Month: December 2022

The Australian Government hopes an advocate will help grow local manufacturing of safe, fast, and sustainable rail. Assistant Minister for Manufacturing Tim Ayres said the Rail Supplier Advocate and the Office of National Rail Industry Coordination (ONRIC) will advise the Government on the Australian rail industry and the most effective strategies to back Australian manufacturing. “Australia’s railways have been a core part of our national story since Federation, and they employ more than 50,000 people today,” Assistant Minister Ayres said. “High-quality Australian rail manufacturing should be part of our vision to reduce emissions, secure supply chains, and put Australian research and innovation to work. “The Rail Supplier Advocate will be an important part of the National Rail Manufacturing Plan – the plan will support skilled manufacturing jobs and support more trains being built here in Australia. The Advocate will support small to medium-sized enterprises and manufacturers to seize export opportunities, market their products to government, and champion sectoral initiatives to improve competitiveness.” Assistant Minister Ayres said the recruitment process will commence in the coming days. “I want the very best person for this role…

Fleet Space, Australia’s only commercial small satellite manufacturer, has partnered with Konica Minolta to implement 3D printers from 3D Systems to support Fleet Space’s groundbreaking innovation, which aims to bring manufacturing for the space, strategic, and mineral exploration industries back onshore. The 3D printer will also scale up Fleet Space’s manufacturing of small satellites for low Earth orbit to connect billions of devices. Fleet Space is leading the way in innovative manufacturing for the space, strategic, and mineral exploration industries. With production in Australia co-funded by the South Australian Government, Fleet Space focuses on using cutting edge communications and space technologies to enable the next giant leap in human civilisation. The small satellites from Fleet Space incorporate the world’s first 3D-printed, all-metal patch antenna, which delivers 10 times more throughput per kilogram of spacecraft. The 3D printing of these antennae was outsourced to an offshore provider; however, significant scale-up efficiencies can be found in bringing production to Australia. Fleet Space has been contracted to scale its operations significantly in 2022 and 2023 and needed a more efficient way…

Australian Manufacturing Week (AMW2023) will be held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) from 9-12 May 2023. Run by the Australian Manufacturing Technology Institute Limited (AMTIL), AMW2023 will occupy more than 10,000 square metres of exhibition space at the MCEC, with more than 274 organisations taking stands to showcase the latest manufacturing technologies, processes, and support services. AUSTECH MACHINE TOOLS ZONE AUSTECH has been the cornerstone of AMTIL’s success for over 20 years. This iconic Machine Tools Zone now forms an integral part of AMW 2023. AUSTECH is specifically targeted at the metalworking, machine tool, and ancillary market in Australia. AUSTECH covers advanced manufacturing products and processes including: CNC Machinery, Lathes, Mills Contract Manufacturing/Precision Machining Cutting Tools, Tooling & Tool Holding Forming & Fabricating Machines Plasma, Laser, Waterjet & Ultrasonic Machines Ancillary equipment suppliers Sponsored by ISCAR ISCAR Australia is a high-profile producer in the Australian metal-working sector. As well as sponsoring the AUSTECH MACHINE TOOLS ZONE, ISCAR is a producer of innovative cutting tools for metalworking, including turning, grooving, milling, hole-making,…

You've landed back home after visiting your offshore oil rig when you realise you need to set up a meeting with that drilling rig assessor. Her email address is written on a Post-It Note and stuck to the PC monitor... back on the rig. Wouldn't it be handy to call up a remote view, virtually walking right up to your desk to read the Post-It Note just like you’re walking through a videogame environment? That's exactly what Perth company RemSense can deliver. After starting in 2012 as a drone operator for Western Australian resources clients, a decade of technical experience has opened the door to opportunities with a range of clients across industries from mining to airports and everything in between. That's why founder and CEO Steve Brown describes RemSense as a technology development company more than just an imaging business (more below). But giving customers the best possible access to remote facilities is still a cornerstone of what he and his team do. Using magnetospheric or multispectral readings, LIDAR (light detection and ranging –…

The supply and labour constraints afflicting the Australian economy continue to create challenges for the manufacturing sector. According to the Australian Industry Group (AIG), the Australian Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI) dropped by 1.5 points to 52.5 in July. With production and employment both falling, it’s clear that manufacturers are struggling with the impact of chronic labour shortages and supply chain interruptions, leading many to reevaluate their processes to drive efficiency. An ongoing challenge While many might have hoped for a more positive year, 2022 continues to challenge manufacturers. In fact, business groups across Australia have raised concerns about a shortfall of skilled workers across a number of critical industries such as health, trades, manufacturing and tech, amid historically low unemployment rates. In August the NSW skills minister, Alister Henskens, went as far as describing the critical workforce shortages as a “handbrake” on the state’s economy. Against this backdrop, a growing number of manufacturers are considering implementing specialist technology, not only to minimise downtime but to also prevent their…

Omega Sinto is a global manufacturer of chemically bonded sand equipment used in the foundry/metal casting industry. Originally established in the UK, Omega Sinto now operates around the world offering a wide range of products which includes sand mixers, mould-handling equipment, core-making machines, shakeouts, sand reclamation plants, coating plants, and more. Leussink Sales and Marketing Manager, Stuart Ward, says that the partnership with Omega Sinto takes Leussink into a new area of Australian manufacturing. “Under our new partnership, we will supply Omega Sinto’s equipment off-the-shelf, but provide installation and modifications where required,” he said. “After joining Leussink last year I began to look at new business opportunities and approached Omega Sinto. My professional background is in the foundry industry so it made sense for me to look at that area.” “At the time I began speaking with them about fabrication and engineering work, the local business manager they had in place had decided to retire so they needed new representation in Australia and New Zealand. It fell into place from there,” added Ward. Omega Sinto has almost…

Every manufactured product you can think of, from the coffee you have first thing in the morning and the cereal you eat for breakfast, to the computer you use at work, the train home in the evening, and the car waiting at the station, and even the couch you sit on to watch your television with a glass of wine – they are all made by machines that were made by machine tools. Think about that... just the coffee beans alone require a coffee bean harvester, washing and screening equipment, dry processing, roasting, hulling, polishing, sorting and grading processes. Each one of these processes requires equipment that has significant machining and fabrication work to produce it. And that’s just the coffee beans. So if you have your coffee with milk and sugar, multiply all those processes by three, and then include the machine that you have sitting in your kitchen that now allows you to push a button and the coffee is produced. Whilst we may take making a coffee for…