September 9, 2016

Innovations in miniature – Iscar and medical manufacturing

When referring to medical industry machining, the term encompasses all machining related to surgical implants, orthopaedic devices and medical instruments. The expression also includes small-scale machining and micromachining, as today’s implanted devices often consist of or include minute components. Among other difficult to machine advanced materials, titanium is often used in medical devices, due to its non-reactivity characteristics associated with the human body. Small metalworking shops wishing to compete in the challenge of producing medical parts must develop a range of advanced capabilities to meet the specialised demands of the medical industry, especially when involved in small batches and prototype work. Mindful of the specific requirements of this challenging sector, the creative work and exhaustive field trials undertaken by Iscar’s advanced R&D department have resulted in the significant expansion of the company’s range of cutting tools associated with the medical industry. In addition to innovative new…
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September 9, 2016

Okuma helps local foot orthotics specialist go global

Starting as a small boutique laboratory servicing a limited number of podiatrists in and around Melbourne, the reputation of Footwork Podiatric Laboratory was soon recognised by others in the profession. Today the company is recognised as one of the leading suppliers of orthotics not only in Australia but around the world. “One of the keys to our success is our heavy investment in technology and in the design and development of our very own software,” says Maliszewski. “We support podiatrists in optimising their clients’ health outcomes by creating the highest-quality orthotics engineered to precise specifications each and every time using only the finest of materials. “Orthotics are inserts placed into the shoe to control or correct abnormal lower limb gait and alignment. The aim of a correctly prescribed orthotic is to modify how a client’s foot makes contact with the ground, thereby reducing stress…
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September 2, 2016

AMT Magazine – 2017 Media Kit now available

The AMT Media Kit lays out all the opportunities available for companies wishing to promote their businesses via advertising in the magazine. Advertising rates for next year have been held at 2016 levels, with prices having only risen by 5% since 2011. “AMT remains the number-one industry-trusted magazine for manufacturing in Australia,” says Anne Samuelsson, AMTIL Sales Manager. “It’s still the most reliable, effective way to promote your products and services and reach the key decision-makers in our industry. I’m very proud to be able to say we offer the industry’s lowest rates for advertising, offering the best value for your marketing dollars.” In addition to advertising options, the AMT Media Kit also details our editorial plans for 2017, with a full list of our upcoming features for each issue. While many of the regular product and industry features will be making their return as expected, the year to come will also see several new categories of coverage. “We took a long hard look at our coverage for next year and…
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September 2, 2016

Cook Medical’s vision for the future

Cook Medical Australia was founded in 1979 to manufacture and distribute medical products for customers in markets located around the Pacific Rim and South-East Asia. Originally focused on angiographic and interventional devices, Cook Medical Australia is at the forefront of the development of technology needed to perform in-vitro fertilisation and assisted reproduction procedures. Cook Medical Australia is the only manufacturing site in the world that produces custom-made stent grafts for the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms. The Brisbane-based manufacturing facility is Cook Medical’s Asia-Pacific headquarters, employing over 500 people locally and over 1,200 across the Asia Pacific region with approximately 12,000 personnel globally. Recently Cook Medical undertook a project to improve processing efficiency, accuracy and repeatability and to ensure raw material components continued to meet the requirements for the finished medical devices. The goal was to automate the process for measurement of raw material and in process components. Without a new method, components would continue to be measured and checked by hand (using rulers, micrometers and…
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September 2, 2016

Mathematical models effectively calculate tool life

In a metal cutting operation, a tool deforms workpiece material and causes it to shear away in the form of chips. The deformation process requires a significant amount of force, and the tool endures a variety of mechanical, thermal, chemical and tribological loads. Over a period of time, these loads eventually cause the tool to wear to the point that it must be replaced. Accordingly, for more than a century, scientists and engineers have created and tested mathematical models that factor in the forces upon a tool to provide estimates of expected tool life. Many of these models focus on a specific tool’s performance in a certain material and operation, and simple formulas and repetitive testing produce valid tool wear projections. However, generalised models that can be applied across a wide range of workpiece materials and tools are more useful in industrial applications. Because these models take into account a variety…
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August 26, 2016

Sky’s the limit for BJP Laboratories

Medical manufacturing is an innovative sector that continues to show positive growth against the backdrop of a turbulent global market. While some questions remain on the future of the Australian manufacturing industry due to recent high-profile changes in the market, evidence shows that innovative manufacturers are taking advantage of the opportunities in international markets and growing their businesses. Against this uncertain future, BJP Laboratories has experienced significant growth by exporting its products to new markets. The company specialises in manufacturing and packaging organic and non-organic complementary medicinal products, such as tablets and capsules. Among its extensive range of products, BJP specialises in the production of probiotics, which it undertakes in its purpose-built, humidity-controlled facility located in Yatala, between Brisbane and the Gold Coast. BJP has experienced exponential business growth as a result of increasing demand for listed medicines in overseas markets. On the back of this success, one of its existing clients, Blackmores, required increased production capacity to meet the growing demand for glucosamine tablets…
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August 26, 2016

Perfect machining through PC simulation

Established in the 2014 restructuring of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), Airbus Defence and Space is responsible for the areas of defence and space as a subsidiary of the Airbus Group. With headquarters in Ottobrunn, Germany, the company focuses on the development and construction of engines for the Ariane 5 launch vehicle, among other activities. Airbus Defence and Space meets the high demands on quality with long-standing experience in machining and state-of-the-art CNC technology. Among its recent acquisitions are two DMU 70 eVo linear machines and one DMC 125 FD duoBLOCK. The company also uses the DMG MORI machines in an exact 1:1 simulation on the PC, in the form of the DMG MORI Virtual Machine. The software can be used in a preliminary PC simulation to safely check the complex machining of the highly expensive workpieces. This makes manufacturing completely safe and enables process optimisations already at a preliminary stage to increase efficiency in machining. A fully loaded Airbus A380, at a weight of approximately 590 tons, launches…
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August 19, 2016

Technology that’s driving growth and innovation

Market conditions in Australia are changing, though at the core of it all, Australian companies are amongst the most innovative and resourceful in the world. At Applied Machinery, we began seeing signs of renewed optimism from our customers towards the back end of 2015, and it’s with this in mind that the following Top 10 will be where our customers are, and will be continuing to invest their capital. Pro-Plas CNC plasma cutting systems                                                                                                                             With the Pro-Plas series plasma cutting systems from Applied Machinery, we have managed to put together a quality CNC machine, with Hypertherm plasma source and Fastcam software for under $27,000 plus GST. With an edge finish that has to be seen to be believed for a system at this price point, in-house sheet-metal profiling just became accessible to companies where in the past it was just not financially viable. We saw record sales of these machines prior to Christmas 2015 and orders in early…
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August 19, 2016

Sandvik – Silence means success

In some cases, operations may seem impossible to perform, but as such they also provide a potential for being transformed to processes that are efficient and secure. This potential has been the driving force behind the development of vibration-dampened tooling – from initially being a problem solver to today’s position as a recognised productivity booster. Research into the causes and possible remedies of vibration tendencies was started as early as in the 1960s. With vibrations having been a problem in machining as long as cutting metal has existed, a closer look was warranted into the nature of the problem, originating at the cutting edge – especially when related to tool overhang. It was established that a vibration could be seen as a variable deflection of the cutting tool and that with no or minute deflection there was no vibration that would affect machining to any consequence. In cutting tools, vibrations are triggered and maintained by dynamic cutting forces. Even during continuous cuts, forces…
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August 12, 2016

Sydney set for Safety in Action

The largest workplace health and safety event in Australia will feature over 20 free seminars on insights and priorities for employee safety. “It’s estimated that over 2,000 workers die from a work-related illness each year, highlighting the urgent need for national improvements to prevent and reduce the number and severity of injuries and illnesses in the future,” says Keith Barks, General Manager at Informa Australia, which is jointly presenting the event with the Safety Institute of Australia (SIA). Running parallel to Safety in Action will be the Safety Institute of Australia’s National Convention, a two-day conference featuring global and Australian safety leaders who will address the theme of ‘Disruptive Safety’. The convention program will include the SIA Annual General Meeting, OHS education awards, OHS leaders and CEO's breakfast, and a Women in Leadership forum. Mental health and physical wellbeing will be a key focus of the free Safety in Action seminar series, which will hear from leading industry professionals discussing this…
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August 12, 2016

Dimac Tooling – New premises to boost service

With more than 30 years of experience in CNC machine tool accessories, Dimac is the agent for many highly respected brands such as Kitagawa, Cooljet, Reven and Eron. The company also manufactures soft and hard jaws in its own CNC-equipped machine shop. After 30 years at its manufacturing facility in nearby Mulgrave, the move to the site in Dandenong South will, according to Managing Director Paul Fowler, further enhance Dimac’s ability to service its clients’ needs. “These new premises will allow us to operate more efficiently, provide even greater levels of customer service and of course maintain our local manufacturing of soft jaws,” says Fowler. “It will also allow us to develop and expand our product offering of CNC accessories that improve our customers’ bottom line, enhance their productivity and improve machining safety and efficiency.” More options from Mitee-Bite Dimac is the exclusive agent for Mitee-Bite products and…
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August 5, 2016

Hare & Forbes helps manufacturer reach great heights

Precision Metal Group offers a broad range of services including metal fabrication, profile cutting, workshop machining, machinery repairs and maintenance, mechanical and electrical engineering services. It prides itself on the ability to be a one-stop shop, offering 24/7 support for a growing band of loyal customers. Company founder Jason Elias is the driving force behind this innovative operation. Jason set up the business in 2000 at Yennora in western Sydney after finishing a highly successful apprenticeship as a boilermaker – he was named Apprentice of the Year three years running. After operating the business successfully for eight years as a sole trader Elias decided to form a company after moving to bigger premises at Wetherill Park. After four years, the company boasted 16 full-time employees, including Elias – the archetypal hands-on boss. “We then managed to land a couple of big contracts and the company grew from 16 employees to 42 in a six-month period,” he adds. Precision Metal Group now has 51…
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July 29, 2016

Additive manufacturing meets milling quality – A unique interplay between technologies

In times of increasingly complex and individualised components, additive manufacturing processes with their high degree of geometrical freedom regarding component design are an effective way of escaping the complexity trap. However, the technology is slow, inaccurate and expensive which, up to now, has made it difficult to make inroads, particularly in the field of metal processing. Against this background, the combination of laser deposition welding by means of a powder nozzle with chip removal opens up fully new perspectives. As a pioneer and trendsetter, DMG MORI is already offering two groundbreaking hybrid machines. We spoke to Friedemann Lell, Sales Manager of SAUER, who is responsible for additive laser technology in the DMG MORI Group, about the advantages and areas of application of the combi-machines. AMT: What is the difference between the LASERTEC 3D machines and other additive metal processing systems? Friedemann Lell: In the field of additive manufacturing, we are focusing on powder deposition welding using lasers, a technique which has…
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