Month: July 2021

Administered by the Federal Government’s Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre (AMGC) in consultation with all Industry Growth Centres and the CSIRO, the second and third tranche of funding has been awarded to 15 Australian manufacturers. Addressing many of the six National Manufacturing Priorities, the successful recipients include: Nedstack Australia (NSW) – Clean Energy – Commercial prototype development of Australia’s first utility-scale PEM fuel cell leveraging Australian supply chain in collaboration with LAVO. Total project commitment $3.56m ($825,000 grant funds). Seeley International (SA) – Clean Energy – Accelerated design and development of an Australian-based manufacturing line for an ultra-high efficiency roof top Heating Ventilation and Cooling Unit (HVAC). Total project commitment $2.64m ($1.0m grant funds). Energy Renaissance (NSW) – Clean Energy – Support for process, technology and workforce skills at pilot manufacturing facility for lithium-ion batteries to prepare for full facility deployment. Total project commitment $1.48m ($525,072 grant funds). ActionLaser (NSW) – Recycling – Funding to establish an Australian manufacturing capability of filters…

Regarded as a flexible all-rounder, the expanded D4120 indexable insert solid drill line is available in diameters ranging from 13.5mm to 59mm. The product expansion now incorporates the D4120-02 2xD drill and the D4120-03 3xD drills for creating holes from 13.5 to 41.3mm diameter as well as the D4120-04 and D4120-05 4xD and 5xD drills for holes from 17 to 59mm diameter with exceptional productivity and performance. From a dimensional perspective, the 2xD drill has an overall length from 97mm to 228mm with a cutting length of 27mm to 118mm depending on the diameter selected, whereas the 3xD drill has an overall length from 110.5mm to 287mm with a cutting length from 40.5mm to 177mm. The 4xD provides a flute length from 68mm to 236mm with an overall length from 149mm to 346mm, whereas the largest 5xD drills have a maximum cutting depth of 295mm with an overall length from 166mm to 405mm depending upon the damp to selected. The 2xD and 3xD drills…

The build volume of the LC Magna is 510mm by 280mm by 350mm, making it the largest build volume LCD screen-based 3D printer currently available. LC Magna has a 60cm 4K Ultra HD screen, offering unbeatable precision and detail when creating high-resolution, mass-manufactured parts. The screen has been matched with a custom-built backlight. These two elements work together to ensure extremely high print accuracy, delivering amazing detail. Product designers, engineers and manufacturers alike can now benefit from LC Magna’s large build volume capabilities and maximise build plate capacity to increase throughput, speed up assembly production and reduce lead times. “LCD screen-based 3D printers have been the fastest growing area in 3D resin printing,” says Sally Tipping, Sales Director at Photocentric. “This machine sets new standards, making it best in class in almost every respect – it really is a disruptive industry-changing machine.” The hardware and electronics of LC Magna have been designed by Photocentric with high-precision reliability in mind to ensure consistent robust performance. The patented peel…

The first thing you notice when meeting Jamie Howard, Group Managing Director of HMS Group, is his unwavering commitment to Australian manufacturing and his belief in huge opportunities for local industry. With a trade and engineering background and a passion for safety, innovation and training, it quickly becomes apparent how Howard’s philosophy has made HMS Group a success. He describes HMS Group as a proudly Australian company operating in a zero-harm environment, designing and manufacturing safety solutions, while driven by innovative productivity and skills education. “We are about workplace safety,” says Howard. “Manual labour is hard work and it limits the productive life of people. If an autonomous machine like ours can save wear and tear on the human body, that is a great benefit.” The HMS Mini Loader Howard saw a need for a safe solution to removing coal from under conveyors. Previously, removal of spilled coal was a dangerous operation, involving up to five people to shovel coal from underneath the conveyor belt. While undertaking this dangerous operation,…

Materials such as Wearlon nylon gears, Wearace acetal gears, and Wearex UHMWPE drive components – material types originally introduced to the market to fill niche applications – are more often becoming materials of first choice, according to Cut To Size Plastics. This is happening as machine builders and production engineers seek out materials that will enable their digitally communicating Industry 4.0 systems to function faster, with closer tolerances, less maintenance and down-time, easier washdown and less need for constant lubrication, attracting grit and wear. “Thermoplastic technology is advancing quickly to fill many needs and these materials are extremely tough,” says Laurie Green, Managing Director of Cut To Size Plastics and an Australasian engineering thermoplastics pioneer. “Ultra-high molecular weight (UHMW) gear racks in use internationally, for example, have shown part lives multiple times longer – sometimes ten or more times longer – than their metal predecessors. “While most gears were traditionally made from various metals, plastic gear technology is pushing the previous…

As a business owner, it can be tempting to seek short cuts to find your best-fit insurance cover. The internet offers you an overwhelming range of options, but it can be tricky to work out the right cover to suit your business needs (and cheaper is not always the best). Also, other insurance markets may be available to an insurance broker, which are not directly accessible by business owners. You could have then taken out a policy because it was quick and ticked most of your boxes. Maybe the impact of COVID-19 has belatedly made you take to the fine print with a magnifying glass. But you may still not have taken the cover that is best for your business – and this is where a broker can provide you with the required advice. For example, did you have a chance to check the independence of the comparison website? Social proof might have weighed in on your…

Based in Sefton, NSW, AMTIL member Romar’s winning grant is the largest of four allocated to manufacturers working in the aerospace sector under round one of the Integration and Translation streams of the Modern Manufacturing Initiative (MMI), a $1.3bn Federal Government initiative designed to position Australia as a globally recognised, high-quality and sustainable manufacturing nation. The four companies – Romar Engineering (NSW), EffusionTech (Vic), Titomic (Vic) and Q-CTRL (NSW) – will share in nearly $14m in funding. Romar plans on leveraging a more diverse metal additive manufacturing (AM offering in the Australian market with GE Additive and Romar’s custom sealing solutions. Its design-centric, qualification-focused approach provides Australia with the fluid control, motion control, and metal AM solutions to hit orbit. “These grants will help bolster Australia’s reputation in the growing global civil space industry and build on the important work being led by our Australian Space Agency,” said Christian Porter, Minister for Industry, Science and Technology. “From satellites, to componentry in sensors and even rocket engines, Australian…

AMTIL member GoProto operates six different additive manufacturing technologies in-house for prototyping and end-use applications, as well as providing 3D scanning, machining and injection moulding services. ISO 9001 is quickly gaining acceptance among 3D printing and contract manufacturers as a foundation for their quality programs. The stringent process analyses a business’s operations from top to bottom, seeking commitment to quality at every level. “ISO is one of the most rigorous and well-regarded standards in the world,” says James Sanders, General Manager of GoProto ANZ. “We sought to become certified as part of our longstanding commitment to quality and a further step of our Industry 4.0 journey. I am extremely proud of our team’s efforts, which proves their commitment to providing high quality parts and excellent customer service. We’re dedicated to constant improvement and making sure we have the processes and systems in place for this.” GoProto’s ISO certification was accelerated as a result of a grant awarded by the Centre for Defence Industry Capability, in recognition of the company’s potential to manufacture aerospace and defence components in-country,…

Brisbane-based Digilin designs, engineers and manufactures LED, lighting control and fibre optic products for commercial and architectural projects. Digilin has provided solutions for some of Australia’s most iconic buildings and landmarks, such as the Melbourne Arts Centre, the Adelaide Convention Centre and Brisbane’s Kingsford Smith Drive. Surprisingly, and despite its success in the industry, Digilin didn’t even start out as a lighting company. The story of how Digilin got to where it is today is really a story of electrical engineers who never stopped looking for the next big challenge. Founded just over 40 years ago in a small workshop in Brisbane’s West End, Digilin first operated as an electronics service and repair centre before developing its own electronic devices. The first Digilin-branded product was actually a high-end audio processing device designed for recording studios. During the 1980s, the company developed a variety of other electronic devices for many different industries, such as scoring systems for bowling alleys, and seismic survey equipment for mining and geological exploration projects.…

Gazmick is a small, privately owned business dedicated to improving ground support in the mining industry. Gazmick has enjoyed great success in patenting novel ground support solutions, such as rock bolts. Up to now its most successful bolt is the Stiff Split Set, a modified friction bolt. Via a licensing agreement, Gazmick has sold in excess of 4 million units throughout Australia and Asia. Gazmick looks to solve other rock bolt problems to enhance the safety and efficiency of mining and tunnelling operations. The challenge One common type of rock bolt is the resin bolt. In this embodiment a steel bar is locked into the rock using a two-part resin pack. Currently the resin is contained in a two-part “sausage” and placed into the hole in the strata. To avoid danger, this is done remotely, with the operator working approximately five metres away behind a protective steel canopy. This resin installation process has remained unchanged for the last 10 years and contributes significantly to the entire bolting…

Sales for AMW 2022, Australia’s premier manufacturing solutions event, have been so strong that AMTIL, the event’s organisers, has taken a further bay at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre (MCEC), bringing the overall floor space for the AMW exhibition from 15,000sqm to 16,500sqm. Even with this expanded footprint, AMTIL expects the show to be fully sold out many months in advance of its opening on 8 March. Exhibitors who have booked space for AMW are already benefiting from significant exposure as a result of pre-show marketing activity by AMTIL. “Riding on the coat tails of AMTIL’s ongoing promotion of AMW is just one of the advantages of locking in a stand early for next year’s exhibition,” says Kim Banks, AMW Exhibition Manager and Head of Events at AMTIL. “The sooner you get your stand locked in and announce it to your target markets, the quicker you can start putting yourself in the box seat to develop great early interest in your company’s…

The company is now launching a new product to add to its extensive portfolio of clamps. The Heavy-Duty VersaGrip gripper is designed for those aggressive operations on harder materials while providing the versatility to hold just about any workpiece shape that can be imagined. The rotatable, flat, serrated top face allows for additional holding force in horizontal pockets in jaws or hard stops. Standard gripping height is 5mm; if a higher height is required, the workpiece can be elevated by resting part of it on the Original VersaGrip gripper, allowing for cutter clearance around jaws. The standard VersaGrip, as the name implies, provides versatility for clamping standard vise work as well as providing a solution for difficult applications that would normally require fixturing or machining soft-jaws. The VersaGrip is just one of a number of new products that the company has recently introduced, one of which is the new Heavy Duty T-Slot clamp. Designed to be used in the…

Tri-D is a Silicon Valley-based design and manufacturing company developing smart pipe infrastructure for the 21st-century economy. Tri-D aims to upgrade and electrify infrastructure by embedding electronics directly into metal structures to outfit them with digitally connected technology. The smart-pipe product developed by Tri-D represents a unique innovative solution, which is set to be fully commercialised when combined with the licensed TKF process.   Tri-D founders Deepak Atyam, Alex Finch and Jesse Lang are experienced innovators with skill sets encompassing cold-spray, composites and rocket engine design; complementing Titomic’s commercialisation plans of its industry leading Cold Spray Additive Manufacturing (CSAM) technology. They will join Titomic USA as key employees, focusing on Titomic’s initiatives in the defence, aerospace as well as the oil and gas industries. Titomic USA will benefit from Tri-D’s existing product portfolio and contracts within a range of industries including clean technology, oil & gas and surveying. Additionally, with having Titomic commercial and…