February 13, 2020
On 27 March, the ATO and 26 other government agencies will retire the decade old AUSkey and the Manage ABN Connections login credentials. This means anyone who uses the ATO’s Business Portal or a range of other government online services will need to set up and use myGovID. The myGovID app is available to download to your smart device, using security features in your device such as fingerprint, face recognition or password to help keep your information secure. This is to protect your identity and help stop other people accessing your information. Once the app is set up, the business owner will need to link their myGovID to their business using the authorisation service called Relationship Authorisation Manager (RAM) and authorise employee access. The ATO’s Chief Digital Officer John Dardo says most people will find myGovID solves a lot of problems they had with AUSkey and encourages them to try it today. “We've had over five million logins to the ATO Portals using myGovID so far and…
February 13, 2020
Based in Sumner Park, in Brisbane’s south-west suburbs, National Plastics & Rubber was established 22 years ago and remains privately owned by two families, employing a local team of 34 people. The company specialises in the design and manufacture of quality polyurethane, industrial plastic and rubber products, primarily manufacturing specialised products for the mining industry in Australia. In recent years it has been gradually building its export business. According to National Plastics & Rubber, the Aerochock product is the lightest specialised aircraft wheel chock on the market today, helping to reduce workplace injuries stemming from constant handling. It was designed utilising technology that National Plastics & Rubber developed for the manufacture of chocks for the world’s largest mining trucks. The Aerochock is already in use in countries such as Cambodia and New Zealand, as well as Australia. In securing the contract with the UK airport, it saw off competition from rival products from around the world including the USA and…
February 13, 2020
The proof-of-concept test was designed to determine how a composite embedded with fibre optics could be used in the masts of marine vessels that may house vital equipment such as radars and periscopes. The use of composites can decrease the weight of the mast, which in turn can reduce the vessel’s overall weight due to a lighter counterbalance being required. By applying fibre optics that allow for structural health monitoring (SHM), it is possible to save vital maintenance time and resources over the lifetime of any vessel to which it is applied. Over the course of five days, AMAC and Naval Group successfully demonstrated how the composite embedded with fibre optic sensors can be used to assess the performance under mechanical loads. Airspeed, an Australian designer and manufacturer of composite materials for aerospace, maritime and energy-related projects also participated in the test. AMAC has been actively developing the application of fibre optic sensors as…
February 6, 2020
As an internationally recognised and respected freight specialist, SternaGL offers a truly seamless service, utilising resources positioned all over the globe to move freight efficiently from its origin to its destination. SternaGL offers a wide range of cost-efficient and flexible cargo options, including freight-forwarding, customs clearance and transport. Combining more than 50 years of logistics experience with exceptional human talent and systems, SternaGL provides customers with tailored solutions for any import or export shipments moving via sea, air, rail, road or multi-modal. From parcels to over-dimensional cargo, and everything in between – SternaGL’s dedicated team utilise their extensive skill and expertise to manage the journey of shipments from origin to destination, intact and on time. SternaGL services a wide range of industries including manufacturing, with extensive experience handling delicate process-line machinery and raw materials. Its consultative approach ensures attention to detail, which invariably leads to strong results and a positive customer experience. SternaGL operates under four core principles that permeate the organisation into every transaction – Integrity, Care, Accuracy, and Innovation. Under these principles SternaGL presents a refreshing brand of honest advice…
February 6, 2020
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…
February 6, 2020
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…
February 6, 2020
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…
February 3, 2020
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…
January 30, 2020
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,…
January 30, 2020
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,…
January 30, 2020
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,”…
January 30, 2020
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.…
January 30, 2020
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…