IN THIS ISSUE

WELD AUSTRALIA CONTACTS

NATIONAL OFFICE PO Box 197, Macquarie Park BC NSW 1670 02 8748 0100 office@weldaustralia.com.au weldaustralia.com.au

Geoff Crittenden Chief Executive Officer 02 8748 0100 g.crittenden@weldaustralia.com.au

ENGINEERING

Victor Blain, Engineering Team Manager – South & West 0409 823 991 v.blain@weldaustralia.com.au

TRAINING

Guy Brooks, Training Manager 0488 743 322 g.brooks@weldaustralia.com.au

MARKETING

Michelle Bignold, National Manager, Sales & Marketing 0437 106 726 m.bignold@weldaustralia.com.au

MEMBERSHIP

David Choudry, Membership Manager 0417 878 104 d.choudry@weldaustralia.com.au

QUALIFICATION & CERTIFICATION

Deniz Yalniz, Qualification and Certification Team Manager 0487 487 170 d.yalniz@weldaustralia.com.au

NEW SOUTH WALES

Arya Sharifian, Welding Engineer 0419 414 901 a.sharifian@weldaustralia.com.au

VICTORIA, TASMANIA & SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Victor Blain, Engineering Team Manager – South & West 0409 823 991 v.blain@weldaustralia.com.au

QUEENSLAND & NORTHERN TERRITORY

Ross O’Bryan, Engineering Team Manager - East 0491 491 888 r.obryan@weldaustralia.com.au

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Mehdi Tajfar, Senior Welding Engineer 0417 044 370 m.tajfar@weldaustralia.com.au

Australian Manufacturing Week

In May, I visited Melbourne for Australian Manufacturing Week. Our exhibition stand was particularly busy, featuring both Soldamatic augmented reality welding simulators and a number of welding cobots.

I met with the Victorian Minister for Education and Women, the Hon. Natalie Hutchins MP. We discussed the skills shortages that are so prevalent in the manufacturing industry, and some of the programs Weld Australia is working on to combat these. Minister Hutchins even tried her hand at welding, using one of our simulators. I also met with the Modern Manufacturing Commissioner for New South Wales, Lisa Emerson. Once again, skills shortages in manufacturing were high on the agenda.

We were also excited to be part of the Victorian Government’s Trades Fit expo at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. The expo showcased the myriad of rewarding and well-paid career opportunities for young women and non-binary students, providing information and pathways across a range of in demand and emerging industries. For further information, see the article on page 17

ASIA-PACIFIC’S INTERNATIONAL MINING EXHIBITION

I also had the opportunity to meet and speak with a whole range of our members right across the week-long expo. Australian Manufacturing Week was a fantastic event all-round. For further information, see the article on page 15.

Congratulations To Bruce Cannon

I recently attended the Standards Australia mid-year forum in Canberra, at which Bruce Cannon (Principal Welding Engineer, Weld Australia) was honoured with a Meritorious Contribution Award (National).

The Standards Australia awards

250+ expert speakers 50+

FREE-TO-ATTEND EXPO & CONFERENCE

recognise the remarkable achievements of members within the Australian standards development community, especially those who have demonstrated outstanding leadership, technical expertise and contributed positively to the development and enhancement of standards.

On behalf of Weld Australia, I would like to congratulate Bruce on his well-deserved award. For further information, see the article on page 6

Industry Networks

In May, Weld Australia held the first meeting of our Advanced Manufacturing Industry Network, which was extremely successful.

The meeting focused on the additive manufacturing of metals and components with prominent technology providers doing talks on the current state of the technology on the market. There was also a strong focus on the quality assurance of additive manufacturing with a member of ISO Technical Committee 261 – Additive Manufacturing, giving a presentation on the standardisation of additive manufacturing processes, personnel, and 3D printed parts.

Our Defence Industry Network also met recently, chaired by Jason Elias (Precision Metal Group). The Defence Industry Network is focused on helping companies that are either already operating in the defence supply chain, or have ambitions of joining it. Our aim is to ensure that contractual commitments to Australian Industry Content and Indigenous Participation are honoured.

The Welding Safety Council also met recently. A highly successful meeting, just some of the topics discussed included protective clothing, electric shock, and the dangers of welding fume, as well as hand held laser welders and the lack of standards and regulations around their use.

Transport Industry Meetings

Over the course of the last month, I’ve had several productive meetings with key stakeholders from the transport industry. This included a very positive meeting with Christian Christodoulou, Chief Engineer of Transport for New South Wales. Weld Australia is looking forward to working closely with the department moving forward.

I met with Geoff Allan, Chief Executive of Austroads. We discussed the implementation of harmonised technical specifications across Australia.

National Tafe Consortium Meeting

The National TAFE Consortium met recently. The Consortium continues to have great participation from members right across the country. It has proven to be a great forum for discussion about issues, trends, initiatives and updates from each state.

We provided the Consortium with an update on the development and implementation of the Metals and Engineering online learning resources project. Weld Australia is creating a set of national resources mapped to the national MEM training package, so that learning resources for trade students are consistent across the country. This will help ensure consistent training, regardless of where in the country students undertake that training. The new resources are completely online and accessible via phone, mobile device or computer. This will allow students to access learning at the time, place and pace that suits them best. We are very excited about the project and are already seeing some great results.

To date, 12 units of competency have been completed as we move to the second phase of development. It was great to get insights from TAFE Western Australia who are the first in Australia to adopt the resources and are currently implementing them across the state. They provided feedback from student, teacher, management and organisational perspectives. All which extremely positive, comments were made about the usability, flexibility, quality, efficiency and cost savings of the resources now and in the future.

The group raised issues with the current version of the MEM training package, and discussed co-requisites and how these will impact the inclusion of advanced welding units in the Certificate III qualification. We are in the process of investigating this further with the Industry Reference Committee.

Geoff Crittenden CEO, Weld Australia

Provisional Program Launched

Weld Australia is pleased to announce the launch of the provisional program for the National Manufacturing Summit 2023.

The Summit gathers leading representatives from all the major stakeholders in Australia’s manufacturing sector—business, unions, universities, the financial sector, suppliers, and government—to discuss the sector’s prospects, and identify promising, pragmatic policy measures designed to support an industrial turnaround. With the theme of Manufacturing the Energy Revolution: Industrial Opportunities from Renewable Energy, the aim of the Summit is to leverage the opportunities currently available in the manufacturing sector, and translate these into action.

Register Now

Dowload Your Copy Of The Program

For more information about each of the sessions throughout the Summit, as well as all the expert speakers who will be appearing, download a PDF of the provisional program today. Please note that it is a provisional program only. The full program and speakers will be finalised in the coming weeks.

Dowload The Program

WITH THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS

Weld Australia Partners With Tafe Queensland

Weld Australia is pleased to announced a new industry partnership with TAFE Queensland.

The partnership will see the two organisations work together to help promote welding as a career, and alleviate the skills shortages that are prevalent throughout Australia’s manufacturing and engineering industries. Weld Australia’s Partners play a key role in helping to support the welding and fabricating industry via their commitment to its peak body.

As part of the partnership, Weld Australia and TAFE Queensland will host an Industry Drinks Night in Brisbane in August. More details will follow as soon as they are available.

About Tafe Queensland

TAFE Queensland provides quality training to more than 130,000 students around the Sunshine State each year in study ranging from boilermaking to baking and everything in between. There are many welding and engineering skills and courses on offer at TAFE Queensland ranging from entry-level introduction courses to post-trade specialist qualifications.

Due to its valuable partnerships with Weld Australia and other peak industry bodies, TAFE Queensland is able to keep its training ahead of the curve and up to date with current industry trends no matter what the industry. This is a trait which TAFE Queensland has proudly maintained over its entire 140-year history.

TAFE Queensland is the premier training provider in Queensland with 60 campuses spread as far north as Thursday Island, south to Coolangatta and west out to Mt Isa, and Queenslanders from all reaches of the state can expect to find top-quality engineering training at a campus near them, including the largest trade training facility in the Southern Hemisphere at Acacia Ridge.

For more information visit tafeqld.edu.au/engineering

TAFE QUEENSLAND’S FACILITIES

TAFE Queensland’s engineering and manufacturing training capabilities are unparalleled in Australia. They include a $25 million purpose-built engineering training facility which houses specialist training for the boilermaking, welding, sheet-metal fabrication, machining and fitting trades. The facility includes purpose-built metallurgical laboratories and fully equipped workshops including welding bays, lathes, mills and computer numerical controlled (CNC) machines.

Their Advanced Manufacturing Centre is home to a $7.5 million premier facility — the only one of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere. The centre has brought patternmaking into the 21st century with the addition of computer-aided design (CAD), 3D printing and CNC machining.

Bruce Cannon Wins Prestigious Standards Australia Award

Standards Australia recently announced the winners of its annual Awards at a ceremony held in Canberra.

These awards recognise the remarkable achievements of members within the Australian standards development community, especially those who have demonstrated outstanding leadership, technical expertise and contributed positively to the development and enhancement of standards.

By promoting the use of national and international best practices and incorporating emerging technologies, these exceptional community members have played a pivotal role in improving standards across various sectors.

Bruce Cannon (Principal Welding Engineer, Weld Australia) was honoured with a Meritorious Contribution Award (National).

“The highly anticipated annual Standards Awards acknowledge and honour those within our community who exemplify Standards Australia’s fundamental values of quality, community and innovation. It was a privilege to host this event and meet the individuals responsible for advancing standards and fostering excellence in their respective fields,” said Adrian O’Connell, Chief Executive Officer of Standards Australia.

“By honouring our annual Awards recipients, we highlight the contributions they and all of our supporters have made towards our goal to be a global leader in trusted solutions that empower communities.”

Bruce is active in the revision of five standards across a range of committees, including numerous direct text adoptions of ISO standards to update Australia’s aged welding and related standards. His involvement in standards development has given him the opportunity to represent Australia’s interests at ISO in the revision of ISO 9606 Qualification testing of welders – Fusion welding, and provide feedback to the drafting committee on the Australian experience with this standard.

He has also been involved in the alignment of the welder qualification standard AS/NZS 2980 Qualification of welders for fusion welding of steels, with the core requirements of ISO 9606-1 Qualification testing of welders — Fusion welding — Part 1: Steels, which led to New Zealand co-joining the standard in 2007.

Bruce’s work has gained in importance within the transport and pressure equipment sectors, in addition to its primary use within the steel structures sector. He is an invaluable member of the Weld Australia team, with technical expertise that is second to none.

For more information, visit the Standards Australia website.

Bae Systems Ignites Defence Innovation With New Collaboration

BAE Systems Australia and Australian technology incubators Stone & Chalk are collaborating on a groundbreaking approach designed to spark innovation within the defence and security sectors.

Taking place in Victoria and South Australia, the “Pathfinder Series” workshops will invite some of Australia’s most cutting-edge start-ups and scaleup businesses to jointly explore opportunities and challenges within both sectors and ultimately contribute to advancing defence technologies.

BAE Systems Australia head of industry development, Tom Tizard, said, “Australia is a treasure trove of innovation, and it’s time we tapped into it.

“We anticipate that these workshops, bringing together pioneering start-ups and scale-up businesses, will generate a wealth of creative ideas. In collaboration with our experts, we aim to foster a vibrant local industry that supports the growth of our supply chains and ultimately strengthens Australia’s sovereign defence capabilities.”

The Pathfinder Series will commence with the Adelaide workshop on Friday, 23 June, followed by the Melbourne workshop in October. More than 40 start-ups and scale-ups will be handpicked to attend, with particular emphasis on businesses owned by First Nations individuals and veterans.

To learn more, visit: https://www.stoneandchalk.com.au/ pathfinder-series/

Source: https://www.manmonthly.com.au/

Government Establishes A Powering Australia Industry Growth Centre

Locally developed and manufactured technologies will play a critical role in Australia’s transformation into a renewable energy superpower.

As such, the Albanese government recently announced a $14 million investment in the Powering Australia Industry Growth Centre. The Centre is expected to help foster emerging Australian-made solutions to energy and emissions challenges.

According to the Federal Government, the Industry Growth Centre aligns with one of the National Reconstruction Fund’s priority investment areas, investing $3 billion in renewable and low-emissions technologies.

It builds on the Federal Government’s suite of support for these industries, including the Australia Made Battery Plan, Powering Australia, Rewiring the Nation and a Future Made in Australia.

The Centre will provide advanced technology and skills to businesses looking to locally manufacture renewable energy technologies by offering:

• Help with commercialising locally manufactured renewable energy technologies and ideas

• To encourage connections between critical minerals producers and renewable technology manufacturers

• A First Nations Advisor to build First Nations business management capabilities

Ed Husic, Minister for Industry and Science, said, “We want an agile, industry-led approach to growing our renewable technology industry.”

“Industry Growth Centres are a proven way of delivering the sort of timely and targeted support to our renewable business leaders are calling for.

“There’s $3 billion in the National Reconstruction Fund for the renewable and low-emissions energy industries.”

“[This] announcement will help maximise that investment,” said Husic.