Month: September 2018

As a listed entity within the Commonwealth Government portfolio of the Treasury, the Royal Australian Mint is the sole supplier of Australia’s circulating coinage. Since its establishment, the Mint has produced more than fifteen billion circulating coins and now has the capacity to produce two million circulating coins per day. The demand for uncirculated coins has led to the expansion of the Mint’s manufacturing capability of high-quality and innovative collector coins. In addition to producing Australia’s coinage, the Mint produces coins for other countries – along with medals, medallions, tokens, and seals for private clients both national and international. The Royal Australian Mint is also a tourist attraction. It educates students and visitors on the history of Australian coinage, and it explains how technology is being used in its modern manufacturing environment. Shifting focus In 2010, the Royal Australian Mint had implemented a manufacturing resource planning solution to facilitate the production of circulating coins and…

If you design or build industrial machines, you probably know all about hardwiring. It remains the most common way to bring power and signal to the machine because it offers perceived savings in installation costs. But the cost savings are really a mirage once you factor in the full range of wiring costs. These obviously include time and materials: the cost of the wire, cable, accessories and labour. Less obvious is the fact that you’ll also incur hidden installation costs with their own labour and time-to-market considerations. For example, many machines have to be disassembled for shipping and reassembled for start-up, so you’ll have to hardwire parts of the machine at least twice. Then there’s the cost of errors. Field wiring errors are common, especially when local electricians, unfamiliar with the machine, handle the wiring. At best, these errors can delay machine commissioning. At worst, they can damage the machine. Finally, add in the cost of testing, which can be complex and expensive in hardwired systems. Keep in mind the hidden costs will grow…

Before making the investment to overhaul its glass bottle tooling systems, the maker of James Boag’s Premium Lager needed to know an update to its bottle would not be change for change’s sake. It needed to be sure the new bottle would look good and be well received by customers. Ideally, this confidence would come before spending major time and capital on the project. As the supplier of Boag’s bottles, Orora had skin in the game to validate the design quickly and accurately. Orora’s Innovation & Design team put wheels into motion by contacting 3D Systems On Demand Manufacturing, a long-time partner, to develop a state-of-the-art 3D printed prototype. Keeping Boag’s existing supply chain processes top of mind, a new-look bottle was designed to comply with the manufacturing infrastructure already in place to help avoid expensive and time-consuming changes. To get Boag’s buy-in on the new design, a credible appearance model was needed for evaluation. To be convincing, the 3D printed models needed to have the same clarity and hue as glass…

More than just a flashy catch-phrase, Industry 4.0 is a merging of trends and technologies that promise to reshape the way things are made. Its goal: make manufacturing faster, more efficient and more customer-centric and detect new business opportunities and models. The biggest challenge to embracing it: knowing where to start. According to a recent study by Deloitte, while Australian executives are optimistic about the potential of Industry 4.0, few (2%, compared to 14% globally) are confident they’re ready to lead its implementation. So, where’s a manufacturer to begin? Just as the strength of a building lies in its foundation, so too does the successful implementation of digital technologies rely on its underlying IT infrastructure. If you skimp on either, and something fails, it’s not an…

Developed in conjunction with researchers from Queensland’s James Cook University, the technology uses recycled polypropylene plastic for reinforcing concrete instead of the traditional steel, resulting in reduced carbon dioxide emissions, water usage and fossil fuels. Since its first use in 2017 the technology incorporated into Fibercon’s Emesh product has been used by councils predominantly in footpaths, but also has applications from pavement concrete to channel drains, embankment erosion control, precast sewer and stormwater pits. According to a report prepared for the Department of Environment & Energy in 2016, Australia averages 107kg of plastic waste per person each year. Therefore, says Fibercon CEO Mark Combe, “We have effectively recycled the plastic waste for 467 Australians.” Steel reinforcement in concrete – or rebar – was first introduced in the mid 18th century as a means of improving the tensile strength of concrete, and is now the most commonly used form of concrete. With concrete use at approximately one cubic metre per person, Australia uses 25 million cubic metres…

Based at Bibra Lake, SQP is a proud family-run business founded by husband and wife team David and Heidi Miller more than a decade ago. SQP takes its name from Service Quality Products, and these qualities are present in every level of the business. “Providing high-quality service and products is at the forefront of every aspect of the company from building relationships with customers and suppliers to manufacturing  quality products using the latest low impact technologies,” says David, SQP’s Managing Director. The provision of quality service is proudly expressed by SQP in interactions with customers at every step of the process. David holds the strong belief that ‘service is in the detail’, and this is evident in situations as simple as a phonecall, or as complex as understanding how different material grades will suit an application. SQP prides itself on its availability to answer questions and provide accurate updates so the customer is…

EnGenius will present innovative projects of more than 1,300 senior students from RMIT’s School of Engineering. Working individually or in small groups, students from eleven engineering disciplines will develop a diverse range of projects, products and strategies to address real-world problems and scenarios. Projects will be judged on how well they address the problems they set out to solve, as well as the practicality of design, marketing and potential implementation. EnGenius 2018 gives students the opportunity to display the technical skills they will need to be successful in industry, and to exhibit their leadership and interpersonal skills. EnGenius also provides RMIT industry partners with opportunities to engage directly with students and to increase the visibility of their firms as career destinations through project judging, sponsoring student prizes and presenting their business on the exhibition floor. RMIT is seeking industry judges from all engineering disciplines to assess student projects on 17 October. Judges will be provided with…

One quite common approach is to invite a potential supplier of the services required, explain an improvement idea, and ask for a quote. It usually works well for a simple straightforward application, but for complex cases this approach presents the number of issues. The main cause for all the issues listed below is the high level of uncertainty of project details on this stage. Automation/integration engineering projects usually face a number of possible solutions – for example variable levels of automation require different capital spending. Attempts to lock in a single solution without investigating all the possible options carry a risk of going along the less efficient path. Adjustments during project implementations are always costly and very stressful for both customer and supplier. A single-option approach can also be a show-stopper if the capital cost is hard to justify for the current business needs. High levels of uncertainty present…

Integra Systems has seen the chaos that can arise from not having a well-integrated production process. Led by the Hughes family, the team believes that communication, trust and the right organisational alignment are among the key elements in ensuring innovation and production ‘play nice’ together. “Innovation is not always about massive, inventive breakthroughs,” explains Integra’s Commercial Director, Erika Hughes. “Working together with the production team allows you to create new innovations on a smaller scale, not just on these grand, inventive scales. “I think a lot of people make the mistake of trying to innovate with old technology and old mindsets and old machinery. I think that’s a really important factor – thinking more about advanced manufacturing in a high-tech manufacturing era. Innovation is working together with an innovative approach to production, as well as design.” The innovation and design handshake As Managing Director of Integra, Paul Hughes believes it’s impossible to innovate without having design and production teams…

Sensors provide the senses for machines. They provide the feedback that makes intelligent machines possible in the first place. Sensor intelligence focuses on one aspect of sensor technology: equipping machines with the ability to see, recognise and communicate intelligently. Intelligent sensors contribute the ability to classify and interpret information. This is characterised by intelligent signal processing, which derives the truly relevant information from large quantities of data. This is why – in addition to the primary control system for machines and systems – information is provided for monitoring production systems and making it possible to detect faults. Transparency of processes and material flow produces additional potential for optimisation. Processes are becoming more efficient and cost-effective, increasing competitiveness. As a driver of technology in Industry 4.0, SICK is already capable of presenting and implementing solutions to the four key challenges throughout the production levels: Quality Control at the sensor-and-drive level; Flexible Automation, at the machine level; Safety at the production level, and Track & Trace, at the corporate level. Flexible automation: customising…

Last year the Federal Government initiated an Industry 4.0 Taskforce in co-operation with Germany to develop global standards, support manufacturers, examine security of networked systems, and help the transition though education and training. A timely step, since that same report estimated that, if Australia boosted the pace of its efforts around automation, the country could boost productivity and national income to the tune of up to $2.2 trillion by 2030. According to APAC research sponsored by Seagate – Data Pulse: Maximising the Potential of Artificial Intelligence, the majority (88%) of organisations in Australia believe they need to implement AI to stay relevant in the near future, with 86% planning to adopt more AI solutions in the next 12 months. However, more than half still face hurdles when it comes to understanding and applying AI within their…

AMT: Let’s start with the Ai Group and its activities, particularly with regard to manufacturing. Mark Goodsell: The Ai Group is the national industry association for the industrial sector, not limited to but very much centred on manufacturing. It’s interesting that these days it’s hard to know where the boundaries between industries begin and end. Even conjuring up a concept of what manufacturing is can be difficult. You’ve got an increasing intersection with the ICT (information and communication technology) sector, manifesting itself in the digitisation revolution or Industry 4.0. Manufacturing has always had a strong overlap with the construction supply chain, and the trend to offsite pre-fabrication means that is an even stronger interaction now. Even in the food supply chain, it’s hard to know where a farm ends and food-processing starts. And increasingly manufacturers derive revenue from the services they supply off the back of manufacturing. So it may be hard to define…

Held at the GMHBA Stadium, home of the Geelong Football Club, the event brought together hundreds of local manufacturers under the theme ‘Evolve.Grow. Prosper’. Ben Carroll, the State Minister for Industry and Employment, officially opened the event, which provided a chance for leading industry figures to share their experience and knowledge with smaller manufacturers. “Manufacturing has a bright future in Victoria – and we’ll continue to back local businesses – so they can create jobs and boost our economy,” said Carroll. “The Manufacturing Showcase brings some of our best and brightest manufacturers under one roof – and highlights the diversity of the multibillion-dollar industry.” The Showcase featured a wide array of speakers discussing a broad range of subjects. Professor Saeid Nahavandi of Deakin University gave the keynote presentation ‘Manufacturing & The Future’, examining the current wave of disruption under Industry 4.0, and looking forward to the next wave, Industry 5.0. He was followed by Vanessa Kearney, Commercial Manager at Viva Energy, who gave an account of the work she led to improve productivity at Geelong Refinery, for…