Industry News

Machining specialist Walter decided to tackle the topic area of digitalisation some years ago and, under the Walter Nexxt product line, is offering digital products and Industry 4.0 solutions that are tailored for use in medium-sized companies. It does not have to be, and above all cannot be, the one and only Industry 4.0 solution. Instead, Walter is dealing with a wide range of different levels of the planning and production process. For example, the Comara iCut software for optimising cutting data and the Comara appCom platform for monitoring production processes. Adaptive feed control: Cutting data optimisation via live data Automation, digitalisation and networked processes have been everyday aspects in many areas of industrial production for a long time now. New opportunities for further optimising processes have been created by…

Manufacturing is critical to the Queensland economy. It is the state’s sixth-largest employing industry with more than 170,000 people in the year to June 2018, and is the third-largest employer of full-time workers. Strategy is fundamental to the success and longevity of industry, which is why the Queensland Government has committed significant resources to ensuring manufacturing continues to be a key driver of the state’s economic and jobs growth. The Queensland Advanced Manufacturing 10-Year Roadmap and Action Plan, the State Government’s strategic vision for the sector, is supporting manufacturers as they transition to advanced manufacturing, increase productivity, improve international competitiveness and access emerging opportunities. Since the launch of the plan in December 2016, the State Government has provided advice and support to hundreds of Queensland manufacturing businesses, helping them make the transition to high-value, knowledge-based advanced manufacturing. Utilising industry expertise – The…

Tool builders must also adapt to developments in the aerospace, aviation and medical industries that have necessitated machining high-temperature or exotic materials with maximum efficiency. In particular, the application of coolant with high (or ultra-high) pressure, directly to the working area to increase efficiency and chip flow, requires a suitable tooling solution. Vertical pick-up turning machines have wide applications for manufacturing of automotive, hydraulic and general industry parts, and their value in maximising efficiency should not be underestimated. Tools for multi-spindle machining centres Multi-spindle machining centres save space at manufacturing facilities and reduce tool inventory by using combined tools for sequential operations, and decrease set-up time by assembly and adjustment of the same tool for each spindle. The principal aim for using multi-spindle machines without Z-axis compensation is to facilitate the axial adjustment needed to achieve overlength precision. This ensures…

Professor Mahendran said the project, in collaboration with the National Association of Steel-Framed Housing (NASH), would specifically examine the fire resistance levels of complex, high-strength Light Gauge Steel Framed (LSF) wall systems, which are being increasingly used in low and mid-rise buildings around the world. “We are seeing plasterboard-lined LSF walls being used more and more, because they are a cost-effective load-bearing wall, but that has required new wall designs, which involve complex steel stud wall configurations. The real issue is that their fire resistance is not yet fully understood,” Professor Mahendran said. “This project aims to investigate the thermal and structural behaviour of those wall systems when they are exposed to fire, and to also develop a generic model for predicting fire resistance levels of LSF wall systems.” Professor Mahendran said he was pleased that this project would further increase awareness of fire-resistance levels and make important fire…

Deakin scientists Dr Nolene Byrne and PhD candidate Beini Zeng have discovered how to dissolve denim and manipulate the remains into an aerogel – a low-density material with a range of uses including cartilage bioscaffolding, water filtration and use as a separator in advanced battery technology. Dr Byrne, who completed the ground-breaking work in a joint project with Deakin’s Institute for Frontier Materials (IFM) and the School of Engineering, said the process worked because denim was made from cotton, a natural polymer comprised of cellulose. “Cellulose is a versatile renewable material, so we can use liquid solvents on waste denim to allow it to be dissolved and regenerated into an aerogel, or a variety of different forms,” said Dr Byrne. “Aerogels are a class of advanced materials with very low density, sometimes referred to as ‘frozen smoke’ or ‘solid smoke’, and because of this low density they make excellent materials for bioscaffolding, absorption or filtration. When we reformed the cellulose, we got something we didn’t expect – an aerogel with a…

There is strong evidence that at an economy-wide level, business investment in digital technologies results in higher productivity over the long term. Manufacturing processes that were once standalone and analogue are becoming increasingly digitised. This facilitates development of “smart factories” that are significantly more flexible, transparent and customisable. A recent Epicor study found that over half of global businesses are assigning a high priority to IT investment. The adoption and deployment of Industry 4.0 within Australia has the potential to significantly improve the competiveness of the advanced manufacturing sector. In 2016, the Prime Minister’s Industry 4.0 Taskforce was announced, with an initial aim to connect Australian and German industry leaders to collaborate and share information on Industry 4.0. The Taskforce now plans to create a network of Industry 4.0 testlabs, built in partnership with industry leaders to improve the competitiveness…

Compiled by the Australian Industry Group, the latest PMI extended the index’s period of uninterrupted growth to 25 consecutive months – the longest run of recovery or expansion since 2005. Readings above 50 indicate expansion in activity, with the distance from 50 indicating the strength of the increase. For a third consecutive month, all seven activity sub-indexes in the Australian PMI expanded in October. Production (up 2.9 points to 61.6), supplier deliveries (up 3.7 points to 60.9) and sales (up 2.3 points to 59.9) were all encouragingly strong, while employment (down 5.4 points to 52.6), new orders (down 3.8 points to 58.8) and exports (down 3.8 points to 55.1) all slowed in comparison to September. “The strength of Australia’s manufacturing sector continued into October with production, domestic sales and new orders all growing at encouraging rates,” said Ai Group Chief Executive Innes Willox. “Employment also lifted – although at a slower pace than in September.” Seven of the eight manufacturing sub-sectors expanded in October…

Based in the Netherlands, Seatools is a global provider of bespoke subsea solutions for companies ranging from offshore oil and gas to offshore renewables and aquaculture development. In light of its expansive and diverse scope, Seatools faced a distinct challenge in quickly and effectively communicating its range of custom offerings at the highly attended Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston, Texas. As the largest event in the world for the oil and gas industry, OTC attracts over 2,300 exhibitors a year and counting. Therefore Seatools knew it needed to make a splash with a creative trade show display to ensure a positive return on investment, and that it had to do everything in its power to attract attention and engage new business. With the help of 3D Systems’ On Demand Manufacturing services, Seatools devised a unique subsea landscape to display seven distinct 3D printed appearance models of its various custom underwater technologies. Offering expansive prototyping and manufacturing services to support the entire product development lifecycle, 3D Systems’ On Demand…

Assad Ibrahim worked in car manufacturing for 12 years. He started at Ford in Melbourne straight out of school when he was still a teenager, in the body shop, literally putting cars together. “The exterior, the side assembly, the hood, the bonnet, the works,” he says. Assad did an apprenticeship for a trade in fitting and turning, and then also a diploma in engineering. He went on to work in project management at Ford, working with the newest manufacturing technology in a high-stakes, well-paid role. Then the Australian automotive industry hit the skids. In Victoria, Toyota has now been reduced to a skeleton staff in Altona doing non-manufacturing roles. Ford stopped making cars in Victoria in 2016. Holden shut its last Australian plant, in Adelaide, last year. It had spanned nearly 100 years; the first Ford factory opened in Geelong in 1925. The grand era was over. “We all knew it was doom and gloom,” says Assad. “It was just a matter of when. It was heartbreaking.…

Global manufacturer Dormer Pramet tasks its product management and development department with creating new tools every year. One member of the team is product and development engineer Jan Bittner. In January 2015, Bittner joined Dormer Pramet and became part of the company’s project to develop an assortment of high feed milling tools. Almost three years later, a new range of SBN10 cutters and BNGX inserts were launched into the global market. The time taken to introduce a product is an indication of the investment a manufacturer makes to create a new product which will add value to customers for many years. At Dormer Pramet, the process of creating a new tool begins with its product management department, which identifies the market needs and gaps in the company’s current assortment. Karel Tiefenbach is the company’s Product Manager for indexable milling and he created a concept brief and clear objective for the development team. Dormer Pramet’s aim was to create an assortment of tools for its double-negative cutters, which allowed high…

I wonder how many readers of this article have ever been part of a high-performance team? I suspect many may well have been part of a team that produced great results, or a team whose members enjoyed working with one another, or perhaps one in which the team felt that they were engaged in something really worthwhile, but these things alone do not constitute a high-performance team. Sure, they can be indicators of great performance but participation on a high-performance team is a rare and very special experience. Over the decades I have worked in various different teams across a range of industries and organisations and have been privileged to have been part of what I consider a “high-performance team” on just three occasions. Although each team operated in quite diverse domains, with different objectives and unique team members, the common, consistent element between each team was a feeling of effortlessness and invincibility – stretch goals and outcomes were achieved…

AMT: Tell us about Innovation and Science Australia (ISA) and its objectives. Charlie Day: ISA is a board which comprises up to 15 senior leaders from across the innovation, science and research system. It’s chaired by Bill Ferris, who is the father of venture capital in this country, the deputy chair is Alan Finkel, the Chief Scientist, and we have a range of people from across the science and innovation system. It was set up as part of the “ideas boom” back in late 2015 with the intent of providing independent advice to the whole of government about making the Australian innovation system work better. Our job really is to provide advice to government about innovation policy and how those innovation policies can make the system work a bit better. We also have a role as advocates for the system; there’s a lot of good news stories, great examples of innovation that we like to celebrate around the country. And we also have a role overseeing some of the key government support programs like the…

The Additively Manufactured Titanium Complex Structures Project will focus on enhancing TKF as a transformational technology for the highest standards of aerospace and defence industries as outlined by The Metallic Materials Properties Development and Standardization (MMPDS). The MMPDS is a widely accepted source for metallic material and recognised by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the US Department of Defense (DoD) and NASA. Currently, industries that use laser and electron beam melting processes in metal 3D printing have significant limitations due to the melting of the metal causing layering inclusions, evaporation of some alloys, and thermal distortion within the parts, meaning they cannot be certified for the production of aerospace structures components. The Titomic-led program will create new industry certification standards for the TKF process allowing it to be used for producing aerospace structures in continuation of the already approved processes for repairs on aircraft such as the B-1 bomber, F/A-18 Fighter and Black Hawk and…