Industry News

Electric cars are becoming increasingly common on Australian roads, and industrial players are investigating their use in commercial fleets, with one recent study from the University of Michigan finding electric trucks can reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions by between 13% and 35% Research firm IDTechEx expects electric trucks to become a US$15bn industry. Could the same change transform mining? If so, we're a long way off—a 2022 study said only 1% of industry power came from electricity—but plans are accelerating. Several Australian industry players and their supply chain partners are members of the Electric Mine Consortium, a think tank driven by the mission to accelerate progress towards a fully electrified zero-CO2 and zero-particulates mine. As a spokesperson from automation technology provider Rockwell Automation told us, mine site tools are fertile ground for adopting wide-scale electric power. “Most mines are in places with lots of renewable energy, and many are a long way from the grid and have to run generators,” he said. “It's…

Australia’s manufacturing industry, employing around 900,000 people and contributing approximately $100bn to the national GDP annually, is pivotal. Additive Manufacturing (AM), commonly known as 3D printing, is transforming the landscape by enabling the creation of complex geometries and customised products across various sectors, including defence, aerospace, healthcare, automotive, construction, and fashion. AM is expected to expand rapidly over the next decade, significantly driving Australia’s economic and technological advancements. The AM market reached $14.7bn in 2023, with a growth rate of 13%. Recognised by the Australian Federal Government as part of its Critical Technologies within the advanced manufacturing and materials technologies field, the AM market is expected to continue expanding. Additionally, the AM industry is projected to grow rapidly, with revenues expected to hit $25bn by 2025. This growth is attributed to hardware, materials, software, and services advancements. This expansion underscores the importance of developing robust standards to help ensure quality, safety, and innovation. Standards Australia’s National Committee MB 028 – Additive Manufacturing is actively collaborating with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), which has a unique partnership agreement with ASTM International…

NRW Civil & Mining (NRW) is one of Australia’s leading contractors, able to deliver a complete suite of civil and mining services at numerous locations nationwide. It is part of the NRW Holdings Group, an ASX-listed entity offering diverse contract services to Australia's resources and infrastructure sectors. After securing the mining, train loading, and miscellaneous services contract with Karara Mining Ltd, NRW began reducing GHG emissions at the Karara Iron Ore project, the largest mining operation in the Mid-West Region. With a track record of excellence in managing the environmental implications of mining and civil projects, NRW continues beyond ensuring compliance with legislative mandates. They go beyond partnering with clients to refine best practices and find innovative ways to reduce the carbon footprint of their operations. NRW planned to introduce an intelligent technology solution at Karara, to harness data-driven insights to refine operator behaviours, improve performance, and establish tangible carbon emissions reduction strategies. NRW partnered with MaxMine to achieve these objectives, building on their successful collaboration at the Dalgaranga project. The MaxMine intelligent technology platform is designed to help…

OnRobot, a world-leading turnkey provider for collaborative applications, has partnered with Queensland-based robotics and machine company DCISIV Technologies to introduce an off-the-shelf collaborative palletised for SMEs in Australia. This industry-first solution offers same-day installation, requires no programming, and can be re-deployed within minutes. DCISIV Technologies is situated in Toowoomba, inland from Brisbane. “OnRobot has successfully introduced end-of-arm tooling and sensors for robotic automation to the market by ensuring seamless integration with all major robot brands and providing a simplified and consistent user experience,” said James Taylor, Chief Commercial Officer for OnRobot. “With D:PLOY, we are taking the next logical step in simplifying the overall application rather than just focusing on individual components within the robot cell.” Founded in 2018 in Denmark – more than two decades after the first collaborative robot (cobot) came onto the scene - OnRobot identified a need for quality cobot hardware. “With so many cobot manufacturers coming onto the scene, we recognised a need for a reputable manufacturer that could provide all the complementary physical hardware required.” From two- and three-finger grippers to sanders, vacuums, polishers,…

Blade Pile, a top supplier of screw piles for Australia’s residential construction, began in 2007 in Southeast Queensland, producing locally at their Burleigh Heads factory and have since grown steadily. The management team realised that their traditional fabrication processes incurred high costs and challenged their competitive advantage. In 2022, Blade Pile recognised the opportunity to automate its production processes in its new purpose-built Yatala site using a TRUMPF TruLaser Tube 5000, automated material handling, and robotic welding. The Blade Pile Group manufactures, supplies, and installs a wide array of steel piles and piling accessories for the construction industry throughout Australia and New Zealand. Blade Pile is recognised as a leader in residential piling products and foundation systems. Our technical innovation and inventive approach to piling has provided our customers with a range of industry-leading products alongside our network of engineering and installation support services. Blade Pile encountered a pressing challenge: to differentiate their product in the market and control costs. Robotic welding was part of the solution. Robotic welding provides consistent welding results…

Auckland-based KANDO Innovation, headed by Keith Blenkinsopp, is a New Zealand manufacturing company that inspires innovation and success through world-leading design and technology. This has led to major export sales in the competitive international markets of America and Europe. KANDO Innovation began with the drive and objective of making New Zealand and international markets safer, more efficient, and more confident, leading to a safer workplace by developing and implementing the latest technology. Leveraging the latest in engineering, automation, machining, vision technologies and more, the idea was to maximise competitive advantage whilst meeting the challenges of safety, skilled labour shortages and minimising downtime and wastage in the industry. Advanced Okuma CNC machines and robotics today play an essential part in this strategy, with the first Okuma machine purchased in 2019 and now with an additional four machines following the Okuma Monozukuri philosophy in “The Art of Making Things Better”. KANDO’s Managing Director Keith Blenkinsopp commented, “The investment in Okuma is always the first we look at due to design, unparalleled service, robustness, precision and user-friendly programming.” KANDO Innovation is the home of the…

The Australian defence and space industry is set to gain onshore manufacturing of new eye-in-the-sky technology. This space camera can provide images back to Earth at high speed to aid in disaster resilience operations, land management, and defence. This multi-sensor Earth observation camera is now being developed with Leonardo, Spiral Blue, Nominal Systems and The Australian National University (ANU), brought together under an iLAuNCH Trailblazer project. “This partnership will bring first mover advantage to Australian industry and ANU, which is set to deliver a commercially viable product for future satellites,” said iLAuNCH Trailblazer Executive Director, Darin Lovett. “iLAuNCH is bringing together best-in-class technology that will help detect environmental changes, with translation opportunities to defence, including space domain awareness and missile guidance, and establishing an export market in partnership with Leonardo UK.” Leonardo has developed susceptible detectors for shortwave infrared, which can show heat on an image and see the earth's surface through clouds. However, this shortwave infrared technology has yet to be integrated into a full camera system for space applications. ANU has been developing its Rosella processor, the computer behind…

Now in its 22nd year, the 2024 Victorian Manufacturing Hall of Fame Awards recognises Victoria's incredible businesses and people dedicated to manufacturing great products. Victoria is a global leader in advanced manufacturing and the nation’s manufacturing heartland. The country benefits from $33.5bn in economic output, 290,000 jobs, and $23.9bn in exports. Every time I come to the Palladium for these Hall of Fame evenings of Awards, I am blown away by the scale of the room and the community of manufacturers in the gathered crowd. There is astonishing colour, positivity, music, and another great excuse to doll up. I am also very impressed by the military precision of the table attendants and the chefs behind them, who produce top-notch meals for the assembled audience. Amazing. The judges had to trawl through 190 nominations and 43 finalists in 13 categories. The two Gold Sponsors for this event were AMTIL, and Melbourne Airport. The evening’s Bronze Sponsors were ALSTOM, CSL, macpherson kelley, Toyota and Volgren. Mike Larkin, the MC, was full of stray jokes, one-liners, and…

During today's AMTIL AGM, Brigitte Stavar announced she would be stepping down from her position as President, which she had held for the last five years. At the Board Meeting immediately following the AGM, Paul Philips was appointed as the new President of AMTIL for the next 12 months. “Brigitte has done a fantastic job over a very long period as President, and she has a much deserved Life Membership,” said Paul Philips, new AMTIL President and Managing Director of Benson Machines. “In that time, Brigitte spearheaded many significant projects on the running sheet of AMTIL.” In accepting the President’s position with AMTIL, Philips said there is a huge opportunity to develop our position further and represent our membership. “I think precision manufacturing and this immensely talented group of Australian manufacturers have a very bright future in Australia,” he said. Brigitte Stavar admitted it was a hard decision to step down. Still, she is very proud of the last five years, during which she worked with the retired CEO, Shane Infanti, to refresh and…

In the dynamic realm of aerospace and defence- where precision, reliability, and innovation reign supreme - the convergence of cutting-edge technologies is redefining the landscape. Among these technologies, 3D printing is a transformative force that revolutionises how complex components are created. However, the true potential of 3D printing is unleashed when it is coupled with AI, data analytics, and simulation. This triad is propelling these industries into a new era of efficiency and adaptability. The evolution of 3D printing: From novelty to precision crafting The journey of 3D printing from being a mere novelty item creator to a powerful tool for crafting intricate aerospace and defence components has been remarkable. With the advent of Industry 4.0 and the digitisation of manufacturing processes, 3D printing has transformed into a data-driven phenomenon. This transformation has empowered 3D printers to gather extensive information about the fabrication process, creating a wealth of data that becomes the bedrock for further innovation. The crucial role of data in data-driven 3D printing At the heart of data-driven 3D printing lies the immense treasure trove of information that…

Just a person and a dog? The old story about the factory of the future being populated by one human and a dog—the human’s role is limited to feeding the dog, while the dog is charged with keeping the person away from the machinery—will be close to reality for tool grinding. At a minimum, said Boland, the entire production process will be linked digitally, “from the intake of the raw material to palletising, laser etching, and blank preparation…to the tool and cutter grinding, edge prep, coating, and right through to shipping the finished goods.” For example, when a particular job transitions from OD prep to the 5-axis grinders, the machines will automatically call up the correct program to finish grinding the tools. Everything will also be linked to a company’s ERP and MES system, providing “very good data analytics to help make the right decisions and improve your processes.” Individual processes, such as OD grinding or stream finishing, are often highly automated once they’re set up.…

MathWorks has announced an integration that makes MATLAB® available in the NVIDIA Holoscan platform. Medical device engineers can now accelerate the development and deployment of streaming data analysis and visualisation applications by wrapping existing MATLAB algorithms and functions into GPU-accelerated NVIDIA Holoscan operators for real-time data processing and inference. Medical device engineers must navigate complex, ever-evolving global regulations while keeping pace with rapid technological innovation using cutting-edge materials and electronics. These conflicting forces caused many devices to be near-obsolete shortly after reaching the market and fueled the emergence of Software as a Medical Device (SaMD). The International Medical Device Regulators Forum defines SaMD as “software intended to be used for one or more medical purposes that perform those purposes without being part of a hardware medical device.” To stay competitive in the market after deployment, the SaMD products require the capability to integrate additional software feature functionality over time, necessitating engineers to develop a software-defined workflow for their development. “The medical technology industry is being transformed by artificial intelligence,” said David Niewolny, Director of Business Development for MedTech at…

Mobile robotic systems are being used in more and more work areas, from e-commerce warehouses to modern restaurants. However, due to the high prices, widespread use is often unaffordable for small and medium-sized companies. igus wants to change this with new low-cost robotics offerings and presents a series of low-cost mobile plastic robots. The market for automated guided vehicles (AGV) and autonomous mobile robots (AMR) is booming: the global market for mobile robotics, including service robotics, currently totals around $20.3bn, and experts expect this figure to almost double by 2028.  Mobile robots are ubiquitous in material handling and industrial applications. And these smart helpers are even increasingly making their rounds in catering and hospitals. The plastics experts at motion plastics specialist igus have also been successfully testing AGVs in-house for four years - driverless shelves that deliver mail and shipments to offices and mobile robots in production that move transports and rotary stacking containers. The experience gained flows directly into developing a new Low-Cost Automation product line, the "ReBeL on Wheels". The goal is to pave the…