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Robots are such an integral part of industry these days it is hard to imagine production facilities without them. However, their use requires strict safety measures, especially when they come into contact with people. A new generation of robots drastically minimises the risk of injury and offers other advantages: these new robots are made of a flexible material, such as silicone. The movement of the robot is created by a specific filling and emptying of cavities (often using compressed air or vacuum). An example of a soft robot already used in industry is the so-called pneumatic gripper. These actuators are characterised in particular by their high flexibility in gripping shapes and the non-destructive handling of fragile objects. However, the production of these flexible grippers is a challenge. The complex geometries and the many cavities make injection molding very complex or, in some cases, impossible. This can be remedied…

The emergence of cleaner energy options, and more ‘energy producers’ in the market, has increased the competition for your green dollar. There is already a clean alternative to fossil fuels that does not emit greenhouse gases and unlike solar and wind energy, can be produced at any time of the day or night, whatever the weather. Green hydrogen is made using clean electricity from renewable energy to electrolyse water (H2O), separating the hydrogen from the oxygen. Aside from the sustainability factor, one of the benefits of hydrogen is that it can be used immediately or be stored and transported for later use, making it a mobile energy source. It can also be used as a clean fuel for transport, for providing additional electricity to the grid,…

Six of the seven activity indices in the Australian PMI expanded in February (readings above 50 points indicate expansion in activity, with higher results indicating a faster rate of expansion). Only the stocks (inventories) index contracted (down 5.6 points to 48.0), perhaps because of buoyant sales in the month (up 15.7 points to 62.2). Production, sales, employment and new orders all improved from the December and January period, with the new orders index (up 5.3 points to 59.9) indicating further strong production in the coming months. “Australia’s manufacturers lifted production and employment in February as sales recovered a large share of the ground lost in 2020,” said Ai Group Chief Executive Innes Willox. “Growth was distributed broadly across manufacturing with particular strength among producers of machinery & equipment and chemical products.” Five of the six manufacturing sectors in the Australian PMI expanded in February, with only the metal products sector reporting mildly negative conditions (down 0.8 points to 48.7).…

At Interlease, we believe that manufacturing will be firmly in the driver’s seat in leading the Australian economy to not just recover but grow and thrive in the post-COVID world. To do so, it is imperative that all businesses have the tools available to them to help them succeed. In June 2020, the Government announced it would be increasing the Instant Asset Write-Off threshold from $30,000 to $150,000. On 6 October it went one step further and removed the threshold altogether, meaning any asset, new or used, could be immediately depreciated up until 30 June 2022. The scheme is available to all businesses that have an aggregated annual turnover of less than $50m. Small businesses with an aggregated annual turnover of less that $10m can also deduct the balance of their simplified depreciation pool at the end of the income year. As an…

The first data the team at Salvagnini has available is the percentage of its systems with the ACUT option – where the system and parameters are set up for air cutting – compared to the total number of lasers sold. “If we analyse the data from the last few years, over 90% of laser systems have been supplied with the ACUT option,” explains Pierandrea Bello, Product Manager for laser technologies at Salvagnini. “This is an important figure, but it is not in itself sufficient for understanding how many customers actually cut with air. This is why we use data from LINKS, our Internet of Things (IoT) solution used to monitor system performance in real time and to conduct analyses. “The database consists of a significant sample of our laser systems installed around the world. It includes a…

Published by One Mandate Group, Australia's Nobel Laureates Volume III (NL3): State of Our Innovation Nation 2021 and Beyond celebrates this country’s distinguished record of achievement in this area. Not only has Australia won a significant number of Nobel Prizes, but that we have a very high per capita ratio of prizes, punching well above our weight globally. The book features illuminating profiles of Nobel laureates over the last century, from father and son duo William and Lawrence Bragg, nominated in 1915 for their work in the creation of X-ray crystallography, to astronomer Brian Paul Schmidt, whose work in providing evidence that the expansion of the universe is accelerating saw him nominated in 2011. The book captures how these remarkable individuals pushed against the existing boundaries of human knowledge. The book also examines the current state of innovation in Australia and how we rank globally, and what we can do to build on that foundation and seize the opportunities of the future. A series of essays from a variety of expert commentators provide…

The findings highlight an urgent need to improve digital skills to ensure economic recovery from COVID-19 and to avoid jeopardising a $10bn growth in the technology, media and communications industries by 2025. The new report, ‘Ready, Set, Upskill – Effective Training for the Jobs of Tomorrow’ was released by RMIT Online, in collaboration with Deloitte Access Economics, following surveys of 1,000 Australian working professionals and employers. The report also revealed that three out of four Australians want to learn about emerging technologies, such as cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, and that four in five Australian business leaders think that adopting new technologies is important to achieve business goals. RMIT Online CEO Helen Souness said responding to Australia’s digital skills gap is a national imperative, and Australia’s economic recovery will rely heavily on the availability of these skills to power business transformation. “The events of last year have underlined the urgency of bridging this skills gap,” she said.…

AMT: How long has NEPEAN Engineering & Innovation been in business? Peter Buckley: NEPEAN first opened its doors in 1974. Today we are now one of Australia’s largest, privately owned engineering service providers. Our capacity and capabilities have expanded over the years. Our original site and workshop facilities was less than 600sqm. Today, we have grown to have over 50,000sqm of high-tech manufacturing space, running multiple shifts to ensure we can deliver to our clients on time, every time. We now employ over 120 full-time employees at our facilities in Narellan, NSW. We have employed five new team members in the past year alone. AMT: What industries do you service and what is your specialty? PB: NEPEAN has the depth, diversity, capability and experience to successfully deliver on the largest and most complex engineering projects. We service the construction, infrastructure, mining, defence, civil works, pharmaceutical, scientific and aerospace…

  The company will provide the Hunter Class Frigate Program, as well as with BAE Systems’s UK Submarines business, with its bespoke displays to provide 3D visualisation for respective research and technology programs to test situational awareness, systems integration and specialist engineering design applications. Voxon is a global leader in the manufacture of 3D volumetric display technology and leading provider of volumetric software and content. In late 2020 Voxon, together with BAE Systems, Flinders University and the University of South Australia, was awarded a Defence Innovation Partnership grant to support the advancement of the technology to enable superior decision-making through battlespace visualisation. Voxon Chief Executive, Gavin Smith, said: “Voxon would like to acknowledge the support that BAE Systems has given to specialist SMEs like ourselves via the Australian industry Global Access Program team. The team has been highly engaged with us from the beginning and established connections for us with the broader BAE Systems international business.” Future activities will focus on scalability, ruggedisation and specific operating functions that will have multiple…

Based in Adelaide’s Salisbury Plain, Innomation offers a variety of services including mechanical design and drafting, electrical schematic design and drafting, machine design and automation. One of the issues that faced the company was the amount of money being spent on outsourcing bending and laser cutting. The solution for Morton was to establish Lasermech, a subsidiary of Innomation located on the same premises, offering design, cut, fold and fabrication of all types and sizes of components. Not only would Lasermech handle Innomation’s requirements but importantly it would offer these services to a raft of companies in Adelaide. To get things rolling, Morton visited Applied Machinery’s Melbourne facility in October 2019 to look at pressbrakes and fibre lasers. While impressed with the quality and value for money of the Yawei machines, Morton wanted to see the Yawei factory in China for himself. His first impression of the factory was positive to say the least. “I was blown away by…

A large-format SPEE3D metal 3D printer was installed by the Fleet Support Unit (FSU) at HMAS Coonawarra Navy Port in late November, making the RAN the latest branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) with the capability to print its own metal parts, on demand. Sustainment, or the repair, maintenance and overhaul of equipment makes up a substantial proportion of the costs for all defence forces globally. The difficulty and expense of getting spare parts through regular supply chains has been exacerbated and highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The world has been looking to additive manufacturing (AM) to solve this problem; however, most AM technology has proven too delicate, too expensive, and far too slow to solve the problem. SPEE3D has proven to be the exception. SPEE3D’s metal 3D printing technology was developed in Australia and is the world’s fastest and most economical metal 3D printing technology. It is also the only large format metal 3D printing technology that has been trailed and proven field-deployable by the ADF. SPEE3D recently completed a series of successful field trials deploying…

“We’re excited to have representation from such a respected and experienced supplier in the manufacturing sector, especially one with 3D printing experience,” said Ben Leung, Vice-President, Asia at ExOne. “As ExOne strengthens our network and strategy in Asia, we expect TCL Hofmann to play a key role in our growth and expansion.” TCL Hofmann joins the ExOne network as binder jet 3D printing is increasingly recognised as the additive manufacturing method that will be used for high-volume production because of its high speed, material flexibility, and low waste and cost. Joseph Hancock, Managing Director at TCL Hofmann, added: “We believe that binder jetting is well-positioned to grow quickly, and we’re looking forward to bringing this technology to manufacturing customers across our region.” ExOne’s patented binder jet 3D printing process transforms powdered materials — metal, sand or ceramic — into highly dense and functional precision parts or tooling at high speeds. An industrial printhead selectively deposits a…

Effective communication in the workplace is an integral element of a business’ success; it enhances relationships within the company and with clients, and it increases employee engagement and the overall effectiveness of a team. However, recent research by US firm Gartner shows over 70% of business mistakes are due to poor communication. As we enter a post-COVID world with people still operating from home, restricting our ability to meet face to face, communications in the workplace take on an even stronger necessity. Even having to socially distance in the office or business environment if we get there makes it difficult to manage communication, particularly in large groups. For some, good communication comes naturally, but for others, it can be hard to articulate their thoughts and feelings in conversation, often leading to conflict and fundamental errors. So, whether you’re an effective communicator or not, it’s essential to understand the importance of good communication and how it…