Times
06-07-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
‘Industry-first' platform highlights risk areas
The new map-based technology by Christchurch agritech company Onside, called PCBU Enterprise, plots out risk areas on farms and other workplaces for large agri-businesses wanting to keep their workers safe. Photos: Onside Christchurch agritech company Onside has unravelled a complex problem to come up with a map-based tool highlighting risk areas and increasing worker safety at many agriculture workplaces. The "industry-first" PCBU Enterprise platform has potential hazards laid out on a map so drivers, contractors and other workers entering a farm get an alert identifying them via an app on their mobile devices. Hazards are tailored to large agri-businesses and organisations legally bound to manage workplace risks. The software technology can also plot out other risk areas such as depots, machinery yards and processing facilities. In a partnership with meat processor Anzco Foods, the company has just rolled out the risk management tool over the past few weeks after a year of development and further testing. Trials are being carried out in other countries. Onside was co-founded by chief executive Ryan Higgs, Michael Falconer and Juliet Maclean in 2015 when they began working together initially in a large dairy farming venture in Canterbury. The online platform combines Onside's mobile app, which has already mapped more than 21,000 Australasian rural properties and logged millions of contractor and visitor check-ins, as well as machinery and plant movements. Onside said the data helped users easily manage health and safety, compliance and biosecurity risks. Mr Higgs said the PCBU Enterprise solution for large-scale agri-businesses was the company's most ambitious risk and safety product yet. The challenge was to make simple, easy-to-use software for operators from complex data flows, he said. "Ultimately, it was a problem that Anzco came to us to solve and it was around large-scale organisations like them which have a responsibility to ensure everyone part of the organisation understands the risks so they can be managed and stay safe. It's complex because of the scale of these operations so Anzco has thousands of farms and hundreds of truck drivers going to farms in all hours of the day and night." High-profile accidents, including significant fines against senior executives for breaching worker safety and health legislation, had reinforced the need for co-ordinated safety management across the agricultural sector, he said. The company's chief executive, Ryan Higgs, is excited about the new platform. Onside's initial idea resulted from the founders trying to track the movements of hundreds of workers, contractors and other visitors coming and going on 13 dairy farms. A first version was created to manage who was on the properties and keep everyone safe and informed. Nearly two years ago, Onside began working with Anzco to tackle the difficulty of managing safety duties in a supply chain and this has been extended to other companies and organisations. Risk areas such as loading yards, accessways, trucks, plants, paddocks, runways and irrigation trenches are marked out on the farm maps. Mr Higgs said likely users would be any organisation providing services to farms, orchards and vineyards. "They would be anyone who sends their team or third-party contractors out to farms and has an obligation under the law to manage the risk. Typically, we find these businesses really care about their people and actually want to ensure they are safe — so they could be ... another meat or dairy processor, freight companies, lines companies, insurers or banks." He said the platform followed workplace health and safety regulator WorkSafe's consult, co-operate and co-ordinate safety rules for duties overlapping in a shared workplace. This ensured everyone knew who was managing a risk to create a safer and more efficient supply chain. "Anzco took the initiative, deciding it wasn't good enough to wait for someone else to figure it out. The result is we've created what we believe is a world-first agri-enterprise solution that will improve safety outcomes across the sector." Among those involved during the testing was the National Livestock and Transport Safety Council (NLTSC). NLTSC president Derek Foley said it was a giant step forward for drivers' on-site safety. Mr Higgs said offshore trials included large poultry firms in the United States using the software to map out feed manufacturing sites, processing facilities and farms. "We have a big operation right across Australia and we've just started to make some progress in North America and we have trials running with companies in Mexico and the US."
Otago Daily Times
13-05-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Anzco profit down at $8.4m for year to Dec
Meat processor and exporter Anzco Foods has weathered another challenging season, posting a lower profit of $8.4 million after tax. The company's performance for the financial year to December has come off the boil of 2013's $44.4m, but remains in positive territory when other meat companies are posting heavy financial losses. Anzco managed to increase its turnover to $1.85 billion, up on 2023's $1.83b, while its profit before tax of $13.5m retreated from the previous year's $60.9m. Chief executive officer Peter Conley said in a statement the past year was another challenging one for farmers and the red-meat sector. "Lower market returns, especially during the main processing season, squeezed margins and impacted business performance. Global market pricing for beef and lamb improved in the second half of the year with increased consumer demand in key markets, including United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Europe. China has seen slower economic activity, and this reduced demand impacted beef and sheepmeat returns." He said a positive feature was the company's ability to have sites fully staffed, enabling it to drive higher revenue through additional product recoveries. Anzco's team of nearly 3000 employees were the foundation of the business and a key part of its success, he said. Mr Conley said the company had managed its core business efficiently and continued to focus on growing its value-add food manufacturing, healthcare and bioscience business. "While these businesses continued to perform well, higher raw material costs impacted on margins," he said. The Christchurch-based company, owned by Japan's Itoham Yonekyu Holdings, delivered lower earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) of $65m compared with the previous year's $110.4m. Operating cash was negative $25.3m, compared with negative $42m. Anzco continued to invest capital in projects, including upgrading the Canterbury beef-packing room, introducing lamb-loin robotics at its Rangitikei site, upgrading a boning room at its Marlborough site and ongoing investment in technology, systems, health and safety and environmental improvements. Mr Conley said the new trading year had started positively, but with uncertainty as geopolitical tensions and tariff implications were yet to be fully understood. "However, the underlying outlook for beef and lamb is positive with improving economic conditions driving increased demand amid global supply constraints. Anzco Foods is satisfied with the 2024 result in a challenging year, and is looking to build on recent years' results in 2025." Alliance Group posted a full-year after-tax loss of $95.8m for the year to September 30, while Silver Fern Farms Ltd recorded a $21.8m loss after tax for the 2024 year.
