Month: March 2021

Proudly owned and operated by AMTIL, Australian Manufacturing Week (AMW) is Australia’s premier manufacturing solutions event. In addition to the country’s biggest manufacturing industry expo, AMW will feature a number of parallel events to complement the exhibition itself. AMTIL has now revealed that these will include the Future Solutions Stage speaker series, and the UNLIMIT3D additive manufacturing conference. Taking place in the middle of the AMW exhibition floor, the Future Solutions Stage will offer a glimpse into the future of manufacturing, under the theme ‘Our manufacturing. Our Future’. The Future Solutions Stage program will feature an extensive line-up of speakers from across industry, academia, government and more, sharing their knowledge, expertise and insights. “AMTIL has regularly held speaker programs as part of our Austech exhibition over the years,” says Kim Banks, AMW Exhibition Manager and Head of Events at AMTIL. “I think it’s something people have come to expect when they visit our shows, and with the Future Solutions Stage we hope to really build on that.” Meanwhile, the UNLIMIT3D additive manufacturing conference…

Under Operation Warp Speed, the US Government’s initiative to accelerate delivery of COVID-19 vaccines, ApiJect has assembled three high-speed lines to enable the complete fill and finish of up to 1.5 million injectors per day. The ApiJect injector system is based on Blow-Fill-Seal (BFS) technology, for which ADDE has over 20 years’ experience building custom manufacturing and packing equipment, including for AstraZeneca in Sydney, who operate the largest BFS facility in Australia. When ApiJect required a system to perform 100% inspection of each injector it  contracted ADDE to build the highly specialised machinery. As expected for a COVID-19 vaccine and a program named Operation Warp Speed, time was of the essence, and ApiJect needed the shortest possible lead time. “Our first proposal was for a six-month program to completely design, build and commission three machines, and we thought that was pretty aggressive,” said Barry Hendy, Managing Director of ADDE. “But ApiJect then asked us if we could do it in three months!” Thanks to the…

The $1.46m BMS project is jointly funded and developed by Energy Renaissance with CSIRO and the Innovative Manufacturing CRC (IMCRC). The BMS will monitor and report on the battery’s usage, lifespan and faults through a mobile network to Energy Renaissance and their customers. Communicating through an inverter, the system will enable secure real time data, analytics and remote management to drive down the risk of battery failure and operating costs for grid-scale energy storage users. Brian Craighead, Technology & Development Director of Energy Renaissance, said: “The collaboration between Energy Renaissance, CSIRO, and IMCRC will promote an Australian Battery Management System instead of relying on an overseas technology platform. Working together with CSIRO will ensure we can create a world-class defence-grade cybersecure Battery Management System that is fully developed and managed in Australia for critical energy storage infrastructures. “Software designed and developed in Australia has a strong global reputation and we’ve built a history and track record as an industry. Through this project,…

Published by One Mandate Group, Australia's Nobel Laureates Volume III (NL3): State of Our Innovation Nation 2021 and Beyond celebrates this country’s distinguished record of achievement in this area. Not only has Australia won a significant number of Nobel Prizes, but that we have a very high per capita ratio of prizes, punching well above our weight globally. The book features illuminating profiles of Nobel laureates over the last century, from father and son duo William and Lawrence Bragg, nominated in 1915 for their work in the creation of X-ray crystallography, to astronomer Brian Paul Schmidt, whose work in providing evidence that the expansion of the universe is accelerating saw him nominated in 2011. The book captures how these remarkable individuals pushed against the existing boundaries of human knowledge. The book also examines the current state of innovation in Australia and how we rank globally, and what we can do to build on that foundation and seize…

Established in 1930, Victor Footwear is a fifth-generation family-owned and operated Australian manufacturer responsible for the Mongrel brand of work boots. Whether you prefer a lace up, an elastic side or a ZipSider (which the company was first to create back in 2006) – with over 45 styles of safety and non-safety work boots to choose from, you’re sure to find a pair of Mongrel Boots that fit! Every pair of Mongrel Boots remains proudly designed and manufactured at the company’s purpose-built factory in Sydney. Victor blends old-school workmanship with the latest technology and innovation to deliver each customer with the most perfectly engineered boot for the job at hand. Compressed air is an essential utility required in many stages of the manufacturing process at Victor. This includes powering a lot of the machinery used to produce the footwear uppers and soles, such as the lasting…

A deluge of insolvencies is on the horizon with JobKeeper ending, impacting on the cash flow of businesses and slashing the spending power of hundreds of thousands of Australians. Meanwhile, the Government has unveiled a $1.2bn stimulus package aimed at increasing domestic tourism, which many won’t have the cash to take advantage of. This could be of detriment to businesses that increase stock and rostered hours only to find there’s little to no increase in patronage. Combine this with the recent expiry of the temporary insolvency measures and changes to the insolvency framework, and we’re likely looking at a significant spike in the number of failed businesses very soon. This will drive an increase in liquidations and leave many commercial landlords without tenants. And while recent Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) data shows that loan deferral rates are basically back at the level they were pre-COVID, the Victorian deferral rate is sitting at double the rest of Australia.…

There’s no doubt 2020 will be remembered as a year that challenged people and business. The coronavirus provoked change across every sector in one way or the other. During this time, we saw Australian companies respond to the outbreak in different ways, and it has become increasingly clear that some were better prepared to deal with those changes than others. A common thread that runs through all businesses that responded best to the COVID-19 outbreak is the ability to meet customer demands through digital selling. Following widespread lockdowns of non-essential businesses, the easiest way for customers to buy from a brand was online. What did these societal changes mean for the future of Australia’s manufacturing industry and what has the sector learned from the initial wave of the virus? Manufacturing to lead the pandemic recovery? Advanced manufacturing is one of Australia’s most pivotal sectors in the COVID-19 recovery – it already contributes $100bn a year to the national economy. In 2020, the Federal Government recognised…

The funding, announced by Health Minister Greg Hunt, is being made available through the fourth round of the $45m BioMedTech Horizons (BMTH) program, an initiative of the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF), operated by MTPConnect. This will be the final funding round for BMTH. Dr Dan Grant, Managing Director and CEO of MTPConnect, said it will provide a unique opportunity for Australian small to medium-size enterprises (SMEs) to accelerate the development of their cutting-edge medical technologies through to early-stage manufacturing in Australia. “The BMTH program supports new medical technologies to reach proof-of-concept, or beyond, so they are attractive for private capital investment and commercialisation,” Dr Grant said. “In Round 4, $3.2m will be deployed into four projects that can be completed within 12 months, see the device move beyond a Technology Readiness Level Scale Level (TRL) of 5 and involve manufacturing in Australia. “Australian-based SMEs are eligible, but they must control or have the legal right to access and use the patent(s),…

For long and fragile workpieces with delicate features such as a fragile thread, the standard long-part system on the Swiss DT and Swiss GT sliding head machines may not provide the careful handling of the part required by the end-user. For such types of workpieces, with a diameter up to 24mm and a maximum length of 260mm, the Tornos engineers have now designed a solution that enables parts to be removed with particular care. The new solution has been specifically designed on demand by the engineers of Tornos’ development team for specialist tasks. The internal team of experts are always on-hand to develop special solutions to meet the demands of customers, regardless of the machine model. Such solutions are not restricted to sliding head lathes and bar-turning applications but also developed for milling, automation and robot-automated purposes. Designed to unload workpieces without damage to the machined features and to preserve the excellent surface…

Reinvention plays a crucial part in innovation, and Cobra’s 3D-printed Supersport-35 Putter represents a revolutionary advancement in the way that golf clubs are designed and manufactured. Cobra selected HP as its partner to pioneer 3D printing in golf due to the advantages that its Metal Jet Technology presented over traditional manufacturing and other 3D printing methods. Cobra and HP began working together in early 2019 and, by early 2020, the team had created 35 different design iterations over the course of eight months, showcasing the design freedom and speed of product innovation available by utilising HP Metal Jet. With its quicker processing time, and greater design adaptability, the engineers were able to design, prototype, and test multiple iterations and bring the product to market much faster than traditional manufacturing methods. The resulting club offers optimised weight…

South Australia is fast becoming a world-class manufacturing hub, delivering many of the largest, most complex defence and aerospace projects. A number of major defence and aerospace companies have headquarters or significant operations in “the Defence State’”. Hundreds of local defence-related SMEs deliver into the supply chains of prime contractors in Australia and around the world. Axiom began as a manufacturer for the automotive industry in 1979, and transitioned to defence and aerospace manufacturing during the early 2000s, in anticipation of the auto industry shutdowns. The company has a long-term relationship with John Hart and relies on its local support to get the most out of the cutting-edge features provided by Mazak and hyperMILL aerospace technology, as well as the local service team being on-site within hours to keep their machine tools in production. Axiom has always demanded machine tools that are strong, accurate, and reliable, which is one of the main reasons it continues to choose Mazak. In the last year along the company added a Vortex 815/120-II, an Integrex e-1250V/8, an Integrex i-200S, an Integrex…

Naval Group and the Federal Government have confirmed that at least 60% of the contract value for the 12 new Attack Class submarines will be spent in Australia, and included their joint commitment in the program’s Strategic Partnering Agreement. Inclusion in the Strategic Partnering Agreement follows Naval Group’s long-standing commitment to maximise Australian content in the design and build of the Attack Class submarines, and its offer in 2020 that a local spend of at least 60% be formally signed into the program contract. Naval Group global Chief Executive Officer Pierre Eric Pommellet visited Australia last month, and met with Commonwealth officials for talks on matters including the joint 60% agreement. Following the latest announcement, Pommellet said: “Naval Group is fully committed to supporting the development of Australia’s sovereign submarine capability. I have been very impressed by the existing capacity of Australia’s manufacturing sector, and its enthusiasm for the Attack Class project. “This program will…

Akubra is an iconic Australian brand, manufacturing classic bush hats made of rabbit fur felt with wide brims that are worn widely across rural Australia and internationally. Founded in 1874 by Benjamin Dunkerley, Akubra is now arguably the world’s greatest fur felt hat-making business. Each hat is handmade, with more than 70 pairs of hands touching each one before it is finished, in a process taking over one month. Akubra hats have been sported by Prince Harry, Crocodile Dundee, the Australian Olympic team and the Australian military. According to Ron Palin, General Manager Operations at Akubra, the key to hat-making is forming the “cone”, and this is done in the forming machine. “The fur is sucked onto a large revolving cone and, as it rotates, hot water is sprayed onto the fur,” he explains. “This interlocks the fibres in each direction. It is critical to maintain the relative humidity at…