February 24, 2022
AMTIL member AW Bell won the Manufacturing and Advanced Materials Export Award at the 2021 Australian Export and Investment Awards last November. The award takes a prime place at the entrance of the Victorian metal casting and precision engineering business. “It is a great recognition of the innovative work that our team has been doing the past 10 years,” says Sam Bell, the company’s CEO. “We are also very grateful to our partners, suppliers, customers and ongoing government support.” Leading defence primes are among AW Bell’s many valued customers for its precision manufacturing of components, which it supplies for defence land vehicles, submarines, F-35 fighter Jets, missiles, gun mounts and targeting systems. Northrop Grumman Corporation (NGC), BAE, Marand (ground support equipment), Levett, Raytheon, Pratt & Whitney and Lockheed Martin are its key customers for the F35 jet components. AW Bell manufactures and supplies high-strength aluminium castings for the aircraft’s camera housing and decoy measure housing. Among its many other precision defence products and global defence clients, AW Bell also supplies Thales (Bushmaster) and…
February 24, 2022
In automotive racing, Team Penske is synonymous with winning. Its legacy has been forged by the leadership of founder Roger Penske and a team of individuals and partners dedicated to producing champions. Hundreds of race wins, pole positions and scores of national championships accentuate their commitment to excellence. However, for Team Penske, achieving that kind of performance means constantly asking how things can be done better, and technology is a cornerstone of that cause. “Technology plays a big role in racing today.” Those are the words of Team Penske President, Tim Cindric. According to Cindric, technology isn’t invented at the racetrack but rather, it’s demonstrated there. One technology that Team Penske has fully embraced is additive manufacturing. Using Stratasys 3D printing solutions, Team Penske turns ideas into racetrack reality much more quickly than previously possible. Highlighting its impact in race strategy preparation, Cindric adds: “It gives us more ideas of what’s possible.” That’s understandable since for Team Penske, additive manufacturing solutions cover a lot of ground. “When we first started using 3D printing in the early 2000s,…
February 22, 2022
The outstanding contribution SPEE3D’s technology has made to furthering the manufacturing capability of Defense was recognised by the US Defense Strategies Institute (DSI) at their 6th Military Additive Manufacturing Summit, which took place in Tampa, Florida. At the summit, SPEE3D was announced as the inaugural winner of the Defense Strategies Institute’s Award for Expeditionary & Tactical 3D Printing Excellence. The Defense Strategies Institute (DSI) is a non-partisan Institute designed to assist in advancing the mission critical goals of the United States' Military and Government. They are also the organisers of the Annual Military Additive Manufacturing Summit event which enables thought leaders and key policymakers across military services, Defense agencies, and civilian organisations to come together for actionable discussions and debate. The 2022 Military Additive Manufacturing Summit focused on advancements made in the 3D printing space, as well as how the DoD is working to quickly integrate AM technologies in order to supply durable, affordable equipment and parts to the Warfighter in the battlespace. “We had an incredible number of entries…
February 17, 2022
Owned and operated by AMTIL, AMW is Australia’s premier manufacturing solutions event. Under the theme ‘Where technology meets innovation’, AMW 2022 will take place at the International Convention Centre Sydney (ICC Sydney) in Darling Harbour from 7-10 June 2022. The opening of registrations marks a major milestone in the build-up to the exhibition. Preparations for AMW 2022 have been marked by high levels of early interest, with the floor space almost entirely booked out well before the end of last year. “It’s great to finally have opened up registrations for visitors to AMW,” says Kim Banks, Head of Events at AMTIL. “We’ve had an incredible response from exhibitors, with stands getting booked faster than any of us had anticipated. There’s clearly a really strong appetite across the industry for an exhibition like AMW. Now we’re just concentrating on welcoming as many visitors to the show as we can.” AMW will occupy more than 9,000 square metres of floor space at the ICC Sydney, with more than 155 organisations taking stands to exhibit some…
February 17, 2022
In a recent white paper, SMC’s Industry Projects Manager for Energy (EU), Andy Still, shared his thoughts on how companies can optimise their energy efficiency in-line with one of the industry’s best-kept secrets. While it is possible to introduce compressed air efficiencies, today, some plants still suffer from 20 to 50% leakage rates as well as other forms of wastage. It’s common knowledge that the typical operating pressure (for main compressed air lines) in industrial plants is around 7 bar. However, not so commonly known is that by simply lowering the pressure to 5 bar, facilities can reduce their energy consumption up to 15%. Dropping the pressure to 4 bar offers savings of up to 29%. “The global understanding of pressure reduction is that it will affect performance,” Still explains. “Although this statement is true for some equipment, it must be said that most processes can operate efficiently at reduced pressures.” Bill Blyth, Energy Conservation Group Manager at SMC Corporation ANZ, echoes this sentiment saying that while…
February 15, 2022
The nine-month research collaboration, which is supported by $138,000 in funding from the Innovative Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre (IMCRC), will deliver alloys with enhanced material properties that optimise heat exchange operations. Dr Matthew Young, IMCRC’s Manufacturing Innovation Manager, said the IMCRC activate project had the potential to catalyse significant advances in Australia’s additive manufacturing capabilities. “Supporting novel alloy development specific to 3D printing processing conditions will maximise heat exchange efficiency, benefiting a number of sectors across Australia, from aerospace to energy,” he said. “More broadly, it will enable an Australian manufacturing sovereign capability to produce products with improved performance, geometries and fabrication. As this project demonstrates, enabling research institutions and industry to build symbiotic relationships remains key to developing a world-leading Australian manufacturing industry.” Conflux Technology’s CEO and founder Michael Fuller highlighted that improving heat transfer efficiency played a fundamental role in reducing humanity’s impact on atmospheric climate change: “At Conflux, we strive in our internal program of research and development to create…
February 10, 2022
Speaking as a company auditor, one of the key procedures we perform to conclude our opinion on financial reports and address the going concern basis, is devoted to determining whether the company can pay their debts as and when they fall due, which is a key solvency requirement for businesses looking forward one year ahead. Indeed, we take the forecast cash flows and we flex them to address locked-in commitments, potential (new) sources of cash inflows and any other potential movements of cash over the next year. We want to know in a worst-case scenario, how it is possible for the business to survive? All business owners should adopt the same philosophy that we do to survive and to thrive. Surprisingly, our observations are that cash flow management has a low priority in businesses or where it is implemented, the quality, timing and usefulness of the reporting is negligible at best. Here’s the problem: forecasting is an inexact…
February 10, 2022
Brisbane-based Minecorp Australia is an industry leader in fleet vehicle modification, working across many industry sectors, including military & government, mining & resources, construction & civil, services & utilities, and hire leasing and dealers. The company uses the Demmeler tables and accessories to firstly produce prototypes for clients, including roll-over protection systems (ROPS), tray bodies, tool & service boxes, and vehicle accessories. Once a design is finalised for a client, the Demmeler system is used to produce a jig that will then be used over and over to manufacture the item. “By manufacturing our jigs, we free up the table for other work, particularly for R&D and prototypes,” says Minecorp Australia’s Business Manager, Sheree Lamont. For example, in the manufacture of the roll-over protection systems (ROPS) for a vehicle, a jig is used to ensure the tubing is in the right place and is cut and fabricated accurately to fit. “The jig needs to be made accurately so we get the same result every…
February 10, 2022
ISO 14001 is a voluntary standard that sets out criteria for implementing an effective environmental management system. It guides businesses in systematising and improving their environmental management efforts and promotes methods to protect the environment and contribute to a sustainable future. AMTIL member Elexon secured the certification by demonstrating that consideration of the environment at every stage of the production cycle is a top priority. “With the electronics industry and its products having a higher-than-average impact on today’s environment, we take waste elimination, effective and efficient production processes and smart and responsible product design considering the whole lifecycle of our product, very seriously,” said Elexon CEO Frank Faller. Management Systems and their successful installation in company processes has always been a key focus for Elexon Electronics. The manufacturer received ISO 9001 15 years ago, just one year after establishing the company. “We can’t be complacent and we will continue to improve every aspect of the production processes, keeping the whole lifecycle process in mind,” said Elexon’s quality manager, Kylie Warren. “We need to make sure that we drive down waste…
February 3, 2022
Lovitt Technologies Australia is a leading manufacturer of complex, precision engineered, structural components and assemblies for commercial, business and military aerospace platforms. Central to the company’s current and future success is the selection and use of best in class CNC machining equipment. Flying in the face of the impact of the pandemic on Australian business and the economy, the company made two very significant investments during 2020 and 2021: a Mazak Vortex e-1600V/10 five-axis machining centre, and a Mazak Variaxis i-700 MPP five-axis machining centre equipped with a Mazak Multiple Pallet Pool (MPP) – all supplied by John Hart. “COVID-19 has had an impact on our business, but our vision and commitment are long-term,” says Bruce Ramsay, Manufacturing Director of Lovitt Technologies Australia. “Our decision to invest in these machines was driven by a combination of seeing a market for larger structures where we felt we had something to offer, and the need to do existing work more efficiently to remain competitive. “We considered all brands with an Australian presence for each requirement, but Mazak had the…
February 3, 2022
Craft Health is a healthcare research & development company committed to 3D-printed personalised healthcare. When it began looking for an accurate and precise print head for the manufacturing of personalised tablets, it came across ViscoTec. The solution that it needed had to comply with any regulatory requirement for manufacturing of nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals. The ViscoTec print head vipro-HEAD convinced with its technology: using the endless-piston principle, it is possible to achieve accurate and precise dosing of Craft Blends – a proprietary mixture of different GRAS excipients for 3D printing and various controlled release profiles. Other advantages of ViscoTec are the stepper motor version in the print head, that allows easy integration to already existing gantry systems for 3D printing. Moreover, the wetted and non-wetted surfaces can be clearly separated and cleaned accordingly. To meet the requirements of Craft Health, the wetted surfaces of the vipro-HEAD were customised and refabricated using SS316L material to comply with FDA regulations. Dr Seng Han Lim is the co-founder…
January 27, 2022
Rows of computerised numerical control (CNC) machine tools sharing a workspace with industrial robots that transport machined parts, accompanied by a minimal number of machine operators, are already a common characteristic of the modern metalworking plant or machine shop. CNC machines are the catalyst that created progressive advances in computer data engineering that have enabled this new reality. Advanced multi-axis machines facilitate the production of very complicated shapes with minimal set-ups. Advanced milling and turning capabilities, combined together in multitasking machines, open new opportunities for effective process planning. Innovative CNC metal cutting systems are on the verge of single set-up, full-part production – the ultimate dream of every manufacturer. A quantum leap in CNC technology is enabling a practical understanding of machining methods that had been theoretical for a long time, such as power skiving. The progress made in the world of computerised numerical control is impressive. It has impacted related spheres such as workholding and toolholding – as well as the diverse world of cutting tools.…
January 27, 2022
Unfortunately, our use of plastic products is one of ‘make, take, and throw’, without thinking of its long-lasting impact on the environment. A recent CSIRO report, Advanced recycling technologies to address Australia’s plastic waste, showed human consumption of plastic over the period of 2016-17 reached some 3.4m tonnes. However, the following year, Australia managed to recycle less than 10% of all this waste! Reducing plastic waste is critical to our environment and our economy. Australia can no longer export waste to China, so we must find ways to deal effectively with it ourselves. Today, only half of our end-of-life plastics are recycled – some is compressed to go into landfill, taking decades to breakdown while exuding dangerous gases; some is incinerated; polluting the air; while other waste finds its way into the ocean with devastating consequences on bird and marine life. However, there is a way to rectify this by building a circular economy through effective plastic recycling processes. Due to plastic’s flexible…
