June 25, 2022
A significant quality improvement of the de-powdering and cleaning operation for 3D printed components at lower costs and shorter cycle times! A leading manufacturer of recreational vehicles is fulfilling this goal with the purchase of the automated post-processing system, S1 from AM Solutions – 3D post-processing technology. With their innovative designs and powerful drive systems the motor homes, caravans and panel trucks of the Knaus Tabbert AG allow safe, comfortable and sustainable traveling. At its German headquarters in Jandelsbrunn, Bavaria, the company is using its know-how to continuously improve the materials and designs of its vehicles. Naturally, this also includes the employment of new manufacturing technologies such as additive manufacturing (AM). Mario Meszaros, development engineer at Knaus Tabbert explains: “On the one hand we are using the 3D printing technology for creating prototypes. On the other, we are also using additive manufacturing for producing standard components in volume such as the bracket for an alarm system or the hinge mechanism for the swing-out shower stall.” A challenging post-processing task To date, the de-powdering and cleaning of PA 12 components, produced by…
June 23, 2022
Not that you would have noticed, because as Con-form Group Managing Director Nigel Cro says, “People will drive along on a highway overpass and there are a lot of things on roofs that you see; now if you don’t see those things, that’s because we’ve done a good job – that’s our goal.” Industrial HVAC systems are heavy and often noisy. Con-form Group provide an engineered solution for the structure to cater for the weight on rooftop installations and additionally deliver acoustic solutions to minimise environmental noise. Con-form Group’s lightweight aluminium plant platforms and screens are now found on industrial, commercial and public infrastructure roofs right around Australia. The Bathurst-based business was established more than 20 years ago and employs approximately 35 staff. In 2014, the Con-form Group team developed an industry-leading lightweight roof-mounting platform system for mechanical equipment. “It was painful to see large structural steel sections getting craned onto roofs laboriously day after day, piece by piece and the danger and the logistics involved,” says Cro. “I remember just looking at…
June 22, 2022
Veolia Water Technologies, a subsidiary of the Veolia group and leading specialist in water treatment, announces the Asia Pacific launch of the Barrel, an integrated plug-and-play reverse osmosis (RO) technology. With increasing demand and rising concerns over scarcity of fresh water in the Asia-Pacific region, the Barrel meets the challenges and expectations of the desalination market while producing fresh water complying with all water quality standards. It is also suitable for wastewater reuse and low-pressure RO applications. The Barrel was selected as a key technology for the first experiment in Europe in wastewater treatment for the supply of drinking water through the Jourdain programme, in France’s Vendee region. The technology has also been in use at the Oman Sur desalination plant since 2019. The Barrel is a multi RO element vessel that is designed to be a plug-and-play system. The carbon steel pressure vessel is manufactured and tested off-site, and is delivered as a single unit, so installation on-site can be fast-tracked and project schedules shortened. In addition, the modular design of the Barrel makes it highly scalable,…
June 17, 2022
The Australian Technologies Competition is an internationally recognised national awards and growth support program for technology scaleups. It comprises a three-stage national competition for sector awards and Australian Technology Company of the Year, high calibre mentoring from successful technology entrepreneurs and senior corporate executives, an International Growth Masterclass and access to partner and investor connection events. The 12 categories of the Competition reflect the enormous capabilities of the Australian technology sector and the more than 250 high-growth companies that have previously reached the semi-finals or finals read like a Who’s Who of Australian ‘deep’ technology. They include Agridigital, BindiMaps, BluGlass, Calix, CancerAid, CIM Enviro, Fleet Space, Gilmour Space, RedEye, Sound Scouts, StormSeal, SwitchDin, Wattwatchers and many more. This year Impact Tech Ventures is partnering with Investible to deliver the program. The early-stage VC has a proud record of investing in, mentoring and supporting tech companies to grow internationally. It is also investing substantially in the Australian ecosystem with Greenhouse — an emerging innovation hub, supported by the City of Sydney, built for climate tech companies…
June 16, 2022
Charlie Eilbeck heads the machining business of Eilbeck Cranes, the parent company which commands 75% of the bespoke overhead crane market in Australia. The machining division opened in 2015 at the site we are touring, which has done well enough to grow its headcount to 40 and open a second workshop (also in Ingleburn). Eilbeck Heavy Machining (EHM) has brought more and more crane component manufacturing in-house, and gone about chasing projects outside of the company. “Building these machine shops has a lot to do with the passion of my father, Tom, because he’s a fitter and turner, and he worked in one growing up. So machine shops allow us to be a very flexible business, but they also come from his heart,” explains the younger Eilbeck. “A lot of what we do is driven by passion. We're not a public company driven by a board of directors where we have to justify when we want to spend three million dollars on a mill. We see opportunity, and we see opportunity in Australia.” If there’s a couple-paragraph…
June 15, 2022
Okuma Australia has been expanding its service and technical support for its current and ever-growing list of Queensland customers in line with the Okuma business Monozukuri philosophy – ‘the art of making things better’. With modern new Queensland premises in Hamilton and a growing team of four engineers and technical support personnel, each with a passion for Australian manufacturing, Okuma Australia is well placed and committed to advance its strong market position in Queensland. Northern Regional Manager for NSW & Queensland, Sydney based Steve Norbis, has more than 30 years in the industry. Steve leads a team of eleven in New South Wales and Queensland and his passion for the industry filters down through the entire team. “We currently have a broad range of advanced technology machine orders in hand and a growing level of enquiries in the pipeline,” said Steve Norbis. “The new team appointments and expanding branch structure will ensure that Okuma’s solid presence in the Queensland market is maintained and supported thus enabling our Queensland team to maintain the level of service our customers currently enjoy and have…
June 10, 2022
The compact Additive Engineering stand was this morning buzzing with people. All are interested to dig into the details of the titanium, SWaP-C, biocompatible medical devices that are being delivered ready for surgery for their clients. Additive also develop for its aerospace market-specific carbon-fibre parts for wings, engines, and propellers. I visited the Zeiss stand to rediscover my cinematic roots. Once upon a time Zeiss just made camera lenses and glasses. Now, Zeiss visualises bone parts for thalamic microscopy, they create diagnostic instrumentation, they also have a precise vision division. They do still make lenses for glasses; they mainly do R&D but their aim is to create bionic eye parts for direct implants. A phenomenal range of applications and all I can think of is the surgeon on Blade Runner. Over at Objective3D, I was shown several examples of 3D models brought together from the VRML and OBJ files, which also include colour data for specific opacity in models. With the polyjet technology, they can now generate photorealistic results out of the 3D printer which truly will replicate the best…
June 9, 2022
A clear sunny morning in Sydney once again. Up on the third floor above the trade show, the accounting firm William Buck was staging a Business Breakfast for manufacturing business owners full of advice I know manufacturers would benefit from, but some things I’m sure some owners don’t want to hear about. “One third of business owners do not have a succession plan,” said Mark Calvetti, Director at William Buck. “There should be more future proofing for businesses, especially manufacturing, because there are so many attached careers to that business. Staff, share-holders and creditors. In fact, 65% of the manufacturers in a recent survey had done no business valuation over the last three years. They had no idea of the value of their business.” Invariably something goes wrong along the way in a lot of business stories. Disputes in family businesses perhaps, in a company without a shareholder agreement. The plea from lawyers speaking this morning, was that manufacturers and owners need to know to do a ‘financial due diligence’ on their nest egg. Be ready for that unforeseen circumstance before it…
June 8, 2022
First up this Wednesday morning, the second day of AMW, was an official visit from the NSW State MP. The Hon Stuart Ayres MP is Minister for Enterprise, Investment and Trade, and Minister for Tourism and Sport, and Minister for Western Sydney. Great to have him check out the show floor. The AMRF Make the Future event started today upstairs on the fifth level, well away from the show floor, with an opening by Minister Ayres. Presented by the NSW Government and the Western Parkland City Authority. The brief for this massive facility is exciting on so many levels. Stage One will be the next generation fabrication district in Western Sydney, built in the new Bradfield City. Aiming to be opening in the third quarter of 2023, next year. The full-scale AMRF will incorporate advanced electronics and semiconductor manufacturing to service defence, aerospace and emerging industries I’m sure only the people in this little room have any concept of. The Western Sydney International Airport will be built and active right next door. AMW definitely boasts the most full-on veritable procession of cobots,…
June 7, 2022
Here we are. In bright Sydney sunshine, Australian Manufacturing Week has begun down at the ICC at Darling Harbour. Hats off to all the crew who pushed in over the weekend and made the starting day such a success. That is a mighty job. The stands are thumping out great vibes, every last one. Great waves of visitors buzzed the stands throughout the first day, starting at opening, quieting down just around midday and powering back up again in the afternoon. Gavin New, General Manager of Ronson Gears, showed me through the range of wheels, fitted cogs and spiral screws that the company produced. From the smallest order of spare parts for old machines, in whatever medium, to mass production of assembly line gears. I’ll go back there again. On the ADDE stand, I was taken by Barry Higgins on a very novel trip using VR. Activating cobots, moving pallets of stock around in an automated sensing environment. They appeared out in the aisles as well, among the people. Back in the real world, they also had a display of world’s…
May 31, 2022
A world leader in gases, technologies and services for Industry and Health, Air Liquide is present in 80 countries with approximately 66,000 employees and serves more than 3.6+ million customers and patients. Oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen are essential small molecules for life, matter and energy. They embody Air Liquide’s scientific territory and have been at the core of the company’s activities since its creation in 1902. Air Liquide’s ambition is to lead its industry, deliver long term performance and contribute to sustainability. The company’s customer-centric transformation strategy aims at profitable growth over the long term. It relies on operational excellence, selective investments, open innovation and a network organisation implemented by the Group worldwide. Through the commitment and inventiveness of its people, Air Liquide leverages energy and environment transition, changes in healthcare and digitisation, and delivers greater value to all its stakeholders. Air Liquide Australia Limited provides innovative, responsive and customer focused services to our product range, which improves the performance…
May 31, 2022
An Australian baby formula company has sealed a mega deal to send more than a million tins to desperate parents in the United States, with President Joe Biden spruiking the deal on Twitter himself. “I’ve got more good news: 27.5 million bottles of safe infant formula manufactured by Bubs Australia are coming to the United States,” Biden tweet. Bubs Australia manufactures its baby formula product, including goat’s milk formula, at a Dandenong factory in Melbourne’s south-east. Founder and chief executive Kristy Carr started the business in 2006 from her kitchen table in Sydney’s northern beaches. The company has recently secured approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), allowing it to export six of its baby formula products to the US to help fill the country’s dwindling shelves. About 500,000 tins are ready to be sent to the US from Bubs Australia’s Melbourne factory, with another 750,000 being produced for export in the coming months. The FDA recently relaxed some importation rules for infant formula to deal with the shortage.…
May 26, 2022
Multicam CNC routers have been used in various engineering industries since inception. We are excited to be able to demonstrate how Multicam CNC routers can be a solution for Engineering companies in the plastics, metal and composite products industries at this years’ event. Multicam Heavy Duty CNC Routing machines are proudly made in Australia. Designed for profile cutting sheet product and extrusions including metals, plastics, composite materials, and timber products, they are used in the manufacture of Aluminium boats, Aerospace components, Truck body parts, Caravan & Motor Home components, Kitchens, Furniture or any other flat sheet product. They are used extensively in the ACM and HVAC industries and include many unique design features aimed specifically at making the processing of ACM cladding and ducting and insulation materials easier and more efficient. Other specialist features ensure that Multicam machines are an excellent alternative to Plasma and Laser machines that typically have higher running costs and greater servicing demands. Multicam CNC routers are available in a range of sizes with process areas starting from 2400mm…
