20/08/2026
A 1896 flour mill just got a robotic upgrade
At the historic Ngapara flour mill in rural North Otago, Scott Simpson Contracting runs a growing stockfeed business. Original milling equipment from 1896 still sits inside the building, now sharing the floor with cutting-edge robotics.
The challenge was a familiar one for rural New Zealand: as the business grew, so did the physical toll of handling and stacking heavy stockfeed bags, and manual labour was getting harder to find. Scott partnered with Aurora to solve it.
The solution: a Fuji Robotic Palletizer, built onto a New Zealand-made skid system with custom controls.
What it delivers:
- Automatically stacks finished bags onto pallets, ready for distribution nationwide
- Takes the physical strain off staff and reduces reliance on manual labour
- Simple to operate, with the reliability Fuji robots are known for worldwide
- Mounted on a relocatable skid, so it can move or be reconfigured as the business grows
- Ongoing local service and support from the Aurora team
A 128-year-old mill and next-generation robotics, working side by side. Proof that automation isn't just for greenfield sites - it can breathe new life into the buildings already doing the work.
