Month: March 2016

Headquartered in Bayswater, in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, Barden opened its doors for business in 1983. Over the years it has adapted and evolved into a one-stop shop for a range of sheet metal fabrication solutions. Barden offers a full suite of fabrication services, including laser cutting, CNC machining, CNC turning, turret punching, powder coating, metal folding via CNC brake press, and MIG/TIG and robot welding. The automotive industry had been a key market for Barden for many years, where the company has produced various components for direct feed and aftermarket requirements. It has also provided a variety of services for defence applications, general fabrication services for clients in the construction and hospitality sectors, including high-end design furniture for a number of government buildings, as well as display, signage and safety products. Like many manufacturers exposed to the automotive industry, Barden…

The online survey included responses from 465 IT and business professionals spanning 18 business sectors in North America, EMEA, Asia/Pacific and Latin America. Although less than a third (29%) of responding organisations are currently using IoT, an additional 14% are planning to implement IoT in the coming 12 months, with an additional 21% planning to implement after 2016. In other words, the number of organisations adopting IoT will grow 50% in 2016, reaching 43% of organisations overall. In aggregate, the majority of organisations (64%) plan to eventually implement IoT. However, it is also important to note that another 38% have no plans to implement IoT, including 9% that see no relevance whatsoever in the technologies. “While there is near universal acceptance of the importance of the IoT, less than a third of organisations surveyed were actively exploiting it,” said Chet Geschickter, research director at Gartner. “This is largely because of two reasons. The first set of hurdles are business-related. Many organisations have yet to establish a clear picture of…

The Australian PMI expanded for an eighth month in February, rising 2.0 points to 53.5 (readings above 50 indicate expansion in activity, the distance from 50 indicating the strength of the increase). Of the seven activity sub-indexes (see table below), production (up 7.2 points to 60.1), new orders (down 0.4 points to 52.4) and exports (down 0.2 points to 53.7) remained strongly positive, while sales bounced back from January’s contraction (up 8.9 points to 53.0). The stocks sub-index remained in expansion after its spike in January (down 6.7 points to 52.5), while employment remained in negative territory (up 0.3 points to 47.4). The input prices sub-index was largely unchanged at 63.5 in February, while wages expansion slowed modestly (down 2.9 points to 56.4). Manufacturing selling prices slipped by 3.2 points to 48.3, ending two months of expansion. Coinciding with continued increases in input prices, this is indicative of tightening margins. “The manufacturing sector had a running start to 2016 with another month…

For Porsche a perfect season has come to an end: it took the overall victory at the 24 Hours in Le Mans, the Manufacturers’ World Championship title in the penultimate round in Shanghai, and was crowned the Drivers’ World Champions. Its success is the result of long-standing experience, and above all, the continuous development of the Porsche 919 Hybrid. While the team co-operates with numerous suppliers, its technology partnership with DMG MORI has had a long, lasting influence on internal production as well. To produce components for cars more quickly and more flexibly, Porsche has built its own ultra-modern component production capability, with a DMU 65 monoBLOCK and a CTX beta 800 from DMG MORI as its machine basis, complemented by the DMG MORI process chain. “Short response times and flexibility are deciding factors for success in motorsports”, says Frank Jahn, who is responsible for the team’s component production. For this reason, in-house production was also set up, the project presented enormous challenges: “We had to invest here with…

Risk management should ensure systems are in place, and well maintained, to ensure that decisions are well thought through, and that internal systems provide legal compliance and reduce the risk of fraud or injury, while understanding and protecting the business core assets. However, all systems are imperfect and the fall-back position that protects business viability is having appropriate insurance. Having the appropriate insurance is essential to managing risk, but my travels and discussions with many SMEs lead me to believe that it is a neglected area, an area that directors have limited knowledge of and often buy a least painful option to meet legal requirements. A rarely published statistic is that up to 80% of assets will change hands over the next 15 years or so as the baby boomer population retires. For most SMEs a business is the family’s chief asset, but few take the steps to manage risk adequately or develop a cohesive exit plan. While…

Australia’s largest, longest-running manufacturing event, NMW brings the industry together to see, touch and discuss solutions that can open up new business horizons. NMW 2016 will be co-located with the Sydney edition of Inside 3D Printing, the largest 3D printing event worldwide, focusing on using 3D printing production techniques in a range of industries including medicine, automotive, technology, software, and more. NMW 2016 will also present a highly topical conference program with industry leaders sharing new ideas for bringing innovations to commercial reality. Among speakers will be Sam Bucolo, Professor of Design Innovation at UTS, who is a passionate advocate for Design-Led Innovation. The concept of Design-Led Innovation – used by global brands such as Apple, Nintendo & Alessi – draws on the understanding of how designers approach complex problems by reframing and re-imagining the challenges. Work already underway…

“Within 20 years, there will be a seismic shift in how we manufacture for the aerospace and defence industry,” states Brian Neff, a major investor in Sintavia, an advanced manufacturing company using SLM Solutions 280HL dual laser system for the production of parts for aerospace and defence. A recent study funded by the US Department of Energy’s Advanced Manufacturing Office demonstrated that aircraft weight can be reduced by 7% by replacing conventional means of manufacturing with additive manufacturing — an astonishing number for an industry where the majority of weight efficiency improvements are one or two percentage points. However, this is not the only industry that can benefit from smart uses of 3D printing techniques in additive manufacturing, finding more opportunities presents an exciting challenge for Australian manufacturers. Beyond the hype 3D printing has become a household concept - the public’s fascination in the subject boosted…

AAAA Executive Director Stuart Charity believes automotive manufacturing in Australia is not dead: “Although Ford, GM Holden and Toyota will close their vehicle plants by 2017, there is powerful contemporary evidence that innovative Australian automotive manufacturers can compete in today’s international market place.” According to Charity, AAAA members now manufacture and export $800m worth of product a year. Australian products are going to vehicle manufacturers and to the aftermarket in Asia, Europe and the Americas. These products range from precision OE driveline components, to electrical systems and electronic devices, off-road vehicle protection and suspension equipment, and high-performance parts for use on the road and on the racetrack. “This local export success confirms the global market recognises Australian manufacturers’ design, engineering and production quality,” Charity adds. “We encourage all local automotive manufacturers to explore the potential of a new business plan that encompasses export.” To support Australia’s large and diverse automotive manufacturing sector, the AAAA recently formed the Automotive Products Manufacturers and Exporters Council (APMEC). The Council will assist member…