Industry News

The innovative stem cell treatment from RMIT researchers offers a smart way forward for overcoming some of the field’s biggest challenges, through the precision power of high-frequency sound waves. Tissue engineering is an emerging field that aims to rebuild bone and muscle by harnessing the human body’s natural ability to heal itself. A key challenge in regrowing bone is the need for large amounts of bone cells that will thrive and flourish once implanted in the target area. To date, experimental processes to change adult stem cells into bone cells have used complicated and expensive equipment and have struggled with mass production, making widespread clinical application unrealistic. Additionally, the few clinical trials attempting to regrow bone have largely used stem cells extracted from a patient’s bone marrow – a highly painful procedure. In a new study published in the journal Small, and co-written by with first author and PhD researcher Lizebona August Ambattu, the RMIT research team showed stem cells treated with high-frequency…

Rockwell Automation Inc. and the University of Melbourne are collaborating to help companies in the manufacturing and resources industries use digital innovation to reach their decarbonisation goals. The organisations have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on research activities, jointly develop training and work together to help solve real-world challenges presented by industry. Rockwell Automation will contribute engineering resources and product training to the project. The University of Melbourne will bring its academic and research expertise and world-class innovation infrastructure. Anthony Wong, regional director, South Pacific, Rockwell Automation, said the MoU marks an important new phase that will benefit industry. “Decarbonisation is now front of mind for Australian industrial companies,” Wong said. “They know they must act to remain attractive to consumers and meet compliance targets, but they often don’t know how to start or where to focus their energies for the greatest returns,” He continued, “Rockwell Automation and the University of Melbourne are coming together to share our expertise and explore practical solutions to this challenge.” The University of Melbourne will provide research expertise, and academic and…

Celebrating its 20th year, the Victorian Manufacturing Hall of Fame Awards was staged spectacularly at the Crown Palladium down by the Yarra to showcase the achievements of manufacturers across Victoria. The awards recognised the excellence of individuals and companies that have embraced new technologies, are export-focused, and drive business innovation. AMTIL would especially like to congratulate the Members who won major awards on the night. Paul Hughes from Integra Systems accepted their Induction into the Hall of Fame (above); Pat McCluskey and Patrick Boland from ANCA, entered the Honor Roll for their Services to Industry. And then Barry Finnin from Amaero Additive Manufacturing won the Award for Small Manufacturing Business of the Year. The Hon Ben Carroll MP, The Victorian Minister for Industry, Support and Recovery in introducing the awards with ABC’s Virginia Trioli as a very engaging MC, said that “this year’s winners and finalists showcase the strength of our manufacturing industry and are paving the way for a bright future ahead.” “These advancements are cementing Victoria’s status as the epicentre of Australian advanced manufacturing and a destination of choice for leading companies,” he…

Lockdown has been tough for everyone, but the people at Integra Systems recognise they have been luckier than many due to the continuity of their work. For those in the local community who haven’t been so lucky and may have lost their income and/or sense of purpose, Integra found a way to help them through these difficult times: an at-home program for assembling toolholder kits. The program idea came from their Director of Innovation, Russell Hughes, who adapted it from a traditional German cottage industry model used by the cuckoo clock trade. In the Black Forest region of Germany, the villagers would get snowed in during the winter, so, to combat this issue, families focused on specific parts of cuckoo clock production, such as woodcarving, so they could generate an income during their isolation across the colder months. The Integra at-home program works in a similar way to these cuckoo clock creators in Germany. “We create kits at our facility in Melbourne’s North and then send these kits out to members of the community,” explains Hughes. “These are families, students without work, single people,…

33.BI-MU is the international biennial exhibition of machine tools, robotics and automation systems, additive manufacturing, and digital and auxiliary technologies. Plus Xylexpo, a biennial exhibition of woodworking technology and components for the furniture industry. Along with Viscom Italia, Europe's leading visual communication trade fair, all kick off concurrently on the second week of October 2022 at Rho-Fiera Milano Expo centre. The fully integrated BI-MU and Xylexpo events, starting Wednesday, Oct. 12 until Saturday, Oct. 15; Viscom Italia takes the stage Thursday, Oct. 13 until Saturday, Oct. 15, in Halls 8/12. The organisers’ decision to co-ordinate the overlap of their event calendars, matches perfectly to give fair participants’ the chance to grab all the opportunities available, giving visitors the possibility to participate simultaneously at all three events. In a scenario that has highlighted the need for greater dialogue and the desire to once more come together to discover the latest sector innovations - being fully aware, that only innovation is the key to bringing the market back to life again, access to one event opens the doors to the other events. Thanks to the three…

Cue specialist parts manufacturer, Geographe, invited to assist with the rescue of the stranded live export ship at sea, characteristically rising to the custom manufacturing challenge to help save the day. The engineering team worked around the clock to complete the urgent work and the job was completed within five days without the need for costly unloading and reloading of the ship. This professionalism, prompt response, quality of the finished product, and exceptional service are well recognised and widely regarded by Geographe’s diverse client base including in Mining, Oil & Gas, Naval, and Transport. During the 50 years since Geographe began manufacturing replacements and repairing parts in a modest backyard workshop in Busselton, WA, the company has grown to the large-scale operation it is today with multiple offices, workshops, and distribution partners across Australia. The highly skilled Geographe engineering team always strives to innovate, designing, manufacturing, and repairing parts for heavy machinery and plant equipment,…

Markforged, the creator of the integrated metal and carbon-fibre additive manufacturing platform, The Digital Forge, has announced a definitive agreement with Höganäs AB to acquire Digital Metal, the creator of a leading binder jetting solution extending Markforged’s capabilities into high-throughput production of metal additive parts. The addition of Digital Metal furthers Markforged’s strategy to solve manufacturing challenges for industrial customers at the point of need. With this new offering, manufacturers have the opportunity to produce high volumes of functional metal parts with minimal setup required. Traditional production often requires months to move from design to manufacturing, introduces third-party supplier risk, and provides poor unit economics during ramp-up and in lower volumes. Markforged sees powder binder jetting as a highly scalable additive manufacturing technology for production-grade parts using a variety of metal materials. Digital Metal’s solution is designed to provide high-precision, best-in-class part quality, and reliability. Powder binder jetting complements the existing Digital Forge offering and will expand Markforged’s addressable market by solving new customer problems. “With the Digital Metal acquisition, Markforged is advancing our vision for distributed manufacturing by enabling the reliable,…

As a society, we’re all working towards shared sustainability goals. Whether that’s to limit global warming as outlined in the Paris Agreement, to make the switch to electrified transport, or as part of nation-specific net-zero targets, the world shares a common objective. Manufacturing needs data-led sustainability goals. In addition to focusing on global goals, manufacturers should have their own sustainability targets and crucially, these must be led by data. The Friedman doctrine also called shareholder theory or stockholder theory is a normative theory of business ethics advanced by economist Milton Friedman. In it, Friedman defines the sole purpose of a corporation as to create the greatest profit possible for shareholders. Today, this explanation is dated and arguably irresponsible. Businesses still want their efforts to generate profit, that’s non-negotiable. However, profit cannot come before people and the planet. Companies of all sizes, from all industries, are now focusing on another non-negotiable…

Delivering a high-quality product in an efficient, safe way is key to the success of Australia’s leading aluminium boat and trailer manufacturer, Telwater. The iconic boat building company opened its doors on the Gold Coast in 1988 and has become synonymous with its innovative designs, advanced technology, and range of aluminium boat models. Telwater designs and manufactures four of Australia’s leading aluminium boat brands including Quintrex, Stacer, Savage and Yellowfin Plate. The team consists of expert welders and painters, research and development technicians and many other trades, all committed to the highest quality workmanship. To maintain its reputation as a leading manufacturer, Telwater invests in new solutions to improve efficiency, safety and reliability across its substantial manufacturing operations. Manufacturing multiple boats per day, often to tight deadlines, the team at Telwater relies heavily on welding equipment and gases to deliver high-quality aluminium welds. “If we don’t have a good end-product, there are lots of warranty claims which can be extremely time-consuming for our customers and employees. That is why we continually invest in the latest welding equipment and processes,” said Robert…

Due to changed manufacturing, joining and coating technologies and more stringent regulatory specifications, there are stricter requirements for particulate and film-type part cleanliness. To reach these values in series production in a process-reliable and efficient way, not only cleaning and drying processes meeting demands and suited system technology, also software implementation and cleaning environment must be adapted accordingly. Whether production equipment for the semi-inductor industry, biotechnology, laser and sensor technology, devices for measuring and analysis technology, components for accumulators and fuel cells, optical systems or metal cutting tools, the requirements for performance and reliability are extremely high. This not only leads to high demands in terms of production precision of the parts but also their cleanliness. For medical technology products such as implants, instruments, cannulae, and endoscopes, particulate and film-type contamination from manufacturing processes is an essential criterion due to regulatory specifications. Moreover, there is a trend for miniaturisation and functional integration with ever smaller and more complex components. These developments entail that particulate cleanliness specifications in the micrometre and even nanometre ranges,…

Medical devices’ internet and network connectivity, enables information sharing and treatment delivery. It does however expose medical devices to potential cybersecurity risks and threats, advises the Medical Technology Association of Australia (MTAA) on its website’s regulatory summary:  Cybersecurity for medical devices. These threats can be reduced and managed by good cybersecurity practices, with all stakeholders involved in the design, manufacture and use of medical technology, responsible for cybersecurity. Director for Government Affairs, Australia/New Zealand at Abbott, Paul Davies chairs the MTAA’s Cybersecurity Working Group (CSWG). Abbott is a global healthcare company with a diverse range of businesses and products in diagnostics, medical devices, nutrition and branded generic medicines. “Any MTAA member can contribute to the CSWG and it’s represented by med-tech majors, SMEs and software developers, whose products are used in hospital systems. We also liaise with the Australian Cybersecurity Centre which provides a link between the Australian Government and the private sector. “One of…

With inflation growing at its fastest pace in 20 years according to the Reserve Bank of Australia, associated rising costs are arguably the biggest challenge for Australian businesses. This is making it difficult for businesses to price their products correctly and could potentially strain margins and customer relations as these companies either absorb the costs or pass them on to the buyer. The manufacturing sector, in particular, has been under increased pressure, grappling with supply chain disruption, labour shortages and fuel price rises. Almost one in seven manufacturers agree that inflation is likely to remain elevated at the end of 2022, according to a PwC Pulse Survey. And this situation is unlikely to ease over the next two years. If not addressed, we run the risk of further business closures and dampening our national economic recovery from the pandemic. Adjusting pricing strategies now will support manufacturers to contain costs with inflation on the rise. Manufacturers must look to nuanced pricing approaches that allow for pricing adjustments that move as quickly as market fluctuations, to drive…

In 2019, it has been estimated that 600,000 implants were produced with 3D printing. Demand-driven by an ageing population, joints wearing out with sports, bone loss with trauma, and medical conditions, it is no wonder the requirement for implants is projected to grow to four million by 2027. Additive manufacturing has been used since the 1990s to customise patient-specific implants. This technique makes surgeries easier with 3D printed surgical guides and also leads to better healing outcomes for the patient. Osseointegration is the medical term for the direct structural and functional connection between living bone and the surface of a load-bearing implant. Because titanium alloy is around three to four times stiffer than bones, biomechanical engineers must tailor the size and shape of the implant’s lattice structure to adjust the pliability of the implant to be closer to the bone’s stiffness. Research has shown the rough texture of lattice structures in implants (that can only be made with 3D printing) promotes osseointegration and facilitates soft tissue and bone regrowth. Metal implants are 3D printed using powder bed fusion technology, including…