Member News

Premier Daniel Andrews’ Government is urging Victorian businesses to nominate for the Awards. With the theme ‘Towards Future Industries’, the Awards include Young Manufacturer of the Year, Manufacturer of the Year, Company Induction, Honour Roll, as well as six Hall of Fame Awards for outstanding manufacturers in sectors the Victorian Government has identified for high growth potential. These include: medical technology and pharmaceuticals; new energy technology; food and fibre processing; transport, defence and construction technologies; professional services and international education. The nominations will be judged across a range of criteria that demonstrate best practice manufacturing, including innovation, adoption of advanced manufacturing technology, business and environmental sustainability, and skills development. The Hall of Fame Awards were established in 2001 to recognise individuals and companies who embrace new technologies and manufacturing techniques, are export focused and excel in business innovation. “I strongly encourage Victorian businesses to nominate for the 2016 Victorian Manufacturing Hall of Fame Awards and showcase their talents,” said Minister for Industry Lily D’Ambrosio. “The Andrews…

After working for three years as an industrial programmer, Gene Haas founded Proturn Engineering in 1978. It was a small contract machine shop in Sun Valley, California, where Haas worked side-by-side with two employees, machining parts for the electronics and aerospace industries. During this time Haas developed a fully-programmable 5C collet indexer to boost productivity in his own shop. The Haas 5C was the industry’s first device to automatically reposition parts accurately for machining by simply pressing a button, as opposed to having to reposition the material by hand – a cumbersome and time-consuming process. The machine-tool industry received the economical and reliable Haas 5C Indexer with enthusiasm and, in 1983 Haas Automation Inc. was born. The company started with three employees in a 465sqm facility. During the next four years, Haas expanded his product line to include a wide selection of fully-programmable rotary tables,…

Plenty of people out there will say you won’t need a consultant at all to implement Lean, but the reality is there are a lot of consultants meeting a real need in helping businesses to get started. Implementing Lean manufacturing has its challenges and most companies engage or employ experienced experts or Lean consultants such as TXM to get their Lean transformation underway. However, there are many Lean tools and principles that you can do yourself, without the need for a Lean consultant or hiring an internal expert. You can even try the following five tips at home – they are that safe! Kamishibai – Red-Green Tee Card Boards. One of our favourite and simplest Lean tools is the Red-Green Tee Card board, or Kamishibai. These are a really effective tool to make sure that everyone can see whether everyday tasks in your factory or office are getting done. A red-green task…

One such company is Iscar. Rather than being an expensive policy to pursue, Iscar finds that the use of greener strategies such as recycling and the pursuit of reduced energy consumption, increases profitability. In addition, the kudos gained by adopting more sustainable methods raises potential customers’ perceptions and often leads to improved levels of business. To help support the global manufacturing industry’s search for greener means of production, suppliers such as machine tool companies and tooling manufacturers have introduced a wide range of impressive innovations. Led by Germany’s mechanical engineering association, schemes such as the Blue Competence Machine Tools initiative focus on sustainability. Under the Blue Competence initiative, machine tool companies agree to meet pre-determined ecological, economic and social values and principles, while implementing sustainable production solutions in their production plants, products and business services, with the aim of achieving greener manufacturing. Increasingly, Iscar and other major machine tool manufacturers are introducing advanced energy-saving features to…

The Entrepreneurs’ Programme is the Australian Government’s flagship initiative for business competitiveness and productivity at the firm level. The $7.8m has been offered to assist the 17 Australian companies launch their innovative products, processes or services into the global marketplace and help advance Australian industries. Some of the products, processes or services include: A device to optimise carbon use and maximise gold recovery for the gold mining industry A software and training platform for the agribusiness sector to help improve farm profitability, business management and sustainability A real-time, cloud-based data management system for intelligent buildings and smart cities Laser-based 3D printing for lighter, more easily produced metal components for aerospace and defence applications Advanced manufacturing for reliable, cheaper and highly efficient silicon solar cells A world-first clinical diagnostics device to help assess the health of the human gut. The Entrepreneurs’ Programme commercialisation grants help Australian entrepreneurs, inventors and businesses address the challenges associated with commercialising novel intellectual property. It aims to: Accelerate the commercialisation of novel intellectual property in…

ANCA Machine Tools celebrated its 40th anniversary of operations at the end of 2014. Founded by Pat Boland and Pat McCluskey 40 years ago in Melbourne, ANCA has grown into a truly global organisation with manufacturing sites and branch offices all around the world. Today, ANCA is a market leader in quality CNC grinding machines. ANCA’s success is a result of its continuous development of cutting-edge technology and a focus on innovation. Continuing in that tradition, ANCA has recently launched a number of new machines and products aiming at strengthening the value proposition the company can offer to its customers. One particularly significant addition to the ANCA range has been the FX Linear and MX Linear machines. Both machines are powered by LinX linear motor (international patent pending) developed by ANCA Motion, a sister company of ANCA. Prior to the introduction of the FX Linear and MX Linear machines, ANCA had been a silent observer on linear motor technology for many years. “ANCA was aware of the benefits that can be brought…

Australia has long had a close relationship with Japan, which has resulted in strong business ties between the two nations. Japan is Australia’s second-largest export destination and trading partner, presenting a broad range of opportunities for Australian SMEs wishing to export their products or services. Japan’s size and proximity has meant that it has always been a promising destination for Australia’s export industries. Australian exports to Japan were worth US$50bn in 2014, and with Japan’s high levels of disposable income and demand for premium, high-end goods and services, this is likely to continue at a similar level, even grow. Research recently conducted by the Export Council of Australia, the Australian International Business Survey 2015, found that 64% of Australian businesses that operate in Japan expect business to get better over the year ahead,…

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…

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…