Industry News

Additive manufacturing, commonly known as 3D metal printing, allows for the manufacture of complex shapes from light metals with high mechanical strength. This unique material combination yields parts with a high strength to weight ratio along with good corrosion and fatigue resistance. One of the most popular powder-based materials is the titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V, which has found its way into both aerospace and medical applications. Titanium is already widely used in aircraft manufacture to prevent fatigue cracks or in structural parts like the frames of cockpit windows. Applications of titanium alloys are even more widely used in military aircraft, helicopters and spacecraft due to their high performance and unique properties, particularly weight reduction. Selective laser melting machines are regarded as the most versatile additive manufacturing technology because the system can process a wide spectrum of materials that include aluminium, titanium, iron, nickel, cobalt, copper-based alloys and their composites. Choosing the appropriate material…

Market analysis undertaken by the Naval Shipbuilding College (NSC), in collaboration with Australia’s naval shipbuilding industry, identified experienced designers/drafters in particular as a critical job priority. Naval architects and associated designers/drafters are responsible for the creation of the highly sophisticated 3D designs, product models and schematics, required to design, build and sustain the Royal Australian Navy’s new submarines and warships. NSC Chief Executive Ian Irving said the Federal Government’s $90bn National Naval Shipbuilding Enterprise provides an unparalleled career opportunity for naval architects and maritime designers/drafters in this country. “The opportunity to work on the world’s most technologically advanced projects, contributing to the design of some of the most sophisticated machines that are being creating anywhere in the world, and to be able to do this here in Australia, is very appealing to a potential workforce,” he said. “Naval architects and designers will be at the very heart of creating Australia’s new fleet. These are very important and coveted jobs that are in demand across the world today.” The spearhead of Australia’s new fleet will include…

Professor Danny Samson, Director of the Master of Enterprise and Master of Supply Chain Management degrees at the University of Melbourne, published an article a few years ago titled ‘Mega-challenges and executive strategies’. In it he wrote: “In Australia, we face a number of challenges. With the mining boom over and industries such as automotive and many services being offshored in an increasingly high-cost Australian economy, leaders in all sectors have a daunting task in planning and executing long-term paths to prosperity.” Manufacturing as a share of the economy has been declining for many years, and even the recent weakening of the exchange rate has not had much of an effect yet. Anecdotal evidence suggests that it is becoming ever more challenging to obtain the required skills at an acceptable cost. Employee engagement in Australia is seemingly falling off a cliff, from 24% of employees highly engaged in 2013 to only 14% in 2017. Productivity is not…

January is traditionally the slowest month for Australian manufacturing but the start to 2020 was even slower than usual, with food & beverages the only sector to report expanding conditions, down 0.5 points to 60.3 (readings below 50 points indicate contraction in activity, with the distance from 50 indicating the strength of the contraction). Among the six manufacturing sectors in the Australian PMI, machinery & equipment was broadly stable (down 1.1 points to 49.0). All other sectors contracted at a faster rate than in December. “Australia’s manufacturers are seeing a disappointing start to this new year and new decade,” said Ai Group Chief Executive Innes Willox. “Activity, new orders, deliveries, sales and exports all slowed in the last months of 2019 and this has continued into January, affecting all segments of manufacturing.” Six of the seven activity indices in the Australian PMI contracted in January, with exports the only index reporting stability (down 4.2 points to 49.8). Production (down 3.5 points to…

Lehane Centrifugal Clutches (Lehane CC) was founded in 1961, when Peter Lehane began operating a small manufacturing business out of his father’s backyard in Lidcombe, having completed an apprenticeship at de Havilland aircraft. He remains closely involved with the company, though these days he has largely handed the reins to his son, also called Peter, as he transitions into retirement. Peter Junior joined in 1985 and is now the company’s General Manager. A third generation of the family joined in 2015, when Peter Junior’s son Pierce came on board; he now works as the company’s CNC foreman. In the early years, Peter Senior had picked up general engineering jobs, including quite a lot of work in automotive and motorsports. However, over time the business found its niche in the manufacture of high-quality industrial clutches. “First of all we started repairing clutches, and then we started improving them,” explains Peter Senior. “And later on from about 1980,…

JC Butko Engineering was established in 1976 by John and Carolyn Butko. Employing 128 tradespersons and 30 contractors, the company’s expansion – particularly over the last 10 years – has seen its factory grow to the present size of 7,000sqm (with an additional 450sqm of administration area). With an average annual turnover today of $35m, it is now the region’s largest general engineering company. Born to Ukrainian immigrant parents, John Butko was apprenticed as a fitter and turner in Melbourne before returning to Wodonga and joining Milos Metrol & Sons. In 1972, John was named as Albury & Wodonga’s top apprentice. Soon afterwards, he rented a small shed in Kendall Street, Wodonga, and invested heavily in machinery – including a lathe, guillotine and a set of rollers – and the rest is history. The team at JC Butko consists of boilermakers, sheet metal workers, pipe welders, fitter/machinists and apprentices. The management team comprises project managers, mechanical engineers, certifying engineers, project supervisors, estimators, drafting personnel, quality assurance,…

The 47-year-old company, based in Kilsyth, Victoria, counts Kenworth Trucks as one of its longest-serving customers and prides itself on how its staff continue to deliver exceptional client service by providing timely solutions to help solve customers’ problems. Rae-Line has been recognised as Kenworth’s ‘Supplier of the Year’ seven times. Brett Vorhauer, Managing Director for Rae-Line says the business has been successful at reactively addressing issues, but that the company is now at a point where employees’ time needs to be freed up to allow them to do more with the limited time they have. Despite a solid customer base, the growth of the company and its customers’ businesses means the organisation needs to progress its digital transformation journey, so that efficiency can be improved via better predictability throughout the supply chain. “Due to customer growth, the business has outgrown our legacy system of relying on manual data collection and requires a more integrated IT system,”…

State-of-the art turbochargers are used in diesel vehicles, and almost all automotive manufacturers offer a turbocharged petrol engine. Why? The turbocharger makes comparable performance with a smaller engine capacity possible and that contributes to the advance in downsizing. Turbochargers also contribute to the reduction in fuel consumption and are therefore fundamental in meeting strict emission limits. Challenge for machining tools Most turbochargers are exhaust gas turbochargers and each automotive manufacturer has a different design that incorporates special geometries and the need for special tools. However, when it comes to petrol engines, there is one common factor in all variants – the very high temperatures achieved during operation. It is due to this reason that the turbine housing, the so-called ‘hot side’, is manufactured from a very abrasive, heat-resistant material. These materials represent a particular challenge for every machine tool, especially regarding the cutting tools applied. Mapal has taken up these challenges and developed new cutting materials and tool geometries.…

A third-generation family business based in the Gold Coast suburb of Carrara in Queensland, Prendergast Fasteners is a long-term user of Okuma’s range of high-tech manfacturing equipment, having commissioned its first CNC machine back in 1996. Most recently the company commissioned five new Okuma CNC lathes with OSP-P300LA control and four LNS ALPHA SL65-S Bar Loaders. While the new machines are in many ways similar to the existing Okuma machines in the Prendergast Fasteners workshop, they also provide for enhanced consistent accuracy and increased speed of production, thereby allowing for shorter lead times and improved efficiencies. For the company’s Managing Director Nat Prendergast, the new machines have had a clear impact on operations at the company’s Carrara facility, further bolstered by the aftersales support provided by the team at Okuma Australia. “Okuma has been a standout for us,” said Nat. “The performance of these machines is outstanding as we are already…

It’s been two years since the last of the major car manufacturers ceased vehicle production in Australia, when GM Holden followed in the footsteps of Ford and Toyota and closed its manufacturing operations here. The automotive aftermarket manufacturing sector has consequently had to move with the changing market, and the signs are currently very positive. In June, the Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association (AAAA) published research conducted with ACA Research to evaluate the state of the market. It reveals that 300 automotive manufacturing companies operate in Australia, up from 260 in 2015 (when the AAAA last surveyed the sector). Although the sector’s combined annual revenue has dropped from $5.2bn to $4bn and employment is down from 21,000 to 9,800, the research also shows that 93% of the automotive manufacturers surveyed expect revenue to grow, and 82% expect…

“It was a pretty easy choice for me,” says Aaron. “I looked at all my options and decided I wanted to go with an Australian-made machine as I knew the quality of the TECHNI machines was world class. It also helped that the TECHNI head office was local, so if we needed any support, the guys were very close. “I started the business back in 2008 as I thought there was a gap in the market for a waterjet cutting job shop here in the area. At the time I didn’t really know which way the business would go, but I was confident that we could build a strong business providing a quality service. Eleven years later, we now have a total of six TECHNI Waterjet machines – eight cutting heads, running 10 hours a day.” Soon after he opened Aztech Cutting Solutions and the business began to grow, Aaron knew he needed more support.…

Australian Made Chief Executive Ben Lazzaro highlighted the importance of supporting local businesses this Australia Day, especially those in regional and bushfire affected areas, to help communities bounce back in what are extremely challenging times. “Australian-made and -grown products play an important role in our economy. It’s been tough for Aussie farmers and manufacturers, particularly those in rural and regional areas affected by fire and drought,” said Lazzaro. “We need to rally behind our local businesses. Every dollar spent on locally made and grown products will have a direct impact on the livelihoods of Aussie farmers and manufacturers, as well as the wider community. “We are so lucky to have access to some of the best products in the world made right here in our backyard. Shoppers should look for the Australian Made logo to be sure they’re buying genuinely Australian products.” These sentiments were echoed by Australian Made licensee MiniJumbuk, located in the country town of Naracoorte in South Australia. MiniJumbuk…

Owned by Australian farmers since 1895, NORCO recently invested in a Micro-Vu Vertex Multi-Sensor vision system, supplied by Hi-Tech Metrology, to enhance the production and quality of its injection-moulded ice cream containers. According to Trent Dobrunz of NORCO: “We needed a better way of measuring the dimensions on an ice cream container. As they are flexible with no straight edges conventional methods proved difficult, unreliable and definitely not repeatable, which prompted a call to Hi-Tech Metrology.” NORCO had previously been using a Go/No-Go gauge that was highly susceptible to operator influences, making it very difficult to obtain reliable results. As the ice cream containers are flexible the solution needed to be non-contact, so the search began for an automated measuring system that utilised vision technology. The system ultimately chosen for the task was a Micro-Vu Vertex, supplied complete with a suite of fixtures and part programs to measure a variety of…