Member News

Having access to parts as needed that can be 3D printed is a positive solution for industries operating in remote locations such as mining, oil & gas production, power stations, farming equipment and wind farms. The convenience factor offers a convincing argument for on-demand production for parts that unexpectedly break, wear out before time, or become affected by environmental conditions. An emerging solution for the provision of AM-produced spare parts is being offered by German company Bionic Production, with its revolutionary mobile, modular 3D printing system, or better known as a “factory in a box”. Bionic Production has an extensive history in design, development and service, producing the renowned Bugatti brake caliper using an SLM Solutions multi-laser system. By applying bionic design techniques, the initial model was reviewed, the maximum possible tensile strength determined, and the topology optimised for 3D printing. Using its technical and methodological expertise and experience as 3D printers and developers, Bionic Production now supplies the Mobile…

All six manufacturing sectors in the Australian PMI expanded in June, with five expanding at a faster pace than in May (readings above 50 points indicate expansion in activity, with higher results indicating a faster rate of expansion). Businesses that directly supply the construction sector reported strong results, saying they are investing to increase capacity, increasing employment and diversifying suppliers to keep up with demand. Ai Group Chief Executive Innes Willox said: “The 2020-21 financial year closed on a high note for Australia’s manufacturing sector. Ai Group’s June Australian PMI pointed to record growth across the sector fuelled by the fastest recorded pace of expansion in each of the food & beverages; machinery & equipment; building materials; and chemicals sectors.” All seven activity indices in the Australian PMI expanded in June. Exports returned to strength, reversing May’s contraction (up 11.3 points to 60.2), while new orders accelerated into very strong expansion (up 5.7 points to 70.6), suggesting confidence for ongoing demand and a…

Custom manufacturing — the process of designing, engineering, and producing goods based on a customer’s unique specifications — poses unique challenges for manufacturers. With high-volume manufacturing, the goal of the machine shop is to make thousands — or millions — of products at a low cost per unit. Design and manufacturing practices allow companies to deliver goods at prices acceptable to consumers, with a small profit margin-per-unit that multiplies across the whole manufacturing run. However, it’s a different story with built-to-order (BTO) one-off parts or shorter production runs. The operator must adapt the cutting data and choice of tool to guarantee quality and productivity and ensure that the aforementioned price points are met. These parameters should be implemented quickly, to produce a product type the operator may never have worked with before. Furthermore, the process may entail machining tough workpiece materials…

Morgan Engineering was established in 1975 by Ross and Carole Morgan and is now operated by their children: Martin, Matthew and Chelsea Morgan. Morgan Engineering provides engineering design, welding, line-boring, large-capacity CNC machining, on-site machining and heavy fabrication services across Australia, with a focus on New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia. The company is renowned for the manufacture, re-manufacture and reclamation of components to suit CAT earthmoving equipment. The team have refined their processes over the course of 45 years, providing components which are third-party-certified to meet or exceed OEM specifications. Compared to new replacement components, the Morgan Engineering components not only halve their customers’ costs, but also reduce downtime due to shorter lead times. Morgan Engineering relies on state-of-the-art Mazak equipment supplied by John Hart to deliver high-quality solutions and stay well ahead of the competition. The company’s ultra-modern, high-capacity workshop features a Mazak Integrex i-400 multi-tasking machine and a Mazak…

False and misleading representations not only lead to distrust in your brand and reputation but can also open your business up to substantial penalties from the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) if you have breached the Australian Consumer Law (ACL). Manufacturers need to be cautious when specifying “country of origin” or “Made in Australia” claims. There are specific requirements under the ACL that must be met to substantiate such claims. The potential consequences have been demonstrated in a recent case where the ACCC contended that Kimberly-Clark had falsely marketed their products as “Made in Australia” on their website. The items’ packaging correctly stated their country of manufacture. To ensure your business is compliant, we have provided the key points to consider and broken down the essential facts of the case of ACCC v Kimberley-Clark [2020] FCAFC 107. Advertising and promotional material cannot make false or misleading claims The ACL is a national law aimed at…

Bodd Technology is a 3D body scanning and data business founded in 2013. The intellectual property (IP) for its technology is owned by Bodd and has been developed with leading Australian academic institutions including UTS and RMIT University. Bodd’s hardware prototyping of both 3D scanners and 3D printers, and now commercial manufacture, is conducted through a partnership with Bosch Australia, based in Clayton, Victoria. In its first application of the technology, Bodd has developed a suite of proprietary ‘fit’ technologies for the $2.4 trillion apparel industry. In addition to apparel, Bodd will enter multiple other verticals that also value and use data around body shape and size. Bodd recently signed both a major South-East Asian apparel brand and a major Australian uniform producer, and has also secured a distribution partnership for the US and Europe. Bodd has a strong revenue pipeline with 17 additional Australian merchants ready to begin trials of the new technology. The challenge Bodd sough to develop technology that can quickly capture the sizing and exact 3D body curvature using a portable…

Michael Tuckey, now New Forge’s Technical Director, headed to the seminar, keen to learn more about what was on offer from the fast-growing US manufacturer of 3D printing technology. “Mike went down to the event as he’d been looking at 3D printers and what was in industry,” recalls Andrew Day, Managing Director and Founder of New Forge. “The main questions that were being asked from people in Perth – about 150 of whom attended this seminar – was ‘Do they offer Markforged as a service?’ They could see the quality of the parts being produced on the Markforged machines. And the answer was ‘No’.” A case became clear for the company, which is separate from but has its origins in Caldertech Australia, a company that specialises in high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipework solutions. Michael and Andrew both worked at the UK-based Caldertech’s local subsidiary, which Andrew purchased in 2019. They imported UK-made products but found some had to be redesigned or adapted for Australian…

The Moon to Mars Demonstrator Feasibility grants will see 20 organisations receive up to $200,000 each to conduct feasibility testing and to transform their concepts into the next generation of space products and services. Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Christian Porter said growing Australia’s space manufacturing sector was a key priority for the Government and the grants will enable local organisations to capitalise on emerging economic opportunities. “These grants are part of the Morrison Government’s flagship space program – the $150m Moon to Mars initiative – which is providing pathways for Australian organisations to play an important part in NASA’s plans to return to the Moon and go beyond to Mars,” Porter said. “The initiative will also support the transformation of high-value manufacturing industries across our economy, fast-track the growth of the national civil space sector and create high-skilled jobs.” The 20 successful projects have demonstrated clear potential to support future Moon to Mars activities, including in the areas of advanced…

Riding on the coat tails of AMTIL’s ongoing promotion of AMW is just one of the advantages of locking in a stand early for next year’s exhibition. The sooner you get your stand locked in and announce it to your target markets, the quicker you can start putting yourself in the box seat to develop great early interest in your company’s presence at the event. It’s never too early to start publicising your participation in a major industry event such as AMW. And when your promotional work is doubled up with the marketing being undertaken by the event organisers, it has a multiplier effect, and starts to create a real buzz of expectation throughout the industry. At AMTIL we are already starting to see that effect, and the earlier you book, the bigger the benefit. Booking your stand and being part of the pre-show publicity has several benefits: It encourages visitors to put you on their list of companies to…

Professor Fox, CSIRO’s fourth female Chief Scientist, joins the agency from Swinburne University of Technology, where she is Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise). CSIRO Chief Executive Dr Larry Marshall said Professor Fox brings great depth of scientific experience to the role. “Bronwyn exemplifies the CSIRO way – driven to deliver, brilliant but humble, leading by listening, and a generous collaborator,” Dr Marshall said. “She has a long history of bringing together researchers from across multiple scientific domains and institutions, leveraging digital science, and helping industry to translate brilliant ideas into real world solutions. “Her sustained commitment to supporting the growth of the manufacturing industry in Australia strongly supports our purpose to deliver solutions from science that drive Australia’s economic recovery and resilience.” As a materials and engineering scientist, Professor Fox was the founding director of Swinburne University’s Manufacturing Futures Research Institute, with a mission to support the transition of Australia’s manufacturing sector to Industry 4.0 – the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Professor Fox said she had worked with CSIRO scientists for…

By way of a joint media release issued on 15 June by Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Dan Tehan, a summary of the positive commercial outcomes for Australia were summarised as below. The FTA is the right deal for Australia and the UK, with greater access to a range of high-quality products made in both countries as well as greater access for businesses and workers, all of which will drive economic growth and job creation in both countries. Australian producers and farmers will receive a significant boost by getting greater access to the UK market. Australian consumers will benefit from cheaper products, with all tariffs eliminated within five years, and tariffs on cars, whisky, and the UK’s other main exports eliminated immediately. The UK will liberalise Australian imports with 99% of Australian goods, including Australian wine and short and medium grain milled…

The Adelaide-based company is also growing its contract manufacturing operations from its Edinburgh Parks facility, as customers from around the world utilise the technology to produce components for the marine, defence and mining industries. In May, one of AML3D’s Arcemy units was unveiled at Rowlands Metalworks in Adelaide’s southern suburbs, which the sheet metal manufacturer says is a key to expanding its defence work nationally. The Arcemy unit is capable of producing up to 10kg of product an hour and will be used to diversify Rowlands’ product offering and help it meet the demands of next-generation defence projects in South Australia and nationally. The launch follows the export of an Arcemy unit to Singapore last year. A unit is also being shipped to West Australian company IKAD Engineering. AML3D Managing Director Andy Sales says there is increasing interest from around the world in the additive metal layering 3D printing technology: “Some of these manufacturing and fabrication companies are realising they have to diversify so they are going out and buying new machinery…

AMT: What were Sutton Tools’s plans for 2020 before the pandemic took hold? Peter Sutton: Like every other business around the world, most of our plans were put on hold, preparing for who knew what was to come. Having been through the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) just over a decade ago, we had some experience with what was to potentially come. We ran various scenarios on the impact on the business, from modest to extreme. At the time, we believed we were going to be in a fight for our survival. If a word defined the year, it was ‘uncertainty’. Each day brought on a new challenge for our staff, not only in the way they worked but also for their personal lives. As time progressed, we started to re-establish our business plans where we could but, in reality, we were reacting to…