Month: April 2015

There have been a number of events over the past six months including: The launch of 3D Central, an Advanced Manufacturing Centre located at the head office of Objective 3D in Carrum Downs. A 3D Printing Overview presented by 3D Printing today held at the Mulgrave Country Club. A Forum on Medical Manufacturing held at RMIT’s Advanced Manufacturing Precinct in Carlton and focused on additive manufacturing in the medical devices sector. The Opening of the Australian Research Council Industrial Transformation Research Hub at the Monash Centre for Advanced Manufacturing. The AusBiotech Advanced Manufacturing Summit held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Sydney. VCAMM event on “Practical Engagement with Additive Manufacturing” held at RMIT’s Advanced Manufacturing Precinct. All of these events were supported by AMTIL and promoted through the Network. I would be interested on any feedback from people who attended any of these events. You may recall that AMTIL is a Core Participant and Portal Organisation for the proposed Innovative Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre (CRC). We have committed (along with…

AMT: Firstly, tell us about this year’s Australian Technologies Competition. John O’Brien: Certainly. We’re into the fifth year of the Competition, and the aim is that we find, mentor and celebrate the best emerging technology companies from around Australia. There are two benefits: growing emerging technology businesses, but also finding solutions for industry to help them be more efficient and competitive. This year we’ve got the categories of Food & Agritech, Energy Technologies, Advanced Manufacturing, Mining Tech and the Built Environment. We’ve also got prizes for Global Development, for solutions for the developing world, and one for the best region in Australia that supports technology. In terms of the Advanced Manufacturing category, the focus is “How do we help the manufacturing industry become more efficient and more competitive?” One previous winner was BluGlass, a Sydney company which designed a new way of manufacturing light emitting diode (LED) cells that uses less energy, operates at lower temperature, is cheaper and delivers better-quality LED cells. They’re commercialising that right now. And last year’s…

“The weaker Australian dollar is starting to drive manufacturers back to Australia in a sign the economy is adjusting to a post-mining boom world,” BlueScope Steel boss Paul O’Malley said recently. “After a very strong trend toward offshoring, we are starting to see some domestic onshoring for the first time in almost six years.” Indeed, while some manufacturers may have opened the New Year with reductions in sales, production and new orders, the fall in the value of the Australian dollar could stimulate the manufacturing sector over the coming months. This year’s Austech exhibition comes at the right time, it seems, and the show, co-hosted with National Manufacturing Week (NMW), is expected to attract a combined total of over 10,000 visitors. Owned and operated by the Australian Manufacturing Technology Institute Limited (AMTIL), Austech provides a forum for visitors to not only view the latest technology available today but also talk about applications that help them provide value-added,…

While up slightly, by 0.9 points to 46.3, the Australian PMI remained well below the 50-point figure separating expansion from contraction. Among the activity indicators, manufacturing production (up 1.6 points to 46.6) and new orders (up 1.7 points to 45.9) continued to decline, and manufacturing sales (up 1.0 point to 46.2) contracted for a tenth consecutive month. Only the manufacturing exports sub-index signalled expansion (down 2.2 points to 51.7 points), as the impacts of the lower dollar continued to flow through. Once again, much of this growth in exports was concentrated in the food and beverages sub-sector, one of four manufacturing sub-sectors to expand in March (down 0.7 points to 59.4). “The lower Australian dollar continues to boost manufacturing export volumes,” said Ai Group Chief Executive, Innes Willox. “However, despite stronger residential building activity and some easing of the intense pricing pressures from imports flowing from the lower dollar, weak local demand continues to weigh heavily on activity. The non-metallic mineral products sub-sector…

This area of the exhibition allows manufacturing companies to promote their capabilities and learn about new opportunities available to help them grow their businesses. Throughout the duration of Austech, the Manufacturers Pavilion will also provide the venue for an impressive schedule of presentations from renowned industry experts. Among the subjects explored over the course of the speakers schedule are: Innovation or Imposition – Which is it to be? Innovation is the essential turbulence that drives business growth and development. The alternative is stagnation, and ultimately business failure. Indeed recent statistics reveal that without innovation the life expectance of a business in these fast-moving times is less than ten years. Pushing the Boundaries of Sheet Forming – A University of Queensland and QMI Solutions research project. Incremental sheet forming (ISF) is a flexible manufacturing process in which complex 3D shapes are formed from a sheet of metal using a simple moving tool (stylus). In such a way an infinite variety of shapes can be…