Month: November 2021

A survey of 32,000 respondents found that when employees have a designated HR contact, they were twice as likely to value their company, and five times as likely to recommend their company as a place to work, compared to those who have no direct HR contact. The 25-country study, which included Australia, debuts the HR XPerience Score (HRXPS) – a metric to measure the impact of the HR function on a company’s reputation as an employer – as seen through the lens of the employee experience. Generating a strong score is influenced by an employee’s relationship with HR. The study reveals the key interactions and services provided by HR which positively impact employee experience, highlighting the importance of HR in turning employees into company ambassadors. Other key findings: Frequency of interactions matter: Employees are 7.4 times more likely to say HR is valuable when they experience seven interactions (compared to no interactions) The more HR services used, the more positive the experience: Employees who use five services are 11…

Right now, skills shortages and a lean cost environment means employee investments can suffer. These challenges come at a pivotal time for the sector. The Federal Government’s $1.3bn Modern Manufacturing Initiative calls for “bold changes that will create strong, resilient, thriving and internationally competitive manufacturing businesses”. The problem is, growth is challenging without the right skills. The global COVID-19 pandemic has enlivened the local manufacturing sector, which in turn has sparked an investment in technologies on the floor for process automation to boost productivity. But what about investing in employees? Finding, and keeping, skilled workers is an ongoing challenge, and the pressure won’t ease quickly. There’s another issue. Manufacturing is one of the biggest employers of deskless workers, but they rarely, or never, have adequate access to a computer to engage with the company. It’s a problem that has been reflected in studies that reveal deskless workers make up nearly 80% of today’s global workforce, yet a meagre 1% of total enterprise software spend is dedicated to supporting shift workers.…

Under the scheme, five WA-based companies have been awarded a total of $450,000 to accelerate innovation projects requiring advanced manufacturing capabilities. Matched with cash co-contributions of $600,000, the initiative is injecting more than $1m into WA’s medical technology, biotechnology and pharmaceutical sector to drive job creation and economic growth. Awardees include: OncoRes Medical Pty Ltd. With a focus on improving the accuracy of breast-conserving surgery, OncoRes Medical is driven by a mission to eliminate repeat operations after breast conserving surgery. OncoRes Medical is developing key pre-production manufacturing activities in WA, advancing their development of a novel diagnostic imaging system that guides surgical clearance of cancer in breast conserving surgery. Proteomics International Pty Ltd. Established in 2001, Proteomics International is recognised as a leader in the field of proteomics, developing and commercialising diagnostic tests for chronic diseases. The company is developing WA-based manufacturing capability of the PromarkerD diagnostic, which can predict the onset of diabetic kidney disease in patients with Type 2 diabetes. SynGenis Pty Ltd. Perth start-up SynGenis was established…

Hosted by TV presenter and author James O’Loghlin, the ceremony was attended online by stakeholders in the innovation ecosystem from across government, private enterprise, the investment and scaleup community. This year’s winners included manufacturing company FormFlow, cybersecurity specialists Haventec, and telehealth solution provider Coviu, which took home not only the Medtech & Pharma Award but also the title of Australian Technology Company of the Year. Of the 11 winners, five were led by female founders, highlighting the growing representation of women in deeptech. They include Coviu, iVvy, Plaetos, Goterra and Sound Scouts. Strong themes also included renewable energy, the circular economy, telehealth, bushfire resilience, emergency management, personal security and artificial intelligence. This year’s winners were: BlockTexx (NSW) – Circular Economy Award Coviu (NSW) – Medtech & Pharma Award + Australian Technology Company of the Year FormFlow (VIC) Advanced Manufacturing Award Goterra (ACT) – Food & Agribusiness Award Haventec (NSW) – Cyber Security Award iVvy (QLD) – Smart Cities Award Microbiogen (NSW) – Energy Award Plaetos (VIC) –…

Four of the activity indexes in the Australian PMI contracted in October, with declines in production, employment, exports and supplier deliveries. More positively, forward orders continued to expand at a relatively strong pace, indicating that recovery is likely after COVID-19 restrictions lift more fully and across more locations. “Although restrictions began to be eased, vaccination rates rose and the country edged towards a living with COVID approach, the year-long run of improving manufacturing performance was put on hold in October,” said Ai Group Chief Executive Innes Willox. “Ongoing restrictions, supply chain dislocation and difficulties in filling positions combined to hold back further expansion in the sector. These factors are also driving up input prices, some of which are flowing through to customers where market conditions permit.” Of the six manufacturing sectors in the Australian PMI, machinery & equipment (up 7.0…

SPARTAN is Hypersonix’ fifth-generation scramjet. It is a fixed-geometry self-igniting hydrogen-powered scramjet capable of accelerating from Mach 5 to Mach 12. SPARTAN’s fixed geometry means it has no moving parts, so the design lends itself to 3D printing (3DP). This reduces both the cost and time to produce the scramjet, while potentially adding to reliability and performance. Additive manufacturing allows the creation of parts that have a complex design, and is perfect for light-weighting, which is essential for the space industry. SPARTAN uses green hydrogen for fuel, so creates no CO2 emissions. The hydrogen fuel also allows Hypersonix to utilise regenerative cooling on the combustor, in turn allowing the use of readily available high-temperature alloys in place of more expensive and complex high-temperature composites. David Waterhouse, Managing Director and co-founder of Hypersonix said: “The use of additive engineering to manufacture a scramjet engine will fundamentally disrupt the cost structure of scramjets and an important step in providing more affordable access to hypersonic flight. We are very proud of Australia’s world…

I am a passionate manufacturing person who cares a little too much about things I can’t control, which subsequently results in me taking many things to heart that I really shouldn’t. This includes experiencing decisions about the manufacturing sector that I just don’t understand, which just seems to make me even more exasperated and upset than I would have been anyway. I don’t mean to sound philosophical but I believe that people are either passionate about something or they’re not; and if they’re not, then they have most likely just given up on whatever it was that they did at one point care greatly about. In my case this was the closing of the Australian automotive manufacturing industry. Then, after going through the Seven Stages of Grief – well, six of them – the seventh stage: “Acceptance & Hope”, was in my case really…