Month: June 2021

Morgan Engineering was established in 1975 by Ross and Carole Morgan and is now operated by their children: Martin, Matthew and Chelsea Morgan. Morgan Engineering provides engineering design, welding, line-boring, large-capacity CNC machining, on-site machining and heavy fabrication services across Australia, with a focus on New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia. The company is renowned for the manufacture, re-manufacture and reclamation of components to suit CAT earthmoving equipment. The team have refined their processes over the course of 45 years, providing components which are third-party-certified to meet or exceed OEM specifications. Compared to new replacement components, the Morgan Engineering components not only halve their customers’ costs, but also reduce downtime due to shorter lead times. Morgan Engineering relies on state-of-the-art Mazak equipment supplied by John Hart to deliver high-quality solutions and stay well ahead of the competition. The company’s ultra-modern, high-capacity workshop features a Mazak Integrex i-400 multi-tasking machine and a Mazak…

False and misleading representations not only lead to distrust in your brand and reputation but can also open your business up to substantial penalties from the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) if you have breached the Australian Consumer Law (ACL). Manufacturers need to be cautious when specifying “country of origin” or “Made in Australia” claims. There are specific requirements under the ACL that must be met to substantiate such claims. The potential consequences have been demonstrated in a recent case where the ACCC contended that Kimberly-Clark had falsely marketed their products as “Made in Australia” on their website. The items’ packaging correctly stated their country of manufacture. To ensure your business is compliant, we have provided the key points to consider and broken down the essential facts of the case of ACCC v Kimberley-Clark [2020] FCAFC 107. Advertising and promotional material cannot make false or misleading claims The ACL is a national law aimed at…

Future Charge: Building Australia’s Battery Industries is a comprehensive assessment of Australia’s economic opportunity to leverage its competitive advantages as a major supplier of battery minerals and expand its role within a growing global industry. As well as quantifying the value adding opportunities available to Australia, the report proposes a set of actions that are required from government and industry to capture the battery opportunity. Over the next ten years, Australia has an opportunity for real industry growth, shaped by changing international relationships and driven by technological improvements in batteries, increasing demand for energy storage and regulatory changes within our energy systems. Demand for batteries has grown steadily but is now forecast to accelerate, increasing nine- or ten-fold over the next decade, with sales expected to reach US$133bn-151bn by 2030. Stedman Ellis, CEO of the Future Battery Industries CRC, said: “This is a landmark report that drills home the scale and speed of a multi-billion-dollar opportunity for Australia. We are already…

The smart dressings, developed by a team of scientists and engineers at RMIT University, harness the powerful antibacterial and antifungal properties of magnesium hydroxide. They are cheaper to produce than silver-based dressings but are equally as effective in fighting bacteria and fungi, with their antimicrobial power lasting up to a week. Project leader Dr Vi Khanh Truong said the development of cost-effective antimicrobial dressings with built-in healing sensors would be a significant advance in wound care. “Currently the only way to check the progress of wounds is by removing bandage dressings, which is both painful and risky, giving pathogens the chance to attack,” said Truong, a Vice-Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow at RMIT. “The smart dressings we’ve developed not only fight bacteria and reduce inflammation to help promote healing, they also have glowing sensors to track and monitor for infection. “Being able to easily see if something is going wrong would reduce the need for frequent dressing changes and help to keep wounds better protected.…

In 2021 Cognex is celebrating 40 years of camera inspection development. The machine vision specialists put their longevity within the ever-changing tech marketplace down to being “bold and creative”. They are proud to state that they still “move fast like a start-up”, yet the company has decades of established processes to ensure that its product is of a premium quality when released. Cognex has 40 years of pedigree and yet it continues to abide by a “young in spirit” philosophy. Mitsubishi Electric began in 1921 as a result of Japan’s escalating industrialisation process. The company’s early decision to focus on the research & development of products that are in high demand internationally, in a forerunner of globalisation, has been sustained throughout its highly successful 100 years of growth. Mitsubishi Electric has for decades been at the forefront of automation control, with cutting-edge programmable logic controllers (PLCs), switches and human-machine interfaces (HMIs). To celebrate its 100th anniversary, Mitsubishi Electric has created a special section of its website dedicated to the…

Bodd Technology is a 3D body scanning and data business founded in 2013. The intellectual property (IP) for its technology is owned by Bodd and has been developed with leading Australian academic institutions including UTS and RMIT University. Bodd’s hardware prototyping of both 3D scanners and 3D printers, and now commercial manufacture, is conducted through a partnership with Bosch Australia, based in Clayton, Victoria. In its first application of the technology, Bodd has developed a suite of proprietary ‘fit’ technologies for the $2.4 trillion apparel industry. In addition to apparel, Bodd will enter multiple other verticals that also value and use data around body shape and size. Bodd recently signed both a major South-East Asian apparel brand and a major Australian uniform producer, and has also secured a distribution partnership for the US and Europe. Bodd has a strong revenue pipeline with 17 additional Australian merchants ready to begin trials of the new technology. The challenge Bodd sough to develop technology that can quickly capture the sizing and exact 3D body curvature using a portable…

Lübeck, June 18 2021. SLM Solutions invites the industry to a game-changing product launch on June 23 at 5pm CEST. The launch will take place digitally and will be accessible to everyone at The Big Launch. The new product empowers the creation of metal components with previously impossible designs and unmatched productivity, reducing overall material usage and minimizing the end-part cost to achieve industrial-scale production. Sam O'Leary, CEO of SLM Solutions, is enthusiastic about the upcoming product launch "Last year we introduced an industry gamechanger—the NXG Xll 600—but we won't stop there. Today, after three years in the making and care of many of the world's most visionary engineers, we are proud to add a new technology to our portfolio." The groundbreaking product has a record impact on part design and increases the productivity of the entire process by reducing powder consumption and scrap and shortening post-processing times. Likewise, improved thermal management will signi!cantly shorten the build time while substantially reducing part stress. As a result, a surface !nish like no other will soon be the new norm. And—like almost everything they bring to life—it's holistic. On this topic, O'Leary adds, "Why is it is available for most systems…

Michael Tuckey, now New Forge’s Technical Director, headed to the seminar, keen to learn more about what was on offer from the fast-growing US manufacturer of 3D printing technology. “Mike went down to the event as he’d been looking at 3D printers and what was in industry,” recalls Andrew Day, Managing Director and Founder of New Forge. “The main questions that were being asked from people in Perth – about 150 of whom attended this seminar – was ‘Do they offer Markforged as a service?’ They could see the quality of the parts being produced on the Markforged machines. And the answer was ‘No’.” A case became clear for the company, which is separate from but has its origins in Caldertech Australia, a company that specialises in high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipework solutions. Michael and Andrew both worked at the UK-based Caldertech’s local subsidiary, which Andrew purchased in 2019. They imported UK-made products but found some had to be redesigned or adapted for Australian…

Sheet metal is now used as a material in practically every industrial sector. In the automotive or electrical industry, in mechanical engineering and plant construction, in furniture manufacturing and in the packaging industry – sheet metal is utilised everywhere. There is a tremendous diversity of alloy compositions, thicknesses, coatings and colours available for these applications. Sheet metal is usually delivered in the form of large coils or panels. The material undergoes various machining steps before the final product emerges. It is trimmed, bent, compressed, pulled or embossed. Trouble-free further processing in production therefore hinges on a quality control system to guarantee that the material satisfies all required specifications. In this context, the Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology (Fraunhofer IWU) has lent a helping hand by presenting its “material tester”. It tests the sheet metal quickly and easily before…

Minister for Regional Development, Manufacturing and Water Glenn Butcher said Inside Advanced Manufacturing, taking place across Queensland from 12–16 July, will see 20 advanced manufacturers host invited delegates on 36 behind-the-scenes tours to showcase new design and innovative technologies, processes and practices that are transforming the manufacturing sector. “As part of the State Government’s COVID-19 Economic Recovery Plan, we’re working with our manufacturers every day, on their shop floors and in their supply chains, to innovate, create a skilled workforce, and adopt world best practices,” Butcher said. “Inside Advanced Manufacturing will celebrate the best of the sector right across Queensland and will further the momentum of Queensland becoming Australia’s leading manufacturing state.” Twenty leading Queensland manufacturers will welcome fellow manufacturers into their facilities to showcase their advanced technology and share exactly how they adopted and adapted to Industry 4.0 process and practice. “Queensland is the manufacturing powerhouse of Australia,” Butcher added. “I commend our manufacturers for sharing their knowledge and expertise with others as the…

Cheetahs are famed for their ability to reach high speeds, but it is in fact their agility that is truly impressive. Cheetahs can accelerate from zero to 60 miles per hour in just three seconds, and then quickly decelerate, turn, and sprint in another direction. But this exceptional combination of speed and precision doesn’t purely belong to the wild, and innovative composite materials are helping bring these qualities to the factory floor. Improving manufacturing efficiency while maintaining high product quality is a common challenge in production facilities. Automation has undoubtably boosted productivity, but rising consumer demands drive a need to further optimise production equipment. By incorporating composite components into automated machinery, production speed and accuracy can be increased while reducing downtime. As fast as you can Composites, also known as fibre-reinforced plastics, are fabricated by combining a resin matrix with reinforcement fibres. The blend of materials gives composites combined benefits, such as low weight with high strength and stiffness. In fact, composites have a specific…

The Moon to Mars Demonstrator Feasibility grants will see 20 organisations receive up to $200,000 each to conduct feasibility testing and to transform their concepts into the next generation of space products and services. Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Christian Porter said growing Australia’s space manufacturing sector was a key priority for the Government and the grants will enable local organisations to capitalise on emerging economic opportunities. “These grants are part of the Morrison Government’s flagship space program – the $150m Moon to Mars initiative – which is providing pathways for Australian organisations to play an important part in NASA’s plans to return to the Moon and go beyond to Mars,” Porter said. “The initiative will also support the transformation of high-value manufacturing industries across our economy, fast-track the growth of the national civil space sector and create high-skilled jobs.” The 20 successful projects have demonstrated clear potential to support future Moon to Mars activities, including in the areas of advanced…

In consumer electronics in particular, the prerequisites for performance are increasing with ever- smaller components and simultaneously falling manufacturing costs. Fully automatic and process-reliable micro dispensing systems make this possible. For example, in the manufacture of smartphones, components are bonded, potted, and sealed in fully automated micro dispensing systems. A camera in a smartphone has up to 40 different bonding and dispensing applications. Micro dispensing comprises various processes: In Bonding applications, dispensing systems must be able to provide absolute stable dispensing. On the one hand, the bond must withstand external environmental influences such as high temperature fluctuations, vibrations, or moisture. On the other hand, adhesive residues on the edges or overflowing adhesives between two assembled parts are not acceptable. It is important not to apply too much or too little adhesive: in most applications, a precisely defined amount of material is required ­ without pulling the thread of the material. Adhesive residues can otherwise cause great damage, for instance, due to contamination during…