Affiliated Companies
The following companies provide additional services to the WoolFirst network and are an integral part of the New Zealand wool industry.
Simply put, Wool Online is a website and electronic sales system designed to facilitate the sale of greasy wool.
Wool is made available for sale by members of the WoolFirst network and wool exporters or processors can use the online facility to find and purchase the Lots of wool that they require, when they require them.
The advantages of this system over the more traditional selling methods are:
- Wool Online almost always has wool available. Purchasers are not restricted to physical auctions being run on specific days.
- The volume of wool available on the system, means purchasers can more easily find the wool types they need, in bulk, in one place.
- Purchasers recieve a single invoice for all wool purchased using Wool Online, rather than mulitple invoices from multiple sellers.
- Wool Online uses industry standard Electronic Data Interchange formats, meaning that purchasers with compliant software solutions can receive electronic sale invoices and other documentation.
Wool Online is designed to make wool trading at the exporter level in New Zealand a modern, efficient and cost effective process.
Wool Online now trades in excess of sixty thousand bales of greasy wool annually in both Islands using the latest technology to market wool to the majority of New Zealand's Wool Export houses. As the Wool Industry struggles to move forward this new and efficient marketing system is proving its worth on a weekly basis. Growers can now have the confidence in the (New Zealand-wide) WoolFirst network of merchants to offer their clip to the trade in a timely and cost efficient manner. In addition they can be assured of receiving the best price on the day (as any grower selling at auction does), without the added expenses associated with traditional on-site auction selling.
The use of the Wool Online system is restricted to New Zealand registered wool exporting companies, who buy wool in the New Zealand market. If you fit in this category, and you don't currently have a Wool Online user name and password click on the link below for details.
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Demo Video: If you're interested in how Wool Online works, we've created a short introductory video. Click the 'See Us On YouTube' button to view the video on-line, or press the 'Download Movie' button if you prefer to download a higher resolution mp4 video file (25Mb) to your computer. Note that the download version is easier to read if you want to see all the on-screen details.
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Greg and Lynell (Administrator) in the office. |
As a result of early rationalisation among the New Zealand wool exporting sector in the late 1990's, a number of highly skilled and experienced members of the industry were left looking for a new challenge in their careers.
With 30 years experience in the exporting sector under his belt, Greg Tibbs was one of these people. Highly regarded, and with unmatched experience in valuing, typing, purchasing, scouring and allocation of wool for international client orders, it was inevitable that Greg would remain in the industry, and take the chance to make a new opportunity for himself.
At the same time, the Southwool Group owned a Private Wool Merchant business in Ashburton, and were also operating as an auction broker in Southland, Mid Canterbury and Otago. Seeing an opportunity to assist the merchant network, Southwool joined forces with Greg and formed Wool Connextions Ltd (WCL), with Greg becoming both the Manager and a Director of the new company.
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Greg valuing with Dean Harrison at Mainland Wools in Ashburton. |
From humble beginnings in 2003, the company grew rapidly after identifying a niche service to Exporters and Merchants alike. WCL sells regularly to 15 buyers on behalf of a score or more of Private Merchants in the South Island. More recent developments with Ken Tunicliffe in the North Island provides a similar service in the North, with Wool Connextions as the conduit for trading.
In 2008 Wool Connextions was sold to Greg along with another wool industry identity. In the last two years the company has continued to grow and invest in the wool industry by way of an online marketing system that was developed in partnership with a New Zealand software developer. Wool Online Ltd now offers several options to purchasers of greasy/scoured New Zealand wool. The system brings buyers and sellers together on a weekly basis giving the exporters the opportunity to view and purchase reasonable weights of useful wool types. A large part of the success of Wool Online is the fact that all wool is independently appraised for the purchaser (sight unseen by the purchaser), and this represents a significant saving in time and expense!
For further information you can contact your local member of the WoolFirst network, or contact Wool Connextions: info@woolconnextions.ihug.co.nz
New Zealand Wool Classer Association
This Association represents the interests of its members by establishing itself as an advocate for New Zealand Wool Classers and ensuring representation where necessary for the benefit of the New Zealand Mid Wool Classing industry
Additionally the Association promotes, develops and serves, non-parochially, the collective interests, prosperity and general advancement of New Zealand Wool Classers and matters which are national or
international in their scope:
(i) by the establishment of industry structures to serve them;
(ii) by the introduction and operation of programmes for the benefit of the New Zealand Wool Classing Industry;
(iii) by the provision of services, facilities and information for benefit of the New Zealand Wool Classing industry.
Finally the Association's aim is to aid the development and maintenance of the skills of Zealand Wool Classers.
For further information you can contact the Executive Officer David.Carr@Tectra.co.nz or vist the association website at: www.woolclassers.co.nz
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New Zealand Wool Testing Authority Ltd
The New Zealand Wool Testing Authority Ltd (NZWTA) is a major wool testing company for the independent and impartial sampling, testing and quality certification of New Zealand apparel and interior textile wools.
NZWTA Ltd offer a range of wool testing services to the wool industry. These tests are available on individual animals (fleece tests), as tests on greasy wool, and on scoured wool ready for processing.
Wool is an inherently variable textile fibre. All wool is different and many of the attributes of wool come from it being a natural fibre, produced from a living animal, and subject to variations in seasonal growing conditions, climate and breed.
There are three main reasons to specify wool with objective measurement:
- Prediction of processing performance.
- To provide equity between buyer and seller.
- To assist in new forms of trading.
Established for over 40 years, SGS Wool Testing Services provide comprehensive sampling and testing services to growers, brokers, buyers/exporters, mills, garment makers and consumers. Sampling services are available world-wide.
Wool Testing Services has been operating in New Zealand as an independent wool quality certification body for over 40 years. It was originally a branch of Wool Testing Services International, based in England, which provided similar services to clients throughout Europe, Central Asia, and South America. Since 1988 Wool Testing Services has operated as a division of SGS New Zealand, part of the Société Générale de Surveillance group, and has continued to commit resources to a continuous quality improvement programme.
Most of the work undertaken on greasy and scoured wool is carried out in accordance with the requirements of the standards and regulations of the International Wool Textile Organisation (IWTO). This organisation was created to defend the interests of the wool industry as a whole - from woolgrowers to wool textile traders, processors, spinners and weavers. Its members are the national organisations representative of the above interests in its 24 member-countries, themselves representative of some 90% of the wool textile activity around the world. In New Zealand the representative body is the National Council of New Zealand Wool Interests.
Whilst the majority of our testing is carried out at the Wellington central laboratory, condition tests are also carried out in some of our six branch offices covering the major raw wool sales and scouring centres throughout New Zealand.