Month: June 2023

Australia is one of the most wasteful developed nations, second only to the US in terms of per capita plastic bag consumption. On average, each Australian consumes over 24kg of plastic and uses over 230 plastic bags every year. In 2020, only 12% of the plastic waste was actually recycled and 81% went into landfills, with a lot of it ending up in waterways and the oceans. The 2021 National Plastics Plan (NPP) also says over one million tonnes of single-use plastics goes straight to landfill and about 130,000 tonnes of plastic leaches into Australian waterways and oceans every year. This is equivalent to 1,280 kg of plastic being dumped every hour in Australia’s ocean. National Geographic estimates there are 5.25 Trillion pieces of plastic debris in the ocean and of that mass, 269,000 tonnes float on the surface, while some four billion plastic microfibres per square kilometre litter the deep sea. Various waste technology solutions are emerging, and some behavioural changes are taking place, but is enough being done…

Starting in 2007 within the Federal Department of Education’s National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS), the Australian National Fabrication Facility (ANFF) provides access to world-class micro- and nanofabrication-related facilities and expertise in a simple open access model. In April last year, the Commonwealth Government released the 2021 National Research Infrastructure Roadmap (NRI) outlining the Research Challenges to be faced by Australia, which included Frontier Technologies and Modern Manufacturing. With a national recognition of the importance of fabrication technologies' ability to address these challenges, ANFF continues to support a broad spectrum of R&D. Frontier Technologies and Modern Manufacturing (FTMM) is one of the eight research challenges identified in the 2021 NRI roadmap. The others are: Food and Beverage, Medical products, Recycling and Clean Energy, Defence, Space, and Environment & Climate. ANFF facilitates cutting-edge discovery and product development in all of these areas. ANFF is a national enterprise, with 500 tools and over 130 experts spread across 21 institutions in a network of eight Nodes. The ANFF network achieved the following annual outcomes in 2022 despite COVID restrictions affecting normal operations. There were 25,189…

Plex, which Rockwell Automation acquired in 2021, is a Software as a Service (SaaS) Smart Manufacturing Platform that connects people, systems, machines, and supply chains. It is a digital system of record that automates business processes, tracks data from the shop floor to the top floor, and delivers analytics to improve visibility, quality, and control. Rockwell Automation recently released its 2023 State of Smart Manufacturing Report, which comprised data from thousands of manufacturers globally, including 75 in Australia. Rockwell found that more than 45% of Australian manufacturers say that they lack the innovation, skilled workforce, and technology to outpace the competition over the next 12 months. “Although smart manufacturing is key to Australia’s success, only 25% of the country’s manufacturing industry leaders said they were extremely familiar with the technologies,” said Anthony Wong, regional director – south pacific, Rockwell Automation. Plex opens up technologies to smaller players “Using Plex for food and beverage manufacturers and processors is like moving from DVDs to a streaming service. It opens up these technologies to smaller players, who don’t have to invest in large up-front costs. The good news is…

Hosted by Weld Australia in collaboration with the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work, the theme of the National Manufacturing Summit is 'Manufacturing the Energy Revolution: Industrial Opportunities from Renewable Energy'. International expert, Adam Hersh, will address the opportunities and challenges presented by Australia’s renewable energy revolution at the National Manufacturing Summit in Canberra on 2 and 3 August. Adam Hersh is a Senior Economist at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, DC, one of Washington’s most influential think tanks. Adam’s work focuses on international trade, industrial, climate, China, and macroeconomic policies. He is currently leading a major research project on the industrial opportunities associated with new green energy policies. Adam will be the keynote speaker at the Summit dinner on 2 August, and a panelist at the Summit on 3 August. With an impressive line-up of international and Australian experts, just some of the other confirmed speakers include: Jim Stanford, Economist and Director, The Australian Institute & Centre for Future Work Michele O’Neil, President, Australian Council of Trade Unions Emily Scivetti, Chief Operating Officer, Oceanex Ben Oquist, Climate…

Touted as the Oscars of the cutting tool industry, #ANCATooloftheYear2023 is your chance to achieve global brand recognition as well as cash and other prizes. Last year’s awards achieved: A digital audience reach of 8.1 million readers via the media; 37 global entries seen by over 202,480 fans; Over 200,000 engagements on social media. 2022 winner Edwin Juarez, CEO of SJ Tools said: “In this very competitive world with the technology that exists in cutting tools, it’s a great achievement for me as well as the whole team that works at SJ Tools. After winning the Tool of the Year award and using it in my marketing materials, my company has experienced an increase in custom specials as a result.” You can enter in one, or both categories: #MadeonANCA and Most Innovative Tool Design. The winner of #MadeonANCA receives: a trip to ANCA's headquarters in Melbourne, Australia; A$10,000 worth of ANCA parts, accessories or software; VIP access to exclusive opportunities with ANCA experts. The winner of Most…

Vaxxas, a clinical-stage biotechnology company commercialising a needle-free vaccine patch platform, in partnership with the Queensland Government, today announced the opening of its global headquarters and state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Brisbane. The custom-built 5,500m² Vaxxas Biomedical Facility is a first-of-its-kind manufacturing site designed to support the scale-up of Vaxxas’ needle-free vaccine technology platform, the high-density microarray patch (HD-MAP), for late-stage clinical trials and first commercial products. The Vaxxas Biomedical Facility is expected to support up to 200 local, skilled jobs and produce millions of vaccine patches per year once fully operational, contributing to Queensland’s local economy. The Queensland Government provided funding and operational support to Vaxxas in developing the site. Additional funding has been provided by the Australian Federal Government through its Modern Manufacturing Initiative to support the installation of specialised manufacturing infrastructure. Deputy Premier, Minister for State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning and Minister Assisting the Premier on Olympic and Paralympic Games Infrastructure, The Honourable Dr Steven Miles officiated the opening. “Queensland is fast shaping up as a global research and innovation hub thanks to the Palaszczuk Government’s investment in…

Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, is boosting Australia’s advanced manufacturing capability by providing free research and development (R&D) support to businesses to help them develop new products or services. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) working on new advanced manufacturing solutions can sign up for the free, 10-week online Innovate to Grow program, to support their idea by building their R&D knowledge. Upon completion of the program, eligible participants may have the opportunity to access facilitation support, through CSIRO, to connect to research expertise nationally, along with dollar-matched R&D funding. CSIRO’s Director of Manufacturing, Dr Marcus Zipper, explained how CSIRO’s unique position in the research ecosystem drives innovation to advance Australian manufacturing. “Manufacturing is a vitally important sector, employing over 800,000 people across Australia,” Dr Zipper said. “At CSIRO, we work collaboratively with SMEs on research and development to find new and improved technologies and processes that enable great ideas to see success locally and internationally. “We translate research into products and processes that businesses want to adopt because what we’ve created is economically viable, more efficient and effective, and sustainable,” he said. Connop Metal…

On 4 January 2023, Kemppi organised a stove welding day, where companies from Lahti region in Finland were invited to weld together stoves for the civilians in Ukraine. By organising this welding day, Kemppi responds to the challenge of LUT University (Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology) to help Ukrainians get through their days. Stoves can be used to heat apartments and cook food. The purpose is to help Ukrainians suffering from energy shortages and the lack of piped gas or other fuels. Many Ukrainians have no electricity or heat distribution after the Russian bombings. “In the end, more than 500 stoves were shipped,” said Emma Naukkarinen of Kemppi Oy. “So our stove welding day was a great success, and the welders were eager to help the Ukrainians. Our shipment left for Ukraine last week, and we packed also axes and lighters with the stoves because we heard there was a need for those as well. The stoves will be handed over to the Institute of Welding in Kiev and they will take care of the distribution there.” Companies VS-Welding Oy, Speweld Service…

HDR has designed two NEXTDC colocation data centres in Melbourne that are set to house Australia’s largest and most comprehensive cloud ecosystem. Constructed by Kapitol Group, M3 Melbourne, a 100,000m² data centre in West Footscray, and M2 Melbourne, a 16,000m² data centre in Tullamarine, will collectively deliver 210 megawatts of critical IT infrastructure to enterprise, manufacturing and government in a climate of unprecedented digital innovation. “Designing high-performance, resilient and scalable infrastructure at speed is no easy feat,” said Sam Faigen, project leader at HDR. “Utilising a data-driven design methodology, we have succeeded in delivering two purpose-built facilities, using modular and adaptable solutions, that will accelerate industry growth.” With Stage 1 of the 150MW masterplan now complete, M3 operates as a colocation facility for retail, enterprise and hyperscale customers, fitted out with HDR-designed administrative offices, collaboration spaces and highly adaptable data halls. Strategically located close to major electricity substations, the campus is situated ten km from Melbourne’s CBD and resides at the junction between large industrial manufacturing developments and low-scale residential dwellings. “Knitted into West Footscray’s semi-residential urban fabric, the building form has been set 20-metres back…

MathWorks, the leading developer of mathematical computing software, joins the UR+ program, the industry’s largest and most comprehensive ecosystem of products certified to integrate seamlessly with cobots from Universal Robots (UR). MathWorks received the UR+ certification for MATLAB, a programming and numeric computing platform that provides software tools and algorithms for designing, simulating, testing and deploying robotics applications, including those for Universal Robots’ cobots. Robotics engineers use MATLAB for specialised or sophisticated cobot applications that are difficult to program using the UR teach pendant or graphical-based programming tools, including applications that incorporate machine learning, deep learning, computer vision, optimisation, sensor fusion, and advanced signal processing. MATLAB provides AI capabilities for cobots to move more efficiently and productively by perceiving dynamically changing workspaces and sophisticated robot algorithms. Engineers can verify their UR cobot applications by connecting MATLAB to URSim, simulation software for robot programs, or UR hardware. MATLAB support for Universal Robots is compatible with the entire e- and CB- series of Universal Robots. "We are delighted to welcome MathWorks to our UR+ solutions ecosystem and look forward to…

Manufacturing planning tools have come a long way and simulation, like digital twin technology, has come a long way. They provide manufacturers with more insight than ever before to help identify, plan, optimise, and seek approval for manufacturing projects. If manufacturers want to succeed, they need to evolve their manufacturing operations and management architecture to take advantage of digital twins. The power of these modern tools is endless. At Bosch Australia Manufacturing Solutions (BAMS) a digital twin is a physics-enabled virtual replica of a real machine that can be commissioned with the same controllers and the same programs as the real machine, communicating bi-directionally, in real-time, and vastly speeding up the development time and the quality of the final product. If a programmer plugs their PC into a machine in another room, obscured from view, they should not be able to tell whether they are plugged into the real system or the Digital Twin. The objectives of using digital twins at BAMS are to validate the complete machine (debug Robot, PLC, and HMI code) and connect all…

Stratasys Ltd and Australia channel partner TCL Hofmann have announced that motorsports team Walkinshaw Andretti United (WAU) has selected Stratasys FDM® 3D printing technology to anchor its new additive manufacturing hub and has a new Stratasys Fortus® 450mc 3D printer. “Every second counts not only on the track but also in the workshop,” said Bruce Stewart, Team Principal at Walkinshaw Andretti United. “We use 3D printing to prototype and produce parts much faster than we could through traditional methods. At the same time, the high-performance standards of Stratasys industrial printers and materials mean these parts also perform exceptionally well, despite the extreme heat, dirt, and vibration that go with Supercars racing. As such, Stratasys and TCL Hofmann make great partners for our team.” WAU’s new Fortus450mc 3D printer is its second FDM printer from Stratasys. The industrial-grade printer accommodates more than two dozen materials, including those with flame-retardant properties, chemical resistance, and strength reinforced by carbon fiber. It provides best-in-class reliability and repeatability, making it ideal for applications such as manufacturing tooling and end-use parts. The 3D printers will be located…