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MFB was established by Brian and Faye Bilston in April 1970, taking its name from Faye’s initials: Margaret Faye Bilston. While they remain involved in the business, these days they’ve largely handed the reins to their son David Bilston, now MFB’s Managing Director. “They started the business 50 years ago, and the driver behind it was providing precision sheet metal for the electronics industry,” says David. “And that’s still basically how the business operates today. Our core business these days is data enclosures, but we still offer jobbing shop services.” Over the years the company moved from site to site around Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, before settling at its current base in Wantirna in 2002. Today MFB employs 50 people, with a couple of staff running a sales office in Sydney and the remainder in Wantirna. Its main product range is in electronics enclosures, ranging from the cabinets widely utilised in data centres, to more rugged models for outdoor environments. The company’s customer base is varied, encompassing the data electronics, communications…

I would like to begin with a brief overview of AS/NZS 1554 ‘Structural steel welding Part 1: Welding of steels structures’. An excellent standard, AS/NZS 1554.1 states that a welder must be qualified, by welding a coupon in accordance with the relevant acceptance criteria as outlined in the standard. For shutdown work, particularly where welders move from site to site, this can impose a significant cost impost (especially in time delays) due to the need to requalify every time they commence work on a new site. While this is not so much of an issue for workshop-based fabricators, where the shop will have ready access to the welder’s qualification records, it is a major problem for organisations within the resources, power, defence, and oil & gas industries, who will often employ teams of specialist welders to undertake program-specific on-site…

For most people, Industry 4.0 mainly refers to the Internet of Things (IoT) — the fact that every piece of equipment is interconnected, and how they have the ability to ‘talk’ to each other. True as that may be, the other principles that characterise Industry 4.0 are just as definitive – if not more so. The increased connectivity that modern technology brings enables information transparency, which allows the collection and sharing of vast amounts of data. Industry 4.0 is also characterised by decentralised decisions, where cyber-physical systems act as autonomous agents within its dedicated scope, performing tasks without the need for human intervention, and where humans are still required, Industry 4.0 has shifted their role — from operator of machines to problem-solver — through the use of technical assistance systems. What constitutes technical assistance anyway? Designed to aid operators in their role as decision-makers, assistance systems typically offer…

Australia’s manufacturing industry is one of the nation’s most energy-intensive. It accounts for close to one quarter of Australia’s total energy consumption and around 40% of natural gas consumption. Historically, manufacturers have benefitted from low energy costs but in recent years, costs have increased. According to the Australian Energy Market Operator’s (AEMO) first quarterly report of 2019, prices are at a record high. While this has impacted manufacturers’ bottom lines, energy still has the potential to offer a competitive advantage. Australia’s shifting energy market is creating new opportunities for manufacturers to generate savings in the energy category, from taking on portions of Australia’s growing pipeline of renewables, to investing in future-ready energy strategies that leverage market-ready tech to deliver savings. If manufacturers are able to engage with how they use energy, they can move beyond being simply price takers. Plan for the long term The energy market is changing. Coal-fired generation is leaving the market and being replaced by renewable energy. This is pushing new retailers to deliver more…

The Scala Award is given every two years and recognises the outstanding contribution of one individual to the field of composite materials. The decision to select Professor Scott was selected by the ICCM Executive Council to receive the Award in August 2017. Professor Scott is Chairman of Advanced Composite Structures Australia, the spin-out company from the highly acclaimed CRC for Advanced Composite Structures, of which Professor Scott was CEO for more 13 years. He was also elected firstly as President and then as World Fellow of the ICCM, and represented Australia on the International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences (ICAS), where he served as President for a two-year period and is now an Honorary Fellow. Associated with the honour is the privilege of delivering the opening plenary lecture at the next conference in the series. On this occasion, it was the 22nd International Conference on Composite Materials (ICCM22), which was held in Melbourne from 11-16 August. Professor Scott spoke on ‘Advanced Composites Research and Innovation – an Australian Perspective’. The presentation of the…

At one point APT was the preferred supplier for automotive components manufacturer Robert Bosch; its business with Bosch accounted for 86% of the company’s turnover. However, like many automotive suppliers faced with the imminent closure of the local car industry, APT needed to diversify into other areas. In APT’s case, the market it targeted was the defence industry. To say the company has been successful in this transition is something of an understatement. Today APT’s key customers are a veritable who’s who of leaders in the defence industry, to whom APT supply a diverse range of specialised components. These include parts for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and components for the Steyer rifle, radar systems, remote weapon stations, submarines and munitions. APT also supplies a variety of products to customers in the electronics and security industries. However, APT’s Founder and Managing Director Richard Weinzierl is quick to point out that it is the assistance of the…

The two new partners are Rigby Cooke Lawyers – who will be AMTIL’s exclusive Corporate Partner in the Legal category; and Interlease, in the Business Finance category. They join AMTIL’s existing line-up of Corporate Partners: AGL – Energy; and William Buck – Accounting/Financial Advice. Rigby Cooke Lawyers is a full-service Victorian commercial law firm with strong industry links and a significant depth of experience in acting for manufacturers. Its highly qualified lawyers partner with their clients to understand their needs and add value to their businesses. Rigby Cooke is at the forefront of legislative and technological changes that impact the manufacturing industry and offers the full suite of legal services to small and large manufacturing businesses, inlcuding commercial agreements, acquisitions, intellectual property advice, employment and OHS, customs and trade advice, litigation and insolvency and tax advice. Interlease is one of Australia’s leading business finance broking firms. Established in 1973, it provides professional client services and well structured competitive financial products for Australian businesses. The team at Interlease are an experienced group of finance professionals involved…

All seven activity indexes in the Australian PMI indicated expansion in August (readings below 50 points indicate contraction in activity, with the distance from 50 indicating the strength of the decrease), with production (up 4.9 points to 53.2) and sales (up 11.6 points to 54.3) rising back into positive territory. Both new orders (up 0.3 points to 53.3) and exports (up 1.1 point to 55.7) expanded at a faster pace than in July. “Stronger production, sales, and employment combined in a small though encouraging lift in the Australian PMI for August,” said Ai Group Chief Executive Innes Willox. “While it is only expanding at a modest pace, the further growth in manufacturing in August is heartening and, together with a rise in new orders, will help allay fears of a further slowdown in business conditions.” The input prices index was largely unchanged in August (down 0.1 point to 66.2), while the selling prices index rebounded 3.5 points to climb back into expansion at 52.7). The average wages…

AMT: Tell us about the Industry Capability Network and what its role is. Grant Anderson: ICN Victoria is a not-for-profit organisation that has been around since 1984 and our mission is to maximise opportunities for local industry. We play a key role in liaising with government agencies and bidders ensuring that local suppliers have an opportunity to register interest in upcoming government projects. Another huge part of our role is to administer the Local Jobs First policy on behalf of the Victorian Government and that includes assessing projects for potential local content. Local Jobs First is about creating local jobs and opportunities for Victorian businesses and workers, whilst achieving value for money. We also have two main product offerings - ICN Gateway and ICN Analytics. AMT: And for an ordinary manufacturing business seeking to win work on a project through the ICN, what sort of pathway would that take? GA: Local businesses, including principal contractors and local suppliers of goods and services can use the ICN Gateway to register their business capability, access project opportunities and search…

Managed by husband and wife team Anthony and Lisa Coleman, ACIM specialises in designing and manufacturing inflatable packers, hydraulic fracturing systems, tools and data loggers for the geotechnical, mining, and oil & gas markets. Established in 1990, it has grown from humble beginnings servicing the Australian market, to a company that now sells into international markets such as Chile, South Korea, Italy, Russia, America and Indonesia. ACIM in-house designed products are recognised by customers for being innovative and of the highest quality. In 2013 when ACIM decided to bring manufacturing in-house, it gave John Hart the opportunity to offer a solution to suit its requirements. As a result, ACIM invested in a Mazak Quick Turn Smart 350M multi-function lathe with milling capability. The machine combines productivity, high accuracy and high reliability handling parts up to 420mm in diameter and 1,250mm in length. Anthony explains: “Programming was the main reason we selected a Quick Turn Smart. It has proven to be very easy to learn, and being a small…

There are many ways to define a Makerspace, but essentially it is a place where people can come to use – and learn to use – equipment, develop creative projects, or simply gain experience. They are most commonly associated with offering technology to create, develop and design in an informal, non-traditional, environment. Becoming a member of a Makerspace enables you to access the resources (training, machinery, technology and materials) at times that are convenient to yourself, without the capital outlay often required for production. FAB9 is a purpose-built space, located in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray, for hardware entrepreneurs, engineers, designers, tinkerers, craftspeople, artists, hobbyists and anyone who wants to experiment through the making of physical objects. Whether you’re an amateur working on a fun project, or an inventor set to create the next world-changing product, they are open for people of all interests and skill levels. Architecturally…

The lab will enable manufacturing and other industries to create ‘digital twins’, or virtual replicas of physical objects and systems. By 2020, the International Data Corporation (IDC) estimates 30% of the top 2000 global companies will be using data from Digital Twins of Internet of Things (IoT) connected assets to improve product innovation success rates and organisational productivity, achieving gains of up to 25%. The Mixed Reality Lab houses a set-up of industrial and consumer optical cameras and sensing equipment to capture detailed information about a physical object and the space surrounding it. The equipment is underpinned by sophisticated algorithms which merge the enormous amounts of data collected to create a digital twin in a matter of minutes. Matt Bolger, senior software engineer at Data61, said the lab is a unique combination of Data61’s research expertise across machine learning, computer vision, computational modelling, IoT, and CSIRO’s patented Stereo Depth Fusion technology for depth estimation. “This technology is game-changing for manufacturing and other industries,” said Bolger. “By comparing a digital twin of a manufactured object…

In the Agriculture, Mining and Utilities category of the annual AFR / Boss Magazine Most Innovative Companies listing, the Brisbane-based mining equipment designer and manufacturer ranked second out of more than 800 nominated organisations across Australia and New Zealand. Compilation and ranking of the annual list by a panel of expert judges is based on a rigorous assessment process. And, for the first time in 2019, organisations were ranked directly against their peers. The assessment process measures a unique innovation implemented in the past 12 months. Specifically, the judges look at how valuable the problem is that the innovation is solving, the quality and uniqueness of the solution, and the level of impact that the innovation has had. Cultural aspects of the company that demonstrate a sustainable and repeatable approach to innovation, including strategies, resources and process, are also part of the assessment process. Designed and manufactured in Australia by Austin Engineering, the two-piece bucket features well-defined reusable upper and consumable…