Talking Innovation

In this episode of Talking Innovation, Jonathan Prince sits down with John Down, Managing Director and Owner of ENI Manufacturing, to talk about more than 30 years of building a New Zealand manufacturing business.

John co-founded ENI in Christchurch in 1993 as a small sheet metal operation. Within six months, the business had grown to nine staff. Today, ENI employs around 140 people and works across sheet metal fabrication, precision engineering, machining, contract manufacturing, additive manufacturing, mechanical assembly, design for manufacture, and powder coating.

John talks about how ENI has evolved by following opportunities, listening to customers, investing in new capability, and, above all, getting the right people around the table. He reflects on the role governance played in shifting ENI from a jobbing shop towards a broader manufacturing business, and how one early bus shelter project developed into work that ENI is still delivering around New Zealand nearly 30 years later.

A strong thread through the conversation is people. John says ENI was founded on relationships, and that people, culture, and values have remained constants as the company has grown. One of ENI’s core ideas is being “better every day” - not just improving the business, but helping people go home better than when they arrived. He talks about developing young people, giving them opportunities, building a diverse team, and creating a workplace where families and life outside work matter too.

The conversation also explores additive manufacturing, advanced manufacturing, the future of New Zealand manufacturing, AI, and why John believes the sector needs to become much better at telling its own story. His message for future manufacturers is straightforward: experiment, be prepared to back yourself, look after your people, and show what New Zealand is capable of.

John also shares his longstanding connection with Living Springs and the importance he places on contributing to the wider Canterbury community.

It’s a wide-ranging conversation about manufacturing, leadership, relationships, continuous improvement, and what it takes to build a business that lasts.

In this episode of Talking Innovation, Jonathan Prince sits down with Gareth Dykes and Derek Manson from Fi Innovations, a Southland business that has evolved across four generations from ornate plaster ceilings to fibreglass, industrial flooring, composites, and now advanced additive manufacturing.

Gareth shares the family story, the challenges of inheriting a one-customer business, and the decisions that helped transform it into a diversified manufacturing operation serving leading New Zealand companies across aerospace, film, medical, hydrogen, and marine industries. Derek brings deep experience in product design and early rapid prototyping, tracing the path from founding 1.61 through to joining Fi Innovations as they invested heavily in emerging technologies.

Together they discuss what it takes to keep innovation alive in a regional manufacturing business, how to evaluate new technologies, why additive manufacturing is shifting from prototyping to production, and how metal printing, automation, and AI are reshaping design and manufacturing workflows.

They also reflect on business resilience, the realities of scaling in New Zealand, the importance of people and values, and the lessons learned through tough periods including COVID, technology transitions, and market uncertainty.

GUESTS

Gareth Dykes, Managing Director, Fi Innovations

Derek Manson, Advanced Manufacturing Manager, Fi Innovations

https://f-i.co.nz/

HOST

Jonathan Prince, Founding Director, Caliber Design

https://www.caliberdesign.co.nz/

Dr Shayne Gooch’s career spans more than three decades across trade, academia and consulting. From his early days as a fitter and turner in New Zealand’s power sector to leading the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Canterbury, Shayne has built a career grounded in both hands-on experience and deep technical understanding.

In this episode of Talking Innovation, host Jonathan Prince explores Shayne’s journey–from building his own rubbish truck as a student to engineering the large-scale kinetic sculptures designed by artist Len Lye, investigating industrial failures and developing human-centred solutions for people with limited mobility.

Together they discuss:

• The importance of practical experience in engineering education
• Why the front end of design is where most projects succeed or fail
• How systematic design thinking underpins innovation
• Bridging the gap between academia and industry
• The impact of AI on design and what it means for the next generation of engineers
• And much more!

Packed with insight, humour and hard-won lessons, this conversation captures what makes great engineering thinking and great engineers.

GUEST

Dr Shayne Gooch

Associate Professor, University of Canterbury

University of Canterbury Profile | ⁠⁠Hales & Gooch | LinkedIn

HOST

Jonathan Prince

Founding Director, Caliber Design

Caliber Design | LinkedIn

Snapcore, led by Chris Rodley, transforms fisheries andaquaculture using AI. Their digital twin technology  offers real-time insights for marine farms, boosting yield and sustainability. Featuring "Made in New Zealand" Snap AI camera systems, their reach extends globally. With ventures like Seaweave, Rodley aims to connect fishers and farmers to customers, ensuring transparent, high-quality products. Snapcore's collaborative ecosystem drives blue economy innovation, fostering economic growth and ocean health.

Over four decades ago, Murray Mulcahy founded Mulcahy Engineering with a vision to offer clients a total manufacturing solution. Today, his son Kayne Mulcahy leads the company and maintains that innovative spirit. From its humble beginnings as a 5-person shop doing manual processing, Mulcahy has grown into a powerhouse with 140 employees and a 6,000 square meter plant in West Auckland. Mulcahy serves as an "innovation enabler" for New Zealand industry, providing comprehensive manufacturing solutions for sectors including food, dairy, marine, and materials handling. With a recent $1 million digital transformation project and a focus on Industry 4.0 technologies, Mulcahy is well placed to drive innovation in Kiwi manufacturing for decades to come.

For over four decades, Mark Pennington has been a driving force in New Zealand's design industry. Talking Innovation with Mark covers iconic chairs to groundbreaking partnerships, education to Grand Designs … we explore his early influences, career highlights, and vision for the future of design and innovation. Discover how his strategic thinking and commitment to sustainability have shaped not only his own success but also the trajectory of design in New Zealand.

15 years ago Mike Shatford saw a gap in the market for product design, production engineering and industrial automation using robotics, mechanics, and mechatronics. He founded Design Energy and, over that time, has found a sweet spot in the use of industrial robots to solve complex production automation problems. They’ve now designed and built more than 100 unique robotic solutions for Kiwi businesses, including the likes of Facteon, Fisher & Paykel, Gallagher, Hamilton Jet, Rio Tinto, Synlait, and Thermo Fisher.

Timothy Allan is a bit of a guru on multiple levels … product design, branding, sustainability, leadership. He’s recently handed over the CEO reigns of UBCO electric bikes and is enjoying a bit more time to explore the outdoors with his family. Meanwhile, he’s a Strategic Mentor for Cucumber, a Tauranga-based tech company; a Startup Mentor for business development service Soda; a Fellow of the Sir Edmund Hillary Fellowship; and remains director of Locus Research, a product development and innovation company that supported the development and launch of UBCO, Inverse hair conditioning system, Delloch Hip Protection, and multiple other products … all from the sunny Bay of Plenty. He’s presented around the world, consulted on product commercialisation and applied business development a wide range of businesses … and consulted to the NZ Government on innovation, life cycle thinking, sustainability, and design. Tim has been an icon nationally and within the Bay of Plenty – establishing the Young Innovator Awards, Fieldays Innovation competition, and co-founding the WNT Technology incubator.

Brad Hurndell has amassed a wealth of experience in the last 20 years … taking him to the cutting edge of camera technology. One of the highlights: seeing his product strapped to a jet in the latest Top Gun movie (Maverick) … withstanding the insane forces of 700kph, barrel rolls, and flips … capturing footage that will be enjoyed by millions around the world.

After 20 years and extreme success, Brad has recently left Shotover Camera Systems and setup IMMORTAL Camera—offering a bespoke design and build service for extreme stabilisation challenges in the motion picture and television industry. He also offers a brokering service for those looking to buy or sell any stabilized camera system.

In this podcast, Jonathan and Brad discuss his career to date … starting out, developing product, financing, manufacturing … managing cashflow … reaching international markets. Managing remote international teams and developing transparent systems for working collaboratively. Building a deep understanding of customer need. Understanding and managing innovation—step change vs incremental progress. Perfection and competing against “good enough” products. The intricacies of camera technology. Developing products with the entire eco-system in mind. They discuss what’s worked, what didn’t, and why … and how problems were resolved.

Brad is an absolute powerhouse of knowledge and an inspiration to talk to. Not one to rest on his laurels, he’s now a Chartered Director and was recently awarded the Southland Emerging Director award … he’s also completing a Post Grad Diploma in Accounting.

Watch behind the scenes Top Gun Maverick: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXAAhff3bxw

www.immortalcamera.com

www.shotover.com

www.caliberdesign.co.nz

From humble Canterbury beginnings to a $50M operation in 20 years, Andrew Barclay has led WYMA Solutions to become one of the world’s leading manufacturers of post-harvest vegetable and fruit handling equipment. They design, manufacture, install, and service post-harvest equipment for pack houses around the world.

WYMA’s mainstay product is the Vege-Polisher They’re so good that, in some parts of the world, people talk about “owning a WYMA”. (Like how someone refers to an adjustable spanner as a Crescent). You know you’re onto something great when your company name becomes a generic term!

In this podcast, Caliber Design’s Jonathan Prince talks innovation with Andrew: how they started, how they went international, what drives innovation, what WYMA's values mean to the business and how they help drive innovation, how they really get to know their customer's latent/unmet needs, what differentiates WYMA in the marketplace, the impact of 'the Kiwi attitude', how cross functional teams drive innovation, biggest challenges, biggest achievements, biggest buzz ... and lastly, advice to anyone who's thinking about getting into business.

This is a cracker of a first episode! We hope you enjoy it. If you do, please share it with your colleagues, leave us a review, and subscribe. We'll be Talking Innovation with more business leaders in the product design/mechanical engineering/innovation/sustainability-space over coming months.

www.wymasolutions.com  |  www.caliberdesign.co.nz