Industry News

The investment includes the latest Stratasys technologies and newly constructed manufacturing pods at the Objective3D Additive Manufacturing Centre located in Carrum Downs, Victoria, making it the largest showroom and AM service bureau in the region. The new technologies are the Stratasys F770, J826, J35Pro, H350 and Origin One, and will cover fused deposition modelling (FDM), PolyJet, selective absorption fusion (SAF) and P3 programmable photopolymerization. “These new technologies represent an opportunity to seriously tackle production manufacturing using additive”, said Matt Minio, Managing Director of Objective3D. “Our greatest growth today comes from customers who either wish to manufacture serious production volumes on their own additive system or have Objective3D manufacture for them. These latest in-house technologies and new materials further enhance the ability for customers to manufacture greater production volumes using additive, producing components that are representative of injection-moulded parts for their strength and surface finish. With the…

If you’d sat behind the desks of the CEOs of Australia’s leading industrial fabrication, transport and marine businesses in March 2020 as the first wave of COVID-19 restrictions rolled out, you’d never have predicted the turn events these industries would experience over the coming 24 months. Many were forecasting reduced demand, industry downturns, staff reductions and operational stand-downs. Fast forward two years and as an industry we are riding a collective wave of strong demand. Local manufacturers are benefiting from the reduced presence of imported aluminium products, spurring increased demand for locally fabricated aluminium products. The strong growth in demand has created a different type of challenge for local businesses that use aluminium, who are now faced with supply challenges due to material shortages and supplier capacity, while subject to unprecedented aluminium pricing pressures. In fact, capacity to supply aluminium products within Australia has never been pushed so hard, with pricing impacts and supply shortages affecting everything from beer cans…

Building on $70m of investment by Thales Australia in the Lithgow facility that has included new equipment and product development over the past decade, Phase 1 of this new industrial plan will establish a modern manufacturing and integration hub for the design, development and precision manufacture of next generation weapons systems for the Australian Defence Force, industrial partners and export customers. The ceremony was attended by leaders from local, state and federal governments including: Paul Toole MP, Deputy Premier of NSW and Member for Bathurst. Toole said: “This is a momentous occasion for both Thales and Lithgow today. The $6.5m investment by Thales in a new facility here in Lithgow shows that Thales is going to be in Lithgow for a long, long time. Today marks the future, and a new era that not only secures existing advanced manufacturing jobs…

PwC’s ideas were presented to global steel industry representatives at the 2018 Surface Inspection Summit (SIS) in Aachen, Germany. Their ideas were widely seen as outlandish at the time, including predictions that: original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) would centralise their sales online, like Amazon; would increasingly support customers with design and development, like Tesla; and would form digital networks, much like Uber. The predictions raised eyebrows at the time. However, if anything, manufacturers have since moved beyond eCommerce and adopted customer engagement (CE) and customer experience (CX) as main principles behind their online investments. As confirmed in PwC’s later Retail Outlook 2020 report: companies are competing on CE; and most of the competition now takes place online. Manufacturers have embraced multi-channel commerce models that bring several customer routes — online web pages, product catalogues and sales teams — into a unified, single ecosystem that…

This latest version of the tool features a newly designed arm structure, a larger centre tube made of carbon fibre, and a further weight reduction of more than 20% over the original design. The complex tool is capable of machining three large diameters in just one operation, saving set-up time and machining time for automotive component manufacturers and delivering the highest accuracy and surface qualities. The newly redesigned tool recently won MM MaschinenMarkt’s Best of Industry Award in the Production and Manufacturing category based on votes by readers and industry experts. “As our automotive customers expand their offerings of hybrid and electric vehicles, we continue to respond to their need for lighter weight tooling solutions,” says Ingo Grillenberger, Product Manager at Kennametal. “By leveraging advanced manufacturing techniques like 3D printing, we’ve reduced weight a further 20% over the first-generation tool, while improving chip control and increasing tool rigidity—innovations that help our customers machine faster and more efficiently.” Machining three diameters in one operation, the stator bore tool ensures the alignment and concentricity of the machined…

We encourage young people to go into apprenticeships to start their careers, and our skills-based Award system rewards workers who improve or expand their skills with higher wages. Or at least it is meant to – more on that later. We’ve long known that skills are a key part of unlocking improved productivity, which is as vital to the success of our key industries as it is for the profitability of an individual business. Our standard of living will only improve if we’re able to continually improve our productivity and we can’t do that without a skilled workforce. So, if we all know how important skills are for individuals, businesses and our nation, why are we so bad at delivering them? In my view, there is a lack of certainty amongst employers, workers, students and the community about what the Vocational…

Minister for Industry Support and Recovery Martin Pakula has welcomed Hanwha Defense Australia’s announcement that its $170m Armoured Vehicle Centre of Excellence will be established at the Avalon Airport Industrial Precinct. “We’re backing Hanwha to make the Geelong region its home because we know it will grow the economy for years to come,” said Pakula. “Victoria continues to lead the way in advanced manufacturing and this state-of-the-art facility in Avalon will create hundreds of jobs and deliver major benefits for local businesses in the supply chain.” Hanwha will use the new Avalon facility to build self-propelled howitzers to deliver the Commonwealth’s approximately $1bn LAND 8116 program. The investment will strengthen the state’s defence capabilities and create hundreds of highly skilled local jobs in design, engineering and advanced manufacturing. Construction of the 32,000sqm state-of-the-art facility is expected to start later this year and take two years to complete – creating more than 100 jobs during construction. Richard Cho, Managing Director of Hanwha Defense Australia, commented: “The Hanwha…

The word “robot” was first coined in Czech writer Karel Čapek’s play ‘R.U.R.’, written in 1920 and first performed in 1921. The play begins in a factory that makes artificial people, called roboti (robots), whom humans have created. Initially happy to work for humans, the robots revolt and cause the extinction of the human race. While ‘R.U.R’ was the first countless works of science fiction in the century since that have depicted robots as sources of menace or wonder, the reality today is much more down to earth. Modern robots have become a feature of many modern workplaces, but nowhere more so than in the manufacturing industry. In today’s factory, robotics and automation systems have liberated human personnel from an ever-growing array of repetitive and dangerous tasks. At AMW 2022, the Robotics & Automation Zone will showcase the latest state-of-the-art equipment and processes for the optimisation and digitalisation of manufacturing operations. While some of the world’s leading robot brands will be on display, there will also be exhibits from…

Under the laws of cricket, it is illegal for players to rub any substance other than saliva and sweat onto the ball, let alone scuffing it with their fingernails. Similarly, strict rules apply to the manufacturing of cricket balls. Cricket ball manufacturer Kookaburra designed its first ever machine tending robotic system to produce the perfect ball, with the help of industrial robot supplier TM Robotics and its Australian partner MAP Services. Machine-tending is repetitive work. The job of loading and unloading machines with parts or materials is usually done by humans. In the production of cricket balls, workers would place covers ― the outside leather of cricket balls ― onto trays after being pressed into shape to form half of a cricket ball. These trays are then placed into a rack and moved to the next process ― trimming excess leather from the pressed cover. Originally, when Kookaburra approached MAP Services, the distribution partner for Shibaura Machine’s industrial robot ranges in Australia, its system for manufacturing cricket balls involved having human operators at the…

A regional development package has been revealed as well, targeting a bunch of regional centres includes massive investment into infrastructure projects in the Northern Territory, Queensland, New South Wales and the Pilbara area of WA.  These sectors cover telecommunications, road, rail and regional health. The commitments total more than $21bn over the medium term. Simon Birmingham, the Liberal government finance minister, described the government’s budget management was allowing for the delivery of a dividend back to taxpayers.  But, he said, “it seeks to apply those dividends in a careful, cautious, responsible way to set Australia up for the future.” The deficit for 2021-22 is expected to be $79.8bn, with total deficits across the four-year forward estimates totalling $224.7bn.…

“Increased sales growth and demand across Australia has resulted in us steadily expanding the Yawei range, which today includes CNC fibre lasers, tube lasers, pressbrakes, turret punch presses, guillotines and smart-factory automation solutions,” said Applied’s Sales and Marketing Manager, Daniel Fisher. “The value for money and performance aspect is why so many companies have opted for Yawei. The competitive price of Yawei machines has enabled many local manufacturers to bring their fabrication work back in-house. It has also allowed job shops to expand their range of services and capabilities enabling them to secure new business opportunities.” Two new models recently introduced further add to the impressive line-up: a laser punch combination and a panel folder. The new HPML Laser Punch Combination combines the forming capabilities of a turret punch press with the flexibility of a fibre laser cutter - all in the one machine. The machine features class-leading components which are a hallmark of all Yawei machines; these include a Siemens 840D controller, IPG laser source…

AMT: You were recently the author of a report ‘Rebuilding Vehicle Manufacturing in Australia’. Tell us a little about its findings. Mark Dean: My report shows that Australia has all the key elements to develop an electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing industry in this country. We have rich mineral reserves. We have an advanced industrial base. We have a highly skilled workforce. And we have consumer interest, not just in the purchase of EVs, but also in seeing an EV manufacturing industry in Australia. The one thing we lack is a Federal Government with the political will to create an active, interventionist industry policy to bring those pieces together and develop a plan for the growth of an EV industry, which could effectively be economy-transforming. And I’ve developed four building blocks around areas that would be fundamental to an industry policy for EV manufacturing in Australia. AMT: Would this be a significant export industry as well? In the past Australian car-makers often struggled outside the domestic…