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Today, the AMW halls were open from 10am to 7pm, so there’s plenty of space in the day if someone wanted to carve out some hours in the halls. Impress your manager with your initiative by coming across to AMW for the final day tomorrow, Friday, 10am to 4pm. Thad Roos from KAESER compressors was in early Thursday, hoping for the predicted bump that exhibitors experience on the Thursday of these shows. I think everyone is feeling the same anticipation at this time of the morning. He was pleased with the quality of the visitors and that they were at that stage of ordering compressors. Grahame Aston, son Matthew and the others in the PPC Moulding services crew were setting up, ready for the day. They had a Liquid Silicone 3D printer release a couple years ago which uses injection-grade LSR. Front and very much centre was their extremely new Freeformer 750-3X 3D polymer printer. These and other printers take carbon fibre re-enforced Nylon, ABS, PC, TPU, PLA, PP with more…

According to one of the country's leading geologists and immersive technology experts, a virtual and robotic revolution in Australia’s mining industry could end fly-in-fly-out (FIFO) workers within decades. Virtual and augmented reality, along with automation, are transforming the mining sector, says UniSA Professor Tom Raimondo, allowing more work to be done remotely, saving time, money and removing many of the risks and travel for workers. Professor Raimondo, Dean of Programs for Information Technology and Mathematics at the University of South Australia, is developing VR and AR platforms to enhance core logging with machine learning, create fully digital reconstructions of mining operations, and even simulate the drilling process. MinEx CRC, the world’s largest mineral exploration collaboration, has facilitated this innovative work. It includes projects such as the RoXplorer digital twin, an ultra-realistic simulation of the drill site of the future, and the Exploration Metaverse, a collection of immersive AR and VR platforms for collaboratively viewing and analysing complex mining data with colleagues and experts from across the world in real time. “Globally, it is becoming more difficult and more…

IBROX Engineering is headed up by Derek Warrington, a man widely known for fast and reliable quality engineering output and on-time delivery. With more than 36 years’ experience, Derek is respected as one of the most talented CNC programmers/setters and CAM programmers as well as being known as one of the most hard-working tool makers and fitter and turner operators in the industry. The unusual name of the new company comes from Derek’s proud Scottish heritage and a passion for the Glasgow Rangers with the name IBROX coming from the home stadium of the Glasgow Rangers. Owner operator, Derek Warrington’s introduction to the industry started at the tender age of just 10 years, working in his father’s engineering shop at weekends. Under a watchful eye and standing on an upturned milk crate to reach the controls, he gained his first machining experience. Commencing full-time at the age of just 14 years Derek worked for more than 36 years in the business…

In a monumental leap towards a greener future, AgriFutures Australia proudly presents the outcomes of the Carbon Initiative Program, a two million dollar commitment fueling 15 pioneering research projects. The 15 projects have not only enriched current industry-specific endeavours towards a net-zero future but have also forged new frontiers in cross-industry carbon research. Venturing into unchartered territory has yielded remarkable revelations, including five hero insights across the 15 projects: Innovative Carbon Testing: The fusion of cutting-edge machine learning with satellite sensing technology is re-writing the rules of soil organic carbon testing. By driving down costs, these methods are racing to surpass the Australian Government’s ambitious target of three dollars per hectare. Reimagining Farm Irrigation: Exploration into emissions from Australian farm irrigation dams has stunned the scientific community, where traditionally there has been a lack of carbon footprint data. The discovery showcases nitrous oxide emission rates that defy conventional wisdom, sitting four times lower than the estimations by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Nature's Methane Solution: Unlocking the potential of native freshwater plants and seaweed species has unveiled…

For those who aren’t familiar with this product, Cerakote is a thin ceramic coating that is applied as a resin and forms a 3D ceramic matrix as it cures. This makes it possible to protect surfaces that are not made of metal. The formulation of this technology makes it possible for the coating to withstand extremely high temperatures (sometimes as high as 1100 degrees Celsius) without altering its appearance. Once cured, the coating becomes very hard and extremely scratch and abrasive-resistant. A Cerakote coating also provides excellent protection against corrosion, thermal stress, and thermal barriers for applications that are sensitive to temperature changes. This type of coating continues to exhibit outstanding performance over an extended period of time. Because of this, Cerakote is ideal for use in defence and military applications as well as on exhausts, pistons, and other components that will be exposed to high temperatures. Cerakote has been carefully engineered to provide maximum substrate protection and improved coating performance when compared…

Spare Parts 3D (SP3D), with offices in Paris (HQ) and Singapore, has been helping companies adopt Additive Manufacturing (AM) in their supply chains as part of the solutions to address spare parts problems:  spare parts obsolescence, long lead time, high cost of inventory, MOQ etc. AM adoption brings up multiple obstacles that can be overwhelming: incomplete part data (lack of dimensions, materials, drawings), lack of in-house AM knowledge, picking which part to print, estimating how much savings can be achieved, dealing with limited manpower, etc. Spare Parts 3D has developed DigiPART, a powerful AI-based software solution to facilitate the creation of Digital Inventory and enable the adoption of AM in industries. DigiPART identifies the parts that are technically 3D printable and those that make business sense, thus getting tangible results faster and creating value for your company and supply chain. It sifts through very large inventories, does not require drawings, and has been designed to operate with partial data set. Results are fully transparent and traceable. In last two years,…

With this in mind, the compressed air specialist has converted its DS-2 refrigerant dryer in the lower power range to refrigerant R 513A. This has much lower global warming potential than the refrigerant previously used but does not compromise on performance in any way. The result: an extremely energy-efficient dryer series with the lowest CO2 footprint on the market. Meeting the climate objectives means finding solutions that are environmentally-friendly and, most importantly, reduce greenhouse gases. This applies to the compressed air industry too. In order to optimise the CO2 footprint of its refrigerant dryers, BOGE has begun using a new refrigerant, R 513A, instead of R134a for its DS-2 series in the power range up to 10 cubic metres per minute. This reduces the GWP value (Global Warming Potential) by around 60%: from 1,430 to 573. The CO2 equivalent, ie. the impact the substance has on the climate compared to carbon dioxide, also decreases accordingly. The greenhouse effect of the new refrigerant over the 100-year period studied is much lower…

DMTC Limited is working together with Australian defence manufacturers assisting in their capacity and technology development in digitalisation, artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things (IoT) – including smart factories. Spanning an 11-year career at DMTC, Deepak Ganga is currently Head of Program Management, where he leads the Enterprise Program Management office, responsible for business transformation and the strategic alignment of DMTC’s programs. “We have expanded a lot recently,” says Ganga. “As well as traditional defence R&D projects, we are also working on technologies with applications in related areas like health sciences, AI, robotics, IoT and Industry 4.0. During the last two years, we’ve been working behind the scenes on our program governance framework and to standardise processes. We’re now developing more software to digitalise project management tasks, as well as automating the reporting that we need to continue to do to demonstrate the value we provide to our…

Don’t just take my word for it, a report from the Climate Council found that our Government is doing the least of any developed nation when it comes to action on climate change. This Government’s inaction on climate will not only raise the risk that we will face increased global temperatures – and the associated increases in server weather events – it leaves our nation unprepared to deal with the realities of a low-emissions future. With the US, the EU and other major trading partners looking at imposing carbon tariffs, our failure to invest in decarbonising our energy system and shifting our manufacturing industry to low-emissions technology is a huge risk to workers and communities that rely on those jobs. The only thing worse than Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s Government’s woeful performance on preventing climate change is their support…

The welding shortage is a global problem. The American Welding Society has predicted a deficit of 400,000 welders by 2024. In Australia, the problem is arguably even greater. According to specialist welding technologists K-TIG, a US welder’s skills are in such high demand they can demand a salary of $100,000 – the figure is twice as high in Australia and up to three times as high for oil & gas projects in remote locations. The bad news looks set to get worse, because the welding workforce isn’t getting any younger. Estimates vary, but even the more favourable figures suggest that 30% of Australia’s welding workforce is over 45. The millennials are not rushing to replace the retiring baby boomers. Negative perceptions of careers in manufacturing, and welding in particular, are putting off younger generations from what could be a bright career destination. Unfortunately, welding is seen by many younger people as dirty and monotonous. Added to all this is a skills shortage,…