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Australian Manufacturing Week (AMW2023) is approaching fast! This will be held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) from 9-12 May 2023. Organised and run by the Australian Manufacturing Technology Institute Limited (AMTIL), AMW2023 will almost fill ‘Jeff’s Shed’, more than 10,770 square metres, with 346 organisations showcasing the latest manufacturing technologies, processes, and support services. Don’t miss out!  Register online now at australianmanufacturingweek.com.au We've detailed some of the attractions on the other days in previous posts, and here is the line-up for the final day. On Friday 12 May, Day FOUR of AMW 2023, the Future Solutions Speaker program has a theme of ‘Innovation and Research’ at the Sessions Stage at AMW2023!  This is your chance to hear about the future of manufacturing. 10:15 AM – 10:45 AM Monash Smart Manufacturing Hub – Your access to Talent and Innovation Location: Future Solutions Speaker Sessions Stage Speaker: Prof. Adrian Neild, Founder and Director Smart Manufacturing Hub at Monash Professor Adrian Neild will share how manufacturers can partner…

Additive manufacturing continues to disrupt the traditional manufacturing paradigm, and every day secures a more robust foothold as a production technology. The reason for this is driven by advances in build processes that promote increases in speed, accuracy, and repeatability of production, and therefore increased yield ratios. As is now well-known and accepted, AM is important as it facilitates the creation of geometrically complex parts and components. AM reduces waste and allows for the creation of lighter structures with an obvious importance in the automotive, aerospace, and medical sectors. AM also allows for the simple production of replacement parts impossible or uneconomical to replace using traditional processes, meaning that machines can be repaired not replaced. All such advantages along with AM’s ability to democratise and localise manufacturing with all that implies in terms of shortened and domestic supply chains means that as a technology, its future is assured. AM and post-processing One area where significant issues reside in AM parts…

Plants and factories from automotive to apparel closed up in the globalisation age, and the narrative ever since has been of an industry that's long since fled to the third world in search of cheaper prices, never to return. But some local players are bucking the trends, and just one is the Sevaan Group, a Sydney-based metal machining company that's going from strength to strength. Established in 1997 as Proline Technologies, owners and proprietors Jim and Artemis Tzakos built the business up strategically, surrounding themselves with a small team of manufacturing experts and acquiring a company in 2011, re-christening itself The Sevaan Group. Supplying Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), The Sevaan Group produces metal components for a range of industries including defence, mining, agriculture and gaming to aerospace, robotics, electronics and transit. Today the company has around 50 people and is in the throes of planning an advanced new facility to open late in 2023. But as CEO David Green explains, it’s still a family-owned…

EV pioneer Savic Motorcycles has achieved two major manufacturing milestones on the road to commercial production, with the successful completion of their customised Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) with Bosch Australia, and the first all-weather road tests on urban and semi-rural roads. Within Australia, it is a legal requirement for all road vehicles to be fitted with ABS units, and Savic chose to partner with the industry-leading team at Bosch Australia to develop the ABS for its high-performance C-Series motorcycles – which are due to arrive on Australian roads later this year. “Bosch will be providing a motorcycle-specific ABS module for us, which will be used in every 11+ kW electric motorcycle that Savic Motorcycles will produce, starting with the C-Series,” said Dennis Savic, CEO and founder of Savic Motorcycles. “Partnering with Bosch enabled us to develop an innovative program using their existing ABS9.1MP system and a current C-Series prototype to produce specific software tailored to our requirements.” Development of the ABS program involved handing a 2022 C-Series prototype over to Bosch, which was fitted with the ABS module, an extensive range of…

The future of Motorsport will be fast, high-powered, and using cutting-edge tech. But what we didn’t see coming was that the future of Motorsport would be electric, airborne, even faster, and using locally-built, remotely piloted vehicles, smacking it out for pole position on a huge 3D virtual track. In mid-October, a landmark moment occurred in the story of motorsport and the beginnings of the flying car mobility revolution, way out on the salt flats of South Australia. The Alauda Aeronautics company is also getting set to build the world’s first flying electric car factory in the upcoming Australian Space Park in Adelaide. They are joining other local aerospace industry manufacturing companies, including Fleet Space, at this South Australian industrial park. Industry leaders such as Airbus and a host of other industry providers are also in line. They are also embarking on one of the most original racing concepts ever, having now completed over 250 test flights with their Airspeeder vehicle with a carbon-fibre chassis. Built…

To visit Boss Tooling in Melbourne’s manufacturing heartland of Dandenong South is to witness a team with an outstanding passion for the industry, high integrity in performance for the customer and an unbelievable work ethic that will ensure success for this growing business. Boss Tooling was established in 2013 by Partners and Directors Simone Kramer and Brian Cogley. Located in a small building within a business complex, their original purchase was a second-hand Okuma machine at auction and this was ultimately upgraded to 4-axis. From one machine Brian and Simone purchased another second-hand machine privately in a brand that Brian had been familiar with during his training and with the business continuing to expand, an additional new 4-axis Okuma Machining Centre was also commissioned early on. Prior to the pandemic, the company experienced a quiet period which was of concern to the young couple so a rather nervous and inexperienced salesman Brian, set out on a sales mission to drum up business and expose the company’s capabilities to the industry. His technical knowledge soon shone through and after a face-to-face call of some two hours discussion with…

‘Reduce, Reuse & Recycle’ is in action at the Nissan Casting Australia Plant (NCAP) in Melbourne’s southeast.  Nissan LEAF electric vehicle (EV) end-of-life batteries, charged by solar energy will part power the EV component’s manufacturing area. This is estimated to cut NCAP’s annual C02 emissions by 259 tons, saving the company 128 megawatts of energy and around $30,000 each year. Winner of the 2022 Victorian Manufacturing Hall of Fame Award - Leader in Global Supply Chain Partnerships award for its outstanding achievement in manufacturing, NCAP can soon add its Battery Project, called Nissan Node to its successful accomplishments. This exciting future for end-of-life EV batteries, Nissan Node will include a new Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) installation made of nine repurposed Gen 1 Nissan LEAF batteries charged via a solar array as well as EV chargers for cars at NCAP. Founded in 1982, Nissan Casting Australia (NCAP) is located in Dandenong South and has been manufacturing in Victoria for 40 years. As one of Australia’s only OEMs, (Original Equipment Manufacturer), it has established itself as a market leader in die-cast…

You've landed back home after visiting your offshore oil rig when you realise you need to set up a meeting with that drilling rig assessor. Her email address is written on a Post-It Note and stuck to the PC monitor... back on the rig. Wouldn't it be handy to call up a remote view, virtually walking right up to your desk to read the Post-It Note just like you’re walking through a videogame environment? That's exactly what Perth company RemSense can deliver. After starting in 2012 as a drone operator for Western Australian resources clients, a decade of technical experience has opened the door to opportunities with a range of clients across industries from mining to airports and everything in between. That's why founder and CEO Steve Brown describes RemSense as a technology development company more than just an imaging business (more below). But giving customers the best possible access to remote facilities is still a cornerstone of what he and his team do. Using magnetospheric or multispectral readings, LIDAR (light detection and ranging –…

The supply and labour constraints afflicting the Australian economy continue to create challenges for the manufacturing sector. According to the Australian Industry Group (AIG), the Australian Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI) dropped by 1.5 points to 52.5 in July. With production and employment both falling, it’s clear that manufacturers are struggling with the impact of chronic labour shortages and supply chain interruptions, leading many to reevaluate their processes to drive efficiency. An ongoing challenge While many might have hoped for a more positive year, 2022 continues to challenge manufacturers. In fact, business groups across Australia have raised concerns about a shortfall of skilled workers across a number of critical industries such as health, trades, manufacturing and tech, amid historically low unemployment rates. In August the NSW skills minister, Alister Henskens, went as far as describing the critical workforce shortages as a “handbrake” on the state’s economy. Against this backdrop, a growing number of manufacturers are considering implementing specialist technology, not only to minimise downtime but to also prevent their…

Every manufactured product you can think of, from the coffee you have first thing in the morning and the cereal you eat for breakfast, to the computer you use at work, the train home in the evening, and the car waiting at the station, and even the couch you sit on to watch your television with a glass of wine – they are all made by machines that were made by machine tools. Think about that... just the coffee beans alone require a coffee bean harvester, washing and screening equipment, dry processing, roasting, hulling, polishing, sorting and grading processes. Each one of these processes requires equipment that has significant machining and fabrication work to produce it. And that’s just the coffee beans. So if you have your coffee with milk and sugar, multiply all those processes by three, and then include the machine that you have sitting in your kitchen that now allows you to push a button and the coffee is produced. Whilst we may take making a coffee for…

The Digital Jobs for Manufacturing Program is open to businesses with a manufacturing presence in Victoria which are on a growth trajectory and are seeking to utilise their existing workforce to apply digital technology to their operations. Global manufacturing is becoming increasingly technology-driven, requiring highly skilled workers and a competitive edge in new techniques. Manufacturing technologies are constantly changing and manufacturers in Victoria need to continuously adapt to maintain their advantage. The Digital Jobs for Manufacturing Program assists Victorian manufacturing businesses adapt to a digital operating environment by providing nominated employees with fully subsidised digital skills training. Funding is available to manufacturing businesses to enroll their employees in a training course in a highly sought-after digital skill. Businesses can select from a list of 12-week online, part-time industry-endorsed courses. Examples include (but are not limited to): data analytics; cloud computing; IT operations and support; web development; digital marketing; enterprise resource planning (ERP); customer relationship management (CRM); or robotic process automation. Grants of up to $5,000 are available per employee and require…

Technofast Founder and CEO John Bucknell began innovating with farming technology, before applying similar principles to create Technofast’s hydraulic tensioning technology now used globally by mining, sugar, cement, food processing, quarrying and other applications. Another Australian farmer is following in the footsteps of the inventors of the stump-jump plough by achieving international renown for his ingenuity for down-to-earth solutions for problems encountered by producers globally. Queensland farmer John Bucknell’s hydraulic bolts are now used around the world in applications such as nuclear reactors, boilers, turbines and mining and energy equipment where speed, accuracy and even, precise fastening of multiple sets of bolts is required. The idea originally stemmed from his desire to find a quicker and more secure way to fasten bolts used to tighten gang bolts on large disc ploughs on his family’s property near Nindigully, Queensland (about 500km west of Brisbane). Just like brothers Richard and Clarence Smith of Yorke Peninsula who invented the stump jump plough in 1876 to allow farmers to cultivate land without removing rocks and stumps, John used his disc plough to break in new country, ready for…

First came the use of energy sources—water then steam—to power manufacturing processes, which required a consolidation around these energy sources. Then came the great efficiency gains from the streamlining of manufacturing processes—the assembly line—followed by automation and control, thanks to the development and deployment of digital technologies. The latest revolution, industry 4.0, takes that one step further by turning the flow of digital information into a two-way street: data is used to control the manufacturing process, and is collected and analysed to improve efficiency and detect problems.   The challenge to anticipate malfunctions There is one common denominator to all four phases. The operators of manufacturing systems and processes strive to anticipate and if possible, prevent any malfunction of production machinery that will compromise product quality or interrupt production. It’s not good to discover a machine has been producing malformed widgets after it has created a few hundred. In industry 1.0 and 2.0, the ability to do this was limited and…