Industry News

The co-founders of WAZER, Nisan Lerea and Matthew Nowicki met at Penn Engineering in the US when they were building custom racing cars for the Formula SAE international competition. Their quest for a solution to make precision cuts in hard materials sparked their interest in low-cost waterjet technology. In 2012 Nisan led a team of undergraduate students on research in developing the technology and in 2015, the project had advanced to the point where both he and Matthew quit their jobs to continue developing the waterjet. By January 2016, the team temporarily moved to Shenzhen in China to join the Hax Accelerator, the world’s first and largest hardware accelerator. Most of that year was spent in Shenzhen to develop the business and refine the design and engineering of WAZER. During that time an engineering team was assembled to assess market…

“COVID has been a game-changer in many negative ways over the past couple of years, but it has also delivered many positive opportunities by accelerating change in key Australian and New Zealand industries,” said Anthony Wong, Regional Director – South Pacific at Rockwell Automation. “These ongoing efficiency and innovation gains will be most pronounced in key local industries – such as food and beverage manufacturing, mineral processing, oil and gas production, and public infrastructure.” Wong outlined a series of Rockwell Automation’s initiatives in an exclusive interview with AMT magazine, saying the new technologies and capabilities will have major relevance to its readers. Rockwell Automation – which employs over 24,000 people and has customers in more than 100 countries – is best known for its FactoryTalk software and Allen-Bradley automation systems, incorporating its programmable logic controller (PLC) and programmable automation controller (PAC) ranges from large to small and even micro applications. The company continues…

The history of welding dates back thousands of years. The earliest examples of the technique stem from the Bronze and Iron Ages in Europe and the Middle East. According to the ancient historian Herodotus, iron welding was “single-handedly invented” by the Glaucus of Chios, a Greek sculptor in metal, around 500 years BC. Today, welding is an essential manufacturing process used across a range of settings, from medical devices and electronics, to larger-scale applications such as mining or shipbuilding. It continues to advance to new levels of technological sophistication. Robot welding has today become commonplace, and researchers and companies continue to develop new welding methods and to gain greater understanding of weld quality. The Weld Solutions Zone will provide a comprehensive showcase for this critical part of the manufacturing world. As well as offering a chance to see some of the latest, state-of-the-art welding technology, it will feature an array of exhibitors supplying ancilliary equipment, safety systems and gases. Australian Manufacturing Week 2022 will take place at the International Convention…

Founded in 1984, CNC Design is a leader in motion control and drive-based solutions throughout Australia, New Zealand and South-East Asia, and has established itself as one of the world’s foremost specialists in developing and retrofitting CNC machinery. CNC Design is based in Nunawading, Victoria, and in the last few years the company has been building and supplying very large volume 3D printing and machining systems for thermoplastics, concrete, and wax. In addition, CNC Design is the exclusive representative for Siemens machine tool products in Australia and South-East Asia, and has partnerships with Güdel and Comau. The company has an extensive service, sales and engineering network in the Asia-Pacific region, with more than 175 people located in its offices in Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. The team at CNC Design has completed more 2,500 projects in 30 countries. Big area additive manufacturing Drawing on its extensive experience…

Superalloys – metal alloys which reflect their complex alloyed structure – feature extremely high elevated temperature strength, and therefore often are referred to as high-temperature superalloys (HTSA) or heat-resistant superalloys (HRSA). The history of superalloys started with the development of gas-turbine engines that required reliable materials for high operating temperature ranges. As a result of intensive research and progress in metallurgy, modern superalloys provide a long service life for working temperatures more than 1,000 deg.C. Understandably, the largest superalloy consumers today are aerospace and marine engine producers. Superalloys are also very common in the medical industry, which effectively use them for prosthetic implants in orthopedic surgery. In addition, superalloys have become widespread in power generation and the oil & gas industries as crucial materials for essential parts of various devices. Exceptional high-temperature strength and corrosion resistance are the undeniable advantages of superalloys. However, there are two sides to the coin: superalloys are not only highly priced, but their machinability is poor, which can…

Australia’s manufacturing industry spent $5.3bn on electricity in 2019, more than the combined spend of mining, transport, utilities and construction. Of this consumption, 45% of energy consumed by manufacturing is derived from natural gas and 22% comes from coal, while renewables only account for 28%. The writing’s been on the wall for fossil fuels for a considerable time now. Continuing to rely on natural resources to maintain growth exposes a business to serious risks, not just to its public image, but also exposes its tangible and intangible value. If the environmental arguments alone aren’t rousing enough, the price of renewable energy now rivaling those of fossil fuels means that manufacturers can make huge financial savings by getting a handle on their energy usage. There are two ways manufacturers can go about saving with smarter energy use: they can switch to renewable energy; or they can find ways to cut down on the amount of energy…

Toolbox can also provide an innovative 3D unfolding service, whereby it can be fed full 3D schematics of a product and it will select precisely all the 2D sheet metal surfaces required to be cut by a laser workshop. It’s also possible to create the drawing without using any CAD software, using Toolbox’s Quick Part parametric parts library. Quick Part has a broad range of customisable parts, including brackets, flanges, gussets, and plates that can be adjusted to the specific needs of the user. “ToolBox is designed to put the tools in the hands of small laser cutting and fabrication workshops that are looking to grow their business,” says Felipe Lechuga, President of Tempus Tools. “It helps with cleaning drawings, part creation or extraction, and laser cutting calculations, so the business can quote more jobs and expand its operations. With the shift to Industry 4.0, slow quoting processes just aren’t competitive anymore, so job shops need new tools to get…

In harsh environments, for example where heavy rainfall or snowfall is likely, soldiers need the reassurance that their presence can remain concealed. Composite telescoping poles are chosen to support camouflage nets over alternative materials like aluminium because of several advantages such as lighter weight and speed of assembly. The composite tubes must therefore combine the strength and durability needed for support with the lightweight flexibility to be able to carry heavy loads. To achieve these properties, careful consideration goes into every stage of manufacturing, from choosing the reinforcing fibres to the manufacturing process itself. So, what are these considerations and how do they ensure the end product is fit for purpose? Choosing the composite material Early applications for fibreglass date back to World War II, where design engineers used it for…

The Australian Manufacturers’ Pavilion is a specially dedicated section of the Australian Manufacturing Week exhibition that spotlights Australia’s precision engineering and advanced manufacturing industry. Having first featured at the Austech 2013 exhibition, the Manufacturers’ Pavilion is now an integral part of AMW, with 12 manufacturing businesses signed up to exhibit this Aussie year. “We’ve worked very hard over the years to make the Manufacturers’ Pavilion a key feature of AMTIL’s exhibitions, and it’s been really satisfying to see it establish itself,” says Shane Infanti, CEO of AMTIL. “We see the Manufacturers’ Pavilion as an opportunity to showcase our industry as a whole, and we’ve got a really strong line-up of exciting, innovative manufacturing companies that have booked stands this year.” The Australian Manufacturers’ Pavilion showcases the capabilities of component manufacturers, precision engineering firms, toolmakers, advanced manufacturers and general engineering companies. For example, Marand Precision Engineering designs, manufactures and sustains complex and innovative equipment and products primarily for the defence, aerospace, mining, rail, and renewable energy industries, while Marsh Alliance is one of the most…

Advanced Composite Structures Australia (ACS Australia) is a key participant of the Blue Economy Cooperative Research Centre (Blue Economy CRC), bringing critical composites engineering design and manufacturing capabilities to major renewable energy projects in the aquaculture space. The most recent projects to be announced involve the design and manufacture of renewable energy devices taking advantage of advanced composites technologies. In partnership with the Blue Economy CRC, headquartered in Launceston, Tasmania, Carnegie Clean Energy and other industry experts, ACS Australia is progressing the development of two major projects: the MoorPower Scaled Demonstrator project; and a Mooring Tensioner for wave energy converters. MoorPower Scaled Demonstrator project Global aquaculture is moving operations further offshore, presenting a challenge to access clean renewable and reliable offshore energy. Moored feeding barge facilities rely on diesel fuel generators for power out at sea, leading to high operating costs and carbon emissions. The MoorPower project aims…

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…

The implementation of Closed-Loop Manufacturing (CLM) across its manufacturing capability using Siemens’ Manufacturing Execution System (MES) will enable HeliMods to achieve development and production of high-complexity, high-value, scalable solutions using a single digital thread across the entire product lifecycle. The implementation of the software was enabled by a $350,000 co-investment grant from the AMGC and will support HeliMods’ global and local growth trajectory in aerospace, defence, air ambulance and other key industries. In total, the project will see an investment of $808,543 from combined AMGC, industry and in-kind contributions. The announcement was made at HeliMods’ premises in Sunshine Coast by Federal MP Andrew Wallace “Thanks to this project, HeliMods is now the only Australian business with Defence Production Approval that is using such a Closed Loop Manufacturing system, offering Australia a unique new sovereign defence industry capability-based right here on the Coast,”…

When drilling holes in most aerospace components, manufacturers have three chances of getting the hole correct – after which, it will be impossible to rework the hole within the required design specifications. If just one hole misses those three chances, by diameter, surface finish or delamination, the entire component will need to be scrapped. Given the enormous value of aeroplane components, holemaking is a risky business. That applies especially when drilling composite materials, which place new demands on machining. Holemaking has emerged as one of the most common machining processes when working with composites. Machining composite materials – which combine two or more materials with different physical and chemical properties – involves cutting, or fracturing, of the fibre part of the material. If this is done incorrectly then layers of the composite material peel away from where they belong. This is known as delamination, and according to…