Month: December 2016

“Many local manufacturers have taken advantage of cheaper overseas production costs in the hunt for greater efficiencies and profits,” says Brett Cowell, Chairman of Partners at Cowell Clarke. “While the practice has become commonplace, that doesn’t mean it’s simple. Done right, it can be a very astute move and help open up new sales networks into global markets. However, offshore manufacturing is not the silver bullet for every Australian operator under cost pressure.” Through its membership of ALFA International, the global legal network Cowell Clarke utilises its local relationships worldwide to support Australian businesses transacting and operating in foreign countries. Cowell said for some companies, cheaper base production costs in offshore manufacturing may be offset by a number of unexpected expenses. “Difficulties in communication, blow-outs in set up costs, additional ‘political’ or administrative requirements and large minimum quantity demands can add significantly to the cost of offshore production,” adds Cowell. “Offshore manufacturing can also expose the company to greater intellectual property (IP) theft risk and quality control inconsistencies.…

AMT: Let’s start with your professional background and how you came to your role with the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre? Jens Goennemann: For the past 20 years I have been working for Airbus, eight of them based here in Australia responsible for the Australian and New Zealand operations. When it was more than time to go back to Europe, it became a family decision to give it a miss – Australia had become my home. So, it came that I joined the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre earlier this year, and as anticipated it is a very interesting and promising opportunity. Manufacturing in Australia isn’t what the public perceives it to be, and I felt that we could do something quite extraordinary if we started to believe more in our potential – especially from what I have seen coming from previous experience at Airbus by working closely with innovative Australian manufacturers. AMT: And what is the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre? Why was it established, and what are its objectives? JG: The…

Most people have little to no understanding of how vibration can be used in product handling. However, this technology has been successfully used in many materials handling applications for years and can be of great benefit when it comes to cost-efficient materials handling and packaging processes. Vibratory equipment can be applied in a wide range of processes: Moving product from A to B In most production processes there are requirements to move ingredients, parts or finished product from one point to another. Automation is critical to productivity and a vibratory feeder provides the ideal solution. It offers a range of significant advantages over a conveyor, including: It is easy to install. It is hard-wearing. It is highly compatible with hygienic environments. It is easy to clean. There is no carry-back on…

Annaliese is the Managing Director at Headland Machinery Pty Ltd and CEO of Klugo Pty, based in Burwood, Melbourne. Adam is the Managing Director of Nichol Industries Pty Ltd, from Nunawading, Melbourne. Andrew is the General Manager of Bolts & Industrial Supplies Pty Ltd. “I’m delighted to welcome Annaliese, Adam and Andy to the AMTIL Board,” said AMTIL CEO Shane Infanti. “All three are well-known figures who enjoy a great deal of respect and credibility across the industry. The experience and acumen they will be able to provide will be of enormous value to AMTIL and to our members. They will be great additions to the team.” Annaliese, Andrew and Andy join existing Board Members Brigitte Stavar, Mark Dobrich, Paul Philips and Phil Xuereb, with Paul Fowler continuing as AMTIL’s President. The new arrivals coincide with the departure of two longstanding members: Pat Boland of ANCA Pty Ltd and Saxon Fletcher of Metal Cutting Technology Pty Ltd. Both have stepped down after eight years, with Pat also…

Funded by the Federal Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, Food Innovation Australia Ltd (FIAL) was set up just over three years ago to encourage commercially driven collaboration and innovation in the Australian food and agribusiness industry. FIAL operates across the entire food and agribusiness value chain, from growers, raw material producers and manufacturers, to packaging, sales, marketing and retail providers, through to final users of the sector’s output. FIAL works with major food manufacturers, universities, scientific research organisations, supermarket chains and industry groups across Australia. There are around 180,000 food and agribusinesses nationally, and they can all use FIAL’s services. “We are currently working with Data 61, to develop a searchable directory for the sector,” says FIAL’s Managing Director Dr Mirjana Prica.” A vision for the industry has also been developed involving industry stakeholders from across Australia over the past year. This is due to be released in October.” FIAL offers a range of opportunities for the industry, among which are: knowledge of technologies…

The Krasser Centurio provides a complete solution for thin sheet applications, optimally combining both protective storage of coils and the precise and logistically efficient cutting of coiled sheet. Once the coil is loaded into the storage system, all movements of the material occur automatically without any physical labour. Storage and transport damage to material and edges is minimised. The automatic adjustment of slitting knifes with patented blade gap adjustment ensures precise strip widths and guarantees the best cut quality. Coil loading and slitting processes run simultaneously while guarded by a safety fence. To change a coil from the furthest coil storage position takes only two minutes; this process includes straightening and weighing the coil. According to Sheet Metal Machinery, these features and benefits make the Centurio the safest and the fastest coil processing and slitting system worldwide. Extendibility is absolutely the biggest advantage of the Centurio coil processing system. Depending on requirement and budget Sheet Metal Machinery is able to offer…

Demo3D is an advanced material handling demonstration tool that offers virtual reality 3D solution to designing, simulating, presenting and testing all material handling solutions. Demo3D stands out in the modelling world as it incorporates realistic physics to show the way loads and other model elements interact. The Demo3D world takes into account mass, friction, force, inertia, gravity, and momentum to represent the interactions between various model elements. Products on Demo3D conveyors behave according to real world physics. They can bump into each other, slide, jam, and even fall to the floor. You can interact with them as the model runs, using the mouse to pick them up and put them down somewhere else in the system if you want to; you can stop and start conveyor motors, and the modelled system will respond in the same way as the real system would. Demo3D allows to users to model the most simple conveyor or the most…

As every industry and each material has its own unique characteristic grooving tool requirements, a wide range of diverse grooving solutions is needed to accommodate varied markets and material needs. Iscar’s standard range spans from widths of 0.5mm up to 51mm, internal bore diameters from 2mm and up, economic pressed inserts or precision-ground inserts, and a wide range of chip breakers and carbide grades. Iscar’s grooving tools have a flexible design that allows the tools to perform side turning in both right and left-hand directions, enabling a more efficient machining process. This original Iscar innovation has become a world standard referred to as ‘Groove-Turn’. Iscar’s many years of experience in providing first-class grooving solutions has enabled an extensive standard range of highly efficient grooving tools to be launched, and for Iscar to now be recognised as a global market leader in this area. Drawing on the company’s detailed knowledge of the subject and its in-depth understanding of both…

The Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed yesterday that the volume of activity in the Australian economy decreased 0.5% in the September quarter 2016, the first quarter of negative growth since the Queensland flood affected March quarter 2011. Through the year growth remains positive at 1.8%, reflecting the three previous quarters of growth. Economic activity contracted in a number of areas this quarter. Private investment in new buildings detracted 0.3 percentage points from GDP growth, while new engineering and new and used dwellings detracted 0.2 and 0.1 percentage points respectively. Public capital expenditure detracted 0.5 percentage points from growth as it declined from elevated levels in the June quarter. Net exports detracted an additional 0.2 percentage points from growth. Australia’s terms of trade rose 4.5% through the September quarter. Nonetheless, the Ai Group pointed to tentative signs that the December quarter will be better than the September quarter. These include the move of the Australian…

New remote digital monitoring and analytical technologies can look inside the performance of a crane or whole fleets of cranes to accurately predict the most suitable and timely maintenance for optimum service, as well as spot impending production risks and accident hazards. Konecranes’ TruConnect technology harnesses in a user-friendly way the power of the industrial internet, the heart of which is based on machinery sensors working together to gather and analyse data for specific purposes. Operating in this way, they can enable efficiencies unimaginable just a short time ago. “With powerful but highly accessible technologies such as TruConnect, crane maintenance is an entire generation ahead of the days of external inspections, laborious dismantling to find and fix problems - or simply fixing something when it fails,” says John Bailey, General Manager – Service Development, Konecranes SE Asia Pacific. “With the accident liability that outdated practices entail – and the potential for expensive downtime that companies just can’t afford these days – old approaches are just no longer accepted as…

In the early industrial days of cutting tool development, metalworking was very limited. It remained a slow task until the nineteenth century when the industrial age brought the availability of machine power via the steam engine and, later, electricity. Machine tools developed considerably in response, and with the introduction of high speed steel (HSS) in the twentieth century, the modern metal cutting era began. Today, there are two types of cutting tools, rotary and indexable. Rotary, also known as solid round tools, forms one entire piece made up of the cutting edge and shank. It is typically associated with drilling, threading and milling applications. Indexable tools are predominantly made of inserts or tips, where the cutting edge is a replaceable shaped piece that is welded or clamped on to a tool body. These are generally used for turning, milling and hole-making operations. Fabio Sala is Dormer Pramet’s Product Manager for round tools, while Lukas Pavlis is the company’s product manager for indexables. They discuss the…

Wow! We didn’t see that coming! Even with the Simpsons’ prediction and the fact that it was a two-horse race and the second horse had some significant hurdles of her own to overcome, it still sent shockwaves around the globe when the US voted Donald Trump as President-elect on 8 November. So when the inauguration of Donald Trump finally takes place on 20 January 2017, what can we expect? At the time of writing this article, only a few days after the election, we had seen three days of share market volatility, gold price variations, exchange rate dips and rises and wide and varied condemnation and commendation. This, for me, is one major challenge Trump will have in the short term. How do you unite a country that has over 50m people voting so strongly for you NOT to be in office? There are some key…

Victoria-based Kiel Industries collaborated with Pro Ali Design in Sydney on the project to design and build a new production line for the snack biscuit manufacturer. The project demonstrated the expertise and skill of the two companies. From a modest beginning as a small, family-owned and operated company, Kiel has grown into a prominent leader in the rotational moulding industry. Founded in 1989 by the Kiel family, the company now supplies the largest range of plastic pallets in the Southern Hemisphere and dominates materials handling with innovative designs for pallets, bins, and ancillary products. Kiel utilises some of the most technically advanced moulding equipment in the world, and over time, its custom moulding division has grown to be a prominent participant in the industry. Its equipment was specifically selected so the company can offer economical short production runs, together with competitive pricing on high-volume production. Pro Ali Design’s dedication to quality, design and service,…