Member News

D&T is the preferred fabrication supplier to many major construction companies in Illawarra, and is regularly contracted for projects by the Kiama and Wollongong Councils. Specialising in strata management multi-story residential projects, D&T has the expertise to design and install balustrading to exact specifications for large and small jobs. The investment in Demmeler tables from Leussink Engineering enabled D&T to produce extremely accurate work, which opened doors to bigger clients and larger orders. “Within six months of purchasing our first table we changed our workshop around to fit another Demmeler table in,” says Luke Szabo, Business Director at D&T. “The decision to bring this system into our factory impressed our clients with the level of accuracy we were able to achieve. And because of this improved accuracy, the work came flooding in from our mining client.” Demmeler tables enabled D&T to produce work precisely to the millimetre and exactly as per the stringent requirements of their mining client. “Building exactly to the sizes required is key,” Szabo adds. “And with…

Benning Blueberries is a family-owned business spanning three generations, which has been farming for the past 17 years in Wodonga, New South Wales. The farm grows approximately 140 hectares of blueberries, ten acres of raspberries, and has 5,000 macadamia trees. Over its years of operation, Benning Blueberries has faced a number of issues with its blueberry growth and supply, its labour, output consistency, sorting accuracy and speed, and all the challenges of meeting the growing demand for high-quality blueberries. Before it made contact with GP Graders, it had a grading system that had served its purpose in terms of the prevailing requirements when it was originally purchased. However, those needs and requirements had since changed and a more advanced grading technology was required. Since 1963, GP Graders has been manufacturing machinery to meet the needs of growers and packers around the globe. The company is the leading international supplier of fresh produce grading…

Walking the factory floor at Sutton Tools’ headquarters in Thomastown, Victoria, defies what many would expect of a firm that each year produces some 20 million drills, taps, milling cutters and specialist tools for industries, ranging from medical and mining to aerospace and automotive. It’s clean. Really clean. “We used to be a far more manual operation up to the 2000s, with an environment not as clean as it is now, and more moving parts on the loading mechanisms” says Sutton’s Engineering Manager Tim Schurmann. “Our first robot was about 15 years ago, a Drake thread grinder that had one robot fitted to it. “We decided this was a pretty good idea, so we purchased some more robots and we started to install them ourselves. But we soon found we needed help from somebody to integrate them to the control system on the CNC machines, so we got Pat in to do that work.” By “Pat”, he means Pat Green,…

In falling to 48.1, the Australian PMI slipped below the 50-point threshold separating expansion from contraction for only the third month since July 2015 (readings below 50 points indicate contraction in activity, with the distance from 50 indicating the strength of the contraction). An increasing pace of contraction in new orders suggested a weak Christmas period may be ahead for Australian manufacturers. The weaker manufacturing sector in November was driven by contraction in employment and new orders and sales and production were barely steady. The overall weakness was not evident in the large food & beverages sector, which reported a further strengthening of performance. Both the machinery & equipment and the chemicals sectors also continued to expand in November, with weakness concentrated in the metal products, building products and TCF & printing groups. “A decline in performance across the diverse manufacturing sector had been telegraphed by the weakness in new orders in recent months,” said Ai Group Chief…

Security, natural ventilation, ultraviolet (UV) and insect protection, as well as safeguarding from the risk of bushfires – these are just some of the many reasons that numerous buildings throughout Australia are equipped with security window and door screens. Prowler Proof has been manufacturing premium security door and window screens to meet this myriad of requirements since 1984. Remaining proudly Australian-owned and -made, the company delivers the highest-performing doors and screens in Australia thanks to a manufacturing process that includes welding the security door and window screens, making them stronger than any screw or rivet. All Prowler Proof door and window screens are manufactured in the company’s high-tech, fully automated facility in Banyo, Queensland. The factory is currently the only manufacturing facility in Australia that has achieved the rating ‘World Class’ on the PROBE Manufacturing global benchmark, one of the world’s…

Bonfiglioli’s high-quality, rugged drives are engineered and assembled at their headquarters in Glendenning, New South Wales, and are delivered to major projects such as the Melbourne Metro Tunnel, Westgate Tunnel, NorthConnex, Westconnex and Sydney Metro 2, where they power Eilbeck’s cranes and lifting equipment. “Eilbeck’s market-leading status in Australia is due to our consistently high-quality and robust products, ongoing reliability and outstanding backup service,” says Charlie Eilbeck, Head of Eilbeck Heavy Machining Centre. “Having a supplier like Bonfiglioli that shares these qualities is an asset in ensuring safe, efficient and reliable operations.” Eilbeck says the company has a strong focus on short delivery times, reliable service and a tradition of never turning down a problem for being too complex. Consequently it’s rewarding to work with a company like Bonfiglioli with similar values and a focus on innovation and problem solving. “In our business, our cranes are hauling 24/7, so safety and reliability are imperative,” says Charlie. “Clients rely on us for smooth running operations. In addition to hauling products, many of…

Anatomics has developed an innovative solution involving a custom patient-specific kit, SpineBox, that is 3D-printed using EOS’ selective laser sintering (SLS) technology in Nylon 12 powder. The SpineBox kit greatly simplifies minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar fusion surgery (MIS TLIF) and can be adapted to support most spinal fusion techniques. Anatomics is an Australian-owned medical device company that has been manufacturing and marketing surgical products to surgeons locally and internationally since 1996. Anatomics pioneered CT scan-derived surgical implant technology and was first to market with an innovative, quality product that assisted surgeons to produce better surgical outcomes and save valuable operating theatre time. The company’s customers include neurosurgeons, plastic & reconstructive surgeons, oral & maxillofacial surgeons, orthopaedic surgeons, ENT surgeons and thorasic surgeons. Using patient…

Zero-waste manufacturing is, as the name suggests, a method of production that is so efficient that tools are able to be made without sending anything to landfill. Why is this important for toolmakers? Of course, minimising the impact of manufacturing on the environment is an admirable goal. But it’s also true that the materials you use to make cutting tools can be expensive. Reducing waste is more than an environmental concern; it also makes good economic sense. Zero waste is a whole-of-business approach that starts with where you source your materials and ends long after the product has left your warehouse. Although true ‘zero waste’ is not completely achievable yet, there are steps you can – and should – be taking towards a more efficient future. At a basic level, zero-waste manufacturing requires getting the first component (the cutting tool) right, and then maintaining those tolerances and dimensions through the entire production so there is minimal waste/rejection of tools at the end. Factors that will influence the amount of waste…

For the very first time, the new EDS/EDM35 and EES/EEM37 Smart Motor Sensors offer a whole host of smart functionalities that enable users to both support and implement future-proof edge computing. The motor feedback systems with HDSL in the new EDS/EDM35 and EES/EEM37 product families from SICK can record and store variables such as temperature, speed, and revolutions to create service time charts for condition monitoring. They are also capable of communicating information from the field – the keyword being “edge computing” – in higher automation levels or applications, such as those for condition monitoring. With their ability to independently collect, evaluate, and transmit on-site sensor signals, these smart motor feedback systems become crucial components of digitalised servo-drive solutions. This ensures maximum future security for manufacturers and operating entities alike. EDS/EDM35: Designed for high-performance servo-drive systems The EDS35 single-turn motor feedback system and the EDM35 multiturn variant are designed to meet the highest precision requirements such as those found in…

Metal additive manufacturing (AM) has certainly taken the world by storm. With the ability to create shapes not previously thought possible, this revolutionary, Industry 4.0-enabling technique has backers from a range of different industries all over the globe. However, when metal AM is mentioned, the first thought is usually of a laser-powered machine fusing metal powders layer by layer. Certainly, this has been the predominant technique with a vast amount of machine sales dedicated to laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) since the advent of commercially available AM. But new and intriguing metal AM technologies have been making headway of late and offering a point of difference to the commonly accepted LPBF systems. One such technique is wire-fed additive manufacturing. The concept is very simple: it is based on traditional welding, but rather than welding components together, a weld bead is laid upon another weld bead. This process is repeated until there is a series of weld beads welded successively, such that they create a three-dimensional shape. The process is…

Founded in 1997 by husband and wife team Jim and Artemis Tzakos, Sevaan Group is a cutting-edge metal manufacturer that delivers complete, end-to-end metal fabrication and machining solutions for a range of industries including defence, aerospace, medical, mining, energy, transport and retail. Along the way, it has also played a part in some interesting one-off projects, from helping in the development of an armoured wetsuit to protect commercial divers, to the restoration of the iconic Anzac Memorial in Sydney’s Hyde Park. Sevaan Group has always been quick to adopt the latest manufacturing technology, with a state-of-the-art workshop boasting capabilities such as CNC machining, laser cutting, marking and engraving, welding, sheet metal and steel fabrication, CNC punching, finishing and assembly. Therefore it’s no surprise that the company was one of the first in Australia to embrace Industry 4.0, the revolution currently sweeping manufacturing. “We talk about Industry 4.0 as something very new, very contemporary, but we probably started the journey at least seven…

The Federal Government recently released a report called ‘Bedtime Reading’, in which it was estimated that sleep apnoea costs the Australian economy $26bn annually due to lost productivity, accidents and shorter life spans. It’s more than just feeling tired all day and keeping your partner awake with loud snoring. If you have sleep apnoea, the walls of your throat come together while you sleep. This blocks off your upper airway and stops you from breathing properly. Airway blockages mean you can stop breathing for 10 to 60 seconds or until your brain registers this and tells you to wake up. This is often followed by a snort or gasping sound as your upper airway opens. Most of the time you won’t notice; however your partner certainly will. The pattern of waking can repeat itself hundreds of times per night, leaving you exhausted the next day. Not only that; it affects your overall health. How sleep apnoea affects your health It’s important to know that…