A brilliant result from the latest PMI, with the highest level of expansion since the beginning of the year. Positive comments typically noted a lift in construction, as well as a pick-up in offshore orders. See more below.

One of my favourite sayings is that Kiwi firms need to collaborate onshore to compete offshore.

One of the key aims of this e-newsletter is to bring you news you can use, which is why I'm really excited about a new online portal to help engineering companies to recruit, retain and grow their teams.

While some NZ manufacturers have experienced a slow start to the year as they've focused on recent uncertainty, BNZ Senior Economist, Craig Ebert suggests that "the international investment cycle is clicking into place and promises to self-sustain the global economic expansion. This should be good for manufacturing industries, New Zealand included".

Happy New Year! It's time to get some dates in the diary and plan ahead for a successful 2018.

As the end of 2017 draws near, it's a good time to start planning for an even more successful 2018. Take a look at your workforce and identify any areas for improvement.

Manufacturing continues to be in very good heart with the Performance Manufacturing Index telling us that manufacturing overall has been expanding now every month since October 2012, which is way better than any other part of the world where this is measured.

Procurement is a hot topic in the manufacturing sector, and we'll be putting out a special update on this area soon. In the meantime, the good news is that the Procurement Policy Team at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) has listened to our gripes and are now consulting on how to improve panel contracting practices across government.

Innovation is a strong theme in manufacturing and is key for keeping a competitive edge.

As we move into 2017, the prospects for manufacturing remain very positive, as the expansion we saw in November remains at the same level throughout December.