Industry News

The Federal Government’s recent commitment to support an increase in the domestic manufacturing of critical products such as medical supplies is a good start, however there is more that can be done. According to AMCL Chief Executive, Ben Lazzaro, a co-ordinated push to ‘buy local’ has the potential to play a big part in getting Australia back online. “Australia’s economic landscape will be forever changed, however there is an opportunity for federal, state and local governments, as well as Australia’s business community, to take the lead and put policies in place that prioritise genuine Aussie products for major projects, supply contracts and everyday consumables,” said Lazzaro. “Reinvesting in local industry and local jobs through sustainable purchasing policies will go a long way towards helping Australia bounce back.” Research conducted by Roy Morgan Research in 2017 found that while three-quarters of businesses had a preference for buying Australian products, only 26% of those surveyed were found…

The Australian Made Campaign (AMCL) has joined calls for Australia’s business community and all levels of government to adopt ‘buy Australian first’ procurement policies, to help fast-track the country’s resurgence as it plans its recovery from the impact of COVID-19. australianmade.com.au The Industry Capability Network (ICN) reported that it had received more than 600 expressions of interest through its COVID-19 Response Portal in just four weeks since its launch. The COVID-19 Response Portal was launched on 23 March to help businesses keep the supply chain wheels turning during the coronavirus pandemic. To visit the ICN COVID-19 Response Portal, go to: https://gateway.icn.org.au/project/4531/covid-19-response The Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre (AMGC)’s Manufacturer Response Register has also received over 2,100 submissions from organisations and individuals willing to support all levels of governments in response to the coronavirus pandemic. https://www.amgc.org.au/covid-19-manufacturer-response/ The NSW Government is calling on local manufacturers to help supply medical equipment and hygiene products to essential services workers. If your business can manufacture…

The notus Emergency Invasive Ventilator Program, an initiative led by Richmond-based Grey Innovation and supported by the Victorian Government and Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre (AMGC), will supply life-saving invasive ventilators and ensure Australia does not have a shortfall amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The program will supply 2,000 units to the Federal Government, and the Victorian Government has announced its intention to purchase another 2,000 units. Grey Innovation, a leading technology commercialisation company, has secured a licence from a prominent global manufacturer to develop ventilators in Australia. At its headquarters in Clayton, BAMS will be manufacturing the test equipment required to check the ventilators. With a time-critical schedule, BAMS will begin delivering some items in the first week of May. With many of the associates putting their hands up to work on the project, they will be working extra shifts and weekends to meet the tight deadlines. Gavin Smith, President of Bosch Australia, is proud the local manufacturing team can play a pivotal role in the fight against COVID-19. “This consortium shows…

When a candy manufacturer in the US needed a specific machine to manufacture soft-gummy candies it turned to JH Tester Industrial Automation, which has been providing the candy manufacturer with machine control solutions for more than 10 years. Located in the western suburbs of Sydney, JH Tester has been in operation for over 35 years. Family-owned and operated, the company was started in 1980 by John Tester providing technical service and support to the textile industry. Over 20 years ago, JH Tester transitioned its focus to the design and manufacture of automated systems for a variety of sectors, including manufacturing, food and beverage, building, mining, infrastructure, and water processing. “Our specific strength is motion and motion control – anything that has servo controls is our sweet spot,” Tester said. “And we also have strengths in PLCs and HMIs. We pride ourselves on providing innovative simple automation solutions to often complex challenges in the manufacturing sector.” Four modules – one solution Designed and built in Australia, the confectionery machine features 18 MOVI-C Movidrive…

Designed by Defence Science and Technology Group (DST), Axiom Precision Manufacturing commenced production last week, with 600 of the new face shields already being distributed. Minister for Defence Linda Reynolds said this new partnership will ensure Australia sustains a sufficient supply of shields over the months ahead. “The Morrison Government is committed to ensuring our frontline health and aged care workers have access to masks and other personal protective equipment,” said Reynolds. “This includes boosting domestic manufacturing capability and capacity, and creating a pathway through to manage the virus. This initiative will not only help boost the supply of face shields across the country, but also expand industry capability within Australia.” Initially, Axiom will produce around 1,000 face shields per day, with this set to increase as the manufacturing process matures. “The Australian-made shield is lightweight so it can be worn comfortably for long periods, made from materials which Australia has ready access to, and is cost-competitive to manufacture compared to imported masks,” Reynolds said. “It provides sovereign manufacturing capability to the…

The machining of the complex parts, with intricate forms and profiles, has resulted in the need for local suppliers to deliver special cutting tools with unique geometries and advanced ceramic coatings in rapid delivery times. Since 2016, Guhring has supplied customised cutting tools from its Production and Service Division based in Melbourne. The major growth area has been the supply of custom-made solid carbide rotating cutting tools. The high-performance range includes step drills, form/profile end mills, special reamers, compression routers and day model cutters. Encouraged by this success, Guhring has just announced a major new investment in CNC grinding and PVD coating equipment to further support local manufacturers.  “High productivity, excellent economic efficiency and optimal machining have been the hallmarks of Guhring products for over 100 years,” says Brendan Smith, Managing Director of Guhring Australia. Guhring customers’ trust is well-founded, with tool material, geometry and coating all perfectly matched to one another. Guhring’s revolutionary coating technology, complemented by state-of-the-art R&D, ensures technological leadership in rotary cutting tools worldwide. Guhring…

Many companies know about Kanban and pull systems, but few seem confident to use them. Instead they often rely on cumbersome and ineffective spreadsheets. ERP systems also fail to offer solutions to many companies. A value stream map will show the process steps and, critically, the information flows that trigger the movement of materials and production jobs from one process to the next. From this you can develop your future state map. It is at this point you will probably be introduced to some new concepts for managing the flow of production jobs and materials. The difference between push, pull and flow The first response many companies adopt to overcome problems with material shortages and late deliveries, is to look for a software solution. I call this automating the chaos! There are very many systems available, but most offer…

A team at the University’s Advanced Manufacturing Precinct (AMP) have so far made 950 prototype face shields to help protect clinicians from airborne droplets that can carry the virus. Those on the coronavirus frontline have spoken out in recent weeks about the dire shortage of protective gear in Australia, with major hospitals in Victoria and Tasmania contacting the AMP for advice on manufacturing solutions. Within days of receiving requests, facility technical staff had improved on an open-source face shield design and delivered the first batches to hospitals for testing. AMP Director Professor Milan Brandt said they were now printing larger batches on the facility’s bank of 3D printers, while also seeking industry partners to look at mass manufacture. “We immediately understood the vital role of protective equipment in helping Australian healthcare workers get through this challenging time and have pulled out all the stops for an urgent response on this,” said Brandt. “This includes refocusing existing partnerships and projects to meet this need.” RMIT’s partnership with the BioFab3D lab at…

It’s been an eventful summer. While the bushfires dominated the headlines, Sydney faced widespread flooding following its heaviest rains in three decades, while Canberra was battered by hailstones the size of golfballs. The Great Barrier Reef is reportedly on the brink of further major coral bleaching, and drought conditions persist across much of the country. Meanwhile, schoolchildren abandoned classrooms to join nationwide Climate Strike demonstrations, and police battled protesters outside a mining conference in Melbourne. New research revealed that Australian summers are now on average 31 days longer compared to half a century ago. And Shane Warne voiced concern about how rising temperatures might impact cricket. Recent opinion polls indicate that more than three-quarters of Australians are now concerned about climate change, with a strong majority wanting stronger government leadership in addressing the issue. Business attitudes are shifting too, with the the Australian Climate Roundtable - whose members include the AiGroup, the Business Council of Australia (BCA) and the Australian…

The platform is being developed alongside CSIRO and Sutton Tools, and is supported with matched funding from the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre (AMGC). Successful completion of the project will allow ANCA to commercialise the new hybrid additive-manufacturing machine platform while growing its workforce and revenue while fulfilling a gap in the global tooling market, to which it already supplies Airbus, Boeing, Renishaw and Fraisa. The project builds on previous research & development (R&D) between ANCA and CSIRO through a six-month pilot program funded by the Victorian Government’s Boost Your Business voucher scheme. Together, ANCA and CSIRO have demonstrated that the tungsten-carbide tools could be made cheaper through improved production efficiencies compared to traditional tungsten products. In 2015, ANCA began exploring the potential for additive manufacturing to disrupt the tungsten cutting tool market, worth an estimated $2.2bn globally. Following significant research and the development culminating in a report with CSIRO, both parties entered a six-month pilot program. Dean McBain, ANCA’s Research and Technology Manager said: “Such a complex project and process wouldn’t be possible without…

We regularly assist our clients in drafting and negotiating distribution agreements (both as principal and distributor) to serve our client’s key commercial objectives. We are also often called on to assist clients who come to us as victims of pro-forma or poorly worded distribution agreements and in circumstances where there is no documented agreement in place at all. Document, document, document There is often substantial goodwill between a principal and distributor at the start of a commercial relationship, leading parties to assume that a ‘handshake’ deal or an exchange of emails is sufficient comfort that the parties will do as they have agreed and that the arrangement is legally enforceable. This is a dangerous assumption. From a principal’s perspective, if you do not have a binding agreement in place which specifies the period of notice required to be given to…

Industry Minister Karen Andrews has signalled that the Federal Government may take a more active approach in strengthening Australia’s manufacturing base in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. In a radio interview on 12 April, Andrews said: “What the coronavirus has proven to us is that it's wrong for us to be totally reliant, or even reliant to a whole large extent, on supply chains that bring products from overseas. But the positive thing that’s come out of this is a demonstration that we have a very strong manufacturing base and that they can pivot really quite quickly - they can upscale. Their issue has been, in some cases, getting access to the input materials that they need - so that's a problem and we need to make sure that we address that as well as making sure that we don’t just retain a strong manufacturing sector - but build it..” The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has forecast that…

It takes time, energy and effort to become an expert in any specific field; being an expert in the multitude of possibilities in a factory is all but impossible, so you should rely on the true specialists to help keep your systems inline. How are you supposed to know if every one of these systems is running at peak efficiency? Or if something has started to change and needs attention? Or even worse, is on the brink of failure? Sure, it’s probably in the data somewhere, but you need the time and patience to find it. Of course, there are some systems that should warrant at least some attention, and without these systems, the site simply stops producing. For most sites the worst…