June 16, 2017
Printing in metal is continuing to move out of labs and into Australian factories, though for the moment it remains in high-value niches. According to Ben Batagol, Business Development Manager at Amaero, adopters of metals additive manufacturing are going to increasingly diverge into two distinct camps: those focussed on getting volume up and cost down; and those chasing high-quality applications. For Batagol’s company, the focus has always been on the second, particularly in aerospace. “We took a conscious decision that high-value aerospace work is really our niche,” said Batagol. “And four years ago that’s what we said we wanted to target.” Amaero has earned a reputation as a success story in these early days of Australian companies using additive manufacturing. It opened a French facility last November, and has a growing collection of US companies in its order book. “That’s a growing presence for us,” Batagol added. “Ironically, the Australian market is one of the smallest markets we deal with in the world.…
June 9, 2017
Kennewell manufactures everything from parts for agricultural machinery to high-end motorsport and tattooing equipment, specialising in small batches. It is also heavily involved with the production of prototype parts to assist companies bring products to market. Established in 1995, the company has steadily grown and now has a total of 12 staff working over two shifts. Owner Brett Kennewell and Leading Hand Brett Klose acquired the Hydrafeed Barfeeder to retrofit to an existing CNC lathe and replace the existing pneumatic unit that had come with the unit. “Our old barfeeder had to be monitored constantly, so was very unproductive,” says Kennewell. “I really don’t like pneumatic equipment; the barfeeder we had has been unreliable and because it ran on compressed air, was expensive to run. Hydrafeed UK has developed a user-friendly unit with an additional productivity benefit over other barfeeders on the market. Once the bar size is set and the setup has been saved, there’s no need to open the cover again. Simply by calling up the program from the touch screen, the…
June 9, 2017
AMT: What is the IMCRC and what are its objectives? David Chuter: Well the IMCRC stands for Innovative Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre. We carry on the great legacy that these CRCs have been doing for 20-plus years in Australia. We were formed officially in 2015. After a bit of a slow start-up we have just really got ourselves running since the back-end of last year into this year. This month sees our team fully recruited; we’ve got two more project research officers joining us later this month, and our direct staff will then be our full complement. We see our role as very much helping to champion the transformation of manufacturing in Australia. And that’s a pretty broad agenda which many parties are working on. At our core, we co-fund and de-risk industry investment in research projects. We try and focus on manufacturing companies: small, medium and large. We encourage them to work with the Australian universities and CSIRO to conduct manufacturing research projects. AMT: Can you give an example or few examples of…
June 9, 2017
The additive manufacturing market is on the rise in Australia and New Zealand. More and more companies are moving from printing one or two prototypes and are now incorporating metal 3D printing as part of their production methodology. Many people ask the question “Can anything be 3D printed”? The short answer is “Yes”, theoretically anything can be 3D printed, but not everything should be 3D printed. However, with the right design, it can be a very economic manufacturing technique. RAM3D was spun out of the research organisation Titanium Industry Development Association (now TiDA) and it has the biggest Australasian centre for 3D metal printing. RAM3D’s new facility allows companies from a range of sectors, including aerospace, defence, consumer and industrial, to explore the benefits of metal additive manufacturing. The diversity of the parts RAM3D manufactures ranges from titanium knives used by the Team Emirates America's Cup crew to customised handlebar extensions for the New Zealand Olympics cycling team, as well as titanium…
June 9, 2017
Romar Engineering is involved in medical device development and manufacture, with former and current partners including Cochlear, Resmed and Vaxxas. Although its stand featured everything from surgical aids to microfluidics, it had seen strong interest in its new DMG Mori Lasertec 65, a hybrid laser deposition welding and five-axis milling machine. “It’ll bring a lot of value to medical devices, to defence, across the industry, because we can print up to 15 different materials at once with this and we can print up to three different materials in the one component,” said Managing Director Neil Wilson. The machine is a $1.25m co-investment between Wilson’s company and the CSIRO. Wilson believes collaboration with public researchers is “critical”, noting Romar’s links with universities including University of Wollongong, Deakin and ANU. Andrew Donald Design Engineering (ADDE) had brought its new end-of-line palletiser, based on a Universal Robot UR10 machine mounted on a column and swing mechanism. General Manager Barry Hendy said the system only took hours to integrate and while the UR10…
June 9, 2017
Tim – or ‘Disko’ as he’s known to his mates – was born at just 24 weeks with cerebral palsy, and has had to contend with a number of ongoing health issues. In his early years he was hospitalised regularly, and was fed via a gastrostomy tube until the age of 17. Tim’s brain and his body movements have also been affected, with increased fatigue and stiffness as well as issues with brain/body communication. However, those setbacks have not deterred Tim from living life to the full. He completed secondary school and produces his own music. Most importantly, he began learning to swim at the age of four, and began swimming competitively when he was 10. Numerous contests and medals followed, culminating in his selection for the Australian Paralympics team and the chance to represent his country at the Rio games last year. Tim came away with three medals, including gold in the 100-metre S9 freestyle.…
June 9, 2017
According to the World Bank’s June 2017 Global Economic Prospects, growth in advanced economies is expected to accelerate to 1.9% in 2017, which will also benefit the trading partners of these countries. Global financing conditions remain favourable and commodity prices have stabilised. Against this improving international backdrop, growth in emerging market and developing economies as a whole will pick up to 4.1% this year from 3.5% in 2016. Growth among the world’s seven largest emerging market economies is forecast to increase and exceed its long-term average by 2018. Recovering activity in these economies should have significant positive effects for growth in other emerging and developing economies and globally. Nevertheless, substantial risks cloud the outlook. New trade restrictions could derail the welcome rebound in global trade. Persistent policy uncertainty could dampen confidence and investment. Amid exceptionally low financial market volatility, a sudden market reassessment of policy-related risks or of the pace of advanced-economy monetary…
June 2, 2017
“This has been a great exhibition here in Melbourne, and the first for EIF in attendance,” said Suzanne Agnello, EIF’s Australian Trade Lane Manager. “The entire EIF Team are extremely delighted to be part of AMTIL Network and the want to sincerely thank the Amtil team for such a very well-run event and look forward to the next one.” EIF are the AMTIL exclusive Service Partner for international freight forwarding for your import and export needs, both air freight and sea freight as well as Australian customs and quarantine requirements. EIF are a privately owned International freight forwarder who is a third-party logistics (3PL) provider that can offer you a comprehensive range of transportation solutions for air freight and ocean freight, both domestically and globally. EIF’s services will maintain efficiencies within your supply chain, enabling goods to be delivered where they are needed in the speed, accuracy…
June 2, 2017
The Labor Government led by Premier Daniel Andrews is helping Victorian companies impacted by the closure of automotive manufacturing to transform the way they do business and open up new opportunities. The ASCTP helps auto businesses plan for the future, identify new markets and create a transition plan. APT produces customised and high-precision components for the automotive, aeronautics and defence industries, and will use its grant to develop a workforce strategy. The company is one of 12 businesses sharing in $504,000 in funding from ASCTP. Other recipients include: Ceramet (Delacombe) Mackay Consolidated Industries (Moorabbin East) Entegro Group (Brooklyn) Woodbridge Australia Group (Laverton North) Decor Engineering (Seaford) Futec (Brighton East) A Bending Company (Dandenong South) ABC Specialty Metals (Hallam) Excellent Plating Works (Moorabbin) TI Automotive Australia (Dandenong South) Diversitile (Thomastown) “As automotive manufacturing winds down, local supply chain businesses need to plan for change,” said Noonan. “These grants help…
