Month: April 2019

The Victorian Manufacturing Hall of Fame Awards gala dinner is the manufacturing industry’s night of nights, as the State Government, in partnership with the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, celebrates and recognises Victoria’s best-performing manufacturing businesses and individuals. The Victorian Government is committed to supporting growth in the manufacturing industry, and this year’s event will be hosted by the Minister for Jobs, Innovation and Trade, the Hon Martin Pakula MP. Held at the stylish Peninsula in Docklands, the gala dinner will have the theme of Industrial Evolution. This year features two new categories: Leader in Innovative Product Development & Commercialisation; and Leader in Global Supply Chain Partnerships. With Austech and National Manufacturing Week taking place at Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre from 14 to 17 May, the dinner will be a great opportunity for businesses and individuals to connect with leaders across the manufacturing industry. Victoria’s manufacturing industry is exceptional in designing and making high-quality and globally competitive products. The awards will recognise the achievements and unparalleled capabilities of Victoria’s elite manufacturing…

The 90-nanometre material is 1,000 times finer than a human hair and is able to rapidly heat up to 160 degrees Celsius under natural sunlight in an open environment. This new graphene-based material also opens new avenues in: Thermophotovoltaics (the direct conversion of heat to electricity). Solar seawater desalination. Infrared light source and heater. Optical components: modulators and interconnects for communication devices. Colour displays. It could even lead to the development of ‘invisible cloaking technology’ through the development of large-scale thin films enclosing the objects to be ‘hidden’. The researchers have developed a 2.5cm x 5cm working prototype to demonstrate the photo-thermal performance of the graphene-based metamaterial absorber. They have also proposed a scalable manufacturing strategy to fabricate the proposed graphene-based absorber at low cost. The research is published in Nature Photonics and has been funded by an Australian Research Council Discovery Project grant. “This is among many graphene innovations in our group,” says Professor Baohua Jia, Research Leader…

The manufacturing industry – in Australia and worldwide – functions as a kind of ecosystem, where individual organisations exist within a network of interdependent relationships. Many OEMs are multinational corporations selling products to customers all over the world. However, most of them would struggle without the support of numerous smaller manufacturing businesses that form their supply chains. And neither the biggest OEM nor the smallest SME would retain their competitive edge without the latest advanced manufacturing equipment, provided by technology suppliers with the experience and expertise to fulfil their requirements. All these facets of the manufacturing ecosystem will be on display at Austech 2019. The participation of BAE Systems Australia and Volgren will provide a valuable insight into how companies like these operate and the opportunities that exist in their supply chains. “We’re very happy that BAE and Volgren have agreed to take part in Austech this year,” says…

The Manufacturers’ Pavilion is a specially dedicated section of the Austech exhibition that spotlights Australia’s precision engineering and advanced manufacturing industry. Having first featured at Austech back in 2013, the Manufacturers’ Pavilion has grown steadily to become an integral part of the show, with more than 20 exhibitors already signed up to participate this year. “We’ve worked very hard over the years to make the Manufacturers’ Pavilion a key aspect of Austech, and it’s been really satisfying to see how it’s grown,” says Kim Banks, AMTIL’s Events Manager. “We’re picking up a real sense of excitement from among those manufacturing business that have booked their stands this year.” The Manufacturers’ Pavilion showcases the capabilities of Australian component manufacturers, precision engineering firms, toolmakers, advanced manufacturers and general engineering companies. The Pavilion will help exhibiting companies to promote their capabilities to an expected audience of more than 10,000 visitors, connecting with potential clients, partners, and other organisations such as government, research and training bodies. As well as a broad array of…

CSIRO’s Data61 is one of the global leaders in the field, with capabilities ranging from legged robots and 3D mapping through to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs). Fred Pauling, Robotics and Autonomous Systems group leader at CSIRO’s Data61, said the 600sqm facility would enhance the group’s world-class research capabilities. “The new centre expands our research infrastructure to develop highly autonomous robotics systems that can interact safely and seamlessly with humans and other dynamic agents, in challenging indoor and outdoor environments,” Pauling said. “Our robots are already being used to safely inspect and create 3D maps of underground mines, monitor biodiversity in the Amazon Rainforest, and navigate difficult terrain in emergency situations.” One project being spearheaded by the centre is the testing of technology to rapidly map, navigate, and search underground environments as part of a three-year Subterranean Challenge funded by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The centre houses the biggest motion capture system…

The Vernier Foundation is the charitable wing of the Vernier Society. The Foundation’s “School STEM Collaboration Project” is a three-year project with a limited number of schools, of which Dandenong High is one, to promote STEM learning and development. The project is primarily focused on providing donations for the purchase of robotic education kits, tools and components in each of the three years but in 2018, the Foundation introduced three personal awards, across the years 9 to 11, for students who demonstrated exemplary commitment to STEM learning and development. This year, the Foundation introduced three individual achievement awards for Dandenong High students as part of its three-year rolling program with the school to promote STEM education and careers. The financial awards were created for the first time in 2018 from donations from Vernier Society members and in particular Sutton Tools, who in addition to cash, donated a special tooling prize. The awards ceremony was held at the Robert Blackwood Hall on the Monash University campus and attended by students and parents.…

Sometimes less is more. The temptation for a Government is to feel that they need to announce a whole series of new tax measures every year. But rarely is this the best way to develop a strong and efficient tax system. Thankfully the 2019/20 Federal Budget hasn’t gone down this path. Rather, the focus has been on targeting specific areas of tax avoidance, in particular through funding the ATO and other regulators. The Black Economy is a recognised issue and one that is being systematically addressed. The Federal Government’s continued support for addressing this issue would be welcomed by the vast majority of taxpayers who are doing the right thing. Funding of the ATO’s Tax Avoidance Taskforce is another effective way for the Government to ensure compliance with the tax system and raise tax revenue. The Taskforce targets the highest value and highest risk taxpayers in the system – multinationals, large corporate, large private groups, trusts and high-wealth individuals. The…

Austech has collaborated with National Manufacturing Week (NMW) and the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre (AMGC) to produce an impressive conference program during the Austech and NMW 2019 exhibitions, at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre (MCEC) from 14-17 May. The speaker program will be spread across two dedicated conference theatres within the exhibition itself: the Industry 4.0 Theatre and the Connected Manufacturing Theatre. In total, more than 70 expert speakers will be sharing their insights on the latest developments sweeping manufacturing today. The program will get underway at 10.15am on Tuesday at the Industry 4.0 Theatre, with an opening address from the Hon Martin Pakula MP, Victorian Minister for Jobs, Innovation & Trade. This will be followed by a keynote address from Dr Alan Finkel AO, Australia’s Chief Scientist. Other speakers over the course of the four days include Dr Jens Goennemann, Managing Director of the AMGC; Dr Nico Adams of Swinburne University; David Chuter, CEO of the Innovative Manufacturing CRC; and Alex Kingsbury, Managing Director of Additive Economics. The Industry 4.0 Theatre program will present the latest research and expert opinion on the future impact of Industry 4.0 on their businesses. Subjects covered will include innovation & collaboration;…

The Australian PMI has been stable or positive (readings above 50 points indicate expansion in activity, with the distance from 50 indicating the strength of the increase) since August 2016 (31 consecutive months), but its trend has suggested slowing growth rates since its recent peak in March 2018. Four of the seven activity indexes indicated expansion or stable conditions in March, with all indexes lower this month compared to February except for finished stocks (up 1.6 points to 46.1). Production (down 5.1 points to 52.8) and employment (down 1.1 points to 56.6) remained in positive territory, while the new orders index was stable (down 2.0 points to 50.0). There was a clear divergence among the six manufacturing sectors in March. Food & beverages (up 1.4 points to 59.0), chemicals (down 0.8 points to 51.3) and textiles, clothing, footwear, paper & printing (up 2.0 points to 57.7) expanded, while machinery & equipment (down 1.7 points to 46.1), metals…