Industry News

The March 2021 edition of ScotPac’s SME Growth Index found almost half (48%) of SMEs predicting revenue growth. However, the proportion of SMEs expecting revenue to decline hit a new high at a critical moment on the road to long-term COVID recovery – one in four small businesses have forecast a revenue drop, on average by 5.5%. ScotPac CEO Jon Sutton said revenue uncertainty is more marked at the smaller end of the SME sector, with SMEs with revenues between $1m and $5m feeling the brunt more than their $5m-$20m revenue counterparts. The survey showed particular uncertainty among manufacturers, with manufacturing revealed to be the second-least confident major industry (after retail). Almost one in five manufacturers (19%) are looking at closing, 27% say they will sell either immediately or within six months, and 17% of manufacturers are unsure if they will have to close or sell. In comparison, fewer than one in 10 retailers are confident enough that they will not have…

If you happened to be in Tonsley, in Adelaide’s southern suburbs, 13 years ago, you might very well have been standing in the middle of Mitsubishi’s car production line. The shell of the factory left behind when Mitsubishi relocated in 2008 has now been reinvented as the Tonsley Innovation District. Now Tonsley is the home of Line Zero – Pilot Factory of the Future. It’s at this new facility that new technologies, manufacturing techniques and processes are being tested, trialled and adapted for the Osborne shipyard, where nine Hunter class frigates will be built. The Hunter Class Frigate Program is the biggest surface ship project in Australia’s defence history, contributing towards Continuous Naval Shipbuilding capability for the nation. Line Zero – Pilot Factory of the Future is a collaboration between Flinders University, BAE Systems Australia and its subsidiary BAE Systems Maritime Australia (formerly ASC Shipbuilding). It marks the beginning of an exciting new era for developing Australian Industry Capability in support of the Federal Government’s sovereign capability objectives. The…

Professor Yu Bai from Monash University’s Department of Civil Engineering will lead an interdisciplinary team from seven Australian universities to develop a one-of-a-kind facility centred on structural assembly and construction automation. It will feature a flexible, adaptive design, with space for a team of collaborative robotics in an interactive environment to achieve automated prefabrication, assembly and building. The outcomes are expected to transform the current labour-intensive construction industry to one that uses highly automated and accurate prefabrication processes, with significant benefits to the economy and worker safety. Professor Bai said many industries, such as manufacturing and transport, had adopted automated practices to speed up, optimise, and economise production. However, the construction industry was lagging behind, failing to take advantage of such technological advancements. “Robotic technology has made significant progress in a number of industry domains in the last several years and construction can benefit from this advancement,” Professor Bai said. “The use of robotic technology can be a game-changing step as seen in other…

NMI CEO and Australia’s Chief Metrologist, Dr Bruce Warrington, is inviting Australians to provide feedback on options proposed for modernising Australia’s regulatory framework for measurement. “We all rely on measurement every day – whether it’s getting what you pay for at the shops, protecting our health and safety, or supporting business in domestic and international trade,” said Dr Warrington. “New measurement technologies are developing all the time. Businesses adopt new technologies to boost productivity and support economic growth. “Our measurement legislation needs to support innovative solutions and meet the evolving needs of industry. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to help shape the laws that provide confidence in measurement across our economy and society.” The proposed reforms to Australia’s measurement laws include changes designed to: Accommodate advances in measurement and instrument technologies. Support Australia’s uptake of best-practice international technical standards. Reduce the burdens for business, for example by taking a more flexible and principles-based approach to regulation. Interested parties can access the paper outlining the proposed reforms and provide their feedback via the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and…

SIS specialises in the design, engineering and delivery of projects to customers in civil infrastructure, building & construction, oil & gas, mining, aviation, aquaculture, marine and ports, transport & logistics, and agriculture. Until now it has had its fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) products manufactured in China, North America and Europe. InfraCore has constructed more than 1,000 FRP structures – from pedestrian walkways to high-volume traffic and harbour bridges – that have been installed in the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, England, France, Italy, Sweden, Norway, China and the US. SIS imported four of the custom-made bridges and oversaw their installation at Sydney’s Castle Hill Country Club in 2019. The installation process was done in just four hours. The national centre for the manufacture of lightweight fibre composite road and pedestrian bridges and jetties will initially use foam for pre-forms in the manufacturing process, but SIS plans to…

The roundtable, which has been summarised into the whitepaper Keeping Australia Open for Business, voiced concern that we may be in for a third wave of outbreaks as restrictions relax. In addition, they felt that business confidence in their COVID-response plans is too high and will not translate into reality if tested, particularly when faced with rapidly changing guidelines, unknown timeframes, multiple rumours, and general panic among staff. Michael Brown is an IT&C Director at Visium Networks, which saw multiple clients experience outbreaks last year. Brown said: “From a readiness perspective, the reality of how you have to react in a real COVID outbreak versus your expectations can vary widely because until it occurs, you have never had direct contact with the relevant government department to know what their demands are, and what they need you to do.” However, it was noted that whether the health and safety measures introduced…

“Australian workplace leaders are recognising this issue and are placing more emphasis on health, safety and wellbeing than ever before,” says Andrea Marlan, national manager and corporate wellbeing specialist at HR consultancy Drake International.w Last year Drake conducted a survey of employers during stage four lockdown, which showed 85.1% now consider wellbeing an important consideration for their company. “Gone are the days of mandatory doctor’s certificates and having to prove illness to have a sick day or mental health day,” explains Marlan. “If anything, it has flipped, so employers need to view wellness and its relation to productivity in a totally new light. So many Australian organisations are getting on the front foot by investing in their employees’ health – it’s good for business and good for the Australian workforce. “It’s time to go further than having apples in the break room or employee assistance program (EAPs) on offer. They’re great starting points but it’s…

Few people get to see the results of their work out on public display on a regular basis, but for Brad Drury, Managing Director of New Touch Industries, it’s definitely one of the perks of the job . The company manufactured the stainless steel skins adorning the bridge columns on the EastLink motorway in Melbourne, with their striking laser-cut perforations. With New Touch Industries based in two sites: in Bayswater and Clayton, Drury inevitably spends plenty of time on the EastLink, and on seeing the bridges he acknowledges feeling some pride. “Absolutely,” says Drury. “I think there’s 88 bridges all up. When my kids were younger, whenever we’d drive past the bridges, up near Ringwood or down near the Monash, they’d always call them ‘Daddy’s holes’.” New Touch Industries has come a long way since the EastLink project was completed in 2008, but it certainly helped put the company on the map. Aside from its…

The CFO is the leader who contributes most directly to a company’s financial health and organisational resilience on a daily basis. The actions that manufacturing CFOs have taken during the pandemic will have put their companies on a sound financial footing and should also help to reduce some of the fear and uncertainty. Most manufacturing businesses are still in the midst of a stabilisation process, and longer-term preparations for companies to make key strategic moves during the recovery period are underway. Manufacturing CFOs will be instrumental in engineering the bounce-back from the pandemic and are uniquely placed to influence how and when it will be achieved. As the CFO role grows and evolves because of the pandemic, they are becoming more aware of the vital contribution that technology can make to achieving business priorities and mitigating risks during the recovery. The expanded CFO 4.0 role Cost-cutting, debt collection and revenue expansion…

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is launching a campaign to help employers work out whether they are providing a car fringe benefit. The aim of the ATO campaign is to ensure employers are aware of and feel supported in meeting their FBT obligations. According to the ATO’s guidelines, you make a car available for private use by an employee on any day that the car is either: Actually used for private purposes by an employee. Available for the private use of the employee. A car is considered available for your employee’s private use when it is: Used to travel to and from work. Not at your premises and they are allowed to use it for private purposes. Garaged at their home – regardless of whether they have permission to use it for private purposes. For FBT purposes, a ‘car’ includes: A sedan or station wagon. Any other goods-carrying vehicle with a carrying capacity of less than one tonne, such as a…

According to OnRobot, the VGP20 is the world’s most-powerful electric vacuum gripper able to address a wide spectrum of demanding packaging and palletising applications. Compatible with all leading robot brands, the gripper can handle payloads of 20kg, making it a great fit for a wide range of applications in industries from cosmetics and electronics to pharmaceuticals and food and beverage. “Our customers asked for a cost-effective, easy-to-deploy vacuum gripper that can pick up bulky, heavy-duty payloads while being intelligent enough to handle a wide range of items, including those with irregular shapes and porous surfaces,” says Enrico Krog Iversen, CEO at OnRobot. “The VGP20 combines power, intelligence and ease-of-use that competes with expensive, complex pneumatic grippers.” End-of-line operations such as palletising are labour-intensive and costly. Researchers estimate that, on average, labour costs account for 65% of warehouse facility operating budgets, dwarfing the costs associated with utilities, taxes, distribution and rent combined. On this basis alone, automation is a compelling proposition for companies of all sizes. According to researchers, adoption of automated palletising…

Victoria’s Minister for Economic Development Tim Pallas welcomed the decision by Conymet Duratray International to grow its current Victorian footprint by onshoring overseas manufacturing functions and establishing a new innovation division in West Cranbourne. “Conymet Duratray is relocating its global HQ to Victoria because of our highly skilled workforce, and our world-renowned capabilities in advanced manufacturing, innovation, and research and development,” said Pallas. “Attracting investment from companies such as Conymet Duratray will help us grow high-value jobs and boosts our economy.” The company intends to draw on Victoria’s highly skilled workforce and the State’s innovation, research & development capabilities, to develop new specialties in the areas of mining data analytics, Internet of Things, machine learning as well as advanced composite materials for its product line. “We’re excited to embark on this new innovation journey in Victoria,” said Marcelo Medel, Managing Director of Conymet Duratray International. “We’re committed to supporting Victoria to become the mining tech hub of Australia,…

Additional support from the South Australian Government will supplement nearly $4m the company is raising itself. If the grant application is successful, Fleet Space will become a major satellite manufacturing hub and increase its payroll from 31 staff today to 128 by 2024, according to CEO and co-founder Flavia Tata Nardini. Most of the new employees will be engineers and specialist satellite assembly technicians. Fleet Space has spent $12m since 2015 on research & development (R&D) to develop the world’s most advanced beam-steering antenna and to miniaturise its satellites’ communications payload. These make it possible to deliver its Nebula space-based data network using a 10kg nanosatellite, where previously this level of connectivity was only possible with a 100kg satellite. The company, which has already launched four nanosatellites, has applied for a $5m grant from the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources under the MMI to help it make the jump. Fleet Space plans to build a new factory…