AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY YOUR INDUSTRY. YOUR MAGAZINE
JUNIJUL18
Your One Stop Shop From Prototyping to Production Professional-grade 3D printing and manufacturing services
MINING, RESOURCES & ENERGY Agriculture, Food & Beverages State Spotlight: Victoria
LYNX 2100 SERIES
Y AXIS 6/8 INCH GLOBAL COMPACT TURNING CENTER
Lynx 2100LYA / LYB Lynx 2100LSYA / LSYB
Available from
www.machineryhouse.com.au Specifications are subject to change without notification.
Lynx 2100LY
Y axis added 6/8 inch Global Compact Turning Center
MACHINE GREATNESS MACHINE GREATNESS Y axis
HEADING
Excellent Machining Performance Excellent Performance added 6Machining 8 inch Global Compact Turning Centerof - Ø300mm Ø300mm X/ Larger machining area areas with X510mm 510mm larger machining a combination
Lynx 2100LYA / LYB Lynx 2100LSYA Lynx 2100LYA/ /LSYB LYB Lynx 2100LSYA / LSYB
- 15kW Ø300mm X 510mm Larger machining area Excellent machining with powerful kW for motor and highly high-power motor and Y15axis excellent complex shape - machining Excellent machining withparts powerful 15 kW motor and highly strengthened assembly performance assembly parts - strengthened Easy machining of complex shapes with additional Y axis - Easy machining of complex shapes with additional Y axis
Major Features
High Reliability
High reliability due to low vibration/noise spindle, • Combination of 15kW high-power motor and Y axis for excellent complex shape machining High - servo-driven Low Reliability vibration and low noise spindle structure turret, and full sliding cover for protection performance - from Low vibration and low noise spindle Servo-driven turret coolant leakage and flyingstructure chips
- Servo-driven turret • High reliability due to low vibration/noise spindle, servo-driven turret, and full sliding cover for Simple Setting-up and Maintenance protection from coolant leakage and flying chips Simple Setting-up and Maintenance - Easier, CNC tailstock standard feature (for Lynx 2100LY) fasterassetting-up and maintenance
- due CNC tailstock as standard feature (fortime Lynxkeys 2100LY) • Easier, faster setting-up and maintenance due to CNC tailstock, New EOP, hot keys and grease Reduce work piece & tooling setting more than 50% to CNC tailstock, New EOP, hot Reduce work piece & tooling setting time more than 50%when Minimize downtime through self-troubleshooting guide and grease lubrication lubrication - Minimize downtime through self-troubleshooting guide when an alarm occurs an alarm occurs
Major Specifications Description
www.doosanmachinetools.com www.facebook.com/doosanmachinetools www.doosanmachinetools.com 2100LYA/LSYA Lynx Lynx 2100LYB/LSYB www.youtube.com/c/DoosanMachineToolsCorporation www.facebook.com/doosanmachinetools www.youtube.com/c/DoosanMachineToolsCorporation 300
Max. Turning Diameter
mm
Max. Turning Length
mm
Standard Chuck Size
inch
6
8
Bar Working Diameter
mm
51
65
Max. Spindle Speed
r/min
6000
4500
510
Max. Spindle Motor Power
kW
15
CNC System
Type
FANUC
www.doosanmachinetools.com www.facebook.com/doosanmachinetools www.youtube.com/c/DoosanMachineToolsCorporation
1/2 Windsor Rd Northmead
SYDNEY
625 Boundary Rd Coopers Plains
BRISBANE
11 Valentine Street Kewdale
PERTH
MELBOURNE
Ph: (02) 9890 9111
Ph: (07) 3715 2200
Ph: (08) 9373 9999
Ph: (03) 9212 4422
4 Abbotts Rd, Dandenong
03_AMTIL_010618
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CONTENTS
Volume 18 Number 03 JUN/JUL 2018 ISSN 1832-6080
FEATURES MINING & RESOURCES Mining success in METS Drilltechniques – Ticking off its tech wish-list Collision warning systems for mobile machines Where Australia sits on energy storage
42 46 48 50
ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING Proslab: Absolute accuracy with AM Winery transforming 3D data to 3D map Revolutionising markets through AM World’s largest, fastest metal 3D printer Slashing costs with Markforged 3D printer Bugatti: World’s first 3D-printed brake caliper
52 54 56 57 58 60
STATE SPOTLIGHT: VICTORIA VIC manufacturers invest in innovation Vernier– A passion for manufacturing Rolls-Royce selects Marand as partner
64 66 68
AGRICULTURE, FOOD & BEVERAGES IoT in agriculture, from oysters to apples Kaeser quenches E’stel Water’s thirst What eggs can teach us about traceability Seed Terminator closes in on harvest weeds Spicing up operations with Dynamics 365 Lightweight robots harvest cucumbers
72 74 76 78 79 80
CUTTING TOOLS A new look for gear milling? Tool deterioration: Beyond machining
81 82
MATERIAL REMOVAL Enhanced technology for five-axis requirements Makino for Australian-made watchmakers
84 85
FORMING & FABRICATION Yawei HLE fibre laser reduces lead times In-service welding in the oil & gas sector Modernising your old press brake
86 88 90
MOTORS & DRIVES Explosives plant invests in latest motor control tech Schaeffler tech sets new benchmark
93 94
SOFTWARE Manufacturing takes to the cloud Eliminating information silos forever Digitalisation & Industry 4.0 in manufacturing Top practices for top-performing production Servitisation challenge
96 98 99 100 102
REGULARS From the Editor From the CEO From the Ministry From the Industry From the Union
10 12 14 16 18
INDUSTRY NEWS
20
VOICEBOX Opinions from across the manufacturing industry
30
PRODUCT NEWS
36
COMPANY FOCUS TRJ Engineering – Managing growth
62
ONE ON ONE Gary Northover
70
42 Mining success in METS What is the secret to success for manufacturers operating in the METS sector? Manufacturing makes up 40% of this industry, and despite the downturn, there are companies who are thriving.
62 TRJ Engineering – Managing growth Despite an upgrade and relocatiing to a bigger premises, engineering company TRJ is a business bursting at the seams.
66 Vernier – A passion for manufacturing For 75 years, the Victorian Vernier Society has been a meeting place for those passionate about manufacturing and who consider technological advance the lifeblood of Australia.…
70
AMTIL FORUMS 104 AMTIL INSIDE The latest news from AMTIL
108
MANUFACTURING HISTORY – A look back in time
116
AMT JUN/JUL 2018
One-on-One Gary Northover, Executive Director of the Tractor & Machinery Association of Australia, speaks to AMT.
HEADING
GENOS M460V-5AX 5-Axis Machining Powerhouse ROBUST PERFORMANCE SMALL FOOTPRINT The next generation GENOS M460V-5AX, 5-axis vertical machining centre made in Japan, is specifically designed to manufacture high precision parts and deliver impressive metal removal rates in a compact design. Its solid double-column structure, full 5-axis simultaneous control and thermal stability performance give it the ability to easily cut a variety of materials. Using a hypoid gear drive, the GENOS M460V5AX features trunnion construction that offers exceptional accuracy, rigidity and table rotation speed. The spindle produces less vibration and power loss at the tool tip for outstanding surface finishes and metal removal rates. This affordable, 5-axis machine, provides high productivity and profitability in a small footprint MODEL Travels (X-Y-Z) Table Spindle Speed Tool Storage Floor Space
GENOS M460V-5AX 762x460x460 mm ø460 mm 15000 min-1 32 tools 2160x2810 mm
010
FROM THE EDITOR WILLIAM POOLE
Helping manufacturers build resilience What are the key characteristics of a strong, successful manufacturing business? Some might suggest “being innovative” – continually developing new products, new processes, new strategies to grow the business. Or you might think, “being dynamic” – moving fast, adapting quickly, and seizing opportunities as they arise, before your competitors do. Or maybe just “being efficient” – running every aspect of your operation like a well-grooved machine. All the above are true, but they all hinge on wider business conditions generally being relatively positive. But what about when the going isn’t so good? How sturdy does your business look in a recession, for example? Or when a major customer takes their money elsewhere? Or when unforeseen disruptions unsettle your key markets? This where a different characteristic becomes crucial: resilience. And resilience is the subject of a new report from the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre (AMGC). Building Resilience in Australian Manufacturing notes that Australia is home to one of the most volatile manufacturing industries in the world. The AMGC examined the period from 1996 to 2015, and found that even in the absence of a recession, Australia’s manufacturing sector swelled to 20% above trend during economic upswings, while contracting to 20% below this level during downturns. This 20% deviation compares to 14% in the UK, 10% in the US, and 8% in Germany. And manufacturers in this country are often not well equipped to weather the hard times. For one in three Australian manufacturing businesses, the loss of one customer would have a moderate to significant impact on their business. For one in ten, losing one customer would force them to shut down. Resilient firms are defined as those that outperform their industry in a downturn, with higher earnings than average companies. The report outlines the factors that drive resilience: 70% of resilient manufacturers exhibit technical leadership; 64% produce a diverse product offering; and 54% have business models that allow for high flexibility. The report outlines three business factors driving resilience: • Superiority: Superior firms possess an unassailable competitive advantage by offering technically superior products or services that are unique within the market, and highly valued irrespective of accompanying conditions. • Diversity: Diversified firms possess a competitive advantage across many product segments, service offerings or geographically diverse export markets. This enables them to respond to shifting consumer tastes or reduced overall demand. • Flexibility: Flexible firms possess an agile business structure allowing them to manage fluctuations in input costs or change industry focus in the event of a downturn. The report includes several case studies illustrating the characteristics of resilient manufacturers. One such case , Sutton Tools, benchmarked itself against the world’s best and decided to bolster its technical leadership through a dogged commitment to research & development. Managing Director Peter Sutton describes the decade-long project as demanding but rewarding: “We stuck at it, not only for the pride of getting that product to successfully work, but more importantly what it did for all our other products and our manufacturing processes.” The full report can be downloaded from the AMGC website: www.amgc.org.au. ‘Strategies for Manufacturing Resilience and Growth’ will be further explored at the 2018 AMTIL National Conference in August. Registrations are now open (see page 112 for more), and the opening speaker will be none other than AMGC Managing Director Dr Jens Goennemann. All in all a great opportunity to toughen up your business.
YOUR INDUSTRY. YOUR MAGAZINE.
AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY
Editor William Poole wpoole@amtil.com.au Contributors Brent Balinski Sales Manager Anne Samuelsson asamuelsson@amtil.com.au Publications Co-ordinator Gabriele Richter grichter@amtil.com.au Publisher Shane Infanti sinfanti@amtil.com.au Designer Franco Schena fschena@amtil.com.au Prepress & Print Printgraphics Australia AMT Magazine is printed in Australia using FSC® mix of paper from responsible sources FSC® C007821 Contact Details AMT Magazine AMTIL Suite 1, 673 Boronia Rd Wantirna VIC 3152 AUSTRALIA T 03 9800 3666 F 03 9800 3436 E info@amtil.com.au W www.amtil.com.au Copyright © Australian Manufacturing Technology (AMT). All rights reserved. AMT Magazine may not be copied or reproduced in whole or part thereof without written permission from the publisher. Contained specifications and claims are those supplied by the manufacturer (contributor)
Disclaimer The opinions expressed within AMT Magazine from editorial staff, contributors or advertisers are not necessarily those of AMTIL. The publisher reserves the right to amend the listed editorial features published in the AMT Magazine Media Kit for content or production purposes. AMT Magazine is dedicated to Australia’s machining, tooling and sheet-metal working industries and is published monthly. Subscription to AMT Magazine (and other benefits) is available through AMTIL Associate Membership at $165 (inc GST) per annum. Contact AMTIL on 03 9800 3666 for further information.
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012
FROM THE CEO SHANE INFANTI – Chief Executive Officer AMTIL
STEM is NOT a box of chocolates The world has become full with activities parading as solutions to STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education. Like a box of chocolates, many taste great and will give you a STEM hit… Some will leave you with a bad taste… But in the majority of instances, there is no lasting educational outcome. After you have finished your chocolate, you’re left with an empty box wondering what all this STEM thing is about. This is the view of Dr Michael Myers OAM, and I agree with him. There are very few real STEM activities available to schools today which can deliver long-term and lasting STEM educational outcomes. Dr Myers established Re-Engineering Australia (or REA as it is more commonly referred to) 20 years ago because, as an engineer himself, he saw the education system wasn’t delivering enough students with the appropriate skills to become engineers. Last year, the Chief Scientist Dr Alan Finkel AO, warned that: “The enemy of our future prosperity is complacency. Past investments in skills development have underpinned our strong economy and enviable lifestyle, which in turn have diminished our sense of urgency. While our school system remains above average among OECD countries, the achievement of our students across science, literacy and numeracy is declining. “To meet the challenges of ever more sophisticated international competition in advanced products and services, employers need to be able to access an increasingly skilled workforce, whose skills include traditional sciences and mathematics, information and communications technologies (ICT), and the 21st century skills that prepare our youth for a lifetime of unfolding career opportunities.” Dr Finkel is correct with his comments. By most reports, science, literacy and numeracy are declining but there are proven programs that buck this trend and REA is at the forefront of this change. My impression is that Australia produces the best STEM students in the world and we are getting better at it. One of REA’s flagship programs is F1 In Schools, now regarded as one of the world’s most competitive STEM competitions involving over 17,000 schools from 44 countries. Students design, make and race a miniature Formula 1 car capable of reaching 80km/hour in under one second. In 2006, Australia produced its first F1 In Schools world champions and we have gone on to win the world title many times since then.
I have seen first-hand the skills these students display. Design capabilities, problem solving, communication skills, industry engagement, entrepreneurialism, teamwork, resilience and presentation skills. In my opinion, these are the skills that Dr Finkel refers to as the 21st Century skills that we will need to rebuild the base for Australia’s manufacturing future. If this truly is the perspective of Government, and the sense is urgent, then they need to back programs that have a proven track record of success. I firmly believe that if programs as successful as REA’s have been were more widely available in the school system then we would not have media giving the impression that our educational standards are slipping.
About Re-Engineering Australia The year was 1998 and Dr Michael Myers OAM decided to take affirmative action to counter the growing perception among young Australians that engineering and related technical fields were not career paths worthy of consideration. Dr Myers realised that students needed to be attracted to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in a new way. Traditional classroom techniques were not working. It was time to re-engineer our nation, to inspire and educate a new generation of young people. Thus it was that the social enterprise, Re-Engineering Australia Foundation (REA), was born. Since then, more than 3,000,000 students have been exposed to one or more REA programs. More than 35,000 young people are directly mentored each year. www.rea.org.au
AMT JUN/JUL 2018
Team Hyperdrive collects first place at the 2017 F1 in Schools World Finals. From left to right; Hugh Bowman, Kyle Winkler, David Greig and Alec Alder.
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FROM THE MINISTRY SENATOR THE HON MICHAELIA CASH – Minister for Jobs and Innovation
Showcasing a thriving manufacturing industry Australia’s manufacturing sector supports more than 300,000 businesses and directly employs around 900,000 Australians, contributing $100bn to the economy in value-add through exports annually, more than any other sector. Last month, National Manufacturing Week was held in Sydney. It provided the opportunity to highlight leadingedge breakthroughs in the sector and recognise the enormous contribution the manufacturing sector makes, and will continue to make, to the Australian economy. It also provided industry with the opportunity to see new technology in action and hear how it could benefit the sector and create more jobs for Australians. Australia has achieved a world record 26 consecutive years of economic growth. This strong performance also extends to manufacturing. According to the AiGroup’s Performance of Manufacturing Index, Australian manufacturing this year has completed the longest run of uninterrupted growth since 2005 with more than 18 consecutive months of expansion. The result indicates that not only are Australian manufacturing firms taking advantage of market conditions in key sectors, they are also being more innovative and deploying new technologies in their operations as well as seeking out and targeting new domestic, and international customers. There is positive momentum in manufacturing and it is paramount that we maintain that momentum. I share the commitment of everyone in the sector to build a thriving, cutting-edge manufacturing sector in Australia. The theme of this year’s National Manufacturing Week, “Where innovation meets opportunity”, captured the essential ingredients for the future success of this sector. Research shows that consistently innovating businesses create four times more jobs. Research also shows that exporting businesses are more productive, earn greater revenues and create more jobs. More Australian manufacturers are exporting under a Coalition Government. For every $1 of revenue the sector generates, 28 cents comes from abroad. That’s up from 23 cents a decade ago. That is why the Turnbull Government is working hard to secure open economic settings, attract investment and implement free-trade agreements that will create opportunities for our manufacturers. Not only will these policies open additional markets for Australian businesses, they will also further integrate our domestic manufacturers into lucrative global supply chains. In addition to the inherent value of this integration, the increased connectivity results in knowledge transfer, technology transfer and ultimately higher-value products supporting better paying jobs. We are continuing to support manufacturing through multiple programs that help Australian businesses improve competitiveness
and leverage the benefits of open economic settings, including through the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Fund, Industry Growth Centres and the Entrepreneurs’ Programme. In 2017 we launched the $100m Advanced Manufacturing Fund – a set of policy initiatives that are helping automotive-related businesses move into other industries, and funding research into advanced manufacturing and tertiary engineering training. The $47.5m Advanced Manufacturing Growth Fund is helping industry to take advantage of Australia’s considerable science and technology capability. Already, $30m in assistance has gone to 20 businesses across Victoria and South Australia. These packages are part of the broader set of initiatives available through the Industry Growth Centres, the National Science & Innovation Agenda, the Centre for Defence Industry Capability, the Entrepreneurs’ Programme, CSIRO and the Cooperative Research Centres. The Government’s Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre, for example, is rolling out a national network of state-of-the-art facilities designed to demonstrate practical applications of digitisation, automated systems and robotics. These facilities will allow small-tomedium enterprises to tour and experience cutting-edge innovations in a working environment, bridging the gap between concept and application. This is in addition to the Government’s investment in five new Industry 4.0 test labs to help SMEs take advantage of the opportunities offered by the latest innovations in manufacturing technology. Job creation is our number one priority. Since the Coalition was elected to office in September 2013 the economy has created one million new jobs. Our $220m Regional Jobs and Investment Package is generating jobs and economic growth in Australia’s regions, notably in advanced manufacturing in Geelong and Corangamite. These assistance programs are tailored to the sector’s needs and opportunities. They are designed to ensure that government investment goes where the greatest gains to the economy will flow and, critically, we are working with you to make this happen. The manufacturing sector’s innovation agenda is the Government’s agenda in action. It is where skills, decades of manufacturing and business acumen, and success combine to meet the challenges and opportunities of a vast, evolving and competitive global marketplace. I would like to congratulate the manufacturing sector on another successful and productive National Manufacturing Week.
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016
FROM THE INDUSTRY INNES WILLOX – Chief Executive Australian Industry Group
Cutting R&D Tax Incentive is wrong policy, wrong time The Government’s Budget proposals to scale back Australia’s Research & Development Tax Incentive are not as bad as were feared by some, and even contain some improvements. But this should not rank even as faint praise: the fact remains that, overall, these proposals are bad policy and they come at a bad time. Over a period of about three decades, Australia’s business R&D expenditure has climbed from notoriously low levels to a point above the OECD median and comfortably in the top half of the OECD distribution. We are well behind R&D superpowers like the US, Switzerland, Germany and Japan, but dedicate more of our GDP to business R&D than Canada or the UK for instance.
There is one benefit to this approach. Highly R&D-intensive businesses (more than 13.5% of total expenditure) will benefit from the change and see an increase in their marginal incentive to raise innovation spending. A business like Cochlear, for example, may be rewarded by a rate of incentive well above the present rate if it decides to locate an additional R&D project in Australia.
This achievement was in no small part due to the R&D Tax Incentive. The policy rationale for this incentive arises from the benefits that spill over from those investing businesses into the broader economy, stimulating additional R&D and lifting productivity. These benefits are not captured by the investing businesses and, in the absence of something like the Tax Incentive, the market would deliver a lower, sub-optimal level of business expenditure on R&D.
However, very few businesses would face this situation. The overwhelming majority will face a much less valuable incentive than under present arrangements, and the steps in the rising rate of incentive will be too far apart to provide a real spur to increase their R&D intensity. As a result they will be less likely than now to locate their additional R&D project in Australia. The new Tax Incentive will be less effective than the one it is intended to replace.
The Tax Incentive had two faults that over the past decade or so have drawn policymakers and Treasury officials to it like bees to a honey pot. Its main fault was that it was too successful. It stimulated additional R&D and hauled Australia up the OECD league tables.
Alongside this perverse overall outcome, there is a range of other unintended consequences.
How can success be a fault? Simple: from the perspective of the Treasury, the Incentive is a tax expenditure and has been ascribed a certain expected value in foregone revenue. If demand for the Incentive grows beyond expectations the call on the Budget increases and looks ripe for savings – if we forget about the broader benefits of R&D and the sub-optimal level of such expenditure in its absence. The second fault was certainly less ridiculous. Sadly, as with all such programs and incentives, we need to guard against misuse. Over the years there have been concerns that some uses of the Incentive were not really about innovation. Ai Group supports capping the refundable incentive to address misuse. The ability to carry-forward unrefunded amounts is a sensible measure to moderate this cap. Subject to close monitoring of their implementation and mindful of the scope for their misuse by agencies, we also support the additional anti-avoidance provisions proposed by the Government. Tellingly, despite the Government’s rhetoric about systematic misuse of the R&D Tax Incentive, there are no proposals to alter the definition of eligible expenditure. This undermines claims that misuse has taken the form of businesses stretching the boundaries of such expenditure. If anything it points to the failure of administrators to clarify the boundaries between eligible and ineligible expenditure. The centrepiece of the changes proposed by the Government is a rising rate of Tax Incentive linked to a measure of R&D intensity (R&D spending as a percentage of total expenditure).
AMT JUN/JUL 2018
Identical R&D projects undertaken by two businesses will qualify for different levels of Tax Incentive depending on different R&D intensities. Same project, same spillover benefits, different Tax Incentive, strange policy outcome. R&D spending could attract a higher or lower rate as a result of mergers or demergers – an incentive for structuring, not research! Finally, the special treatment afforded to clinical trials is a clear admission that the new design proposed for the rest of business R&D would not work for this sector. The bad news is that it won’t work for other sectors either. Slashing the efficacy of the Tax Incentive could not come at a worse time. Around the world new technological horizons are opening new business opportunities that we should be encouraging businesses to seize. Instead our Government is proposing to reduce the overall incentive we offer to the vast majority of businesses currently undertaking R&D, and to make that incentive more complex and confusing. The new regime would certainly be smaller; less effective; and more haphazard. It would certainly not be better targeted. This longstanding and effective Tax Incentive remains vital. At the very least the Government should pause, indicate it is open to improvements and call for input from a broad range of businesses. We are confident that the message will be consistent: sharp reductions in the incentive for innovation are not going to deliver more innovation. Ultimately, given the importance of innovation to growth and the economy, these cuts won’t even deliver savings. A cap on the refundable element and clarification of guidelines are positive. The rest should go back to the drawing board.
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FROM THE UNION PAUL BASTIAN – National Secretary Australian Manufacturing Workers Union
Budget leaves manufacturers missing out Another Federal Budget has just been handed down, and for a Government purporting to hold “jobs and growth” dear, there was once again very little good news for Australian manufacturing companies or workers. The Coalition Government remains myopically focussed on its multibillion dollar big business tax cuts, while neglecting many other cheaper and more effective ways they could be supporting Australian companies and Australian jobs. My union, the AMWU, doesn’t support the cutting of the company tax rate from 30% to 25%. Of course we want Australian companies to be competitive and profitable – we know that when businesses close down, workers lose their jobs and communities suffer. We just don’t think that cutting the corporate tax rate is the best way to support Australian industries. A much more effective way of supporting the Australian manufacturing industry is for the Federal Government to leverage its purchasing power and co-ordination capacity when it comes to vital, multi-billion dollar industries, like rail.
“If the Coalition Government is so serious about making Australia a competitive country for business, if they genuinely want to create a positive investment climate, then they need to invest in certainty for local industry. A National Rail Plan would deliver that certainty.”
It is estimated that across Australia, $100bn will be spent on railbased public transport projects over the next two decades. Imagine if all of those billions were being poured directly into the Australian economy, creating work for companies here and creating jobs in our regions. There is no reason why that shouldn’t be the case. Our tax dollars – the taxes paid both by companies here in Australia, and by the workers whom they employ – can and should be reinvested in the Australian economy. That is why I was very pleased to see Bill Shorten announce recently that Labor would be implementing a National Rail Plan if it wins the next election. A National Rail Plan is something that the AMWU has been campaigning on for years, along with employer groups like the Australasian Railway Association – it’s a win for workers and a win for employers. It’s something that was recommended by the Senate Inquiry into Australia’s rail industry, which reported back at the end of last year. The recommendations of that report were endorsed unanimously by the committee – by members of Labor, the Greens, the Liberals, and the Nationals – so we hope that the Coalition will come to the table in support of a National Rail Plan too. So, what is a National Rail Plan and why does it matter? At the moment, State Governments around the country make rail investments in an ad-hoc fashion, with no national co-ordination. Often, these State Governments invest our tax dollars in the manufacturing industries of other countries, as happened in 2016 when the NSW Government announced their new inter-city fleet would be built in South Korea. This sends billions of our tax dollars offshore – the build might be cheaper in the short run, but in the long run, we all pay the price as our local industries shed jobs and expertise. We need to incentivise State Governments to build locally. This can be done, as is proposed in Labor’s plan, by making Commonwealth rail infrastructure grants contingent on meeting local content targets – in other words by ensuring that at least a proportion of the build must be done in Australia. By establishing an Office of National Rail Industry Co-ordination, the procurement and build schedules of different states could be coordinated nationally, minimising the gaps between builds that leads to the “valley of death” where jobs are shed and companies are forced to shut their doors. By developing a 10-year federal plan for delivery, businesses would be provided with the certainty they need to plan their investments and workers with the certainty they need to plan their lives.
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Under the National Rail Plan, the Rail Supplier Advocate, which was cut in 2013, would be reinstated to support small and medium-sized enterprises in the rail industry. A Rail Industry Innovation Council would also be established, to maximise investment in local research & development, ensuring that Australian businesses and Australian workers have the cutting-edge technology and skills to develop world-leading products. This Plan is all about developing and expanding Australia’s manufacturing capabilities. For decades, people have said that manufacturing is a dying industry – but the reality is that Australia will need trains to be designed, built, and maintained for many decades to come. There is no reason why they should not be designed, built, and maintained here. The manufacturing industry is well and truly alive, but companies and workers need a helping hand from Government. If the Coalition Government is so serious about making Australia a competitive country for business, if they genuinely want to create a positive investment climate, then they need to invest in certainty for local industry. A National Rail Plan would deliver that certainty. Procuring our trains locally and having a comprehensive National Rail Plan would cost a lot less than cutting the company tax rate from 30% to 25%, and I can guarantee you it’ll deliver more jobs. Now that Labor has said they’ll step up to the plate and deliver on the recommendations from the Senate Inquiry, it’s time for the Coalition to get on board. A National Rail Plan should be something we can all get behind – unions, companies, workers, Labor, and Coalition. It just makes sense.
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Strategies for Manufacturing Resilience and Growth WED 22ND AUG, 2018 • LEONDA BY THE YARRA, HAWTHORN VICTORIA AMTIL’s one day National Conference, ‘Strategies for Manufacturing Resilience and Growth’, takes delegates on a journey through building resilience in your business and the wider manufacturing industry. > Discover new ideas and techniques to help your business thrive > Learn about new opportunities to fill your order book > Connect with key industry contacts > Learn from talented business and industry experts
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Despite challenging times, global business growth is on the rise Global manufacturing business growth has increased by 3.7% according to the annual Global Growth Index from Epicor Software Corporation, even though half of the manufacturers surveyed admit they have grown under challenging circumstances. The Global Growth Index is designed to measure the state of business growth worldwide, by tracking the performance of manufacturing businesses in 14 territories. Taking last year’s results as a base figure (100), it has found that business growth across the globe has increased by 3.7 index points in the last 12 months, awarding the state of business growth with a score of 103.7. Contributing to this score was a significant growth in the number of manufacturers reporting strong sales/turnover in the last 12 months—up 5% from last year to 70% overall. A similar trend was observed with profits and product ranges, with a 4% boost in the number of businesses growing in each of these areas compared to last year.
Looking at Australia, the index shows a mixed performance, with improvement in some business areas, yet a decline in others. Business profits increased from 53% last year to an impressive 68% this year, product range expanded from 54% to 58%, and workforce increased from 45% to 48%. Despite the worldwide increase in business growth performance, almost half (45%) of businesses also admitted that the growth they had experienced in the last 12 months had been challenging and one in four (23%) said it had been stressful. However, half (46%) of businesses globally also agree that investing in new/better technology is a strategy that will help them overcome their growing pains.
“Although we have seen impressive overall rates of growth this year, there’s an underlying consensus among the businesses we surveyed, that growth hasn’t been easy to achieve,” said Scott Hays, Senior Vice-President – Product Marketing for Epicor. “Nevertheless, businesses in the manufacturing sector have also affirmed that investing in the right technology will help position themselves for growth in the future. With automated systems reaching production lines around the world, cloud adoption continuing to rise, and enterprise resourcing planning (ERP) solutions transforming the way businesses manage workflows and share their data, this is a sentiment that we will track year-on-year.”
CSIRO scoops Boeing award for second year running Boeing has named CSIRO as technology supplier of the year for 2017. It is the second consecutive year that the national science agency has taken the top award, building on the recognition it received as Boeing’s academia supplier of the year in 2010. Selected from a field of more than 13,000 suppliers from 50 countries, CSIRO was one of 13 organisations – and the only one from Australia – recognised this year. Delivering technology innovations that “were instrumental to Boeing worker safety”, helped advance production efficiency and “delivered Boeing’s competitive advantage in the avionics business” were cited as some of the reasons for CSIRO retaining the Technology Award it won in 2016.
Members of CSIRO and Boeing’s leadership teams recently met at CSIRO’s space facility in Canberra.
The Boeing relationship is one of CSIRO’s most enduring and productive. Since 1989 the organisations have invested in projects that take in everything from software to safety systems, cyber security to space science, production efficiency to advanced materials. In January 2018 the two parties announced an agreement to perform joint research & development in space technologies, signalling a new phase in the partnership. This was followed by the announcement in March that CSIRO and Boeing’s respective investment funds were backing Australian nanosatellite communications start-up Myriota.
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“We greatly value our long and strong relationship with Boeing, because it’s built on shared values, including trust and respect, safety of our workers and striving for excellence in everything we do,” said CSIRO Chief Executive Dr Larry Marshall. “Like Boeing, CSIRO was founded to deliver national missions - we are united
by a common purpose to make life better, whether it’s on the ground, in the air, or on Mars. We’re excited to be expanding our partnership into space, creating opportunities for not only new knowledge about our universe, but new opportunities for humankind.”
take it to the next level Australia’s largest ever exhibition of woodworking technology and design at Sydney’s exciting new multi-level venue.
AWISA 2018
4-7 July 2018 ICC Sydney Exhibition Centre Darling Harbour Sydney
www.awisa.com
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INDUSTRY NEWS
National Manufacturing Week showcases manufacturing transformation National Manufacturing Week (NMW) 2018 was held in Sydney from 14-17 May, with strong attendance and a prevailing mood of optimism setting the scene for a successful showcase of manufacturing in Australia. NMW 2018 highlighted the transformation of the manufacturing industry into a thriving ecosystem heavily focused on collaborative and integrated technologies. With the nation’s manufacturing industry experiencing continuous growth for 19 consecutive months, NMW reflected a newfound optimism within the industry, with more than 4,500 visitors flowing through the event. NMW 2018 was co-located with the Safety First Conference & Expo and Inside 3D Printing Conference & Expo. Exhibition Director Robby Clark said the success of NMW 2018 lays the foundations for an even bigger showcase event in 2019. “With continued enthusiasm and optimism among the industry to foster strong partnerships, embed new technologies into products and business models, and expanding operations beyond domestic shores, the future for manufacturing in Australia is looking exceptionally bright,” said Clark. “I would like to thank all of our sponsors, partners and local and international exhibitors for their valuable and long-term support of National Manufacturing Week. “We are proud to continue supporting the manufacturing industry – a strong pillar in our nation’s ongoing prosperity – through collaboration, innovation and education.” This year’s event attracted more than 200 leading companies showcasing the latest technology advancements, with industry leaders in attendance including Alfex CNC, ECI Solutions, Farley Laserlab, Headland Machinery, Renishaw, Techni Waterjet, 3M, Atom, HG, Konica Minolta, Millsom Hoists, NHP, Nikon, Supagas, and WAGO. NMW 2018 included the official launch of the Manufacturing Work Health and Safety (WHS) Sector Plan 2018-2022, a new bipartisan agreement to ensure ongoing workplace health and safety within the manufacturing sector. It also saw the launch of a new industry event, the Advanced Manufacturing Expo (AMX), focused
on advanced manufacturing processes and practices. From 2020, the three-day exhibition will showcase the latest in advanced manufacturing technologies and solutions, adjoined by a worldclass conference to attract the highest-level delegates to attend. Seminars at NMW 2018 were presented by organisations including the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre (AMGC), the Innovative Manufacturing CRC (IM CRC) and the Entrepreneurs’ Programme. Live demonstrations also gave attendees a unique opportunity to trial new technologies such as DXC Technology’s state-of-the-art augmented reality equipment: HoloLens, DAQRI smart helmet, RealWear HMT, and facial recognition cameras. NMW 2018 also presented an engaging conference program officially opened by Michaelia Cash, Minister for Jobs and Innovation, with more than 50 world-class speakers and representatives from organisations such as Austrade, the AMGC and Dresden Optics.
ANCA names Christopher Hegarty as new Group CEO Dr Christopher Hegarty has been appointed as CEO of ANCA Group, succeeding Grant Anderson FCAM from 1 July. Hegarty 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. After eight years in the CEO role at ANCA, Anderson will retire at the end of June. “Over the next few months the ANCA Leadership Team will be working together to ensure a seamless handover,” said ANCA co-founder Pat Boland. “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. “During Grant’s tenure at ANCA his leadership has seen the company flourish,” Boland added. “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.” After completing a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering and an MSc, Hegarty completed his doctorate in Electrical
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Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley. He spent five years working for McKinsey & Company in Zurich, and has extensive experience working for machine tool manufacturers in Europe and Australasia, including over 15 years’ experience as CEO or general manager in other organisations. “ANCA is an incredible Australian success story, a high-tech advanced manufacturer with an enduring reputation for quality and performance,” said Hegarty. “I look forward to strengthening ANCA’s position in our core markets and taking up the challenge of addressing new markets.”
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Superior Power
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INDUSTRY NEWS
AMMD Research Hub to transform Australia’s medical technology sector Researchers from The University of Queensland, industry partners, government and academia gathered on 27 April to officially launch the Australian Research Council (ARC) Research Hub for Advanced Manufacturing of Medical Devices (AMMD Hub) at Cook Medical Australia in Brisbane. The new research hub is set to transform Australia’s medical technology sector by developing competitive technologies for the rapid production of medical devices. One of the key goals for the AMMD Hub is to create better health outcomes for patients in Australia, and around the globe, by improving the time it takes to design, manufacture and supply customised medical devices such as endovascular stent grafts for patients with aortic aneurysm — a condition that currently has post-rupture survival rates of only 10% to 20%. AMMD Hub Director and University of Queensland Professor Matthew Dargusch said the AMMD Hub scheme fosters collaborative research activity between the Australian higher education sector and industry with a focus on strategic outcomes that are not independently realisable. “Effective collaboration between interdisciplinary teams from industry and university is key to making a significant impact in terms of both research outcomes and quality that will address challenges in the advanced manufacturing of medical devices,” said Professor Dargusch. With researchers based at Cook Medical Australia, the AMMD Hub has already begun work in the areas of Lean manufacturing for the improvement of production times, adaptive automation systems, metallic biomaterials and collaborative robotics. Cook Medical Australia General Manager Dr Samih Nabulsi said the AMMD Hub would deliver outcomes for patients by fostering growth in the medical technology sector in Australia. “Our primary goal is to improve patient health outcomes, but we are also growing workforce capability in the medical device industry and increasing the translation of new technology,” Dr Nabulsi said. “Research and industry partnerships like the AMMD Hub are vital to increasing and accelerating the translation of new technology in the medical device industry.”
In 2016, the AMMD Hub was awarded $2.8m in ARC funding for five years. This investment was matched by industry partners, with a total value of more than $10m of cash and in-kind funding. ARC Chief Executive Officer Professor Sue Thomas acknowledged the importance of advanced manufacturing to Australia’s economic future. “This Research Hub’s industry-focused research collaboration will develop new, advanced materials and processes that will not only lead to tangible health outcomes for Australians, but also drive new technologies and skills that are vital for the competitiveness of Australia’s medical devices industry,” Professor Thomas said. The AMMD Hub brings together researchers from The University of Queensland, The University of Sydney, RMIT University, and University of the Sunshine Coast; with partner organisations Cook Medical Australia; Robert Bosch (Australia); Heat Treatment (QLD); and QMI Solutions Limited.
New CEO for the Australasian Corrosion Association The Australasian Corrosion Association (ACA) has announced the appointment of Richard Reilly to the position of Chief Executive Officer for the organisation. Based in Melbourne, Reilly brings extensive executive experience to the role, having been the chief executive of the Federation of Automotive Products Manufacturers (FAPM) for over six years. He also spent nine years at professional services firm Deloitte in the Global Investment and Innovation Incentive group, delivering tax services to clients. “Corrosion is an enormous cost to the national economy,” said Reilly. “I’m looking forward to working with members to help address this challenge and ensure that the association continues to meet the needs Richard Reilly of its members and of the industry through training, membership, communication and governance.” Dean Wall, the ACA ‘s Chairman said: “Richard will be responsible for delivering key outcomes contained in the ACA’s strategic plan
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and I am sure you will enjoy working with him to further the interests of companies and individuals in the Australasian corrosion mitigation sector and related industries.” According to the ACA, Reilly’s professional background and experience of working with stakeholders in a membership-based organisation, providing advocacy and liaising with key industry and government bodies make himan excellent fit for the ACA. Reilly has a Bachelor Degrees in Arts and Commerce from the University of Melbourne and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the Melbourne Business School, University of Melbourne. He is also a graduate of the Company Directors’ course from the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
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Developing supercapacitors to power rail rolling stock The Rail Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) is overseeing a new project between the HEC Group and University of Technology Sydney (UTS) to develop hybrid supercapacitors to power rail rolling stock. This is the second Rail Manufacturing CRC-funded project between the HEC Group and UTS, and is a follow-on from the original project to develop lithium ion batteries to power rail vehicle propulsion, regenerative braking, signaling systems and auxiliary applications. The new project aims to develop a hybrid supercapacitor with high energy and power densities and advanced supercapacitor management systems for rail. “Supercapacitors have the potential to revolutionise the rail industry – these technologies could reduce the need for overhead electrical infrastructure and also aid in the future development of hybridpowered trains,” said Dr Shuwei Wan, CEO, HEC Group Australia. The implementation of this new supercapacitor technology will effectively provide voltage stabilisation for rail systems, greatly improve the performance of propulsion for light rail vehicles and significantly advance the locomotive engine starting technologies. “This project is looking to develop a supercapacitor with an enhanced energy density through changes to cell chemistry, with hybrid supercapacitors expected to eventually form a large part of the energy storage market,” said Lead Researcher Distinguished Professor Guoxiu Wang, who is Director of the UTS Centre for Clean Energy Technology. Powering rolling stock requires energy storage devices to be robust and reliable, with long service life and low maintenance. In response, supercapacitors have the ability to charge and discharge very quickly for up to 100,000 cycles. “The development of enhanced supercapacitor technologies not only benefits the Australian industry, but the global rail market as a whole, so this is another important collaboration between the Rail Manufacturing CRC, the HEC Group and UTS,” shared Dr Stuart Thomson, CEO, Rail Manufacturing CRC. Worth approximately $5.5m, the project is expected to finish by 31 December 2019.
Step into the digital reality 25TH INTERNATIONAL SHEET METAL WORKING TECHNOLOGY EXHIBITION 23 – 26 OCTOBER 2018 HANOVER, GERMANY • Sheet metal, Tube, Sections • Handling • Forming • Finished products, Parts, Assemblies • Separation, Cutting • Joining, Welding
L-R: David Beins, Deputy Director Research Engagement – UTS; Distinguished Professor Guoxiu Wang, Lead Researcher – UTS; Dr Shuwei Wan, CEO – HEC Group Australia; Dr Stuart Thomson, CEO – Rail Manufacturing CRC; and Martin Lloyd, Acting Director Research and Innovation Office – UTS.
• Flexible sheet metal working • Tube / Section working • Composites • Surface treatment • Tools, Dies • CAD/CAM/CIM systems / Data processing
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24/03/2018 10:50
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Deakin’s ManuFutures opens doors to innovation at Waurn Ponds United States fire officers will prepare for future fire seasons using revolutionary virtual reality technology developed by Deakin University engineers and incubated at its new $13m ManuFutures facility at Waurn Ponds. Deakin Vice Chancellor Professor Jane den Hollander AO joined Minister for Regional Development Jaala Pulford on 14 April to launch ManuFutures, an incubator to grow start-up and established advanced manufacturing businesses in regional Australia. The incubator fuses industry capabilities and business models with Deakin’s creative imagination and industryfocused research strategies. The Victorian State Government has supported the project with a $3m investment from its Regional Jobs and Infrastructure Fund, while Deakin supplied the land and $10m as part of its innovation strategy to rebuild manufacturing in the wider Geelong region. ManuFutures began operations in January and has already supported 51 jobs, with nine companies now on site and additional growth underway. The nine companies are: FLAIM Systems (a haptic training device for large fire prevention); short polymer fibre developers HeiQ Australia Pty Ltd; Conflux; Insight Engineering; Partington Advance Engineering (36T); Formflow; The Smart Think; Carbon Revolution’s process optimisation and development line; and Universal Motion Simulation. All nine companies have strong links to research and teaching at Deakin Professor den Hollander said the companies exemplified the modern approach to innovation and job creation: “Far more than a building, ManuFutures epitomises university-industry relationships as commercial businesses collaborate with Deakin’s leading research centres and faculties at Waurn Ponds. “Deakin University is committed to the communities we serve and ManuFutures is a key part of our commitment to ensuring new industry growth and job creation, not just in Geelong, but throughout the state,” added Professor den Hollander. “Innovation to create new ways of making things is essential if we wish to remain smart, globally competitive, and based in Australia.
“Typically, great Australian inventions are refined and monetised overseas, but in order to compete through a strong economy, Australia must link high technology innovation to new ideas and to do so quickly and competitively. Deakin Geelong has proved a perfect environment with ManuFutures fully occupied and with 51 new jobs one month after occupancy of all tenants.” Professor den Hollander cited FLAIM Systems as a perfect example of the ManuFutures vision. The company’s key technology is the FLAIM Trainer simulator, which uses an immersive virtual reality environment – combined with a patented haptics feedback system, breathing apparatus and heated personal protective clothing – to provide a unique training experience. The system has proven to be a safe, low-cost and mobile solution that can simulate a range of fire events and conditions – allowing firefighters to train more, train smarter, and train anywhere. “FLAIM Systems is a company born from Deakin University research at the Institute for Intelligent Systems Research and Innovation, now partnering with global systems integrator Dimension Data to create world-leading firefighting training technology soon to be launched in the US,” said Professor den Hollander. “FLAIM Systems perfectly showcases ManuFutures’ vision to embrace the fusion between teaching and learning, cutting edge research, industry engagement and commercialisation, so that advanced manufacturing in regional Australia can flourish with real world outcomes. “This emphasis on industry collaboration and innovation goes to the heart of the valued relationship shared between Dimension Data and Deakin University, and it is very satisfying to see FLAIM Systems today taken from an idea in a laboratory to propagation in the real world.”
Pilz Australia announces new Managing Director Pilz Australia and New Zealand has confirmed the appointment of Twain Drewett as Managing Director. Drewett’s appointment was the result of an extensive search for the right person to fill the vital role following the untimely passing of his predecessor Scott Moffat. The majority of Drewett’s 20-year professional career has been spent in the information solutions, automation, and the electrical controls business. Drewett’s key focus will be to increase Pilz’s value proposition to existing and new customers through the careful application of its broad product and services portfolio, thereby assisting customers to significantly improve productivity and safety within their facilities. Drewett aims to place an emphasis on working closely with system integrators and distributors to deliver solutions to customers that are based on a
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true understanding of the unique opportunities and threats facing businesses and industry today. Drewett believes that Pilz has a strategic role to play in helping companies to optimise productivity throughout their total operations through the application of welldesigned digital plant automation and safety systems. Moffat passed away suddenly during a business trip in Germany in October 2017. Moffat had been with the company as the Australian and New Zealand Managing Director for seven years.
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GOVERNMENT NEWS
Queensland to drive new era of manufacturing The Queensland State Government under Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has announced plans to reinvigorate the policy agenda to support manufacturing in the state, as part of the response to a Queensland Productivity Commission report into the manufacturing sector. Minister for State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Planning Cameron Dick, said the Government had accepted 16 of the Commission’s 17 recommendations in full, in part or in principle, and was already working to pave the way for a bigger and better manufacturing industry in Queensland. “The Palaszczuk Government will create a new Manufacturing Ministerial Committee, which will drive a renewed focus on manufacturing skills, regional Queensland, and reducing red tape for small, medium and large manufacturers,” he said. “In response to the recommendations, we will also continue to deliver key Government programs that strengthen manufacturing. “Through our $65m Advance Queensland Industry Attraction Fund, $40m Made in Queensland initiative and other programs, we are attracting more manufacturers, supporting businesses to innovate, expand and be more
competitive, and encouraging companies to relocate or establish new projects here. We will also increase the level of transparent reporting on our industry attraction program, without putting Queensland or taxpayers at a disadvantage, as it is critical that these programs continue to win jobs for Queensland.”
Minister Dick said many of the report’s recommendations aligned well with the ongoing work of the Palaszczuk Government in backing manufacturing, and that a strong manufacturing sector will help Queensland realise its vision for a diverse economy, underpinned by skilled, knowledge-based jobs.
Under the Advance Queensland Industry Attraction fund alone, nine projects have been approved that will generate more than 580 jobs and more than $260m dollars in additional capital expenditure for Queensland in the next five years.
Latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows Queensland’s manufacturing industry accounted for about $19.2bn of value added in 2016-17, or 6.2% of the State’s economy, with about 16,400 businesses. The industry employed approximately 165,000 people or 6.7% of the state’s workforce, making it the sixth-largest employing industry in Queensland. In 2016-17, the state had total manufacturing commodity export value of around $15.6bn.
“The Department of State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Planning offers a range of support to businesses considering Queensland to establish their project, including business case development, site selection, assistance facilitating approvals and payroll tax incentives through the AQIAF,” said Minister Dick. “These projects create jobs, support regional growth, increase innovation and develop local supply chain capacity.”
A comprehensive response to each Queensland Productivity Commission recommendation is available online at www.statedevelopment.qld.gov. au/industry-development/advancedmanufacturing.html.
Government launches Australia’s first space agency The Federal Government announced on 14 May it will establish the first Australian Space Agency, helping Australian businesses win a greater share of the multi-billion dollar global space market and establishing a new industry with the potential to create 20,000 jobs. Australia has strong capability in spacerelated industries, with world-leading companies in automated mining and precision agriculture, and immense expertise as an advanced manufacturing nation. The global space economy is worth around US$345bn, and growing at nearly 10% a year, and yet, despite the outstanding capability here on our shores, Australia only accounts for 0.8% of the global space economy. According to Minister for Jobs and Innovation, Michaelia Cash, Australia has a fantastic opportunity to triple the size of its domestic space industry to up to $12bn by 2030, creating a new industry and new jobs for Australians. The Government under Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is investing $41m to establish the new space agency. This will include an initial fund of $15m to kickstart investment in international missions and projects, providing Australian businesses
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with immediate access to this global industry. The agency will support the longterm development and application of space technologies, growing Australia’s domestic space industry and securing its place in the global space economy. The agency will operate from 1 July. Dr Megan Clark AC will lead the agency for its establishment and first year of operation. Dr Clark is a former head of CSIRO, a preeminent member of the science community and universally respected by industry and academia. The announcement coincided with the Government’s release of the Expert Reference Group Report, which advised government of Australia’s immense potential as a participant in the global space market; and the Government’s response, setting out its commitment to growing our space industry and creating more Australian jobs. The Government is also investing more than $260m to develop
world-leading core satellite infrastructure and technologies, including better GPS for Australian business and regional Australians and improved access to satellite imagery. “We have an extraordinary opportunity to increase our share of the growing global space economy,” said Minister Cash. “Space technologies are not just about taking people to the moon, they open up opportunities for many industries, including communications, agriculture, mining, oil and gas. An Australian space agency will support the long-term development of space technologies, grow our domestic space industry and secure our place in the global space economy. Through our $300m investment in space industry and technology, the Turnbull Government is allowing businesses across the economy to prosper, enter new markets and create jobs.” Further information can be found here: www.industry.gov.au/Space
Commonwealth Government Entrepreneurs’ Programme partnering with AMTIL
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It’s all about you. Innovation Connections
The Entrepreneurs’ Programme (EP) is a Commonwealth Government flagship initiative focused on raising the competitiveness and productivity of eligible companies at an individual level. AMTIL is a partner organisation working with the Department of Industry in the delivery of the EP. The Programme forms a part of the Australian Government’s Economic Action Strategy and will deploy over 100 experienced Advisers and Facilitators, offering support to businesses through three key elements: 1. Business Management 2. Innovation Connections 3. Accelerating Commercialisation Innovation Connections is a facilitation service to encourage and assist small and medium businesses to access knowledge, engage with researchers and foster innovation. Access to the latest technologies and cuttingedge research and knowledge is critical to help Australian businesses innovate and remain competitive. However, finding the unbiased advice, research and knowledge specific to your business can be challenging. Innovation Connections offers: • Support from experienced Innovation Facilitators to help you assess your technical, research or knowledge requirements. These Innovation Facilitators will provide you with unbiased recommendations to help you develop new ideas with commercial potential. • Introductions to researchers, technology or knowledge providers to work with you on collaborative projects. • Matched grants of up to $50,000 to engage a research organisation to undertake research projects in collaboration with your business. • Introductions to researchers, technology or knowledge providers to work with you on collaborative projects.
Every business has different needs.
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To find out what the Entrepreneurs’ Programme can do for you, call 13 28 46 or visit www.business.gov.au or contact Greg Chalker 03 9800 3666 or email gchalker@amtil.com.au
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VOICE BOX OPINIONS FROM ACROSS THE MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY
Hope and fear surround emerging technologies, but all of us must contribute to stronger governance It’s been a big year for companies pushing the boundaries of technology – and not in a good way. The Cambridge Analytica scandal led to a public outcry about privacy, the Commonwealth Bank’s loss of customer data raised concerns about cybersecurity, and a fatal self-driving car crash put the safety of automated systems in the spotlight. These controversies are just the latest warning signs that we urgently need better governance of the technologies redefining the world. By Nicholas Davis and Aleksandar Subic. There is a widening gap in knowledge between those creating and using emerging technologies and those we charge with regulating them. Governance cannot be left just to the public sector – it is a job for all citizens. Until now, we’ve been sleepwalking through the early stages of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. We dream of a future where artificial intelligence, synthetic biology, distributed ledgers and neurotechnologies magically make life better for all. As we begin to wake up, it’s becoming clear the world has already changed around us in profound ways. We’re realising that creating and commercialising powerful new technologies is the easy part – the hard bit is making sure these new capabilities give us what we need and want, rather than what we imagine and fear.
Building the technology we want What we want is to realise the benefits of revolutionary new digital technologies to the economy, our quality of life and a more sustainable world. Analysis by consultancy AlphaBeta suggests that automation could add A$2.2 trillion to cumulative Australian GDP between 2017 and 2030. In healthcare, diagnostic approaches and treatments targeted to individuals could be as dramatic a change in our ability to prevent and treat illness as was the introduction of sanitation and antibiotics. More generally, advances in machine learning are demonstrating that algorithms can simultaneously benefit companies, shareholders, citizens and the environment. We may be amazed at the prowess of computers beating the world’s best Go players, but perhaps more impressive is that Google DeepMind’s AI managed to reduce Google’s Data Centre energy use by 15%. That’s a recurring benefit amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars. DeepMind subsequently launched discussions with the UK’s National Grid to try and save 10% of the UK’s energy bill. What we fear is that history will rhyme, and not in a good way. The social and environmental damage resulting from previous industrial revolutions taught us that new technologies don’t inevitably lead to better outcomes for everyone. For a start, the benefits are often unevenly distributed – witness the one billion people around the world who still lack access to electricity. And when we do discover that harm is occurring, there’s often a significant lag before the law catches up.
What it means to be awake Most fundamentally, being awake means recognising that the same exciting systems that promise openness and deliver convenience come with significant costs that are affecting citizens right now. And many of those costs are being borne by those least able to afford them – communities with less access to wealth or power, and those already marginalised. These costs go well beyond risks to our privacy. When an algorithm fails to predict the next word you want to type, that’s generally not a big deal. But when an algorithm – intelligent or
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otherwise – uses a flawed model to decide whether you are eligible for government benefits, whether you should get bail or whether you should be allowed to board a flight, we’re talking about potential violations of human rights and procedural fairness. And that’s without getting into the challenge of harassment within virtual reality, the human security risks posed by satellite imagery that refreshes every day, and the ways in which technologies that literally read our minds can be used to manipulate us.
The Government alone can’t fix this It’s tempting to say that this isn’t yet a big problem. Or that if it is a problem, it must be up to the Government to find a solution. Unfortunately our traditional, government-led ways of governing technologies are far from fit for purpose. Many emerging technologies, such as novel applications of machine learning, cryptocurrencies and promising biotechnologies are being developed – and often commercialised – at breakneck speed that far exceeds legislative or regulatory cycles. As a result, public governance is continually out of date. Meanwhile, the novelty and complexity of emerging technologies is widening the knowledge and skills gap between public and private sectors. Even communication is getting harder. As former US Secretary of State Madeleine K Albright put it: “Citizens are speaking to their governments using 21st century technologies, governments are listening on 20th century technology and providing 19th century solutions.” Our governance solutions are out of step with today’s powerful technologies. This is not the fault of government – it’s a design flaw affecting every country around the world. But given the flaw exists, we should not be surprised that things are not going as well as we’d like. How do we get out of this pickle? Here are three suggestions.
1. Take an active role in shaping future directions. We need to shift our mindset from being passive observers to active participants. The downside of talking about how powerful and transformational new technologies are is that we forget that human beings are designing, commercialising, marketing, buying and using this technology. Adopting a “wait and see” approach would be a mistake. Instead, we must recognise that Australian institutions and organisations have the power to shape this revolution in a direction we want. This approach means focusing on leading – rather than adapting to – a changing technological environment in partnership with the business community. One example is the Swinburne Factory of the Future, which gives Victorian businesses exposure to the latest technologies and processes in a non-competitive, supportive environment. It also offers ways of assessing the likely impact of technology on individual companies, as well as entire sectors.
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2. Build a bridge between public and private sectors
3. Tackle the moral component of emerging technologies
We need to embrace any and all opportunities for collaboration across the public and private sectors on the issue of new governance models. Technology leaders are starting to demand this. At the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in January 2018, Uber’s Dara Khosrowshahi said: “My ask of regulators would be to be harder in their ask of accountability”.
Third, we need to appreciate that these issues cannot be solved by simply designing better algorithms, creating better incentives or by investing in education and training, as important as all those aspects are.
At the same meeting, Marc Benioff, CEO of SalesForce, called for more active public sector guidance, saying: “That is the point of regulators and government – to come in and point true north.” To have real impact, cross-sector collaboration should be structured to lead to new Australian partnerships and institutions that can help spread benefits, manage costs and ensure the technology revolution is centred on people. In 2017, the World Economic Forum launched its Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution in San Francisco. It works directly with multinationals, startups, civil society and a range of governments to pilot new governance models around AI, drones, autonomous vehicles, precision medicine, distributed ledgers and much more. The Australian Government and business community can and should benefit from this work. Cross-sector collaboration means much more than simply getting stakeholders in a room. Recent work by the PETRAS Internet of Things Research Hub – a consortium of nine leading UK universities – found that most international discussions on cybersecurity have made no progress relevant to IoT in recent years. A primary reason for this is that the technical experts and the policymakers find it difficult to interact – they essentially speak different languages. The same challenge has been facing the international community working on the governance of lethal autonomous weapons systems. Anja Kaspersen, the UN’s Deputy Secretary General of the Conference on Disarmament, noted recently that, when it comes to discussing how the use of lethal robots might be controlled, her most valuable role is to be a translator across disciplines, countries and sectors.
Technologies are not neutral. They are shaped by our assumptions about the world, by our biases and human frailties. And the more powerful a technology is, the greater our responsibility to make sure it is consciously designed and deployed in ways that uphold our values. The Centrelink robo-debt controversy demonstrated what happens when algorithms prioritise the value of efficiency over the value of protecting people – and how this can backfire. Unfortunately, the ethical and moral aspects of technology are often (and incorrectly) viewed as falling into one of two categories. Either as soft, imprecise and inessential issues interesting only to lefty activists: a distraction in the boardroom. Or as technical, regulatory, compliance-related challenges, discussed in the boardroom only when a crisis has occurred. A far more useful framing of ethics in technology is as a set of practical, accessible and essential tools that can help organisations create sustainable value. A forthcoming white paper from the World Economic Forum on Values, Ethics and Innovation argues that leaders can and should make ethics a priority when inventing, investing in, developing, deploying and marketing new ideas and systems. A critical task here is building ethical considerations into the very early stages of creating new technologies. Commercial AI teams are beginning to do this. One example is the recent formation of Microsoft’s AI and Ethics in Engineering and Research (AETHER) Committee, announced in March this year. It brings together senior executives to develop internal policies around responsible innovation in AI, with the AI research team reporting through members of the committee.
The next step is leading together
By taking this approach at the April 2018 meeting of the Group of Government Experts, Kaspersen and Ambassador Amandeep Singh Gill made substantial progress in aligning expert views and driving convergence on issues, such as the primacy of international humanitarian law.
Governing emerging technologies is as much a moral and political task as a technocratic challenge. All Australians need to be involved in discussing what we want from technology, and helping to design the institutions that can help us avoid costs we’re not willing to bear as a society.
The desired outcome is not just new rules, but inclusive governance structures that are appropriately adapted to the fast-changing nature of new technologies. While reaching out across across geographic and sector boundaries takes considerable time and energy, it is worth the effort as it often leads to unexpected benefits for society.
In practice, this means more frequent and more diverse conversations about the impact of today’s and tomorrow’s technology. It means more innovative forms of public debate. And it means that the most influential institutions in this space – particularly Australian governments, technology firms and national champions – need to listen and experiment with the goal of social, as well as economic and technological, progress in mind.
For example, The Prime Minister’s Industry 4.0 Taskforce was inspired by Germany to encourage collaboration between government and the labour movement on issues facing industry and workers. As a result, the cross-sector Industry 4.0 Testlabs and the Future of Work and Education workstream is co-chaired by Swinburne’s Aleksandar Subic and the National President of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, Andrew Dettmar.
We’re starting to wake up. Now the real work begins. Nicholas Davis is Adjunct Professor of the Swinburne Social Innovation Institute at Swinburne University of Technology. Aleksandar Subic is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Development) at Swinburne University of Technology. This article was originally published by The Conversation. www.theconversation.com www.swinburne.edu.au
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VOICE BOX OPINIONS FROM ACROSS THE MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY
Using prototypes to (really) understand customer needs In his role as Manufacturing Integration Manager at Integra Systems, Paul Minty works in a truly collaborative way between the design and manufacturing team to make the customer’s vision real. He explains the important role prototypes play in this process. Machines, technologies and devices that make our lives simpler excite us all. Much of the time, what attracts us to them first is their functionality, but their simplicity often has us wondering why ‘someone’ hasn’t come up with ‘it’ before. The reality is, for every ‘hit’ that is created, there’s probably a heap of ‘misses’ that failed to see the light of day. An integral part of the procedure in developing the hits and minimising the misses is a process called prototyping.
What we mean when we say ‘prototype’ A prototype is essentially a creation that is as close to the finished product as can be made. It’s an essential part of manufacturing that brings an idea to reality. At Integra, we find that customers love to see renders from computers, as well as artists’ impressions, but these are often created without the input of a product or industrial engineer. For us, prototyping is a way of getting those final insights – the really in-depth insights from the customer about what they truly want – and getting them early enough in the project so we can add our training and experience as engineers to the design and revise it if required.
Why you should not skimp on prototyping There are some important benefits that a prototype affords the manufacturing process. Apart from wowing the client, it’s also a way for designers and engineers to nail down an efficient manufacturing method for large-scale production. We try to make the prototype in exactly the same way as we’re going to make the final product. We use the same machine tools and manufacturing techniques, as well as the same materials and, sometimes, even the same colours. Building the prototype means that all the programming of the machine tools and the manufacturing techniques are proven before committing to the purchase of materials and hardware. The design can be validated and the process of optimising our machine tools through better CNC programming can begin. We can get an idea of the time it’s going to take to manufacture the product, as well as other practical details.
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For Integra, the prototype is really important for planning the final production run so that we can deliver the project in a timely and accurate way. It also demonstrates that all the computers and tools are accurately aligned and, most importantly, it lets us know that we are building something the customer actually wants.
Best-practice prototyping is a matter of design Before the manufacturing side of things happens, there’s a mountain of work involved in coming up with a design. It’s important for the designers and engineers to get a feel for what the customer wants and needs through the prototype, and it’s often the most challenging stage of the process. The steps of what we call ‘discovery’ are a really key early stage. The trickiest situation is if a customer with not much practical experience visualises something. They may understand their problem better than anyone else but, unfortunately, they sometimes imagine something that can’t actually be built. When this happens, we need to divorce them from the emotions and possibly come up with an alternative.
Thinking about the prototype – and how it works – in-situ Next, the Integra team takes the time to visualise the final product in its environment,
which is one of my favourite parts of the process. You’ve got to understand the functioning of it before it exists and that takes a big leap of imagination. We go to the place where the product is going to be used and visualise this new thing that no one’s ever seen before functioning in that space. That’s the big creative leap that designers and engineers are required to make.
Taking a prototype and giving birth to a product It’s at this stage where the ‘systems’ part of Integra Systems plays a prominent role – a unique difference that sets Integra apart from other design enterprises. Once we’ve got the precise description, and all the nuts and bolts of it have been worked out, we’re now ready to build the actual prototype. That’s also when our factory comes to the fore as a complete production facility, offering rapid prototyping, which is something we’ve worked hard to achieve over the last few years. The whole Integra team – production, engineering, and design – all work as a cohesive unit. It’s our integration between design and manufacturing, at both a human and technical level, that’s really at our core. That’s why we call ourselves Integra Systems – an integrated system of design and manufacture is what we can achieve. www.integrasystems.com.au
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Why you need to think years in advance, not just the year ahead When it comes to innovation, the challenge we often face is the lag time from creating an idea to developing it into a product, writes Nils Vesk. During the innovation process, there’s prototyping, feasibility and a host of other important but time-consuming activities to deal with. That being said, the sooner we know about a new technology disruption or potential disruption, the sooner we can get onto the drawing board and then into building it. The later we find about the next big thing after everyone else, the later we will turn up to the party and take our share of the pie. On the other hand, when we have a clear view of the future, it is much easier to make decisions, to anticipate market changes and, most of all, to respond, so that we can best capitalise on the situation. This may be in securing new technological advances, or creating a product to meet a new unmet need. This is why it’s imperative for companies to not just be thinking one year ahead, but instead many years ahead, to be at the forefront of trends. Being mindful of the years coming ahead also enables us to alter our mindset around change. One of the challenges that many of us have is the reluctance to embrace change. When we know change is coming, however, it’s much easier to get on board. Option one is to wait until the inevitable changes are happening and tell the organisation that we have to change immediately as new competitors have entered the market. This is likely to result in fear and resistance. Option two is to think like a futurist and anticipate changes beforehand and brief the organisation well ahead of time so they can begin preparations. Which would you prefer? Playing catch-up to a competitor who’s capitalised on new insights and converted that to a new gamechanging product, or being the company that’s seen a new opportunity a year or two before the competition, securing market share, reputation, distribution and profits? This is the advantage of future thinking. When we have a clear view of the future, it is much easier to make decisions, to anticipate market changes and, most of all, to respond, so that we can best capitalise on the situation. Futurists do not predict the future; instead, they anticipate possible future scenarios. Futurists scan many environments for
information to sense existing or developing trends that may affect the future. They do this by scanning through media, industry, government reporting and the social sphere. If you want to capture that future customer with that future product before the competition, then you need to think like a futurist. Here’s some principles they use to create that commercial advantage: The four key innovation principles a futurist uses are: 1. Scan – scanning for emerging trends. 2. Plot – determining and plotting future key drivers and uncertainties. 3. Imagine – imagining what future worlds will look like. 4. Design – designing strategies and contingencies for future scenarios. Smart businesses cast their net much further afield than the specific industry in which an organisation is working. What’s more important is considering the context of the information for which they are scanning. The context includes the specific services or products the organisation provides, their customers, consumers and users, and other elements that can affect them. Understanding this context allows organisations to scan a wide range of materials and to discover emerging trends, long before the competition is aware of them. Media that organisations scan may encompass newspapers and magazines (including social, lifestyle, hobby, business and industry publications). This can be
done in a cost-effective manner by applying for a digital trial subscription to a syndicated magazine publishing company, which allows the perusal of multiple magazines or newspapers, without having to pay for them. Let’s not forget white papers, green papers, reports and other serious papers. As futurists scan through their collected materials, they are asking themselves ‘Is there a relationship between this trend and what our organisation does?’ and ‘Could this trend affect us or the people who use our service or product?’ The futurist isn’t hell-bent on trying to answer this question as they scan; instead, they keep it in mind as a loose contextual filter to what they are scanning. Once futurists have completed their scanning, they proceed to sort through the results and create posters for each trend area, by noting the relevant trends, labelling them and recording any insights they may have gained. They then proceed to share their learning and insights with their clients and to start a discussion about the emerging trends they have discovered. This key futurist principle that you now have in your possession is a great tool to create commercial insights. Nils Vesk is an innovation architect who has delivered programs for organisations including Microsoft, IBM, Commonwealth Bank and Nestlé. Nils will be hosting ‘The Next Big Thing’ Masterclasses in Brisbane where business leaders will discover the trends that will impact their industry, their team and their customers, and how they can capitalise on them: https://goo.gl/ xejKG9.
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TECH NEWS
USA: 3D printing metallic glass alloys in bulk
Europe: Metamaterial spacecraft coatings
Researchers have now demonstrated the ability to create amorphous metal, or metallic glass, alloys on large scales using 3D printing. This could lead to better wear-resistant, higher-strength materials, and lighter weight structures. Historically, researchers were limited to casting metallic glasses into small thicknesses. The idea has existed for a decade, but this is the first published work demonstrating that it can actually be done: an amorphous iron alloy was produced on a scale 15 times larger than its critical casting thickness. It works by applying a laser to a layer of metal powder, melting the powder into a solid layer that is only 20 microns thick. The “build platform” then descends 20 microns, more powder is spread onto the surface, and the process repeats itself. Because the alloy is formed a little at a time, it cools quickly (the fabrication of metallic glass requires rapid cooling to prevent the crystalline structure from forming).
A pan-European consortium has developed a new type of metamaterial surface coating to assist in the thermal control of spacecraft. Known as metamaterial Optical Solar Reflectors (metaOSRs), the coatings are glued to the external skin of the radiator panels and are designed to reject solar radiation and dissipate the heat that is generated on-board. OSRs are commonly made of quartz tiles, however, these are heavy and fragile, adding significantly to assembly and launch costs, and cannot be applied to curved surfaces. Other solutions based on polymer foils suffer from fast performance degradation. The new coating is enabled by the use of metal oxide, which is patterned into a metamaterial with very strong infrared emissivity while retaining a low absorption of the solar spectrum. The team also demonstrated a ‘smart’ radiator, which allows tuning of the radiative cooling of the spacecraft using another type of metal oxide. Currently, thermal emissivity control requires bulky mechanical components such as louvers, which are expensive and failure-prone.
North Carolina State University Amorphous 3D printed iron alloy cylinder
University of Southampton
UK: New ‘green’ concrete using graphene
USA: Flexible ultrasound patch for odd-shaped structures Researchers have developed a stretchable, flexible patch that could make it easier to perform ultrasound imaging on oddshaped structures (engine parts, turbines, reactor pipe elbows and railroad tracks). Conventional ultrasound probes can’t maintain good contact when scanning across irregular surfaces. Gel, oil or water is typically used to create better contact between the probe and the surface of the object, but too much of these substances can filter some of the signals. The probe is a thin patch of silicone elastomer patterned with an “island-bridge” structure (an array of small electronic parts [islands] that are each connected by springlike structures - ie. bridges). The islands contain electrodes and devices, which produce ultrasound waves when electricity passes through them. The bridges are spring-shaped copper wires that can stretch and bend, allowing the patch to conform to nonplanar surfaces. The device is still at the proof-of-concept stage. University of California - San Diego
A new greener, stronger and more durable concrete that is made using graphene could revolutionise the construction industry. The new composite material is made using nano-engineering to incorporate graphene into traditional concrete and is more than twice as strong and four times more water-resistant than existing concretes. Crucially, the new graphene-reinforced concentre material drastically reduced the carbon footprint of conventional methods. By including graphene, the amount of materials required can be reduced by around 50%. The new technique could pave the way for other nanomaterials to be incorporated into concrete, and so further modernise the construction industry worldwide. The technique centres on suspending atomically thin graphene in water with high yield and no defects, low cost and compatible with modern, large scale manufacturing requirements. University of Exeter
Germany: Laser alternative to hexavalent chromium coating As an alternative to hard chrome plating, the EHLA (extreme highspeed Laser Material Deposition) method has been created. Because the laser fuses powder particles directly in the laser beam, the new technique raises the obtainable process speed from the previous rate of 0.5 to 2.0m per minute to up to 500m per minute. Another benefit is that it needs much less material, as it reduces the coating thickness that can be manufactured from over 500 micrometers to between 25 and 250 micrometers. It is particularly suitable for the repair of landing gear components. Industry is embracing the innovation: since 2015, the Dutch firm IHC Vremac Cylinders B.V. has already coated several hundred hydraulic cylinders for offshore use worldwide and TRUMPF is now offering it in its TruLaser Cell series. The process is being continuously developed into an even more effective & cost- efficient process. Fraunhofer
USA: 3D printing self-folding materials Researchers have used an inexpensive 3D printer to produce flat plastic items that, when heated, fold themselves into predetermined shapes; the process is known as Thermorph, and it represents a first step toward products such as flat-pack furniture that assume
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TECH HEADING NEWS their final shapes with the help of a heat gun. Self-folding materials have been explored before, but typically have used exotic materials or sophisticated processing techniques. This team used the least expensive type of 3D printer (an FDM); and took advantage of ‘warpage’, a common problem. To create self-folding objects, the team precisely control the process by varying the speed at which thermoplastic material is deposited and by combining warp-prone materials with rubber-like materials that resist contracture. The objects emerge as flat, hard plastic, which, when placed in water hot enough to turn it soft and rubbery (but not hot enough to melt it), the folding process is triggered. Carnegie Mellon University
Singapore: Roboticallyassembled IKEA chair Scientists have developed a robot comprising a 3D camera, two robotic arms and coded algorithms that autonomously assembled an IKEA chair without interruption in 8mins:55 secs. Prior to the assembly, the robot took 11min: 21secs to independently plan the motion pathways and 3secs to locate the parts. For a robot, putting together an IKEA chair with such precision is more complex than it looks. The job of assembly has to be broken down into different steps, such as identifying where the different chair parts are, the force required to grip the parts, and making sure the robotic arms move without colliding into each other. The robot starts the assembly process by taking 3D photos of the parts laid out on the floor and the force sensors mounted on the wrists help to determine the amount of force required, allowing the robot to precisely and consistently detect holes by sliding the wooden plug on the surfaces of the work pieces, and perform tight insertions. Nanyang Technological University
UK: Greener plastics-production
Researchers have found a way of converting waste CO2 into a molecule (ethylene) that forms the basis of making plastics. Ethylene is one of the most widely used molecules in the chemical industry and is involved in the manufacture of the vast majority of plastics, synthetic lubricants and detergents. Currently, ethylene is produced at a very high temperature by steam-cracking from oils. This group uses CO2, water and green electricity to generate a sustainable ethylene at room temperature. Central to this process is a new catalyst: copper and a polyamide additive are combined to make an excellent catalyst for CO2 utilisation and doubling the efficiency of ethylene formation. “The potential of using CO2 for making everyday materials is huge, and would certainly benefit large-scale producers. We are now actively looking for industrial partners interested in helping take this globally-relevant technology forward.” said Dr Andreoli who heads the group. Swansea University
Singapore: Improving industrial graphene production Chemists have developed an economical and industrially scalable method to produce high concentration graphene slurry for 3D printing. The large-scale application of graphene is in part hampered by its production cost (using sound energy or shearing forces to peel off graphene flakes). A more efficient method which uses up to 50 times less solvent has been developed and is suitable for mass production. This was achieved by exfoliating pre-treated graphite under a highly alkaline condition which causes the exfoliated graphene to undergo a flocculation process (exfoliated graphene flakes settle at the base of the reaction tank). This can then continue without increasing the solvent. Electrostatic repulsive forces to prevent re-stacking is achieved and this enables it to be separated easily into monolayers. This method produces highly crystalline graphene flakes in the form of a concentrated slurry, which can be stored for months and directly used as printing inks to make functional materials.
USA: All-Liquid 3D-printed structures A way to print 3D structures composed entirely of liquids has been developed by using a modified 3D printer where threads of water are injected into silicone oil. Firstly, scientists sheathed tubes of water in a special nanoparticle-derived surfactant (“supersoap”) that locks the water in place and preventing the tubes from breaking up into droplets. The supersoap was achieved by dispersing gold nanoparticles into water and polymer ligands into oil. These supersoaps jam together and vitrify, like glass, which stabilises the interface between oil and water and locks the liquid structures in position. For the automation, a 3D printer was modified by removing the components designed to print plastic and replacing them with a syringe pump and needle that extrudes liquid. The structures are endlessly reconfigurable. Berkeley Lab
“It would be like a ‘Swiss Army knife’ of the future with everything they (soldiers) need – all in one portable 3D printing tool” – Michael McAlpine, Assoc Prof. of Mechanical Engineering, Uni of Minnesota – in relation to a ground-breaking new process in which a 3D printer printed electronics on a human hand for the first time.
National University of Singapore
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PRODUCT NEWS
Reven X-Cyclone – Ensures clean, healthy workspaces While many air cleaners may claim to clean the air completely, in reality many are unable to extract the invisible superfine particles which constitute the greatest threat to workers heath – mist particles with a diameter below 3-5 microns. These particles can get into the lungs first and then into a person’s blood, potentially causing health issues. All Reven air separators feature Reven’s patented high-performance X-Cyclone separating system. X-Cyclone technology, now into its fifth generation, was specifically developed for the separation of air-borne substances including fluid and superfine particles. Measurements by Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute prove that Reven air separators with X-Cyclone technology attain a separation efficiency of 98% with critical particle sizes below 3-5 microns. “The issue of removal of superfine particles in the air has perhaps been overlooked when it comes to general air filtering,” says Paul Fowler, Managing Director of Dimac. “But only highly efficient air separators such as Reven, can remove a complete spectrum of pollutants such as mists and smoke, including of course superfine particles . “Using a Reven Air Separator will ensure that workers breathe fresh air and are protected from these superfine particles, as well as putting an end to polluted workshops with grease-dripping exhaust air ducts and oily steel beams and windows.” The Reven X-Cyclone system is entirely mechanical without any auxiliary energy required and contains no disposable products or filters that need to be replaced. The metal profile of the X-Cyclone provides for the reliable ejection of the mist particles due to multiple deflections of the airflow. The latest version is characterised by new arrow geometry which provides a further 20% increase in separating efficiency. The X-Cyclone is self-cleaning – oil is not collected but flows down on the surface of the polished blades into the collection channel. “X-Cyclone technology is a sustainable air-cleaning concept thanks to the use of cleanable separators,” Fowler adds. “As a result the operating and maintenance costs are considerably lower than with conventional air cleaners that require filters to be cleaned or replaced on a regular basis.
“Another benefit of Reven Air Separators relates to their flamearresting capacity compared to traditional air cleaners that use filters. Filters, particularly when they are saturated, involve a considerably higher risk of fire and must be washed out or replaced at regular intervals. Reven Air Separators on the other hand, drain the oil off into a collection channel over their polished surfaces and are self cleaning.” Reven has been specialising in industrial air cleaning for decades and the company’s knowledge in the field of air cleaning has grown continuously. This expertise is reflected in numerous internationally protected patents, design protection rights and unique technologies. Designed, constructed and manufactured in Germany, all Reven units feature a stainless steel enclosure that is 100% rust-proof, providing a considerably longer service life. A lifetime guarantee is offered on the X-Cyclone basic separator element and on the corrosion resistance of the enclosure. www.dimac.com.au
Achieving the best of both worlds Versatility has become a necessity for modern cutting tools, but should this compromise a quality end product? Milling cutters, for example, which can support roughing to finishing applications in all materials are not uncommon in the marketplace.The challenge today is to achieve versatility, while also meeting the dimensional and finish demands that were once only placed on tools designed for a specific operation and material type. Dormer Pramet’s Econ LN is a highly costeffective, versatile milling option, capable of supporting numerous operations in most materials and still producing an excellent surface finish. The positive axial geometry on the universal 90-degree cutter allows for lower cutting forces and smoother machining in steel, cast iron, stainless steel, non-ferrous metals and hardened materials. With an internal cooling system close to the cutting edges, a combination of wiper inserts, secure clamping and reduced power consumption, the Econ LN delivers fast chipevacuation and a consistently high quality surface finish.
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Compatible with the Econ LN are the LNGX 12 and LNMU 16 inserts with four-cutting edges. The LNGX 12 inserts support helical interpolation, ramping and progressive plunging, while the LNMU 16 inserts are strong and robust for long tool life when machining steel and cast iron. In a recent example in North America, an end user was facemilling gas turbine end caps made of stainless steel using a large horizontal mill. The Econ LN 80mm face mill with LNGX 120508ER-MF M6330 insert allowed the customer to use a feed rate that was 44% higher than the previous option. This meant they ran the equivalent of three finished parts on the first edge, with the insert showing little to no wear. The Econ LN reduced cycle time by 18 minutes just in this single operation and achieved five pieces per edge over the original competitor’s one piece per edge. www.dormerpramet.com
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Mastercam 2019 – Shaping the future of manufacturing Mastercam will be unveiling the next-generation of its CAD/CAM software package in June, with an extensive array of new features aimed at helping streamline your entire process, from job set-up to job completion. Aming the powerful new tools introduced in the 2019 update are 3D turning tool support, 3D Lathe Tool Designer, expanded surface machining support for lens and taper profile tools, automation for single-turret lathes, Mastercam Lathe for Swiss machines, Solids Manager organisation tools. It also features expanded CoroPlus ToolLibrary and MachiningCloud support, and Sandvik Coromant PrimeTurning ID tool support. Significant enhancements have been made to toolpath display, verification and simulation, while mill-Turn tool loading has been simplified. Dynamic Motion uses a proprietary set of rules to continually adjust toolpath motion to maintain a constant chip thickness everywhere on the part. This results in consistent machining performance, shorter cycle times, and longer tool life. Dynamic Motion toolpaths maximise material removal rate and can reduce cycle times by 25% to 75%. Mastercam’s Accelerated Finishing technology, simply called Finish, is the next leap forward in addressing today’s innovative profile tools and processes aimed at greater efficiency and higher machining productivity. Collaborating with the industry’s smartest tool manufacturers, Mastercam software takes full advantage of these new tool designs to dramatically reduce finishing cycle times while improving surface finish. The 2019 update allows for improved efficiency and job set-up times, with enhanced CAD model import support, improved part preparation, fixture setup, and expanded support for model-based definition (MBD). It offers the potential to increase productivity and programming efficiency with new 2D through five-axis toolpath improvements, new lathe and mill-turn machining support, and new Swiss machine functionality. Expanded digital tool libraries deliver accurate tool assembly models and access to the latest cutting tool technology, with added support for Accelerated Finishing and Sandvik Coromant PrimeTurning tools. Improved toolpath and machine simulation, toolpath graphics, and other verification and analysis tools provide greater programming assurance for confident, informed decisions before the job is run. An array of system-level enhancements improves job documentation and management —addressing quality and certification initiatives with new visualisation and section view tools, improvements to view and setup sheets, and much more. www.mastercam.com.au
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PRODUCT NEWS
Move to the next stage of compressed air energy savings As energy costs continue to outstrip other expenses, it is critical to find new ways to save power. Two-stage compressors may just be one of the answers. “Many customers get fixated with the capital cost of an air compressor, and whilst those that want to save energy costs will look a little deeper and review service costs, very few understand the long-term total operating cost,” says Mark Ferguson, CEO of Southern Cross Compressors. “The largest cost related to producing compressed air is in energy and this typically represents the highest energy usage in the plant. With continuously rising energy costs it’s an area in which businesses can readily address to achieve substantial potential savings. Two-stage compressors really are low-hanging fruit”. A single-stage compressor typically used in industry is limited by the overall compression ratio across a single airend. According to Ferguson, this compression ratio in most industrial applications is around 9:1. High compression ratios, particularly as pressures increase, results in significant internal slippage, which leads to loss of capacity and a reduction in efficiency. A high compression ratio also means higher bearing loads as the elevated internal pressures and temperatures mean greater axial and radial bearing loads. This can limit airend bearing life, which can lead to significant long-term maintenance costs.
A two-stage compressor, however, allows the compression ratio to be split over two distinct rotary screw airends resulting in compression ratios across each airend of around 3:1. The outcome is less slippage, less bearing loads and, with intercooling, significantly higher outputs for the installed motor power. The output of a two-stage compressor is typically around 20% higher than that of an equivalent single-stage compressor. To put that into perspective, the energy savings generally mean a compressor one size smaller, and in most instances a return of the difference in capital cost within months. Combined with a VSD (variable speed drive) controller, where demand varies significantly, savings can be even greater. Southern Cross offers the latest in twostage technology built on traditional heavy-duty design platforms with components produced to last. When combined with a structured service program, the Southern Cross range of two-stage compressors enjoys a five-year package warranty with a unique, lifetime warranty on the screw airends. From 75kW to 355kW, all Southern Cross two-stage compressors are available as fixed or with VSD controls. www.southerncrossaircompressors.com.au
Hi-Tech Metrology unveils new measuring solution Hi-Tech Metrology has announced the release of the GLOBAL S measuring solution from Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence, the first in an Enhanced Productivity Series (EPS) leveraging Hexagon’s portfolio of smart technologies including user experience adaptations, enhanced software and advanced eco-friendly options. The EPS utilises these technologies to simplify tasks related to the creation, execution and analysis of measurement routines. It offers a complete package to quality engineers creating the measurement routines, operator executing inspections, and quality managers analysing data that will be used to improve processes in the production workflow. Available from Hi-Tech Metrology in Australia and New Zealand, the GLOBAL S is ideal for operations requiring higher productivity in dimensional inspection, like automotive, aerospace, general and precision manufacturing. PC-DMIS software enhancements allow common tasks such as the selection of probe tips and the import of files to take place three-to-eight times faster than existing solutions. Further improvements such as feature sensor mapping allow the user to associate sensors to features faster when importing inspection plans. The GLOBAL S with Chrome precision level utilises the coordinate measuring machine (CMM)’s hardware enhancements to offer superior accuracy at the highest scanning speed. Operators benefit from faster scanning measurement of both predefined and non-predefined paths and optimised path trajectories for faster part-program execution. Using the eco-friendly feature, Eco
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Mode+, there is a 90% reduction in compressed air consumption when the machine is in idle state. The CMM solution can save up to 25% of compressed air cost under machine standard operating conditions. GLOBAL S operators will benefit from the new PC-DMIS Inspect option for program selection and execution. This easyto-use interface within PC-DMIS allows the operator ‘one-click’ measurement routine selection. Automated solutions are also provided, ensuring reliable integrations and efficient data flow management. Messaging lights and the ergonomic jogbox provide an enhanced operator experience. Machine alerts regarding temperature, humidity, vibrations, and unexpected stoppage are also available via the PULSE monitoring system. “The launch of the GLOBAL S is another step towards the future of smart manufacturing,” said Ingo Lindner, Global Product Line Manager, Stationary CMMs at Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence. “Utilising our smart quality products, we can now enable advanced data flow management and at-a-glance data visualisation that delivers the robust digital thread that quality managers need to drive productivity and profitability goals.” www.hitechmetrology.com.au
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PRODUCT NEWS
Hypertherm upgrades ProNest CAD/CAM nesting software Hypertherm has announced the release of ProNest 2019, a major version update of its advanced CAD/CAM nesting software for automated cutting. The new release contains more than a dozen new features and enhancements designed to make customers more efficient and profitable. New features include: • Raster to vector conversion to quickly convert .jpeg and similar images into CAD files for cutting. • Fly cutting for faster laser cutting on thin material, and the ability to pierce without slowing down or stopping the cutting head. • Design2Fab 6 integration so customers cutting sheet metal can access fittings directly from ProNest. • Drag rotation for faster manual nesting and even better plate utilization, especially when nesting around the contours of larger parts. “Regardless of cutting method — plasma, laser, waterjet, oxyfuel, or combination punch — ProNest 2019 builds on an already strong foundation to ensure customers have the features they need to improve their productivity and profitability,” said Tom Stillwell, Senior
Product Marketing Associate for Hypertherm CAD/CAM software products. “At the same time, this new version continues to include features that more fully automate the cutting process and expand user capabilities through smart factory and Industry 4.0 integration with ERP/MRP systems and a host of other supporting software.” ProNest software is selected by more cutting machine manufacturers than any other brand. It is the only software with full support for Hypertherm SureCut technology, including True Hole, Rapid Part, and True Bevel, plus easy set-up, and optimised process parameters. In addition, Hypertherm is releasing upgrades to its ProNest LT and ProNest LTS software for lighter production environments. Users with an active software subscription can upgrade to the new version of their respective product at no additional charge and continue to receive unlimited technical support, and other benefits. www.hypertherm.com/CAM
Safe cable guidance in the most confined spaces, with small e-chains from Treotham Space-saving, strong and easy to assemble - these are the requirements for many machine components. This is true everywhere from general mechanical engineering to medical technology. To meet these requirements, igus offers the low profile E2.10 e-chain with an inner height of 10mm and the smallest bend radii especially for very small installation spaces. The links of the series consist of only two parts: the bottom/side part and a crossbar. They have a quiet operation, a cable-friendly design and are easy to assemble, thanks to the chain opener. In confined spaces on machines, a safe energy supply with highly dynamic travel of the cables is especially important. The E2.10 e-chain from the E2.1 series has an inner height of only 10mm and an outer height of 15mm, making it ideal for the smallest spaces. The chain links consist, like all links of the E2.1 family, of only one bottom/side part and one crossbar. This can be opened from the top and from the side easily with a screw driver. With each first order, a simple e-chain opener tool for opening the chain quickly is also included. Thus, the chain can be opened within a few seconds and, after fitting the cables, easily closed again by hand. The E2.1 series has a robust stop-dog for up to 25% more unsupported length, 100% higher fill weights and at the same time 10% less weight than identical igus e-chain types. The “brake” on the stop-dog of the links provides very quiet chain running. This means they are great in automatic doors, vehicles or in medical furniture, for example.
Lightweight, yet sturdy and strong, the E2.1 series is suitable for a wide range of demanding application scenarios. igus has now further expanded the E2.1 product range with three new sizes with 26mm, 38mm and 48mm inner height. Thanks to the smooth contours, the series has a very cable-friendly interior, offering up to 3mm more inner height with the same outer height compared to the previous series. In keeping with the design of the interior of the chain, separators with rounded edges are offered for a long service life of hoses and cables. For a precise mounting of the separators, an integrated grid marking is provided on the crossbars. In order for the energy chain and the cable to form a perfect unit, igus develops highly flexible chainflex cables, which are specifically designed for use in energy chains. With the chainflex CFBUS.LB.060 Profinet cable, for example, data can be transmitted in the tightest of spaces with a bend radius of just 7.5 x D. All chainflex cables are tested in the in-house test laboratory spread over an area of 2,750sqm. This makes igus the only manufacturer on the market to offer a 36-month guarantee on its cable product line. As a ready-to-use readychain, which is a complete system consisting of cables and e-chain, the customer can immediately start using their application. www.treotham.com.au
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PRODUCT NEWS
Coanda Effect drives EXAIR compressed air range Some think the invention of the first jet-propelled flight occurred in Germany in 1939. Not so! A little known Romanian engineer, Henri Coanda, made the discovery 30 years earlier in December 1910. Coanda had built an engine, and when he was working on it, the engine heat became so overwhelming that he adjusted the jet angle. Next thing you know, it accelerated, rapidly climbed, and came back down with a big thud! Fortunately, Coanda was thrown clear of the burning machine.
How do you structure your business for growth and profitability?
Henri Coanda
His discovery made a very important contribution to the understanding of how aircraft engines provide lift but also how to get the most out of our compressed air products. A moving stream of air or fluid in contact with a curved surface will tend to follow the curvature of the surface rather than continue traveling in a straight line. (Some say Coanda first discovered this while sitting in his bathtub while watching the water from the fill spout follow his toes!) The Coanda effect is the driving force for many of EXAIR’s intelligent compressed air products, specifically with regard to air amplification ratios. EXAIR products are designed to take advantage of the phenomenon of entraining ambient air into the primary air stream. Compressed air is ejected through small orifices, creating air motion in their surroundings. Using just a small amount of compressed air as the power source, EXAIR products such as Super Air Wipes, Super Air Knives, Super Air Nozzles and Air Amplifiers all draw in “free” ambient air, amplifying both the force and the volume of airflow. Super Air Knives provide the greatest amount of air amplification at a rate of 40:1, one part being the compressed air supply and 40 parts ambient air from the environment. The design of the Super Air Knife allows air to be entrained at the top and bottom of the knife, maximising the overall volume of air. Super Air Nozzles and Super Air Amplifiers also use the Coanda effect to provide air amplification ratios of up to 25:1, depending on the model.
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EXAIR has taken things a step further with its patented shim design of the Super Air Amplifier. It allows it to pull in dramatic amounts of free surrounding air while keeping sound levels as low as 69dBA at 80psig. The compressed air adheres to the Coanda profile of the interior throat of the Super Air Amplifier. It is directed at a high velocity through the throat and is directed towards the outlet, inducing a high volume of surrounding air into the primary air stream. www.caasafety.com.au
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The application of data-driven technologies (and things like shifting appetites for energy sources) mean mining is changing rapidly. Exactly what the next decade will deliver is a guessing game, but the country’s number-one export industry, and the METS sector supporting it, will remain important to national prosperity well into the future. Some parts of METS have been on the wane since the peak of resources investment in 2012, such as heavy machinery. IBISWorld estimates mining and construction machinery has shrunk by around 11% annually in the last five years. However, manufacturing makes up more than four-tenths of the METS sector, and there are manufacturers who are thriving. According to consultancy VCI, local METS businesses enjoy various natural advantages: operating in the world’s biggest, most sophisticated mining sector; proximity to Asia; and a talented workforce. With mining, as with all of manufacturing, the future belongs to those manufacturers who can work smarter and adapt. According to extensive industry consultation in 2016 by METS Ignited, one of the Federal Government’s six Industry Growth Centres, success will involve factors like collaborating earlier and more effectively, aligning with the roadmaps of major miners, and closeness to the customer throughout the entire innovation cycle.
Ric Gros, CEO of METS Ignited, says the proliferation of data is changing the nature of innovation, citing the use of this in Industry 4.0-type applications. “Anywhere in the value chain, if you’re leveraging Industry 4.0, your products and services will become faster, will become more economical and more effective,” says Gros. “Productivity levels in the mining industry have been going down on the back of mines getting deeper and grades Ric Gros, getting lower. So the opportunity CEO of METS Ignited. is anywhere where you can support improvements in productivity, and maybe a lot of that will come from leveraging what Industry 4.0 can bring to you.” According to Gros, collaboration is becoming more important to success, both for miners and their suppliers. Where collaboration is strongest in the world, he adds, the same can be said of innovation, and the necessity of collaboration is changing the approach of many major miners.
What is the secret to success for manufacturers operating in the mining equipment, technology and services (METS) sector? Brent Balinski spoke to a few to try and find out.
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Gros recently returned from Chile’s Expomin, and observes that the conversation among the global powerhouses is changing their approach to collaboration, realising the old ways of procuring don’t always work. He cites Codelco’s establishment of Codelco Tech to bring outside innovation into the company, and conversations with BHP mentioning open innovation. This could be good news for Australian companies, who have, according to METS Ignited’s research, often struggled to break into the supply chains of Tier One miners, which “have looked to global OEMs in the main for collaboration and strategic relationships”. The METS sector, of which export businesses make up 66%, makes a healthy contribution to the overall mining sector. Together, according to Deloitte Access Economics, it created $237bn in economic activity in 2015-16, and one-tenth of all Australian jobs. AMT spoke to three award-winning Australian manufacturers, each supplying local innovation to export markets, about the reasons behind their competitiveness. Here’s hoping the Tier One mining firms are paying attention.
Movus – “Does it make a horrible screeching noise?” While some of the world’s biggest engineering companies have invested heavily in developing Industry 4.0 platform solutions, Brisbane-based start-up Movus sets itself apart in a very important way. Its FitMachine offering – a fleet of orange, hockey puck-like sensors that magnetically affix to machines – does not require a business to reinvent its operations and culture. “What we’re trying to do is give the average maintenance engineer, reliability engineers, all those guys that work so hard to keep industry up and running, another tool that gives them the edge,” says Brad Parsons, Movus’ CEO and co-founder. “We’re trying to solve ‘Is this machine going to fail and when?’ That’s the key problem we’re trying to solve. We’re not trying to control the machine, to shut down the machine, to provide all those elements.” Continued next page
Brad Parsons, Movus’ CEO and co-founder.
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MINING, RESOURCES & ENERGY The company’s potential in mining was also validated recently through a $4.8m Series A backing in April, with Telstra Ventures, Blackbird Ventures and Skip Capital among investors. According to The Australian Financial Review, revenue growth had been 30% per month for the 12 months before that. Parsons says the new investment will help move the company into new headquarters (it is currently on campus at University of Queensland) as well as improving the sensors’ functionality and hiring engineers who can find ways to better dig data-based insights out of what the sensors are capturing.
Movus’ FitMachine comprises a fleet of orange, hockey puck-like sensors that magnetically affix to machines.
“Really the basis of the businessis to really transform the way industry does machine monitoring, machine management, machine maintenance,” says Parsons. “The personal drive for me was really: when you look at the world’s industries, they’re all backed by machines. And they use half the world’s energy through machinery. So we do something good for the planet, something good for industry, make people safer and more productive.”
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Enduraclad – A trusted supplier
The deliberately simple solution monitors the operational efficiency of machines. Sensors pick up and communicate three main types of information to the cloud, where machine-learning algorithms convert this data into something easily understood on a dashboard, accessible on a phone or tablet. “We get new use cases pretty much every week, where somebody says ‘Can you monitor that?’ It’s like: ‘Yes, does it vibrate, does it get hot, or does it make a horrible screeching noise if it fails?’” Parsons explains. “It’s a bit more than that obviously, but that’s the general gist.” The sensors take five minutes on average to install, using a five-step process prompted by an app. Each rapidly self-learns, comparing a machine’s behaviour to itself, and sending alerts if there’s an issue. The company is up to version seven of its sensor packages, which are manufactured by Brisbane’s Intellidesign. Sensors for the FitMachine solution-as-a-service (customers do not buy the sensors) can be updated over the web. “We continue to get feedback from our customers, and they’ll say ‘What about this?’ or ‘Could we have that? It’d be really great if we could use them under this circumstance’,” explains Parsons. “We incorporate that back not only in the hardware but also on the software, be it on the sensors or all the way through to cloud and AI.” The industrial IoT solution is suitable for a wide variety of machines, from chillers to fans to motors. It has obvious application for the mining industry, which puts a premium on maximum uptime for critical machinery, often operating in remote locations. According to Movus’ customers, about 60% of inspections add no value, and while maintenance can be made smarter and more efficient, unplanned downtime through machine failure can be particularly costly.
Though some startups (and established businesses) are staking their future on the Internet of Things (IoT), the future of mining will always involve things. Enduraclad International specialises in things, including hardfaced wear plates of chromium carbide and tungsten carbide, quenched and tempered wear plates, and ceramic liners. Based in in Henderson, Western Australia, the company has grown rapidly since Managing Director Jason Kell started the business from scratch in 2011.
Enduraclad International Founder and Managing Director Jason Kell.
Today Enduraclad’s headcount is around 40 staff across three workshops. Its capability statement tells you its core capabilities include automated sub-arc welding, CNC plasma and oxy profile cutting, stud welding, and plate pressing (up to 450 tons). Enduraclud started out with donated tools and a borrowed plasma cutter, following Kell’s 15 years’ experience in various roles in New South Wales, at Cutting Edges in Revesby, and AOA in Wollongong. In those early days the business, Kell explains, depended on getting established companies “to give me a go”, and in turn to “build relationships with suppliers and gain trust immediately”. Funding purchases without cash meant building faith with suppliers “that I would be good for the money once I was paid from my customer”.
“Single machines could take out half a million dollars a day, and a single machine can take a plant down,” says Parsons. “So for them it’s really about identifying where the critical points are. So for example, coal process plants, we’ll be on 20 different types of equipment. From pumps, motors, screens, to you name it.” At the moment, most of Movus’ clients exist outside of the sector, including in transport, building management and manufacturing. However, the appeal of Movus’ technology for mining applications is obvious, and was recognised via a KPMG Energise Accelerator Program Award in 2017 (Investor category). Parsons’ background includes a senior consultant role in Mining IT at CSC, whole another of the company’s founder has two decades’ mining industry experience. Enduraclad International’s capabilities include automated sub-arc welding, CNC plasma and oxy profile cutting, stud welding, and plate pressing.
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MINING, RESOURCES & ENERGY
Today Enduraclad International employs a team of around 40 staff across three workshops.
“This meant often having an open-book policy with my suppliers knowing who my customers were and how much I sold my items for,” Kell adds. “This may seem odd – however as I strengthened relationships with this, I was able to build a large customer base quickly knowing my suppliers would not go behind my back to secure the work direct. When an open-book policy is put into practice, the trust quickly follows.” Enduraclad has established itself as a highly successful firm, mainly serving mining and earth-moving, but Kell adds: “There are key strengths in many applications unknown to our competitors.” The company’s rapid growth won it a WA Telstra Medium Business Award last year. It has also recently undergone a Lean transformation with Think Perform to improve operations, prepare for its next phase of growth, and to help seize international opportunities. “Exports are important for Enduraclad as it give us a chance to showcase our products to the world,” says Kell. “I aspire to grow Enduraclad and make it attractive for future leaders to take over one day and continue on its success.”
HMS Group – A load of potential Jamie Howard has been involved in mining engineering his entire professional life. HMS Group, the full-service mining business he owns, operates within one of Australia’s major resources hubs: the Hunter region in NSW. Underpinned by his professional expertise and collaboration within this local ecosystem, Howard began development on the HMS Mini Loader in 2008, and it has started to get recognition in the last few years, including a third straight year of awards at the Diesel, Dirt and Turf Expo, a board award at the Hunter Manufacturing Awards, and a NSW Mining Suppliers Award. The remote-controlled vehicle can handle loads up to 200kg. Its knee-high profile allows it to zip under operating conveyors and clean up spills. This saves the worker this back-breaking task and can save a coal-mine owner between $100,000 and $200,000 through not having to stop the conveyor. “We’re getting a lot of calls now,” says Howard. “Manufacturingwise, we’re very busy, for the local market as well as the international market. Business is thriving at the moment.”
The remote-controlled HMS Mini Loader can handle loads up to 200kg, with a knee-high profile that allows it to zip under operating conveyors.
About 20 HunterNet members contributed to the development of the loader. And of course, getting mining houses to pay attention to an Australian SME is a challenge. “To engineer a machine is very easy; the commercialisation side is the hardest thing,” Howard says “We come from a mining manufacturing background, and we’re comfortable in that space, but to make a machine and commercialise it around the world is the hardest part: to have the major mining houses – companies in Brazil, Chile and also China – to recognise what you can offer them.” He credits the assistance of the HunterNet business network, the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre (AMGC), and the Entrepreneurs’ Programme’s Accelerating Commercialisation grant. A HunterNet trade mission to China in 2014 exposed Howard to the potential of the Chinese market, which has roughly 10,000 minesites, mostly coal, according to Austrade. The Accelerating Commercialisation grant funded two Mini Loaders to be shown at the China International Mining Expo in 2016, leading to a channel partnership with JKZZ: crucial for becoming an international company. “We’re now exporting all around the world, and what is nice to see is the global market recognising how innovative our company is,” says Howard. “We’re outside the box, and that’s what is highly attractive to all these companies. It’s about lowering operational costs, and to work smarter.” The product also has potential in industries such as construction and manufacturing, and can be fitted with attachments including a trencher, forklift and sweeper. Howard declines to discuss current R&D efforts, but says these will always be important in staying relevant. It has not been an easy path to international recognition and sales. Howard says what has been important has been a willingness to collaborate outside the company and offer something that provides an obvious way for a mining client to do their job cheaper and smarter. “Companies are always approaching us to try to reduce operational costs, and with our technologies, we achieve that,” he says. “Regarding the conveyor belt systems, they don’t need to stop those, hence not having the labour force working around the hazards. And we’re reducing their risk.”
Getting to this point from an idea in 2008 was not cheap or easy, and was not undertaken in isolation. Howard personally spent roughly $4m on R&D.
www.metsignited.org www.movus.com.au www.enduraclad.com.au www.hms-group.com.au Jamie Howard, Owner of HMS Group.
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Drilltechniques – Ticking off its technology wish list Queensland-based Drilltechniques has built a strong reputation servicing various industries involved in drilling, including mining and construction. When it set out to acquire a new CNC lathe, there were a number of essential criteria that had to be met. Whenever a company identifies a requirement for a new machine tool, most workshop managers start thinking about accuracy and reliability, whereas the company accountant may believe that price and lifespan are the most important criteria.
Time would see Drilltechniques form breakthrough partnerships with some of the world’s most renowned drilling equipment specialists – companies such as Italy’s Comacchio and Tecniwell, Spain’s Llamada, Japan’s Toa Tone, and Canada’s Sonic Drill Corporation.
The result is often somewhere in the middle – ideally, a brand new machine that is engineered and built for reliability, with a world-class control, and operator training to ensure accuracy, while meeting the initial budget and amortisation parameters set by the accountant. Even though machine tools and their electronic systems have become remarkably sophisticated nowadays, good planning makes it possible to acquire a new machine that meets the needs and wants on a workshop manager’s wish list.
“Whether you are seeking equipment to conduct drilling operations for bored piers, CFA (continuous flight augering), anchoring, geotechnical, exploration, geothermal, well drilling, or earthing, we can assist you with high-technology and high-quality equipment,” says General Manager Chris Logan. “We also support such drilling methods as jet grouting and CFA, with material supply, mixing, grouting, and pumping systems.”
The recent purchase of a new CNC lathe by Drilltechniques is a good example. What is really interesting is the rationale behind the acquisition.
Hitting the front In just 10 years, Drilltechniques has become a byword for excellence across a number of industries involved in drilling. In 2008, the company started in the marketplace as an expert in hydraulics and mechanics, focused only on the foundation drilling sector. Its founder, Cameron Gaylard and his wife and strongest supporter, Jennifer, worked tirelessly to build a reputation and a business that capitalised on Cameron’s expertise as a tradesman and innovator. Those early endeavours led the organisation along a path of development that ebbed and flowed with the boom-and-bust nature of mining and construction in Queensland. With a keen mind for fluid engineering and materials, Cameron set about identifying ways to improve performance through the design and manufacture of uniquely innovative products used in the drilling industry and, more broadly, across the mining and construction sectors.
The Harrison Alpha 1550 XS two-axis manual/CNC lathe is now installed and commissioned in Drilltechniques’ workshop in Brendale.
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Facing a second decade “Today, Drilltechniques is a business transformed, and its three primary business-streams deliver products and services to customers around the Pacific Rim,” says Logan. “As the company enters its second decade, the management team made a decision to bring its machining requirements back in-house. “We have four main objectives: to increase accuracy and reduce error rate, improve lead times for customers, make the company even more competitive and, overall, to improve profit margins.” After undertaking an evaluation process, the Drilltechniques team selected a Harrison Alpha 1550 XS two-axis manual/CNC lathe. The machine was supplied by Sydney-based 600 Machine Tools, the exclusive distributor of Harrison lathes in the Asia-Pacific region – both members of the UK-based 600 Group. Logan explains: “It was imperative that we acquired a CNC lathe with proven reliability that was not only highly accurate, but also could be rapidly configured to cope with a constant stream of oneoffs and small batches. We specified a Fanuc control and a need for conversational programming to ensure that our craftsmen are
MINING, RESOURCES & ENERGY Drilltechniques has established a solid reputation for products designed to operate reliably in harsh conditions.
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able to use their skills to best effect. It was necessary to interface with our CAD system – the 3D Solidworks software package – a key element in our ‘Design, Engineer, Build’ operation that converts our knowledge and experience into world-class hydraulic products. “Over the past decade, the company has built a solid reputation for purpose-built drill rigs, power packs, rotaries and hydraulic clamps, and water recycling systems. All these products are designed to operate reliably in harsh conditions, and to comply with all relevant Australian codes and standards. The new Alpha will also be invaluable in our other two business-streams – sale and rental of drilling equipment, and service, maintain, and modify hydraulic equipment.” The Alpha 1550 XS is now installed and commissioned in Drilltechniques’ workshops at Brendale, a suburb to the north of Brisbane, in the Moreton Bay Region of Queensland.
Toolroom accuracy Cliff Purser, Managing Director – Asia-Pacific of 600 Machine Tools, says: “The ease of operation of the user-friendly Alpha range has been appreciated not only in the workshops of industry, but also in the workshops of education and training centres around the world. The hugely popular XS CNC combination lathe range is noted for its speed, accuracy, and surface finish to exacting toolroom accuracy standards (DIN 8605), which ultimately significantly reduces component production-costs.” “I do not believe that there is another lathe on the market today – including full CNC machines – that can compete with the Alpha XS for speed of production when it comes to one-offs and small batch turning. Fast, easy set-up times and simple operation in all modes are the keys to this model’s undoubted success. It benefits from the ultra-high speed OiTF CNC control, along with Harrison’s own developed Alphalink software.”
www.600machinery.com.au www.drilltechniques.com.au
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Purser adds: “The rumours are true! Harrison’s newly-introduced Alpha XC model can execute off-centre drilling and boring, hexagonal milling, and much more. It has the ability to perform secondary operations that usually require machining centres or expensive slant -bed CNC turning centres.”
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MINING, RESOURCES & ENERGY
Focusing on the blind spot: Active collision warning systems for mobile machines Manoeuvring and reversing are the most frequent causes of accidents involving mobile machines used in open-cast and underground mining as well as on construction sites, in agriculture and forestry, and with municipal and special vehicles. By Manuel Fischer and Dr Anatoly Sherman. Sensor-based automated systems are becoming increasingly important for vehicles used in mining, civil engineering, agriculture and forestry, and with construction, municipal and special vehicles. One area where sensors are used is to provide reliable systems that detect the risk of a collision and warn the driver. The main driving force behind this development is the fact that a large number of collisions and accidents can be prevented if suitable technology is available to support the driver or machine operator. Active warning functions are not enough. The assistance system must also be able to distinguish between different objects depending on their importance for collision warning purposes. The particular challenges involved in these applications not only concern detecting and evaluating objects. The sensor solutions must also be designed to withstand the tough outdoor environments where the machines are used. The Visionary-B active driver assistance system developed by SICK meets all of these requirements. Visionary-B consists of a 3D vision sensor suitable for outdoor use that identifies people and objects in the driver’s blind spot and issues a warning. It also has another special feature; it has been designed as an active system. This means that as soon as an object appears within a defined detection zone, the system gives an audible and visual signal. In contrast to passive monitoring solutions, the driver does not need to look constantly at the monitor. Instead, he can concentrate on driving the vehicle, safe in the knowledge that the system will warn him in good time if a potentially critical situation occurs.
Plug-and-play 3D collision warnings The role of the Visionary-B intelligent driver assistance system is to minimise the risk of collisions when mobile machines pull away, manoeuvre and turn, by monitoring the driver’s blind spot. The system consists of at least one sensor head, an evaluation unit, a 2D monitor and all the mechanical and electrical components needed for installation. It is also a two-in-one solution because it combines an active 3D sensor for collision warnings with an integral 2D live camera. This means that the driver can also see a 2D live image and access recordings of the machine’s previous few hours of operation. When the system is installed at the height of between 1 and 2.4m, the detection angle of 105 degrees by 90 degrees enables it to cover an area behind the vehicle, not visible to the driver, that is 6m long and 4m wide. The evaluation unit processes the 3D image data, assigns the objects to different classes based on the measurements, saves the recordings of the most recent period of operation, and uses intelligent algorithms that enable it to ignore any objects that are unlikely to cause a collision. At the same time, it transmits the live image and the alarm signals to the monitor in the machine’s cab, which issues collision warnings in the form of both audible and visual signals. To ensure that the collision warning system is reliable and is accepted by drivers, it is essential that it consistently identifies hazards and can distinguish them from the machine’s normal working environment.
The role of the Visionary-B intelligent driver assistance system is to minimise the risk of collisions when mobile machines pull away, manoeuvre and turn, by monitoring the driver’s blind spot.
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MINING, RESOURCES & ENERGY
The Visionary-B 3D vision sensor reliably detects people and objects in the driver’s blind spot and issues a warning.
The object detection system, which is based on the stereoscopic principle, is what makes this possible. It can identify the presence of people and objects and measure their distance from the vehicle. The cameras in the sensor head take images of the vehicle’s surroundings from slightly different positions. The evaluation system combines these two perspectives and calculates the depth of the images, in other words, the third dimension. On the basis of the 3D image information, the 3D vision sensor can identify the width and height of the objects. This allows the system to distinguish between people and objects that could cause a collision and those that cannot – for example, curbstones and uneven ground. SICK’s integral data evaluation unit reliably detects two classes of objects in an outdoor environment. The first class consists of smaller objects than those that make up the second class. Wide objects, such as walls, do not fall into the second class and are ignored for the purposes of this class. Configuring the system only to warn the driver about objects in class two is an ideal solution for narrow entrances or exits, for example, as it will prevent unnecessary and irritating warning signals from being issued. The flexible configuration of alarm zones also makes it possible to distinguish between different types of warnings so that the driver can respond accordingly. This means that the Visionary-B system will not send faulty alarms. The driver is only notified if the situation is genuinely critical. In addition to evaluating and classifying the objects that are detected, Visionary-B has a modular concept that enables the driver assistance system to be designed to suit the vehicle and the purpose it is used for. A range of different system configurations is available. These include variants with one sensor head for monitoring the direction the vehicle is travelling in, with two automatically alternating sensor heads for forward and backward movement, and with two sensor heads operating simultaneously that cover the area around and behind particularly large and bulky vehicles.
Designed for tough outdoor environments The Visionary-B driver assistance system is highly rugged and is designed for outdoor use in the many different types of environments where mobile machines operate. The sensor housing has an IP69K enclosure rating and can withstand operating temperatures between -40 and +75 degrees Celsius. It also meets high standards of shock and vibration resistance.
The evaluation unit, which can often be installed in the safer setting of the driver’s cab, has an IP67 enclosure rating and a temperature range of -20 to +40 degrees Celsius. It has also been designed for long service life and can withstand challenging conditions. The evaluation unit uses algorithms that have been tested in practice to ensure that direct sunlight, rain, road surfaces that are damp and shiny and other environmental influences do not prevent the unit from detecting objects reliably or the system from issuing collision warnings.
A wide range of applications Different types of mobile machines provide a variety of interesting applications for the Visionary- system. For example, the version of Visionary-B with two alternating sensor heads can be used in excavators to monitor the area behind the machine and the area to the side where the excavator’s arm blocks the driver’s view. Front loaders, dump trucks and rollers are typical examples of mining and construction machines that can be operated much more safely using SICK’s active driver assistance system. In all types of environmental and light conditions, it can monitor areas in the machine’s direction of travel that are not visible to the driver. This reduces the risk of collisions and accidents to a minimum and also helps to prevent damage to the vehicle, together with the accompanying downtime and costly repairs. Visionary-B is also a valuable addition to agricultural and forestry machines. It can detect possible hazards and accidents in good time and send an active warning to the driver. A reduction in the damage caused to vehicles also means shorter downtimes and high levels of availability, particularly during crucial times of the year, such as harvest. In municipal and special vehicles, for example, the trucks used for collecting recycled materials, Visionary-B constantly monitors the driver’s blind spot and provides active support when the vehicle is manoeuvring. In addition to these examples, there are many other possible applications for this advanced driver assistance system. Visionary-B can be installed at any time in existing vehicle models. All the variants can be fitted by the manufacturer in new vehicles. They are also available as complete solutions for retrofitting or as dealer accessories and can easily be configured. Manuel Fischer is Strategic Industry Manager Mobile Machines at SICK. Dr Anatoly Sherman is Head of Product Management – 3D Compact Systems at SICK. www.sick.com.au
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MINING, RESOURCES & ENERGY
Where Australia sits on the energy storage global stage The need, and potential, for energy storage technologies in Australia is high, and the country is ahead of the curve when it comes to implementing these storage solutions, according to Jon Norman, President and COO of Hydrostor. Jon Norman is a professional engineer with nearly 20 years experience in the power industry, environmental sector, management consulting and government. His company, Hydrostor, is leading the sector in compressed air energy storage (CAES), with the world’s first adiabatic CAES facility operating in Toronto, and the development of a new CAES demonstration project at the Terramin Australia Angas Zinc Mine in South Australia. According to Norman, Hydrostor’s CAES is different from traditional CAES as it doesn’t need to burn gas to put heat into the process when generating electricity, and it doesn’t require existing underground storage cavities, making the selection of sites more flexible. “In our system, we actually take heat from our compression process, and we store it in a thermal management system, we then reinject that heat back into our turbine when we’re generating electricity,” says Norman. “So we don’t require any natural gas, it’s called an adiabatic process. “What we do is quite different because we use water to compensate for our air pressure. This is what we’re building in Australia; we actually can purpose-build a cavity underground where we have an upper reservoir of water, and the cavity is like a lower reservoir, down about 300m into bedrock. “When we’re compressing air into that cavity, it’s displacing the water up to the upper reservoir. Then when we’re ready to generate electricity, just the weight of the water pushes the air out and up into the turbine that’s on the surface. We can generate a really large amount of electricity that way, and we can locate it very flexibly. We don’t need a pre-existing salt cavern, we can just site it and we build this cavity in areas of the grid where it’s actually required.”
Benefits of compressed air energy storage Norman says CAES is similar to pumped hydro storage but it doesn’t require as much water to provide the same generating capacity. It also has a long lifespan, lasting 30-plus years, as long as the rotating equipment on the surface is managed. “We have a really big cost advantage over batteries as well,” he explains. “Even if you look at the current cost of batteries, plus all the balance of plants that they require and how they need to connect to the system. Our system for the given scale, if you were
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Jon Norman
to build a 50 or 100-megawatt battery system, we would be about half the price. “Clearly batteries will always have a place in the system located in a very distributed manner, where they provide very fast response times, but they cannot provide the level and duration of storage that we can provide.”
Potential for storage growth in Australia Out of all the markets Norman is working in globally, he sees a lot of potential in Australia, with the retiring of fossil fuel infrastructure. “The system really does have a strong need for it, and the powers in charge of the electricity system are very much recognising that, and are taking actions to ensure that storage is developed, and can provide these kinds of services onto the grid. I think Australia is ahead of the curve, but there’s a number of other jurisdictions in the world that are really quite advanced in their thinking on storage as well. California comes to mind. Ontario, is another place, as is Chile.” And what can Australia learn from its international neighbours when it comes to energy storage?
“It’s important to recognise that there needs to be a clear opportunity to deploy capital to build these projects, says Norman. “That means there needs to be some level of revenue certainty, some level of political sustainability, some level of market certainty. Australia does many of these things well. “Another area that’s important is just trying to complement the market structure, which is really providing short-term market signals. Like short-term price signals, saying today this is what something’s worth, but if you’re going to build a 30-year-plus asset, there needs to be more recognition of the longterm benefit of that. “Sometimes there needs to be outside contracting mechanisms to allow that to happen, to really facilitate the penetration and make sure that there isn’t just a very short sighted view of the market price today, versus potential value of a 30-year asset, ten years into the future. You kind of need a diversity of resources. Longerterm infrastructure needs a bit more of that certainty, and you really need that mix of both to make the system work.” www.hydrostor.ca
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ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
Proslab ensures absolute accuracy with additive manufacturing Leading Australian dental laboratory Proslab has fully digitalised the manufacture of its cobalt chrome removable partial dentures (RPDs). The laboratory partnered with global engineering company Renishaw to install what is thought to be the first metal additive manufacturing machine for dental applications in Australia. Proslab is a full service dental laboratory in Canterbury, Victoria. The company was founded more than 30 years ago and has always maintained a keen interest in cutting-edge technology. 15 years ago, Proslab became the first Australian dental laboratory to bring in CAD/CAM processes for metal frames for dentures.
Inside Proslab Dental Laboratory’s facility in Canterbury, Melbourne.
Before working with Renishaw, Proslab introduced a partially digital workflow, using 3D scanning and design tools to design dentures. Once designed in CAD, the dentures were printed in resin, then using traditional lost-wax casting were manufactured in cobalt chrome. It was this traditional, uncontrolled process that reduced the accuracy of the parts, despite careful design. Proslab turned to Renishaw to overcome issues with human error and accuracy by incorporating a state-of-the art AM 400 metal additive manufacturing machine.
The challenge At Proslab, the lost-wax casting technique started with producing a CAD design of the denture, which was then printed in resin and used to make the investment mould. The part would then be de-invested, trimmed and cast, before being cut and polished. During the process, accuracy can be reduced by dimensional changes as a result of uncontrolled heating and cooling, varied cross-sections and incomplete casting or gas porosity. “Achieving a high level of accuracy with lostwax casting is difficult,” explains Damian Synefias, CEO of Proslab. “This means frameworks often need to be reworked after being sent to the dentist and fitted to a patient.” The most accurate method on the market to manufacture removable partial dentures is additive manufacturing. However, incorporating this technique involved significant change to the company’s internal processes and business model.
The solution Proslab turned to Renishaw to fully digitalise its manufacturing process using additive manufacturing. “To demonstrate the accuracy of the process, Renishaw manufactured sample parts at its Healthcare Centre of Excellence
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The Renishaw AM 400 metal additive manufacturing system.
in Miskin, near Cardiff in the UK,” explains Alex Harris, Applications Engineer at Renishaw. “Our dental production facility runs daily, so there was extensive data to prove that additive manufacturing was a viable if not ideal solution.” Impressed by the quality of the sample parts, Proslab purchased Renishaw’s AM 400 metal additive manufacturing system. The machine enables the production of removable partial dentures directly from a CAD file, eliminating the additional casting step. Frameworks are built in 40-micron layers of CE-marked cobalt chrome powder and built by laser powder bed fusion (PBF), using a high-powered ytterbium fibre laser. To ensure the transition was smooth, Renishaw’s dedicated additive
manufacturing team conducted a weeklong training course with Proslab’s staff. Renishaw also offered ongoing support from Renishaw Oceania, in Mulgrave, Victoria. The Australian team remains in contact with Proslab to answer any questions. “Training and support was our priority when purchasing the machine,” explains Synefias. “Throughout the process, Renishaw offered outstanding technical support and training to meet this requirement. We were confident in our investment as we trusted the product from the very beginning. This trust, combined with the exceptional support, meant that there was not one moment during the process where we felt uncomfortable.”
ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
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A polished RPD on stone model.
An RPD build plate inside Renishaw AM 400
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Results To successfully implement the new technology, Proslab required training and support, which is not universally offered by additive manufacturing system providers. “Proslab is now able to produce the most accurate frameworks possible,” Synefias adds. “Directly printing from a CAD file means we have reduced the number of in-house remakes due to error by 100%. If any error were to occur, we’d quickly be able to identify the source and amend it.” Because of the improvement in accuracy that the AM 400 offers, Proslab can now ensure each framework is a perfect fit for the patient. This helps to improve a prosthetist’s service and reputation, benefits patients by offering improved fit and removes any delays that may occur if the framework is not right first time. “The frameworks we produce are now guaranteed to fit every time, which means we have been able to raise turnover,” says Synefias. “The difference in fit has been amazing – we are now gaining more customers for it as we can ensure that customers will receive the best possible fitted dentures.
“By cutting out the casting step, we can now produce removable partial dentures in half the time,” continues Synefias. “We save an entire day of processing, which means we have been able to upskill our casting staff into manufacturing roles. Staff have responded well to the new format and we’ve had a significant boost in morale, as they have the peace of mind that parts will be correct. “Proslab is the first Australian dental laboratory to incorporate additive manufacturing, and we now have access to the most up to date technology in the world,” Synefias adds. “We have also improved turnaround times to a five-day cycle, improving the service to our clients. “We required a high level of support and the service we received has been excellent and, in my opinion, Renishaw has been perfect. The project has been such a success that we plan to purchase another machine.” www.renishaw.com www.proslab.com.au
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ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
Winery tops off tour with 3D printed map of vineyard Wine aficionados know that the environment in which wine grapes grow impacts the wine’s final characteristics. Some subtly, some not so subtly. This element is known as terroir, a term that describes the complete natural environment from which a wine comes, including the climate and topography all the way down to the soil. These variables are anything but inconsequential to the flavour, colour and body of the wine, and can be fascinating to learn about. Yet short of walking through a vineyard with surveying poles and kneeling to rub earth between your fingers, it can be challenging to get a comprehensive picture of terroir to fully appreciate the nuances at play in your glass. This was a problem for Ten Minutes by Tractor, a winery on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, that wanted to give its patrons a deeper understanding of its wines. Ten Minutes by Tractor is made up of three vineyards located ten minutes apart, with widely different environmental characteristics that deliver vastly distinctive wines. The winery’s goal is to add value to its wine tour experience wherever possible by sharing its knowledge of wine making with its visitors. Yet verbally explaining the impact and differences in terroir proved minimally engaging without a visual reference. The winery needed a way to clearly communicate the contributions of the region to its wines that was accessible and effective.
vW Maps merged graphic and cartographic design to create the data for the 3D printed map.
vW Maps, a trusted publisher of Australian wine regions, offered a solution and worked with the vineyard to create a digital 3D appearance model of the terrain. Using a scaled representation, the winery could show visitors the spatial relationship of the vineyards to one another as well as the interplay of environmental features that were responsible for creating distinctive character among the wines. vW Maps further enlisted 3D Systems’ On Demand Manufacturing services to transform the 3D data into a 3D printed appearance model at 1:160,000 scale with a five-fold elevation exaggeration. The final 3D printed models could then be examined and discussed as a memorable part of the cellar door experience.
Designing a 3D map of vineyard terrain vW Maps took great care to merge and adapt graphic and cartographic design elements to get an effective mix of terrain selection, generalisation and simplification with the right typography, colour and balance. The resulting representation focuses viewer attention on the vineyards, terrain and most important landmarks. This allows cellar door staff at Ten Minutes by Tractor to easily reference and explain the complicated factors of terroir over a scaled appearance model of the terrain that is distinctive, appealing and easy to read. The map also helps cement the cellar door experience in visitors’ minds as a unique learning aid and conversation piece that stands out from other wineries in the region. According to vW Maps’ owner Martin von Wyss, though the appearance model design was digital in origin, “The terrain model is tangible and accessible when placed on the tasting bench next to a glass of wine, and it makes the geography of wine fun, engaging and easy to understand.” Through an examination of the “Terroir Explainer”, as von Wyss calls the model, winery customers gain an understanding of the vineyards’ physical conditions, such as elevation, slope, aspect, and drainage. The cellar door staff supplements the 3D printed model with additional information about soil and climatic conditions to complete the picture of what shapes the wine. Von Wyss says the 3D printed appearance model effectively highlights the many variables at play in viticulture to sharpen environmental awareness, heighten respect for the vineyards and deepen clients’ appreciation of the nuances of wine.
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3D printing terrain maps in full colour Once vW Maps had prepared the 3D terrain data, it sent separate files for the topography and map to 3D Systems On Demand Manufacturing services. Once received, 3D Systems’ manufacturing experts scaled and wrapped the design data onto the 3D file for printing in full colour using a ProJet CJP 660Pro. The ProJet CJP 660Pro uses 3D Systems’ ColorJet Printing (CJP) technology, a powder printing process popular for detailed, multicolour parts in architecture, consumer goods, the arts and other applications where colour and appearance are of primary value. Offering photorealistic colour in a full CMYK spectrum, the build envelop of the ProJet 660Pro is capable of producing large prints in a single piece. vW Maps and Ten Minutes by Tractor took advantage of this large print size, with final model dimensions of 252mm x 379mm x 18mm. 3D Systems’ On Demand Manufacturing experts prepared, printed and finished the model within the week. Next to the wine, the 3D printed appearance model is the centerpiece of the cellar door experience at Ten Minutes by Tractor. According to the winery’s General Manager Chris Hamilton, it also helps Ten Minutes by Tractor stand out and garner word-of-mouth interest. “There’s no doubt that our terrain map is a key component that makes a visit to our cellar door distinctive from visits to our nearby competitors,” says Hamilton. The terrain appearance model was a finalist in the 2016 Victorian Design Awards, which recognises and awards Victorian designers and businesses that demonstrate excellence in their use of design. www.3dsystems.com www.vwmaps.com www.tenminutesbytractor.com.au
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Revolutionising markets through additive manufacturing of end-use products Additive manufacturing has been recognised as a high-potential technology in the past few years, and is now proving that it is here to stay, albeit not in the way that most thought. 3D printers will not be in a majority of homes anytime soon as many were excited that they would. Instead, a greater number of products for both mainstream and industrial consumers are now being produced through 3D printing. Additive manufacturing (AM) and product design for AM have a had a rapid development towards producing 3D-printed products for end-use. Thanks to established technologies such as selective laser sintering and rapidly improving ones like multi jet fusion, the barrier to market of high production set-up costs is being lowered significantly. Both established business and startups can have products manufactured in small batches and even on demand in a quality that is either ready for market or requires minimal finishing.
HP Jet Fusion 3D printers and a Nike 3D printed shoe.
Since the mid-1980s, AM has developed to become the most optimal rapid prototyping technology and an alternative to conventional manufacturing for final products. The AM industry is projected to reach $12.8bn this year with an annual growth of 15%. The additive nature of AM allows for more efficient production in terms of both speed and use of materials in comparison to subtractive manufacturing processes such as CNC machining. Furthermore, AM technologies can now produce parts of similar mechanical properties to those produced by conventional manufacturing methods such as injection moulding. Parts made from Polyamide 12 using selective laser sintering achieve a tensile strength 48 MPa and a flexural strength of 58 Mpa, while injection-moulded ABS parts achieve a tensile strength of up to 45 MPa and a flexural strength of 73 MPa. Other AM processes such as Polyjet have a selection of materials designed to simulate the mechanical properties of materials used in conventional manufacturing, such as silicone, different types of rubber, and polycarbonate. These have made AM ideal for rapid prototyping within the product design and development cycle, as the prototypes produced are of a quality close to that of the intended final product. Selective laser sintering is offered by major 3D printing bureaus such as Shapeways and Objective3D and has for some time been the AM process that produces the best mechanically performing plastic parts rapidly and cost-effectively. It is a process whereby a laser beam is used to fuse a thermopolymer layer by layer within a bed of the material in powder form. It requires
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less post-processing in comparison to other AM processes, and the Polyamide (nylon) parts produced are of a greater surface quality to other AM processes. Multi jet fusion has recently experienced great improvement thanks to HP’s Voxel technology. Multi jet fusion deposits a fusing agent on a bed of thermopolymer layer by layer. It too, produces parts in Polyamide polymer, therefore achieving good mechanical properties. HP’s Voxel technology, which allows for control of properties with precision of up to 25 microns, has enabled HP to deliver a superior AM process to selective laser sintering. Additionally, with the Voxel technology, it’s possible to 3D print coloured parts including multiple colours within the same part. HP’s multi jet fusion process utilises multiple deposition heads per layer and therefore prints parts significantly faster than selective laser sintering. In addition to the fusing agent, it deposits a detailing agent and utilises controlled heat producing parts of a greater surface quality to selective laser sintering. The ability to produce strong coloured parts with a good surface finish, positions HP’s multi jet fusion technology as the prime option for end-use additive manufacturing.
Melbourne-based design firm Hone Product Design (Hone PD) had the opportunity to design and produce products with both selective laser sintering and multi jet fusion for end use, including designing products for Form Prosthetics. Form’s prosthetic covers enable amputees to be more confident regarding their prosthetic limbs through the beautiful and expressive aesthetics of the covers. The first products designed for Form were covers customised for each amputee by mirroring their intact limb. A manufacturing process that allowed for financially feasible production of unique units of the product was required, making AM ideal. Throughout the design process, various AM processes and materials were considered and tested, of which, selective laser sintering of Nylon 12 emerged superior. AM allowed Hone PD to reduce the number of components within the product through its ability to achieve complex forms. It eliminated issues presented by conventional manufacturing such as undercuts and need of drafted surfaces. Implementation of Design for Additive Manufacturing guidelines enabled us to produce robust covers more than capable
ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
of withstanding mechanical stresses of day-to-day activities. After production, the post-processing involved on the covers included cleaning with air blasting, priming, and painting. The second product currently under development for Form is a standardised design of the prosthetic covers. Hone PD’s goal is to produce products in a range of sizes to fit most amputees’ prosthetic limbs. Being a standardised design with identical units within the size ranges, production with conventional manufacturing was considered. However, the requirement for multiple sizes and patterns would necessitate a significant start-up investment to produce many injection moulding tools. Due to the market volumes, even in this scenario, AM may present potential benefits over conventional manufacturing, specifically the elimination of high setup
capital barriers, illustrating the earlier mentioned opportunity AM can present to small business. With HP’s multi jet fusion technology now available, products like the Form standardised cover can be produced with minimal post-processing as the parts are printed in colour and with an improved surface finish. Other businesses utilising AM for end use to bring their ideas to fruition include Nervous System, which creates jewellery, art, and homewares of unconventionally beautiful organic geometry in various materials. Preceyes, another example, produces components for its high-precision eyesurgery robots using AM, which suits its need of quick iterations and low volumes.
the dream of AM’s Industrial Revolution alive and bring it closer to an indisputable reality. Hone PD continues to seek more opportunities of maximising AM’s capabilities to develop better products quicker and more affordably for our clients and consumers. www.honepd.com
AM is still rapidly advancing as demonstrated by companies such as Carbon, which is developing processes that will increase the speed and quality of 3D printing. Such advancements keep
Titomic launches world’s largest, fastest metal 3D printer Titomic held an event at its factory in Mount Waverly, Victoria, on 16 May to mark the official launch of the world’s largest metals 3D printer. as well as a renowned North American bicycle brand. Titomic recently announced an exclusive 12-month collaboration with Callaway Golf, the world’s largest golf club manufacturer, and will see its advanced manufacturing skills used to develop novel products for the brand.
Boasting a capacity of 9m x 3m x by 1.5m, Titomic’s industrial-scale 3D printer overcomes size and speed constraints present in all other 3D printers for manufacturing in metals. With a process codeveloped with CSIRO, Titomic’s machine features patented additive manufacturing technology that has the potential to transform the future of Australian and international advanced manufacturing.
To celebrate the world’s largest metal 3D printer and to couple Titomic’s capabilities with the imaginations of the future generations, Titomic also launched a competition for Australian schoolkids, called Cre8 the Future. Cre8 the Future invites kids to draw the future of transport and the winner with the most creative design will have his or her drawing printed in large scale by Titomic and turned into play equipment for their school.
From airplane wings to submarines, Titomic’s technology is capable of making large complex parts in minutes and fusing dissimilar materials and enables metal products to be manufactured without melting. “We’re obviously proud to officially launch Titomic’s first large-scale metal 3D printer,” said Titomic’s Chairman Philip Vafiadis. “We hope industry leaders understand that this is more than an advancement of 3D printing but rather it is the beginning of the race to displace traditional large scale industrial manufacturing processes constrained by economics.” Jeff Lang, Titomic’s CEO and CTO, added “As a company we look forward to fully realising the potential of advanced manufacturing, both locally and globally. The capabilities of Australian ingenuity
Jeff Lang, Titomic’s CEO and CTO, inside the record-breaking machine.
coupled with our unique technology is limited only by the imagination.” On 14 May, just days before the machine’s launch, Titomic announced it had entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Fincantieri Australia to explore potential uses for the printer in the marine sector. Titomic’s existing customers include mining engineering company Callidus
“We’re proud to be an Australian company to have successfully co-developed a new way of manufacturing with CSIRO, which will better utilise the abundant titanium mineral sands in Australia, and will challenge the traditions of how products are designed and made in aviation, space, defence, marine, infrastructure, transportation, consumer goods and other key industries around the world,” said Lang. www.titomic.com www.cre8thefuture.org
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Stanley Black & Decker slashes costs and time with Markforged 3D printer By using Markforged 3D printer, engineers at Stanley Black & Decker saved thousands of dollars per year while replicating the quality and reliability of machined parts. Stanley Black & Decker, an S&P 500 company, is a diversified global provider of hand tools, power tools and related accessories, electronic security solutions, healthcare solutions, engineered fastening systems, and more. Its Stanley Infrastructure division is searching for ways to manufacture low-volume, complex parts in a cost-efficient manner. By leveraging Markforged’s Metal X additive manufacturing technology, the Infrastructure team expects to slash capital costs on two different parts: an actuator housing for the PD45 hydraulic post driver, and a wheel shaft for the PG10 grofile ‘Frog’ grinder. Engineers at Stanley Infrastructure rigorously tested the performance, durability, and lifecycle of each of the two parts and approved them for use as production parts for a fraction of the cost.
The Stanley PD 45 The Stanley PD 45 is a high efficiency hydraulic post hole driver. To actuate the hydraulic driving mechanism, the device uses a group of ball bearings to transfer the trigger pull force into the hydraulic actuator. The actuator housing holds these bearings in series to transfer pull force around a bend. Each housing is tested every time the operator pulls the trigger. The original actuator housing consisted of four parts: a cast and machined main housing; a laser cut cover plate; and two bolts to fasten the housing assembly together. Stanley Infrastructure engineers redesigned the part to print on the Metal X. Instead of a four-part assembly, the redesigned part prints in one piece without supports. Stanley Infrastructure tested three identical parts printed on the Metal X. These parts proved durable through tens of thousands of cycles and strong enough to handle significant compressive load while also being 53% lighter. By replacing its current manufacturing work flow with the Metal X, Stanley Infrastructure saves between 34% and 48% on manufacturing costs and reduces part lead time by 69%. While these are significant savings, the Metal X is even more effective in single part manufacturing. Stanley Infrastructure often produces single replacement parts for devices in the field. Because its existing process only produces parts in batches, printing single parts with the Metal X is 12.5 times cheaper and 20 times faster than casting and machining. The Metal X further undercuts this process by being a pay-per-part machine instead of a pay-perbatch machine. According to one Stanley Infrastructure engineer: “It is very feasible to leverage the Metal X platform in additively manufacturing the discussed actuator housing with very minimal capital and time investment.”
The Stanley PG10 The Stanley PG10 Profile Grinder is used to perform surfacefinishing operations on railroad tracks. The wheel shaft holds adjustable guide wheels onto the body of the grinder. Each part is loaded with the full weight of the grinder and is subject to shock loads. The geometry of this part, with its large flange and long aspect ratio, means that it’s volumetrically inefficient and expensive to manufacture.
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Stanley Infrastructure used to machine these parts out of a single block of steel. Because of the size of the flange and the length of the shaft, they wasted around 90% of the stock material in each part. With the help of Markforged, Stanley Infrastructure engineers redesigned the wheel shaft to be a three-part assembly. By purchasing an off-the-shelf shaft and key, they were able to easily print the flange on the Metal X. Stanley Infrastructure tested three samples with drop tests. The parts passed durability testing (many small drops of the grinder onto a steel work surface) and abuse testing (extreme shock testing involving drops of the same grinder from high heights, such as a truck bed) while being 20% lighter than the original part. By replacing the wheel shaft with Markforged’s printed flange and shaft assembly, Stanley Infrastructure cut its production lead time in half and saved between one-quarter and half of its production budget for full-volume manufacturing. However, since this part is a high-wear component and the production volume for this grinder is low, the most lucrative use of the Metal X comes from the savings it delivers in one-off manufacturing. Replacing the inefficient-tomachine original part with a Metal X print yields cost and time savings amounting to 25 and 50 times respectively on a single part manufacturing basis. Parts printed on the Metal X have the potential to save industrial customers significant capital if utilised correctly. By designing intelligently for these machines, minimising print time, and using offthe-shelf parts when possible, it’s possible to produce high-quality parts much more cost effectively than subtractive manufacturing. www.markforged.com www.redstack.com.au www.stanleyblackanddecker.com
Delivering solutions for additive manufacturing
Renishaw’s metal powder bed fusion is an advanced additive manufacturing process that builds complex metal parts direct from 3D CAD data in a variety of metals. Benefits of the additive manufacturing process include: • Rapid design iterations • Bespoke or customised items • Reduce tooling costs • Build complex geometries such as thin walls, lattices and internal features • Increased design freedom - AM is not constrained by traditional design rules We offer a range of solutions for metal additive manufacturing, from systems, metal powders, ancillaries and software through to expert advice and support service.
For more information visit www.renishaw.com/additive
Renishaw Oceania Pty Ltd Unit 4, 6 – 7 Gilda Court, Mulgrave, Vic 3170, Australia T +61 3 9521 0922 F +61 3 9521 0932 E australia@renishaw.com
www.renishaw.com
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Bugatti develops world’s first 3D-printed brake caliper With its Veyron and Chiron super sports cars, Bugatti Automobiles has established itself as a pioneer in the extreme performance sector of the automotive industry. Now it has achieved a new coup, designing a brake caliper that can be produced by 3D printing. Moreover, while the main material used for the additive production of vehicle components to date has been aluminium, the new brake caliper is made from titanium. This is therefore the world’s largest functional component 3D printed from titanium. Vehicle trials for the use of the 3D titanium brake caliper in series production are to start by mid-2018. “Vehicle development is a never-ending process. This is particularly true at Bugatti,” says Frank Götzke, Head of New Technologies in Bugatti’s Technical Development Department. “We are always considering how new materials and processes can be used to make our current model even better and how future vehicles could be designed. As our performance data are often at the physical limits, we are especially demanding. This is why Bugatti always goes at least one step further than other manufacturers in the development of technical solutions.” Götzke joined Bugatti in 2001 and played a key role in the development of both the Veyron and the Chiron. Bugatti currently uses the most powerful brakes in the world on the new Chiron, with calipers forged from high-strength aluminium alloy. Featuring eight titanium pistons on each front caliper and six on each rear unit, they are also the largest brake calipers currently installed on a production vehicle, combining minimum weight with maximum stiffness. With the new, 3D-printed titanium brake caliper, Bugatti is now going one step further. This particular titanium alloy, Ti6AI4V, is mainly used in aerospace, for example in highly stressed undercarriage and wing components or in aircraft and rocket engines. The material offers considerably higher performance than aluminium – even as a 3D-printed component, it has a tensile strength of 1,250N per square millimetre.
Bugatti’s eight-piston monobloc brake caliper is the first to be produced by a 3D printer, and the largest titanium functional component produced by additive manufacturing. © 2018 Bugatti Automobiles.
complex structures that are significantly stiffer and stronger than with conventional production process. Götzke found the selective laser melting units required at Laser Zentrum Nord in Hamburg. Over the past few years, Laser Zentrum Nord has received a large number of national and international innovation awards for its work in industry. “Laser Zentrum Nord is one of many scientific institutes with which we have developed very good cooperation over the years,” Götzke explains. “Thanks to the large number of projects completed, mainly for the aviation industry, the institute has comprehensive know-how especially in the field of titanium processing and offers mature technology.”
The new titanium brake caliper, which is 41cm long, 21cm wide and 13.6cm high, weighs only 2.9kg. The aluminium component currently used weighs 4.9kg, so Bugatti could reduce the weight of the caliper by about 40% while ensuring even higher strength by using the new part.
Development for the 3D-printed brake caliper was very quick, about three months from the first idea to the first printed component. The basic concept, the strength and stiffness simulations and calculations and the design drawings were sent to Laser Zentrum Nord by Bugatti as a complete data package. The institute then carried out process simulation, design of supporting structures, actual printing and the treatment of the component. Bugatti was responsible for finishing.
This approach was previously not feasible because it is extremely difficult to mill or forge components from titanium due to its extremely high strength. This problem has been solved using an extremely highperformance 3D printer, which also opens up the possibility of generating even more
The special 3D printer at Laser Zentrum Nord is equipped with four 400W lasers. Titanium powder is deposited layer by layer, with the lasers melting it into the shape defined for the brake caliper. The material cools immediately and the caliper take shape. It takes 45 hours to print the brake
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caliper, with a total of 2,213 layers required. Following completion of the final layer, any remaining titanium powder that has not melted is removed. What remains is a brake caliper, with a supporting structure to maintain its shape until it receives stabilising heat treatment. This is carried out in a furnace where the caliper is exposed to an initial temperature of 700 degrees Celsius, falling to 100 degrees during the process, to eliminate residual stress and ensure dimensional stability. Finally, the supporting structures are removed and the component is separated from the tray. In the next stage, the surface is smoothed in a combined mechanical, physical and chemical process that drastically improves fatigue strength – the component’s longterm durability. Finally, the contours of functional surfaces, such as the piston contact surfaces or threads, are machined in a five-axis milling machine, which takes another 11 hours to complete. The result is a delicately shaped component with wall thicknesses between one and four millimetres. “It was a very moving moment for the team when we held our first titanium brake caliper from the 3D printer in our hands,” Götzke recalls. “In terms of volume, this is the largest functional component produced from titanium by additive manufacturing methods. Everyone who looks at the part is surprised at how light it is – despite its large size. Technically, this is an extremely impressive brake caliper, and it also looks great.” www.bugatti.com
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COMPANY FOCUS
TRJ Engineering – Managing growth For any manufacturer, being “too busy” is always a good problem to have. And after more than four decades of growth, it’s a challenge TRJ Engineering has become adept at managing. By William Poole.
When you walk around TRJ Engineering’s premises in Hallam, it seems to epitomise the modern, efficient manufacturing operation. The large, open workshop is organised into clearly defined areas according to products and processes, organised along rational, coherent lines for maximum efficiency. Management and administration are housed in a separated building, connected to the factory by a footbridge that provides a comprehensive view out across the entire shopfloor. It’s an impressive set-up. But it wasn’t always like this. Two years ago TRJ was based a couple of streets away, in three adjacent blocks on Apollo Drive. The business was doing well – indeed its occupation of multiple sites was indicative of its success. However, operating a growing manufacturing business spread across three separate workshops presented constant logistical challenges. David Murphy, TRJ’s owner and managing director, recalls the “lightbulb moment” when he realised things had to change. “It was a Saturday morning, I was sitting out there with a coffee, watching three or four forklifts moving in and out of factories from site to site, like ballet. Something coming out of welding had to go back into the machine shop, two factories up the road. Sometimes we had to get a truck and put work on it and then follow the truck with a forklift to the other shop and pull it out. And I was thinking: how can we be efficient when we’re doing it this way? It doesn’t make sense.” So in late 2016 TRJ moved again, just round the corner to Westpool Drive. At 3,800sqm, the new facility is 600sqm larger than the three old sites combined, with a purpose-built machining shop, eight dedicated general fabrication bays and six welding bays. The facility has gas lines plumbed in throughout, eliminating the need for gas bottles in the welding bays, and 16-ton and 10-ton cranes overhead, where previously TRJ only had five-tonners. Aside from the obvious benefits of not having forklifts and trucks running along the road between sites, the consolidation of the business under one roof has helped streamline communications and the overall management of operations. Despite these upgrades, TRJ still seems like a business bursting at the seams. When AMT visits, a section of the front driveway is strewn
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with large, irregular structures made from COR-TEN steel – parts of a decorative wall the company is creating for the City of Casey – while every corner of the workplace is humming with activity. The increased capabilities and efficiencies resulting from the relocation have increased the company’s capacity to service the demands of its customers, and accordingly, those demands have increased. “I think what we did is create a void,” says David. “I know when we first moved in here I though it was going to be quiet for some time, but now we’ve got to build 60 B-doubles between now and Christmas. That’s going to be a challenge.” Of course, anyone in manufacturing will tell you too much demand is preferable to too little. For TRJ, a business that has maintained more or less consistent expansion over forty-plus years in business, it’s a problem they’re used to dealing with.
Ongoing expansion David’s father Terry Murphy founded TRJ in 1974, operating from a small factory in Dandenong, south-east Melbourne. There were a couple of moves to larger premises in Keysborough as the business grew, before the relocation to nearby Hallam, and the first of the three sites on Apollo Drive. It was also around this time, the late 1990s, that David came onboard, eventually taking over from his dad in running the company. “I never really wanted to come and work for the ‘old man’,” says David. “It was one of those things that just happened. He bought out his brother and then made the phone call to me. I was running a tool room in Keysborough at that stage. It wasn’t the same kind of work I was doing there, but it kind of just evolved into that.” The company continued its steady growth, expanding to occupy the factories on either side, and then finally moving to Westpool Drive. “We’ve gone from strength to strength,” says David. “When I started with Terry I think there were nine of us in total including myself and my father and the secretary – we used to park our cars in the factory because we had plenty of room. We currently employ 37 or 38. We increased our personnel pretty quickly.”
VICTORIA HEADING
David Murphy, TRJ Engineering’s Owner and Managing Director.
David describes TRJ as “general engineers in the broadest term”. The company works across areas ranging from the truck industry and earth-moving equipment, to street furniture and retail fittings, producing anything from small brackets to B-double truck chassis for refrigerated trucks. One current project involves the manufacture of caravan components in a collaboration with Hilton Manufacturing in Dandenong. Another contract is with the City of Perth, to produce street furniture. Vandal covers for earth-moving machinery are a big part of the business – David designed the company’s first set around 15 years ago and now TRJ produces between 20 and 30 units a month. To meet the demands of such a diverse customer base, TRJ makes investment in the latest technology an ongoing priority. The company recently purchased several water-cooled inverter welders, and is looking into acquiring vertical storage units and possibly another crane. Also under consideration is an additional fibre laser, a machine that illustrates how technology has changed the way companies like TRJ work. “We used to cut everything on the guillotine,” says Murphy. “And you look now and say ‘Gee it takes up a lot of floor space. Maybe we ought to get another laser cutter’. That’s where the business is evolving and changing. We were probably one of the first sheet metal or engineering companies that had our own laser cutter. That laser goes for eight or nine hours every single day of the week. It doesn’t stop. “Where before we would guillotine something and bend it and then build up a welding jig and make it all fit around that jig, now we actually laser cut it with tabs and holes so they actually lock into each other and we don’t need a jig. We’re trying to think cleverer in regard to end use, how we’re putting them together, and improving our accuracy.” This in turn highlights the attention TRJ pays to its processes. With support from the Federal Government’s Entrepreneurs’ Programme, the team has undergone a full internal course in Lean manufacturing, and Lean principles are implemented throughout TRJ’s operations. All jobs are processed through “first-in, first-out lanes”, where each task goes in one end and out the other within a 24-hour timeframe; and every Friday afternoon the whole workshop gets a thorough clean-up, regardless of any jobs going on at the time. “Another goal we set was not to work Saturdays,” David adds. “That’s that balance between work and life, trying to stop people being here. We use Saturdays to fill in the gaps and try to get in front. We should not be doing that; we should be not be here on the weekend. We need to recharge. So that’s what we’re working on at the moment.”
Maintaining a happy, engaged workforce is evidently a key goal. A team meeting is held once a month with all staff encouraged to air any ideas or concerns. There’s also a suggestion box where anyone can offer potential ways to improve operations. Meanwhile, a shared passion for cars helps to unite the team at TRJ. “We’re all car-mad here,” says David. “One of the boys has a couple of Mustangs; a couple of them are building hotrods. I’ve just finished building a 1932 Roadster, which has been pretty successful and won a few awards. Then we’ve got the four-wheel drive guys as well. Having that common interest does make a difference, that common thread through the place.”
Meeting client needs David attributes TRJ’s steady flow of work to the strong client base it has built over the years, which means it doesn’t really have to go looking for jobs. That customer loyalty stems from the company’s willingness to take on any job, no matter how challenging, though David concedes this can also be their downfall: “I often say ‘If it’s made out of steel or aluminium or stainless steel, we can make it’. And sometimes we end up making the projects no-one else wants to make, so it causes some grief .” The team prides itself on being able to solve its customers’ problems: talking through an issue, working out the specific requirements, and then being able to come forward with suggestions for alternative solutions. “Having that really good relationship with all the clients we work with, we constantly try to look at something and say ‘We can make that better if we do it this way’,” David says. “And I think that’s the reason why we get a lot of our work, the fact we can help reduce some costs at their end.” The move to a single site has probably come at just the right time for TRJ, with the company entering a particularly busy spell: “We’re going through a bit of a growth phase again at the moment. When we moved in here we said ‘Look how much room we’ve got’, but that soon got swallowed up pretty quickly.” TRJ’s hectic workload reflects a fast-improving outlook that David is seeing across manufacturing in Australia at the moment. And while that growing demand inevitably presents some challenges, his team at TRJ are more than ready to take them on. “Everyone is busy. It’s busy everywhere at the moment, even with our sub-contractors that we send work out to, they’re under pressure as well at the moment. Delivery times get longer, which is no good for anyone. It does have its challenges. But we’re trying to deal with it. We try to work a bit smarter and bit more efficiently to keep everyone happy.” www.trjengineering.com.au
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STATE SPOTLIGHT
Victorian manufacturers invest in innovation With an air of confidence across the local manufacturing industry, engineering companies in Victoria are investing in the latest plant and machinery to improve productivity, workflow and efficiency, to remain internationally competitive, and to seek out new domestic and export markets. SWI Engineering – Globally respected machinery SWI Engineering has grown steadily since the 1990s to become one of the largest sheet metal machinery manufacturers in Australia. The Warrnambool-based company now enjoys significant acclaim internationally as a high-quality manufacturer with the most comprehensive range of high-tech sheet metal machinery in the world, effectively competing against European and US manufacturers, where those companies tend to specialise on just one type of machine. Manufacturing sheet metal folders, automatic slitters and uncoilers, plus the seamless eBend app, the company now has a strong domestic market with volume export sales to United Kingdom, USA, New Zealand and Asia. SWI Engineering has recently commissioned an Okuma CNC horizontal machining centre model MA-600HII with OSP-P300MA control and ten- pallet facility, along with a Fanuc Robocut model Alpha-C600iA wire cutter with Fanuc series control. “Manufacturers rave about these machines as they are not too complicated with easy programming, are totally reliable, and provide consistent, high-end quality product.” says SWI Managing Director Ken Veal. “Okuma was selected on performance, back-up service and training from the manufacturer and with all production in-house these were all important aspects we considered.”
The new machine replaces two older machines. Once loaded and programmed, it runs 24 hours a day, with one operator or even unmanned, with remote access where necessary. SWI’s skilled operators are excited about the new machine and its ability to produce consistent high-quality output. All aspects of research & development, design, engineering, manufacture and marketing of SWI’s range of machines are handled in-house. Recently, the introduction of advanced and sophisticated networking technology, which allows communication between the company’s various machine models, is now providing a distinct market advantage. Safeguarding the future of manufacturing in Australia, SWI Engineering continues to train apprentices and has a record of retaining these valuable skills among its 30-plus staff.
Roysen Engineering – Competing through precision A third-generation family-owned and operated specialist engineering company, Roysen Engineering has invested in its first Okuma machines with the commissioning of the Okuma Genos M560V-e S15 vertical machining centre, an LB3000 EXII BMYCx950 CNC lathe and a Robojob Turn Assist 250 robotic automation solution. The acquisitions are part of a strategic move to improve efficiency and maintain a competitive edge by utilising precision machinery.
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VICTORIA HEADING
“The selection of the Okuma brand was based on the respect this brand has in the market for consistency, dependability and precision along with the company-backed technical training and local service back up,” says Roysen’s Managing Director Jenny Harding. “Okuma personnel have been professional and responsive in every way, allowing for a smooth process from quotation through to commissioning. We are now taking advantage of their training to ensure we achieve the ultimate return from this major investment.” Roysen was established in 1958, predominately machining components for the automotive industry and other local manufacturers including marine, pump and firefighting industries. In the early 1980s the business diversified and began to develop its own brands. Today, the business continues to engineer and manufacture its own brands while also machining components for businesses associated with the building, construction and mining industries. The company is highly respected for its accuracy, specialising in milling, drilling, tapping and thread cutting. Today Roysen is also recognised as Australia’s leading manufacturer of commercial fitness equipment under its Australian Barbell Company brand, which is internationally known for its premiumquality dumbbells, barbells, rigs, racks and fitness equipment. With premium-quality Australian manufactured products that are highly regarded around the world, a strategic plan has been developed whereby the company can expand into international markets and take full advantage of the worldwide fitness and healthy living phenomenon. Roysen Production Manager Craig Jackson comments that the introduction of the new Okuma machines will take the company to a new level, already achieving significant advances in efficiency, workflow and precision – assisted in part by the straightforward programming that these machines require. Jackson adds that the new machines have created an air of excitement among his team and a stimulating work environment, especially for the younger engineers within the company.
Omega Technical Engineering – Taking on new challenges Established in 2004 in a building just 150sqm in size, Omega Technical Engineering has evolved into an innovative design and manufacturing facility, providing a perfect example for anyone who might suggest that manufacturing is dead in Australia. The company, taken over in 2015 by the present owner and Managing Director Cheyne Forbes, recently moved into a new 3,000sqm facility, and is investing heavily in the latest and most advanced plant and technology, including sophisticated CNC machinery, robotics and metrology. Cheyne has overseen the operations of the business since the installation of the first machines, with the company now being the largest CNC machine shop of its type in the region. Okuma is a key supplier in the move by Omega to reduce lead times by increasing machine hours and improving efficiency practises; coupled with the benefit of increasing cost effectiveness. The latest investment
is a state-of-the-art Okuma Multus U4000-2SW x 1500 with OSPP300SA control, complementing existing equipment including a Fanuc Robocut model Alpha 1iE with Fanuc 310isWA control. “Okuma was a standout for us due to its footprint, the machines specifications, its build quality and the level of factory service available,” says Forbes. “Okuma has a unique approach to fixed service charges with the customer uppermost in mind, treating us as a metro client rather than a regional customer, which keeps our training and maintenance costs down. Also, the level of technical support and unlimited training from people who know the industry is just exceptional.” The latest machine has reduced eight operations on complex multi-facet propriety turning and milling jobs to one operation on the Multus, producing high-quality finished product from loaded bar stock. In addition, the Multus opens the door to the local production of complex jobs at competitive prices, with the investment providing the company with the capability and capacity to manufacture significant in-house components that were previously imported. Strategically located in Wodonga, between the major markets of Sydney and Melbourne, Omega is on a solid growth trajectory. With plans to provide clients access to the full range of in-house skills including packaging, brand development and marketing, the company is expanding on the current offering of design, prototyping and manufacture. With strong order books, and a positive forecast from a diverse range of domestic and export clients in automotive, agriculture, medical, defence, mining, food and general engineering, Omega will be producing propriety multi-facet components, while continuing to service subcontracting clientele. The investment in advanced technologies and equipment is being embraced by the skilled team at Omega. With the recent expansion in facility, capabilities and capacity, the forecast looks bright for this progressive engineering company. “We are also seeing an increase in interest from highly skilled tradespeople in the region, who see a company willing to take on new challenges and technology as part of the future of manufacturing in Australia,” says Forbes. www.okumaaustralia.com.au www.swiengineering.com.au www.roysen.com.au www.omegatechnical.com.au
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STATE SPOTLIGHT
Vernier– A passion for manufacturing For three quarters of a century, the Victorian Vernier Society has provided a meeting place for those who consider manufacturing essential in sustaining a strong, vibrant Australian economy. Here the Society’s President Kerry Little takes us on a tour of its history, and its plans for the future. In 1942, with World War 2 at its height in the Asia Pacific region, a group of Melbourne manufacturing companies formed the Victorian Vernier Society with the aim of assisting the war effort by cooperatively increasing their production. The Society quickly became a meeting place for Melburnian manufacturing people to share experiences, information and stories. Many manufacturing businesses at that time were family-owned and as manufacturing became crucial to the growing post-war Australian economy, the Society’s monthly luncheon became a gathering place for all those who believed passionately in ‘making things’. In 2017, Vernier celebrated 75 years of existence. Despite manufacturing’s diminished role in the Australian economy, the reduced number of family-owned manufacturing businesses and the decline in manufacturing employment, the Society has remained the monthly meeting place for all those who have a passion for manufacturing. The Society still believes, perhaps more than ever in today’s globalised world, that making things is essential for a vibrant, sustainable Australian economy. The Society appreciates the nature of business is changing, manufacturing is transforming and advancing, and business leaders have more pressures on their time than ever before. Yet there is still great strength in continuity and networks, as exemplified by Vernier. In 1938, the Australian manufacturing sector’s contribution to GDP was 19%, just short of the rural sector’s contribution of 20%. With the outbreak of war in 1939, industrialisation increased as Australia switched its resources to supporting the war effort as key industries expanded and new ones grew to produce munitions, ships, aircraft and new kinds of machinery. Machinery imports dried up as most machines were imported from England, which needed to work at full capacity just to keep pace with its own needs. To ensure the optimum use of machines and equipment, Government bodies were set up to ration and control their use. Manpower also required strict planning as people were moved around from one facility to another to maximise output. Previously maledominated craft unions allowed women to replace men at the bench and semi-skilled workers carried out the previous work of the skilled.
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In 1942, most manufacturing companies were small (30 to 100 workers) and predominantly family businesses of father and son used to an uncontrolled economy where production was geared to local needs and chosen markets. Government bodies began to operate a ‘command’ economy but shortages occurred such as in quality steels, specialty materials and modern manufacturing processes. Vernier was inaugurated in Melbourne to specifically assist in finding practical solutions to these problems using co-operation to lift production efficiency. After the war, the late 1940s and the 1950s saw the growth of industrialisation driven by a rising population fuelled by immigration and increasing demand for consumer products. It was also a time of increased unionisation and increasing labour shortages. The Vernier Executive was instrumental in solving this problem; four Vernier executives led a mission to England to recruit 250 skilled workers, mainly engineering and foundry tradesmen and electricians whose migration was subsidised by members’ contributions. While England was equally keen to keep its skilled labour, in the end 500 tradesmen emigrated. As well as acquiring skilled labour, the Society was heavily involved in the promotion of apprenticeships and the establishment of technical education centres, from which Monash University with its strong engineering and science departments was eventually created.
By the 1960s, manufacturing had peaked at just over 25% of GDP and employed around a quarter of the nation’s workforce, but since the mid-1970s the manufacturing sector has seen a slow, steady decline as a result of sharp increases in labour costs, exchange rate challenges and the long-term failure to match productivity gains in other countries. Australian manufacturing has become more specialised. Imports now account for about 30% of total sales of manufactured goods in the Australian market, compared with around 21% in the late 1980s. On the other hand, nearly 13% of Australian manufacturing output is now exported, twice as much as in the 1980s (though this has fallen slightly since 2001). Australia’s top 30 manufactured exports now include specialised motor vehicles, pharmaceuticals, computer components, telecommunications equipment and aircraft components, though the recent demise of the mass-market automotive industry will change this profile. Through all these changes, the Vernier Society has managed to maintain a small but significant presence on the landscape of Melburnian manufacturing companies. While some members moved interstate and failed to build a complementary sister organisation in NSW, the Victorians enjoyed the celebration of their 50th year of existence in 1992 with the issue of a book edited by historian Geoffrey Blainey called
VICTORIA The Victorian Vernier Society remains a monthly meeting place for those who have a passion for manufacturing.
The Victorian Vernier Society’s president Kerry Little.
the ‘Collective Memoir’. An extract from the book explains the ethos of the Victorian Vernier Society: “Vernier exists not as a set of incidents in time and space but rather as an Australian spirit and a culture that has filled a room in Melbourne, once a month, for 50 years. Our spirit and culture has remained remarkably stable over time. In this way we are a negation of history; history is about change whereas Vernier is about continuity.”
Why manufacturing matters On 5 August 2011, hundreds of tourists and space enthusiasts packed the Florida shoreline of Cape Canaveral to watch as the Juno space probe was launched. Following a near-five-year journey to Jupiter, the probe will complete 32 rotations of the gas giant, skimming within 5,000km of the planet’s cloud tops and sending back millions of pieces of information. Each component of the spacecraft has been manufactured to extraordinary precision and assembled with infinite care at the Lockheed Martin space system facility in the US. This is not just advanced manufacturing – this is leading-edge manufacturing. When the first pictures come back, imagine not just the great thrill of the NASA scientists, but the great pride of all Lockheed Martin people who assembled the craft; the skill and innovation of the component sub-contractors who were part of its manufacture; and the pride in every American who can say “my country manufactured and delivered this marvellous piece of engineering”. Manufacturing is not just a journey to the stars but an essential pathway to prosperity. Imagine all the spin-off technologies that have come with this fabulous piece of engineering. This is why manufacturing is so important to the success of a nation, and so important to the Vernier Society. People watched the Juno launch on televisions and computers, read about it on iPads, listened to reports as they
drive their cars, or read of it as they sat in aircraft. All of these mechanisms are the results of innovative manufacturing, but the likelihood is that none of these products were manufactured in Australia. All who are part of Vernier and anyone who has worked in manufacturing knows the pride and satisfaction in seeing what they helped manufacture being delivered to customers, whether it be aerospace parts, tankers, trucks or CNC grinding machines. But manufacturing is declining for a variety of reasons – now Australia can not even boast of an automotive industry and Australian manufacturing is weaker for it. The Vernier Society members are determined to demonstrate that a sustaining, vibrant manufacturing sector is crucial to Australia, its economy, and its place in a globalised world. Vernier believes passionately in the importance of manufacturing for Australia. Manufacturing is crucial to the economic success of the nation. The days of manufacturing being a major source of employment have diminished with automation and competition from lower labour cost developing countries, but it can still be a powerhouse to the economy through exporting world-class products, as demonstrated by high-cost, high-value manufacturing nations like Germany and Switzerland. Vernier’s mission is to focus on three major aspects of promoting the importance of manufacturing. The first is to change the public perception of manufacturing. Manufacturing has changed dramatically from its Latin meaning of ‘making by hand’. Leading manufacturing companies are no longer ‘dark satanic mills’; they are modern, clean, bright, efficient places to work, where highly skilled engineers and craftsmen operate hightechnology CNC machines. They are no longer ‘fitters and turners’ but manufacturing technicians. Manufacturing is no longer just a mechanical skill; it is truly mechatronic.
Manufacturing takes place just as much on the CAD station or in the patents office or in the software area as it does on the shop floor. All these professions and professionals contribute to make a physical entity leave the manufacturing facility, whether it is a wind turbine, a medical product for blood diagnosis, a drone for agricultural management, or even a spacecraft. They are all tangible products that enhance modern life. The second focus for the Society is increasing collaboration among all parties in the manufacturing space. All the academic studies show that Australia is one of the worst countries for collaboration among companies and between academia and industry. This was confirmed by Vernier’s own study program in 2014 of Victorian manufacturers. While there is a lot of talk of collaboration, there is still a long way to go – between companies and the unions particularly – when one considers how countries such as Germany have strong working relationships across all aspects. It will be interesting to see whether organisations like the Australian Advanced Manufacturing Council (AAMC) can help build a more collaborative environment and if so the Society is keen to play its part. The third focus is on innovation. Much is said about innovation but it is too wide a subject. The Federal Government’s business.gov. au website says innovation “generally refers to changing processes or creating more effective processes, products and ideas”. Vernier is lucky to have some of Victoria’s leading companies who innovate with both new ideas and product development. Another feature of the Society is the monthly speaker program which provides a current view of innovation in leading countries and companies. Technological advance is the lifeblood of all developed nations and as Australia makes the transition from a resources-driven economy to a more diverse economy there is a danger that the value of manufacturing to the economy is allowed to diminish. The Victorian Vernier Society, in its small way, is determined not to let that happen! www.vernier.org.au
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Rolls-Royce selects Marand as Australian industry partner for SEA 5000
Following a thorough evaluation and selection process, Rolls-Royce has chosen Victoria-based engineering company Marand as its preferred industry partner for the MT30 gas turbine enclosure manufacture and integration, should the BAE Systems Global Combat Ship – Australia (GCS-A) be selected for the SEA 5000 Future Frigate programme. Headquartered in Moorabbin in Melbourne’s south-east suburbs, Marand designs and manufactures complex and innovative equipment and products to the aerospace, defence, mining, rail and renewable energy industries. It services a customer base that includes companies such as Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, Boeing, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto. The specialised integrated gas turbine enclosure is a highly complex engineering solution that provides the mechanical support, noise suppression, controls, air intake, exhaust outlet, ventilation and auxiliary supplies necessary to ensure optimal performance for the world’s most modern and power-dense marine gas turbine. “We are thrilled to be chosen by Rolls-Royce as their partner for the MT30 enclosure design development, manufacture and integration,” said Rohan Stocker, CEO of Marand. “The significant evaluation process and ultimate selection is a reflection of our world-class team, engineering and manufacturing capabilities that have proven performance working in global supply chains. “Completing the design development and manufacture here locally in Australia helps build the skills and future sovereign industrial capability required to support these critical propulsion system elements. We look forward to working with RollsRoyce should the Global Combat Ship – Australia be selected for the SEA 5000 Future Frigate programme.” BAE Systems is one of the contenders for the SEA 5000 program, offering the Global Combat Ship – Australia, a local variant of its Type 26 Global Combat Ship design, being built at BAE Systems in Glasgow, Scotland, for the Royal Navy. Rolls-Royce is providing a wide range of mission critical products to the Type 26, including the MT30 gas turbine, MTU diesel generators, mission bay handling system, propellers, steering gear and stabilisers, and equipment for refuelling at sea.
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“We’re delighted to announce that Marand is our preferred industry partner for the manufacture of the integrated MT30 gas turbine enclosure,” said Rob Madders, General Manager, Rolls-Royce Naval Marine Australia & New Zealand. “It fulfils an important milestone in our ambitious Australian industry capability strategy by securing a local supply chain for both the manufacture and sustainment of the enclosure including the transfer of highly specialised engineering skills and knowledge. “As the latest member of our global supply chain, Marand becomes an integral part of our rapidly growing MT30 market providing future export opportunities on world-wide naval programs. The MT30’s clear advantages have made it the turbine of choice for the latest Allied warships, including the US Navy’s Zumwalt class and Freedom class littoral combat ship, Italy’s landing helicopter dock and South Korea’s Daegu class frigates, as well as the UK’s Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers and Type 26 frigate. The MT30 will continue to replace aging turbine designs and we fully expect to add to the MT30’s family of warships in the very near future.
“For Type 26 the MT30 is rated to 36MW at 38 deg. Celsius ambient. This power, unrestricted by global climate conditions and combined with minimal maintenance makes it the perfect choice for GCS-A. The combination of Marand’s impressive engineering pedigree and the capabilities of the MT30, will give BAE Systems GCS-A worldleading capability now and into the future and we look forward to working with them on this exciting opportunity”. Further opportunities for Australian industry partners feature heavily in the Rolls-Royce offering for SEA 5000, explains Madders. “Now we have Marand on board, we’re expecting to confirm other Australian industry partners to join our Global Supply Chain,” he says. “If the BAE Systems GCS-A is selected, every product we supply will incorporate optimal Australian manufacture and assembly, further developing Australia’s sovereign industrial capability priorities set out in their continuous shipbuilding and defence strategies.” Rolls-Royce will be announcing further preferred industry partners for the manufacture and delivery of its products in the coming weeks; these will include propellers, the ship-to-ship refuelling at sea equipment, the mission bay handling system, steering gear and stabilisation systems. www.rolls-royce.com www.marand.com.au
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Gary Northover is the Executive Director of the Tractor & Machinery Association of Australia (TMA). He spoke to William Poole. AMT: Tell us about the TMA and its history. Gary Northover: The TMA is the industry association that represents importers, local manufacturers, dealers and distributors of agricultural tractors and machinery in Australia. We are the only national body that does this and we’ve been doing so for over 70 years now. The Association’s foundations have essentially been the large importers – the brand names you’d be familiar with – John Deere, Case New Holland and the like. As time’s gone on we’ve expanded to include some of the newer brands on the market, and people like Kubota that have entered into agricultural products in a fairly large way; they’re now a key member. We also represent local manufacturers and the dealers of all of that product who are spread right across the country. AMT: What’s the make-up of your member base? GN: The member base is essentially comprised of the large OEMs or importers, and all of their dealers. So right now there’s a number in the hundreds in terms of dealer representation. And then we have a number of local manufacturers that are members, along with a range of affiliate members who are suppliers to the industry. AMT: Is it an industry that’s largely dominated by imports? GN: We estimate that annual sales of agricultural equipment in Australia are around $3bn per year. Of this amount we estimate around 5%-10% is manufactured locally. If you think about the tractors and the prime movers, they’re all those large foreign-imported products. The local manufacturing scene is more to do with the trailers and tools and implements that go with those tractors such as tillage equipment, sprayers, work tools and such. AMT: What sort of activities does the TMA engage in? GN: The TMA has recently completed a review of its strategic plan and we have identified three key pillars that define what it is we do. The first of those is under the heading of “Safety and Regulatory”. We’re the go-to body for matters that might impact WHS issues surrounding our product and the use of our product in the market. We recently engaged with VicRoads and the Victorian Farmers Federation on the establishment of a new set of road rules governing the transport of agricultural equipment that we hope will lead to an improved National Standard. We are beginning to embrace technologies such as driverless tractors and have been at the forefront of assisting Government in understanding how the rules need to be developed to cope with these. On the training front, we’re a member of the industry reference committee for trade-based training. So we speak on behalf of the industry at the national level for all those things on the safety and regulatory front. Another key pillar is in the area of market statistics. We collect sales statistics and report those to the industry and to the market. We’re looking to further develop this as a tool to help all our members better understand what’s happening in the market and in their business.
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And the third pillar is under the heading of ‘Promotion’. We have a role in promoting the industry on the national stage particularly in areas such as employment and investment. We also assist with guidance and promotion of field days, they’ve been a big part of regional Australia for many years. AMT: And you also have a conference coming up? GN: Yes, this is an annual event the TMA runs to bring forward the issues the industry wants to talk about. It’s also a great networking opportunity as you can imagine. We’ve been running it in Melbourne for the last six years and this year we’ve decided to take it to Sydney in order to give greater access to our northern members. The theme of this year’s conference is ‘Thriving in the Face of Disruption’. We’re looking to build on the conversation around some of those disruptive elements out there – things like trade wars and how they’re going to impact our people, technology obviously, the issues that might affect employment and retaining staff and so on. So we think disruption is a pretty good theme for the conference this year. AMT: With regards to disruption, how is technology changing the sector? GN: Agriculture is a bit of a fertile ground – pardon the pun – for technology development. We’ve seen a lot being invested in everything from driverless tractors to productivity improvements in the farming process – be it through seeding, weeding, crop navigation and the like. There’s lots of investment, lots of work being done both locally and abroad. Today’s tractors are equipped with precision farming tools that are greatly enhancing the farming process and all manufacturers are in on the race in some form or other which is driving to strong growth in tractor sales across the board. AMT: How significant a role does Australian manufacturing play within the agricultural machinery sector and agriculture generally? GN: As I said earlier, local manufacturers comprise a small but important part of the sector and this is a key contributor to the implements and work tools supply. Foreign imports continue to put these manufacturers under pressure and there is no doubt they find the same challenge as all manufacturers do everywhere in the country. The price of labour, steel … their input costs are pretty significant, which makes it tough to manufacture successfully. You could almost describe local manufacturing as a bit “niche” in some regards. There are certain product lines such as large grain storage facilities and bins that might be difficult to import, tillage equipment that requires in-depth local knowledge -these lend themselves to be manufactured locally. So there’s still quite a thriving industry locally supported by numerous bespoke providers. AMT: Of your manufacturing members, are many of them exporting, or are they primarily serving the domestic market? GN: I’d say most of them are servicing the local market. There’s a small quantity that do a bit of export, but they’re battling against imports as much as anything in their local space so it’s hard to flip that around.
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AMT: For a manufacturing company hoping to find opportunities with the agribusiness sphere, what opportunities would you point to? GN: We’ve seen solid growth in tractor sales in the past couple of years driven largely by technology and efficiency improvements so anyone thinking of participating tin the market ought to focus on areas that support the technology uptake and seek out areas not presently being supported by imports. The under 40-horsepower tractor range has really been growing significantly, so we’ve seen a lot of new entrants in that market, and they typically utilise work tools and attachments to assist in their activities – mowers, rakes and the like. In the larger end of the market, we’re starting to see a lot more of a fleet management approach to tractor usage. In the past farmers might buy a tractor and run it without any real plan and one day decide to change it over. These days we’re seeing more product being purchased on term leases, with machines running for their “useful economic life” before being turning them over.
And as I said, as an industry body, we’re attempting to work at creating a bit more value for our membership. I think we probably have been through some tough times as an industry body, and we’re looking to create a bit more relevance to our members and trying to be a bit more of an open house to the whole industry and not just be a representative of the major OEMs. AMT: And what is the most satisfying aspect of the job? GN: Well look, agriculture has a buzz about it – there’s no doubt about. It’s seen as a key contributor to the Australian economy. It plays on the world stage. The technology is exciting, the challenges are being well met. We’d all like it to rain more and we’d all like commodity prices to be better, but still it’s an attractive, energised place to be. The Tractor & Machinery Association of Australia’s 2018 Conference, ‘Thriving in the Face of Disruption’, will be held on 17 July at the Novotel Sydney Brighton Beach in Brighton-Le-Sands NSW. www.tma.asn.au
This approach would seem to be a driver for the implements and tools that are used as well. AMT: What sort of measures would you like to see from Government to support the sector? GN: First it has to be said that Australian farmers are a pretty productive and efficient bunch. We’re probably the least subsidised agricultural industry in the world. I don’t think there’s too many that do it with less subsidy than we do. We don’t need Government to step in and save us. But the things that you’ve heard about: internet connectivity is a key one. There’s not much point in having all the latest technology available in agricultural products if you get it out of the back of a farm in Toowoomba and there’s no internet service to help it operate. Equally, infrastructure that supports agricultural product: roads, ports, rail systems. There’s work being done in that space, but we need to see Government continue to invest in that. And lastly, just in the skills side of things, our industry is struggling to keep skilled people. I know there’s a blueprint for regional Australian development, but we would like to see that continue to be advanced because people are leaving the bush, and that’s hurting our industry and our ability to function out there in those regional areas. AMT: Tell us about your professional background and how you ended up with the TMA. GN: Well I’m still quite new to the TMA, and new to the agricultural industry. I come from a background of civil construction. I had a period of 15 years with a Caterpillar dealer, managing their rental business up and down the Eastern Seaboard. Prior to that I was working for Brambles, similarly in an equipment rental space,so I’ve had a lot of exposure to equipment and construction and whilst that has taken me into the agricultural markets, I’m learning quickly about the intricacies of tractors and sprayers and all the technology associated with agriculture.
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AGRICULTURE, FOOD & BEVERAGES
IoT in agriculture, from oysters to apples The global population is growing fast and by 2050 it is expected to exceed nine billion. The agriculture industry needs to produce more food to meet the needs of a bigger population. But land and water resources are finite. The good news? The Internet of Things (IoT) presents a massive opportunity to make this task easier. By Christopher Woods. Bosch Australia customer The Yield knew how to revolutionise the way growers operate. First, it developed an IoT system to reduce the impact of costly oyster harvest closures in the aquaculture sector. Connecting oyster farms with Bosch IoT device management software decreased unnecessary harvest closures by 30%. As a result, this could save Australian oyster growers an estimated $21m a year.
Photo by Ben Stern on Unsplash
Following this success, the AgTech company extended IoT from aquaculture to agriculture. In October 2017 it launched Sensing+ for Agriculture, a tailor-made solution for irrigated crops: from apples and wine grapes to carrots, potatoes and leafy greens. In this case, The Yield is hosting back-end architecture on the cloud for greater flexibility and ease of use.
A unique microclimate sensing solution With a new generation of younger farmers taking the reins, agriculture businesses want smart systems to improve produce management. The Yield gives them an IoT technology to observe complex physical environments, relieving the burden of daily crop checks. Usually, when you manage a farm, you are never off the clock. Even when farmers aren’t physically outside tending to crops, they are observing weather patterns, obsessively checking for signs of frost or damage, and calculating the best time to protect, feed or water. The new microclimate-sensing system makes these mental gymnastics a thing of the past by combining real-time microclimate data with powerful analytics and forecasting. This allows farmers to remove the guesswork and start making decisions based on real data. To help Sensing+ collect microclimate data for analysis, Bosch worked with The Yield to develop the Farm Area Network (FAN). This includes: • Microclimate sensors (tracking solar radiation, wind speed, rainfall, soil moisture, leaf wetness, etc.). • Sensor nodes that collect data from the sensors. These are solar-powered and use the long-range and mesh network communication protocol 6LowPAN. • A central on-farm gateway which communicates with the sensor nodes.
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• Bosch IoT Gateway Software. This is the intelligence behind the gateway. Alongside other important functions, it establishes secure communication with the Bosch IoT Remote Manager.
One tool to rule them all To successfully deploy and operate its IoT solution globally, it was crucial that The Yield included a device management platform. Therefore, it chose the Bosch IoT Remote Manager as a feature-rich solution to address device management throughout the whole device life-cycle. It enables The Yield to easily deploy, configure, monitor and update its gateways and sensors remotely. The Bosch IoT Remote Manager is available “as a service” in various cloud hosting environments including the Bosch IoT Cloud, Amazon Web Services, and SAP. The Yield microclimate sensing solution marks the first deployment of the Bosch IoT Remote Manager on Microsoft Azure, adding Microsoft cloud to the list. Such a variety of cloud options gives customers flexibility to deploy the Bosch device management tool all over the world to meet their particular preferences and local government requirements for hosting.
Turning data into actionable insights By combining the live microclimate data with artificial intelligence and predictive analytics, The Yield solution provides a seven-day forecast that tells growers all the information they need to know. How much rainfall did they receive? How much water will evaporate in the next day? When is the optimal time to water or protect their crops? There’s a reason that there’s an X-Men character called Storm that can harness lightning, wind and rain to do her bidding. While no technology makes this sort of superpower possible (yet), the right data gives farmers the next best thing: they can prepare for what is coming. As Matt Pooley, Viticulturist at The Yield customer Pooley Wines, says: “If I can measure it, I can manage it.” Obviously, crops grow better and faster with the ideal amount of water. Having an accurate indication of how much water each field needs also reduces overspraying. One customer estimates that the system reduces water usage by up to 30%. And in Australia, where months can pass without any rainfall and where the population last year experienced the
AGRICULTURE, FOOD & BEVERAGES
Photo by Thomas Kelley on Unsplash
“The best thing about our collaboration with Bosch is that though it’s a large engineering and technology solution provider of global scale, it understands the pressures on a young, fast-moving start-up business. It is flexible and fast to respond.” Ros Harvey, Managing Director and Founder, The Yield.
hottest start to spring in history, this is more important than ever. Additionally, the water content of fresh produce like lettuce at the time of harvest determines how long it lasts on supermarket shelves.
means fewer crops lost, less water and produce wasted, and a greater yield. So, with the help of modern technologies, such as IoT, we have a better chance to feed the world.
Keeping crops out of danger
Christopher Woods is responsible for IoT business development and solution delivery at Bosch Australia. Scan the QR code below to see Ros Harvey of The Yield discuss how agriculture must join the smart revolution.
While regular maintenance is crucial for a successful yield of crops, responding quickly to weather changes is key to protecting them from damage. The Bosch IoT Remote Manager enabled The Yield to set up specific rules that notify farmers of critical events like frost. Rather than relying on weather apps that pull data from 50km away, and checking every few hours for signs of damage, farmers are notified when frost is an imminent problem. As a result, they can immediately take steps to protect crops from damage. This lets them eliminate costly ‘just in case’ measures that are rendered useless when the worst-case scenario doesn’t occur.
A forward-thinking approach For many agricultural businesses, an IoT ecosystem is a brand-new way of approaching day-to-day operations. Armed with real-time data and the ability to instantly check the status of multiple crops or fields, the industry begins to transform the way it makes decisions. Ultimately, this
www.bosch-manufacturingsolutions. com.au www.theyield.com
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Kaeser quenches E’stel Water’s thirst for compressed air technology Growing product demand recently led E’stel Water to invest in a tailored, state-of-the-art Kaeser compressed air system, complete with a turn-key DN series booster to meet the high compressed air pressure requirements of its new blow-moulding machine. E’stel Water is a premium alkaline water sourced and bottled in Nelson, New Zealand. The artesian water comes from the snowcapped mountains of New Zealand and travels underground where it filters through various minerals 895m below the surface of the Waimea Plains in Nelson. E’stel then extracts this high alkaline water, before transporting it to a modern purpose-built plant where it is bottled, capped, labelled and packed for global distribution. E’stel’s uniquely shaped plastic bottles are manufactured on site from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) using a blow-moulding machine. As demand for E’stel Water has steadily grown since the company was established three years ago, so has the requirements of the bottling plant. This led to the recent investment into a much larger PET blow-moulding machine. The blow-moulding machine relies on an efficient supply of compressed air. At certain points within the process, compressed air needs to be pressurised up to 40 bar. This inflates the soft PET plastic into a mould cavity that takes the desired shape and size of the water bottles. With a standard industrial compressor reaching around a 10 bar pressure, a booster compressor is therefore additionally required at those points in the production process where high-pressure compressed air is required, to literally boost, or increase, the air pressure up to the desired level of – in this case – 40 bar. The new PET blow-moulding machine at E’stel is able to blow a staggering 11,000 bottles per hour. As it is a much larger system than what the company had previously, a new compressed air system was therefore required to meet this increased demand for compressed air. Wayne Herring, Co-Founder and Director of E’stel, called upon existing and local compressed air specialist (and authorised Kaeser partner) PSL Total Air to present a suitable solution. To meet both the low- and high-pressure compressed air demand of the new PET blow-moulding machine, PSL recommended and subsequently installed a complete compressed air system that included a Kaeser CSD 105 rotary screw compressor and a Kaeser DN 22 series booster. Unlike other boosters on the market, the Kaeser DN 22 is a compact, plug-and-play turnkey package. These completely unique integrated booster systems are delivered and configured ex works to provide a system that is ready for immediate use. All DN series Kaeser boosters are equipped with a premium efficiency IE3 class drive motor, which complies with and exceeds prevailing Australian GEMS regulations for three-phase electric motors. Along with the generously dimensioned axial fan, which also assures reliable temperature control, this contributes to the booster’s cost-effective energy usage. For all-round reliability, the DN series of boosters from Kaeser also come with an integrated Sigma Control 2 controller as standard, which delivers efficient control and monitoring of the compressor operation. This greatly simplifies the diagnostics process for precision service and maintenance work. They can also be connected to a monitoring system, such as the Sigma Air Manager 4.0 master controller, allowing full integration into an Industry 4.0 environment.
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The Kaeser DN 22 series booster was the perfect solution for E’stel, as Herring explains: “We already had two standard-pressure Kaeser Aircenter compressed air systems being used for various other pneumatic applications within the facility, so we knew these compressors were reliable – something that is very important to our operation. “When we started researching high-pressure compressed air solutions, a lot of products on the market seemed to be manufactured using quite dated technologies, and the replacement of parts would have worked out to be very expensive. With the Kaeser DN 22 booster we were presented with a cost-effective, state-of-the-art packaged solution. “PSL was able to tailor a compressed air supply system to meet our exact needs, and it is already proving to deliver an energy-efficient and reliable supply of compressed air on demand. Their after-sales service has also been fantastic.” The DN series of boosters from Kaeser are available with initial working pressures of 3 to 13 bar with final working pressure 10 to 45 bar, motor power 22kW to 45kW, and free air deliveries 2.9 to 19.6 cubic metres per minute. www.kaeser.com.au
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What eggs can teach us about traceability In summer 2017, 15 EU states, Switzerland and Hong Kong were affected by the Fipronil contamination scandal. Here, Shan Zhan, Global Business Manager for Food & Beverage within ABB Control Technologies, looks at what the scandal reveals about the importance of traceability processes. The Fipronil scandal originated in the Netherlands but had global effects. Around ten million tainted eggs were imported into Germany, with not only eggs themselves being contaminated, but also egg products such as sandwich fillers. One of the main concerns from the scandal was that authorities in the Netherlands had become aware of the illegal use of the insecticide Fipronil in November 2016, which is not fit for human consumption. Due to a series of administrative errors and a lack of collaboration between authorities, the European Commission’s Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF), was not informed until July 2017, when the eggs were pulled from shelves across Europe. Another concern was that the two perpetrators of the crime launched their product at a farming convention in March 2016, selling it as a miracle cure for lice infestation in chickens. When poultry farmers asked about the ingredients of the product, they were told it was secret and no further questions appeared to have been asked. Food manufacturers have a lot to learn from this crisis. From the importance of traceability and knowing exactly what is used on products from farm to fork, to keeping an accurate record of data in the case of a similar scandal, the Fipronil contamination scandal emphasises the need for an automation system that can perform these tasks as standard. For the supermarkets who had used the eggs in recipes for other items, fortunately, their traceability procedures were strong enough to ensure that the products could be removed from the shelves and the food chain. All food manufacturers across the world, no matter what the local regulation, should be in the very least compliant with the ISO 22005:2007 standard for traceability in the feed and food chain. This allows organisations to accurately record data pertaining to their products, including everything from the feed being used to the ingredients and packaging, and ensures that the necessary documentation is intact. Compliance to the standard also means that the different suppliers and authorities involved are constantly kept up to date. There are two factors to improving traceability and ensuring minimum compliance to this standard. The first is the human factor. While it is vital to have standard operating procedures (SOPs) for
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traceability in a food processing facility, such as scanning an ingredient on receipt, employees are often responsible for doing this. Without this, no matter how good the control system, it will never be effective. The manufacturer must therefore ensure that all staff follow SOPs, using any method they deem necessary. The second factor to improve traceability procedures is having a complete automation control system. This should gather data from every level of automation to feed back to the central Manufacturing Execution System (MES) or Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM). The implementation of effective SOPs as well as complete traceability is supported by the MOM system. From the first level of automation such as sensors at the feed level, the MES must process all this information, such as the timestamp, what supplier the product has come from, and which operator has handled the product. This must then be converted into production data, for the plant manager to review. The MOM system guides the operators and ensures that they are performing
their tasks in the correct way, avoiding deviations and non-conformances. In addition, all the relevant data such as material lots, quantities, test results and process parameters are collected along the complete process to ensure complete forward and backward traceability. Not only does this information form a useful backup in the event of a scandal, it allows the plant manager to see where there are stoppages in production and to review quality control – for example to see how quickly perishable products pass through the plant and make it to the customer. Having such a comprehensive log of data can ensure that the food processing facility is prepared in the event of a recall or contamination scandal. This data can then identify where products need to be destroyed, and is able to present the data to the customers and authorities. Only by leaving no gaps in data collection, and ensuring that all parts of the manufacturing process are automated and connected to the overarching system, can food manufacturers learn from the mistakes of the Fipronil scandal. www.abb.com
AGRICULTURE, FOOD & BEVERAGES HEADING
Hyperspectral imaging to revolutionise crop monitoring Crop yield success in Australia affects our status as a food exporter and the health and wellbeing of the entire Australian population. crop yields, and actionable data where a farmer is able to apply irrigation to reverse the situation.
To meet the growing demands of feeding millions of people, agriculture has become a very sophisticated and highly technical industry. It has demonstrated its ability to adapt to innovation and change in market demands, while also remaining alert to the potential impacts of climate change, requiring even greater expertise to achieve sustainable results. Crop management demands monitoring of critical factors such as drought, disease and nutrient stress – procedures that have traditionally been conducted at ground level with the use of a well-trained, experienced human eye! However, recent developments in hyperspectral imaging are bringing about substantive changes to crop monitoring and management through the provision of sophisticated data generated by the capture of spectral reflection. Numerical values are assigned to each pixel – spectral radiance – utilising a range of wavelengths across the electromagnetic spectrum of visible and infrared regions. The data the camera gathers is processed into a threedimensional cube revealing changes in
colour density and depth not visible to the human eye. HySpex, a dynamic Norwegian company, has built a 4.5kg hyperspectral camera specifically for mounting on a unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or drone, allowing farmers to monitor their fields to check crops for drought stress that may affect harvesting quality, to map soil quality, or to check a contaminated site. Early detection of water-related stresses in crops provides both predictive data in the form of
Hyperspectral imaging can even provide early detection and identification of diseases infiltrating crops, identifying locations so that a targeted eradication program can be used rather than addressing the whole field. As more use is made of hyperspectral imaging, more applications are emerging, such as measuring the chlorophyll in a green canopy, measuring nitrogen content in a field of wheat, or even routinely assessing plant health to enable the use of comparative data over seasons – providing valuable information to crop management. Hyperspectral cameras mounted on drones have become an essential part of the Australian Defence Force’s equipment. Now Australian farmers are beginning to explore the potential of this great new technology and discovering how important it can be in improving agricultural management. www.raymax.com.au www.hyspex.no
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Seed Terminator closes in on harvest weeds The third generation of a machine invented in South Australia that pulverises weed seeds as grain crops are harvested, has been launched ahead of a full commercial rollout and global expansion. The Seed Terminator can be retrofitted to new and used John Deere, CASE IH and New Holland Class 7, 8, 9 and 10 harvesters and retails for about $115,000. It uses a multi-stage hammer mill to pulverise weed seeds, spreading the sawdust-like debris behind the header.
Dr Nick Berry with the Seed Terminator attached to a CASE IH header.
The “one-pass solution” pulverises seeds with a multi-stage hammer mill and spreads the nutrient-rich debris 10-12m behind the harvester to act as a fine mulch for soil improvement. It also eliminates the need for herbicides and labour-intensive and potentially dangerous burn-offs to keep weeds at bay after harvest. Testing has been focussed on rye grass seeds because of their miniscule size and the fact they are notoriously difficult to kill. Nine prototypes were initially were built and tested across nine different geographies in South Australia, Western Australia, New South Wales and Victoria, with different crop types, soil types and moisture contents during the 2016-17 harvest. A further 23 machines were rolled out for the 2017-18 harvest, mainly in Western Australia, covering 55,000 hectares of crops at an average of about 350 hours per machine. Tests by the University of Adelaide’s Weed Science Research Group have shown a 95%-97% kill of rye grass seeds using the machine. Launched on 17 May in Adelaide, a further 40 of the new models will be deployed in September ahead of the 2018-19 Australian harvest. The Generation III Seed Terminator features a range of improvements such as a 31% reduction in power draw without compromising the kill rate, and the addition of a tungsten carbide protective coating to increase the lifespan of components in rugged and sandy regions feature. The Seed Terminator’s key piece of technology, the multi-stage hammer mill, is manufactured in Adelaide while the patent-pending mechanical drive systems are built in Western Australia, which is Australia’s largest grain producing state followed by New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria. Seed Terminator inventor and Kangaroo Island farmer Dr Nick Berry founded the company with his uncle Mark Ashenden. It has grown from two to nine employees in the past year and in May established an office at the Tonsley Innovation District in Adelaide. According to Ashenden there is significant interest for Seed Terminators and this interest continues to grow both nationally and internationally. “Ten percent market share in Australia is about 1,300 units and it’s growing by about 700 units a year so we need to get close to 350 units production a year by 2022 to make that work,” says Ashenden. “We initially chose Western Australia because they are generally early adopters but we know there are also lots of early adopters in New South Wales and Victoria and we’ll be investing to make sure we get proportionately more over there to service that area.” Ashenden has recently hosted representatives from major global harvester manufacturers to discuss how they could work more closely. “We also took them down to the Tonsley precinct and into the Flinders University complex to show them the sort of environment we are working in, and they could see that Adelaide is not a backwater,” he adds. “But we’ve actually got to test in their territory first and that’s one of our biggest challenges at the moment. Everyone knows that their weeds and their system is unique so we need to localise our R&D and we’ve got further sites pencilled in to investigate in Australia and overseas.”
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Ashenden said the latest innovation of the mill design to reduce the power draw is an example of the investment in R&D to deliver better outcomes for more farmers. “The conclusion was that we were overkilling at the cost of power, so we redesigned it to achieve a 31% power drop with the same kill rate,” he said. “We’re an R&D company and we need to be two or three years in front of the weeds but we also think that we’ve got something unique that can be driven out of South Australia with global potential.” The Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) estimated that in 2016 weeds cost Australian grain growers about $3.3bn annually, with yield losses of 2.76m tonnes. The GRDC also estimated herbicide resistance costs farmers $187m a year for herbicide treatment and other weed management practices. www.seedterminator.com.au
AGRICULTURE, FOOD & BEVERAGES HEADING
Majans spices up operations with Dynamics 365 Majans, the snackfood company behind the best-selling Bhuja Snacks range, is building strong digital foundations for a Factory of the Future, fostering an information ecosystem that collects, analyses and acts on data. Majans traces its history back to Fiji in the 1960s. Today it’s a thoroughly modern manufacturer, headquartered in Queensland and employing 120 people, with a decent share of Australia’s $1.2bn snack market. The company has grown exponentially in recent years with brands like Bhuja and Infuzions. Today, its gaze is firmly fixed on the future, and the opportunity to create an intelligent, efficient, datadriven factory of the future.
Amit Raniga, Director of Majans.
It’s building the foundations right now. Working with Microsoft partner Sable37, Majans has replaced an SAP Business One solution with Microsoft’s Azure-based Dynamics365. Majans Director Amit Raniga explains that the business is focussed on gaining a competitive advantage by digitally transforming its endto-end processes. While a significant player in the snackfood market, Majans is dwarfed by giant international competition. Sustained success and the opportunity to expand into international markets will rely on discovering ways to do things smarter, faster. “We have a weekly forum, we’re calling it Majans’ Labs, and the forum’s clear mandate is to drive process change and process improvement,” says Raniga. “As an organisation our clear purpose is inspiring discovery and a growth mindset.” Technology plays a critical role, providing a platform for streamlining the supply chain and optimising operations, he explains: “The traditional approach in manufacturing involves collection of data on paper, whiteboards and legacy systems. As a business we’re asking: ‘how do we use emerging toolkits to help us gain an edge?’. We’re a high-velocity, high-quality manufacturer with a diverse range of stakeholders through our supply chain. We needed a comprehensive information solution that could meet the needs of the entire business.” Majans has deployed a range of Microsoft technologies, with the Azure-based Dynamics 365 at its core and leveraging Microsoft PowerApps, Flow, PowerBI and Teams. The company has for the last three years embraced a Lean approach to operations. The digital transformation now underway creates an information ecosystem that can collect and analyse information, gain insights from that information and act on it. “In simple terms, the value driver is the ability for the cycle time around any given process to be compressed,” explains Raniga. “The pain point here is that 80% of our time is spent collecting and analysing information, so by the time you gain insight, to have that lightbulb moment to act, we typically experience action fatigue. What digitisation allows you to do is automate the whole collectand-analyse part. The goal is to spend more time on insight and actions, which is where the value drivers are. The value drivers aren’t in collecting and analysing – they’re are in insight and actions.“
Factory of the Future The foundation for Majans’ factory of the future is now deployed with Dynamics 365. In parallel, Majans is using SharePoint, PowerApps and Power BI. “We’ve got a portfolio of PowerApps live in our environment, handling last-mile requirements around our people, production, quality, engineering and Lean systems,” says Raniga. “We’re developing these apps internally with champions in functional areas driving change management. We’re extraordinarily excited about the extensibility capability between PowerApps and Dynamics 365 as well, which we’ll also be building capability on.” At the same time Majans has been an early and enthusiastic adopter of Microsoft Teams to spur effective collaboration and communications.
“Now everyone across the Majans family, from frontline teams to the leadership group, has unprecedented visibility which is real-time. It’s very transparent, activities are very transparent.” Majans is already planning to take that transparency to the next level by launching gamified reporting and scorecards to encourage visibility and continuous improvement. “We’re going through planning stages of our Power BI-driven visual management system. Rather than the traditional method of measuring performance, which is by the day or shift or machine or product, we’re flipping that on its head. Performance is driven by people, and we are collecting performance information from our business on the frontline and pushing it back, and visualising our results as leader boards. “The traditional methods of operational reporting are tired and unengaging. Our teams are excited about the idea of gamified reporting. Some are nervous because your performance is up there in lights, but we are sensing an opportunity to lift engagement and accountability in a healthy way. “By the year 2020, 50% of our workforce will be millennials, who are digitally native. They understand leaderboards. They connect with that whole idea of ranking your performance and promote healthy competitive spirit that should be the basis of all great teams.”
Unleashing IoT Another critical ingredient to Majans’ ambitions is how it can achieve digital excellence in manufacturing. Traditional food & beverage manufacturers collect data from frontline machines either manually or through legacy systems. Quality control processes also required collecting information from laboratory instruments to monitor key parameters. A project bringing together Microsoft and factory systems specialists, Omron is currently piloting Azure IoT solutions to ingest operational data from of Majans’ machines and instruments and push this to the Azure cloud for real-time reporting. At the same time Majans is looking to use Microsoft technologies to optimise the supply chain. “In simple terms we’re talking about every data point we have across our supply chain, whether it’s our demand forecast, warehouse inventory, customer distribution centre inventory, to the purchase point at store level,” says Raniga. “All these data points we currently have access to, but they’re all in disparate systems all over the place.” www.sable37.com www.majans.com
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Lightweight robots harvest cucumbers Researchers in Germany are developing and testing a dual-arm robot for the automated harvesting of cucumbers. The Fraunhofer Institute for Production Systems and Design Technology IPK’s lightweight solution has the potential to keep crop cultivation in Germany commercially viable. Automation-intensive sectors such as the automotive industry are not the only ones to rely on robots. In more and more agricultural settings, automation systems are superseding strenuous manual labour. In Germany, cucumbers destined for pickle jars are harvested using “cucumber flyers” – farm vehicles with wing-like attachments. Seasonal workers lie on their stomachs on the wings and pluck the ripe cucumbers. This labour-intensive, energy-sapping type of manual harvesting is becoming increasingly uneconomical, especially since Germany introduced a minimum wage. Many of the country’s agricultural regions consequently face an uncertain future; cucumber farming has already begun relocating to Eastern Europe and India. There is thus an urgent need for improved harvesting technologies to maintain the economic viability of cucumber farming in Germany. Experts from Fraunhofer IPK in Berlin are studying the potential for automating cucumber harvests in the scope of the EU’s CATCH (Cucumber Gathering – Green Field Experiments) project. Project partners are the Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy in Germany, and the CSIC-UPM Centre for Automation and Robotics (CAR) in Spain. CATCH researchers want to develop and test a dual-arm robot system consisting of inexpensive lightweight modules. The ultimate aim is a system suitable for automated cucumber farming and other agricultural applications. The robotic picker would have to be cost-effective, high-performance and dependable. Even in adverse weather, it would need to be capable of first identifying ripe cucumbers, and then using its two gripper arms to gently pick and store them. To this end, cutting-edge control methods equip the robot with tactile perception and enable it to adapt to ambient conditions. These methods also make it possible for the dual-arm robot system to imitate human movements, so that the robot does not damage crops, pulling them and their roots out of the soil. Moreover, the automated harvester must be as efficient as its experienced human counterpart, who can pick as many as 13 cucumbers per minute.
High success rate Designing autonomous systems capable of optical and tactile sensing, assessing and evaluating is a considerable challenge, only compounded by cucumber harvesting: a robot must identify green objects camouflaged by green surroundings. In addition, cucumbers are randomly distributed throughout a field, with some concealed by vegetation. Varying light conditions make the mission all the more difficult. It should be possible to use multispectral cameras and intelligent image processing to locate cucumbers and guide the robot’s gripper arms to pluck them.
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This part of the CATCH project is overseen by CSIC-UPM. A special camera system helps ensure the robot detects and locates approximately 95% of cucumbers - an impressive success rate. The goal, of course, is to advance the technology so the robot picks all the ripe cucumbers, to foster growth of new ones. Fraunhofer IPK has developed robot arms with five degrees of freedom on the basis of hardware modules developed by igus GmbH in Cologne.
In search of human inspiration The IPK project experts are tasked with developing three gripper prototypes: a gripper based on vacuum technology; a set of bionic gripper jaws (Fin Ray); and a customised “cucumber hand” based on OpenBionics robot hands. They are relying on insights acquired during a previous European research project, in which they developed a dual-arm robot control system with efficient taskoriented programming for Workerbot I – a humanoid robot capable of industrial assembly. Project experts from IPK are enhancing this system so it can plan, program and control the behaviour of robots harvesting cucumbers. These preprogrammed behavioural patterns make bimanual searching possible, meaning the robot can look for cucumbers as a human would. Dr Dragoljub Surdilovic, a scientist at Fraunhofer IPK, explains: “The robot can, for example, push leaves to the side using symmetrical or asymmetrical movements, or congruent and incongruent movements. As a result, it can automatically change directions on the fly to approach and then grasp a cucumber.” The researchers’ goal is to create an intelligent control system capable of making judgment calls: assigning a certain task to a certain gripper arm, monitoring cucumber picking and dealing with exceptions. In July 2017, the Leibniz Institute used various types of cucumbers to conduct initial field testing of the system. The Institute also tested harvesting new types of cucumbers with distinguishing features that make them easier to pick. The first round of testing validated basic functionality. Since late 2017, project partners have been conducting additional tests in a Leibniz Institute greenhouse. Researchers are keen to see the extent to which interference or malfunctions affect the system’s efficiency and robustness. Once testing of the robot has been completed, the aim is to make it commercially viable. Companies, cucumber farmers and agricultural associations have expressed considerable interest in the system. In November 2017, the CATCH project was unveiled to the general public at Agritechnica, the world’s leading trade fair for agricultural technology, and drew enthusiastic feedback from agricultural specialists and companies. www.fraunhofer.de
CUTTING TOOLS
A new look for gear milling? Technology and its products are often causative: a technology might be applied to develop more effective and intelligent products, which in turn can play an important role in advancing that technology. This interrelationship may be observed in metalworking. Over the last few years, leading-edge technology has resulted in multitasking machine tools and machining centers with impressive working possibilities. At the same time, this progress in machine tool engineering is significantly changing metal cutting technology. The advanced multifunctional machine tools increasingly widen the range of machining operations that can be performed. Technological processes developed for these machines are oriented to maximise machining operation for one-setup manufacturing, creating a new source for more accurate and productive manufacturing. Milling gears and splines is one of the operations suitable for performing on the new machines. Traditionally, gear (and spline) -making is a complicated process that involves milling, chamfering, grinding and other operations. With batch manufacturing, the majority is made on specific machines: for gear hobbing, gear shaving, gear grinding and so on. Developments in technology have changed the limits of hardness for cutting and considerably increased operational accuracy. This in turn has reduced abrasive machining in gear making while decreasing rough cutting. The modern multifunctional machines, which meet the requirements of one-setup manufacturing, have proved to be perfect for various gear-making operations. These new machines require appropriate tooling and cutting tools manufacturers should prepare their response accordingly, which is why producers of general-purpose rotating cutting tools are reconsidering the role of gear-milling cutters in their program for standard product lines. Iscar, a leader in the cutting tool industry, is embodying this trend with a three-point program for form gear-making tools: • Milling cutters carrying indexable inserts. • Milling cutters with replaceable cutting heads based on the T-Slot concept. • Milling cutters with replaceable Multi-Master cutting heads. ModuGear, the family of indexable gear-milling cutters, reflects a conventional design approach, comprising disk-type tools with tangentially clamped LNET inserts. The tangential clamping principle provides an extremely rigid and durable cutter structure that results in stable and precise enough machining tooth or spline profiles. Its principal application is producing involute gears of relatively low accuracy and rough gear-milling operations that feature a 1.0mm1.75mm gear module range. The cutters with replaceable heads have two significant advantages compared with gear milling tools carrying indexable inserts: they offer better precision and allow the design of gear-milling cutters that are small in diameter but feature quite a large number of teeth. The replaceable heads are mounted in bodies (shanks), which are standard-line products suitable not only for the gear-milling heads but also for other types of head (for milling slots and grooves, for example). This enables customers to increase operating efficiency of the versatile shanks and to reduce tool stock, providing added value. The replaceable solid carbide heads of the T-Gear SD D32-M-SP15 family are mounted in standard T-Slot SD-SP15 cylindrical shanks and transform the latter into 32mm-diameter gear milling cutters. The precise profile of the cutters’ teeth and the accurate and reliable SP-connection between the shank and the head define its range of use: milling involute gears featuring a 1mm-2mm module.
Both types of milling cutters (those with indexable inserts and those with replaceable heads) meet the requirements of standard DIN 3972, basic profile II. There are two types of Multi-Master spline and gear making solid carbide heads. The first type is represented by the MM SS heads that were specially designed for milling involute spline shafts, specified by DIN 5480 and ANSI B92.1 standards. These heads are intended for 1, 1.25, 1.5 through to 3mm module (DIN 5480) and 8, 10, 12 through to 24 diametral pitch (ANSI B92.1). The heads of the second type, MM SG, are used in milling spur gears in accordance with DIN 3972 (module 1-1.75mm) and ANSI B6.1 (diametral pitch 15-24) standards. The main application field for Multi-Master heads is the efficient production of small-to-medium batches of spline and spur gears in various industrial branches. The world of gears is very rich and multiform, embracing a wide variety of external and internal gears: spur, helical, bevel, hypoid, and more. Manufacturing these gears encompasses an entire, dynamic industrial sector with its own methods, equipment and tooling. The introduction of multitasking machines in gear milling as a serious alternative to a dedicated machine represents a new challenge to this sector and producers of commonly-used cutting tools should be ready for this significant change. Iscar meets this challenge while maintaining the requisite high standards demanded by end users. www.iscar.com.au
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Global tool deterioration analysis looks beyond machining Cutting tools are fundamental to the metalcutting process. Depending on how they are chosen and applied, tools offer the potential to maximise machining productivity, or create production bottlenecks. Much depends on how tool use is managed in relation to the overall manufacturing process. By Patrick de Vos, Corporate Technical Education Manager, Seco Tools. Cutting tools are by their nature consumable; they wear until they are no longer effective. A traditional approach to metalcutting tool management employs wear analysis alone, focused on manipulating tool materials, geometries and application parameters to improve part output and tool life in a selected operation. Maximising the efficiency of a facility’s manufacturing process, however, involves consideration of a broad range of factors in addition to tool wear. It is essential to examine tool wear – or more broadly, tool deterioration – in light of the overall or “global” manufacturing process. Global Tool Deterioration Analysis (GTDA) goes beyond basic measurement of tool wear to include tooling-related considerations such as time spent in tool manipulation, problems other than wear, production economics, shop organisation, personnel attitudes and assumptions, value stream management, and total manufacturing costs. GTDA is based on regular evaluation of a large number of a shop’s used cutting tools randomly selected to construct a comprehensive picture of their contributions to manufacturing efforts overall.
The global manufacturing process Study of tool wear usually is limited to a single tool employed in a specific machining operation. However, to gain maximum benefits, it is essential to examine tool wear or deterioration in relation to all tooling in a facility’s manufacturing processes. The manufacturing process begins with acquisition of raw materials and planning that involves utilisation of human intellect, technological resources and capital investment. The process advances through value-adding and value-enabling activities but may be restrained by wasteproducing events that result in the loss of money, time and intellectual resources, and consequently reduce part quality and yield. Output is measured in terms of part quality, the quantity required and desired production time and cost.
mass production that permits cost-efficient, high-mix low-volume (HMLV) production. Although the key performance issues remain the same – cost and time efficiencies, a certain minimum quality, and a certain level of yield – second- and third-generation mass production techniques require different approaches to tool life analysis. In a second-generation HVLM scenario, identical parts are machined from the same workpiece material in production runs that may last days, months or years using the same equipment and the same kind of cutting tools. In that situation, tool life management is relatively simple. Shop personnel use prototyping and trial runs to determine the best average tool life, then divide the desired volume of parts by the expected life of individual tools. Consistent tool life expectancy data enable a shop to plan tool changes that maximise tool utilisation and support continuous production. However, HVLM production methods are declining in prominence. To balance part inventory with demand and accommodate ongoing engineering changes, manufacturers are machining fewer and fewer parts in long, unchanging production runs. At the same time, third-generation HMLV mass production strategies are growing in acceptance. Rapidly adjustable HMLV processes match well with contemporary inventory and engineering goals, but the planning process is much more complex. A run of 10 parts may be followed by part lots of two, five or even a single component. Workpiece materials may change from steel to aluminium to titanium, and part geometries from simple to complex. There is not enough time available to determine tool life through trials. In such cases, a workshop typically makes a conservative guess regarding a tool’s projected life and, to be safe, employs a new tool for each run then discards it well before the tool reaches its actual productive lifespan. A more global approach to tool wear analysis and predictions can help minimise waste of cutting tool capability. Rapidly changing HMLV manufacturing methods increase the difficulty of achieving high percentage yields for machining operations. In the case of long-run HVLM production, trials and adjustments can produce yield percentages in the high nineties. On the other hand, yield in the HMLV situation may be binary. A successful single part run represents 100% yield, but when the part is unacceptable or a workpiece is ruined, the yield is zero. Demands for quality and cost and time efficiency remain the same, but first-time yield becomes an overriding requirement. In that case, avoiding tool breakage is perhaps the most important consideration. One advantage is that tool wear is a minimal concern in short-run situations and a shop can apply, within reason, more aggressive and productive cutting parameters.
Methods used to analyse and predict tool life depend on the way in which the tools are applied. Over the centuries, manufacturing practices evolved from craft-level output of individual items to mass production of standardised parts. Improving manufacturing methods then brought about a second generation of mass production capable of producing increasing greater volumes of similar parts – a high-volume, low-product mix (HVLM) scenario. Most recently, digital technology as applied in programming, machine tool controls and workpiece handling systems is facilitating a third generation of
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Craftsmanship and the human contribution Lengthy and unchanging HVLM production runs tend to minimise the importance of human contributions to the manufacturing process. After a long run is initiated, operations can essentially be automated. Even in cases where an operator participates in every changeover between parts, the repetitive nature of these situations marginalises the influence of operators and programmers. Flexibility is not required, and perhaps even discouraged.
CUTTING TOOLS
In contrast, rapidly changing HMLV scenarios re-emphasise the role of humans, to the point that operations require a form of traditional craftsmanship involving creativity and flexibility to efficiently adapt to the continually changing parts and cutting conditions characteristic of HMLV machining. Many manufacturing process analysis efforts focus on reviewing end results in relation to tool life and part output without thoroughly examining the process itself. Problems related to cutting tools, but not directly to tool life, may be missed and create production bottlenecks. For example, burrs typically are not related to tool life, but their occurrence interrupts the manufacturing process because another operation must be developed and implemented to remove the burrs. Burr formation is, however, related to tool geometry and application parameters and therefore must be considered in tool deterioration analysis. Tool breakage, another problem not usually related to tool wear, does involve tool material, geometry, application parameters as well as machine tool factors.
Elements of operational excellence
those generated by tool wear and replacement. Part of that expense is incurred in acquiring and organising tooling and mounting it and loading programs into the machine tool. OEE determines how much of the available manufacturing time is used effectively. OEE analysis points out losses, benchmarks progress and improves productivity by eliminating waste. The total time available for production is identified, then the analysis subtracts planned downtime, unscheduled breakdowns, changeovers, minor stops and lost speed, and scrap and rework, to arrive at effective machining time expressed as a percentage of the total time available. A 100% OEE – a noble but practically unattainable goal –means a part is produced in the specified quality, as fast as possible, with no wasted time. VSM analysis illustrates the need to balance performance improvements among all the elements of the manufacturing process. The graph below shows the effects of improving the performance of one element of a system without improving others. Think of individuals rowing a boat. Higher performance by one rower would actually hurt the boat’s overall performance.
The basic components of manufacturing efficiency are elimination of waste, inflexibility and variability. Comprehensive tool deterioration analysis takes into account five elements of operational excellence. First, it is essential to thoroughly understand the overall machining process and the relationship of the machining operation to the workpiece material. Second, attention must be given to waste reduction, through Lean manufacturing strategies and other initiatives. Third, the concepts of production economics need to be employed to assure profitability. Fourth, percentage yield goals should be viewed in light of manufacturing volume and part variety; maximising flexibility must be viewed as a way to minimise bottlenecks, but variability has to be controlled to assure consistent part tolerances. Finally, it is necessary to emphasise the value of manufacturing personnel to gain maximum benefit from the unique and irreplaceable resource it represents. Global tool analysis supplements initial measurement of insert edge wear with analysis of the tools’ role in Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) totals, Single-Minute Exchange of Die (SMED) analysis, Value Stream Management (VSM) results and Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) percentages. The most basic tooling-related economic consideration is clear: tools cost money. The graph below presents the cost of various elements of the machining process and totals them as COGS. These data enable a shop to compare and contrast the various elements of production costs, with an eye on finding candidates for cost reductions that will boost operational profitability.
Improvements in parts of the process must be made in view of their relation to production volume and variety, workpiece material characteristics, part geometries, machine tool and fixturing requirements and other considerations to achieve and maintain a manufacturing operation that is in balance overall. Global tool deterioration analysis (GTDA) is basically a simple process. The cutting edges of a large number of randomly chosen tools from throughout a shop are examined one edge at a time to determine which edges are worn. The wear is classified according to its type and amount. Traditional tool wear analysis concentrates on one tool in one operation; GTDA gathers information about tool wear and other tool-related issues from the entire shop, then applies COGS, SMED, VSM, OEE and other analytical tools to compile additional data that will guide planning and implementation of improvement programs. To be successful, a shop must have the discipline to begin a GTDA program and, equally important, continue tool examination and data analysis on a regular basis. Another form of discipline – honesty – is required as well. A shop must honestly and objectively accept the results of the analysis and be willing to act on the findings without regard to shop traditions and politics or unsupported opinions regarding tool application parameters.
Conclusion
Another tool-related economic factor is that tools cost time – the time involved in manipulating tooling outside of actual machining operations. Time spent in tool changeover and setup is analysed via SMED analytical techniques that also provide a view of costs beyond
Tool wear is inevitable, and managing it is essential to achieve successful machining operations. However, tool wear is just one example of the many influences of cutting tools on the efficiency of a facility’s overall manufacturing process. GTDA goes beyond wear analysis of single tools to include all the tools in a shop as well as a wide range of significant tool-related influences outside the cutting process. www.secotools.com
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MATERIAL REMOVAL
DMU 50 – Enhanced technology for the five-axis requirements of tomorrow The DMU 50 CNC universal milling machine combines more than 20 years of experience, proven technology and low investment costs in the five-axis portfolio of DMG MORI. On this basis, the bestseller has now moved into its next round with the DMU 50 3rd Generation, and the latest model has been enhanced in all respects. The compact new DMU 50 3rd Generation sets new standards in five-sided to five-axis simultaneous machining. With its extended swivel range, more powerful spindle and an innovative cooling concept, the new machine guarantees a competitive edge in a multitude of branches. Its areas of application range from training, to general mechanical engineering, jig construction, and on to include applications in demanding branches such as the aerospace, medical and automotive industries.
With its swivel-rotary table with -35° / +110° the DMU 50 3. Generation offers now an up to 28 % larger swivel range.
While developing the DMU 50 3rd Generation, DMG MORI has managed to harmonise the modern appearance of the design with user-friendly operation. For example, the large, smooth opening door to the work area, with a width of 876mm ensures unrestricted access from the front, even in combination with automation solutions. The table also has an ergonomic loading height of 800mm. The optimum accessibility of the DMU 50 3rd Generation even encompasses maintenance components such as the control cabinet, fluid box, oil mist separator, heat exchanger and cooling unit. Travel paths of 650mm by 520mm by 475mm and workpiece weights of up to 300kg mean the new DMU 50 3rd Generation covers a wide range of components. Its new NC swivel-rotary table with an enlarged swivel range of −35°/+110° boosts this versatility. A rapid traverse of 42m per minute and 30rpm in the swivel-rotary axis ensure the dynamics for five-sided to fiveaxis simultaneous machining. In addition to the 15,000rpm speedMASTER motor spindle, the user can also choose between motor spindles with up to 20,000rpm. Also available as an option is an expanded tool magazine with up to 120 pockets. There are 30 tool pockets in the standard version. The DMU 50 3rd Generation achieves a unique degree of precision of less than six micrometres, a level that is unbeatable in this segment thanks on the one hand to its onepiece machine bed and on the other to its innovative cooling of the guides, drives and table bearings. Directly driven ball screws and direct path measuring systems in all five axes round off the equipment with regard to the machine’s high degree of precision. The DMU 50 3rd Generation can be expanded with coolant tanks and tool measurement as an option.
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of the machine. In other words, the DMU 50 3rd Generation continues to fulfil all the requirements that ensure it will remain DMG MORI’s bestselling five-axis model. www.dmgmori.com
DMU 50 3rd Generation – Key features • 78% larger work area. The DMU 50 3rd Generation sets new standards in five-sided to five-axis simultaneous machining.
A 21.5-inch ERGOline with CELOS and Siemens 840D solutionline as well as a 19inch ERGOline with HEIDENHAIN TNC 640 are available as modern control options. DMG MORI also has diverse automation solutions in its program for the DMU 50 3rd Generation, such as workpiece or pallet handling systems. This enables the new machine to master challenging applications in the future-oriented aerospace, medical, automotive and energy branches – a demand that was already taken into account during the practice-oriented development
• 40% higher rapid traverse speeds: 42m per minute as standard. • 28% greater swivel range: Swivel rotary table with -35°/+110°. • Experience gained from more than 10,000 machines already supplied. • Five-axis simultaneous machining as standard. • 36 months warranty for all master spindles with unlimited spindle hours for all new machines in 2018.
MATERIAL REMOVAL
Makino precision for Australian-made watchmakers Josh Hacko, Technical Director at Nicholas Hacko Watches, is a fourth-generation watchmaker whose father Nicholas moved to Australia in the 1990s. Back then the family business was focused on servicing, overhauling and repairing other watch brands. Five years ago, Josh and Nicholas created their own brand, Rebelde, which included the design, assembly and adjustment of the products. A huge turning point came two years ago, where the father-son duo decided to manufacture individual watch components themselves, rather than send parts out for sub-contract work. Not only was it a complete business change – it also means that Nicholas Hacko Watches is now the only watch company in Australia to manufacture their own parts. Josh explains that the decision to manufacture their own parts in-house was a “huge learning curve”, so they spent a great deal of time researching the best machinery for the job. The business needed a machine to enable them to continue producing the highest quality of watches for their customers, with timely and accurate service. With industry leaders in Switzerland favouring Makino over local Swiss manufacturers, Nicholas Hacko Watches followed suit. Josh says that the outstanding machine specs contributed to their decision to purchase the Makino U32j Wirecut from Headland Machinery, alongside the machine, providing reduced costs due to wire consumption. “Before the purchase of our Makino U32j, we were on track to manufacture 50% of the internal components in a watch,” Josh explains. “With the addition of the Makino U32j, we are much closer to 80%-90% vertical integration. Only a handful of watch companies can claim this – maybe 20 worldwide. “Our Makino runs 24/7, so it’s always working with complete accuracy, even with no-one manning it. We’re seeing dramatic cost savings, especially for batch work
rather than just prototyping. Having our machine up and running is an integral part of the business and we couldn’t function without it.” Nicholas Hacko Watches needed a fully integrated solution with training throughout the process, which is where Headland came in. “Finding Headland was the best thing that could have happened for our business,” Josh says. “From the start, they invested so much time in our business - so the presales element was truly fantastic.” As a small business, Nicholas Hacko Watches places prime importance on not only the manufacturing of quality components, but the understanding and knowledge behind the practice. “Headland knows that we were just starting out, so they made sure we fully understood every process possible,” says Josh. Headland also organised for us to spend three days in Singapore for training at the Makino factory, which was critical for us in terms of being able to fully learn about the machine directly from the experts. We then returned to Sydney for another week’s training with a Headland service technician. We had a lot of questions, and he answered absolutely everything we could possibly ask. “It just made so much sense for us - you get the speciality and knowledge coupled with the breadth of excellent, prompt service, and I don’t know how much better you can get than that.” Nicholas Hacko Watches remains the only watch company in Australia to manufacture its own parts and components. With a fully integrated machinery portfolio, it continues to produce optimum-quality watches for an ever-growing customer base. www.headland.com.au www.nicholashacko.com.au
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Yawei HLE fibre laser improves quality and reduces lead times at Ace Wire Works With the demise of local car manufacturing, many companies that previously supplied automotive components have had to diversify into other areas to grow their businesses. Ace Wire Works is one such company; it has successfully made the transition from supplying automotive products such as the wire seat frames for Toyota Camrys, to a diverse product range that now includes retail display stands, welded mesh panels, horticulture products, food & beverage equipment, designer furniture and wire and mesh products for medical applications. Founded by Albert Blashki in 1954, Ace remains very much a family business, with Albert’s son Philip now the Owner and Managing Director. Moreover, with grandson Simon also involved, a third generation is part of the company, which now employs approximately 40 staff. Ace’s General Manager Sam Harris joined the company around two years ago with the specific edict of assisting the company transition away from automotive to non-automotive products. To say that it has been a success is something of an understatement, with growth of these products up by more than 50% in the current financial year. Harris attributes the company’s ongoing success to several key factors – in particular, the fact that Ace specialises in high-quality customised products in sometimes relatively low production volumes. “With our own internal designers to assist with CAD drawings and designing prototypes, we can offer customers a comprehensive and personalised service to meet their needs and make sure that we meet or exceed their expectations,” says Harris. “This is especially relevant in the competitive retail segment. The personal one-on-one service that we provide is something our customers really appreciate, as it gives them a higher level of confidence to in turn offer the best service to their clients. Really it’s about having empathy for our customers and building strong relationships.” The increase in demand for the company’s display products included projects for a number of major retailers, and was what drove Harris to look at a fibre laser. “We were outsourcing more and more laser work which was affecting our lead times and our control of the total manufacturing process and the time was right to get our own laser,”he explains. The new Yawei HLE & HLF fibre lasers have earned a reputation for high performance
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Ace Wire Works Account Manager Mark Blashki (left) and Production Manager Nithun Deenadayalan.
coupled with a value-for-money price point. Harris first saw the Yawei at the Applied Machinery stand at the Austech exhibition, and compared the features with various other laser cutters in the market. Yawei is well known as one of the world’s leading manufacturers of CNC press brakes, turret punch presses and guillotines and its entrance into the laser cutting market comes off the back of years of R&D and refinement of the machines in its domestic market in China. For Harris, the key factors that put the Yawei in front were the outstanding features and performance, ease of use, and – as with all Yawei equipment – value for money. Harris was also impressed with the advice and support that Applied Machinery had given him throughout the purchase process – something only a local distributor can provide. “The fact that Applied Machinery was literally just around the corner was an important factor for us. The installation went very smoothly and the back up and support has been great,” says Harris. After only a few months Harris is pleased with what the Yawei offers Ace. “The Yawei has reduced our lead times, increased flexibility in production planning and broadened the range of products we can offer our customers, he explains. “Also, the speed and accuracy of the fibre laser means we are saving huge amounts of production time.”
As an added bonus, the purchase of the fibre laser was supported by the Victorian State Government through its LIFT (Local Industry Fund for Transition) program. This program specifically caters to former automotive supply companies, to support them in their transition to developing non-automotive business and provide employment for qualified employees exiting the automotive sector. www.appliedmachinery.com.au www.acewire.com.au
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FORMING & FABRICATION
Pipeline repair, hot tapping and in-service welding in the oil & gas sector The process of in-service welding is frequently used in the repair, modification and extension of high-pressure pipelines. A common technique used in this application is ‘hot tapping’, which facilitates the creation of connections within existing pressurised vessels, pipelines and networks without the need to empty any of these pressurised systems. In-service welding is also commonly used during pipe maintenance procedures, including installing sleeves to repair damaged sections within pipelines. A thorough understanding of the factors that affect welding onto in-service pipelines helps avoid pipeline shutdowns and interruptions of service, thereby bolstering both economic and environmental benefits for operators and welders alike. Moreover, repairs can be undertaken efficiently, effectively and with full confidence. According to Alistair Forbes, Weld Australia Technology Operations Manager, “The advantages of in-service welding are significant and wide-reaching, particularly in the gas & oil industries, where the process can be used to avoid costly shutdowns and service interruptions and maintain continuity of supply to customers. “In comparison, in situations where inservice welding is impossible, sections of the pipeline undergoing repair or replacement must be sealed and degassed before welding can commence, and must then be repurged once welding is complete. This complicated process is not only costly and time-consuming, it is damaging to the environment, with considerable greenhouse gas emissions a frequent result.”
The ‘hot tapping’ procedure Pipelines used to transmit natural gas require constant expansion and modification. In the past, making new connections meant sections of the pipeline had to be shut down and purged. This created a number of problems, ranging from the release of methane to the shutdown of service at the customer end, as well as the loss of sales and increased costs associated with the need to evacuate sections of the system. Hot tapping allows the pipeline to remain in service. The procedure involves the attachment of a branch connection and valve on the exterior wall of the pipeline. Once this connection is attached, the pipeline wall can be cut out within the branch and wall sections can be removed through the valve. Hot tapping is not a novel procedure, but design improvements have significantly reduced the uncertainty
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that was associated with hot tapping. In most cases, the gas savings achieved by using the hot tap method are enough to make it more financially viable than using the old shutdown process for making new connections. Decision makers need to answer four key questions when undertaking a cost-benefit analysis of hot tapping: 1. Is the parent line in good condition? 2. What would it cost to shut down a line, or a section of a line? 3. How much will the hot tap procedure cost? 4. What are the gas savings benefits of using the hot tap method?
In-service welding considerations There are several factors that can make inservice pipeline welding difficult.
The first factor is that the gas or liquid flowing through the pipeline can cause a considerable loss of heat through the wall of the pipe. This, in turn, causes the weld to cool at an accelerated rate. Depending on the type of steel used to construct the pipeline, rapidly cooled welds can increase weld hardness, as well as the likelihood of cracking in the heat-affected zone (HAZ). A second factor that can cause issues during in-service welding occurs when the strength of the pipe wall is reduced during the welding process. If the wall of the pipe becomes too weak, the structural integrity of the pipe can be compromised, causing the wall of the pipe to burst under the greatly increased internal pressure. This is also referred to as ‘burn-through’. Both of these problems can be exacerbated by the steels most commonly used to construct pipelines in Australia. Australian pipeline fabricators often use high yield
FORMING & FABRICATION strength steels. X70 and X80 steels often have walls as thin as 5mm, which makes in-service welding difficult due to the increased risk of both accelerated weld pool cool down and burn-through during welding. These high strength steels are also especially susceptible to increased hardness at accelerated cooling rates.
Reducing the impact of inservice welding challenges There are a number of ways these difficulties can be overcome to make in-service welding a viable option. By increasing the welding heat input, the effects of accelerated weld cooling rates are decreased. Increasing the heat input can, however, increase the chance of burnthrough as weld penetration does increase with increased heat input. To mitigate these factors, welders must ensure that the most suitable weld procedure is used, the HAZ hardness is not high enough to cause cracking, and heat input and penetration are correctly balanced to protect pipe wall integrity. www.weldaustralia.com.au
Weld Australia pipeline repair seminar Facilitated by Weld Australia, the upcoming Pipeline Repair, Hot Tapping and In-Service Welding Course will include a review and critical analysis of available thermal analysis models, including the original Battelle model, the heat sink capacity method and the PRCI thermal model for hot tap welding. Course attendees will learn why these models, while useful as planning tools, should not be regarded as ‘magic bullets’ against hydrogen cracking in hot tap welding. This course will give an unbiased analysis of the best strategies for avoiding burn through and the development of crack susceptible weld microstructures. The two-day course will also cover the latest defect assessment methods for pipeline engineers and managers, from simple, quick assessments through to more detailed ‘fit for purpose’ analysis. The course will be presented by William A Bruce, Group Leader -Welding Technology at DVN GL. With a 35-year career in pipeline welding research and its practical application, Bill is an American Welding Society representative on the American Petroleum Institute API 1104 Committee and is the Chairman of the Maintenance Welding Subcommittee. He has received numerous awards, including a Distinguished Researcher Award from the Pipeline Research Council International. The Pipeline Repair, Hot Tapping and In-Service Welding Course will be held in Sydney from 23 to 24 October. For further information and to register, please visit: www.weldaustralia.com.au/pipelinerepair
Sparks fly at Chisholm Chisholm TAFE student Blake McDonald has been crowned the ‘Best Welder in Victoria for 2018’ following the third annual Welding Triathlon at the Frankston campus on 14 April. The event was run in conjunction with Welding Australia (formerly the Welding Technology institute of Australia – WTIA) and the 12 competitors varied from Welding Apprentices (Certificate III in Engineering Fabrication trade), to professional welders and instructors. Participants demonstrated exceptional welding skills across three timed events displaying extensive knowledge of three different welding processes, materials, and positions. They were judged on speed, accuracy, skill and adherence to welding procedures. The three welds required were a horizontal fillet using the gas tungsten arc process on aluminium, a single “V” vertical butt weld of 10mm plate using flux core arc welding, and a pipe inclined on a 45-degree angle with a GTAW root weld caped by hydrogen-controlled arc electrodes. The winners were all Chisholm alumni: Blake McDonald (1st prize), Daniel Harrison (2nd prize) and Gary Horn (3rd prize) were awarded for top welds. First place was awarded a special prize with the overall winner crowned the ‘Best Welder in Victoria.’ Prizes and support were donated by event sponsors WTIA, Bombardier, Dandy Gas,
fellow welders, and industry leaders and for the general public to check out our training facility here at Chisholm. “This year’s event was the biggest so far and we’re already excited about what 2019 will bring,” said Bentvelzen. “With the Frankston redevelopment underway it’s a really exciting time for the students and staff to be a part of Chisholm. Welding and manufacturing in Australia demands high quality tradespeople to stay competitive and has traditionally been very manual. As welding machine technologies adapt via programming and inverter power sources welding has become a highly technical skill.” Wurth, Tool House, BOC, Lincoln, Cigweld, Independent Wholesale Welding Supplies and Kemppi. Participants utilised a range of Chisholm’s industry standard equipment including state-of-the art Kemppi Welding machines for both MIG and TIG/ARC and a modern Lincoln virtual reality welding machine. Event organiser and Chisholm teacher Rodney Bentvelzen said the event promotes welding as an attractive career choice, allowing participants to network with inspectors,
Winner Blake McDonald commented: “I found it challenging this year having to use the Lincoln VR machine. That was a surprise! I’ve competed the last two years and came last in 2017. I was determined to do better this year, I’ve done a full 180.” The annual WTIA Welding Triathlon exists to encourage young people to become involved in the welding and fabrication industry. The Welding Australia Triathlon will return bigger and better in 2019. www.chisholm.edu.au
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FORMING & FABRICATION
Five steps to modernising your old press brake A press brake is a press brake is a press brake, right? Nothing can be done to update it? Wrong! By William Helinski. Many press brake owners find themselves in a predicament about what to do with their old press brakes. They’re caught between selling and moving the old machine and installing a new one. Replacing it can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and may be accompanied by some serious logistical headaches. A cost-effective approach is to increase the productivity of an existing, properly functioning press brake by retrofitting it with features that can help reduce setup time, scrap, and operator fatigue. Knowing which types of retrofits are available and which are most suitable for your machine may help you decide whether it is worth investing in an upgrade or replacement. Taking these five steps will help you decide your next course of action.
1. Evaluate the machine’s hydraulic, mechanical, and electrical condition The most important considerations are: Ram Accuracy. Is the ram accurate, consistent, and level on both sides? Depending on your current bending methods, your press brake may be accurate enough for your applications. Are you coining, bottom bending, or air bending? If your bending method is producing accurate results, it may be tough to justify replacing the press brake. You may find that a cost-effective retrofit option will increase your machine’s productivity at a lower price than replacing it. Pedestal Control. Does your pedestal control or foot pedal function properly? Some press brake OEMs might consider these components to be obsolete, or the programmable logic boards may be nearly impossible to find. Researching the availability of these components is a proactive way to assess the risk versus reward aspect of investing in a press brake retrofit. Many control retrofits require these components to be functioning properly, while others may be executed with replacement boards that mimic the OEM’s logic boards. Backgauge Control. Do you currently have a faulty backgauge control on the press brake that desperately needs replacement? One way to increase productivity of your press brake is to reuse the existing mechanical structure of the backgauge, while replacing the control that runs it (see Lead image). Many backgauge controls on older machines are hitting their end-of-life phase. Press Brake Control. Does all of the press brake functionality come through the programmable control head? Is this control necessary for the press brake to run, or can you run the machine manually without the control? If the signals from the press brake control are necessary for the brake to run, retrofit options are more sophisticated and more expensive. However, if the machine can still run manually without an integrated control, a lot of basic retrofit interfaces typically can work for your machine.
2. Know what you’re working with Mechanical Press Brake. If your machine is a mechanicalstyle press brake with a flywheel and clutch, a stand-alone CNC backgauge system can be added to the machine, but ram programmability will not be an option. Mechanical press brakes are great for accuracy because the machine’s tonnage comes from its rotation through the bottom dead centre (BDC). In essence, the machine can produce very high tonnage at the bottom of the stroke. However, the downside is that there is no true way to gain programmability of the ram. Therefore, sequencing through multiple bend angles is not possible, like it is on a traditional hydraulic press brake. Mechanical press brakes are typically used in coining operations.
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Hydraulic Press Brake. A great example of a retrofittable hydraulic press brake is the traditional rocker-style press brake that became popular in the 1980s and 1990s. These machines use mechanical linkages to amplify the force and maintain high accuracies. Typically, they have a ram repeatability of ± 50 micrometres. Because they use transducers, hydraulics, and limit switches to regulate the ram force and position, third-party retrofit companies usually can interface their controls and offer a programmable position and speed. Other examples of hydraulic brakes are depth stop style, pure twin-cylinder hydraulics, torque tube style, upstroking, and hydramechanical. Proportional Valves/Synchro Style (Y1, Y2). These hydraulic press brakes have excellent accuracy and repeatability. They are perfect for air bending with precision-ground tooling. However, because of the “brains” required to communicate with the proportional or servo valves, these machines come standard with a sophisticated control (typically high-end, PC-based). They constantly regulate the hydraulics on each side of the machine to maintain accuracy and a level ram. The retrofit controls used to interface with the machines are usually PC-based also, and they come with numerous features and functionality to help get the most productivity out of the precision press brake. Precision-ground tooling for air bending is most commonly used. Retrofit controls for these machines usually offer a full tool library and perhaps graphical simulation to assist the press brake operator. Retrofitting these controls often can be expensive because of the increased control functionality and the need for a deeper integration with the press brake.
3. Assess pain points Frontgauging or Backgauging. Which makes more sense, backgauging or frontgauging? The dimensions that are the most critical define whether backgauging or frontgauging is the right method. For example, if you’re making a simple, two-bend part with a flange on each end but the lengths of the two flanges are not as critical as the bend-to-bend dimension, front gauging would be best. If you use a front gauge to measure from the first bend to the second bend, you maintain the critical tolerance in the center of the piece, pushing any variance to occur on the flanges. Back gauging ensures that the flange dimensions are the most accurate. Tool Changes. Are you making frequent tool changes? If you are, do your die heights change? If so, you’ll find yourself adjusting the height of your gauging surface or fingers frequently to accommodate the new tooling. It may be more productive to incorporate an R axis with a backgauge system. The R axis lets you program the height adjustment of the gauge surface for every bend. Depth/Angles. Do you have to manually adjust the ram depth or angle very often? If so, you can probably increase productivity by adding the ram axis or Y axis to the backgauge/frontgauge system. Do angles vary within the same part? Adding a Y axis to your press brake will allow you to adjust the angle and depth of the ram for each bend in your job sequence. Frequent Part Handling, Gauge Adjustments. Are you handling the same part multiple times? Using the X axis, Y axis, R axis and Z 1, Z 2-axis (independent fingers moving across the gauge bar) can increase operator productivity dramatically. Is your gauging surface/plane changing within a part? Using the R axis, or Z 1,
FORMING & FABRICATION One way to increase productivity of your press brake is to reuse the existing mechanical structure of the backgauge, while replacing the control that runs it. Ascertaining the condition of your backgauge’s mechanical structure and drive mechanisms is important in assessing whether you need a complete backgauge system or just a backgauge control.
Z 2-axis can help increase productivity. Do you adjust the fingers frequently or do you use multiple sets of fingers? Z1, Z 2-axis will offer programmability and reduce the setup time between finger adjustments.
or an operator doing the programming at the machine? Do I want a full tool library? Do I need networking? Will I be importing DXF, AutoCAD, or SolidWorks? The answers to these questions will help you determine how sophisticated your retrofit control needs to be.
The complexity of your parts and the quality of your tooling will determine how many axes you can justify adding to a backgauge system. The ROI for a backgauge system is likely to be achieved the soonest the more you can reduce setup time and reworking.
5. Implement a Solution
Operator Programming Errors. Are operators capable of programming at the machine? Some of the high-end retrofit controls offer offline programming so that engineers can pre-program a job from their computers. He or she can determine the tooling to use, the bend sequence, and sometimes even run a simulation to make sure the process is most productive. Then the job can be sent down to the press brake control for an operator to open and run. This process helps to eliminate mistakes operators might make programming at the machine. It also helps to ensure that the bend sequence and process are optimised. If operators are making a lot of programming errors, you may be able to cost-justify offline programming.
4. Determine Appropriate Approach Size of Backgauge System. Typically, retrofit companies need to know the overall length of the press brake or distance between the side frames. They also would like to know a little about the application. Are you bending light-gauge sheet metal or heavy plate? Is a single operator or multiple operators supporting the sheet? Control Capabilities. Many retrofit companies have a few different controls to accommodate different applications. They can range from very basic applications, like a go-to position-style control for job shops making one-off parts, to a multiaxis control offering some job storage, to a PC-based control with networking, offline programming, and unlimited storage. As a rule, the more sophisticated controls offer great benefits, but require more frontend planning. This is because they require accurate measurements of your tooling and materials so that the control calculates dimensions correctly. When determining the appropriate control for your application, some great questions to answer are: Do I need job storage? If so, how many jobs? Would I like to add ram programmability, programmable gauge bar height, and programmable fingers to the backgauge system? Do I want to program the ram in “angle mode” versus “depth mode” (Enter a desired angle in degrees or a depth into the die to get the angle)? Do I want someone in an office programming the jobs and sending them to the press brake,
If your press brake is functioning properly but you want to add productivity to your bending process, you are left with three options. You can: • Leave the machine as is at no additional cost and limp along for the time-being. • Purchase a brand-new multiaxis press brake. • Retrofit a complete backgauge system or just the controls. If your press brake is functioning properly with all factory parts and settings, you’ll save a significant amount of money by choosing to go the retrofit route. Single-axis retrofits can be added to press brakes for less than US$10,000. Typically, you can expect to pay US$5,000 to US$7,000 per additional axis within the system. Control-only retrofits also can be a cost-effective way of regaining the productivity of your press brake, as long as the backgauge control is where the problem lies and the mechanical aspects of the backgauge are sound. These control-only retrofits can interface with the back gauge, ram, and additional axes within the system. Typically, the drives can be replaced at an additional cost. You can expect to pay anywhere from US$10,000 to US$25,000 for a control-only retrofit, depending on how complex your system is. Regardless, this cost still is likely to be significantly less than purchasing a brand-new press brake as long as your existing machine is working properly—mechanically, electrically, and hydraulically. If your current press brake is not functioning properly, it is best to first calculate how much it will cost to get the press brake back up and running, then contact a retrofit company to estimate the cost of upgrading to increase productivity. After proper research, you may find it more beneficial to throw in the towel and replace the machine. If that’s the case, a number of great options are out there. The newest technology trend is servoelectric-driven press brakes. These brakes are low-maintenance, have no hydraulic pumps or fluids, are accurate and repeatable to two micrometres, and consume significantly less energy than a traditional hydraulic press brake. William Helinski is a Sales & Marketing Manager at Automec Inc. Reprinted courtesy of The Fabricator. www.automec.com
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MOTORS & DRIVES
Industrial Gears with the world’s largest Unicase housing Every application has its own unique requirements and this is most evident in the heavy-duty industry. Components and units required for heavy-duty applications are exposed to harsh environments and need to be robust to ensure a long-service life and reliability. In addition, extremely high output torques, cost-effectiveness and quiet running are further key prerequisites for companies operating within these environments. When looking for an industrial gear drive to best match a heavy-duty application, it’s imperative that companies turn to trusted brands who truly understand the environment and the exact application, to avoid any costly downtime. In operation for more than half a century, Nord Drivesystems offers trusted gear units for various industries and applications, and the Nord Maxxdrive is no exception. This industrial gear unit provides high output torques from 15,000Nm to 250,000Nm, and is ideal for applications such as agitators, conveyor belt drives, mixers, mills, drums or crushers. Martin Broglia, Managing Director of Nord Drivesystems, elaborates on his company’s industrial gear units, saying: “Downtime in heavy-duty industries is extremely costly. Over the years, Nord Drivesystems has continuously seen success with its industrial gear units – available as helical gear units or bevel gear units. “In addition, Nord is the industrial gear unit manufacturer with the world’s largest industrial gear Unicase housing. These were specifically designed to accommodate large roller bearings and to guarantee a longer service life.” Nord’s industrial gear units are designed with the customer in mind to meet the key requirements of flexibility, durability and longservice life. “Our units have optimised geometries for excellent load capacity, low noise and of course, a long service life,” explains Broglia. “They are very robust thanks to high-quality, low-friction bearings, and the Unicase housing makes them extremely durable. They are also flexible as they can be paired with any of Nord Drivesystem’s electric motors”. The Maxxdrive helical gear unit provides power from 1.5kW to 4000kW and is available in 11 sizes. These are supplied with various
Maxxdrive gear units
output shafts to ensure optimum connection for any application. In addition they can also be supplied with double or triple input shafts, IEC input flanges for direct connection of electric motors, output flanges and a range of suitable torque arms. The bevel unit in the Maxxdrive range can be used under very extreme conditions as they can withstand fluctuating ambient conditions thanks to a temperature management system. Various cooling and heating options are available and for maximum flexibility, and the gear units are fitted with easily accessible back stops for quick and simple changes to the direction of rotation. Taconite sealing on the input and output shafts guarantees a robust sheild againts dusty or wet environments and accessible greasing points ensure maintenance can be undertaken efficiently. Nord’s development has also extended into engineered baseplates where mounting of fluid couplings, disc brakes, auxiliary drives, oil coolers and other accessories can be connected, tested and delivered as a full package solution for the end user. www.nord.com
Brushless DC flat motors – in parts Maxon Motor Australia’s new frameless DC motor and encoder set allows even further miniaturisation and integration, meeting the increasing need for smaller robotic actuation by assembling individual parts directly into the robotic joint. The new frameless brushless DC motor (BLDC) has a diameter of 45mm and an assembled depth of just 23.7mm. It has a continuous rating of 50W, with 70W and 130W versions also available. The frameless design is particularly suitable for processing machine or rotary stage manufacturers who need a large through bore to pass cabling or tubing. For positioning, a high-resolution magnetic encoder ring – also with the same bore as the motor rotor – is also supplied as components. The encoder ring is marked with the zero position to allow alignment with the motor zero commutation point in the application and is available in IP rated, absolute and incremental options. The combination gives a low-profile, large-bore positioning system made up from standard parts with shorter lead times than specialty manufactured complete assemblies. The second advantage is for space saving – in applications already containing joint actuation bearings or mounting systems there is no need for a second set within the motor. www.maxonmotor.com.au
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Explosives manufacturing plant invests in latest motor control technology Rockwell Automation has announced that Auto Control Systems (ACS), based in Welshpool, Western Australia, is the first certified power system integrator in the world to implement an Allen-Bradley Centerline 2500 low-voltage motor control centre (LV MCC). ACS is a premier provider of industrial automation, control systems and services in Australia. The company provides industry-leading value-add engineering services with expertise in power control, electrical installation, safety, network studies, packaging and power conditioning that meets critical measures for operational excellence, application knowledge and customer satisfaction. ACS has a wellestablished competency in motor control and software to help customers understand and implement these intelligent capabilities in a way to help generate value for their organisations. The MCC is destined for an explosives manufacturing plant in Eastern Europe and features the complete Rockwell Automation Connected Components range, including E300 Electronic Overloads and PowerFlex 525 and 753 drives all on an Ethernet backbone. “Customers’ requirements are changing and they are looking for motor control solutions that can integrate with their existing systems and provide advanced diagnostic capabilities,” explained Andrew Taylor, Engineering & Operations Manager at ACS. “The Centerline 2500 meets these requirements and provides an efficient and effective solution.” According to Michael Massey, State Manager – Western Australia, Rockwell Automation: “This is an important milestone in our relationship with ACS and gives us the flexibility to address market requirements in providing comprehensive type tested, intelligent MCC solutions that can be locally customised and supported by a competent LV MCC Recognised System Integrator with backing from our factory.” The European explosives manufacturer called on International Explosives Equipment (IEE), an Australian company that designs and builds high quality equipment for the bulk explosives sectors, to provide the mechanical design and hardware for the manufacturing plant. ACS is the automation provider for International Explosives Equipment and was responsible for delivering the automation and electrical components of the plant. IEE, ACS and the end user collaborated on the programming requirements for operating the production facility incorporating a high level of safety, automation and control. As the MCC will be operating in an explosives plant, ArcShield protection was included in addition to the Rockwell Automation Connected Components. ArcShield helps to reduce arc flash hazards and provides increased protection against electrical arcing faults. The MCC also features IntelliCENTER technology, which enhances the intelligence of the MCC by using built-in networking to capture information that can be used for predictive maintenance, process monitoring, and advanced diagnostics. Connecting motor control devices over Ethernet allows operators to realise the benefits of the Connected Enterprise by monitoring and analysing operations from anywhere at anytime. “The international certification via IEC61439 combined with ArcShield protection helped the customer to feel relaxed in the knowledge that they are purchasing a superior product, which provides the highest levels of protection for their operations staff,” said Taylor. ACS leveraged their engineering expertise to incorporate several custom selections, including a light and power distribution chassis, PLC tier including dual CompactLogix controllers and Stratix switches, and custom heat trace control cubicle. All motor control
The Centerline 2500 MCC is destined for an explosives manufacturing plant in Eastern Europe.
equipment has an external hardware interface module to display performance information at the front of the MCC. “Working together, we were able to provide an IEC-certified product with the safety of ArcShield,” added Taylor. “The entire MCC is housed within a 12m high-cube shipping container complete with segregated control room and laboratory. The container is designed to be transported direct to the customer’s premises ready for wiring and installation.” www.rockwellautomation.com www.autocontrols.com.au
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Schaeffler tech sets new benchmark for predictive motor maintenance Schaeffler is introducing advanced new condition monitoring technologies to Australasia that are setting new benchmarks for predictive maintenance of rotating equipment such as pumps, fans and electric motors. The new globally proven technologies, including the latest evolutions of Schaeffler’s SmartQB and SmartCheck condition monitoring systems were featured at this year’s Hannover Messe exhibition along with a whole host of digitalisation and cloud-based technologies that harness the advantages of Industry 4.0. Applications for which this technology applies include bulk handling and conveyor applications; mining and energy; building, construction and access equipment installations, such as forklifts and logistics; food & beverage and agribusiness processes, including paper and packaging; manufacturing, metals and process engineering, transport and industrial motor and transmission applications, including pumping and HVAC installations and utilities including electricity, water and waste water. “These technologies are at the forefront of predictive maintenance and condition monitoring globally,” says Mark Ciechanowicz, Manager – Industrial Services, Schaeffler Australia. “Schaeffler has had successes with major companies overseas as well as in Australia, and our team will be closely looking at which new technologies displayed at Hannover Messe can be implemented in Australia, to enhance the reliability of predictive maintenance programmes locally.”
Case Study 1: Perlenbach Water Supply Association The Perlenbach Water Supply Association, which supplies fresh drinking water to roughly 50,000 residents in seven municipalities of Germany’s Eifel region every day, uses a combination of Schaeffler’s SmartQB condition monitoring system and Concept8 lubricator to ensure fault-free and reliable operation of its pumps, and to identify any issues as early as possible, to avoid major problems and downtime. The preconfigured SmartQB condition monitoring system detects irregularities in electric motors, pumps, fans and rolling bearings, and reports potential fault causes in a plain text message after they have been identified. The integration of the system, which was developed in partnership with Mitsubishi Electric, into the control room visualisation means that Perlenbach’s maintenance personnel are informed of incipient damage at an early stage and can
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immediately initiate maintenance measures and procure any replacement parts that might be needed. Schaeffler’s Concept8 ensures requirementoriented lubrication of bearings, to avoid insufficient lubrication or overlubrication, and resulting damage. “Conventional systems for machine monitoring are costly and complicated. In contrast, the SmartQB is so easy to use that our employees did not require any specific knowledge of vibration diagnosis and were able to get started right away,” says Joachim Dankwardt, Deputy Manager – Water Procurement/Treatment at Perlenbach.
Case Study 2: SPIT Electrical Mechanics Dutch industrial service company SPIT Electrical Mechanics employs Schaeffler’s expertise for the maintenance of its customers’ machines. The company is transitioning from regular offline measurements to continuous online measurements by using Schaeffler’s SmartCheck condition monitoring system, which will reduce outlay and costs for SPIT. Connecting to the Schaeffler cloud allows SPIT to access the many years of bearing and vibration analysis expertise of Schaeffler’s engineers in the form of digital services. The ConditionAnalyzer digital service, for example, delivers automated diagnoses of the machines’ condition, offers in-depth analyses, and generates plain text messages. Schaeffler’s solution reliably prevents mechanical failure of electric motors. For the service company, the partnership with Schaeffler means it can make fewer onsite visits to the customer and can plan maintenance work further in advance and consequently increase the machines’ efficiency and availability.
“SPIT and Schaeffler are the perfect partners when it comes to cloud-based condition monitoring,” said Mark Ent, Managing Director of SPIT. “Schaeffler offers the right products to enable us to make further developments. Schaeffler’s additional expertise creates genuine added value for our customers.”
Local applications Global examples such as Perlenbach and SPIT show the advantages of wellimplemented condition monitoring solutions and how they can improve predictive maintenance programmes and reduce the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of rotating equipment such as pumps, fans and electric motors. “In Australia, companies are typically operating in even harsher conditions than those present overseas, due to higher average temperatures and extreme weather conditions,” says Ciechanowicz. “It’s even more important under these arduous conditions to accurately measure the condition of important rotating equipment and identify and issues as early as possible. “Condition monitoring technologies should be seen as an investment. While there are upfront costs involved, these costs are dwarfed by the costs involved if something breaks down, including repair or replacement, lost production and downtime.” “We’ve had local examples where a condition monitoring system has identified and helped prevent a major component from breaking down – a main generator or rotor on a wind turbine, for example – and the total savings could pay for the condition monitoring technology for the entire wind farm of 100 or more turbines.” www.schaeffler.com.au
Gearmotors \ Heavy Industrial Solutions \ Electronics \ Decentralised Systems \ Services
Big things come in small packages Meet the newest member of SEW-EURODRIVE’s family, the MOVIGEAR® MGF1 drive unit for lower power ranges. The new Size 1 completes the MOVIGEAR® generation and enables a compact, maximally energy-efficient solution for applications with lower torque requirements.
Your Benefits: • Gear unit and motor are combined into a compact housing resulting in a low weight, easy to handle Mechatronic drive unit. • Smooth, finless and fanless housing design eliminates the possibility of debris entrapment leading to reduced cleaning efforts and system downtimes. • MOVIGEAR® motor complies with IE4 (Super Premium Efficiency) standards, offering impressive energy savings. • Reduction of stock holding for end users due to large operating speed range and constant torque. • Available with various size hollow shaft and TorqLOC® mounting systems. • Operated via compatible Centralised or Decentralised Variable Speed Drive. • Ideal for applications that require low torque ranges between 10 and 100Nm.
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Manufacturing takes to the cloud There is currently a lot of buzz around the cloud, a key technology that is driving a new era of smart manufacturing. Thomson Matthews, Software Product Manager at ANCA, addresses some of the questions frequently asked about the justifications for, and security issues around, adoption. The cloud computing megatrend has been hard to miss for consumers or businesses. Cloud-enabled platforms have transformed everything from transportation to accommodation, and helped create some of the world’s most valuable companies. As a matter of fact, 1.65m business people rely on cloud data day in and day out.
Thomson Matthews, Software Product Manager at ANCA.
Adoption by enterprises has been swift. Technology research firm Gartner published a report in February predicting the pace of growth in public cloud services would reach its peak this year at 18%, with a total value of US$246.8bn. Companies were pursuing cloud strategies, said Gartner, due to the “multidimensional value of cloud services, including values such as agility, scalability, cost benefits, innovation and business growth ”. Despite these and other benefits, manufacturers appear to be slower adopters than those in other sectors. An Economist Intelligence Unit report published last year notes that “manufacturing appears to have something of a late start in cloud”. Adoption, however, was predicted to increase “significantly and rapidly”. The report’s respondents predicted that this reluctance will fade, and 71% expected cloud would be a major factor within manufacturing in five years. In CNC machining and other types of manufacturing, the adoption of cloud computing – collecting data from many devices at one point – will be transformative, allowing intelligent, autonomous decisions throughout supply chains. The cloud is one of the “nine pillars” making up Industry 4.0, and critical for the Internet of Things (IoT) trend, which McKinsey predicts will create nearly US$5 trillion in value in business-tobusiness settings annually by 2025 .
The benefits Networked production comes with a number of benefits. A connected bank of CNC grinding machines, with real-time analytics presented through a browser, enables operators to see which machine is doing what and where there might be bottlenecks. Capacity can be optimised through floating work orders, enabling a company to get the most out of their investment and to juggle smartly. With collected data we can use machine learning algorithms to analyse machine
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performance, learn when and how a machine will fail, and trigger preventive maintenance actions before failure occurs. Downtime can be minimised, with maintenance notification software (MNS)-based alerts telling an operator when there’s a problem and allowing them to intervene early. Predictive rather than reactive maintenance brings obvious benefits.
a vendor depends on – among other things – the integrity of the data security that they can provide. Also, if you already share workplace data using, for example, Dropbox, then guess what? You are already using a cloud service.
Cloud-based communications can help alleviate the burden by eliminating maintenance, IT workload, and some of the costlier internal infrastructure, including servers and storage systems. Manufacturers don’t have to worry about data backup in case of system failure and power consumption can also be cut.
Another reservation might be around cloud or vendor exit strategies. Both will be clearly covered in the terms and conditions when subscribing to a new service. ANCA’s cloud offering, for example, allows customers to export data at any time from on-premise to cloud or vice-versa.
Popular negative myths around cloud computing There are some enduring negative ideas that are inhibiting cloud adoption in manufacturing. Intellectual property security is high on this list. However, it is easy to get alerts in cloud systems on potentially problematic activity based on behavioural analysis – for example if a worker is attempting a forbidden download from a machine. Secondly, cloud vendors provide data centre-grade security to customers. The credibility of a company like Amazon as
There might also be concerns around viruses, though this should not be a problem where there are only outbound flows of data.
Many of the concerns around the use of IoT cloud services have been seen previously in the world of cloud-based mechanical computer-aided design (MCAD) software, and these have faded over time. Nowadays offering MCAD in the cloud is pretty much essential for vendors, and it has driven benefits to customers, including but not limited to performance, scalability and cost.
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ANCA ebook demystifies the cloud When it comes to tool manufacturing, those that adopt highly productive machining practices will have the competitive edge.
The value of cloud-based connectivity on the factory floor will continue to grow as the Industry 4.0 movement accelerates. Right now, users can immediately gain from better planning, based on informed decisions, based on data. The EIU report mentioned above cites three waves of adoption for transformative technologies. First comes cost reduction. Then there’s doing what’s done now better. The third wave, though, “is the most fascinating — the creation of unforeseen, wholly new opportunities that no one planned for or expected”. www.anca.com.au
By far the most mature and comprehensive aspect of Industry 4.0 for tool manufacturers is the advent of cloud computing, which has already been proven to make remarkable change possible within the wider business community. The cloud promises a whole new world of opportunities for tool manufacturers, making it easier than ever before to: • Reduce manufacturing costs. • Increase productivity. • Eliminate complex workflows. • Predictive and preventive maintenance. • Monitor machines and production in real time.
For machinists that are attracted by the potential upside, but lack certainty about where to start, ANCA has launched a campaign to help understand what the cloud means and how to maximise the opportunities it makes possible. Thomson Mathew, ANCA Software Product Manager, explains: “As a global CNC machine provider, ANCA is first to market with new technology like 3D simulation and multi-robot production, so innovation in tool manufacturing is kind of our thing.” ANCA’s new ebook explains how to quickly access the benefits of the cloud; what systems you can connect; how to protect your IP; and the practical steps you need to plan your move to the cloud. Download the ebook at: www.anca. com/cloud
SHAPINGtheFUTURE ofMANUFACTURING
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A NEW GENERATION OF MASTERCAM IS COMING SOON. ARE YOU READY?
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How manufacturers can eliminate information silos forever Big data is touted as a gamechanger in business, but for manufacturers struggling to make sense of the data they have, it could be more of an expensive hindrance. This is exacerbated by the fact that the amount of data manufacturers must cope with continues to explode and is often stored across different silos. By Nicholas Delaveris. Moreover, those silos continue to multiply as more systems are deployed to keep up with the increasing demand to digitise operations. Because those silos can’t connect with each other or with other existing systems and content repositories, manufacturers are left with separated collections of information that don’t provide useful or actionable insights. This creates measurable inefficiencies within the organisation beyond simply lacking actionable insights. Chief among these is that employees struggle to find the information they need, when they need it. For example, a global study conducted by M-Files revealed that 24% of respondents look for documents and can’t find them on a weekly basis. Spending too much time searching various content repositories means employees can’t concentrate on their core tasks. Even when employees do find the information they’re looking for, they can never be absolutely certain that it’s the correct or most recent version. This is because employees often duplicate the content across different silos so that it can be used for crossreferencing or to enrich existing information. Storing information in two or more separate places is a recipe for version confusion and means employees can never guarantee they’re working with a single source of truth. Two-thirds of the survey respondents said they find different versions of documents in different locations, and 40% said it wasn’t readily apparent which one was the most recent version. These businesses therefore struggle to maintain productivity and accuracy in their operations, which can affect their ability to compete successfully. Compounding matters is the tendency of businesses to layer another content management system over the top of existing attempts to solve the problem. This introduces more complexity and cost, and rarely delivers the results businesses are looking for. Similarly, employees often turn to cloud-based solutions such as Dropbox or Google Drive, creating even more repositories for business information. Instead of applying these band-aid approaches, manufacturers need a solution that organises their information based on context that lets them manage information based on what the information is, not where it’s stored. If content gets managed by “what” it is, the need to specify a location for it (e.g. a network shared folder) becomes irrelevant. This is similar to how Spotify manages music or Netflix manages video – there is no longer a need to store the content in a folder location. That way, every single piece of information relating to a specific customer, for example, can be found quickly without having to duplicate it into multiple locations. Manufacturers also need to respond to the rising trend of employee expectations that business systems resemble the apps they use in their personal lives. This consumerisation of business IT helps employees be more productive and efficient, and minimises the frustration associated with difficult-to-use systems. It’s also important for employees to be able to access all the information they need from anywhere in the world using whatever device they have to hand. Work is no longer a destination but an activity, and employees expect to be as productive from their hotel room in New York as they are from their office in Sydney.
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These requirements can be satisfied by an intelligent information management solution that demonstrates five key elements: 1. Metadata-based architecture. Metadata is the foundation of the modern information management architecture, defining what something is and what it’s related to in an objectively precise and intuitive way. Once information is objectively defined, it can be decoupled from its location, and then an entirely new world of information management opens up. 2. Intelligence. Intelligent Information Management leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to automate, simplify, and assist the user with how they interact with information, particularly how metadata is generated and applied so that information is correctly and intuitively classified and organised. 3. Value-based. One of the key concepts behind this new approach is what can be referred to as value-based information management, which means that information is managed differently based on its value to the business. One aspect of this concept is based on the premise that the volume of information is so large and growing that it will eventually overload any system. Another is that some information is more business-critical than other information. 4. System-neutral backend. This provides the ability to connect with other repositories and systems in a way that gives users visibility into each information silo without requiring that content be copied into a single, monolithic repository. Rather, through an open architecture that enables connections to other systems and repositories, including network files shares, office applications (e.g. CRM, ERP, email), file-sharing services, other ECM systems, and so on, information is available via a single user interface while remaining in place without disturbing other systems and processes, as well as those who rely on them. 5. Unified user experience. An intelligent approach to information management delivers a unified user experience via a consistent and familiar interface, regardless of the original repository or system in which information is stored and managed. This enables simple, intuitive access from any PC or device, including native mobile apps for smartphones and tablets. Additionally, offline access is supported when an internet connection is unavailable. With the right intelligent content management solutions, manufacturers can eliminate information silos forever, breaking down barriers between information and the employees who need it. Rather than migrating content into a single, giant repository, manufacturers must overlay a solution that provides visibility and access into the multiple existing systems businesses already have. Doing so will help them compete more effectively and minimise the time and frustration involved in accessing mission-critical content. Nicholas Delaveris is Alliances & Partner Director – ANZ at M-Files. www.m-files.com
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Digitalisation and Industry 4.0 in manufacturing Manufacturers are experiencing a period of drastic change as digital transformation rises throughout the sector as part of Industry 4.0. By Hannah Waugh. This digitalisation trend adds pressures to traditional businesses, but also offers exceptional opportunities that will optimise production and increase efficiency. These changes revolutionise activities, processes, competencies and models through a mix of digital technologies with an accelerating impact across not only businesses, but society and cultures. Sparked by a shift in new demands from customers, Industry 4.0 is the name for the current trend of automation and new technologies in the manufacturing sector. The revolution brings changes in all areas of life and existing business models. For example, it won’t just be me who uses Amazon’s Echo Dot – ‘Alexa’ – to carry out mundane tasks such as turning on music or making phone calls out of sheer laziness and convenience. This is an example of the shift and a starting point for automisation and its effect on society and the way we all operate.
new ways of collaborating and workforce engagement. The aim is to streamline and automate documentation processes in that the creation, distribution to all relevant people and review of important documents can be done electronically and most importantly, efficiently. This allows an element of enhanced corporate control in that management can circulate documents and updates and get acknowledgement through one centralised, electronic system, migrating the need for manual or paperbased systems – a huge time and cost saving advantage.
Industrial manufacturing organisations have realised the necessity in improving flexibility and reducing time to market, while at the same time ensuring the quality of products is not sacrificed. With present and future shifts in mind, many organisations recognise the need for industrial transformation and have already taken steps to future proof their activities. Indeed, 63% of manufacturing organisations surveyed by The Economist have already initiated major digitalisation strategies to either parts of or the whole organisation. Manufacturers are finding the need to launch products faster, despite the challenge of rising product complexity that they face – a problem that manual labour and processes cannot keep up with. Where possible, manual processes and standard tasks are being replaced with technologies and automated systems to better use human skill sets to cope with product complexity and to meet customer expectations and requirements. As customer expectations reach a new high, manufacturers are trying to balance demand for individualised and bespoke products while still presuming to pay the price of a mass-produced product. Automated and electronic technologies take some of the pressure off by reducing the time spent carrying out procedures or manual tasks – they are taken care of and efforts can be put elsewhere. The Economist reports that of the companies they spoke with who had already initiated
Hannah Waugh
digital transformations, 83% had reported a current increase in revenue and 81% reported a cost reduction as a direct result of implementing said transformations. Being under such scrutiny, all product and quality processes must be traceable and available to access when getting audited or for reference. This change of pace can cause an adminastrive headache! It is therefore essential to ensure that as a manufacturer, you have a system in place to control documentation, procedures and processes in an easy to access, centralised format. And of course, increased digitalisation across industries brings a need for increased security to protect against potential risk of any information being accessed without authorisation. Key ways in which a digital transformation can play a part in the revolution of Industry 4.0 is in intelligent information management,
Risk prevention is improved as this digitalisation movement introduces technologies that are able to proactively predict risk rather than reactively deal with problems after they occur. As an organisation, if you are able to avoid and prevent potential risks to aspects like your supply chain or your production processes you will be able to focus on growth strategies and your customer experience much more confidently, with the peace of mind that an automated, electronic solution is serving your business needs. Digital transformation is a journey with multiple connected intermediary goals, in the end striving towards continuous optimisation across processes, divisions and the business culture during an industrial movement where building the right bridges in function of that journey is the key to longterm success. Hannah Waugh is the Marketing Co-ordinator for Ideagen. www.ideagen.com
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Top practices for a top-performing production floor The Australian manufacturing industry continues to face significant challenges that mean businesses need to find ways to evolve and outperform their competitors to remain viable. A strong Australian dollar and competition from overseas manufacturers with lower costs have put pressure on local businesses in recent years. “However, there are signs the Australian manufacturing industry could be set for a comeback with manufacturing jobs increasing by 40,000 in the last 12 months,” says Greg O’Loan, Regional Vice President, ANZ for Epicor Software. “This suggests Australian manufacturers have found new ways to compete and prove their relevance.” The most successful manufacturers tend to concentrate their efforts in three key areas:
1. Production planning and scheduling Manufacturers must first plan what products need to be produced to satisfy existing orders, then when these products can be made. There are four ways manufacturers can maximise production: Define existing capability for production: A realistic assessment of production capacity includes factors such as the availability of machine time, the flexibility of the various types of machines for different tasks, and the availability of skilled labour within the organisation. Improve accuracy of production scheduling: Organisations must continuously refine both manufacturing processes and the time allocated to them. This may be achieved by storing the load time (the amount of time it takes for production) for each job operation and recalling this to improve scheduling accuracy for future quotations as well as for actual production. Use technology to enhance production control: An accurate schedule should be available not only to those in production planning, but also to people on the shop floor who may be actively managing or producing products. An enterprise resource planning (ERP) system has these capabilities and is flexible enough to accommodate changes. Communicate the schedule to all stakeholders in the organisation: The availability of online schedules means that anyone connected to the manufacturing process has the accurate, up-to-date information they need to make good production decisions. Cloud-deployed ERP systems make key workflows easily available across the enterprise and the global supply chain. Cloud deployment is the most effective way to bring accessibility and integration to most organisations, with only an internet-connected PC, tablet, or smartphone required.
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2. Production management Managing production processes can help save time and money. This is the part of the process where manufacturing businesses can gain efficiencies or increased quality for their products, which are key markets of competitiveness. There are four tasks in the production management process that can be optimised for better outcomes: • Stay on time: Businesses must develop realistic production plans and schedules, then execute strictly according to those plans. The process of production should be the same whether the product calls for a single day or a week’s worth of production. • Be proactive: Managing any changes in production proactively will minimise the impact of changes on the overall schedule. Businesses shouldn’t wait until the last minute to update schedules and notify customers regarding changes. • Increase visibility: Manufacturers need full visibility of the entire production process to manage it effectively. This means making the production schedule, materials management, current production operations, and quality assurance process available to everyone in the organisation according to job roles. Senior executives in manufacturing should be able to see a live view of production output and costs such as energy and materials, to enable datadriven decision-making for executives through to the shop floor team. This capability should be built into the ERP system.
• Close the finished job: Many manufacturers miss the opportunity to implement continuous process improvement. The ability to compare expected costs and labour against actual results is critical to driving the organisation towards more efficient manufacturing processes.
3. Quality “Since Australian manufacturers tend not to be able to compete with overseas businesses on price, quality is an area where local businesses can excel,” says O’Loan. “To deliver a high-quality product that commands a premium price, topperforming manufacturers must maintain a focus on quality throughout the production process.” Manufacturers can do this by instilling quality principles throughout the organisation, including: • Tracking quality incidents in a systematically and regularly, beginning with the production floor. • Identifying the root cause of a quality problem so that quality issues can be avoided in the future. • Making quality in the production cycle an organisational objective. “While the Australian manufacturing industry is strong with plenty of potential for growth, businesses that don’t regularly review and improve their operations will fall by the wayside,” O’Loan concludes. “By focusing on these three areas, manufacturers can increase their competitive capabilities, reduce costs, and streamline operations for increased efficiencies. This positions these businesses for ongoing, sustainable growth.” www.epicor.com/australia
Real Business Real People Real Members John Hart is proud to be a founding member of AMTIL. Our continued and active participation is fostered by the enthusiastic and engaging staff at AMTIL. Their staff have an intimate understanding of our industry from all perspectives and provide a valuable resource of skill, knowledge, and experience. There are many benefits that come from AMTIL membership, the most valuable of which is its people. Mark Dobrich, John Hart
Since 1999, AMTIL has been connecting business, informing of opportunities and growing the manufacturing community. To be become an AMTIL member contact our Corporate Servcies Manager, Greg Chalker on 03 9800 3666 or email gchalker@amtil.com.au
amtil.com.au 1311AMTIL/MD
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Servitisation challenge is cultural as well as technological Manufacturing businesses looking to differentiate themselves are wrapping new services around traditional products. By learning how to derive value from servitisation with new technology, manufacturers can rise above the competition. Cultural challenges, however, should not be underestimated, writes Antony Bourne. Manufacturers today live in a very competitive, price-sensitive and crowded world. Companies that operate in developed economies can no longer compete on cost alone and are looking at how to achieve a more stable revenue forecast. The need to differentiate from competitors is also a key priority. One way this can be done is to look at servitisation (the shift from selling just a product to selling a product and a service) as a way to provide a complete solution to customers. Many of the companies I speak to are investing in disruption and innovation, and they aren’t doing it merely from a new product development perspective but something far more advanced. They are going from a ‘make and sell’ business model and evolving it into one that increasingly adopts and embraces services, which in turn helps build long-lasting customer relationships.
Why manufacturers are servitising their businesses The main benefit for companies adopting servitisation is that it will introduce a brand new revenue stream, one of selling services and/ or service contracts. It also helps reduce the cost to the customer. With more information about the customer’s products, for example, you can be more efficient in the way that you maintain them. If performed well, customer loyalty will increase, as well as further opportunities to sell more service-orientated offerings. Another advantage is that it offers the ability to smooth out ‘lumpy’ revenue streams, which in turn give a more predictable and secure cash flow. Servitisation leads to a better understanding of customer needs by forging closer working relationships with them and analysing the data acquired in the process. This transition from making goods to selling services represents a huge change that creates major challenges for many traditional manufacturers, as their product effectively becomes the platform from which to deliver those services. For some, the solution lies in developing combinations of products and services to deliver the outcomes their customers want and value. However, they will also need to bring in new technologies to help in this transition.
The three levels of servitisation Manufacturers can adopt varying levels of servitisation within their operations, starting with a base level where they centralise the supply chain for product consumables and spare parts within their remit and revenue model. At this stage, additional resource requirements in terms of people and materials are minimal and there is no great financial commitment. The next level of servitisation requires a service team to oversee customer requirements for product maintenance and service. This demands either a level of internal investment or outsourcing to a third-party supplier. It does, however, bring opportunities for upsell from a well-trained service team. Businesses who fully embrace servitisation commit to investing the entire supply chain in the success of the project for an agreed time – one, three, ten or more years – beyond delivery of the product. As such, they may accept responsibility for service and maintenance for a fixed term under a contract, which means if unexpected failures or repairs are necessary they will bear the costs. However, to compensate for this risk they will be rewarded with regular
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“Servitisation leads to a better understanding of customer needs by forging closer working relationships with them and analysing the data acquired in the process. This transition from making goods to selling services represents a huge change that creates major challenges for many traditional manufacturers.” revenue. With significant projects where costs are high, there is the potential to receive a share of the profits from the project on a performance-related basis. From the customer’s point of view, this is an incentive for manufacturers to focus attention on maintaining the asset in peak condition. Accordingly, this should ensure an investment in a high-quality product to begin with and a focus on preventative maintenance rather than just responding to failures as they occur.
How technology can enable servitisation Digital transformation is a critical enabler of servitisation. With recent technology advances, specifically around cloud and the Internet of Things (IoT), manufacturers can now look at using digital technologies to add new services/offerings to their portfolio. These technologies can and do include predictive analytics to forecast future breakdowns, remote monitoring of usage, and allowing updates to be proactively pushed out to customers. If you use IoT technology then you will be able to receive data about how long the product has been used, which in turn will help you be more predictive about when maintenance work will be required. With sensors detecting when your product or equipment needs service, data can trigger an automated service action that will realise significant benefits to make your service organisation more effective. This type of automated predictive maintenance will become more and more common as it is a natural next step after implementing IoT to optimise service efforts. It will also allow you to gain insight into when and how products are being used – with the potential for game-changing competitive advantages. Digital and mobile technologies can deliver significant efficiencies to service teams in the field. They also enable enhanced on-site servicing and maintenance capabilities, customer retention and the opportunities for upsell of product and service contracts.
Manufacturers need to change their mentality However, manufacturers also need to change their mentality from a “Let’s make it and then sell it” mindset, to more of a “Let’s support it throughout its lifecycle” ethos. There are risks with this approach since it needs buy-in and to be driven by top management. This conscious shift in mindset and strategy is easier said than done.
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Companies will need to invest in skills training since a more customer-centric approach will be needed, new departments may be created and existing job roles may need to evolve. There are many challenges that they will encounter and need to overcome. As a result, according to the Annual Manufacturing Report 2016, some 70% of manufacturers see availability of resources (“people, materials, financial”) as the principal hurdle for increasing their service portfolio. From a people perspective, the main issue is that salespeople need to be trained to sell an outcome as opposed to a product, which for many is a difficult cycle to break. When looking at materials used in the product structure, designers may have to change the way that they develop a product since they want to ensure that it is built for service as opposed to just built to last the warranty period. Lastly, when it comes to the financial aspect, the big issue is that from a short-term revenue point of view, there will be a big impact, as it will now be spread over many months and years and will not be received all in a single payment upon delivery and acceptance.
Transformation from manufacturer to consulting company IFS has a number of customers that have adopted the servitisation approach. One of them is Nowy Styl, a company who transformed themselves from a pure manufacturer of furniture to a world-class office interior consulting company. Founded in 1992 in Poland by the Krzanowski brothers, Nowy Styl originally set out to supply office chairs to its domestic market. The company made the early decision to invest in ERP software and chose IFS Applications, even before the complexities of supply chain and production demanded it. The initial implementation involved Nowy Styl, which distributed customer orders, and Fotel Style, the principle assembly company.
Within a few years, IFS Applications was rolled out through other Slavic territories and into France, Germany and the UK. The result has been to increase operating effectiveness and, in particular, to simplify the supply chain, streamline the customer service process, shorten lead times and to carry out controlling and accounting functions at the corporate level. The implementation simplifies the management of the entire organisation. The design gurus at Nowy Styl were not happy to stop at office chairs – and why should they when the entire office environment was their canvas? The business now delivers an all-encompassing Workplace Space Planning service that embraces all the drivers of workplace efficiency – light, acoustics, air-conditioning, the need for meeting places and communal areas. The business has a dedicated Workplace Research and Consulting Department where the starting point begins with a view of what an office is – and that is a place where people realise business processes. As experts in arranging offices, Nowy Styl not only presents products but also specific solutions that are then implemented to deliver communication, concentration and relaxation environments. The opportunities of servitisation are a major game-changer for the entire manufacturing industry and the supply chains that surround it. New digital technologies, integrated with enterprise software solutions, are now available to drive this change. However, the challenges of transforming the mindset of those who will need to adopt and adapt to the new business model should not be underestimated. Antony Bourne Is the Global Industry Director of Industrial and High-tech Manufacturing for enterprise software company IFS. www.ifsworld.com/au
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Innovation in mining – The future is automation Craig Gleghorn cites several examples of new technology in the mining industry, the importance of patent application and a description of the process. It has been ten years since Komatsu first commenced trials in Australia of autonomous mining haul trucks at a Rio Tinto iron ore mine. Today, Komatsu has more than 80 autonomous mining trucks operating across four Rio Tinto mines in Western Australia with plans for this to increase to more than 140 by the end of next year. Komatsu has also recently developed a retrofit kit which enables a conventional mining truck to be modified for autonomous haulage. The retrofit kits are being deployed on a number of Rio Tinto’s existing trucks. Komatsu also has enhancements planned which will enable the autonomous fleet of trucks to safely operate alongside driver operated haul trucks. The autonomous trucks are controlled remotely and operate on a pre-defined GPS route. Since their implementation Rio Tinto’s fleet has moved one billion tonnes of material. Rio Tinto has also been conducting trials of fully autonomous freight trains in the Pilbara region. In 2017, a train without an on-board driver successfully completed a 100km pilot journey which was remotely monitored both locally and as far afield as Rio’s Operations Centre in Perth. Rio’s goal is to operate the world’s first fully autonomous heavy haul long distance rail network transporting ore from mines to port terminals. Rio’s ambitions also extend to autonomous drilling. Rio currently has 11 autonomous drilling systems operating at mines in the Pilbara with a further nine coming online by the end of this year. Aerial drones are also starting to play a role in autonomous mining with drones being used to obtain highly accurate 3D map data and provide real time aerial footage. Autonomous mining equipment require super-accurate data on the physical environment to successfully navigate the often irregular and changing mining landscape which they must share with both other machines and workers. Komatsu recently ordered 1,000 high-precision drones from market-leading Chinese drone manufacturer DJI. The drones are fitted with vision software provided by US startup Skycatch Inc (in which Komatsu has invested), and are able to produce real time data and maps accurate to 5cm. The data gathered is used to provide Komatsu’s vehicles with the necessary level of information on the surrounds for autonomous operation. Caterpillar, one of Komatsu’s key competitors, is also actively involved in developing new technology in the mining industry. In March 2017, Caterpillar entered into a collaborative agreement with Mining3 and the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) for the research and development of a camera-based positioning system to accurately track vehicles underground. With GPS being ineffective underground, positioning technologies have to date relied on costly laser technology or the installation of substantial infrastructure within the mine. The system is still in development but aims to track vehicles underground to within centimetres. Newtrax Technologies is a company which specialises in providing electronic safety, analytics and productivity solutions using sensorbased technology in underground mines. Since March 2017, Newtrax has been in partnership with a world-leading artificial intelligence research centre in Montreal called the Institute for Data Valorisation (IVADO). Together they are working on a machine learning project in which algorithms are used to determine relationships in data and subsequently make predictions. By applying to machine-learning algorithms, sensed data captured by Newtrax systems on events associated with mining vehicles over many years, the projects seeks
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to demonstrate the extent to which analysed data can be used to optimise mining operations. For example, by applying data from vehicle sensors to an algorithm for vehicle maintenance, it could potentially be predicted as to when a vehicle component is likely to fail. This type of information could then be used to accurately determine appropriate planned maintenance schedules. Komatsu, Caterpillar and Newtrax along with many other companies developing mining automation technology including Sandvik and Hitachi are actively seeking to patent their innovations in order to obtain a competitive advantage. Caterpillar, for example, has filed over 250 Australian patent applications in the past three years. Komatsu filed approximately 75 Australian patent applications over the same period. By obtaining patents, these companies will be well placed to prevent competitors from copying their innovations. In Australia, the process of obtaining a patent typically commences with the filing of a provisional patent application providing a detailed description of the invention. In most instances the application will also include drawings to support the description and claim statements which define the boundaries of the monopoly sought. The preparation of a patent application is an interactive process between the patent attorney and the inventor and requires from the latter substantive technical information regarding the invention. Once an application is filed the invention can be publicly disclosed without jeopardising the applicant’s ability to obtain patent rights. Prior to filing, only confidential disclosures of the invention should be made. Before deciding to file a patent application, it is worth considering having a patent attorney conduct some patent searching in your technology field to locate patent literature which may impact upon the patentablility of your invention. Graig Gleghorn is an Associate with Watermark. Australianowned Watermark has a proud 157-year history in intellectual property services including: Patents and Designs, Trade Marks, IP Legal, IP Advisory and Competitive Business Intelligence. Watermark has offices in VIC, NSW and WA and the international presence is strengthened with a global network of Associates in over 50 countries, giving access to local support in the United Kingdom, United States, Europe, Asia and the sub-continent. Email:c.gleghorn@watermark.com.au. Ph: 03 9810 1437 www.watermark.com.au
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The dawn of twilight supply chains The “twilight supply chain” logistic solution is dawning, due to changing customer expectations regarding product delivery times. This represents exciting opportunities for retailers and supply chain service providers. Lawrence Christoffelsz explains. As traffic congestion around Australian cities becomes increasingly problematic (and expensive for transport companies), combined with the rapid growth on e-commerce and ‘m-commerce’ (mobile commerce) fulfilment expectation from consumers, many organisations are looking for non-traditional logistics solutions. The modern consumer expects to be able to order online in the evening and have goods delivered the next day. This same consumer does not care about the implications on supply chains for the retailer to provide this level of fulfilment, however they are significant, to say the least. The key impacts on the retailer/s are commonly; • Systems: Retailers must be able to process payments, drop orders into their WMS (warehouse management system) in order for the warehouse to ‘pick’ the order and then the TMS (transport management system) must be totally integrated to select and book the most appropriate carrier for the delivery. • Warehousing: ‘Traditional’ warehousing operating hours in Australia typically range anywhere between 6:00am – 6:00pm, with substantial increases in operating costs for the warehouse providers to work overtime, afternoon and/or night shifts. • Transportation: Similar to traditional warehousing, most courier and light-truck operators typically only operate during ‘daytime’ hours, however the need for ‘twilight’ (could be defined from 6:00pm – 10:30pm in the evening) or ‘overnight’ (could be defined as door delivery drops between 10:30pm - 6:00am the next day) customer deliveries is a game changer for last mile fulfilment transport companies. • People: Apart from the ‘system’ impact (which would still require staff on-tap for trouble-shooting), all of the above key impacts require actual people to run the warehouses and drive the vans/trucks outside of daytime hours. Therefore, an increase in ‘afternoon and night shift’ workforce is expected. • Cost: All of the above factors will increase the actual ‘COST TO SERVE’ of the products.
Delivering in the dark Consumers are demanding convenience with their purchases like never before and Australia is already a large and complex landscape for last-mile fulfilment during ‘normal’ operating hours. New market entrants such as Amazon may soon launch their ‘Amazon Prime’ delivery service, which will see another major shift in the delivery expectations of online sales. Ironically, one of the often unexplored impacts is actually on the consumers themselves. Consumers may not all live in a single house on a ¼ acre block in 2018, and even if they do, neighbours’ eyebrows could be raised about a courier driver delivering a parcel at 9:30pm in the dark. For those consumers who enjoy apartmentstyle or other multi-dwelling living, these properties commonly have security access (either entrance lobbies or gates) which require a ‘human’ intervention at the time of delivery. This delivery ‘access’ problem is already being considered by architects all around the world when designing apartment blocks and urban housing of the future. Some have even incorporated ‘drone parcel delivery chutes’ to enable autonomous drones to ‘drop’ a parcel into a chute for each resident at any time of the day or night.
“It’s time to get your supply chain act together very quickly. There’s no time for complacency or disjointed systems and processes anywhere across your supply chain” The Twilight supply chain My personal view is that the age of Australia’s ‘twilight supply chain’ is going to rapidly emerge, which provides an enormous (and exciting) opportunity for retailers and supply chain service providers who are prepared to take the plunge and offer consumers a rapid fulfilment turn-around and unsurpassed levels of customer service. Of course, this convenience will all come at a cost – most likely to the retailer/s more-so than the consumer, however the cost of not offering a rapid and convenient order fulfilment will be in lost sales revenue! So what does all of this mean for your retail or distribution business in Australia?? Well, simply put it’s time to get your supply chain act together very quickly. There’s no time for complacency or dis-jointed systems and processes anywhere across your supply chain. Online platforms and order processing systems need to be robust, warehousing SOP’s and efficiencies need to be fine-tuned, transport and last-mile deliveries need to be optimised – and your customer should be able to see the progress of their order/delivery on their smart phone or tablet at any time of the day or night. If you’re not innovating your supply chain and leveraging technologies to be able to offer a flexible and convenient customer experience, then you’ll be quickly left behind by your competitors who may be a start-up, market-disruptor who is half your age and understands the modern day expectations of the millennial consumer! Lawrence Christoffelsz is an international trade & supply chain advisor, the head of the International Trade Special Interest Group (SIG) for ASCI (Australasian Supply Chain Institute), and is a representative on many other industry associations and committees. Email: lchristoffelsz@gmail.com Phone: +61 (0)433 559 258
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How the Internet of Things will power manufacturing success As the Australian manufacturing industry enjoys a resurgence, manufacturers looking to remain competitive must begin exploring IoT solutions. Aaron Bernays explains. The Internet of Things (IoT) has transitioned from an untested industry buzzword to an emerging technology with widely-acknowledged potential to revolutionise industries such as manufacturing, mining, construction, transportation, and aerospace. There are cost and time-saving applications for IoT solutions in almost every company in these industries. In fact, Gartner predicts that there will be more than 26 billion connected things by 2020, and this explosion in connected devices is only set to continue.
What is IoT? IoT devices are often sensors attached to objects. These sensors feed information back to a central location using IoT networks or the internet. The IoT devices create massive amounts of data; it’s up to the business to decide what to do with that data. In isolation, IoT sensors can’t achieve much. However, with the right scalable Big Data platform to analyse that data and turn it into actionable insights, IoT applications will help reduce costs, open up new revenue streams, and create new business models. With the upswing in the Australian manufacturing industry, it is imperative for manufacturers to begin exploring IoT solutions sooner rather than later in order to remain competitive. In our experience, the value of IoT can be expressed across three dimensions—contextual, integrated, and operational. 1. Contextual data is provided by sensors such as those that can be found in an air conditioning system in a manufacturing facility. Based on the contextual data, the IoT application could automatically decide whether to turn the air conditioning up, down, or off to minimise energy consumption and costs, while optimising air temperature and other conditions.
Similarly, sensors in an airplane’s engine can reveal detailed contextual data that lets maintenance teams understand whether to carry out preventative repairs. Importantly, that data is being delivered as the engine operates as opposed to when the plane is on the ground, when conditions are different and the results might not be as accurate.
2. Integrated intelligence happens when businesses can combine data across different data sets and large populations. So, in the air conditioning example, if the IoT solution had access not just to the sensor data of one air conditioning unit, or even the fleet of air conditioners in that single factory, but all the air conditioners made by that company, then the solution can start making even smarter decisions. Furthermore, manufacturers rely on more than just their air conditioners for cost savings and efficiencies; there are any number of machines and systems in operation on a factory floor. Uptime and performance is essential for every piece of equipment. Therefore, visibility into the entire production fleet could deliver predictive failure information, letting manufacturers manage their plant and equipment for less downtime and better efficiency. 3. The ability to operationalise the insights delivered by IoT devices is the final piece of the puzzle. All the information in the world is useless if business can’t act on it to make improvements. It’s therefore essential to have a solution
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that delivers actionable insights to the right people, at the right time, and in the right format. In practice, this means understanding that it’s more useful to deliver equipment performance insights directly to the maintenance team, which can then schedule downtime for maintenance when it’s least likely to affect operations. The value of these insights can be enhanced through real-time, automated control over the equipment or machinery that’s being monitored. This lets changes be implemented sooner and, in some cases, the equipment or machinery can self-adjust based on the feedback from the sensors. Automating this process reduces manual work and increases accuracy. There are almost unlimited ways IoT solutions can help drive productivity and efficiency for manufacturers. Some examples include: • monitoring equipment performance parameters to schedule maintenance when the downtime will be least disruptive • monitoring product performance to proactively address service and maintenance issues for a better customer experience • smart meters that help manufacturers monitor and manage their energy and water use to lower costs. IoT creates the opportunity for your organisation to capture actionable information and to implement new data-driven business models that help you gain a competitive edge. However, to capitalise on this new opportunity, you need to do more than collect data. You need to arm your organisation with a powerful set of tools that you can use to import, store, and analyse massive amounts of data in a timely, cost-effective manner. With high-performance, scalable analytics, you’re poised to make effective use of the enormous volumes of data from the IoT—to improve your products and services, enhance your operational processes, and bring new data-driven offerings to market. Aaron Bernays is Chief Technologist, Micro Focus Micro Focus is expert in Big Data and IoT. It helps manufacturing customers analyse large-scale machine data in real-time, from mining insights to predicting machine failure, to predictive maintenance, product monitoring, and sensor analytics. With Micro Focus and our Vertica Analytics Platform, you have the partner and analytics tools to take advantage of the massive potential of IoT data, which can help drive your manufacturing business’ success. Email: aaron.bernays@microfocus.com www.vertica.com (where the whitepaper “Capitalize on IoT Data” may be downloaded.)
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NSW - More power to the inspectors NSW Work Health & Safety (WHS) amendments came into effect on 21 March this year. These changes will assist in improving compliance and enforcement measures for the NSW WHS Regulators, to make the lives of workers and business owners safer and more productive and to improve public safety. Jeremy Kennedy explains the most controversial addition – that inspectors will have the ability (after notification) to audio-record interviews without seeking the person’s consent. Other key components of the Act are also explained. New South Wales has passed an amendment Act that makes both miscellaneous amendments to the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW) (WHS Act) and which provides certain members of the NSW Police Force with protection from prosecution.
The Act The Act was passed and was assented to on 21 March 2018 and commenced operation on this date. Key changes to the WHS Act: 1. Recording of interviews
Perhaps the most controversial addition is that inspectors will have the ability to audio record interviews without seeking the person’s consent. The amendments allow an inspector to record any questions and answers given, provided the inspector notifies the person they are being recorded. Prior to the amendments, inspectors were required to obtain consent to record an interview in accordance with Section 7 of the Surveillance Devices Act 2007 (NSW), but now, as long as the interviewee knows that they are being recorded and have been provided with written notice of that, the recording will be lawful.
Given that persons do not have the opportunity to decline to answer questions under the WHS Act as they would in a criminal investigation with the police, this presents significant changes.
The rationale of the changes is to provide a clear, accurate and objective record of the interview which reduces the scope for dispute as to the content of any representation made in an interview.
This will speed up the recording process, making it more efficient and effective for all concerned.
There will be no increase in the Regulators’ current powers in relation to requiring a person to answer questions, nor does it remove any rights of the person being interviewed in relation to being warned of their obligation to answer questions and their protection in relation to derivative use of self-incriminating admissions. A copy of the recording would also be provided to the interviewee.
There are however some significant practice downsides for this new practice and it is suggested anyone being subjected to an interview seek legal advice.
2. A greater reach
The amendments also increases the Regulator’s reach for information while investigating an incident. Prior legislation restricted the Regulator to waiting until proceedings are commenced to issue a subpoena in relation to interstate information. Now, their powers are increased, with the ability for the Regulator to issue a Notice to obtain information to company head offices or control rooms in other states or territories without legal proceedings being commenced.
“The amendments increase the Regulator’s reach for information while investigating an incident” 3. Police protection
Under other amendments, a member of the police force will be found not to have failed to comply with his or her safety duties in certain circumstances, such as while responding to armed offenders and certain responsibilities associated with dealing with those armed offenders.
These sections were brought in after members of the Police Force raised concerns in relation to their duties under the WHS Act and the fact that they would at times be compromised when dealing with armed offenders in the interests of public safety.
What does this mean for you? If you operate a business that has offices in different states, the new reach for the regulator to obtain information may affect you. While an investigation is being undertaken, the regulator can make requests for information from your head office, another office, or a control room in another state. Most relevant to you as a PCBU, an Officer or a Worker is that you need to be aware that Inspectors can come on site, question you and record that interview. Provided they tell you that they are recording, you will then be required to answer questions. You will need to be conscious of the way you answer questions and we strongly recommend that if an investigation begins following an incident at your workplace, that you seek legal advice in order to prepare yourself or your employees for these interviews which will be recorded and can subsequently be used as evidence in potential proceedings in the future. Jeremy Kennedy is Director, Australian Business Lawyers & Advisors. If any of these points raise concern for your organisation, call Australian Business Lawyers & Advisors (ABLA) on 1300 565 846 to arrange a debriefing on how you can start preparing for these proposed changes. ABLA is an incorporated legal practice that is a wholly owned subsidiary of the NSW Business Chamber. This puts ABLA in a unique position for a legal practice. As a mission-based business, ABLA focusses on your business success and deliver commercially appropriate solutions to resolve your problems. 1300 565 846. Email: info@ablawyers.com.au www.ablawyers.com.au
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Austech/NMW set to become an even bigger event next May With the launch of Austech 2019 just a few weeks away, it is very exciting to see that National Manufacturing Week (NMW) has also adopted a two-year event cycle and will no longer run in Sydney, meaning the joint Austech/NMW show scheduled for 14-17 May next year in Melbourne is set to become an even larger, more significant event. This is truly a breakthrough in event planning in Australia. Most major international manufacturing shows are on a two-year cycle and Australia is now set to follow suit, with our co-location agreement between Austech and NMW already confirmed until 2021. We are especially pleased with the feedback we have been receiving from many of our member companies regarding their participation in Austech 2019. We are buoyed to hear many of them saying they will be there with a bigger presence than in 2017, and as a result we have already put an extra bay on hold at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. Major plans are well underway to have areas of the show dedicated to additive manufacturing, Industry 4.0/Digitalisation, air technology and cutting tools. We already have an agreement with Rising Media to run the Inside 3D Printing conference alongside Austech next year. We also have plans to significantly increase the Manufacturers Pavilion, an area dedicated to our local manufacturers showcasing their products, services and capabilities. This is a Pavilion within Austech that is growing year on year and one that we see as vitally important to our future. Helping manufacturers promote themselves in a major event atmosphere with the commitment of many OEMs provides a great forum for business. Of course, Austech also covers many other sectors including metal cutting technology, CNC machine tools, forming & fabrication technology, CAD/CAM software, laser, plasma and waterjet cutting, workholding and tooling, robotics & automation, quality & inspection, contract manufacturing and ancillary services. So you can see why I am excited. Austech, alongside NMW, is set to make Melbourne the manufacturing destination for all of Australia to attend in May 2019. The future for Sydney, meanwhile, is taking a different tack, with Reed Exhibitions set to run a new show starting in 2020 – the Advanced Manufacturing Expo (or AMX) – focused on advanced manufacturing processes and practices. AMX 2020 will be a three-day curated exhibition, showcasing the latest in high-tech, advanced manufacturing products, adjoined by a world-class industry conference, attracting the highest-level delegates to attend. AMTIL applauds the decision by Reed Exhibitions to run National Manufacturing Week as a biennial event alongside Austech and wishes them every success with AMX 2020. For more information on Austech please contact Austech Exhibition Manager Kim Banks, on kbanks@amtil.com.au
Regards
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AMTIL HEADING INSIDE
Major redesign for AMTIL website Launching in June, AMTIL’s newly revamped website comes with a simple, clean design, an extensive overhaul of our ManufactureLink industry directory, a new AMTIL Press Centre, and a host of exciting new features. The new website has been designed to offer improved navigation and enhanced functionality, allowing users to gain easy access to all the products and services that AMTIL has on offer. Created with the user experience in mind, the site is based around a clear, accessible layout that makes it effortlessly easy for anyone visiting to find the resources they are looking for. Importantly, the site has been optimised for viewing on mobile devices – an essential feature in today’s digital landscape – as well as via desktop browsers. “AMTIL’s website is a vital portal both for our members and for anyone seeking information about advanced manufacturing in Australia,” said AMTIL CEO Shane Infanti. “The site has always performed exceptionally well by industry standards, both in terms of page visits and user experience. However, the world of digital media is changing constantly, and it’s important we retain an online presence that keeps in step with the latest innovations. We felt it was definitely time to freshen things up.”
Promoting your business While the new website offers a substantially improved interface for anyone visiting it, the key area of focus has been on services and tools aimed specifically at AMTIL members, and at helping them to promote and grow their businesses. This can be seen in AMTIL’s industry capability and technology directory - ManufactureLink. This section of the website has undergone a thorough redesign, giving it a much more appealing appearance with all the key information laid out clearly for ease of access. More importantly, the search interface has been comprehensively overhauled, making it even easier for anyone browsing ManufactureLink to find exactly what they need – whether they are looking for a manufacturer to make something for them, a technology supplier, or a service provider. In addition, the new site makes it easier for AMTIL members to edit and update their own information on ManufactureLink. Another area where the new website helps AMTIL members promote their businesses is the AMTIL Press Centre – a new section designed exclusively for AMTIL members. The AMTIL Press Centre is an online registry for media releases specifically devoted to Australian manufacturing. AMTIL members will be able to submit their press releases direct via the website, and AMTIL has secured access to a database of more than 375,000 journalists in Australia
and worldwide, to whom we will be sending a regular digest of the latest press releases to appear on the AMTIL Press Centre. Our hope is that as things progress, the AMTIL Press Centre will become the go-to resource for media organisations looking for stories about manufacturing in Australia, helping you secure publicity for your business.
Designed for the end-user Overall the new AMTIL website has been designed with a look and feel that makes it a satisfying experience for users to visit and browse. Particular attention has been paid to the visual aspect of the site, with strong, eyecatching banners, and a dynamic presentation of the latest news. In addition, the site boasts enhanced search functionality and a new, streamlined navigation architecture. “The new website will provide the perfect platform for AMTIL’s growing array of digital services,” adds Infanti. “I’m really pleased with what the team has done with the redesign, and I’m looking forward to seeing how it’s received by our members and throughout the industry.” www.amtil.com.au 1382AMTIL
AMTIL is delighted to announce the roll-out of its new Corporate Partnership Program. AMTIL welcomes both AGL and William Buck as key corporate partners offering a selection of products and services that will benefit our members in their business. For any enquiries about our Corporate Partnerships, and how they can benefit you, contact Anne Samuelsson on 03 9800 3666 or email asamuelsson@amtil.com.au
Our Partners. Our Members. Your Benefits.
www.amtil.com.au
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R&D compliance burden for start-ups and SMEs Last month’s Federal Budget included measures to revamp the Research & Development Tax Incentive. AMTIL corporate partner William Buck provides a round-up of the changes and their implications for Australian manufacturers. Budget papers released on 8 May reveal that R&D Tax Incentive claimants including SMEs and the start-up sector may be faced with additional compliance burdens. Under the new measures, which come into effect on 1 July, there will be additional funding for enforcement activity allocated to the Tax Office and AusIndustry. Jack Qi, Director of Tax Services and R&D specialist at William Buck, says that while at first glance SMEs and start-ups may have been spared the brunt of the tightening of the R&D Tax Incentive, compliance changes could have the biggest impact. “Given that such activity has already ramped up in recent years, any further focus will mean it’s more important than ever to prepare robust R&D claims and quality, contemporaneous internal documentation that will withstand scrutiny,” says Qi. “From a cash flow perspective, we anticipate potential delays in companies receiving their R&D refunds until any review is finalised.” Qi warns the Government against making any more changes to the R&D Tax Incentive: “Stability of the incentive is key to instilling the confidence of the business sector to make long-term decisions on investment in Australian R&D. Once these changes are legislated, we urge the Government to refrain from further tinkering of the R&D Tax Incentive.”
Dr Rita Choueiri, Principal and R&D Specialist at William Buck agrees, saying that since the introduction of the current R&D Tax Incentive Scheme in the last seven years, there has been a boom in organisations wanting to conduct R&D in Australia. “News of the benefits of conducting R&D in Australia is only just starting to trickle across the world and specifically to North America and Asia,” says Choueiri. “I’ve personally seen an increased level of awareness and interested to conduct R&D Australia from both these regions over the past 18 months alone. There’s a real threat that many businesses will go offshore to undertake R&D if measures are tightened further. “The manufacturing sector is slowly starting to recover after a massive wave of companies moved manufacturing operations to Asia to cut costs. After discovering their entitlements for the R&D Tax Incentive, they are slowly moving operations back or setting up new ones in Australia.” Choueiri welcomes other integrity measures including more effective, binding guidance to be released outlining the scope of eligible R&D activities: “This will give more clarity to claimants who need better guidance in understanding what activities are eligible as well as pose less financial risk to their business.” www.williambuck.com
Key changes affecting SMEs and start-ups For companies with a turnover of below $20m, the R&D offset will be a premium of 13.5 percentage points above its corporate tax rate. Currently, such companies receive a flat 43.5% incentive. The new rules will link the R&D incentive rate with the company’s tax rate, which, if the proposed legislation is passed, could be 30% or 27.5% depending on its characteristics. It is expected the rate will progressively reduce to 25% by 2026. Accordingly, some companies could see a reduction in the R&D Tax Incentive from 43.5% to 41% of eligible expenditure.
Changes affecting large businesses
Also, perversely, this could see some pre-revenue companies receive a lower R&D incentive than a similar company deriving ‘passive’ income. We anticipate there will be calls for this anomaly to be addressed before legislation is passed.
Depending on the company’s corporate tax rate, the R&D tax offset is proposed to be:
Cash refunds from the refundable R&D tax offset will be capped at $4m per annum (except clinical trials). Any unrefunded amount will be carried forward as a non-refundable tax offset. While this represents a tightening of the R&D Tax Incentive, this will not impact on the vast majority of SMEs and tech start-ups. Enforcement & integrity measures will include: • Greater funding will be allocated to enforcement activity by the Tax Office and AusIndustry. • More effective, binding guidance will be released outlining the scope of what is “eligible R&D”. • R&D claimant details will be publicly disclosed, along with the amount of R&D expenditure claimed. • Anti-avoidance rules in the tax law will be strengthened.
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Currently, companies with an annual turnover of $20m or more are entitled to a non-refundable tax offset of 38.5% of eligible R&D expenditure. The proposed measures will introduce an ‘R&D intensity percentage’ to calculate the tax offset as a proportion of the company’s R&D expenditure to total expenditure.
• 31.5% or 34% offset if R&D intensity percentage is between 0% and 2%. • 34% or 36.5% offset if R&D intensity percentage is between 2% and 5%. • 36.5% or 39% offset if R&D intensity percentage is between 5% and 10%. • 40% or 42.5% offset if more than 10% of total expenditure relates to R&D. Companies with R&D activities making up a greater portion of their overall business are more likely to benefit from these measures – this will be good news for some. However, companies with greater capital spend (such as manufacturing) may suffer. Furthermore, the maximum amount of eligible R&D expenditure that can be claimed under the scheme is proposed to increase from $100m to $150m per annum – this will be welcomed by large claimants.
AMTIL INSIDE
A disruptive management system for growing businesses Vineet Ahuja is a Business Adviser working with AMTIL on the Federal Government’s Entrepreneurs’ Programme. Here he offers some advice on how you can cut costs and save yourself a lot of pain by structuring your growing business with self-managed collaborative teams. Imagine the scenario: • You own a small or medium-sized business. The business is stagnating because you don’t want to stop micromanaging. You have a team who can perform their roles, but you don’t believe you can depend upon anyone. You are mostly working in the business – not on it. As a result the business is not growing or realising its potential. • You are in firefighting mode every day. The whole time is spent “managing” people, resources or urgent customer issues, which is frustrating. As a professional running the organisation, you hardly have time for your own projects that could help the organisation. • You can grow fast as the market and the product you are in is in a growth phase. However, that growth needs managing and you are short of management resources. You need to hire managers but don’t know who to hire, what skillssets suit your organisation, or who will be the right fit to continue the philosophy and culture you have built. Now consider this: • In every business, there are people who do actual value-adding activities that earn direct revenue – activities that a customer pays for – such as staff on the floor in a factory. They add value by conducting revenue-earning activities in their small areas of operation. These are the value-adding people in any organisation. • Only these value-adding people actually add value/revenue in any organisation; all others add cost. • These people are generally “managed” by someone – by you as the owner, or by a manager or supervisor – creating a layered hierarchy that creates a cost structure. • And yet remember each of those value-adding people manages their own lives outside the workplace. They manage their personal affairs, their home finances, their children and dependants, and grow in their life/status. • So is there any reason to believe value-adding people can’t manage their small areas of work? Is it necessary to assign a manager to manage them? Is there a way to let those people who add real value run their own areas of operations without you micromanaging them? The solution lies in collaborative workplaces where people work and deliver as self-managed teams. To make this happen we need to understand three concepts: responsibility, accountability and authority. Let us define each of these: • Responsibility: This is “the ownership of a task”. Being responsible means to deliver a task within the parameters of time, costs and performance, to a level acceptable to all relevant stakeholders. For example, someone operating a machine in a line has responsibility for that machine’s output. • Accountability: This is answerability, liability, and the expectation of account-giving to someone over your actions. You may be responsible for a task, but you and your boss are accountable for the overall outcome – for example, the target outcome quantity and quality of the whole line output for the day. • Authority: This is defined as the right or power assigned to achieve certain organisational objectives – for example, acceptance of the output quality to release to the customer.
The relation between Responsibility, Accountability and Authority is reflected below. The area where they overlap can be defined as Trust & Empowerment:
AUTHORITY
ACCOUNTABILITY
RESPONSIBILITY
This area represents Trust & Empowerment. The bigger this area is, the more free time becomes available to the owner/manager to lead rather than fight fires
The solution lies in creating teams of people to whom you can give Responsibility, Accountability and Authority. Responsibility without accountability, or accountability without responsibility, or authority without responsibility or accountability are inherently risky – it’s sort of a no-brainer to see that a catastrophe’s coming. The current rash of banking scandals in Australia show this vividly. Generally, we give value-adding people full responsibility, some accountability and significantly less authority to take decisions, and this leads to the creaton of more layers of management. So how do you develop teams that you can trust and empower? • By creating structured TEAMS with all involved in the line or section, define a goal, with regular, structured team meetings based on rules. Allocate ACTIONS to each member, reviewing the actions in every team meeting. Involvement and support of the owner/senior manager starts a culture that allows people to take responsibility with accountability and authority – to own their roles and make decisions. • Create TEAMS with ALL involved in process lines or sections in locations, select TEAM LEADERS (ensure they continue to add value and do not suddenly become bosses), provide TRAINING, IMPROVE THEIR SKILLS, MENTOR them to take decisions with limits (and to escalate decisions when necessary). Communicate daily with TEAM LEADERS. This creates trust and empowerment of the people, who then participate in growing the business. The Industrial Age is giving way to The Participation Age, where employees participate in decision-making and share ownership of decisions taken to help the organisation grow. Thousands of organisations are discovering this and taking advantage, and techniques are available to assist (see the links below for further reading). Would you rather create silos in your organisation or create teams that work towards a common goal without people controlling people? AMTIL is a partner organisation in the Federal Government’s Entrepreneurs’ Programme, focused on helping companies raise their competitiveness and productivity. For more information, contact Greg Chalker, Corporate Services Manager at AMTIL, on 03 9800 3666 or email gchalker@amtil.com.au. www.business.gov.au/EP www.collaborativeenquiry.com www.miracompanions.com.au. www.we-q.com
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AMTIL INSIDE
Register now for the 2018 AMTIL National Conference 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 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), while later in the day Claire Madden, founder and director of Hello Clarity, will offer her insights on ‘Creating an Engaging Culture’. For the closing address, iconic 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 Among the other highlights of the speaker program, Gary Bertwhistle will open up proceedings after lunch with the question ‘Who Stole My Mojo?’ Gary is a pioneer in creative and innovative thinking, with a career spanning retail, music, media, corporate education and radio, and has helped organisations of all sizes in all industries to think differently and maximise their potential. His presentation will offer an array of simple, easy-to-implement tips and tools for putting the spark back into your day. Midway through the morning, the Conference program will split into two streams, with sessions on Leadership and on Technology. In the Technology Stream, Rick Shalders, Director of the Industry Development Unit, Raytheon Australia, will
Gary Bertwistle
shed light on some the opportunities to work with his company, revealing what’s involved in becoming a supplier for the defence industry giant. Meanwhile, headlining one of the Leadership Sessions, Ian Cattanach will be discussing ‘How to structure your manufacturing business for growth and profitability.’ As Director – Business Advisory for William Buck has a broad range of experience in the manufacturing industry, including tax, cash flow, information technology and strategic planning. This enables him to offer clients a holistic view and provide advice that takes into account all aspects of their affairs.
Ian Cattanach
2018 AMTIL National Conference will also offer plenty of chances to network and interact with your peers. Lunch, morning and afternoon tea will all be provided, while after the Conference program concludes delegates are invited to stay for an exclusive networking cocktail function. For more details on exhibiting at the Conference, contact AMTIL’s Events Manager Kim Banks on kbanks@amtil. com.au. To register and book your place to attend the 2018 AMTIL National Conference, scan the QR code below or visit: www.amtil.com.au/events
Opportunities to exhibit Alongside its outstanding program of speakers, the 2018 AMTIL National Conference will also feature exhibits by some of the most dynamic organisations engaged in advanced manufacturing in Australia. A small number of exhibition stands are still available, offering a fantastic opportunity for you to promote your business at one of the key events in the Australian manufacturing calendar. As well as a packed series of presentations and a diverse line-up of exhibitors, the
Fit for the Future: An engaging ride into the future Gihan Perera will be the keynote speaker at an AMTIL Breakfast Seminar on 18 October, at Riversdale Golf Club in Mount Waverley, Victoria. Gihan is a futurist, conference speaker, author and consultant. His presentation will provide you with a glimpse into what’s ahead and how you can become Fit for the Future, in both your professional and personal life. Take an inspiring, eyeopening, and engaging ride into the
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future to learn about the global megatrends shaping your industry, the mindset that helps you lead the change, and the skills you need to get things done in a fastchanging world.
Rita Choueiri, who will be talking about the R&D Tax Incentive. Rita will go into detail on the scheme and its eligibility, shedding light on what sorts of business are eligible to claim.
Gihan will discuss: the global megatrends shaping business and society; influence and power in the Age of Access; How change is the new normal; and how you can take more control of your own future. Also presenting will be William Buck’s Dr
Following these presentations, AMTIL will be holding its Annual General Meeting. For more information about any of AMTIL’s upcoming events, call 03 9800 3666, or email Events Manager Kim Banks on kbanks@amtil.com.au. www.amtil.com.au/Events
AMTIL INSIDE
Tim Disken drops in on New Touch New Touch Industries had a very important visitor in May, when Aussie Paralympics hero Tim Disken OAM took a tour of the company’s premises in Bayswater, Victoria. Despite being born with cerebral palsy and a number of ongoing health issues, Tim began learning to swim at the age of four, and began swimming competitively when he was 10. Contests and medals culminated in his selection for the Australian Paralympics team at the Rio games in 2016. Tim came away with three medals, including gold in the S9 100m freestyle. The success story continued at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in April, where he won the gold medal in S9 100m freestyle and Gold in SB8 100m breaststroke. In 2017 he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM).
Now Tim has the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo in his sights, and he is being supported BY one of AMTIL’s CEO Groups as sponsors. New Touch is one of the members of that CEO Group, and Tim’s visit was a chance to have a look round the factory and get an understanding of what the company does. “It was great to have Tim pop in today to meet the team at our Bayswater plant,” said Brad Drury, Managing Director at New Touch “It’s a pleasure to be part of a group of companies supporting such a fine young man in his quest for Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.” Tim Disken (centre), with Alan Taylor and Greg Chalker from AMTIL, and Brad Drury and Alex Vandenbroeck of New Touch Industries.
Busy week for AMTIL at NMW National Manufacturing Week 2018 was held in Sydney from 9-11 May, and AMTIL was there with a stand right in the heart of the exhibition. AMTIL has a long history with NMW, having co-located its own Austech exhibition with NMW for many years, and continuing to do so every second year in Melbourne. Taking a stand at NMW was an oportunity to show our support for AMTIL members visiting or exhibiting at the show, and to engage with Australian manufacturing businesses more generally and discuss the ways it can help them.
For AMTIL members we also held ‘Happy Hour’ drinks at the AMTIL stand on the Wednesday and Thursday of the show. Both days the drinks were well attended by AMTIL members keen to relax and take a breather from the hectic business of the exhibition. “This year’s NMW was a very impressive event,” said Anne Samuelsson, AMTIL’s Sales Manager. “The show was well attended throughout the week, and we had a steady flow of visitors to the AMTIL stand. It was a great opportunity to engage with the industry. It was also nice to see so many of our members at the Happy Hour drinks and to catch up with them.”
AMTIL FOOTY TIPPING 2018 ‘Oh, we’re from Tiger-laaand!!!! The Tiges play the MCG better than anyone at the minute so come September get ready for the Yellow & Black – could they go back-toback?’ Season surprises… West Coast Eagles who at the time of writing had just beaten Richmond out west, Melbourne are looking to deliver on all the promises and the Kangaroos keep getting the job done. The AFL (aka GWS), might have a team of champions, but are well off the boil. Carlton, rooster one week, feather duster the next to the tune of a 100+ point loss. Ol’ Lukey (ex AMTIL) leads the pack, I think there needs to be some drug testing done. Sanchez ROUND 09 1 LukeH 2 Brian Lawry 3 Wooden Spoon 4 Damian 5 Brigitte 6 Frank C 7 Lou 8 OldTouch 9 Brendan 10 Raxo
60 (244) 59 (235) 59 (279) 58 (196) 58 (225) 58 (226) 58 (247) 58 (305) 57 (218) 57 (241)
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INDUSTRY CALENDAR
Please Note: It is recommended to contact the exhibition organiser to confirm before attending event
INTERNATIONAL Manufacturing Expo 20-23 June 2018 Thailand, Bangkok www.manufacturing-expo.com
International Metalworking Philippines 22-25 August 2018 Philippines, Manila www.imtpexpo.com
Maktek Eurasia 2-7 October 2018 Turkey, Istanbul www.maktekfuari.com
ACMEE 21-25 June 2018 India, Chennai www.acmee.in
SINDEX 28-30 August 2018 Switzerland, Berne www.sindex.ch/sin-de
BI-MU 9-13 October 2018 Italy, Milan www.bimu.it/en/home
CIMES 26-30 June 2018 China, Beijing www.cimes.net.cn
Automation Expo 2018 29 August -1 September 2018 India, Mumbai www.automationindiaexpo.com
METALEX 11-13 October 2018 Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City www.metalexvietnam.com
Inside 3D Printing 28-30 June 2018 - Sth Korea 30-31 Oct 2018 - USA, NY www.inside3dprinting.com
IMEX 29-31 August, 2018 India, New Delhi www.imexonline.com/Home
Intermach 11-13 October 2018 Myanmar, Yangon www.intermachmyanmar.com
MTA VIETNAM 3-6 July 2018 Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City www.mtavietnam.com
Medical Manufacturing Asia 29-31 August 2018 Singapore www.medmanufacturing-asia.com
MTA HANOI 16-18 October 2018 Vietnam, Hanoi www.mtahanoi.com
The National Safety Show 4-5 July 2018 New Zealand, Auckland www.safetyshow.co.nz
ExpoAlumínio 3-5 September 2018 Brazil, Sao Paulo www.expoaluminio.com.br
SteelMET 16-18 October 2018 Poland, Sosnowiec www.exposilesia.pl/steelmet/pl
AMTS 4-7 July 2018 China, Shanghai www.shanghaiamts.com
IMTS 10-15 September 2018 USA, Chicago www.imts.com
Indometal 17-19 October 2018 Indonesia, Jakarta www.indometal.net
AMTEX 6-9 July 2018 India, New Delhi www.amtex-expo.com/amtex_delhi
METAL EXPO Eurasia 12-15 September 2018 Turkey, Istanbul www.metalexpo.com.tr
Automotive Hungary 17-19 October 2018 Hungary, Budapest www.automotivexpo.hu
Aluminium China 11-13 July 2018 China, Shanghai www.aluminiumchina.com/en
Foodtech Packtech 18 - 20 September 2018 NZ, Auckland www.foodtechpacktech.co.nz
PTA 17-19 October 2018 Russia, Moscow www.pta-expo.ru
China Diecasting 18-20 July 2018 China, Shanghai www.diecastexpo.cn/en
AMB 18-22 September 2018 Germany, Stuttgart www.messe-stuttgart.de
VIIF 23-26 October 2018 Vietnam, Hanoi www.viif.vn/en
Manufacturing Surabaya 18-21 July 2018 Indonesia, Surabaya www.manufacturingsurabaya.com
MWCS 19-23 September 2018 China, Shanghai www.metalworkingchina.com
EuroBLECH 23-26 October 2018 Germany, Hanover www.euroblech.com/2018
Automotive Manufacturing Expo 18-21 July 2018 China, Beijing www.ciame-show.com
Micronora 25-28 September 2018 France, Besancon www.micronora.com
Korea Metal Week 30 October - 2 November 2018 South Korea, Goyang www.korea-metal.com
JNMTE 2-6 August 2018 China, Qingdao www.jch-mj.com/en
Metal Madrid 26-27 September 2018 Spain, Madrid www.easyfairs.com/metalmadrid
SIRE 1-2 November 2018 Singapore www.sire.com.sg
Vietnam Manufacturing Expo 8-10 August 2018 Vietnam, Hanoi www.vietnammanufacturingexpo.com
Micronora 26-27 September 2018 France, Besançon www.micronora.com
FABTECH 6- 8 November2018 USA, Atlanta www.fabtechexpo.com
ENMACH 10-12 August 2018 Sri Lanka, Colombo www.enmach.in/international/srilanka
MEDTEC 26-28 September 2018 China, Shanghai www.medtecchina.com
Formnext 13-16 November 2018 Germany, Frankfurt www.mesago.de
EuroMold Brazil 14-17 August 2018 Brazil, Joinville www.euromoldbrasil.com.br
Toolex 2-4 October 2018 Poland, Sosnowiec www.exposilesia.pl/toolex
Matelec Industry 13-16 November 2018 Spain, Madrid www.ifema.es/matelecindustry_06
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INDUSTRY CALENDAR HEADING LOCAL Northern Australia Food Futures Conference 2-4 July 2018 Darwin Seeks to enable effective policy action to maximise agricultural development in northern Australia by influencing strategic policies and taking advantage of new and emerging markets. www.foodfuturesntfarmers.org.au QME (Queensland Mining & Engineering Exhibition) 24-26 July 2018 Qld. Mackay Showground Innovative products and demonstrations of the latest mining equipment and technology. www.queenslandminingexpo.com.au CEMAT 24-26 July 2018 Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre Innovation and Industry 4.0; The Future of Intralogistics, Materials Handling and Supply Chain. Includes logistics, warehousing, supply chain and IT, Industry 4.0 and how improved automation, machine-to-machine communications, IoT and digitalisation is shaping the future of warehousing, manufacturing and intralogistics. www.cemat.com.au Australasian Waste & Recycling Expo 29-30 August 2018 Sydney Event for the waste & recycling industry. Presenting efficient, profitable & sustainable waste and recycling solutions. www.awre.com.au PrefabAUS Conference 2018 11-12 September 2018 Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre Australia’s prefabricated industry is at the forefront of the global market. This conference will provide knowledge & networking opportunities to explore the growing sector. Will include keynote speakers, project case studies and workshops. www.prefabaus.org.au
Advertiser Index
All-Energy Australia 3-4 October 2018 Melbourne Conference & Exhibition Centre Clean and renewable energy event. www.all-energy.com.au
3D Systems
Safety in Action 9-10 October 2018 Sydney Australia’s leading workplace Health & Safety Event. www.safetyinaction.net.au
Complete Machine Tools
27
DMG MORI
13
Emona Instruments
53
International Mining & Resources Conference 28 October – 1 November 2018 Melbourne Conference & Exhibition Centre Decision makers, mining leaders, policy makers, investors, commodity buyers, technical experts. www.imarcmelbourne.com
Hare & Forbes
4-5
Headland
120
TECH4.0XPO Technology & Innovation Trade Show & Conference 31 October – 1 November 2018 Melbourne Australia’s pioneer Industry 4.0 + Technology trade show: 5G World;DevOps, Cloud & Developers World; Cyber Security & Big Data Analytics World; Industry 4.0 World; CIO & CTO World; GovTech World. www.techxpo.live Ausbiotec 31 October – 2 November 2018 Brisbane Convention Centre Life sciences conference.Covers regulation and reimbursement, new markets, business development and capital access, emerging technologies, clinical trials, regenerative medicine, agriculture & commercialisation. www.ausbiotechnc.org
cover flap
Alfex CNC
23
Applied Machinery
15
AWISA 21 Bystronic
6-7
EuroBLECH 25 GE Additive
55
HI-tech Metrology
85
IMTS 39 Industrial Laser
47
Iscar 2-3 Machinery Forum
119
Manufacturing & Design Solutions
77
Mastercam 97 MTI Qualos
37
Okuma
9
Precision Specialty Tooling
87
Renishaw Oceania
59
Robert Bosch
75
Seco Tools
17
SEW Eurodrive
95
Sheetmetal Machinery
51
Trheotham 93 Whitelaw Machinery
11
Wildcat Industries
69
William Buck
41
AWISA
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Global Job Solutions
Insert
NCCS
Insert
Sheetmetal Machinery
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National Construction Equipment Convention 15-17 November 2018 Sydney Showground Australia’s first event for the civil construction and infrastructure sector. With the theme ‘Think Globally, Act Locally.With a focus on infrastructure and cutting edge technology. www.ncecaustralia.com.au
AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY YOUR INDUSTRY. YOUR MAGAZINE
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Business Management
ADVERTISE IN AUSTRALIA’S NO. 1 ADVANCED MANUFACTURING MAGAZINE Call Anne Samuelsson of AMTIL on 03 9800 3666 or email asamuelsson@amtil.com.au
STATE SPOTLIGHT: WA and NT Waste & Recycling Quality & Inspection MINING, RES
OURCES &
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ENERGY
Food & Beve rages State Spotlight: Victoria
Workholding Cutting Tools Forming & Fabrication Material Removal
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HISTORY
Big wheels & little wheels – the story of UK-born Sir Laurence John Hartnett (1898 – 1986) Australia’s ‘Father of the Holden’ and much more
Part 25
PROPELLING AUSTRALIA
The great London to Melbourne air-race of 1934 The year is 1934 and even though the world is at peace, some Australians sense the foreboding of war. Italy will soon invade Ethiopia and there are unsettling signs in Japan. Inspired by the world-famous 1934 London to Melbourne airrace, was it time for Australia to consider manufacturing its own aircraft? To explore this, Sir Laurence was summoned by the Defence Minister.
I
n 1934, MacRobertson’s, the big Australian firm of chocolate-makers, offered £15,000 as first prize for an air race from London to Melbourne. The aims were to encourage air traffic between Europe and Australia and to focus world attention on the city of Melbourne, which was celebrating its centenary. £15,000 was a lot of money, at a time when the world was just emerging from the great economic depression. The best aviators from many nations entered the race. The sponsors achieved both of their objectives. The race proved that many types of aircraft could make the journey safely from one side of the globe to the other, and the publicity given to the race put Melbourne on the front pages of overseas newspapers. And the race - or, more accurately, one of the planes which took part in it - helped to bring about a development even more spectacular and valuable to Australia than publicity or proof of the capabilities of aircraft. It led to the birth of an aircraft industry in Australia. The plane was a twin-engine Douglas. It was flown in the race by two Dutch KLM pilots, Parmentier and Moll, who, incidentally, became caught in a thunderstorm and were lost over southern New South Wales while flying through the night towards Melbourne. They saw the lights of a town below them and circled trying to get their bearings. Down in the town of Albury, an alert radio announcer heard the sound of the engines and guessed it was one of the air-race planes in trouble. He sent out a message to all car-owners in Albury to go to the racecourse, drive on to the track and turn their headlights in to the centre of the racecourse. This provided an illuminated landing ground for the Dutchmen, who came in safely, got their directions, refuelled, got pulled out of the mud by locals and took off again to finish second in the race. All my life, aircraft and cars had kept vying for my interest, starting in 1912 as a 14yo in Britain when I was involved in gliderconstruction as part of a college team – the first glider in fact, ever to be made by a school team in Britain. That successful flight made the newspapers in Britain. Then while working at Vickers Engineering, I got a great thrill when I helped to make
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Melbourne’s CBD to honour the winners of the great air race. Image courtesy Vic. State Library
tools and experimental components for the production of early aircraft engines. Afterwards I joined the British Royal Naval Air Service and realized my boyhood, ambition of flying when I enlisted as a flyer in World War 1. After arriving in Australia in 1934, I had joined the Air Force Association, and had become friendly with Group-Captain Dickie Williams, then Air-Officer commanding the Royal Australian Air Force in Australia. The day after the party to celebrate the finish of the London to Melbourne air race, I got a call from Dickie. “Have you seen the Douglas machine those two Dutchmen brought in? It’s the airliner of the future. You must come around and see it!” he said, as excited as a boy with his first train set. He picked me up in his official R.A.A.F. car and we drove out to Laverton to see the Douglas. It was impressive, too: a gleaming, silver giant of a thing - two engines, powerful, roomy. Dickie enthused over it. “Isn’t she beautiful? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we had them in Australia?” he kept saying. I agreed and so did Sir Archdale Parkhill, the Minister for Defence, who was anxiously trying to figure ways and means of making planes for defence in Australia. The industrialist -
Essington Lewis - had just come back from a visit to Japan, and he didn’t like what he had seen there. He was sure the Japanese were ready for war (it was not long after this that they attacked China), and he was afraid that their eventual plans included an attack on Australia and he felt that we should be doing something to meet that threat. Even though the world was in fact at peace, some of us had the forebodings of a war, fears heightened by the invasion of Ethiopia by Mussolini’s Italy in 1935. I was summoned for advice by the aforementioned Defence Minister and a speciallyformed group met in the B.H.P. boardroom in Little Collins Street, Melbourne. Several meetings in the following weeks were then held, at which we did a lot of talking, but didn’t come to a decision as to what next should be done. We were in agreement that in time of war the nation’s lines of supply from overseas could be in jeopardy, and our national survival could well depend on having a strong aircraft industry of our own. Finally, it was proposed that a syndicate be formed to make a detailed examination of the problem, and see what could be done to produce our own aircraft. Continued on page 118
Hotspots is proudly owned and managed by AMTIL
All we think about about is manufacturing. •
You need a specific component made, but don’t have the capabilities in house.
•
Your company has landed a major project, but your workshop or your workforce just aren’t big enough to handle the volume required.
•
Your business is diversifying into an area where the expertise available within the company is not sufficient.
HotSpots is a service designed to connect AMTIL members with opportunities to help their businesses grow. That piece of work that you need done might be just the sort of opportunity they’re looking for. And by featuring that opportunity as a HotSpot, you gain access to a wealth of Australian manufacturing capability and expertise.
Our regular AMTIL HotSpots email goes out to over 1,000 people every month, making HotSpots an incredibly powerful way to reach large numbers of key decision-makers from across the manufacturing sector. Provided your opportunity meets our criteria for listing, inclusion in AMTIL HotSpots is free. If you have something you feel will meet our criteria, please forward it to AMTIL for assessment by emailing info@amtil.com.au with the subject line HOTSPOT. www.amtil.com.au/Membership/Hotspots
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HISTORY
– Contuned from page 116 25 October1934, Albury (southern NSW). The second place-getter, which inspired Sir Laurence and the RAAF, was one of the most unusual entries. It was a Douglas DC2 entered by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. Named “Uiver” (Dutch for “stork”), it was the biggest competitor and the only craft to carry passengers. It was piloted by KD Parmentier and J.J. Moll. Pictured here are approx. 300 Albury locals who were rallied to help pull the plane out of the mud-soaked field on the morning after the emergency landing during a severe thunderstorm which knocked out the plane’s communication system. The event has forged indelible bonds between the people of Albury and Holland. In gratitude KLM made a large donation to Albury Hospital, the Mayor of Albury was awarded a title in Dutch nobility, gifts were dispensed, medals struck and commemorative plaques erected. ABC’s Radio 2CO spoke to the crew on-air shortly after the ‘miraculous’ landing and this broadcast was relayed across Australia and directly to Holland. Later that morning, it resumed its flight to Melbourne, taking second place in the great race and winning the handicap. Image courtesy KLM
Pulled out of the mud, Albury
The great London to Melbourne air-race of 1934 and the last took 36 days. There were five compulsory stops at “Never in the history of aviation has there been such a line-up of Baghdad, Allahabad (India), Singapore, Darwin and Charleville, aviators and never in the history of the world has there been such (Qld); otherwise the competitors could choose their own routes. an aerial contest” - Sir Macpherson Robertson, of MacRobertson’s Excitement mounted worldwide as millions of people followed the Confectionery – event sponsor of the 1934 London to Melbourne race on their wireless sets. Becoming a war of attrition, Dutch pilot air race. Aside from giving Australia the Freddo Frog and the Geysendorffer’s Pander S4 was Cherry Ripe, Robertson also gave destroyed in a ground collision at generously to support Melbourne’s 1st place: A British team flew a DH 88 de Havilland Comet named “Grosvenor House” piloted by Charles Scott (L) and Allahabad, India. Australian Jimmy centenary celebrations in 1934, Tom Black. It was a twin-engined monoplane which was Woods flipped his Lockheed with a £15,000 prize for the specially designed for the race. Vega while landing at Aleppo in winner of the great race which Northern Syria. A bumpy arrival began in England (Mildenhall) on in Bucharest, Hungary caused 20 October 1934 and finished in damage to the flaps of American Flemington racecourse, Melbourne aviatress Jacqueline Cochran’s nearly three days later. It was the Granville R-6H and tragically brainchild of the Lord Mayor of British entrants Gilman and Baines Melbourne, Harold Smith, who were both killed when their Fairey wished to commemorate the Fox I crashed near Palazzo San centenary of Victoria’s statehood. Gervasio in Italy. “In an age of A whittling down of entrants extraordinary mechanical progress resulted in a final list of 20 aircraft one takes many things for granted; from the US, Britain, Denmark, but flight halfway across the world seems too remarkable for New Zealand, the Netherlands and Australia. Of those 20, only analysis”. – Melbourne Newspaper ‘The Argus’. seven finished the course. The winner took two days and 23 hours 2nd place was the Netherlands team flying the Douglas DC2. Piloted by Capt K.D. Parmentier and Co-pilot J.J. Moll (L)
3rd place was a US team seen here handcranking one of the two Pratt & Whitney ‘Wasp’ engines on the Boeing 247D Comet named “Warner Bros” piloted by Roscoe Turner and Clyde Pangborn.
To be continued… This is an extract from ‘Big Wheels & Little Wheels’, by Sir Laurence Hartnett as told to John Veitch, 1964. © Deirdre Barnett.
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