Industry News

Annaliese is the Managing Director at Headland Machinery Pty Ltd and CEO of Klugo Pty, based in Burwood, Melbourne. Adam is the Managing Director of Nichol Industries Pty Ltd, from Nunawading, Melbourne. Andrew is the General Manager of Bolts & Industrial Supplies Pty Ltd. “I’m delighted to welcome Annaliese, Adam and Andy to the AMTIL Board,” said AMTIL CEO Shane Infanti. “All three are well-known figures who enjoy a great deal of respect and credibility across the industry. The experience and acumen they will be able to provide will be of enormous value to AMTIL and to our members. They will be great additions to the team.” Annaliese, Andrew and Andy join existing Board Members Brigitte Stavar, Mark Dobrich, Paul Philips and Phil Xuereb, with Paul Fowler continuing as AMTIL’s President. The new arrivals coincide with the departure of two longstanding members: Pat Boland of ANCA Pty Ltd and Saxon Fletcher of Metal Cutting Technology Pty Ltd. Both have stepped down after eight years, with Pat also…

Modern international rail manufacturing has increasingly evolved to focus on the production of high-tech, high-value components. For Australian manufacturing to keep up, there is much work to do to continue the evolution of advanced manufacturing in rail, focusing specifically on innovative research and development (R&D) activities. This is why the formation of the Rail Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) is great news for both the sector and Australia as a whole. It started with a roadmap The strategic direction for Australian rail manufacturing was outlined in the On Track to 2040 – Preparing the Australian Rail Supply Industry for Challenges and Growth Roadmap. Commissioned by the former Department of Innovation Industry Science and Research (DIISR), through the Rail Supplier Advocate, the roadmap was developed through intensive collaboration between industry stakeholders, government and the higher education and research sectors. It represented the consensus view of 210 industry…

Lamborghini prides itself on a 50-year heritage that has seen its brand become synonymous with extreme and uncompromising automotive design. The company has created a series of extraordinary cars that include the 350 GT, Miura, Espada, Countach, Diablo, Murciélago, Gallardo and Aventador, as well as several limited series such as the Reventón, Sesto Elemento, Aventador J and Veneno. Lamborghini meets this objective partly through 3D printing, which the company uses throughout the entire lifecycle of its parts, from rapid prototyping applications to production parts. Today Lamborghini is owned by Audi, part of the Volkswagen Group. With its image and value proposition as important as ever, the company relies upon pioneering technologies to uphold its reputation for automotive excellence. Fabio Serrazanetti of Lamborghini’s car body technical department says the company’s engineers first explored FDM technology and Fortus 3D Production Systems in order to meet demand for high-strength production parts tough enough to endure the rigors of high-speed racing, as well as the need to create complex geometries in…

The Australian PMI expanded for a fifth month in November, rising 2.3 points to 52.5; readings above 50 indicate expansion in activity, the distance from 50 indicating the strength of the increase. This result continued the longest run of expansionary readings since 2010. Five of the eight manufacturing sub-sectors expanded (that is, they were above 50 points in three-month moving averages): wood & paper products (up 3.2 points to 67.2); textiles, clothing, footwear, furniture & other (down 4.9 points to 52.0); petroleum, coal, chemical & rubber products (down 0.1 point to 57.4); non-metallic mineral products (up 5.4 points to 58.0); and food & beverages (up 2.7 points to 52.4). However, the machinery and equipment (down 1.9 points to 43.1), metal products (up 0.9 points to 49.0), and very small printing & recorded media (up 1.0 point to 47.6) sub-sectors all remained in contraction. Of the seven activity sub-indexes, only stocks fell below 50 points (down 3.3 points to 47.6). New orders (up 3.3 points to 53.2) and sales (up…

The Melbourne-based company, which specialises in hi-tech tool and cutter grinders, was also named the winner in the Manufacturing category. Co-founder and Director Pat Boland accepted the awards on behalf of ANCA. Trade and Investment Minister Andrew Robb made the announcement at the awards ceremony held to honour the achievements of Australian businesses in international markets. “ANCA has been a leader in its field for 40 years and in that time it has significantly expanded its export markets and is on track for a record year of growth,” said Robb. “They’ve hired 160 new employees to meet the increasing demand for their products, and are proof that Australia has a very healthy future manufacturing high-quality and innovative products.” ANCA exports 98% of its products to customers such as Boeing, Sandvik and Rolls Royce. ANCA machines are used to make tools that are used to make products such as planes, cars, smart phones and medical products. On receiving the major award, Boland thanked the team at ANCA and his co-founder Pat…

This past year the Board and our senior staff reconfirmed our role is to represent and promote the interests of manufacturing technology suppliers and their customers (the ecosystem). For our Manufacturing Technology Suppliers, our focus is on encouraging investment in technology. We do this through marketing and promotional opportunities, whether it be Austech, our AMT magazine, online offerings, talking to government about incentive schemes and other services. We want people buying machine tools, automation, robotics, software, cutting tools and ancillary equipment. We need to focus heavily on this area. For our Manufacturing Technology Users, our focus is on…

AMT: Tell us about the REA Foundation and its aims. MM: It’s fundamentally about getting kids engaged with STEM. When I started, my background led me to be more focused on attracting students to engineering, but this expanded significantly as I grew to understand that, in attracting students to professions that build a nation, the problem was much broader. At the time there wasn’t much around that gave students much reason to be interested in STEM subjects. The education system really isn’t designed to get kids interested in careers; I don’t think the system’s at all attuned to the skills industry needs or wants. Our political system has over a long period of time facilitated the development of a set of educational silos. There’s Maths and English and History and Science etc, and they all have their own departments and a mentality based around defending their own space at…

The company, a market leading CNC tool grinder manufacturing business and longstanding member of AMTIL, will represent Victorian manufacturing at the Australian Export Awards on 27 November. ANCA has a history of achievement, having won ten GOVEA awards and two Australian Export awards previously. With a Melbourne headquarters the privately owned company turns over $200m annually and employs over 950 staff globally. Co-founder and Director Pat Boland commented: “We are very proud to be recognised by one of the most prestigious business awards for our innovation excellence and ongoing contribution to the Australian economy. ANCA is proof that an Australian company can successfully compete and prosper in a global market and I thank our amazing team whose hard work helps us retain our leadership position. “ANCA’s success has been in the development of world leading products that solve customer needs and supporting these products with advanced and lean factories and a global sales and service distribution system. Precision cutting tools are a fundamental component of advanced manufacturing and ANCA is immensely proud of its…

The Australian PMI fell by 1.9 points in October to 50.2 (readings above 50 indicate expansion in activity, the distance from 50 indicating the strength of the increase). The result marked the longest run of expansionary readings since July 2010. “A strong export performance in October helped manufacturing hold onto the gains made by the sector over the previous three months, clocking up the longest expansion in five years,” said Ai Group Chief Executive, Innes Willox. “There was, however, some easing of momentum: while production lifted again, domestic sales and employment were lower and new orders were broadly unchanged. The process of broadening the base of growth across the economy remains gradual and tentative. There is clearly scope for stimulatory measures to boost domestic activity.” Four of the eight manufacturing sub-sectors expanded: wood & paper products (down 5.5 points to 64.0); textiles, clothing, footwear, furniture & other manufacturing (up 0.5 points to 56.9); petroleum, coal, chemical & rubber products (up 0.3 points to 57.5); and, for the first…

The event drew an impressive turnout, with a mix of new and long-term members in attendance and a packed schedule of association business to get through. Members in attendance were able to hear about AMTIL’s latest plans and initiatives, as well as getting an update from AMTIL CEO Shane Infanti on the previous year’s activities. AMTIL President Paul Fowler gave a Welcome address, while Board Member Saxon Fletcher provided a summary of AMTIL’s financial report. Fletcher, along with fellow Board members Brigitte Stavar and Mark Dobrich, were all up for nomination, and were renominated for another two-year term. In addition, AMTIL welcomed a new member to its Board, as Phil Xuereb of Sutton Tools was confirmed to join. “We’re very glad that all of our Board members will remain in place,” said Infanti. “All of the Board give up their time completely voluntarily to do this, so on behalf of AMTIL and its membership, I’d like to express our gratitude for their invaluable contribution. And I’d like to welcome Phil, whose…

Traditionally, beam coping has been done manually by marking the dimensions for coping on the workpiece as per the drawings and then manually cutting out the cope from the steel beam using oxy-fuel gas torch. This method leaves a rough cut requiring considerable chipping and grinding to improve the finish. Coping machines provide high speed and quality, eliminating all the drawbacks of manual coping. While there are many different machines from well-known overseas manufacturers on the market, ART has studied the needs of every steel fabrication shop in Australia, from small to large, in order to develop an automated, versatile machine made at its manufacturing facility in Brisbane. The machine steel fabricators around the country a competitive edge – not only by creating an efficient automated machine, but also by offering local service and support. “We developed the Metaltek XB series to answer the need for fully-automated structural steel processing in one machine,” explains ART Director David White. “To eliminate as much…

As of February, we’ll be producing six editions of AMT per year, instead of ten. As opposed to the current monthly schedule (excluding December and January), each new magazine will come out every second month: February, April, June, August, October and December While this means AMT readers will get twice as long to read their copy of the magazine, there will be a lot more in each issue for them to get through. Next year we’ll be including a broader range of features in each issue, with each feature exploring its subject in greater depth. The new, bi-monthly schedule allows us to cover a greater array of industries and a more diverse range of products over the course of the year. In addition we’ll be continuing to expand our coverage via our online channels, via www.amtil.com.au/News. For information about advertising in AMT Magazine, please contact our Sales Manager, Anne Samuelsson, by calling 03 9800 3666, or by emailing asamuelsson@amtil.com.au. To submit articles or to discuss editorial ideas, contact AMT’s Editor William…

Both ANCA and RØDE are regularly cited as examples of the very best of Australian manufacturing today, using state-of-the-art technology and sophisticated processes to make high-value-add, proudly Australian-made products that are exported all over the world. These site tours will give you the opportunity to look behind the scenes at these highly successful companies and learn some of the factors behind their achievements. ANCA – A global leader Founded in 1974, ANCA has gone on to become a world leader in quality CNC grinding machines and CNC systems. ANCA sells to a wide range of industries including aerospace, medical, automotive, electronic, tool manufacturers and even woodwork. The company operates in a highly technical, advanced manufacturing space and exports 99% of the product produced in Australia. In 2008, sister-company ANCA Motion was founded to focus exclusively on OEM CNC applications. One of only a handful of Australian companies producing machine tools today, the ANCA Group has been identified as a true ‘Hidden Champion’ of the manufacturing industry worldwide. AMTIL’s tour of…