Month: March 2026

**This story originally appeared in the February 2026 edition of AMT Magazine** In Australia’s dynamic manufacturing landscape, financial resilience is not just a strategic advantage, it’s a necessity. With fluctuating demand, rising input costs and global supply chain disruptions, manufacturers face increasing pressure to maintain operational stability while pursuing growth. At the heart of this challenge lies two indispensable financial tools: effective cash flow management and three-way forecasting. Forecasting isn’t just a process of putting numbers in a spreadsheet hoping they’ll predict the future. It’s an opportunity for business owners to work alongside their finance departments and advisors to take a deep dive into the drivers of a business and really understand the cause and effect of change that can move the dial. Cash flow, the movement of money in and out of a business, is the lifeblood of any manufacturing operation. Unlike profitability, which is often measured on paper, cash flow reflects the real-time ability of a business to meet its obligations, pay suppliers, invest in equipment and fund expansion. In short, cash flow management enables manufacturers to…

**This story originally appeared in the February 2026 edition of AMT Magazine** The high speed milling (HSM) of aluminium and its alloys requires cutting speeds at significantly higher than the standard rates. This approach ensures efficient material removal and excellent surface finish and accuracy. While there is no strict definition for what constitutes HSM speeds, it is generally accepted that they range from 1.5 to 4 times more than the typical speeds. Achieving HSM cutting speeds requires operating milling cutters at extremely high rotational velocities, often reaching 30,000 RPM or more. From a design perspective, general purpose milling cutters and cutting tools for high‑speed milling (HSM) of aluminium and its alloys are typically classified as either indexable tools, solid cutters – typically solid carbide endmills (SCEM), or SCEM assembled tools that mount replaceable cutting heads, primarily made of tungsten carbide. Machining at exceptionally high rotational velocity demands that milling tools withstand substantial centrifugal loads, maintain balancing quality, and ensure safety. A key goal is to achieve, at the design stage, a mass distribution…

**This story originally appeared in the February 2026 edition of AMT Magazine** Developed by accident overseas, adopted in Australia after investments from a food packaging printer and today used to restore fast jets – cold spray additive manufacturing (CSAM) technology is, one Melbourne specialist insists, “just another tool” in the advanced manufacturing toolbox. What Rosebank Engineering Senior Manager, Engineering and Projects Jarrod Watts means is that CSAM technology should be considered the same as any other specialist manufacturing process – like semi-automated shot peening or precision multi-axis CNC machining – a highly technical innovation, but one which is accessible to a wide pool of manufacturers. “There’s no doubt Australia is seen as a world leader in this innovative technology,” he says. “We’re no longer just sustaining Australian assets – we’re part of a global supply chain, and technologies like this help us compete and win on a global stage,” he says. “The momentum is certainly building, and the customer base is expanding. People are…

**This story originally appeared in the February 2026 edition of AMT Magazine** Amiga Engineering RFP program manager Dee Bourchier jokes that she decided to hire Jourdan Webb once he brought his own engine components to his interview. “I always tell people, if you’ve made something you’re really proud of, you’re welcome to bring it in… so when he’d brought in miniature engine components that he’d machined up outside of school… we were just like – ‘these are really good… when do you want to start?’” she says. Webb is one of two apprentices named as Manufacturing Apprentice of the Year at the 2025 Victorian Manufacturing Hall of Fame Awards, having recently entered the fourth year of his apprenticeship as a fitter and turner. But it was a career that almost came to a premature end when his first employer, which he describes as “an old-school valve shop,” closed shortly after he’d completed his first year as an apprentice. “I decided straight away I’d have to look…

**This story originally appeared in the February 2026 edition of AMT Magazine** Daikin Australia has opened a new factory in the Sydney suburb of Chipping Norton which it says will help put local designs and skills at the centre. The new $28.2 million Factory 2 expands Daikin’s capability to produce customised Air Handling Units and Rooftop Packaged Air Conditioners for Australian buyers. Daikin Australia manufacturing general manager Nick McDonald explains the company’s Australian-made ducted units were engineered from the ground up for local clients. “They are designed to suit the Australian home… they have geometry such that they fit inside an Australian roof space, so they’re easy to install. They are designed so they come apart into several pieces, so they can be easily manhandled up into the roof space by our dealer group.” That Australian focus extends to performance in harsh conditions: “If you go to South Australia, the roofs are very hot. The temperature inside the roof cavity can be well in excess of 60 degrees, for example. So our equipment has…

**This story originally appeared in the February 2026 edition of AMT Magazine** Terry Wohlers has provided technical and strategic advisory services on rapid product development, additive manufacturing (AM) and 3D printing for 38 years – to more than 280 organisations in 27 countries. As a principal author of industry-leading publication the Wohlers Report, he has an earned reputation as an industry leader. Here he discusses some of the trends emerging in AM and where Australia can make the most of new opportunities. Looking at AM on a global scale, where does Australia sit? The growth of AM globally has been historically strong. In the past 15 years, it has grown more than 22 per cent on average every year. This past year has not been as strong, but still a growth rate of 9.1 per cent. Of the US$21.9 billion of revenue the sector generated in 2024, about US$3.7 billion is tied to production applications – parts made for final use – a figure which grew by 12.1 per cent last year. Adoption…

**This story originally appeared in the February 2026 edition of AMT Magazine** “It’s really, really interesting seeing how things are made, and what it takes… Now I know and understand much of what was required to assemble things. It’s interesting seeing how things work.” Ten years ago, Melanie Kramer walked away from her retail job at a jeweller in inner-city Melbourne to help her sister Simone and Simone’s partner Brian at Boss Tooling, their year-old CNC machining company in Dandenong South. She’s still there today – running machines which today include two new Okuma 5-axis CNC mills and helping to refine designs on the factory floor to keep processes running smoothly. Both Melanie and Simone say they did a lot of learning on the job, with Simone initially learning management skills at Brian’s family company Cogley Enterprises before the couple branched out on their own. “I didn’t have any skills when I started – I got put in an office and didn’t even know what a purchase…