Month: November 2020

Founded in 1978, Evolve Group’s status as a company at the very forefront of competitive Australian manufacturing has never been more apparent than in its response to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. In a vivid demonstration of the benefits of manufacturing in Australia, Evolve Group was able to provide an advanced design and a commitment to manufacture 100,000 P2/N95 respirators and medical face masks per day, with the construction of a clean room and production commencing within just two weeks. Working closely with local Queensland hospital surgical teams, Evolve Group’s design of a new face shield is now being heralded as the most comfortable face shield in the healthcare industry. Studying how a face shield is used by medical professionals has delivered the outcome of a shield featuring a comfortable gel pad relieving pressure on the forehead of the wearer, a removable vent cap for ventilation, an easily replaced shield with anti-fog and scratch properties, and an ergonomic design for all-day comfort. With…

AMT: Does every company that manufactures need a product lifecycle management (PLM) strategy? Reece Moore: I believe they do. A PLM system brings data together and provides a single source of truth. Every business needs that in today’s competitive manufacturing environment. I think companies – even if they don’t have a PLM system today, and they are paper managing their product information and product lifecycle – eventually they are going to need to move to deploying a PLM strategy. Usually companies start to realise they need a formal PLM System when they notice they’re actually doing the basics of a PLM system through various different systems and spreadsheets already, and not getting any benefit from the data. Basically, they’re doing the work anyway. Deploying a PLM system brings all that data together to make the data more usable; in turn, it makes doing business that much easier. Most…

The new Strategy will aim to drive the state’s contribution to the Australian Space Agency goal of tripling the size of the nation’s domestic space industry to $12bn by 2030, helping to create thousands of jobs. South Australia will focus its activities in space industry and research to propel the state’s growth in the sector and contribute to the national agenda. Launching the strategy, Premier Steven Marshall made it clear that South Australia’s space sector will be critical in the state’s economic recovery from the global coronavirus pandemic. “South Australia is unequivocally the home of space and this strategy sets a framework for South Australia to reach for the stars,” said Marshall. “Businesses in the space sector will be creating thousands of job opportunities for South Australians over the next decade which is great for our economy. “Our vision for growth is simple – by 2030, South Australia will be designing, manufacturing, launching, and operating SmallSats (small satellites) to deliver actionable, space-derived intelligence for sovereign Australian missions – creating hundreds of jobs in the process. “Space is…

In the past, Australia has fallen prey to long supply chains and the outsourcing majority of goods and processes beyond its borders. Many skilled workers left the country and the cost of labour became too high to compete. To boost manufacturing and our local GDP, Australia needs to become less reliant on international counterparts to ‘deliver the goods’. As part of Open IIoT’s webinar series for 2020, each panel member hosted a discussion around a hot topic in the manufacturing sector. One of these topics was ‘Government Assistance for Manufacturers’, by Jim Wallace, Sales Manager for Balluff Australia New Zealand. Wallace explained that, when it comes to accessing government grants, taking the guesswork out of the process was crucial. “Budgets are always an issue when it comes to designing and deploying new projects and upgrades to existing projects,” noted Wallace. Wallace was joined in his presentation by special guest speaker Shane Infanti, CEO of AMTIL, who shared invaluable insights…

First and foremost is the floor space. With a length of 3m and 1m width, the SwissNano 7 is extremely compact. This machine configuration even includes a high-pressure pump. Consequently, a workshop can accommodate 10 machines on a floor space of less than 80sqm. Since the machines have spindles equipped with optimised motor drives, heat dissipation is low. The workshop benefits from this in terms of reduced power consumption and less technical effort required to dissipate heat. For workshops with air conditioning, the electricity bill will be much lower. To enhance the characteristics in terms of machine heating and dissipation, the spindles are equipped with an integrated cooling circuit. To optimise the thermal characteristics, both the spindles and the rotating guide bush are provided with ceramic bearings. Thermal behaviour The SwissNano has short thermal circuits. This is the basis of a machine concept that mainly consists of a symmetrical cast-iron core that allows perfect control over thermal…

O’Dwyer is currently Vice-President (Engagement and Global Relations) at The Australian National University. She will succeed Tony Peacock, who has led the CRC Association for the past decade. “We are delighted to have Jane join us after what was a highly competitive process,” said CRC Association Chair, Belinda Robinson. “Her leadership skills, energy and unique experience across peak bodies, industry, academia, media and politics, make her an ideal fit to lead the organisation in its next chapter. Along with my colleagues on the Board, I’m looking forward to working with Jane to support and represent our members and advance the benefits of cooperative research in Australia. “I would also again like to thank Tony and recognise the tremendous work he has done for the CRC Association and the Australian innovation community. He has been very well respected by our members and stakeholders and I would like to wish him and his wife Ros the absolute best for his next chapter.” O’Dwyer joins the CRC Association after a more than 25-year career that has spanned Australia,…

Headquartered in IJsselstein, in the Netherlands, FELIXprinters was established in 2010 to provide top-end, robust, reliable, and competitively priced 3D printing solutions for industry users. FELIXprinters has established itself as a key player in the supply of mid-priced highly accurate industrial additive manufacturing machines. The company’s reputation is built upon the Pro 3, Pro L, and Pro XL platforms, which are used throughout an array of industry sectors for challenging additive manufacturig (AM) production applications. FELIXprinters recently introduced the BIOprinter, which was developed on the chassis of the established FELIXprinters product line, building on tried and tested technology that has already been serving manufacturers for years. The printer is characterised by several key features that are specifically designed for medical, scientific, and research applications, including syringe cooling, print bed cooling and heating, a dual head system, easy syringe positioning (ergonomic access to the machine supports researchers in their work), and automatic bed levelling. In recent months a group of international students has developed a 3D printing technique that enables them to print complex…

Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, TBGA is the world’s largest independent additive manufacturing engineering consultancy. It helps companies work through the adoption of additive manufacturing processes, covering strategy, design, leadership, training, materials and economics. TBGA’s CEO and founder John Barnes previously worked with CSIRO, where he helped establish the Lab22 Innovation Centre, one of Australia’s leading centres for metallic additive manufacturing. TBGA’s team of specialists collectively boasts well over 130 years of experience in additive manufacturing. The company already has a well-established presence in the UK and Europe as well as across the US. With its new partnership with the AMHub, TBGA’s additive manufacturing training is now available on five continents. Initially TBGA will be offering the Additive Manufacturing Certificate for Engineers, Managers and Executives, delivered in collaboration with Purdue University’s Online College of Engineering. The Additive Manufacturing Certificate Program is ideal for professionals with a manufacturing background and is designed to bring you from novice to broad awareness. As an online course, training can…

“Technofast has been fortunate in that the company was positioned to be able to take advantage of opportunities generated by various government agencies in both domestic and export markets,” explains Matt Blundell, Technical Solutions/Sales Manager at Technofast. “The company’s base markets such as those of mining and quarrying have continued to operate at near-normal levels, which has been of huge benefit to the company’s aims of retaining its best assets in its staff throughout the challenges thrown up by the COVID-19 crisis.” Levels of mining investment (up 1.3% in the quarter, versus a 6.9% decline among non-mining businesses) have been a positive for manufacturers working within the mining equipment, technology and services (METS) sector. Blundell cites sales of Technofast’s Outer Shell Nut for mining crushers, along with the company’s HP4 Head Nut and large EziTite nuts within the sugar mill industry. Other recent wins include work on the Kingsford Smith Airport control tower, and some successes in entering the crusher market in the US.…

A circular economy is an economic system aimed at eliminating waste and the continual use of resources. In addition to the many positive environmental impacts that circular economies provide, this digital licensing agreement – officially recognised and endorsed by the Netherlands Consul-General and Head of Trade and Investment missions to Australia, Frank van Beuningen – paves the way to overcoming a number of transport barriers and opening access to markets in Australia and the Netherlands for both companies. “Sustainability is an important part of our economic policy, as well as our foreign policy more broadly,” explains Dai Forterre, Senior Policy Officer – Economic Affairs of The Netherlands Embassy in Australia, who helped facilitate the partnership. “I spend my time not just in what you would call economic diplomacy but what I call ‘green diplomacy’, and that’s where this really important collaboration meets – a balance between economic innovation and development, and the adoption of sustainability ideas. Circularity has…

Based in Sefton, New South Wales, Romar Engineering is well known across the industry for medical device manufacturing, yet it also has remarkably diverse proficiency across silicone, micro moulding, precision moulding, clean room manufacturing, elastomers and several other areas of industrial manufacturing, including precision inspection, five-axis machining, metal additive manufacturing and design for manufacture. Romar’s success lies at the intersection of manufacturing expertise and cautious innovation. It has continually looked at ways to strengthen and expand its capability, while remaining committed to core objectives of high-quality, commercially viable, scalable manufacturing solutions. In recent years Romar has invested in technology and additional expertise to build an entirely new arm, in the field of advanced additive manufacturing. “Currently, around 65% of our business is with the manufacture of medical devices,” says Alan Lipman, CEO of Romar Engineering. “In recent years we’ve built up deep knowledge and capability in…

In addition, almost 2000 Australian businesses have now also registered their interest with the Naval Group Australia Industry Capability Network (ICN) portal. This provides an opportunity to become part of a wider domestic supply chain being built to sustain the 50-year submarine construction program and enhance Australia’s sovereign capability. Naval Group in October called for expressions of interest from local companies to make more than twenty separate items of equipment for the program including the steering gear system, weapons handling system and the main shaft line. Naval Group Australia Chief Executive Officer John Davis said there had been an impressive response from Australian businesses seeking to become part of the Attack class submarine program. “Our local manufacturing package sent a clear message to Australian industry that we mean business,” Davis said. “Australian manufacturers have shown in this response that they stand ready to step up and play their part in building submarines that will be critical for Australia’s…

Kaeser Compressors has been present in the Australian market for 30 years, establishing its head office in Dandenong, Victoria, in 1990. Over the past three decades Kaeser has opened branch offices and developed a dedicated network of distributors that are strategically located to be able to deliver Australia-wide sales and service support. Globally, Kaeser celebrated its 100-year anniversary in 2019. From humble beginnings in Germany, the company has grown to become one of the world’s largest compressed air system providers and compressor manufacturers, today employing in excess of 7,000 people worldwide and represented throughout the world through a network of branches, subsidiary companies and authorised partners. The company remains owned and operated by the Kaeser family, now in their third generation, with all products proudly manufactured in Germany. An innovative spirit An innovative spirit continues to pervade all aspects of Kaeser, as Eckberg explains: “This has resulted in a steady…