The industry was not entirely happy with the services offered by my ex employer and thus with solid support from Forest Range Station, a company was formed to utilise a NIR (Near Infrared Recfractometer) which by all accounts could give us accurate yield and micron results for the 50,000 or so samples we were to test in our first year.
I was fortunate to get a number of ex WTA staffers on board, increased the computer grunt, built and managed a temperature and humidity controlled room and obviously improved communication with the actual wool growers (farmers to you) .
We also supplied sheep eartags, plastic sample bags, and of course a computer programming and hardware supply service.
But the results did not meet our rigorous standards of accuracy so sadly the Directors (of which I was one) and the shareholders had to pull the pin and close the operation down after about a year.
Very sad for all involved, as a lot of the time we had been working three 8 hr shifts every day.
Nz Fibre Measurement Ltd
