February 27, 2020
Ignite Digi was co-founded by cinematographer Tom Waugh and Chris Fox, an aeronautical engineer with 10 years experience in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). The company started out as a drone and camera operating team, hiring out their services to film and television productions. However, they found their creativity and vision were being limited by the capabilities of accessories available at the time – so they invented their own. Self-taught, Fox began producing carbon-fibre camera attachments with a 600mm x 900mm CNC router, before progressing to aluminium. Before long, other people in the industry began noticing their time-saving components via social media and began asking the pair to manufacture parts for them, so they began milling custom orders in Chris’ garage. Today, while Ignite Digi remains involved in the film and television industry, its core business…
February 27, 2020
Targeted at inspiring future growth in advanced manufacturing processes and production, the Advanced Manufacturing Expo 2020 conference and exhibition will be held 13-15 May at the Sydney Showgrounds and is free to attend for manufacturing industry professionals, engineers and industrial tertiary students. With an annual contribution to Australia’s GDP of more than $100bn, and supporting 1.27 million jobs, the Australian manufacturing industry has the potential to increase its national value by between $25.3bn and $34.6bn by 2026, if manufacturers continue to adopt more sophisticated processes, take advantage of cutting-edge technologies, implement robust business models and invest in highly skilled staff or high value services. Advanced Manufacturing Expo has been developed to inspire the Australian manufacturing industry to maintain its status as a source of economic strength and innovation and increase its global competitiveness by adopting advanced state-of-the-art technology, R&D and design processes, and emphasising value creation. The exhibition and conference will also highlight the opportunities available to the nation’s manufacturers if they take full advantage…
February 27, 2020
Founded in 1994 and with its headquarters in the town of Pfullingen in Baden-Württemberg, to the south of Stuttgart, Germany, Tibo today is one of the leading suppliers of single-spindle and multi-spindle gun-drilling and BTA deep hole drilling machines for a broad range of applications. Embedded into a medium-sized group consisting of 14 companies and more than 1,000 employees, its customers benefit from quick turnaround in all aspects of their deep hole drilling requirements, with many applications tailored to customers’ individual requirements. As a German machine tool builder, Tibo manufactures exclusively in its own plant in Pfullingen. And a predominantly local supply chain means it can proudly claim that its machines are made in Germany. Whether it’s gun drilling or the BTA method, or whether it’s a single or multi-spindle system, Tibo deep hole drilling machines boast impressive precision, speed, quality and durability, as well as a unique design consisting of modular sub-assemblies that are well proven in harsh and demanding applications.…
February 27, 2020
Perth-based project development company Neometals has developed a patent-pending process that converts aluminosilicate residue – a waste material produced when extracting lithium from ore concentrates – into an advanced material know as synthetic zeolites. Zeolites are microporous, aluminosilicate minerals commonly used as molecular sieves, sorbents and catalysts in applications such as gas separation, water purification and green chemistry. Chris Reed, Managing Director of Neometals, explained that his company’s research has shown a gap in the market and high potential to add upstream value to the lithium production chain. “Australian mining companies involved in the lithium production chain have the opportunity to convert aluminosilicate residue to zeolites to offset production costs, add value to a waste material which is abundant in the mining sector, and at the same time mitigate issues with environmental responsibility,” said Reed. In partnership with QUT, Neometals plans to advance the proof-of-concept zeolite synthesis method, which has been successfully demonstrated at bench scale. Over the next two years, QUT will be establishing and road testing a digitalised…
February 27, 2020
Called HARP (high-area rapid printing), the new technology enables a record-breaking throughput that can manufacture products on demand. Over the last 30 years, most efforts in 3D printing have been aimed at pushing the limits of legacy technologies. Often, the pursuit of larger parts has come at the cost of speed, throughput and resolution. With HARP technology, this compromise is unnecessary, enabling it to compete with both the resolution and throughput of traditional manufacturing techniques. The prototype HARP technology is 13 feet tall with a 2.5 square-foot print bed and can print about half a yard in an hour — a record throughput for the 3D printing field. This means it can print single, large parts or many different small parts at once. Professor Chad A Mirkin, who led the product’s development along with researchers David Walker and James Hedrick, predicts that HARP will be available commercially in the next 18 months. “3D printing is conceptually…
February 27, 2020
The fully reconfigurable Australian Research Experimental Submarine (ARES) will be used for hydrodynamic and crew efficiency testing of future submarine designs. The project is a collaboration between the University of Adelaide, University of South Australia, Flinders University, TAFE SA and the University of Tasmania’s Australian Maritime College with Defence support from DST Group. The four industry partners for the project are SAAB, ASC, Dassault Systemes and MOOG Australia. ARES received $150,000 in Defence Innovation Partnership funding from the South Australian Government in December to boost a $350,000 in-kind contribution from participants to fund the project’s first year. An estimated $3m will be needed to complete the three-year project. Project lead and University of Adelaide Director of the Shipbuilding Hub for Integrated Engineering and Local Design (SHIELD) Eric Fusil said the project would deliver Australia’s first reconfigurable research submarine. He said the autonomous submarine would be used to test hydrodynamics – how a submarine behaves underwater – to aid in the design and safe operation of new submarines globally. “Because you can’t see on board a submarine and you don’t…
February 21, 2020
On 3 December 2019, the Australian Space Agency (ASA) signed a Statement of Strategic Intent and Co-operation with defence and space giant Thales, strengthening Australia’s international space connections to create new local jobs. Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Karen Andrews said the agreement was an important step in the Federal Government’s plan to create opportunities for Australian industry and new local jobs in the burgeoning space sector. “Engaging with big international players like Thales will allow Australian businesses, including our advanced manufacturers, to carve out a place in the international space supply chain,” said Andrews. “Space is very much an international game and for Australia to succeed we need to play to our strengths and have our businesses and researchers working co-operatively. This statement is designed to mutually identify key areas of investment as well as potential research, development and commercial opportunities.” The agreement with Thales was the latest in a string of recent announcements by…
February 21, 2020
Once constrained to a few specialist tasks due to limitations in force sensing and machine vision, today’s manufacturing environment sees a broad range of applications, from trimming flashing from plastic and aluminium mouldings, removing moulding flash and edging material from carbon fibre products, polishing moulds and dies, and deburring edges following machining. While previously these applications relied solely on compliant tools, more recent developments such as force sensing control and vision have created the ability to handle variability in the position and size of the material that has to be removed. Force sensing provides greater control over cutting loads and the direction of the applied force, leading to more consistent and cleaner edges. In more recent times, the robot is used to articulate the part itself over the tool, versus the traditional method of a robot mounted tool. Whichever approach is used, the accuracy and path repeatability of the robot provides less variability across the substrate, irrespective of the die or machine they were manufactured in, overcoming one of the major hurdles for manufacturers…
February 21, 2020
Regardless of your goals, reviewing the efficiency of energy consumption is becoming increasingly commonplace as it makes better business sense. It’s therefore unsurprising that more industry and government initiatives have become accessible to support business efficiency practices. Some key resources include: gov.au/business is a national joint initiative of the Australian, state and territory governments administered by the Department of the Environment and Energy. The website supports the implementation of energy efficiency practices and shares best-practice information on energy efficiency, case studies and resource materials. AIG’s (Australian Industry Group) website is full of resources that feature information on energy efficiency, optimisation and management as well as an environment and energy toolkit and energy efficiency checklist. NSW’s Energy Saver program helps businesses identify energy saving opportunities, access funding and assists with project management and training. The Victorian Energy Upgrades Program is designed to make energy efficiency improvements more affordable, contribute…
February 21, 2020
Headquartered in Melbourne, Fenner Dunlop manufactures and supplies a complete conveyor system from head-to-tail: belt, electrics and terminal equipment. With more than 30 sites in Australia, the company delivers engineered conveyor solutions to evolve the way mining companies approach their conveyor belt life cycles, saving costs, and increasing productivity. “As a company, everything we do is supported by information systems,” said Sammy Jammal, National IT Manager at Fenner Dunlop Australia. “Manufacturing, technical support, installation, maintenance, diagnostics services, you name it. “If the system is down for even 10 minutes, the whole operation would come to a halt. This not only has financial implications but is detrimental to our brand reputation and diminishes our customers’ confidence. As an IT team, we want to leverage technology that can help optimise our processes, allowing us to focus on enabling our users and thereby benefiting our customers.” Jammal oversees an IT team of six, which supports more than 900 employees nationwide, including the core applications – spanning finance, payroll,…
February 21, 2020
Specially designed trains, operating at a constant speed of 700 metres per hour, machine the existing track profile. By removing millimetres of metal from the damaged surface, the track is restored to its original condition. With each application, the first cutter roughens the surface, the second one finishes it, and the two units act on both rails simultaneously. The operation provides a high-quality surface finish, while metal chips produced during the milling stage are transferred to a nearby container, ensuring no debris is left on the track. This ‘on the-move’ application requires specialised equipment to achieve optimum results, such as ‘train machine tools’ designed to carry dynamic rail milling cutters and inserts. An increasing number of these are being produced by leading global manufacturers as demand from railway organisations and government bodies for track maintenance increases. Global cutting tool manufacturer Dormer Pramet works in partnership with several high-speed milling machine manufacturers to delivery key projects around the world. One of these projects included the milling…
February 21, 2020
For a long time, additive manufacturing has been known as a new processing method for rapidly prototyping concept designs in various industrial sectors. Nowadays, advanced 3D printing technology is on the cusp of reaching a critical level in the innovation, research & development of new products. Research activity at RMIT’s School of Engineering shows the feasibility of using 3D printing technology for acoustic research and noise control applications. A number of micro-perforated panel multilayer acoustic absorbers have been fabricated using 3D printing technology. These sound absorbers are particularly good at attenuating noise in a specific frequency band. The research motivation A micro-perforated panel absorber (MPPA) usually consists of a thin panel with many sub-millimetre-sized perforations in the front of a rigidly backed air cavity, forming a mass- and spring-resonant sound absorber. Such sound absorbers are used in acoustic design to enhance noise attenuation and to tune the sound absorption peak frequency in various industrial applications, such as transport vehicles and buildings. The geometric design of…
February 13, 2020
Thermwood is a US-based manufacturer of CNC machinery that markets its products and services through offices in 11 countries. Its has also become a technology and market leader in large-scale additive manufacturing (LSAM) systems for thermoplastic composite moulds, tooling, patterns and parts. Its line of LSAM machines can perform both 3D printing and trimming operations on the same machine. Its systems are marketed to major companies in the aerospace, marine, automotive and foundry industries, as well as military, government and defence contractors. Unlike standard LSAM systems, which feature dual gantries operating over a large fixed table, the LSAM MT (which stands for “Moving Table”) features a single fixed gantry mounted over a moving table. This configuration offers several significant advantages, not the least of which is a dramatically lower price. Despite the lower price, the LSAM MT is still a massive, robust industrial production machine capable of reliable, day-in and day-out production. Unlike standard LSAM systems, the MT…
