Press Centre

It is confirmed today that Mr. Philip Hayes, Managing Director of Okuma Australia Pty Ltd and Okuma New Zealand Limited will step down after a career spanning 27 years with the Okuma brand. Mr Hayes, who had gained 14 years’ experience with machine tools and robotics at John Hart Pty Ltd, commenced with the Okuma brand at Gilbert Lodge and Company Limited in 1991 at the very depth of the Keating recession. He was confronted with a machine tool business that needed significant change management suitable for emerging trends in new technologies, customer service, marketing, sales methodology and applications support. Accordingly, the machine tools division of Gilbert Lodge was rapidly overhauled and fortunes began to change almost immediately. A fire that destroyed most of the Oakleigh premises couldn’t prevent the Company moving ahead in leaps and bounds and achieving a market leading position within 3 years. In a revived cooperation with the management of Okuma in Japan, massive annual gains were posted year on year. Valuable local assistance by Geoff Coffey, then of Atlas Steels, and employees placed in strategic positions, attracted and gained the trust of the best of the best toolmakers, manufacturers and jobbing shops. Their investments…

 With the retirement of longstanding and highly respected Managing Director Philip Hayes, Okuma Japan has appointed General Manager Dean McCarroll to replace Philip in the role of Managing Director for Okuma Australia and Okuma New Zealand. Dean was first employed as National Sales Manager for Okuma Australia and has served the company as General Manager for more than ten years, working closely with Mr Hayes over this period. A toolmaker by trade Dean has more than 40 years in the machine tool business with the last 30 years in management roles. Well known for innovative technology, high quality manufacture and outstanding service and support, Okuma machines are amongst the longest serving machine tools installed that are still running. Okuma is a major supplier to the manufacturing industry in Australia and New Zealand of Multi-tasking Machines, Double Column Machines, 5-Axis Machining Centres, CNC Lathes, Grinders, Robotics and Machine Tending Systems. Okuma Australia and New Zealand are wholly owned subsidiaries of Okuma Japan. In acknowledging his new role Dean commented, “It’s our people that truly define Okuma with their passion, integrity, experience and knowledge and this becomes the hallmark of what we stand for in the market as we partner with…

Registrations have opened for the 2018 AMTIL National Conference, which will be held in Melbourne on 22 August. Early Bird rates are available until 31 July, so don’t miss out. The theme for this year’s AMTIL National Conference will be ‘Strategies for Manufacturing Resilience and Growth’. The one-day event – to be held at Leonda by the Yarra in Hawthorn, Victoria – will take participants on a learning journey that will help them build resilience in their business, look outside their traditional avenues for opportunities for growth, and inspire them to think outside the square. AMTIL has already secured an impressive line-up of speakers. The opening keynote will be given by Dr Jens Goennemann, Managing Director of the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre (AMGC). For the closing address, the acclaimed athlete Deanna Blegg will be discussing ‘Personal Resilience’, and the incredible adversity she has dealt with and triumphed over in her life so far. Expert speakers Dr Goennenmann joined the AMGC in 2016, with an extensive background managing large manufacturing operations in Australia and Europe. He served as Managing Director of Airbus Group Australia Pacific and Airbus Helicopters, having previously spent six years in Germany with the former European Aeronautic…

Sydney, Australia // 15 June 2018 – GE this week announced more than one hundred Australian schools have been selected for its 2018 GE Additive Education Program, the largest rollout of its kind in Australia. The primary and secondary schools from across the country will receive a polymer 3D printer, supporting software and an education curriculum to give students hands-on additive manufacturing experience. Globally, GE received applications from over 3,000 schools for its 2018 Additive Education Program. Six hundred schools were accepted around the world, of which 103 of those are Australian. At an event at North Sydney Demonstration School, one of the Australian schools selected for the program, President and CEO of GE APAC, Wouter Van Wersch said: “Additive manufacturing will be one of the biggest disruptors in the future of industry, and Australia has a huge opportunity to lead in this globally. “Through our Additive Education Program, GE aims to help build a strong pipeline of additive manufacturing skills – starting from the classroom – so that the next generation are on the front foot to take on future manufacturing opportunities,” said Van Wersch. CEO of GE Australia, Max York said: “Australia has always been early adopters…

One of the traditional issues facing operators of CNC lathes, who are involved with smaller batch sizes, is that of change over time of workholding devices. There is the time involved with disassembly, cleaning, checking and reassembly which all adds to significant time delay and subsequent loss in productivity. The need for shorter part runs and just in time manufacturing has exacerbated the need for versatile and quick change over workholding systems with minimal downtime. There are a number of systems currently in the marketplace which offer quick change adaptors and chucks, but the monetary investment required is, in most cases, prohibitive. There are also marked differences in the amount of time actually saved. This is where Speedgrip’s Quick Change Adaptor comes into play. Using the industry tried and trusted Camlock technology with a carrier and receiver, it provides a solution that is accurate, fast to convert between workholding methods, and importantly very affordable. You can now change over between power jaw chucks, collet chucks, expanding mandrel chucks or your face-driver quickly and easily. As an example, changing from a power jaw chuck to a collet chuck can be achieved in less than 5 minutes – an operation that…

Kaeser Compressors recently announced the launch of its latest generation SM series rotary screw compressors which are now even more efficient thanks to a number of smart product enhancements. For maximum efficiency, the SM 13 and SM 16 compressor models are now equipped as standard with a super-premium efficiency IE4 motor that complies with and exceeds prevailing Australian GEMS regulations for 3 phase electric motors. IE4 motors are the technology of tomorrow, with current regulation introduced in January 2015 only requiring the use of IE3 Class motors. For the end user this translates into best possible compressor performance, reduced energy costs and significantly enhanced compressed air production efficiency - today. For even greater intake volume and efficiency, the latest generation of SM series rotary screw compressors are also equipped with the new SIGMA 06 screw compressor block, featuring even further refined Sigma Profile rotors. Together with the IE4 motor, Kaeser has been able to reduce the energy requirement of these compressors by up to 13 percent. All SM series compressors incorporate a Sigma Control 2. With this internal controller, compressor performance can be precisely adjusted to match respective compressed air consumption for optimum efficiency. The control unit features an…

Press Release: Dr Christopher Hegarty will been appointed The Group CEO from 1st July 2018, succeeding Grant Anderson FCAM. After eight years in the role at ANCA, Grant Anderson will retire at the end of June. Chris joined the ANCA group from Switzerland in July 2017 as the Engineering Manager of CNC Machines and has more recently been appointed to General Manager of that division. Pat Boland, Joint ANCA Co-Founder said: “Over the next few months The ANCA Leadership Team will be working together to ensure a seamless handover. During this time ANCA will remain focused on our strategic goals and continue to delight our customers.” “During Grant’s tenure at ANCA his leadership has seen the company flourish. I thank him for his significant contributions that have improved our culture, processes and products to place us at the forefront of our market segments.” “Having worked with Chris over the last year I am confident of his vision for ANCA and know his global experience and in depth understanding of manufacturing will ensure a strong future for our business,” Pat concluded. Dr Chris Hegarty, future ANCA Group CEO said: “ANCA is an incredible Australian success story, a high-tech advanced manufacturer…