Month: September 2016

By their very nature, medical devices face a much higher regulatory bar. Also, their useful life span is highly volatile due to technological advances, changing treatment protocols, market conditions, social convention or changes within the biology of a given disease. Almost all manufacturers will modify products over time to address changing needs or all sorts. Medical devices, meaning those devices that either diagnosis or mitigate illness, are no exception. This article will review how engineering changes must be documented over time to assure that any device in use is properly equipped to address the application it is addressing. Specially, it will look at how technologies such as engineering change control systems and product lifecycle management (PLM) are used to make sure products in the field are kept current. Products evolve. They change over time in response to the environments in which they’re being used and in the operational demands they are subject to. For simple, low-complexity products, this doesn’t present an issue. But…

Ask any original equipment manufacturer (OEM) to share their critical business challenges, and they are likely to raise common issues such as quality control, efficiency levels, budgeting, and inventory management. However, with the advent of technology and globalisation, modern OEMs are now faced with yet another area of concern – the proliferation of counterfeit products. Counterfeiting has evolved over the years, from being largely localised operations into highly profitable global businesses with mass production facilities, international sales, and complex global distribution networks. According to the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the value of global counterfeit goods is expected to exceed US$1.7 trillion. In the past, counterfeiting used to be more prevalent in consumer goods, but counterfeiters have started to target highly sophisticated and engineered products in recent years, and B2B companies are similarly at risk to product piracy. One such example is in the consumables of plasma cutting systems, such as nozzles, electrodes, and swirl rings. Counterfeiting in plasma cutting consumables Plasma cutting makes use of an electrically conductive gas, such as nitrogen and oxygen,…

Among the highlights of our upcoming schedule are a behind-the-scenes tour of 3D printing pioneers Amaero Engineering. Later in October, AMTIL will be holding its Annual General Meeting (AGM), and business futurist Morris Miselowski will be there to provide the keynote address: ‘FutureCurious’. In addition, bookings are now open for our ever-popular range of Christmas events. AMTIL continues to add a variety of events to our schedule for the coming months. Keep an eye on the Events page on AMTIL’s website (www.amtil.com.au/Events) as fresh details are confirmed all the time. Upcoming events include:   AMTIL Tour of Amaero Engineering 5 October, 9.00am to 10.30am 11 Normanby Rd, Notting Hill, VIC 3168 Amaero manufactures complex metallic components by laser-based additive manufacturing. The company uses two techniques: selective laser melting (SLM) and blown powder laser melting. Its SLM machines have the largest build volume in the world. On AMTIL’s tour of Amaero’s facility you will have the opportunity to: learn about some of the key applications of 3D printing; connect…

The medical gas supplier for the hospital is BOC Healthcare, delivering hundreds of full medical gas cylinders each month to 49 hospital departments that support 359 beds across 12 floors. Christopher Collie, Facilities Coordinator at Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital, says: “Both previous hospitals had longstanding partnerships with BOC and this has continued at our new facility. Their team has been working with us to meet our gas needs including a new cylinder management solution that is already making a huge difference.” Bringing together medical professionals from two separate hospitals naturally meant staff had slightly different approaches for certain tasks. One area was in the way that clinicians and medical staff were projecting their gas usage. “After opening we noticed an over-projection of gas cylinders right across the hospital with some wards ordering up to three more medical cylinders than what they actually needed,” says Collie. “There didn’t seem to be an established confidence in ordering so the result was a…

The Airbus Group dominates the industrial landscape in south-west France. Along with an extensive supply chain in the Toulouse area, the European aerospace giant is single-handedly responsible for a good deal of the region’s economy. In fact, in 2011, when word got out that Airbus was planning a major manufacturing programme, husband and wife entrepreneurs Sébastien and Sonia Korczak decided to establish their own subcontract machining facility, KMP, with the intention of servicing the large number of tier-2 and tier-3 aerospace companies in the area. “Before we opted for Haas, we were told by other machine tool suppliers that they weren’t up to the job of cutting hard materials,” says Sébastien. “In fact, it turns out they didn’t want us to know that Haas machines can be pushed day and night cutting…

Additive manufacturing or 3D printing is an exciting new technology whose benefits are already being embraced in real-life applications, and nowhere more so than in the field of medicine. Success stories involving 3D-printed titanium implants such as vertebral cages and heel joints have received widespread coverage in the popular media. However, in the dental arena, less ‘earth-shattering’ applications of 3D printing may not have found their way into the media. Nonetheless, they are already delivering significant reductions in costs and increases in the speed and accuracy of production of crowns, bridges and orthodontic appliances. Dutch medical design company Xilloc Medical is one business already making a name for itself through its medical breakthroughs. Already famed for printing a titanium jaw-bone using complex algorithms to create a design that gives blood vessels, nerves and muscles a better opportunity to grow into the implant, Xilloc is now pushing the envelope with its most recent development in the…

The Westpac-AusChamber Actual Composite index rebounded in the September quarter to 57.3 points, up 2.3 points, returning the index to near its 2015 average. The above-par reading for the Composite index, which trended higher in 2014 and 2015, reflects strength across new orders, output and overtime, and an emerging resilience in employment. “Manufacturing is benefitting from a strong upswing in new home building activity, although rates of growth have moderated, and a lift in renovation activity,” said Andrew Hanlan, Senior Economist at Westpac. “It is also benefitting from a significant improvement in competitiveness flowing from the sharply lower currency, down 28% against the US dollar since the 2013 peak.” The report found that businesses are looking to 2017 to be a positive year for profits, driven by rising turnover and a lower Australian dollar boosting export returns. A net 25% of respondents expected profits to rise in the 12 months to come. Positive expectations among manufacturers were centred…

The YPO (Young Presidents Organisation) is a global peer network of chief executives and business leaders. The YPO awards recognise members of pioneering business innovations. YPO announced the winners during its inaugural YPO Innovation Week - a series of more than 50 in-person and virtual events around the world focusing on the latest trends in innovation. Watkins Steel beat applicants from around the world to be recognised for the ability to develop “out-of-the-box” strategies to overcome common limitations in the building and construction industry. For Watkins Steel, this award was the end result of interviewing clients in the construction industry about their biggest pain points, limitations, and challenges. During the process, the senior management team learned that they were primarily judged on how they reacted to on-site construction problems. “The building and construction industry is time-critical and unexpected challenges arise,” explains Des Watkins, Director of Watkins Steel. “More often than not, these challenges are the result of human error. After talking to clients we realised that creating…

Using your business’ historical trends, manufacturing industry data or simply applying against budgeted comparisons, financial ratio analysis can be extremely useful in understanding business performance. While calculating the most commonly used ratios is relatively straightforward, to get ahead you should challenge your finance team to go beyond basic computation of data and uncover insights that lead to strategic action. A typical monthly trend analysis for a manufacturing organisation will include key ratios on liquidity, profitability, efficiency and solvency. But arriving at the figures is just the beginning; there are two further steps that every finance team should undertake to ensure they’re getting to the meaning behind the numbers. Measures that matter                                                                                                                                                            Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) assist businesses to define and measure progress towards management-agreed goals. Meaningful performance measurement is crucial to providing useful information to stakeholders, which include boards, investors, potential purchasers and lending institutions. Common financial KPIs to consider include: liquidity (quick asset ratio); inventory turnover; gross profit margin; accounts receivable days; net profit margin; accounts payable days;…

Queensland State Minister for Energy Mark Bailey officially opened Clenergy TeamArrow’s new workshop at Macarthur Avenue, Eagle Farm, on 19 September. He also revealed the team’s ambitions to have a road-registered, ‘Cruiser Class’ race version on the starting grid of the 2017 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge in Darwin. “Clenergy TeamArrow is one of the most successful Australian solar racing teams of the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge and I’m excited about this new innovation and design hub here in Brisbane,” Bailey said. “The Palaszczuk Government is a strong advocate for renewable energy and a cleaner, greener energy future and I’m pleased to say that Economic Development Queensland has given the home team a flying start by providing long-term access to the Eagle Farm site and workshop facilities.” Bailey also unveiled the design of the new sleek, hi-tech and aerodynamic vehicle at the Eagle Farm hub with Clenergy Team Arrow’s Cameron Tuesley. Tuesley said they drew inspiration from their extensive experiences crossing Australia’s outback. “We aim to be the first Australian company to…

Case studies are emerging that provide compelling evidence that the surgeons embracing this technology over standard implants or traditionally manufactured implants are consistently delivering better and more predictable outcomes in terms of patient safety and satisfaction, and hospital efficiencies and economies. Hospitals in the UK, in their quest for better quality and efficiency, have used 3D-printed anatomical models, guides and implants to improve the predictability, accuracy, safety and speed of operations. Meanwhile, a hospital in Spain has proved that the technology can also be used across international borders in a classic example of global technology transfer with UK experts. Neurosurgeon Bartolomé Oliver, MD, PhD, practises at the Teknon Medical Center in Barcelona, Spain, and has trained internationally, including in Canada, the USA and Sweden. A 68-year-old female patient presented to his department with a benign growth from the left side of her cranium, caused by a meningioma, a tumour that arises from the meninges – the…

It is sometimes surprising when you stop and consider all of the places where compressed air is used. Typically we think about manufacturing, processing and engineering applications. However, compressed air serves a very important function in numerous other industry sectors, not least the veterinary industry where it is used to manufacture oxygen. From small veterinary clinics to large animal hospitals, oxygen generation plays a key role in healing pets and animals. And, with one of the highest rates of pet ownership in the world and over 33m pets, Australia certainly has a demand for the lifesaving services they provide! The traditional method of obtaining the oxygen would be to purchase it in cylinders. However, this method is costly and comes with the added inconvenience of having to move and change heavy and dangerous oxygen cylinders. Mediquip offers the Australian veterinary industry with a highly economical, convenient, safe and compact alternative: oxygen supply plants. Powered by a compressor, an oxygen supply plant…

The steel sections of each louvre have been shaped so that they form part of a series of 3D images that can be viewed from different angles as people walk around the building. Industrial Galvanizers (IG), a member of the Galvanizers Association of Australia (GAA), was engaged to take the more than 480 individual steel sections and coat them in zinc prior to delivery to the construction site. The IG factory in suburban Campbellfield, north of the Melbourne CBD, returned each batch of the completed galvanization project to the steel fabricators, Fabmetal Specialists, with an average turnaround of 2-3 working days in plant. According to David Reilly, Sales Manager at IG, galvanization provides a long-lasting, tough, durable coating that provides complete corrosion protection both inside and out in addition to enhancing the appearance. Galvanization has…