Speaker: Roland Sommer, Regional General Manager of TE Connectivity
Roland has been around the Christchurch hardware tech industry for over 25 years. After an early career in the British Merchant Navy, Roland came to NZ in 1989. He started in NZ as a production technician with Tait Communications and then held various technical and management roles with Swichtec Power Systems and then Dynamic Controls. A 5 year stint in the consulting industry followed with Roland setting up and running ‘RoHS International Ltd’. Roland is now regional General Manager for TE Connectivity, which incorporates the role of Plant Manager for the Christchurch manufacturing site. His passion is making Hi-Tech ‘stuff’ and the growth of electronic Hi-Tech manufacturing in NZ.

TE Connectivity Christchurch operates as a subcontract manufacturer supporting local industry. Their specialities are ‘whole of business’ outsourcing for electronic products, as well as PCBA and harness manufacture. They are part of the Tyco Electronics group, a US$12.2B corporate that manufactures over 15% of the world’s total demand for connectors. They support the University of Canterbury through employment of Interns and are also a proud sponsor of their Formula SAE motorsport team.

Talk Title: Hi-Tech manufacturing in New Zealand – Models for success

Too often New Zealand companies, both big and small, assume that manufacturing offshore is the best option. In this talk we will look at:

• A brief history of the NZ electronic manufacturing sector over the last 20 years,
• Explore the advantages of local manufacture,
• What product types are best suited to manufacture in NZ and
• What business models can support these.

This will be a very pragmatic session with practical take-aways and the option for a tour of the factory afterwards.

Cost: Free for Canterbury Tech members and students, $25 for non members

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