Listed company Scott manufacturers robotics for the meat industry in Dunedin and appliance assembly lines for export from Christchurch and has gained $3.78 million funding - one of seven South Island companies to get grants.
Scott general manager Chris Hopkins said the $3.78 million would be used "across the board", for R&D into robotics, assembly lines and also its investment in supplying products to the mining industry.
The $3.78 million represents about 20% of Scott's R&D expenditure during the next three years, with the company having spent about $7 million during the past financial year.
"R&D spending is what leads the way for being an innovative company," Mr Hopkins said.
There would be a boost to R&D in mining, a funding continuation in robotics and new R&D in assembly lines would be embarked on, he said.
"About 30% of each appliance assembly line we make is in new developments and technologies needed to manufacture it."
Research and Technology Minister Wayne Mapp said the grants, from $490,000 to $7.2 million, were to encourage export firms to "stretch for more ambitious goals", which in turn benefited the country overall.
"This is about backing winners. They [the 26 companies] have demonstrated their success through year-on-year increases in revenue," he said.
Chairman Stuart McLauchlan told shareholders at the Scott annual meeting in Christchurch the company was in a strong position going into 2011.
Scott had been hard-hit by the strength of the New Zealand dollar and downturn from the global financial crisis but had returned the balance sheet from red to black, posting an after-tax profit of $2.79 million on revenue of $46.6 million.
Mr Hopkins said the development grant programme replaced the Labour government R&D tax credit scheme, and subsequent one-off "project specific" grants made available by government agencies, which had been a 50:50 venture.
New Zealand's largest technology manufacturer, Fisher and Paykel Appliances, was missing from the list of companies given technology development grants.
Company spokesman Matt Orr told The New Zealand Herald Fisher and Paykel was not eligible because its R&D spending as a portion of its revenue had not met the 5% threshold for the previous three years.
