Month: June 2018

In addition, extremely high output torques, cost-effectiveness and quiet running are further key prerequisites for companies operating within these environments. When looking for an industrial gear drive to best match a heavy-duty application, it’s imperative that companies turn to trusted brands who truly understand the environment and the exact application, to avoid any costly downtime. In operation for more than half a century, Nord Drivesystems offers trusted gear units for various industries and applications, and the Nord Maxxdrive is no exception. This industrial gear unit provides high output torques from 15,000Nm to 250,000Nm, and is ideal for applications such as agitators, conveyor belt drives, mixers, mills, drums or crushers. Martin Broglia, Managing Director of Nord Drivesystems, elaborates on his company’s industrial gear units, saying: “Downtime in heavy-duty industries is extremely costly. Over the years, Nord Drivesystems has continuously seen success with its industrial gear units – available as helical gear units or bevel gear…

The application of data-driven technologies (and things like shifting appetites for energy sources) mean mining is changing rapidly. Exactly what the next decade will deliver is a guessing game, but the country’s number-one export industry, and the METS sector supporting it, will remain important to national prosperity well into the future. Some parts of METS have been on the wane since the peak of resources investment in 2012, such as heavy machinery. IBISWorld estimates mining and construction machinery has shrunk by around 11% annually in the last five years. However, manufacturing makes up more than four-tenths of the METS sector, and there are manufacturers who are thriving. According to consultancy VCI, local METS businesses enjoy various natural advantages: operating in the world’s biggest, most sophisticated mining sector; proximity to Asia; and a talented workforce. With mining, as with all of manufacturing, the future belongs to those manufacturers who can work smarter and adapt. According to extensive industry consultation in 2016 by METS Ignited, one of…

The theme for this year’s AMTIL National Conference will be ‘Strategies for Manufacturing Resilience and Growth’. The one-day event will take participants on a learning journey that will help them build resilience in their business, look outside their traditional avenues for opportunities for growth, and inspire them to think outside the square. AMTIL has already secured an impressive line-up of speakers. The opening keynote will be given by Dr Jens Goennemann, Managing Director of the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre (AMGC), while later in the day Claire Madden, founder and director of Hello Clarity, will offer her insights on ‘Creating an Engaging Culture’. For the closing address, iconic athlete Deanna Blegg will be discussing ‘Personal Resilience’, and the incredible adversity she has dealt with and triumphed over in her life so far. Expert speakers Among the other highlights of the speaker program, Gary Bertwhistle will open up proceedings after lunch with the question ‘Who Stole My Mojo?’ Gary is a pioneer in creative and innovative…

A common technique used in this application is ‘hot tapping’, which facilitates the creation of connections within existing pressurised vessels, pipelines and networks without the need to empty any of these pressurised systems. In-service welding is also commonly used during pipe maintenance procedures, including installing sleeves to repair damaged sections within pipelines. A thorough understanding of the factors that affect welding onto in-service pipelines helps avoid pipeline shutdowns and interruptions of service, thereby bolstering both economic and environmental benefits for operators and welders alike. Moreover, repairs can be undertaken efficiently, effectively and with full confidence. According to Alistair Forbes, Weld Australia Technology Operations Manager, “The advantages of in-service welding are significant and wide-reaching, particularly in the gas & oil industries, where the process can be used to avoid costly shutdowns and service interruptions and maintain continuity of supply to customers. “In comparison, in situations where in-service welding is impossible, sections of the pipeline undergoing repair or replacement must be sealed and degassed before welding can commence, and must then be repurged once welding is complete. This complicated…

Automation-intensive sectors such as the automotive industry are not the only ones to rely on robots. In more and more agricultural settings, automation systems are superseding strenuous manual labour. In Germany, cucumbers destined for pickle jars are harvested using “cucumber flyers” – farm vehicles with wing-like attachments. Seasonal workers lie on their stomachs on the wings and pluck the ripe cucumbers. This labour-intensive, energy-sapping type of manual harvesting is becoming increasingly uneconomical, especially since Germany introduced a minimum wage. Many of the country’s agricultural regions consequently face an uncertain future; cucumber farming has already begun relocating to Eastern Europe and India. There is thus an urgent need for improved harvesting technologies to maintain the economic viability of cucumber farming in Germany. Experts from Fraunhofer IPK in Berlin are studying the potential for automating cucumber harvests in the scope of the EU’s CATCH (Cucumber Gathering – Green Field Experiments) project. Project partners are the Leibniz Institute…

ACS is a premier provider of industrial automation, control systems and services in Australia. The company provides industry-leading value-add engineering services with expertise in power control, electrical installation, safety, network studies, packaging and power conditioning that meets critical measures for operational excellence, application knowledge and customer satisfaction. ACS has a well-established competency in motor control and software to help customers understand and implement these intelligent capabilities in a way to help generate value for their organisations. The MCC is destined for an explosives manufacturing plant in Eastern Europe and features the complete Rockwell Automation Connected Components range, including E300 Electronic Overloads and PowerFlex 525 and 753 drives all on an Ethernet backbone. “Customers’ requirements are changing and they are looking for motor control solutions that can integrate with their existing systems and provide advanced diagnostic capabilities,” explained Andrew Taylor, Engineering & Operations Manager at ACS. “The Centerline 2500 meets these requirements and provides an efficient and effective solution.”…

This is the view of Dr Michael Myers OAM, and I agree with him. There are very few real STEM activities available to schools today which can deliver long-term and lasting STEM educational outcomes. Dr Myers established Re-Engineering Australia (or REA as it is more commonly referred to) 20 years ago because, as an engineer himself, he saw the education system wasn’t delivering enough students with the appropriate skills to become engineers. Last year, the Chief Scientist Dr Alan Finkel AO, warned that: “The enemy of our future prosperity is complacency. Past investments in skills development have underpinned our strong economy and enviable lifestyle, which in turn have diminished our sense of urgency. While our school system remains above average among…

These variables are anything but inconsequential to the flavour, colour and body of the wine, and can be fascinating to learn about. Yet short of walking through a vineyard with surveying poles and kneeling to rub earth between your fingers, it can be challenging to get a comprehensive picture of terroir to fully appreciate the nuances at play in your glass. This was a problem for Ten Minutes by Tractor, a winery on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, that wanted to give its patrons a deeper understanding of its wines. Ten Minutes by Tractor is made up of three vineyards located ten minutes apart, with widely different environmental characteristics that deliver vastly distinctive wines. The winery’s goal is to add value to its wine tour experience wherever possible by sharing its knowledge of wine making with its visitors. Yet verbally explaining the…

The Seed Terminator can be retrofitted to new and used John Deere, CASE IH and New Holland Class 7, 8, 9 and 10 harvesters and retails for about $115,000. It uses a multi-stage hammer mill to pulverise weed seeds, spreading the sawdust-like debris behind the header. The “one-pass solution” pulverises seeds with a multi-stage hammer mill and spreads the nutrient-rich debris 10-12m behind the harvester to act as a fine mulch for soil improvement. It also eliminates the need for herbicides and labour-intensive and potentially dangerous burn-offs to keep weeds at bay after harvest. Testing has been focussed on rye grass seeds because of their miniscule size and the fact they are notoriously difficult to kill. Nine prototypes were initially were built and tested across nine different geographies in South Australia, Western Australia, New South Wales and Victoria, with different crop types, soil types and moisture contents during the 2016-17 harvest. A further 23 machines were rolled out for the 2017-18 harvest, mainly…

Manufacturers today live in a very competitive, price-sensitive and crowded world. Companies that operate in developed economies can no longer compete on cost alone and are looking at how to achieve a more stable revenue forecast. The need to differentiate from competitors is also a key priority. One way this can be done is to look at servitisation (the shift from selling just a product to selling a product and a service) as a way to provide a complete solution to customers. Many of the companies I speak to are investing in disruption and innovation, and they aren’t doing it merely from a new product development perspective but something far more advanced. They are going from a ‘make and sell’ business model and evolving it into one that increasingly adopts and embraces services, which in turn helps build long-lasting customer relationships. Why manufacturers are servitising their businesses The main benefit for companies adopting servitisation…

Despite being born with cerebral palsy and a number of ongoing health issues, Tim began learning to swim at the age of four, and began swimming competitively when he was 10. Contests and medals culminated in his selection for the Australian Paralympics team at the Rio games in 2016. Tim came away with three medals, including gold in the S9 100m freestyle. The success story continued at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in April, where he won the gold medal in S9 100m freestyle and Gold in SB8 100m breaststroke. In 2017 he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM). Now Tim has the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo in his sights, and he is being supported BY one of AMTIL’s CEO Groups as sponsors. New Touch is one of the members of that CEO Group, and Tim’s visit was a chance to have a look round the factory and get an understanding of what the company does. “It was great to have Tim…

Press Release: Dr Christopher Hegarty will been appointed The Group CEO from 1st July 2018, succeeding Grant Anderson FCAM. After eight years in the role at ANCA, Grant Anderson will retire at the end of June. Chris joined the ANCA group from Switzerland in July 2017 as the Engineering Manager of CNC Machines and has more recently been appointed to General Manager of that division. Pat Boland, Joint ANCA Co-Founder said: “Over the next few months The ANCA Leadership Team will be working together to ensure a seamless handover. During this time ANCA will remain focused on our strategic goals and continue to delight our customers.” “During Grant’s tenure at ANCA his leadership has seen the company flourish. I thank him for his significant contributions that have improved our culture, processes and products to place us at the forefront of our market segments.” “Having worked with Chris over the last year I am confident of his vision for ANCA and know his global experience and in depth understanding of manufacturing will ensure a strong future for our business,” Pat concluded. Dr Chris Hegarty, future ANCA Group CEO said: “ANCA is an incredible Australian success story, a high-tech advanced manufacturer…

Boasting a capacity of 9m x 3m x by 1.5m, Titomic’s industrial-scale 3D printer overcomes size and speed constraints present in all other 3D printers for manufacturing in metals. With a process co-developed with CSIRO, Titomic’s machine features patented additive manufacturing technology that has  the potential to transform the future of Australian and international advanced manufacturing. From airplane wings to submarines, Titomic’s technology is capable of making large complex parts in minutes and fusing dissimilar materials and enables metal products to be manufactured without melting. “We’re obviously proud to officially launch Titomic’s first large-scale metal 3D printer,” said Titomic’s Chairman Philip Vafiadis. “We hope industry leaders understand that this is more than an advancement of 3D printing but rather it is the beginning of the race to displace traditional large scale industrial manufacturing processes constrained by economics.” Jeff Lang, Titomic’s CEO and CTO, added “As a company we look forward to fully realising the potential of advanced manufacturing, both locally and globally. The capabilities of Australian ingenuity coupled with…