|
|
Website Updates
I am happy to say that all conference presentations have finally been loaded on to the website. Go to the Conference page and click on the links next to each speaker or sponsor. There are some very interesting presentations.
More photos will also be loaded up soon to give you a laugh!!
We are having some problems with presentation of all details about members and associates. This is a work in progress and should be sorted in the near future. If you have any amendments to the details currently displayed for your company, please contact Rachel Harvie.
Coming soon to the website will be news of this year's conference which will be held in Wellington in October.
Best Practice Sustainable Energy Programme
The Association is currently working with EECA on the development of a Best Practice Sustainable Energy Programme. The primary objectives of this programme are to encourage the cold storage sector to use energy as efficiently as possible and to implement energy saving techniques. This may be seen as as "jumping on the band wagon" but it can't be denied that the drivers for improving efficiency and sustainability are very strong. A combination of factors such as electricity prices, emmissions trading schemes, carbon footprints, etc all create very strong incentives for wanting to make improvements.
Part of the Best Practice Programme will include providing the means for Association members to take up a range of existing tools, techniques and skills that will provide a range of energy savings. New tools may need to be developed and a range of benchmarking and demonstration projects will be initiated.
In addition, future tools and technologies will be researched as changes in market conditions mean that novel approaches are now becoming more economically viable.
Workshop
A workshop to brainstorm what to include in the Best Practice Programme was held in Palmerston North on 11/12 February. A wide variety of people from the cold storage sector participated in the workshop and a great deal of useful information was discussed. It seems that there is huge potential for cold store companies to review their operations and continue to make significant energy efficiencies (and hence dollar savings!)
Information presented at the workshop is currently being collated and will be used to put together a number of projects. It will also be made available to members through the website.
If you are interested in finding out more about the workshop and the development of the Best Practice Programme, contact Rachel Harvie.
The Association thanks EECA for their funding of the workshop and for their future support for development of the Best Practice Programme.
E-cert Update
Connecting to E-cert
We have received the following advice from NZFSA regarding connecting to E-cert.
NZFSA IT staff have raised two concerns relating to how users are connecting to AP E-cert:
1. Some users are connecting to E-cert using the server IP address rather than the E-cert url. If the E-cert server IP address changes (which it will do when we upgrade the servers) these users will lose their connection to E-cert.
2. Some users are connecting to, and sending transactions to, both E-cert servers simultaneously. This is unnecessary and causes errors in the E-cert database (as well as incurring additional transactions fees).
E-cert users should connect to the sancrt.maf.govt.nz url only . This will ensure they connect to the active server and will minimise the likelihood of any data errors.
We will attempt to identify and contact these users to advise them of these issues.
We suspect some of these connections may be machine-to-machine rather than connection by individuals. In this case the appropriate code script in the company software needs to be changed to reference the url address (once only - it appears that some scripts are written in such a way that they say "connect to IP address Wellington and connect to IP address Auckland". In changing the script, companies will need to ensure all IP addresses are replaced with the url and the url address is referenced only once).
Certification Mistakes & Errors
In December we received advice from NZFSA that errors and mistakes with export consignments were resulting in "extra attention" being placed on the NZ certification system by overseas border inspectors. You may have noticed a higher level of attention to detail with your certificates by the Verification Agency as a result.
We received a list of common mistakes from NZFSA which is available from Rachel Harvie on request to assist in minimising errors.
NZFSA Secondment Opportunity
NZFSA is currently looking for someone to "fill in" as part of their E-cert team as a UAT (User Acceptance Testing) Coordinator. They wonder if there would be anyone from industry looking to take up such a position for a period of about 3 months as a secondment (starting as soon as possible).
As well as giving NZFSA the resource it needs, this could provide a career development/experience opportunity for someone, as well as providing NZFSA with increased insight into the industry perspective. The downside is, of course, that any secondment leaves a gap at the persons workplace that could be difficult to accommodate.
However - if you are interested or know of anyone who may be interested or available please contact Rachel Harvie.
Ideally this person would be an experienced E-cert user with UAT experience, capable of coordinating a group of users to undertake UAT. Preferably they would be based in Wellington (or Auckland) most of the 3-month period but there is flexibility. NZFSA would cover salary and appropriate costs. Work would entail: - UAT coordination
- Training of UAT testers
- Refining the UAT test cases covering industry E-cert use
- Some UAT work
A full time position to perform this role will be advertised soon on the NZFSA website.
The position is Wellington-based with responsibilities to:
Plan and coordinate user acceptance testing (UAT) for E-cert software releases, and
Overview work tasks undertaken by our IT service providers to deliver E-cert enhancements.
Contact Rachel Harvie for more information.
2008 Events
In addition to our own conference, the following organisations have sent information about their events:
RACCA Mini Conference
6 - 7 March 2008, Christchurch
Features the Wallie Askew competition and presentations by International Guest Speaker Dr Michael Bellstedt.
Download details here
IRHACE Conference 2008
21 - 23 April 2008, Melbourne, Australia
The conference is being held in conjuction with ARBS 2008
Follow the links to find out more -
IRHACE Conference
ARBS
Global Cold Chain Alliance
Global Cold Chain Alliance Convention - Back 2 Basics
April 19-24, 2008, at the Marco Island Marriott Beach Resort in Marco Island, Florida, USA
Click here to go to the Convention Website
Refrigerated Warehouse & Transport Association of Australia (RWTA)
RWTA Convention & Exhibition
31 August - 2 September, Crowne Plaza Resort, Hunter Valley, NSW
Download preliminary details here
|
|
|
Forward this email to a friend
You are currently subscribed as: 