Month: October 2022

Leading materials handling manufacturer Enmin is manufacturing electromagnetic drives in Australia. These drives offer a unique handling method for controlling the flow of food products, ingredients, and bulk material. Products can be screened, sized, or accurately metered to ensure a smooth, uniform, and fully variable flow. With minimal moving parts, next to no ongoing maintenance, and low energy consumption it’s a reliable, low-cost method of product handling. The drives are designed and constructed to meet the rigorous requirements of the food and pharmaceutical industries such as maximum hygiene, ease of cleaning, and continuous 24/7 operation. The cyclic operation is controlled by a range of electronic controllers that will vary the feeding rate in a manner to suit the specific application enabling high-speed filling coupled with pinpoint accuracy. The controllers are available in different enclosures or as standalone for incorporation into central panels. As production lines evolve and other components are updated to achieve higher throughput, older and less efficient drives cannot match the required capacity increase. “Fitting one of our new generation drives will ensure that a higher conveying speed can be achieved to…

With the increasing demand for high technology equipment (e.g., catalytic converters) and a transition to green energy economies, battery metals (e.g., cobalt, nickel, and lithium), and rare earth elements (e.g., cerium and lanthanum) are critical. In recent years, significant commitments have been made by the Australian and Indian governments, consistent with transitioning to a net zero economy by 2050. The projected demand for these critical minerals in India presents a unique opportunity to increase cooperation with Australia which has abundant resources and world-class expertise. InnovEco Australia has developed and patented two technologies - resin in pulp (RIP), and resin in moist mix (RIMM) with a high target metal extraction performance from fine particles in an eco-friendly manner. “Our company has been developing a novel metal recovery technology since 2012 when we first identified a key issue in the heap leaching process – the processing of fine fractions in copper ore,” said Gennadiy Sukhinin, Managing Director at InnovEco Australia. Particularly, the technology has been successful in copper recovery resulting in 96 – 98 wt.% yields compared to 70 wt.% for conventional heap leaching technology.…

Australian manufacturers will now gain access to a ground-breaking new composite 3D printer at the Swinburne University of Technology, from global market leader Markforged. The Markforged FX20 printer is primarily designed for high-strength end-use parts in the aerospace, defense, automotive and energy industries. The FX20 prints nearly five times larger builds and is up to eight times faster than Markforged's existing line of composite printers. The FX20 printer at Swinburne’s Aerostructures Innovation Research Hub (AIR Hub) will be the first and only FX20 printer openly accessible to industry in Australia for use in research and development, helping promote new aerospace development and support the continued growth of the sector locally. It also features a heated build chamber capable of maintaining a temperature of up to 200°C to print flame-retardant, high-performance thermoplastic material. Shai Terem, President and CEO of Markforged, hosted the Australian launch of the FX20 3D printer at Swinburne’s Hawthorn campus as part of a three-city launch tour in Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney. “With this combination of hardware and software, users can create end-use, mission-critical parts and build resilient and sustainable supply chains that extend directly…

Hybrid Systems Australia has unveiled its new rapidly deployable stand-alone power system (RD-SPS) at the All-Energy Expo in Melbourne. The award-winning SPS experts have delivered a new skid-mounted system comprising the latest solar PV technology, batteries and backup diesel generator that can provide energy to customers in under an hour from delivery. The modular design, manufactured and engineered in Western Australia, uses the same platform that has been successfully installed at more than 110 sites across Western Australia and can be combined with rapidly deployable PV arrays, existing PV installations or temporary ground-mount arrays of up to 36 kW peak. The system also incorporates the company’s new Hybrid Integrated Power System (HIPSTM), an outdoor-rated enclosure that contains the battery inverters, solar charge controller, battery and control system, which has been designed with 24/7 remote operation in mind. Mike Hall, Executive Director for Hybrid Systems Australia, said the company is pleased to introduce an innovative SPS solution to the market that can be operated remotely, transported, and installed very quickly, and that is proven to operate effectively in some of Australia’s harshest conditions. “It’s a…

Boeing has opened its new Skills Development Centre at its aircraft components manufacturing site in Fishermans Bend. The $1.6m centre will train current and new employees on advanced manufacturing technologies and processes. The centre is training its first class consisting of five members of the Boeing Aerostructures Australia (BAA) Female Apprenticeship Program. That program teaches apprentices the skills they need to assemble and install aircraft components, prepare and use aircraft support equipment, and inspect, maintain, and repair aircraft components and systems. Apprentices will graduate with a Certificate IV in Aeroskills (Structures) from Aviation Australia. “Between the centre opening and the start of our Female Apprenticeship Program, we are making a serious commitment to growing advanced manufacturing in Victoria with the best, brightest and most diverse workforce we can find and train,” said Mick Sorrenson, managing director of BAA. “The training centre’s focus on safety and quality will help ensure that we provide our team with the resources they need to produce complex airplane parts for Boeing.” Boeing Aerostructures Australia makes wing components and flight control surfaces for 737, 777 and 787 commercial aircraft for Australian…

Technofast Founder and CEO John Bucknell began innovating with farming technology, before applying similar principles to create Technofast’s hydraulic tensioning technology now used globally by mining, sugar, cement, food processing, quarrying and other applications. Another Australian farmer is following in the footsteps of the inventors of the stump-jump plough by achieving international renown for his ingenuity for down-to-earth solutions for problems encountered by producers globally. Queensland farmer John Bucknell’s hydraulic bolts are now used around the world in applications such as nuclear reactors, boilers, turbines and mining and energy equipment where speed, accuracy and even, precise fastening of multiple sets of bolts is required. The idea originally stemmed from his desire to find a quicker and more secure way to fasten bolts used to tighten gang bolts on large disc ploughs on his family’s property near Nindigully, Queensland (about 500km west of Brisbane). Just like brothers Richard and Clarence Smith of Yorke Peninsula who invented the stump jump plough in 1876 to allow farmers to cultivate land without removing rocks and stumps, John used his disc plough to break in new country, ready for…

Markforged, creator of the integrated metal and carbon fiber additive manufacturing platform, The Digital Forge, is pleased to announce the local Australian launch of its newest printer, the FX20. “We are very excited to bring Markforged’s FX20 to Australia to strengthen local sovereign manufacturing capabilities and support reshoring initiatives,” said Richard Elving, Senior Director Australia, Markforged. “Given our remoteness in Australia, supply chain issues can be costly and time-sensitive, and with the FX20 we see this as an enabler of printing parts that will provide a competitive advantage to manufacturers by being able to react quickly to solve problems right on the manufacturing floor. The FX20 will meet the needs of even the most demanding local industries, such as defence, F&B, and mining.” “The FX20 is a beast of a machine and represents our commitment to providing innovative solutions to our customers to empower them to build anything they can imagine. The addition of the FX20 to the Digital Forge strengthens our leading position in the additive manufacturing market by enabling the robust production of lightweight, advanced composite parts. With this combination of hardware and software, our…

Vehicles used in mining and remote area transport are subjected to some of the harshest conditions and usage imaginable. They need to be built extra tough, have improved ground clearance, improved gross vehicle mass (GVM), and be super reliable to meet the extraordinary off-road demands of remote and difficult terrain travel. Based in Carrum Downs Victoria, EnduroCo provides 4x4 conversions for the Toyota Hiace and Toyota Coaster buses and vans. These vehicles offer the perfect 4x4 minibus or van transport solution for mining sites with the ability to traverse all harsh and difficult-to-navigate terrain in absolute safety and confidence. From the outback to sand and beach environments, whether it be for passenger transport, tourism, off-road ambulance, disaster recovery, search and rescue or even law enforcement vehicles, the EnduroCo 4x4 conversions provide the build quality, reliability, comfort and affordability which has been tried, tested and manufactured to withstand the harshest Australian conditions. EnduroCo’s impressive customer list includes mining operators such as BHP, BMA, Golding, Harmony Gold PNG, Glencore and Thiess. All the components for the EnduroCo 4x4 conversions have been designed locally by EnduroCo…

Australian industry will soon have access to an innovative cutting tool manufacturing platform, thanks to a research collaboration between leading tool manufacturer ANCA and Australia’s national science agency CSIRO. The nine-month project costing just under $1m, which is supported by the Innovative Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre (IMCRC), is developing a new additive manufacturing (3D printing) process for tungsten-carbide tools. The additive manufacturing technology will enable affordable, high-performance tools to be manufactured using one platform, replacing the current production process of mould pressing, sintering, brazing, and grinding. Now in the advanced phase, the research is focused on refining the additive manufacturing technology ahead of ANCA taking the hybrid manufacturing platform to market. Dean McBain, Research & Technology Manager at ANCA, said the project had the potential to transform the way tungsten-carbide brazed insert tools were made in Australia and across the world. “ANCA’s collaboration with IMCRC and CSIRO has accelerated the development of an innovative additive manufacturing technology which we believe has the potential to disrupt the $2.2bn global cutting tool market,” he said. “Successful completion of this project will allow ANCA to…

Established in 1966, Plucks Engineering Ltd (Plucks) is a second-generation family business that differentiates itself as a flexible, customer-centric agricultural manufacturing and repair engineering company. Ideally located in Rakaia between Christchurch and Ashburton in New Zealand, Plucks is perfectly poised to deliver overnight – if not the same day – and their workshop designs and develops fast, flexible farm and heavy machinery. “We are firmly rooted in agriculture and specialise in the manufacture and repair of a vast range of agricultural machinery - ranging from cultivation, drilling, heavy water ballast land rollers, square bale feeders and general repairs of most agricultural machinery,” Neil Pluck, Managing Director for Plucks explains. “We produce a large range of dairy effluent products, ranging from concrete enviro saucers, pumps and rafts, effluent main lines, travelling effluent irrigators, pond stirrers, and dairy effluent screening equipment. Around 60 – 70% of what we do is focused on effluent.” Pluck says that the company looks for expertise, knowledge, and skill when searching for the ideal supplier. “We rely heavily on our suppliers to complete our product offering.” Pluck underpins the importance of suppliers’…

The full Oxford Economics report has so much detail in it, I found it hard to know where to start in giving you some information that may be of interest. So what I have done is focus on areas that may give some context to the overall report and highlight some high level activity that is apparently on the global stage. The most recent survey data points to weaker manufacturing activity in the quarter from July-September 2022. The lower right quadrant of the Global Supply Chain Barometer shows a manufacturing sector still expanding, but in most cases surveys have weakened significantly over the last three months. The lower left corner is consistent both with shrinking manufacturing output and worsening over the last three months. Of the major economies shown in this graph, only India and Indonesia are still seeing an expansion which appears to be strengthening. Interestingly, the Australian PMI dropped 3.2 points to 49.3 points in August 2022, indicating a…

A specialist supplier of steel tube and pipe, Austube Mills, part of the InfraBuild Group, is benefitting from a low-maintenance, time-saving, and safe hydraulic clamping solution for its steel slitters at its Acacia Ridge plant in Queensland. Austube Mills Acacia Ridge, which has been manufacturing and producing steel solutions since 1984, installed Technofast EziTite clamp nuts, which provide reliable and precisely repeatable force, on its steel slitters to allow the rotating slitter blades to cut through kilometres of black steel. Once the steel is cut to width, it is shaped into rectangular, square or round tubes on tube rolling mills, which are subsequently used in a huge range of applications in industries such as construction, manufacturing, mining, transport, and agriculture. “The Technofast solution is not just more reliable – it’s safer, too,” says Austube Mills Manufacturing Superintendent, Michael Thomasson, who has been working with the company for more than 30 years, starting as a fitter, and holding roles such as maintenance planner, maintenance superintendent and manufacturing superintendent. He has a Mechanical Engineering Diploma and Graduate Diploma in Maintenance Management. “I remember the…

Spare Parts 3D (SP3D), with offices in Paris (HQ) and Singapore, has been helping companies adopt Additive Manufacturing (AM) in their supply chains as part of the solutions to address spare parts problems:  spare parts obsolescence, long lead time, high cost of inventory, MOQ etc. AM adoption brings up multiple obstacles that can be overwhelming: incomplete part data (lack of dimensions, materials, drawings), lack of in-house AM knowledge, picking which part to print, estimating how much savings can be achieved, dealing with limited manpower, etc. Spare Parts 3D has developed DigiPART, a powerful AI-based software solution to facilitate the creation of Digital Inventory and enable the adoption of AM in industries. DigiPART identifies the parts that are technically 3D printable and those that make business sense, thus getting tangible results faster and creating value for your company and supply chain. It sifts through very large inventories, does not require drawings, and has been designed to operate with partial data set. Results are fully transparent and traceable. In last two years,…