Month: April 2019

AMT: When was the Rail Manufacturing CRC established and what are its objectives? Stuart Thomson: We were established in 2014. We’re part of the Cooperative Research Centres program, co-funded by the Commonwealth Government. Our specific areas are rail manufacturing and rail development in general. The objective is to support, co-fund and assist the rail industry to collaborate on innovation and R&D programs. We have a lifetime of six years, so we have about 18 months left to run. Over our six-year period we’ll have worked with a number of manufacturers, which include first, second and third-tier manufacturing organisations, rail operators and Australian research institutions working in rail R&D. We’ve also worked with manufacturing and peak bodies like the Australasian Railway Association (ARA) and TrackSAFE Foundation.   AMT: What does the closure of the CRC mean to the greater rail industry? ST: Essentially, the closure of the Rail Manufacturing CRC is required – all CRCs can now only run for one term. In terms of what it means for the industry, I think…

After a successful event in 2017 with more than 10,000 attendees, NMW 2019 will be about driving continuing innovation in local manufacturing and the evolution to advanced technology solutions, sharing insights to stay ahead of the game and celebrating the Australian manufacturing sector’s success that has been generated in recent times. “NMW 2019 arrives on the industry’s calendar at a truly exciting time of growth in Australian manufacturing,” said Robby Clark, Exhibition Director of NMW. “This year’s event is focused on supporting manufacturing’s continuing evolution to a high-tech, highly integrated and innovative industry, while providing the latest expert insights, industry research and technology to generate even greater momentum.” As the focal point for the manufacturing community to come together, interact, connect and be inspired, ‘Industrial Evolution’ will be the theme for NMW in 2019 across the conference program and exhibition’s four days. “Automation, collaborative robots, the Internet of Things and high-level engineering, will be of prime focus at this year’s event, offering industry professionals and decision-makers with an…

Since its foundation in 1914, Ford has driven innovation in automotive manufacturing. Ford is constantly thinking ahead to accelerate vehicle manufacture through increased productivity, ergonomics, and quality control. Ford’s pilot plant in Cologne pioneers the creation of each new vehicle design before it goes into mass production. They have a complete small-scale manufacturing line, which develops cars up to several years before they go into production. Lars Bognar, Research Engineer at Ford’s Research & Advanced Engineering team, has been working on creating an optimised workflow to create jigs, tools, and fixtures for Ford’s manufacturing process. Ford’s employees use many custom tools during their vehicles’ production. These are often designed for one specific task and model. Creating these tools externally takes a lot of time and is very expensive. To get tools faster, the team at Ford decided to pilot 3D printing as a possible solution. A dedicated additive manufacturing team was founded, and started using fused filament fabrication (FFF) technology from Ultimaker. It provided a faster, affordable solution with less hassle compared to other 3D printing technologies. By having a…

Based on IVECO’s Stralis AD 8×4 truck, the new Boral FMAS forward-moving aggregate spreader has been designed to revolutionise the method of spray seal road construction in Australia. Until now, the process involved road crews working with reversing trucks that applied the aggregate through an elevated tipper body, increasing the safety risks to workers. To improve safety and maximise visibility, the Boral FMAS disperses aggregate from the front of the truck via a conveyor belt and spreader box. This enables quicker completion of works and significantly reduces any potential infrastructure and overhead damage such as contacting power lines, trees and bridges. Stuart Partridge, Boral’s National Asset Manager – Asphalt, said his company designed and developed the FMAS following a call to industry by the Victorian roads authority VicRoads, following a serious accident involving a VicRoads worker some years ago. “Surfacing roads has remained one of the most potentially challenging tasks faced by construction crews because of the nature of…

Companies in industries such as manufacturing, materials handling, mining, food & beverage, power generation, steel handling and forming & fabrication are focused on optimising the safety and reliability of the overhead cranes and lifting devices on which they rely for daily operations. However, as companies expand in size and have fleets of tens or even hundreds of cranes, it can be easy to miss one minor component of standards compliance, even if all due diligence is being taken to meet requirements, according to Konecranes. “We’re finding that even some dedicated safety and compliance managers may not realise there are additional procedures they aren’t aware of,” says Joseph Cefai, Consultation Service Manager, Konecranes Australia. “They have been vigilantly ensuring their employees comply to the standards they know, but weren’t aware of several additional important rules.” Konecranes has more than 600,000 pieces of lifting equipment under service contract worldwide. To fill the gap for time-poor but safety-conscious companies, Konecranes has introduced its auditing tool, Compliance Gap Analysis. It ensures that companies using cranes…

Amiga was founded in 1988 by two brothers, Michael and Dale Bourchier. Industry veterans, they had experience working across a broad range of manufacturing segments, from car parts suppliers to German toolmakers. However, they’d reached a turning point when the business they were working in started struggling. “We were basically redundant,” says Michael, who remains Amiga’s owner and General Manager to this day. “So I said ‘Let’s start up our own business’. So off we went.” The company set up operations in a tiny factory in East Keilor, Melbourne. The brothers got some help from their dad just to get the workshop wired up, and it took time and persuasion to have a phone line installed. With nothing more than a $10,000 overdraft, they had to shop around at the bottom of the market for equipment. “We went to the first auction and bought all this cruddy old equipment,” Michael recalls. “Lathes that turned, mills that vibrated… We even bought a forklift that…

Located in Kings Park, Sydney, Alliance is a privately-owned sheet metal fabrication company that was founded in 2007 by Shane Blewden and Sean Carragher. Both men had prior experience in the sheet metal fabrication industry, but after spotting an opportunity in the market and feeling like the time was right, they decided to strike out on their own and subsequently founded the business. Alliance undertakes a variety of work, but it specialises primarily in the mining and construction sectors, with the company recently putting a big focus on the construction industry. This has seen the company expand its opportunities and business potential. Alliance now services all of Australia, from locally in Sydney to many interstate locations, ranging from Perth to Mackay and across rural/urban Victoria. Blewden’s expertise lies in developing business with customers and ensuring their needs are met, whereas Carragher’s focus lies with the design of the products and their specifications. Experiencing steady growth since its formation, Alliance started out with four employees but in its short operational time has…

Having made its debut two years at Austech 2017, the Digitalisation Pavilion will again explore the latest technological developments at the cutting edge of manufacturing today. With the industry entering a new phase of rapid, radical change, often described as the Fourth Industrial Revolution, breakthrough advances in fields such as robotics & automation, interconnected devices and the Internet of Things, big data and Cloud computing are ushering in the era of the smart, connected factory. Amid ever-accelerating rates of technological change, and ever-growing competition, it is vital to not get left behind. The Digitalisation Pavilion will provide a snapshot of how the latest smart technologies are changing the very basis by which products are manufactured today, while offering insight into how these changes can benefit you and your business. Meanwhile the Air Technology Pavilion is a new section of the Austech exhibition, focusing on the latest state-of-the-art compressor equipment…

The Saint John Paul II is the 44th large commercial fast ferry delivered by Incat and the sixth in excess of 5,500 gross tonnes in the past decade; a decade also shared with 19 other Incat newbuilds of smaller passenger ferries and support vessels. Incat Chairman Robert Clifford and Incat executives were joined in Hobart by Virtu Ferries executives Francis Portelli and Matthew Portelli to see the Saint John Paul II off on her delivery voyage via the Indian Ocean, Red Sea and the Suez Canal. “The 110m wave-piercing catamaran, one of the largest and most revolutionary built by the yard, is the first Incat newbuild vessel to join the Virtu fleet,” said Clifford. “Virtu Ferries was seeking increased reliability, seakeeping, passenger comfort, capacity and economy, with less operational downtime than vessels in its current fleet. They knew exactly what they wanted and, with the…

In Britain and Europe, business is trying to figure out Brexit. The US faces government shutdown and stagnating markets. China is dealing with a trade war. Meanwhile Australians face political uncertainty and a housing crunch. The consequences of all this is that we are experiencing the most uncertain times since the Global Financial Crisis a decade ago. Too often the response of business in uncertain times is to do nothing and “wait and see”. This approach unfortunately means the business is unprepared when the underlying direction of the economy (upwards or downwards) becomes clear. Instead we recommend businesses take proactive steps during uncertain time to prepare for whatever future conditions they might face. Reduce lead time The “father” of the Toyota Production System, Taiichi Ohno, is once reputed to have said: “All we are trying to do is reduce the lead time.” Which lead times do I mean? Every lead time! Obviously, the lead time from receiving inputs to shipping finished goods, but also design lead times, quote lead times and supplier lead times. When…

There’s less than a month to go now until the start of Austech 2019, due to take place at Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) from 14-17 May – and it’s set to be the biggest Austech yet. With 2019 marking its 20th anniversary, Austech is Australia’s premier advanced manufacturing and machine tool exhibition, and this year’s event has already been breaking records long before its doors open. In total, more than 160 organisations have booked stands at this year’s exhibition. Moreover, with a high number of exhibitors opting to take substantially larger stands than in previous years, the exhibition floor space will occupy more than 6,000 square metres – a footprint unprecedented in two decades of Austech expos. “We’ve been quite blown away by the bookings this time round,” says Kim Banks, AMTIL’s Events Manager and Austech organiser. “The fact that exhibitors have been booking early and taking larger stands suggests people in the industry are anticipating significant sales activity at this year’s show. We’re also well ahead in terms of advanced registrations from people booking in to visit the show. This year’s Austech is going to be packed.” The high take-up for this year’s event builds on…

As a keynote presenter at our conference, we are pleased to have Rob Gorham, Executive Director of America Makes, the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute at the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM). America Makes is the US’ leading collaborative partner in additive manufacturing and 3D printing technology research, discovery, creation, and innovation. Structured as a public-private partnership, America Makes innovates and accelerates additive manufacturing and 3D printing to increase the US’ global manufacturing competitiveness. Rob previously served as the Director of Operations and Deputy Director of Technology Development, where he led the development of a robust member-driven additive manufacturing roadmapping methodology and shaped the America Makes’ project call process, which has resulted in a $300m research & development portfolio. Rob also led the NCDMM, Siemens, and Deloitte team…

Multicam has a long association with schools, colleges, universities and trade training facilities throughout Australia, and it was especially pleasing for them to see these talented young ladies taking on engineering and manufacturing subjects in what are primarily male-dominated vocations. During the sponsorship presentation, Stephen Heusz, from Multicam’s head office in Newcastle, New South Wales (NSW), was given an extensive tour of the Impro Racing team’s facilities and an in-depth explanation of the teams’ efforts and goals. The F1 in Schools challenge is the world’s largest secondary school STEM competition where teams design, manufacture and race miniature F1 racing cars over a fixed distance. The cars are conceived and designed using industry standard CAD/CAM software and produced using CNC machinery. Once designed and software tested to satisfaction, the students then machine the car body, 3D print…