Month: September 2018

The company boasts an impressive product range including side, rear- and front-loading refuse machines as well as compact/truck-mounted road sweepers, vacuum tankers, and stationary and transportable compactors. Every Bucher machine is application-engineered, manufactured in Victoria, and supported by a passionate after-sales support team that operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Jason Tisbury is the Quality and Continuous Improvement Manager at Bucher. His role entails looking after all of the quality systems, as well as managing a team of quality inspectors and quality officers to maintain Bucher’s quality practices on a day-to-day basis. In 2013, when Tisbury started at Bucher, one of the first things he noticed was the company didn’t have defined or properly controlled processes for undertaking a quality inspection. The Quality Assurance team would go to the completed vehicle, they would have a pen and a piece of paper and they would go through the truck, taking photographs of any faults they found. They would then write those…

Manufacturing companies already use various technologies to address operational and product complexity, From ERP or PLM to custom solutions. These investments have helped improve visibility and efficiency within their organisations and between major supply chain partners. Yet the challenges in managing extended enterprises beyond tier-one suppliers, to introduce and deliver on new value-added aftermarket services, and to do so while simultaneously managing costs, are testing existing technologies. Blockchain offers manufacturers an intriguing value proposition to augment existing technology investments. It provides an immutable transactional record that maintains and records data in a way that allows multiple stakeholders to share access to it confidently and securely. Blockchain, like many new technologies, is full of promise but is still in the early stages of development. As companies explore that promise, they should do so with a firm focus on identifying use cases that accomplish two objectives: demonstrating that blockchain can deliver business value; and highlighting the role it can play within an overall digital technology architecture. While blockchain’s general characteristics align with many challenges faced by the…

Dimac was recently confirmed as the distributor for Lang Technik’s cutting edge innovative products. As a result, any company that is involved with workpiece milling in Australia or New Zealand now has easy access to Lang Technik’s Makro-Grip technology, which provides a workholding solution to almost any clamping requirement from raw material to the finished workpiece. “We are thrilled to have been appointed Lang Technik’s sole distributor in Australia,” says Dimac Managing Director, Paul Fowler. “This well-known German company is recognised as one of the leading manufacturers of workholding and machine tool automation. Every month thousands of clamping set-ups are delivered to customers all over the world to help them increase their production efficiency.” Makro-Grip stamping technology is a patented form-closure technology which provides the highest holding power for five-face machining worldwide. The stamping technology, also called pre-stamping, involves the workpiece being stamped outside of the machine tool with up to 20 tons of hydraulic pressure, before being clamped in the Makro-Grip five-axis vise. Clamping scenarios that require high holding…

The search for a suitable supplier is not always straightforward, but for Thai machine shop MRP Engineering, the journey to identifying a trusted partner was relatively smooth. Established in 1991, MRP provides a comprehensive range of machining and fabrication services such as welding, hard facing, sandblasting, painting, turning, milling, shaping, grinding, drilling, boring, simulation assembly, and machine installation. The company offers made-to-order products and turnkey projects, and provides repair services for all kinds of machinery. Today, the ISO-certified company is the proud owner of several portable co-ordinate measuring machines (CMMs), which it purchased to cope with new customer demands. Prior to that, the team at MRP had relied on handheld tools such as vernier calipers, micrometers, bore gauges, height gauges, tapper…

The AM Hub was officially launched on 3 September at the headquarters of Objective 3D in Carrum Downs, in an event attended by Minister for Industry and Employment Ben Carroll and Sonya Kilkenny, the local member for Carrum. The AM Hub will be delivered by AMTIL, and supported by $1.85m from the Victorian Government. Membership of the AM Hub is free for all AMTIL members (but not limited to AMTIL members). “3D printing is a game changer for manufacturing, which is why we’re backing the technology so more local companies can reap the benefits,” said Minister Carroll. “This new Hub will help local manufacturers innovate, become more productive and excel in future industries.” AM is a breakthrough technology for advanced manufacturing, helping businesses design and make new high-value products that are not possible using traditional methods. Capability in this form of high-value manufacturing will help to position local businesses for success in future industries such as defence, medical technologies and pharmaceuticals, and transport technologies. The AM Hub will improve…

The Australian PMI has indicated positive conditions (readings above 50 indicate expansion in activity, with the distance from 50 indicating the strength of the increase) for 23 consecutive months – the longest run of recovery or expansion since 2005. All seven activity sub-indexes in the Australian PMI expanded in August. Six of the seven sub-indexes accelerated, with only inventories decelerating (down 3.6 points to 51.1). New orders grew strongly (up 8.5 points to 59.6) while exports, lower than the other activity sub-indexes over the past year, jumped 8.5 points to 58.4. The input prices sub-index jumped 9.3 points to 77.4, its highest result since March 2011, while wages also continued to rise (up 4.1 points to a record high of 64.7). In response, the selling prices sub-index rose by 5.1 points to 58.1 – the highest result for this sub-index since April 2017. “The Australian PMI rebounded in August on the cusp of two years of uninterrupted expansion,” said Ai Group Chief Executive Innes Willox. “The manufacturing sector has…

Smooth Technology can act as the catalyst for the introduction of Industry 4.0. At its core is the ability to gather and analyse data, enabling the factory floor and management suite to make better, faster decisions, improving yield and speeding up production. Crucially, it is entirely scalable. As production increases and new machines or automation equipment are introduced, Smooth Technology can be quickly scaled up to match new requirements. In an Industry 4.0 factory, every aspect of production is connected, monitored and analysed, from production scheduling through to virtual simulation of the component to be cut, energy consumption, tool management and maintenance practices. The goal is to deliver more productivity and better quality products with less machine downtime. Factory floor…

It’s been argued that manufacturing companies are becoming more and more like service companies, and any line between the two is getting harder to draw. There have been many articles recommending that manufacturing companies invest in a high-performing customer service team to better meet their customers’ needs that previously may have been neglected. In many ways I could say I am now tasked with much of the responsibility of selling our machines, a role that traditionally sat with sales and marketing. I say this because the most effective way to build customer loyalty is by providing excellent aftermarket support – by being agile and responding quickly to customer requests. We recently interviewed our customers and after sales support was by far the number one priority. Technology is transforming how a traditional customer service team operates, with remote diagnostics and preventative maintenance quickly becoming…

Using technology developed following extensive scientific research at UNSW’s Centre for Sustainable Materials Research and Technology (SMaRT Centre), the e-waste microfactory has the potential to reduce the rapidly growing problem of vast amounts of electronic waste causing environmental harm and going into landfill. According to SMaRT Centre Director, Professor Veena Sahajwalla, the e-waste microfactory will be the first of a series of microfactories under development and in testing at UNSW that can also turn many types of consumer waste streams such as glass, plastic and timber into commercial materials and products. For instance, from e-waste, computer circuit boards can be transformed into valuable metal alloys such as copper and tin, while glass and plastic from e-devices can be converted into micromaterials used in industrial grade ceramics and plastic filaments for 3D printing. “Our e-waste microfactory and another under development for other consumer waste types offer a cost-effective solution to one of the greatest environmental challenges…

Anyone looking for a super-quiet, efficient and cost-effective supply of quality compressed air for their workshop requires a user-oriented solution. With the space-saving i.Comp 8 and 9, Kaeser Compressors is proud to introduce a completely new compressed air supply concept that has been specifically developed with this field of use in mind. These units are tough, powerful, compact, easy to maintain, efficient and much more. At the heart of the new i.Comp family is a new drive concept, which provides a multitude of advantages. It delivers the necessary power to cover the required compressed air demand with infinitely variable control. Needless to say, the reciprocating compressor itself is made in Germany and is manufactured to the highest industrial standards for which Kaeser is world renowned. Moreover, i.Comp family reciprocating compressors are able to operate with 100 percent duty cycles. Intelligent solutions - such as drawing the air for compression in through the piston head - ensure exceptional filling performance and, as a result, outstanding efficiency. With a volumetric flow rate of 412 to 580 l/min, the i.Comp Towers can be used for a wide range of workshop and trades applications and assure a constant pressure of up to 11…