June 25, 2020

William Buck relaunches Financial Reporting Accounting and Advisory service

While William Buck’s FRAA division has been operational for some time, it is significant to a wider range of businesses in the current environment given the regulatory changes, tax breaks, and widespread restructuring resulting from the global pandemic. FRAA advisors are available to assist CFOs and financial controllers to listed public, unlisted public and private companies on the proper implementation of Australian Accounting Standards (AASB) and the Australian equivalents to the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). FRAA will also assist with complex accounting matters such as impairment testing, business combinations and share-based payments. The service line can also assist with the preparation of general-purpose financial reports for public interest entities to allow CFO’s and financial controllers to concentrate on operational matters rather than annual compliance. With 13 years’ experience and strong insights across a broad range of industries and markets, William Buck’s Director Alan Finnis leads the FRAA division. Finnis said the FRAA team assists companies to understand the ‘real-life’ implications…
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June 25, 2020

Enmin vibratory equipment a key ingredient in Whittaker’s continued growth

With nearly 200 staff at its factory in Porirua, Wellington, Whittaker’s produces the highest-quality chocolate products for both the domestic and export markets. During the 1950s Whittaker’s developed the Peanut Slab. It has since become an iconic product and the recipe has never changed. In the 1990s the company started to make its first chocolate blocks, which are now New Zealand’s favourite blocks. Whittaker’s is a ‘beans to bar’ company, controlling the whole process from roasting the beans to the final product. This is to ensure only chocolates of the highest quality are produced. With a philosophy of purity and environmental consideration, the company does not use palm oil or genetically modified ingredients in the manufacturing process. Evidence of Whittaker’s popularity and recognition in New Zealand is reflected in numerous awards. This includes being voted New Zealand’s most trusted brand in the Reader’s Digest annual…
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June 18, 2020

One on One – Warren Jansen

AMT: Tell us firstly about the Industry Capability Network Limited and its activities. Warren Jansen: The Industry Capability Network Limited (ICNL) is a national entity that co-ordinates activities for the Industry Capability Network (ICN) offices across the country. There is a presence of ICN offices in most states, and ICNL acts as the national office and primarily develops and manages our IT platform, ICN Gateway, which bring suppliers and buyers together on-line. We bring businesses together. We’ve got local suppliers who look for work, and there are buyers – we call them proponents – who handle large-scale projects. The projects might be based in the mining sector, the oil & gas industry, infrastructure, construction, defence and so on. And we act as an intermediary to bring those buyers and suppliers together. We ensure that supply chains function adequately to service these projects. There’s a whole raft of different industries that we cater to, and our platform services all these buyers and suppliers, and helps drive Australian industry through this matchmaking process. In recent times however, we have…
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June 18, 2020

IMTS Machinery – Partnering in productivity

Shortly after beginning work at Melbourne’s IMTS Machinery in 2006, Simon Stain made his first phone call to the company’s supplier, Prima Power in Italy, to introduce himself to his contact, Marco Daimo. Remarkably, 14 years later, it is still Marco who Simon calls at the Prima Power headquarters in Turin today, several times a month. Not only have the pair formed a watertight working relationship during that time, but they have a strong friendship. IMTS Machinery may be a leading supplier of world-class sheetmetal and laser cutting products and the sole agent for Prima Power systems in Australia. However, it is the company’s focus on relationships and longevity of experience that really sets it apart in the sheet metal fabrication market. Now business development manager at IMTS, Simon says that before coronavirus, he and Marco probably saw each other four or five times a year. “Sometimes I would take clients to Europe for a product demonstration or Marco would come…
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June 18, 2020

Additive Manufacturing Hub case study: Advatek Lighting

Advatek Lighting is a small business dedicated to developing innovative, world-class control systems for decorative LED lighting. The type of lighting is commonly referred to as “Pixel” technology, where each LED can be digitally controlled to be any colour using specially designed integrated circuits. Advatek’s control systems are state-of-the-art in the field and typically interface between lighting software using an Ethernet network interface and many different types of digital LEDs. Advatek has been operating for around five years now and has a growing customer base worldwide. Approximately 80% of its business comes from international sales. The challenge This project entailed the design of a plastic enclosure to form part of a new digital LED control system. The goal was to create a robust but cost-effective housing for part of the system, which would have been difficult to achieve with a typical metal enclosure. Tightly placed electronic components, connectors and fuses all needed access from multiple angles in a small overall footprint. This meant the design would be complex, heavy and…
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June 11, 2020

Genox’s shredders even more appealing under asset write-off scheme

Waste reduction and the associated recycling has become a crucial part of the Australian landscape over the last few years and plays a key role in minimising landfill and driving growth in the number of new products manufactured with recycled material. With the dual benefits of reducing landfill and lowering waste disposal costs, many businesses are looking for effective, reliable and cost-effective solutions for waste reduction. Applied Machinery is the sole Australian distributor for Genox Recycling Technology’s extensive range of shredders and granulators, which are perfect for reprocessing waste material for direct input into closed loop manufacturing, secondary processing or simple volumetric savings in recycling skip bins. Genox is a combination of the words ‘Generating Oxygen’, which serves as the cornerstone of its efforts towards creating a better environment through new and innovative technology. Genox’s range of shredders and granulators are suitable for all kinds of waste products. The Vision series comprises high-quality, cost-effective shredders, while the Gran-Calibur series of granulators offers defined…
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June 11, 2020

Deferred GST and export loan facility – A welcome break for importers and exporters

GST is usually a subject left to our friends and fellow Corporate Partners over at William Buck Chartered Accountants to explore. However, just like the dreaded Coronavirus has been pushing our businesses into new territory, the Deferred GST Scheme being implemented by the Australian Government is forcing our humble logistics firm to delve headfirst into the wonderful world of GST to an extent never seen before. What fun! So, let’s get down to the nitty gritty - What is the Deferred Goods and Services Tax (DGST) Scheme and how can we, as importers, utilise this initiative to help our businesses soften the blow of the pandemic? As the Australian Government ATO website puts it, “As an importer, the deferred goods and services tax (DGST) scheme allows you to defer…
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June 4, 2020

FROM THE CEO: Government response to COVID-19 most welcome

AMTIL welcomes the establishment of the NCCC and looks forward to working with its members over the coming months. The Commission is working across business-to-business and business-to-government networks to unlock resources, break through bottlenecks and fix problems so Australian businesses and communities are supported in the months ahead. I recently met with a few members of the Committee and discussed a number of issues and opportunities that face our sector. I discussed the three key areas that are needed to support the Australian manufacturing industry’s sustainability and growth. The need for us to continue investing in technology, continue developing the skills of our people and continuing to explore market access opportunities are paramount to a strong manufacturing sector coming out of COVID-19. Investment in technology AMTIL’s surveys and statistics have shown a recent decline in investment in capital equipment and machine tools. The last time we saw declines…
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June 4, 2020

Hydrafeed barfeeder boosts efficiency, productivity at Maltec Engineering

Founded in 2002 by Lindsay and Kelly Malley, the company is a contract manufacturer specialising in CNC machining and small-to-medium fabrication. Its extensive range of services also include profile cutting, a robot welding cell, sandblasting and painting utilising both advanced and Lean manufacturing principles. Hydraulic manifolds, tapping blocks, drive shafts, hardened pins and bearings and small-to-medium fabricated assemblies are some of the most common products that are manufactured by Maltec. Maltec’s broad engineering capabilities are evident in some of the more unusual products that the company has manufactured; these include a spear tip, a nozzle for a hydroelectric project and several dog enclosures for Tasmania Police. The company’s client base comprises 40% local, and 60% mainland Australia and overseas. Maltec’s customer base includes many well-known companies such as Caterpillar Underground Mining, Epiroc (formerly Atlas Copco), Elphinstone (CAT OEM, Haulmax, Railmax, SVS) and AQ1 Systems, which produce aquaculture and sensor-based feeding control delivery products. “We make a lot of small…
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June 4, 2020

RUAG Australia upgrades manufacturing centre to Industry 4.0 standards

RUAG is an independent supplier and life-cycle support provider of systems and components on behalf of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and other international air forces, as well as civil aviation, worldwide. The upgrade to its facility will improve productivity and enhance the reliability of the manufacturing process to benefit customer supply chains, including those for hydraulic components for the Joint Strike Force (JSF) F-35 program. Industry 4.0 brings with it the next-level advancement of interconnectivity between devices, equipment, tools, visualisation systems, and their human users within the manufacturing system. It is an optimisation and networking of existing computerised technologies, with a central server to create cyber-to-physical systems for ensuring a smarter, more productive factory. The move to full interconnectivity at RUAG’s Hydraulic Centre of Excellence, housed at its Bayswater facility, generates significantly improved efficiencies as it creates a new human-to-machine interface. Real-time performance data is immediately available at any given moment throughout the manufacturing system…
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June 1, 2020

Australian PMI: Manufacturing contraction eases in May

The Australian PMI recovered by 5.8 points to 41.6 in May, after experiencing the largest single-month drop in the index’s history in April (readings below 50 points indicate contraction in activity, with lower results indicating a faster rate of contraction). The decline slowed across all activity indices in May, except for the exports index which recorded its lowest ever monthly result as many overseas markets essentially shut down. Many manufacturers reported that orders from their regular customers have been delayed or cancelled altogether because of the pandemic. “While less of a fall than we saw in April, the further deterioration of manufacturing performance in May is deeply concerning,” said Ai Group Chief Executive Innes Willox. “From an already low base, manufacturing production and employment fell, and new orders dropped further. Other than the large food & beverages group which experienced a small gain, and the chemicals group which was broadly steady, all sectors of the manufacturing industry went further backwards in May. Manufactured exports…
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May 28, 2020

The total package: Saving energy costs with complete blower packages

Blower packages assembled by sourcing components from a variety of suppliers is still quite common and usually a result of adding to the blower as new requirements arise. As an example, a blower is determined to be too loud, so a new silencer is sourced. Perhaps even a sound enclosure is purchased. However, this now means that being inside a box, the blower runs warm, so now the operating temperature must be monitored. Then, perhaps it is determined that the blower needs to make more or less air, so a frequency-controlled drive is installed. The needs grow, and so does the package and its components. There are many versions of these packages in the field and…
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May 28, 2020

How heavy industry can transition to more sustainable practices

The Australian manufacturing sector can achieve significant costs savings, by improving the efficiency of equipment and processes and lowering energy and water consumption. Other effective strategies will include increasing the use of renewables, reducing waste, emissions and packaging, as well as using fewer raw materials. Wind and solar Wind and solar energy are becoming more cost-competitive. This means the transition to clean renewable energies is either in progress or planned by heavy industries. Now that renewables are accountable for an ever-rising share of Australia’s power mix, supplying about 20% of demand, the transition is already in full swing. Australia has the highest average solar radiation per square metre of any continent. Manufacturers, who usually have extensive roof space, can harness the power of the greatest free energy source available – the sun. B&R Enclosures, an electrical enclosures, racks and cabinets manufacturer and a loyal SYSPRO customer, has announced a piloted project at its Brisbane facility by installing a solar energy system. This has provided the company with…
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