Over the past five decades, HELLA New Zealand has grown significantly as a business by incorporating modern production techniques and heavily investing in new lighting technology. One of the biggest achievements was becoming the first in the world to achieve ECE compliance for a high-level brake light using Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs).
The foundational product range, DuraLED, has revolutionised the transport industry, offering energy-efficient LED lighting with unparalleled reliability and durability. To date, the DuraLED and Jumbo ranges continue as benchmarks for transport operators across New Zealand and Australia. Every product that leaves HELLA New Zealand’s facilities is individually tested, and every order line is QA inspected. On-site testing facilities subject products to extremes of temperature, intense UV light, exposure to chemicals, and in humid and salt-laden conditions to ensure that they perform under stresses that greatly exceed those of most real-world situations.
For HELLA Australia’s commercial vehicle customers, around 70 per cent of the products come from these state-of-the-art electronics and lighting production facilities in New Zealand, where it has been at the forefront of LED lamps since 1990. These products have, to date, received considerable worldwide recognition in the road transport, automotive and safety lighting segments.
The Auckland facilities cover some 7,500 square metres and boasts state-of-the-art, highly automated manufacturing capabilities. Huge investment has been made in computer-controlled moulding machines that enable extremely precise moulding tolerances to be achieved, down to as little as plus or minus .02mm. Additionally, the Waihi electronics plant, purpose built in 2007, boasts the latest automated, high precision assembly systems. In 2013 the plant became self-sufficient in Printed Circuit Board Assembly (PCBAs) production. This facility places a staggering 53,000 LEDs onto PCBAs every working day, totalling 12.8 million LEDs per year (in 2022).
In accordance with HELLA’s commitment to environmental sustainability, the Auckland factory uses 100 per cent renewable energy and 95 per cent of waste material generated during the moulding process gets recycled into packing trays and glue tubes, and for purging machines between different types of plastics. In HELLA Australia, the company has also transitioned to green energy, sourcing the electricity of the head office from solar power since early 2022.
Fifty years on, HELLA New Zealand is a world-class design and manufacturing facility with the latest hi-tech equipment. With strong customers’ loyalty and support, the company looks forward to continuing to provide the transport industry with the best possible lighting solutions for many years to come.
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