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Manufacturers’ Monthly Contents 6 Editor’s Comment
24 Control & Automation
37 Consultancy Services
8 Comment
26 Training & Skills
38 Compressors
11 News@MM
28 Manufacturing Strategies
39 Power Management
18 Issues & Insights
30 Sustainability
40 Steel Manufacturing
20 Adhesives
32 Women in Industry
43 Endeavour Awards Winners
21 Sanitisation
34 Managing Risk
22 Lifting Solutions
36 Sensors
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Karen Andrews, Minister for Science and Technology, has talked about giving renewed focus to the local manufacturing sector during the COVID19 crisis – something welcome during challenging times. This could easily mean jobs and other opportunities. However, in the interview, she also stressed on the need to be focused on local strengths and the essentials the country requires during this period. That being said, sometimes not everyone has that strength to have a fair go at innovating and getting things
stabilised during hard times. Enter stage right, funding in the form of grants. While it may be a welcome note for most, it is not the easiest process when applying for one. However, there is professional help out there that is specifically tailored for the businesses in the manufacturing sector. Although there is no 100 per cent guarantee, these professional services increase the chances of an approval dramatically. How to pick the right one? Read on to find out more in this issue.
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Comment
SYED SHAH – Managing Editor, Manufacturers’ Monthly
Getting ahead of the competition
A
USTRALIAN manufacturing is tight at the best of times. Deadlines, trying to find qualified staff, a lack of graduating apprentices in various trades all have an effect on the bottom line. This is why when government grants are up for grabs its best to put your best foot forward. Maybe you need some new plant or machinery, but you have little or no budget for capital expenditure. Or, perhaps that new piece of technology that is vital to take your business’s capability to the next step may be too expensive. Federal government grants such as the Manufacturing Modernisation Fund (MMF) or the Advanced Manufacturing Fund (AMF) are designed to invest in Australia’s future. Companies are looking for a 6 JULY 2020 Manufacturers’ Monthly
boost to expand their business when they think of applying for a grant, while the government hopes the grant will create jobs within the industry as part of a bigger economic agenda. There is a caveat though. And it’s this. There is only so much money to go around, so the government has to be choosey as to who gets it. In some cases, some firms will get all they asked for, others will get partial grants, while others will get nothing at all. Claimants need all the help they can get. That is where consultants such as the Avant Group come into their own. Avant Group specialises in helping companies put their best food forward when applying for grants. With Avant it is not just a case of sending in an application, hoping for
the best and wishing clients the best of luck. The company will go through the whole process and be around while the process is taking place. Why go to a consultant for assistance with the application process? There are a couple of sound reasons. Experience is one – if they’ve done it before and been successful, why not take advantage of the understanding they have with the process? On a more practical level, a lot of manufacturers are more into the hands-on aspect of their business and not the administrative side. Manufacturers need to do as much as they can to get ahead of not just a competitive domestic market, but also the wider world. The government realises this, which is why they put funding for innovation in the budget.
While the competition is heating up to stay competitive and profitable, manufacturers need to be recognised for their efforts too. That is why this year’s Endeavour Awards has gone ahead with the winners announced in this edition of Manufacturers’ Monthly. Year on year, the quality has been improved and COVID-19 certainly has not slowed that down. We managed to catch up with some of them to find out what drives them forward in these challenging times. It makes sense to take any opportunity you can to not only make your business more competitive and be able to employ more people, but also to take a moment to appreciate the fruits of your labour. Winner or not, if you’ve come this far, you deserve that good moment. manmonthly.com.au
Comment
GEOFF CRITTENDEN – CEO, Weld Australia
The impact of COVID-19 unemployment on tradies’ mental health – it’s OK not to be OK Of all manufacturing companies, 87 per cent are classified as SMEs.
M
ENTAL health issues, like depression and anxiety, are incredibly common in Australia. In fact, Australia has the second highest prevalence of depressive disorders globally. Approximately 15 per cent of Australians will experience depression in their lifetime, and another 26 per cent will experience an anxiety condition. While men are less likely than females to experience depression and anxiety, men are three times more likely to die by suicide than women. Of the 3,046 suicide deaths across Australia in 2018, 76 per cent were male. To put this into perspective, this means that the number of men who die by suicide in Australia every year is nearly double the national road toll. The risk of suicide in men also increases with age: suicide is the second leading cause of death
8 JULY 2020 Manufacturers’ Monthly
among Australian men aged 45-54 years and in Australia, suicide is now the number one killer of men under 44 years of age.
Mental health and tradies Workers in construction and other trades – including welding – are even more at risk. Tradies are 70 per cent more likely to commit suicide than their behind-thedesk counterparts. This means that every second day an Australian tradesman takes their own life. With 25.1 per cent of construction workers having experienced mental illness over the last 12 months (compared to 18 per cent for all Australia men), tradies are six times more likely to die from suicide than workplace accidents. Despite these alarming statistics, mental health definitely isn’t something that tradies talk about at smoko or after knocking off.
An industry defined by pressure Tradesmen face a range of pressures due to the nature of their work: long hours, physically demanding labour and constant pressure to deliver. Construction workers and tradesmen are also exposed to a range of factors at a higher rate than usual, which have been shown to increase the risk of suicide, including: • Employment opportunities are closely tied to fluctuations in the national economy; this means that the industries in which tradesmen work have a highly casualised workforce (most tradies are sub-contractors, rather than full-time employees). Because of this, tradesmen are more likely to be exposed to job insecurity, and anxiety over business and financial management concerns, as well as debt – all risk factors for mental ill health. • Substance abuse and alcohol use; Australian construction workers
experience double the rate of “life-threatening drinking” when compared to the national average, and a drug use rate 10 per cent higher than the national average. • Family breakdown and lack of access to children; the median divorce rate in the construction industry sits at 6 per cent above the national average. In addition, the construction industry is known to be a key setting in which traditionally perceptions of masculinity remain. Men are expected to be tough, in control, autonomous and highly competent. Seeking help, or even admitting a need for help, violates these perceptions which, once again, can heighten the risk of suicide.
The impact of COVID-19 unemployment the mental health of tradies In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, forecasts indicate that Australia’s unemployment rate manmonthly.com.au
How you can help Mental health is a complex issue. There is no one simple solution. However, it is clear that Australian tradesmen need more support. I urge you to check on your colleagues. Ask your employees if they’re ok. Find out if your mates need a hand. This is particularly important at the moment, in the wake of increased unemployment rates and uncertainty about the future of industry. We need to work together to manmonthly.com.au
support one another, and to remove the stigma associated with mental health issues. It’s OK not to be OK.
Support services Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government has made record investments in mental health services and support. The expenditure is expected to top $5.2 billion this year. This funding has gone to a 24/7 phone counselling service led by Beyond Blue to help people experiencing stress or anxiety associated with the impacts of the pandemic, such as employment changes and business closures. Lifeline also received a funding boost to help the organisation meet increased demand for their services. In addition, a $10.4 million national mental health communications campaign will be implemented, designed to help give Australians the confidence to reach out for help. There are several organisations dedicated to helping Australians, and tradesmen, with mental ill health. If you, or someone you know, needs help, visit: • Lifeline: www.lifeline.org.au or 13 11 14 • Beyond Blue: www.beyondblue.org. au or 1300 224 636 • Black Dog Institute: www. blackdoginstitute.org.au • MensLine Australia: mensline.org. au • Gotcha4Life: www.gotcha4life.org • Mates in Construction: mates.org.au
Resources for Australian businesses The federal government has a range of resources designed to help Australian businesses support employees and their mental health, including: • Heads Up: Provides simple, practical tools and guides to help businesses create more mentally healthy workplaces. • Safe Work Australia’s guide to WorkRelated Psychological Health and Safety • Safe Work Australia’s Four Steps to Preventing Psychological Injury at Work
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is likely to reach as much as 15 per cent. In general, people who are unemployed are at much higher risk of mental health issues and suicide, with unemployed males being particularly vulnerable. According to modelling released by the Australian Medical Association on the adverse impacts of COVID-19 on mental health and unemployment, there could be as much as a 25% increase in suicide rates. This tragically higher rate is likely to continue for as long as five years if the economic downturn lasts over 12 months. The industries in which Australian tradesmen are employed have been some of those that are hardest hit by COVID-19. For instance, over 77,580 jobs have been lost in the construction industry since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Master Builders Australia previously forecast there would be around 159,000 new housing commencements in 2020-2021. They revised their estimate in May, and now expect only around 116,000 commencements, representing a drop of 27 per cent. Not surprisingly then, COVID-19 has hit sub-contractors hard and fast, with businesses closing and tradies out of work – and at higher risk of mental ill health and suicide – already. Perhaps most concerning of all, based on previous economic downturns, it will likely take four times longer for the construction industry to recover than the rest of the Australian economy. This will leave an already vulnerable segment of the Australian population even more prone to mental health issues.
Manufacturers’ Monthly JULY 2020 9
X If bar X moves to the right, which way will bar Y move?
NOT SO COMPLEX? YET SOME THINGS CAN BE. WE CAN HELP.
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News @MM Oil injected screw compressors
NEW series-4 oil injected screw compressors 3RT has developed a technology in collaboration with Flinders University, that converts wood waste into timber called Designer Hardwood.
Bosch secures global 3RT contract to turn waste wood into hardwood Bosch Manufacturing Solutions will supply digital production units to 3RT for the global manufacture of sustainable hardwood. Based in Melbourne and Adelaide, 3RT has developed a world-first technology in collaboration with Flinders University, which converts wood waste into timber that looks and performs like 100-yearold tropical hardwood, called Designer Hardwood. Bosch Manufacturing Solutions will deliver fully automated production cells to enable its production around the world. The cooperation provides opportunities to leverage Bosch know-how in manufacturing, sensor technology, and software around the Internet of Things (IoT) for the wood manufacturing industry. manmonthly.com.au
Member of the board of management of the Bosch Group responsible for Asia Pacific, Peter Tyroller, said the partnership is a great example of Australian ingenuity and innovation. “3RT is addressing the significant environmental and supply challenges relating to old growth hardwood, applying Bosch technology and knowhow,” he said. 3RT’s Innovation Centre in Adelaide develop and manufacture custom designer hardwood products, transforming plantation waste into a sustainable, and low impact substitute for tropical hardwood. Bosch Australia president, Gavin Smith, said the company is excited to embark on this journey with 3RT, an industry specialist that is leading in the
field of wood manufacturing in a sustainable and innovative way. “At Bosch, we combine experience gained from our own manufacturing activities across more than 250 plants worldwide with our expertise as a leading provider of industrial IoT solutions,” he said. “We are not only optimising our own manufacturing base; we are also actively seeking to work with partners like 3RT to enable the rise of digital industrial technology.” The production cells Bosch will design and build for 3RT will be connected to other machines around Australia and the world. Equipped with Industry 4.0 capability, the machines will collect data for the optimisation of processes and can be managed remotely.
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Manufacturers’ Monthly JULY 2020 11
News @MM Engineers Australia releases COVID-19 recovery plan Engineers Australia has called for a comprehensive industry policy as part of a plan to help businesses recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. A policy should focus on strategic engagement with international standard bodies, support for scaling up existing manufacturing industries, development of onshore capabilities
for manufacturing, and materials supply. Engineers Australia CEO Dr Bronwyn Evans said COVID-19 has challenged all nations and all industries in every profession. “Engineers have been part of the healthcare response and are also ready to bring their expertise to
The plan emphasised the importance of identifying and maintaining infrastructure projects to keep engineers and allied professionals employed.
bear in support of Australia’s efforts to achieve widespread economic recovery,” she said. “Encouragingly, it has been experts in all fields of endeavour that governments and communities have turned to for advice and solutions.” The organisation has released a nine-point economic recovery plan to help businesses recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. There is an opportunity for governments and the private sector to invest in research and development and emerging technologies, industries and careers, according to Evans. Addressing the immediate need for jobs, leveraging use of existing structures, building resilience, and adapting to new ways of work and innovation have been identified as key priorities.
“Poor supply chain resilience and energy supply uncertainties point to an opportunity to accelerate action to redesign the domestic manufacturing industry and accelerate testing of novel energy system solutions,” Evans said. “More than ever, a robust, highspeed, low-latency communications network that extends from the cities to the regions is paramount.” The plan emphasised the importance of identifying and maintaining infrastructure projects to keep engineers and allied professionals employed. Evans said public and private sector projects should focus on the design phase. “Without that focus, jobs for design engineers who underpin and enable the construction phases are at risk,” she said.
Kleos Space secures contract for micro-satellite military utility project ASX-listed company Kleos Space has been awarded a contract for a multinational data project coordinated by Utah State University Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL) and the US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). The Micro-Satellite Military Utility Project (MSMU Project) is an agreement under the Responsive Space Capabilities Memorandum of Understanding and involves the Departments and Ministries of Defence of Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, UK and US. Kleos’ satellites will be in a 37-degree inclination orbit, covering crucial shipping regions for defence and security customers, which include the Straits of Hormuz, South China Sea, Australian coast, Southern US coast as well as the East and West African coasts. 12 JULY 2020 Manufacturers’ Monthly
Kleos CEO Andy Bowyer said the company was proud to support the SDL and AFRL teams on the program. “We are seeing increasing demand for our global geolocation intelligence data, which will enhance the ISR capabilities of governments and commercial entities,” he said. The MSMU Project aims to develop a blueprint for a Multinational Heterogeneous Space Enterprise to provide military users with reliable access to a broad spectrum of information in an opportunistic environment. It is building the architecture and infrastructure to enable machine intelligence, including automation, human-machine teaming, and ultimately, artificial intelligence. Kleos director Karyn Hayes-Ryan said the project will detect activities that damage the environment and
hurt the economy. “Our satellites and our data will enhance defence capabilities, as
well as provide timely monitoring of illegal fishing, oil embargoes and other illicit action,” she said.
Kleos’ satellites will be in a 37-degree inclination orbit, covering crucial shipping regions for defence and security customers.
manmonthly.com.au
News @MM Ai Group welcomes federal government call for more manufacturing Ai Group chief executive Innes Willox has welcomed the federal government’s call for a greater emphasis on manufacturing to reboot the Australian economy. Willox said manufacturing had gained unprecedented public and political attention in recent weeks. He believes the shortage of vital equipment has raised an important debate about Australia’s management of global supply chains. “We have learned hard lessons about over reliance on single sources of imports,” Willox said. “We need to ensure we strive towards excellence in what we do – including by aiming to leverage that excellence through exporting and supplement self-sufficiency with other strategies that build resilience.” Willox said a national imperative of building resilience will require more
Skills and energy are the two biggest challenges that remain for local manufacturing. rigorous management of the risk of supply chain disruption in individual businesses, as well as coordinated guidance and direction from all
governments. Skills and energy are the two biggest challenges that remain for local manufacturing, according to
Willox. “We need to focus on strategies that support the most vulnerable and hardest hit such as youth and apprentices who have suffered a disproportionate loss of jobs,” he said. “Our apprentices have been one of the hardest hit groups with 15,000 apprentices and trainees either stood down, suspended or cancelled since March 1. “Strategies to commence, continue, and re-engage apprentices should be at the forefront of government and business recovery efforts.” The Ai Group’s latest Performance of Business Index recorded its lowest levels of activity in the survey’s history at 27.2. This was due to the rapid deterioration in business conditions across all sectors of the economy, particularly in consumeroriented services.
Movement of goods across borders must flow – AiGroup The Australian Made Campaign (AMCL) has announced an alliance with Primex Field Days to support and further promote Australian agricultural manufacturers. Primex Field Days, an event traditionally held at Casino in the Northern Rivers of NSW, is one of the country’s most diverse agricultural events. It aims to bring together city and rural communities to showcase sustainable Australian primary production and food. Australian Made Campaign CEO Ben Lazzaro said Australian Made is delighted to welcome Primex Field Days on board. “The demand for quality Australian-made agricultural machinery and clean green produce is continuing to grow, and Primex Field days allows exhibitors and attendees to participate in this manmonthly.com.au
growth,” he said. “Primex Field Days has helped to shape the success story that Australian agriculture has become today, and the inclusion of the Australian Made logo, will only enhance this story.” Primex Field Days hosts more than 400 exhibitors and is attended by more than 25,000 visitors each year. Director Bruce Wright said that he is happy to be partnering with the Australian Made Campaign to continue to support Australia’s local farming community. “Primex supports Australian agricultural manufacturers and producers on both a national and international level,” he said. “Being one of Australia’s largest agricultural and primary industry events is what sets us apart from other events.
Primex Field Days aims to bring together city and rural communities to showcase sustainable Australian primary production and food.
“The virtual expo is designed to support all of our stakeholders and help local producers connect and do business.” With the current restrictions
posed by COVID-19, Primex Field Days has adopted a virtual event business strategy, with the next physical show planned for September 10-12, 2020. Manufacturers’ Monthly JULY 2020 13
News @MM University of SA to open $2 million Industry 4.0 hub A new Industry 4.0 Testlab to support industry innovation across defence, mining, ag-tech, electronics and automotive sectors has opened at the University of South Australia (UniSA). The $2 million hub, equipped with 3D printing facilities, multiplayer virtual reality spaces for humancentred design, and an industrial-scale manufacturing demonstrator, will help small-to-medium enterprises create and test new advanced technologies. Businesses and researchers will be able to trial, explore and showcase new technologies together in the purposebuilt lab, which focuses on advanced digitisation of manufacturing as part of a national network of Testlabs established in partnership with the federal government. UniSA deputy vice-chancellor of research and enterprise Professor Marnie Hughes-Warrington said the Testlab gives local businesses access to new digital technologies and allows them to work with international experts. “Over human history, there have been periods of really massive acceleration and disruption,” she said. “This is one of those times and the added interruption that COVID-19 has thrown into the mix, makes the role of the new test-lab even more important
The lab is one part of a series of transformations, including the introduction of new curricula and revamped facilities in the university to support space and Industry 4.0 programs and research.
in our road to recovery nationally. “Industry 4.0 is actually a disruption around creativity, and it has fundamentally changed the way we make things, how those things relate to us, and how they help us relate to others.” Director of the University of South Australia’s Industry 4.0 Testlab, Professor Nikki Stanford, said the lab provides physical spaces for businesses and researchers to trial, explore and showcase Industry 4.0 technologies and processes. “Post the COVID-19 lockdown, as we move back towards less restricted
operations, our goal for the Testlab is to give small businesses insights into what they can potentially do in their industries, without them having to take out a loan to fund their innovations,” she said. “The lab will allow them to try out our technologies, see how they work and if they can be implemented to advantage their business operations and competitiveness. “The lab is one part of a series of transformations, including the introduction of new curricula and revamped facilities to support space and Industry 4.0 programs
and research.” She says the Testlabs across the country will be central in improving the competitiveness of Australian businesses by promoting and enhancing the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies and supporting workforce transformation. “We will be looking forward to the opportunity to formally launch the new Industry 4.0 Testlab in the future, but as restrictions ease, we hope to start to engage with local businesses quickly to ensure industry innovation is a core part of our recovery and growth,” Stanford said.
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14 JULY 2020 Manufacturers’ Monthly
2/06/2020 2:52:44 PM
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Issues & Insights The federal government has been incentivising Australian manufacturers to rethink the way they do business, with investments in the form of funding for SMEs.
Government grants critical to start manufacturing revival Grants from the federal and state governments encourage manufacturers to innovate, especially during the COVID-19 crisis. It is important for manufacturing businesses to find the right partner to help them through the competitive application process. Caroline Tung speaks to Tieman Tankers and the Avant Group to find out more.
D
URING the COVID-19 pandemic, the need to support innovation among Australian manufacturers has come to the fore. The pandemic has spurred the need for rapid domestic manufacturing. While there is still much work to be done in terms of building up the country’s advanced manufacturing capabilities, more
16 JULY 2020 Manufacturers’ Monthly
funding to help drive innovation has already been put in place in the past few years. Within Australia, the federal government has been encouraging manufacturing companies to adopt more advanced technologies into their processes, and there already has been a shift in advanced manufacturing concepts, from operational concept to reality.
Prior to COVID-19, federal government grant schemes such as the $100 million Advanced Manufacturing Fund has helped industries invest in advanced manufacturing techniques, which has allowed businesses to build long-term sustainable growth. One element of the Fund, the $47.5m Advanced Manufacturing Growth Fund, has already provided almost $41m in grants to 32 businesses across
South Australia and Victoria, with a total investment of $144m. Other initiatives include the $40m Innovative Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre (IMCRC), which is matched by over $200m in cash and in kind from industry and research partners. The federally funded Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre (AMGC) is supporting 56 collaborative projects across Australia manmonthly.com.au
Issues & Insights The MMF was established before the coronavirus pandemic to help small-and medium-sized manufacturers invest in capital equipment and new technologies to transform and upgrade their manufacturing operations. More help with the MMF A government report from the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources has stated 200 projects worth more than $215 million dollars are being supported through the Manufacturing Modernisation Fund (MMF), with the federal government contributing $48.3 million. These job-creating investments are timely, according to Minister for Industry, Science and Technology, Karen Andrews, as the industry seeks to cope and move forward. “The federal government is committed to helping Australian manufacturers prepare for the future and to employ more Australians. More than 2,600 new jobs are expected to be created by these successful projects,” Andrews said. “We established the MMF before the coronavirus pandemic to help small- and medium-sized
manufacturers invest in capital equipment and new technologies to transform and upgrade their manufacturing operations. Andrews has called upon the industry to take the opportunity with investments like the MMF and “look to come out on the other side stronger”. The MMF was divided between large- and small-scale projects and are the first to be allocated under the fund, (which was broken up into separate streams). Grants totalling $35m will go to 59 companies for large scale projects worth over $177m. A further $13.3m in grants will go to 141 small scale projects worth over $38m. One such company who received a grant under the MMF was Victorian family-owned business Tieman Tankers. The company is a SME established in 1953 that designs
and manufactures a range of road transport tankers. To date, it has supplied more than 5,600 road transport tankers including fuel, milk, food grade, chemical and bitumen tankers. As Tieman Tankers moved forward with the business, the company felt there was a need to improve on its key services. Welding is a key component of its business and investment in equipment that will reduce processing time and rework, improve accuracy, consistency and employee health and safety, is needed, according to Tieman Tankers COO Barry Greig. Following the application, the company received a $100,000 grant to obtain automated welding equipment, and was assisted by Avant Group, a consultancy firm that offers competitive grants advisory as a key service. “Selecting the most appropriate improvement, in this case, a remotevision automated welding system, suited both the funding program and company objectives and outcomes,” Greig said.
Meeting the requirements To apply for the MMF, businesses must meet several criteria. According to the business.gov.au website, the business needs to be:
Tieman Tankers are proud to lead the industry in quality and innovation. Their team offers experience, service and skills that have been passed down through 65 years of manufacturing.
with a total value of $45m. According to government reports, these projects have potential to generate between $281-290m in revenue for Australian businesses and create 1,215 new highskill jobs. The latest move by the federal government to boost the sector has been incentivising Australian manufacturers to rethink the way they do business, with investment in small- to medium-sized businesses. This could be the right move with companies like Detmold Group and Grey Innovation pivoting and innovating with the backing of state and federal governments. manmonthly.com.au
Manufacturers’ Monthly JULY 2020 17
Issues & Insights Tieman Tankers have supplied more than 5,600 road transport tankers including fuel, milk, food grade, chemical and bitumen tankers. (Tieman 42m Tri Train in picture).
• an entity incorporated in Australia; • a manufacturing SME, with up to 199 employees (headcount); and • clearly identify the level of job creation expected. In addition, the website states that companies need to be in trading activities that either form a significant proportion of their overall activities, or, are a substantial and not peripheral activity of their corporation. Substantial evidence on how the project (which the grant is being applied for) is supported by the board of directors, that the project can be completed within a set period of time, and the additional costs of the project not covered by the grant funding can be covered, must also be provided. Greig said that (the MMF) being a competitive fund program, Tieman Tankers had to effectively demonstrate that the company could meet the fund objectives and outcomes to be successful. “I understood that over 2,500 applications were received by AusIndustry with only 200 being successful. That is only eight per cent of applications.” Tieman Tankers knew that it 18 JULY 2020 Manufacturers’ Monthly
had to be selective about the most appropriate improvement that they wanted out of their business. In this case, the focus on the remotevision automated welding system was deemed most suitable for both the funding program and company objectives/outcomes. “In manufacturing, there is always improvements to be implemented as business conditions and change occurs overtime,” Greig said. “Selecting the most appropriate improvement is critical.” Greig said that the funding outcomes had to demonstrate increased innovation and enhanced productivity in manufacturing operations, along with increased job opportunities and upskilling in the manufacturing sector. The company also had to ensure that it had sufficient cash in addition to the funding to allocate over the duration of the project – which could stretch out to one to two years. “It was natural for us to want to meet the expectations of the competitiveness and compliance requirements of the grant program,” Greig said. “But at the same time, we realised this can be a timeconsuming exercise, and can divert
Avant takes us through the type of grants that are available and assists in identifying those that may be applicable to Tieman. We then assess potential company improvement programs that would fit the company’s strategy going forward and the grant criteria. that time away from other important tasks demanded by the business.”
The road to a successful application It was important to Tieman Tankers to get the grant approved and they needed help overcoming the challenges of understanding and complying with the fund documentation. Partnering with a specialised service company such as Avant Group which helps manufacturing businesses make the application process more seamless and professional in terms of presentation, was critical. “One of the reasons that we decided to get Avant’s help is because of their high success rate in their client-awarded grants,” Greig said.
“They don’t just provide the upfront requirements and then leave, but they look after their clients through the entire process, supporting them all the way through, thus making it easy and allowing the clients to get on with business.” Because of its expertise in helping manufacturing businesses, Avant also understands the company’s product and manufacturing operations to help identify improvements that would be suitable for a particular grant, in this case, the MMF and the automated welding equipment that Tieman Tankers was looking to get the funding for. “Avant takes us through the type of grants that are available and assists in identifying those that may be applicable to Tieman,” Greig said. manmonthly.com.au
Image credit: Tieman Tankers
Issues & Insights
“We then assess potential company improvement programs that would fit the company’s strategy going forward and the grant criteria.” He added this then led to focusing on a company program that would fit, and then they proceeded with data collection for the grant submission. Avant oversaw the process and put together the submission, combined with information provided by Tieman. Kate Whitehead, managing director of Avant Group told Manufacturers’ Monthly that Tieman Tankers had worked with them across several different funding programs. She believes that one of the reasons why their application was successful was because of their strong manufacturing capability, combined with a commitment to investing in new technologies. What got them ahead, she believed, was its focus on quality and the productivity of the organisation. “Obviously, they’re faced with a highly competitive market. Tanker companies are actually importing, so they’re competing against lower cost imports and the question is: ‘How do you compete against that?’” Whitehead said. “There’s two things. One, reputation of the quality, so it’s about the longevity of the products manmonthly.com.au
that they manufacture, and also investing into new technologies to increase or maintain production efficiencies.” Besides having a strong history, she said that Tieman focused on employing skilled tradespeople, and it invests in upskilling its personnel which indicates a strong commitment to human resources – a key element in the grant application criteria process.
Standing out from the crowd Given the general market success rate of grants for the MMF was at eight per cent, it demonstrates just how competitive these grants can be. “A project being able to meet the merit criteria is important. When a competitive grant is announced, the department actually publishes the merit criteria with a weighting against each of those criteria,” Whitehead said. “It’s a square peg, square hole. A lot of people would come to us with a desire for competitive grant funding on a particular grant. However, if their project doesn’t align with the guidelines and the merit criteria that are published, then there’s a good chance it might not be successful.” Each grant has a different reason,
according to Whitehead. If an organisation wants to self-apply for a grant, she suggests the first thing they should do is read carefully and determine if the company’s project actually aligns against every single one of those criteria. “If it doesn’t, then they shouldn’t apply,” she said. Whitehead said with regard to the particular grant that Tieman Tankers applied for, they were not at any strategic advantage. “They were successful because the particular project they are looking at investing in aligned perfectly with the merit criteria for the grant, which is why we decided to proceed with the application for them.”
The importance of grants for Australian manufacturers Greig feels that grants allow Tieman Tankers to remain a competitive Australian manufacturer against both local and overseas manufacturers. “It assists local manufacturers to modernise with advanced technologies, increase innovation and competitiveness. It helps to maintain, upskill and create jobs within Australia, potentially assisting and opening up new exports markets
for local companies to compete on an international level,” he said. Whitehead concurs, saying that funds like the MMF will increase Australia’s competitiveness on a global scale. “There are a lot of offsets and incentive programs in international jurisdictions around capital investments, which puts Australia at a strategic disadvantage if we don’t have similar programs to help aid incountry manufacturing capability,” she said. “I think more so than ever, what we’ve seen in recent months is a desire to increase our in-country manufacturing skills and our incountry manufacturing capabilities.” She believes that it is very difficult for Australia to compete in low-value added product, and as a country, if Australia is serious about growing its manufacturing capabilities, then there is a need to invest in these advanced technologies. Grants such as the MMF are enabling organisations to invest at a critical point in time. “It’s stimulating that investment and stimulating job opportunities for the future, and maintaining our sovereign capability in-country, but also increasing our costcompetitiveness on a global scale.” Manufacturers’ Monthly JULY 2020 19
Adhesives Keeping fasteners locked tight in high moisture applications Vibrational loosening is a common contributor to equipment fails. And in water and wastewater applications, the risk of fasteners coming apart is further exacerbated by the amount of moisture in the environment.
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CCORDING to industry specialist Michael Rowe, who is the product manager of Adhesives and Sealants at BSC, the combination of vibration and moisture is a recipe for equipment failure. “In the water and wastewater sector you’ll have a lot of moisture content, whether that be in pools or the general atmosphere. And wherever there is moisture there is corrosion,” he explains. “Likewise, there will be a number of pumps and other machinery that is vibrating, and that vibration not only affects equipment but can go down the line to other structures. That vibration can cause fasteners to come apart.” Additionally, mechanical fasteners have gravity to contend with. They come undone more easily than they can be locked back into place. “For instance, when you have the torque at a specific tension, it will take 30 per cent less effort for to undo than tighten it back up – it is comparable to an object that is being pushed up a hill as opposed to being rolled down,” says Rowe. “Also, there is only 25-30 per cent metal-to-metal contact in a fastener assembly – the rest is an air gap. To lock it into place or seal it up is essential to keeping your equipment working. This is because it can easily come undone from vibration or from the ingress of moisture, which causes corrosion in that area. When fasteners come undone that gives you untimely downtime, whether that be from equipment failure or leak points.” Moreover, in the context of water and wastewater applications, these kinds of mechanical issues can have implications for the environment too. “Again, making sure those fasteners are tight is vitally important,” Rowe stresses. “Improving the machine reliability and performance will make the equipment and the surrounding structures safer. This is true for both
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personnel working at the plant, and from an environmental perspective. You want to prevent any bad spills from occurring.” The long-established Henkel LOCTITE anaerobic adhesive range was designed exclusively for this purpose. The product range includes threadlockers, thread sealants, retaining compounds and the flange sealants. According to Rowe, the LOCTITE anaerobic range, particularly the threadlockers, are considered “go to” products within water and wastewater industrial applications. This is because they are “proven to work” and can be used on different fastener materials, including dissimilar metals. “If you have an assembly where you have dissimilar metals, for example an aluminium housing that uses mild steel bolts, the dissimilar metals and moisture will create electrolysis,” he explains. “This is where an electrical current will arc between the two and start promoting corrosion. But a LOCTITE anaerobic adhesive can lock or seal those up; it will work effectively on different materials.” Marco Battois, who is the head of marketing for Adhesive Technologies with Henkel Australia and New Zealand, reiterates the fact that Henkel have many years’ experience in the adhesive field. “In fact, Henkel invented anaerobic resins over 60 years ago. And the red bottle that contains LOCTITE threadlocker adhesive is recognised worldwide. It is iconic,” he stresses. “The brand is recognised and established for being reliable.” For this reason, Henkel have recently upgraded the packaging of the LOCTITE anaerobic range, featuring micro-engraving in two textured areas and a smart QR code with a micropattern. The new upgrade covers LOCTITE 50ml and
The packaging for the iconic LOCTITE threadlocker adhesive has changed to help customers verify the authenticity of the product range. 250ml threadlockers, thread sealants, gasket sealants, retaining compounds and two-step structural acrylic bottles.
FLOCTITE “The change in packaging started as an exercise to verify the authenticity of our product range, so customers could be sure their product was not counterfeit,” Battois explains. “But it became an opportunity to include more product detail and information for customers. By scanning the QR code, customers will have access to the online portal where there is technical data, as well as how-to videos and a mobile product selector guide.” Battois was quick to reassure that the new bottle designs will not impact the way existing customers apply the product to their equipment. The new bottles are compatible with the original hand pumps. And all IDH numbers remain unchanged too. He also mentioned that Henkel were rolling out a number of innovations along with the new packaging, including a new handheld dispensing pump and a new “rattler” or “junker” machine that tests vibrational loosening. “This will be used in our maintenance and repair workshops. These workshops are an integral part of the training we provide, and the rattler enables us to create what we call the ‘LOCTITE
moment’ – this really shows the end user why they should be using the LOCTITE anaerobic products in their maintenance practices,” Battois enthuses. “Of course, BSC play an integral role in facilitating these workshops too. Our partnership is very important in being able to directly work with customers to provide them with fit for purpose solutions.” Rowe echoed Battois’s comments, reiterating the fact that the BSC sales force and technical team are also fully trained in the latest LOCTITE technologies and solutions. “Henkel and BSC have been working together for over 40 years. At BSC, we work closely with Henkel in discussing how the likes of fasteners have issues and how the use of these products can provide the customer with the ability to prevent unwanted downtime and make sure equipment reaches its hopeful life cycle in a range of areas,” explains Rowe. “Another one of the ways that the BSC teamwork is that if one of the BSC team is out in the field and comes across a concern with a customer, we can call on Henkel for advice. Because we have that direct relationship, we can ask Henkel to provide a technical analysis, and then together we will come up with a solution that best suits the customer’s needs and application.” manmonthly.com.au
Sanitisation Hand hygiene a top priority for all
New kill claims for VIRACLEAN have been established through independent microbiology.
Whiteley Corporation’s executive chairman Dr Greg Whiteley.
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EWCASTLE-BASED manufacturer Whiteley Corporation was founded during the Great Depression in 1933, which was a bold move for the times. Now, almost 90 years later, the company is helping fight a battle against a global pandemic. The company, which has designed, developed and produced medical and industrial cleaning products in Australia since it was founded, is the first in the country to get a label claim approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) for a surface disinfectant that kills the SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19). VIRACLEAN is a hospitalgrade disinfectant intended for use on a range of medical surfaces, which may be contaminated, to better protect patients and staff from the risk of the COVID-19
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Whiteley Corporation, the country’s largest manufacturer of cleaning products and disinfectants, has seen demand for its products triple since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Executive chairman, Dr Greg Whiteley, speaks to Manufacturers’ Monthly about the importance of safe and easy-to-use hand hygiene products. virus cross infection. The company is now making the product available to the wider marketing, including manufacturers. Whiteley Corporation chairman, Dr Greg Whiteley, said the company was proud to provide Australian manufacturers with an Australianmade cleaning agent. “We are delighted to announce this new claim for our product VIRACLEAN, which is a truly Australian invention,” he said. “Those kill claims have been established through independent microbiology against our product.” Whiteley believes the new label claim for VIRACLEAN against the virus will add certainty around the level of hygiene in hospitals, as well as for manufacturers where inperson contact is unavoidable. “If you’re working in manufacturing, having intact skin is one of the most important preventative measures for getting infections,” Whiteley said. “Keeping your skin in a healthy state, having a good and hygienic product, and moisturising well is really important for people’s healthcare in the workplace.” Whiteley Corporation not only produces VIRACLEAN but is Australia’s largest manufacturer of medical consumables for cleaning and disinfecting. Whiteley said that in addition to VIRACLEAN, manufacturing workers should be ensuring that their natural first line of defence, their skin,
is kept healthy in what can be extreme environments. Whiteley said that people touch their face 20 to 40 times an hour, and can thus easily spread the droplets of a virus from a surface into their body. Therefore, said Whiteley, the most important way to minimise risk is through regular hygiene habits. He said although the risk of contracting the virus is relatively low, the danger comes from touching a contaminated surface. Good hand hygiene will help reduce the risk of infection. You should regularly wash your hands with soap and water and sanitise with an alcohol-based hand rub when you don’t have easy access to soap and water. Following these simple guidelines will keep your surfaces clean and safe, and your hands free from infectious microorganisms including COVID-19.
Adapting and meeting customer expectations Whiteley has been taking every step to ensure that the company can provide a consistent and reliable product to Australian manufacturers. The company has had to double its workforce to meet demand, with half of them working onsite at Tomago, outside Newcastle. “You could call this our ‘COVID-19 headquarters’,” described Whiteley. “We’ve been instructed by governments to give
preference to the health care system in places. That’s something we’re now past, and we are really making sure that everyone gets their supply equally,” Whiteley said. Similar to other manufacturers who have relied upon imported ingredients, Whiteley Corporation has had to contend with disruptions in the global supply chain. This has necessitated rapid adaptations to products to ensure supplies are maintained. In one case, the gelling agent has been difficult to source. Whiteley Corporation got around this shortage by rapidly reformulating the product. With the Australian economy coming out of crisis mode, but still having to limit any “second wave” of COVID-19, demand has continued to be strong for approved, medical grade products. “We’ve been absolutely overwhelmed with demand both inside and outside the medical business, and also in the general industrial supply, because we’re rightfully concerned about cleaning and hygiene,” Whiteley said. With a new crew and new equipment in place, Whiteley Corporation is already in the process of expanding its operations. “We are in the process of buying a new building to further expand our manufacturing footprint,” Whiteley said. The new plant will generate jobs to train and retrain staff at every skill level as the company’s business operations continue to expand. Manufacturers’ Monthly JULY 2020 21
Lifting Solutions Helping manufacturers achieve long-term growth during COVID-19 CEO and co-founder of Combilift, Martin McVicar, speaks to Manufacturers’ Monthly about COVID-19 restrictions, keeping production levels up and meeting customers’ needs.
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STANDING challenge for many manufacturers worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic is finding the space to implement social distancing measures. A socially-distanced production area has become a key initiative at Irish specialist materials handling manufacturer, Combilift – while continuing to innovate and push to create better machinery to meet customer expectations. In Ireland, the recommended social distancing is two metres and Combilift understands this is an added constraint with customers that have warehousing facilities. Within its own facilities, the company has introduced a two-shift system instead of its traditional one-shift operation. This means that there are only around 350 employees per shift on-site at its 46,500sqm manufacturing facility. The company has introduced measures like a key fob entry system to minimise the spread of germs. Employees are scanned by thermal cameras when they arrive on-site to make sure no-one has a temperature, and they also have to wear facemasks. Their concerns regarding safety within their premises is the reason why they have stayed successful during the pandemic. Commitment to keeping production levels consistent to meet the demands of international customers like those from Australia are important to them. Combilift CEO and co-founder, Martin McVicar, said Australia has been a consistently strong market for the company for years. “It is generally our fourth largest market globally and we work in over 85 markets. We’ve also seen very strong growth in recent years, again as companies look to find ways of doing more with less,” he said.
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With regards to COVID-19 production and supply timelines, McVicar said that because they have been able to get back to production quite quickly, that factor, combined with the advantages of having a split shift, means there has been an increase in demand from Australian manufacturers.
McVicar said that he understands it has been difficult for many to get back to normal levels of production. “To have enough space to socially distance in a site has been very challenging for most of our customers. You either have to increase the area in which you are running production, or run two shifts of operation. Significant
CEO and co-founder of Combilift, Martin McVicar.
“The uptick in demand not only from Australia, but also globally, as organisations look to increase productivity, and at the same time ensure that they abide by the necessary social distancing requirements,” he said. “In Australia, this combined with Australian government stimulus such as the $150,000 Instant Asset Write off, means that many organisations are taking the opportunity to improve safety and productivity in what is a very fast changing economic environment.” In terms of helping Combilift customers meet the current challenges,
changes to operation have been required,” McVicar said. With this change in production and demand for a rethink of what manufacturing and logistics sites look like, McVicar said there has been a huge increase in expressions of interest for Combilift’s narrow aisle forklift trucks.
Three-in-one design affords flexibility for operators McVicar said the number of enquiries for Combilift’s Aisle Master have doubled recently. The model features a three-in-one design that combines a conventional
forklift with a reach truck and a narrow aisle forklift and is suitable for indoor and outdoor use. “The articulation of the mast not only saves space, up to 33 per cent over a reach truck or 50 per cent over a counterbalance forklift – but also provides the operator with free sight of the material as it is being stored in or removed from the racking system,” McVicar said. The Aisle Masters are designed to allow maximum comfort for the operators, while at the same time making it easy to access the unit from both sides. “We have spent a lot of time ensuring ergonomic design simple fingertip operation with well supported arm rests and comfortable, spacious cab,” McVicar said. In terms of reach, the Aisle Masters trucks over articulate to 205 degrees to allow operators access to even the hardest to get pallet in a very narrow aisle. The machine is also operated in factory environments as narrow as 1.8 metres. This allows manufacturers to rethink their warehouse layout to maintain production, accommodate social distancing, and become more cost-effective as a result. “The amount of space that needs to be allocated to storage or racking can be cut down, up to halved, when compared to conventional counterbalance forklifts,” McVicar said. “A lot more space can be dedicated to production. At the moment, because of COVID-19, that is particularly important, but at any time that means there is more space dedicated to the areas of the business that make money – production.”
Joining the global movement Besides forklift warehousing solutions for customers, Combilift has joined the global effort to combat manmonthly.com.au
Lifting Solutions COVID-19 by producing its own brand of ventilators, with help from the Irish Health Service Executive (HSE) since mid-March this year. Combi-Ventilate is a split device that turns a single machine into multiple stations that can be shared by two people. “By analysing this ventilator, we realised that the flow of oxygen and air could ventilate up to four patients. Pair this discovery with the known fact that there are not enough ventilators in the world, our engineers set out trying to establish a way that we could use one ventilator for two patients,” McVicar said. Using the Combi-Ventilate prototype, medical professionals can now monitor airflow after it has been split. “Currently, there is no way of monitoring what patient A or B is getting. No-one has been able to establish a sophisticated splitter system,” McVicar said. The ventilator, which took five weeks to develop, was manufactured Projekt3 25.05.20 10:38 Seite 1
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at 25 per cent of the total cost of a new ventilator. It was developed by a team of mechatronic and software engineers in five weeks. The splitter uses standard pipes and fittings for easy assembly and its individual patient filters prevent cross contamination. Combilift engineers established that a ventilator created enough air flow for more than one patient. By discovering this, the engineers worked to establish a way that one ventilator could be used for more than one patient. Each patient has a dedicated screen, which allows medical professionals to individually monitor their vital information, including live values, data on patient history and statistics and adjustable alarm settings. “We have made Combi-Ventilate under the same ethics and with the same objective as we do with all our Combilift products, which is about doing more with less,” McVicar said.
Having enough space on a site to socially distance is not easy in many warehousing operations.
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Automation & Control Smart monitoring solutions, control everything Manufacturers across all industries are gradually turning to smart manufacturing and digitisation to improve their businesses. National product and brand manager at ifm, Glenn Thornton, explains. ifm customers who have taken up digitalisation of their processes are reaping benefits with machinery that is not only automated at plant level.
complete elation on the outcome – improvements in all aspects – machine uptime, product quality improved, losses reduced and of course, profitability up. The notion that sensors and connected devices from ifm were once thought to be cost prohibitive quickly evaporates once the system cost is explained, and the return on investment (ROI) with ongoing commercial benefits. To get started, you could have a couple of smart sensors connected to a smart controller and then out to the network for under $1,000. The best way to explore the outcomes is to demonstrate real life project wins for our clientele.
Case study 1
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MART factories, Industry 4.0, IIoT – there are so many phrases circulating for readers to digest regarding technology in manufacturing, but what does it all mean? For many years, machines were installed with simple switching signals that basically turned a machine function on or off. Then, about 40 years ago, automation came into effect and made machine processes more effective and efficient. This technology had a “wow” factor about it because we could manufacture parts faster with less human intervention. The designers of automation knew there was huge potential with the advancement of electronic chip technology. This brings me to an often-used phrase, The Industrial Revolution. It’s not really a revolution, it’s an ongoing gradual progression that is occurring right in front of us. This is now commonplace in such terms as 24 JULY 2020 Manufacturers’ Monthly
the Internet of Things (IoT) and can be found in everyday items such as smart phones, microwaves and cars. Even my dishwasher sings to me when it has completed a cycle, or a fault occurs – they are connected to the internet. We already expect to have the most modern tech gadgets available to us in our everyday items. This is the same for industry, but we just don’t know it. The technology is advanced with robust electronic chips most likely installed within your factory or process right now. The main difference between these items and domestic devices is that they are designed for the demands of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). With the rapid growth of digitalisation, a sensor with the standard “on off” signal now has an abundance of data inbuilt that begins our journey into the “smart factory” (or process). Producing goods or irrigating a large farm is no longer a shot in the dark, you now make high-level, informed decisions
to create a sophisticated plant with optimised knowledge. ifm customers who have taken up digitalisation of their processes are reaping benefits with machinery that is not only automated at plant level, but fully connected to networks that give 24/7 global information. This opens the potential for small businesses and large corporations to improve productivity due to less downtime, greater machine availability, which in turn improves profitability and your competitive edge. Beginning to advance your process isn’t as daunting as you would think. First, you would start with a very lowcost solution to view a critical asset or process and see what information is sent to your PC or smart device. With this, you then make decisions on what you would need to improve the process. The conversations we have had with some key clients has gone from scepticism and confusion to
During discussions between ifm and the manager of a food producer, it was found there were large costs associated with daily utilities such as water and electricity. We advised that measuring with sensors and readers, we could identify if there were losses that could be reined in. Flow sensors for critical water flow and electricity monitoring on key machinery were installed to establish where there was inadvertent waste. Water was lost due to valves being left on, with fresh water running into the recycling plant adding to running costs and local government penalties for releasing waste in the local waterways. We also found that the machines were all starting at the same time, which gave a high reading for the daily consumption. The simple plan was to create a staggered start plan for each machine, reducing electricity costs and coming back with an ROI of three months.
Case study 2 A large produce farm of several thousand acres uses millions of litres of water and they required a clearer picture of why parts of the crop manmonthly.com.au
Automation & Control were failing. It was found that when the pumps were run to irrigate the crops, there wasn’t any information to show the actual flow to areas of the farm, so certain trees got stressed, which led to the loss of a whole crop. Smart flow sensors connected to the cloud identified critical shortages of water. This information was readily available 24/7 and crop success increased by several per cent. This is the case for hundreds of remote pump stations nationally that are unattended. The installation of simple sensing technology connected to a network provides complete connectivity and process visibility.
Case study 3 A microbrewer had critical temperatures that required monitoring. The owner needed to drive to the site every Saturday and Sunday to read these temperatures. With a simple and low-cost installation of temperature sensors connected to a network, these values were accessible 24/7 and
now the owner can read values from home to know the product is being safely processed. The aim was be innovative, have transparency with manufacturing and processing, and to be fully informed so necessary strategies could be implemented to be ahead of competitors. You now have opportunities for data-backed decision-making across the whole supply chain. These innovations and technology are not just for the manufacturing sector. They include mining, agriculture, HVAC, commercial buildings, municipal vehicles, road working machinery – the list is endless. This also includes maintenance programs, which could be the difference between success and failure for plant and machinery. Development in condition monitoring are at the cutting edge, with high levels of sophistication that are also connected to cloud networks with data, is available and analysed 24 hour a day.
manmonthly.com.au CT-60591 Viraclean Manufacturing Monthly half page ad June20.indd 1
The Industrial Revolution is not really a revolution, it’s an ongoing gradual progression that is occurring right in front of us, says ifm’s Glenn Thornton.
Manufacturers’ Monthly 2020 3/6/20JULY 3:25 pm 25
Training & Skills Moving through the COVID challenge Weld Australia CEO, Geoff Crittenden, speaks to Manufacturers’ Monthly about how the peak representative body for welders and fabricators in Australia is supporting the industry during COVID-19.
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OSS of income, fewer project commencements, and an uncertain pipeline of work are just some of the concerns that Australia’s welding industry is facing in the wake of COVID-19. While most projects commenced prior to March have continued at pace, momentum is beginning to wane. According to Crittenden, many of Weld Australia’s members estimate that the work currently on their books will be complete by September – the same time that the JobKeeper payments cease. The December 2020 quarter could be one of the toughest on record for Australian welders and fabricators. Many companies have put an indefinite hold on capital improvement works, as well as planned maintenance activities. The uncertainty associated with this lack of investment has contributed to declining morale across the welding industry. “Obviously companies are concerned with their capital, and all of the future projects seem to have dried up, so everybody’s trying to find out what’s going to happen at the end of this year and the beginning of next,”
said Crittenden. “One of my directors was telling me that his customers from across multiple manufacturing sectors are not investing in new projects they were talking about investing in 10 months ago, and that’s concerning.” Not surprisingly, navigating these challenges is having an impact on the welding industry’s workforce. According to Crittenden, one of the most concerning impacts is a reduction in the number of apprentices. This will have both short- and long-term ramifications for an industry that is already experiencing a severe skills shortage. “Already, sign-ups and completions of apprenticeships have been going down over the past 20 years. The COVID-19 crisis was like the last nail in the coffin in terms of apprentices. We already have a shortage of welders for defence infrastructure and energy projects, and this is going to make it worse in the short-term,” Crittenden said. Secondly, with 95 per cent of Australia’s manufacturing companies classified as small businesses, many may not be in a position to weather
the severe economic downturn caused by COVID-19. Many fabricators were already struggling in today’s manufacturing climate, which has seen volumes of imported fabricated steel increase exponentially over the last 10 years. Many fabricators had already reduced their workforce, and may now be force to shutter their operations postCOVID-19. “Two years ago, when an awful lot of fabricated steel was imported from China, one of our members was going bust every other week,” said Crittenden. “This is going to have a big impact on the number of qualified tradesmen – with fewer jobs available, qualified welders will be forced into other occupations.”
On the issue of mental health and coping through COVID-19 Crittenden touched on one of the less discussed, albeit critical issues – mental health and coping through the crisis. “Workers in construction and other trades—including welding—are a highrisk category when it comes to mental health. Tradies are actually 70 per cent
Weld Australia has worked on several initiatives designed to assist members in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. They include providing resources on business continuity and employee safety, through to training, qualification and certification.
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more likely to commit suicide than their behind-the-desk counterparts,” he said. “COVID-19 has hit sub-contractors hard and fast, with businesses closing and tradies out of work – and at higher risk of mental ill health and suicide than ever. “Despite these alarming statistics, mental health definitely isn’t something that tradies talk about at smoko or after knocking off. “Australian welders, and tradesmen in general, need more support. Check on your colleagues. Ask your employees if they’re ok. Find out if your mates need a hand. This is particularly important at the moment, in the wake of increased unemployment rates and uncertainty about the future of industry. “The positive is that welding is not something you can do from home. Most of our members are actually still working, and they’re still finishing off projects,” Crittenden said.
The Weld Australia response Member survey Weld Australia conducted a member survey in April to solicit information on the impact that COVID-19 is having on Australian welders and fabrication businesses. The survey results pointed to the following: • 47 per cent of respondents indicated that they had experienced a loss of income; • 34 per cent indicated that they are facing increased business continuity risks; • 31 per cent indicated a decline in employee morale; • 28 per cent indicated that their staff are working reduced hours, while another 25 per cent indicated that they have stood down or laid off staff; and • 21 per cent indicated that they are having difficulty sourcing materials. These negative impacts are manmonthly.com.au
Training & Skills overwhelmingly the result of projects being put on hold; 59 per cent of respondents indicated that postponed work is a major cause of negative impacts, while 40 per cent indicated that an uncertain forward order book is a major cause. Encouragingly, the survey noted that some welders and fabrication companies have experienced positive impacts, including: • 37 per cent of respondents improved their internal processes and procedures; • 31 per cent discovered opportunities to innovate; and • 8 per cent built a better team culture.
Helping manufacturers through the crisis Weld Australia has worked on several initiatives designed to assist members in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. These ranged from providing resources on business continuity and employee safety, through to training, qualification and certification.
“At the moment, we are working to deliver as many of our services as possible online. We’re preparing for the day when the pandemic passes, and we need to help the industry recovery,” Crittenden said. Some of the services available are: Training courses Weld Australia accelerated the development of, and launched, two new online courses: those associated with the International Welding Specialist (IWS) and International Welding Inspector – Basic (IWI-B) certifications. Both courses have proved extremely popular, selling out in record time. The new online format will make training more accessible and open up opportunities to students who are unable to attend face-to-face training, particularly those in remote and regional areas. Qualification and certification Weld Australia worked closely with the International Institute of Welding (IIW) on several measures designed to make certification and qualification
SMEs which make up 95 per cent of manufacturing businesses, have struggled during the COVID-19 crisis.
processes more accessible. Weld Australia is now able to: perform surveillance audits for AS/ NZS ISO 3834 certification remotely; and conduct online examinations for the International Welding Specialist (IWS), International Welding Technologist (IWT) and International Welding Engineer (IWE) qualifications. Crittenden point out that, in addition to the above, there is a Weld Australia COVID-19 discussion forum
and COVID-19 Resource Hub. “Our LinkedIn group is an open platform for the welding industry to collaborate and support one another, discuss particular struggles, and learn how other businesses are coping. Also, we have also established a COVID-19 Resource Hub, which contains a raft of information from reputable sources, including federal bodies such as the ATO, FairWork Ombudsman and SafeWork Australia, as well as all the state government,” he said.
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1300 BISALLOY Manufacturers’ Monthly JULY 2020 27
Manufacturing Strategies Moving forward after COVID-19 Engineers Australia is on the front foot when it comes to the future of the Australian workplace post COVID-19. Manufacturers’ Monthly explains why.
Jonathan Russell, Engineer Australia’s national manager for Public Affairs and Policy Advocacy.
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OVID-19 Recovery: A 9-Point Plan is a document released by Engineers Australia in May, which is designed to give a helping hand to those engineering businesses and government that might need a sense of direction after the pandemic has run its course. When an event like COVID-19 occurs, one of the key considerations is how to get the economy up and running again, and this nine-point plan sets out how this can be achieved. Key tenets of the document include making sure companies carry out maintenance, keep focusing on infrastructure projects, invest in local communities, and look after staff. It is a positive take on what can come out of such an event that is unprecedented in modern times. 28 JULY 2020 Manufacturers’ Monthly
Jonathan Russell is Engineer Australia’s national manager for Public Affairs and Policy Advocacy, and he has been keeping an eye on the outcomes that have been borne from the pandemic. One piece of data that the organisation has access to is job vacancy trends, which comes from the Commonwealth government, who garner the information from the Internet from such websites as Seek. com.au. Russell points out that the figure is not an absolute number because not all jobs are advertised on Seek or other Internet sites. “However, it is a trend,” said Russell. “When we look at data, the job vacancies have been trending down for 12 months. Then we looked at the data in March and it hadn’t started
to trend down too much. Then we looked at the data in April and there was a marked drop in job vacancies. A fall in 13 per cent in one month.” Another trend that Russell believes will be around for some time is working from home. Not all people will be able to do it, he said – after all tradie-type jobs are hands-on. But he is sure that in one form or another, working remotely is here to stay. “The sentiment that we’re getting across the board [from members] is that this notion that you can’t work remotely, and that everybody has to work from a central location, is not true,” said Russell. “COVID-19 has unintentionally been a global experiment in remote working. Some people are making bold predictions that the office is dead. Other people
are saying things will go back to the way it was. I think it is going to be somewhere in the middle. It is possible to do a decent chunk of one’s work without being in the office.” One thing Russell is clear on, is that COVID-19 has brought up other issues that will have to be addressed. “COVID-19 is only half of the story. The other half is the economic fallout, including the threat from Chinese trade action, which is ostensibly in response to Australian government arguments for the pandemic to be investigated thoroughly,” he said. “When those sorts of things threaten to affect education which is our third biggest export earner, then you’ve got to think how to adapt if the economy is going on a sustained downward trajectory. Again, we don’t know if that manmonthly.com.au
Manufacturing Strategies is going to be the reality. It’s another one of those cases where we probably won’t know what’s going to happen until it happens.” If it does happen, a trait that Australia is well known for will kick in – resilience – and Engineers Australia knows what needs to be done according to its plan. “A comprehensive industry policy is… needed, with focuses on: strategic engagement in international rules setting groups, such as international standards bodies; support for scaling up existing manufacturing industries; and, development of on-shore capabilities for manufacturing and materials supply. Together, these will invigorate the domestic economy and improve supply chain resilience.” Russell believes all these things are achievable, especially as we now start in a recovery phase and if there is no resurgence of the virus. When will that recovery occur? “People talk about a V-shaped or U-shaped recovery, I suppose it doesn’t matter what indicator you
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are looking at we are probably all going to see the data go down for a while yet,” he said. “Then it will either plateau for a little bit or go straight back up again, but we won’t know if it is a V or U-shaped curve until at least the end of the year.” While overall, the organisation is happy with the both federal and state governments’ reaction to the pandemic, there are lessons that need to be learned. “It seemed to take a while for the Commonwealth government, and to a lesser degree the state governments, to take it seriously,” said Russell. “The initial stimulus package seemed a bit light. Once they realised they had to go all in on this response, then it was sudden. Then the size of the stimulus package was enormous and the degree of restrictions of movement was extreme. I think when most people heard that China was locking down its country, we thought about Australia and thought ‘good luck doing it here’.” It’s all well and good for a country
like China to shut down a whole country, said Russell, but he thinks many people didn’t imagine Australia would do so, or that the population would willingly oblige. “In retrospect it makes sense that Australia also successfully controlled people’s movement. We’re a country of people who understand the rule of law, and we’re community minded, so we just did it,” said Russell. “Overall they dealt with it effectively. The interaction between states and Commonwealth was pretty good although there were points of friction. The big lesson for the Commonwealth and States is to realise that they need to be clearer around what their respective roles and responsibilities are in a whole-of-nation response in any difficult situation.” And where does Russell see Australia in the next one to two years? Will there be a recovery or will it still be a lot of tentativeness around where the economy and primary industry will be heading? “I think there is no question in
that the engineering profession as a whole, and the nation as a whole, will pop out the other end in a year or two, in a good place,” he said. “COVID-19 has been a stress test of the systems we have in place as a nation. It’s a stress test on the ability to do work. It’s a stress test on the technology we rely on. It’s done a similar test on international trade. It’s tested the resilience of all the global interconnected systems. By and large, the world has gotten on with business. There has been untold tragedy in some countries, including Australia for those that have lost loved ones or their income, however the health costs haven’t been as bad as they could have been. “That transition back to an economy working on its own merits without broadscale government support packages is going to be the next wobble, or test of how well we’ve done. Long-term, the profession, the economy and society as a whole will come out the other end stronger than ever.”
Manufacturers’ Monthly JULY 2020 29
Sustainability A wind turbine usually comprises of roughly 8,000 parts or more and every part is critical.
The importance of maintaining wind turbines Bestech Australia highlights the importance of monitoring maintenance for wind turbines using sensors.
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IND energy has grown into a sustainable power technology in recent times. With various advancements going on in this sector and continued worldwide adoption and implementation, the application of condition monitoring techniques for the predictive maintenance of wind turbines becomes imperative. A wind turbine typically comprises around 8,000 parts or more including the blades, rotor, main bearing, electrical generator and other major components. Unlike the conventional power sources, wind turbines are consistently exposed to unpredictable and variable environmental conditions such as severe winds, tropical heat, hail and snow, stormy weather, and other weather conditions that affect the operations and health of a wind turbine. These variations result in constantly changing loads that lead to intense mechanical stress on the components of a wind turbine. Therefore, to estimate the remaining useful life of the equipment and to implement the best maintenance strategy before the failure occurs, condition monitoring systems are employed with the help of sensor technology to monitor various parameters such
30 JULY 2020 Manufacturers’ Monthly
Proactive monitoring of wind turbines based on precision sensor technology helps in providing a safe, productive, cost-efficient and reliable power output.
as temperature, voltage, current, noise or vibration.
Monitoring tasks for the maintenance of wind turbine Considering the huge number of components involved in the operation of a wind turbine, there are various maintenance tasks that are required to be performed on a regular basis. The maintenance is to ensure that it operates efficiently and to monitor the structural health of the wind turbine. Proactive monitoring of wind turbines based on precision sensor technology helps in providing a safe, productive, cost-effective and reliable power output. The rotor tower of a wind turbine may weigh dozens of tons and standing high up in the sky. It is an essential component to be monitored as it
may incur an astronomical cost for replacing it. Generally, the housing and tower of the wind turbine are exposed to huge wind loads. The effect of these wind loads become significant when they act on objects above 100m from the ground. To minimise the impact of these loads, the gearbox and generator are equipment with an elastic bearing. However, the relative motion of the gearbox and the generator must be balanced by the couplings in wind turbines. The offset of these metallic coupling rings is measured using non-contact displacement sensors, which leads to the measurement of the load profile. The oil gap between the bearing and the shaft is also a major concern in wind turbines for it prevents direct contact between the bearing surface
and the shaft. In cases of extreme load, the oil pressure can rise, closing the gap. This may damage the bearing and eventually result in turbine failure. Hence, the gap between the bearing surface and the shaft needs to be consistently monitored. In large generators and electric motors, the force imbalances caused by extreme wind and weather conditions during operations may close the gap between the rotor and the stator to come in contact. This may lead to component failure. For this reason, the gap between the rotor and the stator inside the motor is consistently monitored. The generator also tends to experience overheating and contact problems which may hamper the operations and compromise the efficiency. A monitoring system should be in place to detect potential overheating issues before it leads to failure.
Wind turbine monitoring sensors The advancement in sensors’ technology have led to intensive use of sensors in industrial test and measurement. A wide range of sensors instruments are available for measuring the physical parameters. They also give the capability for the user to analyse and evaluate the trends as well as predict the changes manmonthly.com.au
Sustainability based on the measurement data. Perhaps, eddy current sensors are one of the most commonly and frequently used sensors technology for maintenance applications in wind turbines. These inductive displacement sensors are able to operate in harsh industrial environments as they have excellent resistance to dirt, high pressures and extreme temperatures. Ideally, they are to be used for measuring the oil gap between the bearing surface and the shaft. Measurement can also be performed in different directions; axial, radial and tangential axes. During gap measurement, they are mounted to the bearing shoe to measure through the oil film and the plain bearing directly onto the shaft. The measured values are consistently monitored in order to avoid any unnecessary wear of couplings, bearings or shaft seals which may lead to some serious damages to the wind turbine. Besides measuring oil gap, Eddy
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current sensors are also used to monitor the supporting moments of the nacelle. They enable early recognition of ay oscillation by measuring the distance between the nacelle and the tower. This allows the operators to switch off the plant when the wind load is too high. Laser triangulation sensors are also used in some critical applications that involve the detection of movement and vibration in the turbine. These sensors measure based on the triangulation principle that includes sending a laser beam on the target object and the results are calculated based on the reflected beam from the object. This non- contact measurement technique is also suitable for determining the distance between the mast and the foundation of a wind turbine. These sensors can also be used to monitor the vibration of the tower as small changes
can be detected with absolute precision. This provides data to perform trend analysis to study the vibration behaviour over time. Another type of positioning sensor, capacitive sensors, are suitable for major monitoring task in a wind plant that requires gap measurement between the stator and the rotor. These sensors offer high precision reading with capability to provide the maximum resolution in picometer range. Capacitive sensors can be incorporated while the motor is still running to provide real-time gap analysis. They are also resistant to the electromagnetic fields existing in motors. Therefore, these sensors are considered highly suitable for monitoring wind turbines. Last but not least, draw wire sensors can also be considered when there are requirements for low-cost measurement. They can typically last in industrial environment and offer long service life if handled properly.
An infrared temperature sensor can also be considered as non-contact temperature monitoring solutions for preventive maintenance. It can be used with accelerometers as part of condition monitoring system for early detection of faulty components in the turbine. As leading sensors and instrumentation company in Oceania, Bestech Australia supplies a wide range of instrument to support any challenging industrial test and measurement tasks. We have established the importance of using non-contact precision sensor technology for condition monitoring and preventive maintenance. Using precision sensor technology, both off-shore and on-shore wind turbines can be monitored in real-time. This allows the maintenance engineers to detect any potential failure by providing reliable measurements and targeted evaluation of critical data.
Manufacturers’ Monthly JULY 2020 31
Women in Industry Atlas Copco Compressors to sponsor 2020 Women in Industry award Atlas Copco is once again sponsoring the 2020 Women in Industry Awards’ Rising Star of the Year award.
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HE company is taking progressive steps to address diversity such as gender-neutral advertisements and job descriptions that are less male orientated. Atlas Copco aims to increase awareness and recognition that female employees can have a strong, diverse career within a traditional engineering and manufacturing company. Manufacturers’ Monthly spoke to Fiona Halliday, HR business partner at Atlas Copco, about the importance of advocating for diversity and inclusion at the Women in Industry Awards.
MM: Diversity and inclusion both play an important part of the culture at Atlas Copco. Can you tell us about the diversity ambassador program and what it aims to achieve? FH: It’s been a little bit more formalised this year in actually having local ambassadors, both male and female. We are not only focusing on having female ambassadors, because we also need to recognise that men play a part of the conversation around diversity and inclusion. So the ambassador program is really looking for people who have a passion or an interest in driving the conversation and change around diversity and inclusion. It’s been driven by Atlas Copco Group’s head office in Sweden, but it’s been filtered down through the customer centres and we have our own project team in Australia to look at ways that we can increase our gender diversity in particular. That’s the original target. For Australia, it’s a little bit more about the inclusive conversation as well, so not making it purely about gender, it’s a wider conversation. We have Lisa Bremmell, who is our regional manager in WA, and we have sales engineer, Matthew Ford as our ambassadors, who both bring their unique viewpoints, which provides really 32 JULY 2020 Manufacturers’ Monthly
The Atlas Copco ambassador program is represented by employees who have a passion for driving the conversation and change around diversity and inclusion.
good conversation topics and ideas for the project team to look at. MM: With regards to that point, how important is it actually to employ people of different backgrounds for Atlas Copco? FH: At Atlas Copco, in terms of cultural diversity, we have huge amounts of diversity within our business. We have about 30 to 40 different nationalities, we are a global organisation, and so there is international mobility and lots of cultural diversity. When we talk gender diversity, roughly 25 per cent of our workforce is female, so there is a huge part of society that we are missing out on attracting to our business. We miss out on their ideas coming to the table, and that different point of view that in particular females have. We’re a traditional engineering and manufacturing organisation, so
it’s been a male dominated industry for a long time but we’re trying to change what people think, because we do have some female engineers and managers. We also certainly need to look at how we expand the inclusive conversation in our business. MM: Advanced manufacturing is constantly growing and evolving. How important is it to attract and retain talent in the manufacturing industry? FH: I think it’s critical because they bring a different approach to the table, so they have different viewpoints on things, sometimes maybe a little bit more innovative and think about things in a way we haven’t thought about before. Having that kind of equal mix is really important just to make sure we’re covering all the different opinions across a broad section of the community, because ultimately that’s our customer base.
MM: Can you elaborate on what measures have been taken at Atlas Copco specifically to break down gender stereotypes? FH: We’re certainly not perfect in our gender diversity. We still have the traditional administrative roles and things like that that females tend to work in. We don’t have many female engineers and no female service technicians in Australia. We do not have a huge base to draw from in the wider community. We’re looking at things like: how do we grow our own? How to encourage girls from schools through to TAFE and university to come into those non-traditional roles. And, coming into engineering, not looking necessarily at the administrative roles, but how could they be a sales representative selling our products, understanding our products, but also work in the engineering space manmonthly.com.au
Atlas Copco is a global organisation with employees representing 40 different nationalities.
that initial connection with the audience where we’ve got to look at how to work with schools, but also TAFE and universities around that STEM focus area.
Fiona Halliday, Atlas Copco HR business partner. and field service. We are looking at how to attract our talent, because across the manufacturing industry, there’s a lot of competition for female participation. How do we make Atlas Copco attractive? How do we grow our own? Because we do have those resources to be able to train. We have some great training programs in our products that are built by our divisions globally. We do have that capacity. It’s just
MM: What is the importance of events such as the Women in Industry Awards to Atlas Copco? What does it mean for your company to be sponsoring the Rising Star of the Year Award? FH: I think for us it means we are actually serious about it by participating and not just making a broad-based statement. We’re doing something to say there’s actually really fantastic women in the manufacturing industry that are coming through the ranks. It’s a bit of a kudos for us to say thank you because we really want to give back to the industry to say there is diversity in manufacturing, and we want to be able to recognise that. For us, it’s more important to do something than to say we are serious about it. We don’t have the answers
yet, but this is one of the steps that we see that we can contribute to diversity by sponsoring the Women in Industry Awards. MM: Was there anything else you’d like to add in relation to the topic of diversity? FH: We tend to focus on the gender
diversity because it’s really clear and easy to measure within our business. But I think it’s also about having that broader conversation around inclusion. There is so much more diversity that we need to recognise and include in the conversation around stereotypes. And that’s the challenge for us as a business.
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Manufacturers’ Monthly JULY 2020 33
Managing Risk Using risk management to enhance profitability Purchasing critical products or parts from Asia purely based on price can lead to a catastrophic hit to profit when things go wrong, according to the experts at Townley.
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F you do not have the goods, how can you make a sale?
Managing risk should be at the core of every business. The COVID-19 crisis has not only identified serious supply chain risks. It has highlighted many other risks that Australian businesses are exposed to by relying on Asia for imported goods. We have seen some supply chains completely shut down, with many factories in Asia having remained closed since the Chinese Lunar New Year. This has not only caused major disruption to supply chains right now but will continue to cause huge delays into the foreseeable future.
Does your business understand risk versus return? Incorrectly, some Australian businesses make decisions predominantly on price. What is often not understood are all the risks and myriad of hidden costs associated with the entire process of importing, particularly when the product is a high value asset or safety critical. The risk most focused on is the exchange rate. This is easily identified as it has a direct and immediate impact. Unfortunately, when the global economy experiences a crisis, the exchange rate hit can become even more volatile and costly than in normal trading periods. What many importers often fail to fully understand are the hidden costs. Some of these costs are: The risk of non-compliance with relevant standards, safety and design rules together with the wideranging impact that poor quality has throughout their business. If a product failure was to occur, resulting in injury or even death, the Australian directors and employees are personally liable for 34 JULY 2020 Manufacturers’ Monthly
Townley has been a trusted Australian manufacturer for more than 100 years.
criminal penalties. Importing poor quality products has a direct impact on productivity, profit and brand reputation. Lengthy time delays and the costs associated with reworking errors or writing off noncomplying rejects. Time lost on communication difficulties with Asian suppliers including design or specification issues and misinterpretations. Having additional local quality inspection processes to compensate is costly and time consuming.
If something goes wrong, who do you take legal action against? It is next to impossible to sue someone over international legal jurisdictions, in particular when dealing with Asia. An Asian supplier cannot be joined in criminal or civil proceedings here in Australia. You and your business are left with all the risks.
Is buying from Asia a false economy? Holding larger inventory levels to compensate for delays, failed deliveries or quality concerns is one way to reduce some of the risks. However, this causes a negative impact on cashflow in these uncertain times where cash reserves are critical to sustaining businesses. The interest charged on your additional finance facilities is another hidden cost of larger working capital.
Can your business control the international geopolitical landscape? Of course not. Unfortunately, Asia, of recent times, has become a real hot bed of tensions. There are majors concerns in respect to the possible shutdown of major shipping lanes and the rising conflict over China’s claims to the South China Sea. The South China Sea has large reserves of untapped oil and natural gas. The situation
has antagonised many competing claimants including Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. Any flare up could completely close these critical shipping routes. Also, the ongoing disputes with Taiwan and Hong Kong, together with North and South Korea, are of significant concern. There is also the constant threat of trade wars and military action by the US. Closer to home, Australian wharves have a history of major disruption due to industrial relations issues. Any change to Industrial Relations Law could again trigger long pickets which would undoubtedly slow or even halt the movements at all major Australian ports.
Using risk management to enhance your profitability Understanding that without the proper analysis of price versus risk, there are many hidden costs associated with importing. These manmonthly.com.au
Managing Risk costs will, directly and indirectly, effect businesses and cause a loss of profits. It can actually be a false economy to buy important products and parts from Asia. Spreading risk by having two suppliers, one in Australia and one in Asia, is another strategy for risk minimisation and profit enhancement that can be considered.
Why Townley? As a trusted Australian manufacturer for over 100 years, we can shore up your supply line and enhance your profitability. There will be no hidden costs or time wasted. We will even hold stock for you. Townley are experts in design, manufacture and testing of forged products to exacting standards. In addition to lifting and rigging components, Townley offers a custom forging service and can work collaboratively with you to enhance your designs
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specifications or relevant Australian Standards are met. Our team also provides marketing, warehouse and distribution solutions so that
you can concentrate your efforts on engineering, design and your own business initiatives. Support Australian manufacturing.
Manufacturers’ Monthly JULY 2020 35
Sensors Smart sensors make better business for Queensland bottling business Mt Elliot Springs plant manager, Warren Tink, and Industrial Electricians North Queensland director, John Birt, speaks to Manufacturers’ Monthly about how VEGA pressure sensors have provided smart solutions to improve the manufacturing processes.
VEGA transducer mounted between two piston compressors.
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IFE has become a lot easier for Mt Elliot Springs plant manager Warren Tink since installing VEGABAR 38 sensors at his water bottling facility in Majors Creek, North Queensland. The company, which supplies naturally occurring high alkaline water to the Townsville market, recently installed smart technology onsite to control air pressure for their blow moulding machines. Tink said the sensors have reduced the number of bottles wasted during the manufacturing process and have also allowed him to have absolute control over the company’s automated system. “The reason we changed to the VEGA sensors was to give us better control. What we didn’t realise was just how good that control would be,” he said. “The system that we had in there before was really, really primitive. I would say the technology went all
36 JULY 2020 Manufacturers’ Monthly
the way back from the ‘50s.” The plant previously used analogue pressure switches to control the compressors, which became a problem while manufacturing bottles of different sizes. “The problem with this is that one mould might be a 600mL bottle, and another one might be a 1.5 litre bottle, and you need a different pressure range to blow the bottles,” Tink said. In order to do that, Tink was trying to manually set that on an analogue pressure switch, and having a lot of issues, because the changes are very, very small, and the error window is very small. Tink said the VEGABAR 38 sensors took the guess work out of how much air was applied to the mould when the compressors are switched on and off. “The pressure is critical,” he said. “If it’s too low, the bottle won’t form. If it’s too high, it’ll blow the bottle up.” During the manufacturing process, a preform must reach a critical melt
temperature ranging between 85°C and 130°C before it can form a bottle. Preforms are loaded into bins, then automatically fed into conveyors. Heat is applied to the whole length of the preform, which is then moved automatically into a mould. A rod that comes up through the inside of the preform stretches it to the length of the bottle. At the same time, air blown from underneath forces it into the mould to form a bottle at about a hundredth of a second. A VEGABAR 38 sensor determines exactly what pressure the air will be when it is put into the blow moulding machines. “It’s given us control of the bottle blowing process, because we manufacture PET bottles at a rate of about four every 1.2 seconds,” Tink said. “When we’re manufacturing – particularly if there’s a change in pressure that we’re not controlling – we can lose a hundred bottles in the space of time that it takes for an operator to make an adjustment. It’s a very, very small range.” Instead of asking an electrical engineer to reset the switch, air pressure set points can be adjusted remotely using the VEGA app on a mobile phone. Industrial Electricians North Queensland provides maintenance solutions to manufacturing and industrial businesses. Their directors, John Birt and Luke Wright, said staying at the forefront of devices coming into the industry enables his company to provide better services for clients such as Mt Elliot Springs. “It makes it a lot easier for us to provide a smart solution to our clients when they try to change the pressure left right and centre,” he said. “Even with the same size mould,
they get one set come through that’s a bit harder, and they need a tiny bit more pressure to blow them. “If one comes through with a weaker wall and that 10 psi is making the bottles collapse, then he can down the pressure and it makes life very easy.” Tink said Mt Elliot Springs will implement more smart technology to improve their manufacturing processes. “As we change the technology we use to bottle water, we will have operators running from iPads, and we’ve been operating a plant from an iPad,” he said. “That is the direction we’re heading in.”
A VEGA transducer at set point.
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ConsultancyServices The risks of retooling and restarting Paul May, vice-president, operations and engineering manager at FM Global explains how risk management is even more crucial to the manufacturing supply chain as manufacturers seek to redirect their resources to producing new products in the current climate.
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ORONAVIRUS has made clear the fragility of many organisation’s supply chains, particularly those that are dependent on a particular region. It’s pointed out the need to source materials not just from different suppliers within a region, for example China, but also to have a diversity of suppliers across geographic locations. The pandemic has shown how dependent we are on producers in other countries for what can be critical supplies in an emergency, making some manufacturers reconsider what is an adequate stockpile of raw materials to produce their goods as well as raising concerns over the local availability of products such as hand sanitiser and personal protective equipment (PPE). Where cost dominated supply considerations before, today risk, business continuity and even national health has come to the fore like never before.
Stepping up to fill the gap With a view to stepping in to fill gaps in supply, we’ve seen a whole range of manufacturers worldwide shift their manufacturing towards new products that are needed in the pandemic. The most common have been hand sanitiser and PPE. This is an excellent initiative on their part. But with this rapid retooling comes risk. Before ramping up production of new or existing products, consider hazards that could come in the areas of storage, workforce and equipment.
The hazardous nature of hand sanitiser Some of the manufacturing plants that have re-tooled to produce hand sanitiser include gin distilleries, chemical and perfume plants. They manmonthly.com.au
are more well suited to this shift since they’re used to handling ignitable liquids. Switching from the production of non-flammable products to introduce alcohol to your production lines could introduce a whole host of hazards to a facility. It’s important to recognise that equipment, buildings and fire systems may not be designed for this purpose or the types of fires that could result – including flammable liquid fires – and therefore this can introduce a severe risk. For those who have or are considering producing hand sanitiser: • Use metal bulk containers not plastic to store the product. Plastic will melt in fire and the liquid will spill, potentially fuelling the fire. • If using bulk containers store them in a separate room. Limit the volume on the production floor to as little as you can. • Ship the sanitiser quickly. Don’t build up large volumes of stock as it’s a flammable liquid. • If you’re using new production equipment, make sure it’s suited to a flammable environment with minimal sparking. • Don’t use temporary rubber hoses, use steel piping to transfer flammable liquids, reducing risk of spillage and further combustion if a fire does occur. • For further details, check out FM Global’s checklist on switching to the production of hand sanitiser here.
Preparation to produce PPE When producing PPE in bulk, there’s the potential for a build-up of lint or other fine fabric material which can create fire risks. There’s also a risk of storing fabric on site safely. For those manufacturers shifting to produce PPE, or who may consider
doing so in the future, the following should be prioritised: • Keeping the environment clean to ensure little build-up of lint. • Control the storage of raw materials and finished goods, especially if your warehouses aren’t designed for that commodity. • If you were producing metal bolts and now it’s garments, be conscious of the fact that fabricbased fires would require a sprinkler of different specification to put a fire out than bolts on a shelf.
Ramping up production in other areas Many consumers will have noticed shelves were bare in the early days of the pandemic. This led to another area of emerging risk for some manufacturers during the pandemic - a rapid increase in usual production levels. Increased production of staples such as rice, sugar or flour can lead to fire due to a combustible dust that can result – particularly if areas aren’t kept clean. While under normal production volumes operations managers would have ample time to maintain cleanliness, this could fall by the wayside during a time of rapidly increasing production, raising the risk of fire or explosions.
Returning to normal has risk too When reverting back to original production, there are risks to consider too. Even during the best of times, efficient start-up of industrial processes can cause a significant challenge. If your equipment has been idle for several months as a result of pandemic restrictions on usual business activity, ensure you
Paul May, is the vice-president, operations and engineering manager at FM Global. undertake due care and maintenance of that equipment before restarting. Our best advice is to approach this as you would starting equipment for the first time. Restarting may be particularly risky in the current conditions, in which there may be shortages of experienced staff, social distancing requirements, reduced access to specialised support from contractors and longer lead times for spare parts. FM Global advises clients to keep communication lines open – we want them talking to our engineers as much as possible to ensure those risks are understood, so we can discuss any changes and offer as much advice as possible. We always strive to partner and work with clients to minimise those exposures as much as possible – and our checklists to enhance safety and reduce risk are available to all organisations which is downloadable from our website. While companies may be retooling to serve the greater good of society, it is important to only make significant changes to your production facility with a full understanding of what the associated risk implications are. Manufacturers’ Monthly JULY 2020 37
Compressors The overriding benefits of outsourcing compressed air Sullair Australia’s managing director, Fred Funnell talks about streamlining costs by selecting energy efficient air compressors for a business.
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HE unpredictable nature of the COVID-19 pandemic and its subsequent restrictions put many businesses in untenable positions. Tough decisions had to be made around immediate actions to be taken, that not only ensured a business’s capacity to transition through the COVID-19 shutdown restrictions, but also somehow predicted sustainable operations over the longer term. With so much uncertainty in the marketplace across all industries, the result has been increased caution around investing significant amounts of money in such a low confidence business environment. The first response by industry in any time of major crisis, has been to place a freeze on capital expenditure as a component of their overall cash management strategy. The response in the time of COVID-19 has been no different. In defining the bottom line, companies have had to map out their base line operational needs: maintaining the status quo kept things ticking over, proceeding with CapEx purchases pushed them into a high-risk zone.
Planned upgrades of highend equipment that required considerable CapEx were instantly scrapped and risk assessments around the status of existing equipment were made. Some relief appeared in the form of the Instant Asset Write Off from the ATO, however with a $150,000 cap, it limited the types of assets that could be purchased, and with limited cash flow, there was the still the decision to be made as to whether any outlay in the current climate was feasible. Sullair Australia’s managing director, Fred Funnell sees the silver lining for business within the chaos. “The underlying need to control your costs and manage your cash is a key success factor for any business. All COVID has done has magnified the need for strong cash management and placed greater pressure on profit margins. It’s now more essential than ever there’s no exposure to unplanned costs,” he said. With the range of pressures on customers varying depending on what segments they’re in, the need for efficiency and a streamlined
With high energy prices across the industry, it’s important to have the most efficient compressed air solution, correctly sized to one’s business needs and maintained in line with OEM recommendations.
38 JULY 2020 Manufacturers’ Monthly
approach has become paramount. “When you’re operating with reduced margins, perhaps because end user demand has declined or competitive pressures have reduced margins, you can’t afford to have an unplanned outage on your production line. Even a shift or two offline may be your profit for the month gone,” Funnell explained. “Across the industry, you’re seeing stubbornly high energy prices, so it’s important you have the most efficient compressed air solution, correctly sized to your business needs and maintained in line with OEM recommendations.” Recognising the pain points of its customers during this time has been crucial for Sullair and they responded quickly by developing MAP – a Managed Air Power option that enables compressed air solutions to be completely outsourced. MAP provides a mechanism to ensure a customers’ compressed air needs are addressed, without a significant upfront capital outlay. This is achieved by delivering an integrated new equipment and maintenance package over an agreed time frame. During the COVID shutdown, many businesses have found themselves in an increasingly unreliable and costly loop in terms of ongoing operation and maintenance; to them, the benefits of outsourcing in the current climate become undeniable. When CapEx decisions around replacing end of life equipment or investing in new projects are shelved, plans are made to repair rather than replace, and machines work longer and harder than is optimal. The most compelling benefit to outsourcing is being able to make the right decisions around the business’s needs, while avoiding capital outlay for new equipment altogether. Funnell explains:
“Outsourcing options give the customer a chance to stop and reassess their actual air demand. Is it the same as it was 10 years ago when the old compressor was installed? Are we now paying for energy we don’t need?” Outsourcing air can also free up any residual CapEx funds to be directed to other projects, unlocking value streams. Projects previously put on hold can be expedited as a result of an alternative equipment and service solution like MAP. Continuity of supply is improved and operations resume knowing down time and costs are minimised. This has been particularly relevant in recent months, with restrictions significantly impacting on projects across all industries. The CapEx benefits speak for themselves but outsourcing also has a built-in level of additional support, above and beyond that provided in normal equipment supply. Outright equipment purchases often put the responsibility for a deep understanding of the machinery, on the customer. In an outsourced solution, the supplier also provides the expertise needed to manage the business’s compressed air supply, taking care of things that should be front of their mind, not the customer’s. “People should be able to focus on their core business, not whether their compressor is optimised or if it’s missed its routine service,” Funnell said. “Outsourcing provides the customer with the essential equipment they need, along with a whole of life support package and the peace of mind to know the equipment is being closely monitored allowing them to focus on their core business.” For more information about MAP, visit: sullair.com.au/managed-air-power manmonthly.com.au
Power Management Keeping the lights on NOJA Power has brought Australian manufacturing and developments in electrical switchgear into the global spotlight. Manufacturers’ Monthly speaks with its group managing director, Neil O’Sullivan, about the company’s long-term success and pride in being Australian. made. Alongside controlling the flow of electricity to manage distribution networks, utilities use NOJA Power’s products to detect problems.
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USTRALIAN Made’ is a popular phrase with end consumers, but the synonymy of Australian produced products with reliability and quality has also endeared them to manufacturers across the globe. Capital equipment manufacturer NOJA Power demonstrates this well. The company was founded in 2002 as an electrical switchgear manufacturer and its first sale being an export – as well as its continued success as an exporter – has earned it the title of a “born global” business. NOJA Power group managing director, Neil O’Sullivan, said the company was proud to service clients globally. “The enterprise has enjoyed annual growth since inception, and today we service over 90 countries worldwide from our headquarters in Brisbane. Around 92 per cent of our annual production is sold via export. Our vision from day one is to be the world leader in medium voltage pole mounted switchgear,” he said. “Today, we can say we are the world leader in pole mounted auto
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reclosing circuit breakers – a class of pole mounted switchgear.” The majority of NOJA Power’s customers are either distribution utilities or mining and private infrastructure companies. Its core product is the OSM Recloser, an advanced, microprocessor-controlled circuit breaker designed to operate at high voltage. Being computer controlled, O’Sullivan called its applications “wide and varied”, as the system can be configured for many electrical network uses. “The core application of this product is to improve the reliability of electricity distribution, and the installation of our equipment generally improves electricity network reliability by 80 per cent,” he said. “Electrical switchgear is a necessity – if you have power, you need to have a way to control it. In our homes, we have light switches and the main switch board, but for the distribution network, this needs to be scaled up.” Alongside controlling the flow of electricity to manage distribution
networks, utilities use NOJA Power’s products to detect problems and help to switch and mitigate these issues. “We help utilities to keep the lights on, ensuring that their end customers at home and at work have reliable power,” O’Sullivan said. “The challenges that our customers face include handling the technical complexity of electrical engineering, but we maintain a highly qualified service staff to support them through solving these distribution network challenges.” With the COVID-19 pandemic leading to lockdowns and travel restrictions around the world, significant pressure has been put on many globally operating businesses. NOJA Power has fared better than most, thanks to a conservative policy relating to its global supply chain security and taking extra precautions for its workers. “We have multiple sourcing paths for all key products and maintain a safety stock to support the dynamic market demand that occurs during business as usual,” O’Sullivan said. “During this time, we evidently can’t travel as much as we like to, but in terms of meeting demand, our facilities are well equipped. We have also implemented significant measures such as free issuing large quantities of masks and gloves to our staff for their use outside of the business.” With the health of the business secured in the present, NOJA Power has been able to look to and invest in future technologies. This includes research projects and product developments designed to help transition the electricity grid to higher levels of renewable energy, among other causes. “We have industry partnership research and development programs such as the Synchrophasor
NOJA Power group managing director, Neil O’Sullivan, said the company was proud to service clients globally from its headquarters in Brisbane. ARENA project in Australia to help bring Big Data together with electrical engineering to solve the challenges of a changing generation mix,” O’Sullivan said. “This is all enabled by the technology platform that we build with our equipment today, and our ongoing commitment to research and development here in Australia.” For its strong trajectory since 2002, NOJA Power was recognised as a finalist of the Endeavour Awards in the Excellence in Growth category. “It’s a great honour to be a finalist in the Endeavour Awards, and we proudly fly the Australian manufacturing flag. Manufacturing in Australia is possible, especially for high technology products for critical services, where reliability and quality is essential,” O’Sullivan said. “Australia is a trusted place of origin for product quality globally, and Australian manufacturers can use this good name to their advantage in achieving success in export business.” Manufacturers’ Monthly JULY 2020 39
Steel Manufacturing Bisalloy Steels: Made Aussie tough for 40 years Since 1980, iconic Australian manufacturer Bisalloy Steels has been manufacturing performance products for customers locally and globally.
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USTRALIA has some of the most demanding environmental conditions anywhere in the World – from snowfields to scorching deserts, our breadth of weather and geography requires machines and equipment to withstand these environments, this makes the country an ideal testbed for all products. Having begun operations in Wollongong in 1980, Bisalloy Steels has locally engineered and manufactured a range of premium performance steel products over the last four decades that thrive in Australia, ensuring they can easily handle the company’s growing number of international markets. Bisalloy Steels Australia CEO, Glenn Cooper, said that the company’s product range including BISALLOY WEAR, BISALLOY STRUCTURAL, BISALLOY ARMOUR and BISALLOY PROTECTION steel plate, was well proven and respected. “Australia is known for its strong mining, quarrying, exploration and construction industries, these are all applications in which Bisalloy Steel products have flourished over the years,” Cooper said. “These industries place high
demands on steel products and the BISALLOY performance steel range has been developed to offer high wear, high impact, lower weight and abrasion-resistant solutions for these key customers. “If steel products can succeed in Australia, they can succeed anywhere else in the world.” Among its many market-leading products is BISALLOY WEAR steel, which has become the number one performance steel choice for many industries that require superior hardness, wear and tear resistance. While equipment used in mobile mining and fixed crushing applications immediately come to mind as being ideal applications for BISALLOY WEAR, ground engaging tools such as bucket lips and wear areas, agricultural ploughs, concrete mixers and even garbage trucks all require a hard-wearing steel. A quality steel not only ensures that machines can operate more efficiently, but extend service life intervals and reduce downtime and maintenance costs. Having recently achieved 40 years in business, Bisalloy Steels is Australia’s only manufacturer of high-performance quenched and
tempered steel plate products; the company’s future is bright following healthy global expansion and a continued focus on customer service, continual improvement and research and development. Cooper said that Bisalloy was a name that its customers trusted and associated with premium quality. “Our Australian production site based in Wollongong has the capacity to produce over 60,000 tonnes per annum, with all products exceeding Global International Quality and Testing standards – the production facility also has International certification for Safety and Environmental Management as does our facility in China,” Cooper said. “From these two manufacturing bases, we are very well positioned to distribute and support our products globally via our own network, distributors and through product supply partnerships.” Bisalloy Steels’ continuous improvement philosophy and strong commitment to innovation has also seen the company become a favourite supplier for critical applications including Defence and armoured vehicle industries. Cooper said that products such as
BISALLOY ARMOUR steel, which is available in wide range of protection levels, could not afford to fail, as potentially human lives relied on its performance. “Part of the Bisalloy difference is that we’re totally committed to advancing our products and working closely with our clients in taking a partnership approach,” he said. “It’s this engagement with customers that lets us better understand their specific requirements – the more educated we are, the better our recommendations will be, and ultimately we’ll be able to provide the most appropriate solution. For some applications the performance of our steel is absolutely critical.” With the milestone of 40 years of local manufacturing having been reached, this iconic Australian company has its eyes firmly set on the future and will be counting on its innovation, dedicated employees, strong work ethic, values and focus on safety, to continue to prosper in the decades ahead. For more information, call 1300 BISALLOY or visit www.bisalloy.com.au
Australia has demanding environmental conditions that require machines and equipment to withstand them.
40 JULY 2020 Manufacturers’ Monthly
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SEPTEMBER 2020 – CYBER SECURITY Data protection is as critical as looking after one’s health – it ensures the long-term survival of a business. As workplaces continue to resume normalcy during the COVID-19 crisis, Australian manufacturers need reassurance that not just their workplaces are safe, but also their virtual space. In September 2020, we will speak to companies who provide cyber security solutions to home-grown small-to-mediumsized businesses who want to keep their data safe. In every edition of Manufacturers’ Monthly, we’re proud to work with our commercial partners on content that helps connect you with your future customers.
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EndeavourAWARDS 2020 WINNERS Endeavour Awards winners for 2020 announced Manufacturers Monthly congratulates all of the Endeavour Awards winners for 2020, who have demonstrated resilience and talent despite the challenging economic climate brought about by COVID-19.
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HIS year’s Endeavour Awards featured a high calibre set of companies sharing their innovative ideas, technologies and products. It was due to be held in Sydney this year but due to the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, the event physically did not happen, but the awards went on as per normal. The event, like many evenings in the past, is dedicated to celebrating all entrants, finalists and winners of Australia’s most prestigious manufacturing awards ceremony. This year’s awards once again saw a jump in the number of quality nominations for individual categories – something unprecedented because one would expect many to be holding back due to the economic downturn. However, this reality has not deterred Australia’s best and the judges have been pleased with the turnout.
The judges have commented that the quality of the finalists have improved this year.
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Some takeaways from the judges Carl Bezuidenhout, executive director business development for BDO said from BDO’s standpoint, the Awards are good for the sector locally and globally. “It sends a very positive message to the Australian manufacturing sector, Australian business and global markets that Australian manufacturing is innovative, cutting edge and ready to engage both locally and internationally – and for these reasons we wholeheartedly support the awards,” Bezuidenhout said. Peter Canavan, senior policy officer at Australian Industry Group (Ai Group) said the winners had “demonstrated a capacity to find gaps in the market”, both domestic and international, and develop innovative products that fill those gaps.
“The winners demonstrated that Australian manufacturers continue to punch above their weight in international markets despite our distances, and that sometimes those distances can be turned into advantage,” Canavan said. Scott Martin, group leader of applied physics at CSIRO concurred saying that every year there are impressive examples of inward and outward innovation – inward innovation bringing new technology form around the world into Australian markets and manufacturing processes; and outward innovation developing Australian-grown technology for local and export markets. “It’s always a pleasure to read the nominations for the Endeavour Awards and this year was no exception. For me, the nominations I rate most highly are ones that establish high-tech manufacturing facilities in Australia that produce highly differentiated, high value products for the global market – and it was great to see just as many of these this year as previously,” Martin said. “The quality (of the finalists) has improved this year over the previous years and I think the Awards bring back a touch of normality when people focus on their businesses and the way forward rather than the crisis going on, so look inwardly with it, and bring back a bit of normality,” Michael Grogan, state director for Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania at the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre (AMGC) said. “The training skills award is a great initiative because of the ongoing training in workforces, and disruption in those areas, is certainly where we need to be and what we’re looking for. “It was great to see a range of manufacturing sectors represented and the uptake in technology and
innovation by so many,” Matthew Young, manufacturing innovation manager, IMCRC said.
Re-instilling confidence into the industry Canavan stated that COVID-19 has created great challenges for Australian manufacturers, but there will also be opportunities as the country looks to source more products locally. “These awards celebrate excellence and innovation, and by doing that demonstrate that as a nation we do have the ability and the capacity to recover,” Canavan said. Martin said COVID-19 has shown that local manufacturing capability has national significance beyond jobs and export revenue. He hopes that this will lead to a renewed emphasis being placed on local manufacturing in some critical areas. “It has also showcased wonderful examples of how innovative companies have rapidly responded by manufacturing different goods – driven by necessity, scarcity or diminished demand for their usual products. The Endeavour Awards showcase the very best Australia has to offer in manufacturing – this year. I believe manufacturers will be looking to peers – especially Award winners – as a source of inspiration and new ideas,” he said. “It’s true many manufacturers have been hard hit with COVID-19, creating many restrictions and hurdles. The Endeavour Awards should instil confidence in Australian manufacturers and serve as inspiration. The finalists and winners represent sovereign capability for manufacturing in Australia and often demonstrates how Australian manufacturers play an essential support role to all Australian industries and essential services,” Matthew Young IMCRC said. Manufacturers’ Monthly JULY 2020 43
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EndeavourAWARDS 2020 WINNERS Sponsor:
ENDEAVOUR AWARDS WINNER - SPECIAL PATTERNS TECHNOLOGY APPLICATION AWARD Sponsor:
ENDEAVOUR AWARDS WINNER - SPECIAL PATTERNS AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRIAL PRODUCT OF THE YEAR
Special Patterns – Winner of Australian Industrial Product of the Year and Technology Application.
Special Patterns – Achieving a special double win
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PECIAL Patterns’ robots that use Preforming Technology has won the company Technology Application of the Year and Australian Industrial Product of the Year awards. The Carbon Fibre Robotic Preforming Cell enables dry unidirectional (UD) carbon fibre and carbon fibre veil (6gsm) to be automatically trimmed, placed in the correct position with correct orientation and formed into the desired shape in an automated cell that can produce six parts at a time. The cell was developed to take the difficulty out of accurately cutting, handling and shaping carbon fibre away from human operators. This improves productivity, speed and
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efficiency, while providing costsavings and input reductions. David Tumimo, engineering manager, Special Patterns said since Special Patterns diversified and started their robotics division four years ago, that made their company quite unique in the manufacturing industry. “We are now a manufacturer with a core business in making patterns, moulds and tooling, and is now also a technology provider, with robotics and automation,” said Tumino. It was not easy working through the project, and Tumino said that working with carbon fibre veil that is only 6gsm along with dry unidirectional (UD) carbon fibre posed challenges when it came to
automating the cutting and handling. “The UD material is abrasive, porous, strong in one direction and weak in the other. And the veil was very light and had low strength, making it very difficult to automate,” he said. Moving forwards, Tumino said the company will be focused on product development, and R&D will heavily impact on the business over the next year. “Our team is always looking to work on new technology and likes to put our ideas to the test,” he said. “Robotic milling accounts for a large part of the robot systems that we build, and as we use our own robot mill for production, we are constantly developing new additions for our
milling system that greatly benefit our customers.” Tumino said participating in the Endeavour Awards represents excellence in manufacturing and engineering. “I design and build machines from the ground up and having this showcased along with other worthy projects from around Australia shows that manufacturing is still thriving here in Victoria and that our project builds rank amongst the best,” he said. “Being a finalist two years in a row with the Endeavour Awards is recognition that we are leading the industry with our engineering abilities – further strengthening our philosophy that ‘We can do anything’”.
Manufacturers’ Monthly JULY 2020 45
EndeavourAWARDS 2020 WINNERS ENDEAVOUR AWARDS WINNER - APR.INTERN
Sponsor:
EXCELLENCE IN MANUFACTURING SKILLS DEVELOPMENT
APR.Intern – Connecting expertise to businesses
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T APR.Intern, the work being done is at the nexus between industry and academia, and the staff have facilitated some of the best manufacturing R&D. Some of the research they have helped their industry partners accelerate includes high-end 3D printing technology for the healthcare sector, robotics, and the application of AI to drive advanced and digital manufacturing solutions. “The Endeavour Awards are an opportunity to celebrate Australian manufacturing innovation. It is an honour to be recognised as a finalist in the category of Excellence in Manufacturing Skills Development. In turn, this acknowledges the impact industry-university research collaborations are having on the
sector,” Lisa Farrar, APR.Intern national program manager said. Farrar also said that manufacturers will be crucial in Australia’s recovery from COVID-19, and that they have already seen many businesses step up to mitigate the pandemic’s impact. “It is important to support the sector during these challenging times, and celebrate manufacturing innovation,” she said. “Since APR.Intern’s national expansion, the number of PhD research placements within the manufacturing sector has increased year-on-year. This highlights the ongoing need for industry-university research collaboration,” Farrar added. “As a program, we look forward to continuing to support the sector by
APRIntern – Winner of the Excellence in Manufacturing Skills Development. connecting businesses with PhD research specialists and accelerating R&D. We will continue to collaborate with Australian universities and would like to thank the Australian Government’s Department of
Education, Skills and Employment for its support through the Supporting more women in STEM career: Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute (AMSI) – National Research Internships Program (NRIP).” Sponsor:
ENDEAVOUR AWARDS WINNER - SUPASHOCK & NOJA POWER EXCELLENCE IN GROWTH
Supashock and Noja Power – Double delight: Everyone’s a winner
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HIS Excellence in Growth award recognises the growth within a manufacturing company, demonstrated by consistent financial, people or market growth – important for achieving sustainable consistent growth over the long term. This year, the judges have granted this award to two entries. Carl Bezuidenhout, executive director for business development at BDO and judge at the Endeavour Awards explained that the criteria for this category was for the winner(s) to demonstrate growth in revenues, employment or market share over a three-year period. “Consistent performance is really what we were 46 JULY 2020 Manufacturers’ Monthly
after when selecting the winners,” said Bezuidenhout. With the COVID-19 pandemic impacting global trade heavily, BDO had mulled for the possibility of not having a submission for the BDO growth award and even the possibility of not having a winner. “Fortunately, Australian manufacturing businesses are robust, and we have had good entrants submit themselves as nominees for the BDO excellence in growth award,” said Bezuidenhout. Both Supashock and Noja Power different in organic size so there needed to be an amount of fairness in the judging process.
Supashock – Winner of Excellence in Growth (small- to medium-sized companies). “In business scale or size makes a significant difference. For example, larger organisations normally have greater resources, but moving these organisations to change is often significantly more challenging,” said Bezuidenhout. “Therefore, we
thought it only fair that we split the category in terms of the submissions we received, and award two winners this year based on the size of the business.” Bezuidenhout said that the second reason it is important to recognise manmonthly.com.au
EndeavourAWARDS 2020 WINNERS these winners is that both companies achieved growth by following a similar recipe. “Both organisations have a relentless pursuit of innovation or R&D to help them differentiate,” he said. “In addition, they have achieved growth through the exploration of new markets where Australian design expertise is essentially exported. There are differences between their growth strategies, but these key elements are similar.”
Supashock – Winner for Excellence in Growth (smallto medium-sized companies)
“Supashock is developing true sovereign capability that provides our graduates, design, and manufacturing engineers the ability to develop new novel technologies on a global scale,” he said. “These technologies provide our customers with a competitive advantage, fully developed, and manufactured here in South Australia.” “This has been a true value add not only to our graduates, design, and
manufacturing engineers, but also to the local community and supply chain.” Fiorinotto said that the Endeavour Awards are a highly recognised awards program within the manufacturing industry and being nominated next to such innovative, creative, and unique companies has been a great achievement for Supashock.
Noja Power – Winner of Excellence in Growth (large-sized companies).
“The Supashock team is extremely happy to be nominated into two categories this year for the Endeavour Awards,” Oscar Fiorinotto, Supashock CEO and founder said. Fiorinotto said over the past two years the company has grown at an incredible rate.
Noja Power - Winner for Excellence in Growth (largesize companies) Noja Power, group managing director Neil O’Sullivan said it is a great honour to be a finalist in the Endeavour Awards, and that they are proud to fly the Australian manufacturing flag. “Manufacturing in Australia is possible, especially for high-end technology products for critical services, where reliability and quality is essential,” O’Sullivan said. “Australia is a trusted place of origin for product quality globally, and Australian manufacturers can use this good name to their advantage in achieving success in export business.” For its strong trajectory since 2002, Noja Power has been recognised as a finalist and a winner of the Endeavour Awards in the Excellence in Growth category.
Sponsor:
ENDEAVOUR AWARDS WINNER - BLACK SKY AEROSPACE OUTSTANDING START-UP AWARD
Black Sky Aerospace – Taking off to higher ground
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LACK Sky Aerospace is a cutting-edge rocket manufacturing company and launch provider. Their team, together with CEO Blake Nikolic, have a unique understanding of the niche aerospace products and services required to support their clients’ and industry partners’ needs. Through sovereign manufacturing of launch vehicles, propellant and supporting infrastructure, to logistics and launch sites, Black Sky Aerospace (BSA) provides solutions critical to meeting the interests of national security for Australia, its allies and the space industry. BSA has developed superior propulsion systems with more efficient, cost effective manufacturing. BSA Solid Rocket Motors (SRM) are a sovereign manmonthly.com.au
capability to support the growth of space development in Australia and provide an alternate supply without rigorous foreign regulatory restrictions. Additionally, BSA’s SRM also delivers capabilities for Defence, removing red tape and exorbitant costs previously incurred with importing. Prior to this, there were no sovereign manufacturers of solid rocket propellant and subsequently SRMs in Australia, which meant all SRMs had to be imported. With the lack of a sovereign manufacturer, Australia needed to look for alternative sources every time one source could not supply what was needed. This issue prompted a requirement for products to be sourced elsewhere which meant an increase in costs, and time delays
Black Sky Aerospace – Winner of Outstanding Start-Up. due to bureaucratic processes. BSA set out to manufacture solid rocket propellant and SRM’s locally for the civilian, export and defence markets at far more economical prices and with quicker turnaround times. Locally produced propellant and SRM’s also alleviates the burdens for international customers
coming to Australia and attempting to import propellant from overseas due to ITAR (International Traffic and Arms Regulations). Manufacturers’ Monthly congratulates BSA on winning the Outstanding Start-Up award and looks forward to seeing BSA’s growth in the near future. Manufacturers’ Monthly JULY 2020 49
EndeavourAWARDS 2020 WINNERS ENDEAVOUR AWARDS WINNER - PRM ENGINEERING SAFETY SOLUTION OF THE YEAR
PRM Engineering – Safely identifying obstacles in advance
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RM Engineering’s ongoing work building a pedestrian detection warning system has been awarded with the Safety Solution of the Year Award. The Sentinel Vision A.I System is capable of detecting human obstacles, and then informs drivers and vehicle operators when to avoid a collision. Group engineering manager Brent De Gier said the biggest challenge was to develop a model that can detect a human body and also identify parts of humans. “Essentially it’s got two cameras that we use to detect people walking in and out of a zone, and from that we can then alarm and indicate to the driver or the operator of a vehicle that there’s someone there, and you need to take actions to avoid a collision or injuring that person. “They’re usually behind a tree or behind the bins, and you’ll only get part of a person. Training the model to detect part of a person is a very important step, and once we’ve got a model that works, is actually trialling it and testing it in real work conditions.” The company is currently trialling
the product with major suppliers in the rail industry as well as in the garbage and recycling industries, “We’re doing a number of rail applications, we’ve got maintenance crews with people in and around a vehicle, and this detection system means they don’t accidentally start moving a vehicle if there’s a pedestrian that they can injure. “Our system doesn’t need any kind of administrative protocols such as tags or signs, it can detect a person at any time and therefore allow the operator to have a peace of mind to know that someone is in the wrong place at the wrong time,” De Gier said. The system’s external indication system features flashing lights, a buzzer, and can also talks to a person to warn them if they are in the wrong area, and to move away safely. PRM also aims to customise the Sentinel Vision A.I System for the garbage and recycling industry and other industries. “The biggest problem on landfill sites, or picking up garbage bins along the road, is that it’s very rare that you’d see a full person in clear
PRM Engineering – Winner of Safety Solution of the Year. view,” De Gier said. The next big step for PRM Engineering is to begin a fleet rollout to nationwide customers over the next six to 12 months. “For us, it’s a big ramp-up, because a lot of our products involve installation. It means we’re taking a small Brisbane company, and then essentially trying to replicate that model across Australia,” De Gier said. As the company continues to develop products in the vision space, they increasingly find that manufacturers need systems that are tailored to specific applications, according to De Gier.
“One of the main focuses for the way we work is getting it right for that customer,” he said. He credits Manufacturers’ Monthly for covering a broad range of industries and representing small businesses as part of the Endeavour Awards. “It’s good to get that recognition that we’re not just in rail, not just in construction, and not just a safety product,” De Gier said. “As a small company, you’re competing against some of the larger companies as finalists, and it’s good to see a small company can actually compete against bigger companies.”
ENDEAVOUR AWARDS WINNER - SUCCESSFUL ENDEAVOURS ENVIRONMENTAL SOLUTION OF THE YEAR
Successful Endeavours – Better connectivity at a lower cost
F
OR 22 years, Successful Endeavours has provided Australian manufacturers with consultancy services focused on small- to medium-sized Australian manufacturers. The company has delivered solutions for customers who want to improve their existing
50 JULY 2020 Manufacturers’ Monthly
products, margins or market share through development of their next generation of market offerings and who are also wanting to keep their core electronics manufacturing in Australia. Their winning entry for the Environmental Solution of the Year is the Waterlink SMARTMESH system
that uses a battery-powered device that can read up to six water metres at a time. Normally, the solution is to put a water reading module that contains a simcard, and it uses cellular networks to retrieve data. Founder Ray Keefe explains that
the challenge with this model is the fee chargeable using cellular network with the simcard. “At the moment, the cost of the simcard is comparable to a person coming down to reading it manually. What one gets from putting a unit in a simcard is the getting of more manmonthly.com.au
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EndeavourAWARDS WINNERS 2020 convenient data collection, but not less expensive data collection. Other issues include the timeliness of getting data. Both of the cellular-connected water meters and SmartMESH connected water metres bring the same advantages to the table but with the SmartMESH has less complications and at a lower cost. Where the SmartMESH has an advantage over the cellular-connected meters is that the metres themselves create a mesh network. So, they talk to each other and they route the data from other metres which is downstream in the building along to e gateway, so there is only a need an
internet connection point at one or two places in the building to do the whole building. “We’ve now seen the disadvantage of just moving manufacturing opportunities offshore because then there is cost savings. It is getting prices down, but it also means we don’t have high value jobs in those areas in the country. Keefe also mentioned that the direction of the company hasn’t been affected by COVID-19 at all. “Our focus is on creating new technology, manufacturing opportunities for Australian manufacturers, so we are 100 per cent
focused on designing products, that can make profitability in Australia, and doing that in the smartest way possible,” he said. The Endeavour Awards are a celebration of Australian manufacturing and Australian manufacturers, so for us, one of the most important ways that we recognise manufacturing achievement at the national level. “We are absolutely over the moon at the idea of being recognised as a finalist at the national level. I’d really like my staff to understand how good it is the work they do,” he said.
Successful Endeavours – Winner of Environmental Solution of the Year.
ENDEAVOUR AWARDS WINNER - ORICA MINING SERVICES BEST INDUSTRIAL IIOT APPLICATION ENDEAVOUR AWARDS WINNER - ORICA MINING SERVICES MOST INNOVATIVE MANUFACTURING COMPANY AWARD
Sponsor:
Orica Mining Services – withstanding all the elements
O
RICA Mining Services has created FRAGTrack, a fragmentation measurement tool that provides vision technology to improve blasting outcomes at mine sites. FRAGTrack uses binocular cameras, an innovative proprietary hybrid 2D/3D image processing algorithm, and edge computing; to overcome the shortcomings of standard methods that usually apply them independently and lack accuracy and real-time accessible anywhere insights. It can be configured for both the operating face-shovel, for continual
Orica Mining Services – Winner of Best Industrial IIoT Application and Most Innovative Manufacturing Company.
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assessment of Particle Size Distribution (PSD) at the dig face of a muck pile, as well as above the operational conveyor, which allows the determination of both volume and mass of material. The system tags each sample with Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates and automatically associates it with a precise location and time in the blast area, enabling customers to understand the geological domain, blast boundaries and improving mining metrics such as excavation productivity and plant throughput. The industrial nature and environmental factors of mining were the most significant challenges in developing and getting this product market ready. The cameras are mounted on large-scale earth moving equipment that creates a tremendous amount of vibration and shock pressure to the system. The FRAGTrack system had to be capable of withstanding these pressures and still able to perform efficiently to provide a
significant amount of valuable data to support the overall mining process. The system also had to be capable of operating in extremely cold (-40°C) and hot (45°C) temperatures which required specialised component selection and manufacturing techniques to ensure reliable system operation day in day out. Another key challenge was ensuring the retention and integrity of the data captured, by utilising both edge and cloud computing to securely and reliably store and transfer data without risk of loss or corruption. The final challenge was ensuring a plug and play solution for customers so remote installation and support could be performed, allowing customers full flexibility, especially during COVID-19. Rajkumar Mathiravedu, vicepresident, of digital solutions at Orica said Australia has always had world-class design and manufacturing expertise and the Endeavour Awards are a great way to celebrate the Australian manufacturing industry as
a whole. “The Awards provide a great platform for the industry and companies to showcase and celebrate their manufacturing products and prowess. The acknowledgement and recognition of world-leading engineering design and manufacturing principles from industry experts provide companies with a valuable catalyst for promoting their products across Australia as well as wider export markets,” Mathiravedu said. “Through these outcomes, the Endeavour Awards is a strong promoter of Australian manufacturing excellence and is contributing to the ongoing future of a strong and prosperous Australian manufacturing sector.” Mathiravedu said it is good to be recognised in the Awards. “It is good to recognise the team of amazing people behind the technology and acknowledge the significant value our innovative digital solutions are delivering for our customers every day around the world.” Manufacturers’ Monthly JULY 2020 53
EndeavourAWARDS WINNERS 2020 Sponsor:
ENDEAVOUR AWARDS WINNER - REDARC GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN INTEGRATION OF THE YEAR Sponsor:
ENDEAVOUR AWARDS WINNER - REDARC MANUFACTURER OF THE YEAR
Redarc – The road to being the best is never easy
T
HIS year’s winner of the Manufacturer of the Year Award, proudly sponsored by Bestech goes to Redarc Electronics. It last won the award in 2017. Redarc Electronics is a familyowned advanced manufacturer of electronic products for the automotive industry. Paramount to the success of Redarc is its ability to provide reliable solutions of high quality to its customers. They have won a slew of local and international awards including multiple awards at the Endeavour Awards. Innovation, product commercialisation and a culture of process improvement along with investment in new manufacturing techniques and machinery are the cornerstone to why Redarc is excelling as a manufacturer in Australia. Redarc began exploring the European market approximately 10 years ago. They had achieved sales growth in the aftermarket in some parts of Europe but were unable to penetrate the Original Equipment Motor Home Manufacturers as they were locked out from existing supply chains. In September 2019, the vehicle OEM’s in Europe were legally required to introduce variable voltage (smart) alternators into their vehicles to meet new Euro 6 emission regulations. Smart alternators control the output voltage based on vehicle operating conditions to reduce the electrical load and, in turn, the mechanical load on the engine. This reduces the vehicles fuel 54 JULY 2020 Manufacturers’ Monthly
consumption and emissions. The introduction of these smart alternators meant that a standard voltage sensitive relay or isolator could not be used to provide power to an auxiliary battery bank. These products were being used widely by recreation, emergency service and commercial vehicle converters but when installed in a vehicle with a smart alternator would be unable to adequately charge the auxiliary battery and power their auxiliary electrical loads (i.e. lights, inverters, TV, medical equipment, power tools, etc.). This change in technology provided the window of opportunity for Redarc to disrupt existing supply chains as their BCDC technology was suitable for use with the smart alternators. The Redarc BCDC in-vehicle charger that charges an auxiliary battery bank to 100 per cent simultaneously through the alternator, while driving, and through solar panels using its in-built Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) solar regulator, into the overseas market. It includes patented charging profiles suitable for charging AGM, gel, standard lead acid, calcium and LiFePO4 batteries. This 12V battery charger is available in 25A and 40A models. “While the product has the right technology, we just couldn’t get to the price, so we went about the project to re-enter the product to reduce cost by 30 per cent without reducing the features and the product, which was
Redarc – Winner of the Global Supply Chain award and the Manufacturer of the Year.
challenging,” explained Redarc CEO Anthony Kittel. “And not only that though, we had to do it in a short time frame to meet our customer’s objective, which was for production release of vehicles commencing the first of July 2019.” Kittel said that there were many steps to the process including reworking the labour content automation of the production and introducing Industry 4.0 techniques into their manufacturing techniques. “It was a complex project, but in a nutshell, we met our objective, we secured the contract, and we’ve delivered the product on time and on budget so that we can get the product into these motorhomes rolling off the production lines in France and in Italy,” he said. Being a regular participant and winner at the Endeavour Awards,
he thinks that the event is a great opportunity for manufacturers to benchmark themselves against the wider manufacturing industry and look at best practices and see where the opportunities to improve are. With the COVID-19 challenge, Kittel sees a strong trend towards Australian Made, and he is proud to have Redarc proudly display the Australian Made logo. “The Endeavour Awards, for promoting Australian manufacturing, for promoting Australian Made, is something that is so important for our industry for the future of skill development and job creation,” Kittel said. “I’m really proud to be involved and we continue to be involved every year, and I look forward to the chance to promote our people, the work they’ve achieved and promote new products and new technology.” manmonthly.com.au
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What’sNew ARCHMI Series APLEX realised that the global automation market needs a human-machine interface (HMI) which is highly expandable and customisable to satisfy a broad range of industries and applications. Designed for customers who need perfect integration, the ARCHMI series can be tailored to meet a wide range of end-user requirements. The ARCHMI series features IP65-rated flat panels, fanless enclosures, multitouch capability, extensive expansion options, optional wide temperature support, optional sunlight readable anti-scratch screens, and optional optical bonding. The ARCHMI series can be customised with a variety of I/O expansion modules and connectivity options. Eleven TB-528 series Mini-PCIe expansion modules are available and providing support for LAN, USB, and COM ports, as well as POE and CANbus. The ARCHMI series is available with 7-32-inch TFT-LCD displays and supports both resistive or projected capacitive touchscreens. The optional optical bonding of the LCD screen minimises reflections, reduces condensation, and eliminates any dust between the layers to provide a longer service life with improved appearance. Constructed in a corrosion resistance aluminium heatsink style die-cast enclosure, the ARCHMI Series inherently provides very effective fanless thermal cooling. The design also allows easy access to the system’s internal hard disk or solid-state drive storage device. With Intel processor support for Celeron N2930 and 6th Gen. Core i3/i5 with up to 16GB of memory the ARCHMI Series can be optimised to meet the computing requirements of any application. In addition, a wide range 9-36VDC input voltage allows the ARCHMI Series to be power from almost any power source.
Industrial automation has evolved significantly in recent years and the ARCHMI Series has been designed to keep up with the challenges of Industry 4.0 and IoT. While the ARCHMI Series focuses on smart factory automation it is equally at home in commercial environments including building control, transportation, retailing and education. Company: Interworld Electronics and Computer Industries Phone: (03) 9593 7555 Web: www.ieci.com.au/
BOGE desiccant dryer Compressed air is used in a highly diverse range of industries. The quality and purity of the air will be subject to the different requirements for that industry. The highest standard is usually required for the food and medical industries. The benefit of a desiccant or adsorption dryer is that it can achieve a dewpoint of minus 40°C with the option of up to minus 70°C. This removes impurities such as oil mist and other odours. This is not possible with a refrigerated air dryer. Maintaining a reduced dewpoint will not only prevent corrosion but will also inhibit the growth of micro-organisms within the compressed air system. BOGE adsorbtion dryers offer the required solution for many different industries to achieve the required stringent standards for their specific application. The range of BOGE adsorption dryers for industrial air treatment include a stand-alone adsorbtion dryer model DAZ, a stand-alone Carbon Adsorber model DCZ and the model DACZ combining both the dryer and the Carbon Adsorber. These models are applied for all industrial solutions. This Includes food processing, chemical and pharmaceutical, aerospace engineering, paper manufacturing and wherever electrical or electronics are involved. For medical and breathing air the models DASZP comply with Australian Standards AS2568 and AS1715 achieving the required CO and CO2 levels for these applications. This includes the medical and health care industries, industrial breathing air, defence, mining, laboratory and research institutes.
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The BOGE range of desiccant dryers are compact and ready for connection. Most common models will include the pre and post filters already connected. Company: BOGE Compressors (Australia) Pty Ltd Phone: (03) 5940 5913 Web: au.boge.com
Manufacturers’ Monthly JULY 2020 57
Brought to you by
igus hybrid cable for new motor generation In order to supply modern motors with energy and data, users need appropriate cables that function dependably even at high accelerations and on long travels. Especially for use in motion, igus has now developed a hybrid cable that is offered as a drive solution for the new Bosch Rexroth motors. Available from Treotham, it combines energy and data cable in one and is therefore also suitable for compact installation spaces. Treotham offers the cable as a fully harnessed readycable that is accurate to the centimetre. This saves costs for users.
total, igus has over 4,200 drive cables suitable for 24 manufacturer standards in its readycable range. For a quick selection of the suitable solution, with the readycable product finder igus offers a practical online tool. Simply enter the igus part number or the manufacturer or select the name of the drive manufacturer from the menu; then click on the required cable type and the product finder will list all matching parts. An overview provides the different cable qualities such as outer jacket, bend radius, travel and price. The integrated service life calculator also determines the running time.
Ever smaller and more compact with an even higher output: such a trend is becoming increasingly apparent in the field of motor development. But not only the motor but also the cables used must meet the new requirements. Hybrid cables are one solution. They combine energy and data supply in one by integrating the encoder cable into the servo cable. This eliminates the need for cabling with a separate measuring system for the encoder. Especially for use in the energy chain, igus has now developed a new hybrid cable suitable for Bosch Rexroth MS2N and IndraDrive Mi motors. A halogen-free PUR outer jacket ensures oil resistance and increases the service life of the cable. The user receives the drive solution already fully harnessed with connector as the so-called readycable from Treotham.
Company: Treotham Automation Pty Ltd Phone: 1300 65 75 64 Web: www.treotham.com.au
All cables are tested and inspected under real conditions in the company’s own 3,800 sqm test laboratory. Tests have shown that the new hybrid cable with a bend radius of up to 10xd in the e-chain can safely withstand 10 million double strokes over the long term. Due to the realistic tests, igus is the only cable manufacturer in the world capable of providing a 36-month guarantee on its chainflex cables. In
BST presents Neousys Nuvo-7531 compact fanless embedded computer Backplane Systems Technology is proud to present Neousys Nuvo-7531 Compact Fanless Embedded Computer with Intel 9th/8th-Gen Core processor, compact dimensions, gigabit Ethernet, and USB ports with screw-lock mechanisms. Powered by an Intel 9th/ 8th-Gen Core 65W/ 35W CPU that offers more than 50 per cent computation performance improvement over the previous generation, the Nuvo-7531 series is a fanless embedded computer with a 212 x 165 x 63 mm low-profile chassis. The Nuvo-7531 has an abundance of I/O connections. It features four Gigabit Ethernet and Four USB3.1 Ports with screw-lock for multiple Gigabit Ethernet and USB camera connections. The screw-lock design offers rugged connectivity by ensuring the connector is screwed-on and does not fall off easily. For data storage purposes, there is a hot-swappable HDD tray to hot-swap the storage drive without turning off the system or dismantle the chassis. In addition, Nuvo-7531 supports three mPCIe slots for expansion so WIFI or 3G/ 4G modules can be installed to achieve wireless communication. For convenience, there is a pet-door at the bottom of the enclosure for easy installation or maintenance of mPCIe and M.2 modules.
by installation space and harsh environments, such as industrial automation, machine vision, robotics, and automated guided vehicles. Key features: • 212 x 165 x 63 mm low-profile design • Intel 9th/ 8th-Gen Core 35W/ 65W LGA1151 CPU • rugged, -25°C to 60°C fanless operation • 4x GbE and 4x USB3.1 Gen1 with screw-lock • 1x Hot-swappable HDD tray and 1x M.2 2280 socket for storage • 4-CH isolated DI and 4-CH isolated DO • DVI-I + DP dual display outputs • optional ignition power control Company: Backplane Systems Technology Phone: (02) 9457 6400 Web: xwww.backplane. com.au
Overall, for a compact embedded computer, Nuvo-7531 delivers good computing power and provides rich I/O connectivity. It is an ideal solution for a variety of industrial applications that require a certain degree of processing power but limited
58 JULY 2020 Manufacturers’ Monthly
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