Month: July 2021

Projects at ACS Australia typically start with concept development and engineering, followed by the manufacture of prototypes to demonstrate and validate the product. Over five years ago, the company expanded into series manufacture and the assembly of low-volume, high-value, composite products, and has made strategic investments into advanced manufacturing equipment including automated machining and additive manufacturing. Today, ACS Australia stands out from its competitors by providing its customers with a “one-stop-shop” for the development and supply of new composite-related products, providing a fast-track path to market. The talented engineers and technicians at ACS Australia are continuously being challenged by a diverse range of projects where advanced composite materials are being applied. Recently they have manufactured three unique products utilising carbon fibre composites with the support of in-house Industry 4.0-based manufacturing tools. Aircraft aerial imaging camera housing ACS Australia manufactured a carbon fibre composite camera housing for attachment on a light aircraft for in-flight aerial imaging. The camera housing required one front-facing dome port and two downward facing…

Even for novice cyclists, e-bikes take the sweat out of conquering even the most challenging geographical terrain – offering a real means of addressing major societal challenges like vehicle emissions and climate change. It’s no wonder that global sales of e-bikes are forecast to reach about 40 million units by 2023 – and Tornos’ Swiss-type sliding headstock lathes, services and software are already helping e-bike component suppliers keep pace with that growing demand. The link between local air pollution sources and emissions that drive climate change are clear. According to the World Health Organization, 25% of urban ambient air pollution from fine particulate matter is contributed by traffic. The International Panel on Climate Change estimates that transport accounts for 14% of global greenhouse gas emissions; and governments are increasingly encouraging more environmentally friendly transportation alternatives. This ranges from car and bike-sharing to electrical vehicles – including e-bikes. China takes the lead The Chinese government has amended the…

In 1999, ‘pivot’ was not a corporate buzzword; it was an iconic line from the sitcom Friends. The scene was simple: three friends struggling to get a couch up a narrow staircase, with a frustrated Ross incessantly screaming the famous line: “Pivot!” Fast forward to 2020 and you’re as likely to hear businesses talking about pivoting as you are to see a Friends pivot meme. The onset of COVID-19 has forced organisations out of their comfort zones to explore ventures they never thought of exploring, and quickly change business practices that would otherwise have taken years to implement. In a short span of time, we’ve seen restaurants become ghost kitchens, a vodka maker create carbon-negative hand sanitisers, and a paper-recycling company turn to recycled plastics to make face shields. Would leaders and executives have had the courage to shift the same way if there wasn’t a pandemic? Maybe not. Most businesses are not designed to change. At least not drastically. Businesses are…

When it comes to finding new business opportunities, one of the biggest challenges for small to medium enterprises (SMEs) can be breaking into new or expanding supply chains. Through ICN Gateway, suppliers have access to projects worth more than $400bn to the Australian economy from an impressive array of prime clients, including Rheinmetall, Shell, John Holland, Rio Tinto and BAE, to name a few. ICN Limited has implemented a robust strategic plan that included the overhaul of ICN systems to better serve its stakeholders. Warren Jansen, ICN Limited Executive Director, explains: “ICN has a proven track record of providing full, fair and reasonable access to local opportunities. Since being created over 30 years ago, we helped local businesses find $30bn worth of contracts to keep them working and growing. We’re thrilled about the change this will make to industry and look forward to doing our part in…

Wolfpack will operate as UNSW’s non-exclusive incubator for the university’s space start-ups. These are independent entities established by students and/or staff of UNSW but not controlled by UNSW. Wolfpack will provide the start-ups with services such as business training, access to funding and customer networks, as well as space readiness capability-building. UNSW will provide the start-ups with access to equipment at ACSER (Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research), including a thermal vacuum chamber, an anechoic chamber, vibration testing equipment, frictionless air beds and Helmholtz coils. UNSW Professor Andrew Dempster, Director of ACSER, said the aim was to develop an ecosystem of Australian start-ups in the space business. “The space industry is moving away from the ‘big agency/big satellite’ model and is becoming much more commercial,” said Dempster. “There is a new way of doing space business. These businesses will benefit greatly from working together in groups and by collaborating to put together missions and to really develop and grow. That’s…

AMT: Firstly, tell us about Australian Manufacturing Week (AMW) and why AMTIL decided to launch a new manufacturing industry exhibition. Shane Infanti: AMW is Australia’s premier manufacturing solutions event. It’s an industry exhibition that will cover every aspect of manufacturing in Australia today. So it will feature a comprehensive line-up of the very latest, state-of-the-art manufacturing technology, across all equipment categories. Also exhibiting will be a wide variety of service providers who specialise in supporting the manufacturing sector. And last but not least, we’ll have our Australian Manufacturers’ Pavilion, a dedicated zone within the exhibition where we’ll be showcasing some Australia’s most innovative, exciting advanced manufacturing businesses. So really visitors will be able to take in the Australian manufacturing industry in its entirety, all under one roof. We decided to launch AMW after Reed Exhibitions announced last year that it would stop running its…

Since 2006, REA has surveyed students and teachers involved in its STEM programs to determine their impact on influencing students’ career motivations and career choices. To date, over a million students across Australia have been involved in these programs, and the research forms part of a longitudinal research process examining the Motivational Drivers of Children’s Career Decision Choices started at the University of South Australia in 2006. The survey found that not only were gender issues around STEM rapidly disappearing, but over 50% of students are interested in careers in manufacturing, and 81% of students changed their career choice to be STEM-based. In addition, the educational attainment of more than 75% of students increased across all subject areas—a direct result of their engagement in STEM programs and their involvement with Industry. The impact is felt by the schools, with 84% indicating they had lifted the importance of STEM education in their school. “A core human motivation is the…

For several decades, researchers have sought a new class of electronics based on semiconducting oxides, whose optical transparency could enable these fully-transparent electronics. Oxide-based devices could also find use in power electronics and communication technology, reducing the carbon footprint of our utility networks. A RMIT University-led team has now introduced ultrathin beta-tellurite to the two-dimensional (2D) semiconducting material family, providing an answer to this decades-long search for a high-mobility p-type oxide. “This new, high-mobility p-type oxide fills a crucial gap in the materials spectrum to enable fast, transparent circuits,” says team leader Dr Torben Daeneke, who led the collaboration across three nodes of the Australian Research Council (ARC)’s Centre of Excellence in Future Low-Energy Electronics Technologies (FLEET). Other key advantages of the long-sought-after oxide-based semiconductors are their stability in air, less-stringent purity requirements, low costs and easy deposition. “In our advance, the missing link was finding the right, ‘positive’ approach,” says Daeneke. There…

Verton, an Australian manufacturer behind world-leading lifting and load orientation products is developing a solution for this seemingly impossible task, where precision handling of heavy loads in strong winds and from unstable working conditions creates a challenging work environment. Estimated to be worth up to a trillion US dollars by 2040, the offshore wind-generation market presents Verton with a prime opportunity to address growing safety and productivity concerns relating to installation and maintenance with its Windmaster project. This project leverages Verton’s significant experience in construction and load lifting environments to develop a solution for wind turbine installations in challenging environments, with $178,000 in co-funding from the Federal Government’s Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre (AMGC) assisting the company’s commercialisation plans. Core to Verton’s solution is a patented, remote-controlled, gyroscope-enabled product, which delivers simpler and safer lifting, rotation and orientation of heavy loads. The Verton solution allows for the removal of ‘taglines’ (supporting lines run from the load to ground…

Boeing develops, manufactures and services commercial airplanes, defence products and space systems for customers in more than 150 countries, leveraging the talents of a global supplier base. Under its new purchase contract with Boeing, AML3D will supply an Invar‑361 ”mandrel tool artifact”, weighing approximately 150kg, using the company’s proprietary Wire Additive Manufacturing (WAM) process. The initial purchase contract is for one artifact, which will be assessed and tested for its mechanical properties, internal soundness, vacuum integrity and to assess AML3D’s ability to produce to Boeing specifications. Although the part being manufactured will have a value of less than $50,000, the significance of this initial purchase contract is high given the size and credibility of Boeing, together with the potential commercial benefits of future collaborations with the group. AML3D Managing Director Andrew Sales said: “AML3D is very excited to begin working with Boeing, one of the world’s largest aerospace companies. This purchase contract will provide the Company with a key opportunity to showcase its ability to produce parts on time and to specification with a…

Using ‘Dingo’, one of the highest-intensity neutron imaging machines in the world, ANSTO scientists have figured out how to greatly reduce the time needed to measure the exact mineral content of core samples. Senior Instrument Scientist at ANSTO’s Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering Dr Joseph Bevitt developed the technology, which has the potential to significantly change the way minerals are explored around the world. “At the moment, many drill core samples are X-rayed for surface mineral content, which is essentially a guesstimate,” says Bevitt. “While some drill cores are fully 3D-imaged with X-rays, many cannot be studied in this way because X-rays do not have sufficient penetrating power. Our neutron-imaging technology creates a full 3D map of the core, delivering the total mineral content for metal-rich and dense ores.” The procedure is non-destructive and as quick as traditional X-rays, meaning the search for valuable minerals and their processing can be carried out in a more targeted manner, resulting in reduced environmental impacts of mining. “If you take…

Having access to parts as needed that can be 3D printed is a positive solution for industries operating in remote locations such as mining, oil & gas production, power stations, farming equipment and wind farms. The convenience factor offers a convincing argument for on-demand production for parts that unexpectedly break, wear out before time, or become affected by environmental conditions. An emerging solution for the provision of AM-produced spare parts is being offered by German company Bionic Production, with its revolutionary mobile, modular 3D printing system, or better known as a “factory in a box”. Bionic Production has an extensive history in design, development and service, producing the renowned Bugatti brake caliper using an SLM Solutions multi-laser system. By applying bionic design techniques, the initial model was reviewed, the maximum possible tensile strength determined, and the topology optimised for 3D printing. Using its technical and methodological expertise and experience as 3D printers and developers, Bionic Production now supplies the Mobile…

Education is the key to ensuring a safe and productive working environment for everyone. Employers need to invest in thorough and up-to-date training for all their employees to ensure that they understand the risks associated with welding, the mitigation strategies they can use, and the equipment available to prevent accident and injury. Additionally, recognising the risks posed by mental health challenges and addressing these is vital to maintaining a healthy workforce. Physical risks to health & safety Welders are exposed to both physical and chemical hazards in the course of their work, and they utilise tools that can result in injury and electric shock if used incorrectly. Some of the most common hazards in a welding workplace include exposure to dangerous chemicals and fumes, injuries to the eyes through sparks and vapours, fire and explosions, and electric shock. The process of gas welding involves the burning of chemicals such…