AMT OCT 2014

oct14 Australian Manufacturing Technology

Your Industry. Your Magazine.

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Volume 14 Number 09 October 2014 ISSN 1832-6080

contents

IMTS Special Report

32

DEFENCE Quickstep pushes the envelope with Dassault Systèmes Thales selects Okuma for light arms production Defence - Breaking into supply chains XTEK – Armed with innovation CEA – From prototyping to production

40 41 42 46 47

FORMING & FABRICATION Centurio – fully automated, modern manufacturing Industrial Laser – Maximising resources Precision Components - Hot stampin’ Metal spinning – A forgotten trade Making metal bending cost-effective in Australia

52 53 54 55 56

CUTTING TOOLS Iscar – Milling intelligently Dormer expands carbide milling range Walter’s GPS 2.20 goes online Typhoon powers up low-RPM machines Sutton Tools – High-volume production Milling and drilling the tough materials

60 62 62 63 64 66

ROBOTICS & AUTOMATION UR unveils next-gen lightweight robots Defects, a vanishing occurrence?

Creating the smart factory of the future

68 70 72

COMPRESSORS Optimising systems delivers savings The false economy of air compressor neglect

74 76

From the CEO From the Industry From the Union

10 12 14

INDUSTRY NEWS Current news from the industry

16

PRODUCT NEWS Our selection of new and interesting products

27

ONE ON ONE Professor Roy Green

48

AMTIL FORUMS Forum Logistics: Technology in your supply chain Forum OHS: Equipment failure when working at heights Forum : Quality Control: Taking quality externally, Part 1 Forum Finance: Obtaining commercial equipment finance

78 79 80 81

Manufacturing History – A look back in time

82

AMTIL INSIDE The latest news from AMTIL

84

oct14 AustrAliAn MAnufActuring technology

your industry. your Magazine.

50

Revolutionising steel-beam fabrication The Zeman company has developed a fully automated production line for practically any type of steel beam that includes add-on parts. Individual components arrive on a conveyor at one end, emerging at the other as a perfectly assembled steel beam.

58

Establishing productive partnerships is critical in order to make inroads into the lucrative Defence supply chain. Page 36

PAGE 36

6 |

Defence: Winning the battle In Australia over the next 10 years, more than $100bn will be expended by Defence on capital equipment and its support. And around 85% of the equipment currently operated by the ADF is being replaced or upgraded.

The level of expenditure will result in direct employment for approximately 27,000 people. How can Australian manufacturers get into the defence supply chain?

Cover

Defence: Seeking out opportunities

.Defence .Cutting Tools

36

& Automation .Compressors .Forming & Fabrication .Robotics

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William Poole

Sales Manager Anne Samuelsson asamuelsson@amtil.com.au

Productive habits

Publications Co-ordinator Gabriele Richter grichter@amtil.com.au

The US comedian Garry Shandling once came out with a nice line. He said: “It’s getting late, and I still have some video games to play or I’ll feel like I didn’t work out today.”

It’s not just the absurdity of the idea that the need for regular exercise can be met by video games (usually more associated with procrastination, with keeping us from more productive endeavours) that I like. It’s also Shandling’s guilt about not working out that day. Most would agree it’s not essential to exercise absolutely every day – three or four times a week is generally seen as good going. But Shandling’s line chimes with the sense that difficult but beneficial things become easier when they become habits. Working out every other day takes planning – working out every day is routine.

This ties in with something I heard about Jerry Seinfeld, another US comedian and unlikely productivity guru. Seinfeld, it transpires, has for a long time overcome procrastination via a technique called ‘Don’t Break The Chain’. It’s a simple technique: each day you spend a certain period engaged in a desired activity, and when you do, mark that day on a calendar with an X. In time, the Xs form a chain – the longer the chain gets, the more reluctant you become to break it by missing a day on that task. Eventually, it becomes a habit.

Seinfeld adopted Don’t Break The Chain to push himself to write jokes every day. But such techniques have applications across all aspects of life – be it living more healthily, learning a new language, saving money, or just getting up on time. And there is increasing recognition of its potential in terms of how we work.

You know an idea is catching on when it starts appearing on smartphones. Go to your app store and you’ll find countless apps aimed at establishing habits, including several entitled ‘Don’t break the chain’. One example is Lift, which along with habit-tracking also includes coaching plans covering everything from taking up jogging to giving up smoking. It also has an extensive Productivity section, encompassing the likes of getting on top of emails, keeping to-do lists, decluttering, and so on.

The influence of habits has long been appreciated in the business world. Type the word ‘habit’ into Amazon and your search will return over 1000 entries in the business books section alone. The daddy of the genre is arguably ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ by Stephen Covey. First published in 1990, it has sold over 10m copies and has spawned an entire subgenre, with ‘7 Habits …’ books covering marketing professionals, teenagers… even tennis doubles teams.

Another interesting example is ‘The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business’ by Charles Duhigg, which explores how the encouragement of the right habits can benefit entire businesses. One particularly illuminating case study involved aluminium giant Alcoa, whose CEO Paul O’Neill transformed its fortunes by focusing on workplace safety.

Changing that one habit sent ripples through the entire organisation that brought record profits within a year.

Of course, for manufacturing companies, productivity amounts to more than just the good or bad routines of individuals – it entails the management of resources, the utilisation of machinery, and numerous other factors. But every company is at its core a collection of individuals, and an emphasis on instilling the right habits can make a difference in unexpected ways.

Publisher Shane Infanti sinfanti@amtil.com.au Designer Franco Schena fschena@amtil.com.au Prepress & Print Printgraphics Australia AMT Magazine is printed using FSC mix of paper from responsible sources FSC© C007821 Contact Details AMT Magazine AMTIL Suite 1, 673 Boronia Rd Wantirna VIC 3152 AUSTRALIA T 03 9800 3666 F 03 9800 3436 E info@amtil.com.au W www.amtil.com.au Copyright © Australian Manufacturing Technology (AMT).

All rights reserved. AMT Magazine may not be copied or reproduced in whole or part thereof without written permission from the publisher.

Contained specifications and claims are those supplied by the manufacturer (contributor)

Disclaimer The opinions expressed within AMT Magazine from editorial staff, contributors or advertisers are not necessarily those of AMTIL. The publisher reserves the right to amend the listed editorial features published in the AMT Magazine Media Kit for content or production purposes.

AMT Magazine is dedicated to Australia’s machining, tooling and sheet-metal working industries and is published monthly.

Subscription to AMT Magazine (and other benefits) is available through AMTIL Associate Membership at $165 (inc GST) per annum.

Contact AMTIL on 03 9800 3666 for further information.

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FROM THE

CEO Shane Infanti – Chief Executive Officer AMTIL

Stop the political spin doctoring Is it just me that is getting tired of the spin doctoring from our politicians? Maybe I’m getting more cynical as I get older but headline-grabbing is really starting to annoy me.

Take the announcement of the cut to payroll tax by the Victorian Government that came into effect on 1 July this year. The media release stated “Payroll tax rate cut to boost Victorian jobs” and went on to highlight that for payrolls between $4.7m and $26.7m, Victoria had the lowest payroll tax in Australia. The rate cut is from 4.9% to 4.85%. The fact that a wage bracket had to be picked out to emphasise a point stood out to me, and I cringed.

I understand positive PR is required around announcements that are good for industry but let’s keep it real and avoid the grandstanding.

Let’s look at some figures which, I think, demonstrate my point.

A small business with 50-60 staff, let’s say with a payroll of $4.7m, will pay $201,275 tax this year as opposed to $203,350 last year. That’s a benefit of $2075. Not to be sneezed at but hardly the incentive required to put on another staff member. What it might do is help pay the drinks bill at the staff Christmas party!

Let’s look at the higher end of $26.7m. This would be a manufacturing business employing around 300-350 staff. The payroll bill for this company will reduce from $1,281,350 to $1,268,275 - a saving of $13,025. Premier Dr Denis Napthine says in the press release, “Reducing payroll tax will make Victoria an even more attractive option for businesses looking to invest or relocate”.

Seriously. Does he truly believe a business with 300-350 staff would consider relocating to save $13,025 per year on its payroll? And as far as jobs growth goes, this tax break would not even pay the recruitment costs of a new staff member.

The Australian people are smart enough to understand the difference between attention-grabbing headlines with no substance and good business decisions made for the right reasons.

Now I’m not naïve enough to suggest that the heading should have read “Payroll tax revenue continues to increase so some tax relief is on the way” but I hope people have understood my position.

This decision will not result in jobs growth. What it will do is provide Victorian businesses with a little help during these tough times.

My point is, the Australian people are smart enough to understand the difference between attention-grabbing headlines with no substance and good business decisions made for the right reasons. This one is the latter.

As for our little business here at AMTIL, the tax relief of just over $200 will pay for my bookkeeper to make the administrative changes to our system, and there might be a little left over for that Christmas drink.

In fact, a business would have to have a payroll in excess of $100,000,000 to achieve a saving of $50,000 which may encourage them to put on one extra job. I find it incredible given these figures that a media release can have the heading “Payroll tax rate cut to boost Victorian jobs”. Surely somebody in the Premier’s office has done the same set of figures I’ve outlined above.

Whilst I’m on my high horse, the announcement also had the Treasurer Mr Michael O’Brien stating: “This quarter of a billion in tax relief is a dividend of good economic management”.

I feel obligated to point out that payroll tax revenue for the Victorian Government has increased from $2.944bn to $5.279bn since 2002/03 during which time the tax rate has been cut 5 times from 5.25% to 4.85%. Payroll tax revenue has got nothing to do with good economic management and everything to do with the fact that wages have increased substantially during this time.

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AMT October 2014

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FROM THE

Industry Noel Cornish – National President, Australian Industry Group

Action needed to boost non-mining economy Right now in Australia, industry is facing significant headwinds. We are seeing the anticipated slowdown in mining investment as resource companies shift to the production phase. But we have yet to see the long-awaited strengthening in the non-mining economy.

Ai Group recently released a survey in conjunction with the World Economic Forum (WEF), which looked at a range of economic indicators of countries throughout the world. This year’s survey found that Australia’s competitiveness ranking had slipped to 22nd in the world. We have steadily fallen each year since 2009 when we ranked 15th. This reiterates the need for action on a range of fronts where local businesses are being put at a distinct disadvantage with foreign competitors. Governments, both state and federal, need to pay attention to these results and act now.

There are many factors underlying the deterioration of competitiveness in Australia, but the most striking was our ranking of 56th place for labour market efficiency, from a ranking of 9th in 2009. It is no secret that in recent years, industry has also had to deal with an increasingly rigid and productivity-stifling industrial relations (IR) framework. The WEF survey highlighted that we have nosedived to: • 126th place for relative competitiveness of pay and productivity, from 26th in 2009.

• 136th place in the world for rigidity in hiring and firing practices, compared with 46th in 2009.

• 109th place for co-operation in labour-employer relations, compared to 37th in 2008.

These statistics really highlight that the rest of the world sees us much in the same way we see parts of Europe – highly regulated and inflexible. This is troubling.

But we should not see this situation as set in stone. We can tackle the issues within the Fair Work Act that are hurting industry and employment growth. We commend the Abbott Government for committing to a review of the Fair Work Act, and we strongly encourage it to accelerate this review, which it has tasked to the Productivity Commission. It must begin now, not in a few years’ time, or otherwise we will see more opportunities lost for Australian industry and their employees.

In addition to the troubling IR landscape, it would be fair to say that energy prices and the high dollar have been two of the biggest weights on industry in recent years.

There is little we can do about the high dollar, other than meet the challenges a strong currency poses by improving our productivity and cost competitiveness through other channels. We hope the day we start to see the US dollar strengthen against the Australian dollar is not too far away – the US economy has strengthened this year, and economists consider it only a matter of time until interest rates begin to rise, having only risen once since the GFC. We hope this will be the catalyst for the dollar to soften, but predicting exchange rates, as we all know, is fraught with difficulty.

Australia once had a comparative advantage in cheap energy because of our rich endowment of resources. Yet in recent years, both households and industry have grappled with rising gas and electricity prices. Some may think removing Australia’s high carbon tax alone is enough to take pressure off energy prices, but much more is required.

The complexity of the issues will require a concerted approach by Governments. The Abbott Government is developing an energy white paper to examine the issues, which is due for release in December.

We will contribute actively to this process, with the hope that the white paper will have a mature approach to the Renewable Energy

12 |

AMT October 2014

Target (RET). Whatever your views on wind farms and solar panels, Ai Group has consulted widely across industry, and we have found that current evidence suggests energy users would lose as much as they gain from deep reductions in the RET. The fact is investment certainty, sunk costs, transfer costs and the costs of alternatives all have to be factored in if any changes to policy are going to take place.

Industry and government is also facing a tripling in wholesale gas prices, despite our vast reserves of gas – a clean fuel that has powered industry and helped make the products that drive our economy for 40 years. So how can we be facing this issue?

The dynamics owe to a huge ramp-up in our liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports – upending the old relationship between our rich resource endowment and cheap energy as the price of gas converges to the much higher world price – as well as the short-sightedness of key state governments to leave gas in the ground and turn their back on development opportunities. In NSW and Victoria, “fracking” has become a dirty word and there is a clear reticence by government to allow the extraction of onshore gas reserves. This is exacerbating shortages available for domestic consumers and industry and leading to higher prices.

So households face a price shock; industry faces tough choices about reinvestment and viability; and the long-expected emissions-reducing coal-to-gas switch is going into reverse. Modelling presented in a recent Ai Group report found that under current policies and realistic gas price forecasts: • Australia’s manufacturing output will contract by $118bn over the next seven years.

• 14,600 manufacturing jobs will be lost.

• In NSW, manufacturing would lose $24bn in output.

• Queensland and Victoria will suffer serious declines in manufacturing.

• Nationally, the mining sector will contract by $34bn and the agriculture sector by $4.5bn.

The projected impacts on sectoral output in 2020-21 are significantly larger than those associated with repeal of the carbon tax, based on a comparison with the Government’s Regulatory Impact Statement for repeal.

Policymakers need to keep energy users firmly in mind. The Federal Government has a chance to tackle these problems in its forthcoming Energy Policy White Paper. But it can’t do so alone. The States need to come to the party – especially Victoria and NSW. And gas producers need to reach out to their customers and the public.

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FROM THE

AMWU Paul Bastian – National Secretary Australian Manufacturing Workers Union

The Future Submarines Project can change how we see Australian manufacturing We all know that the conversation about manufacturing needs to change.

AMT and its readership play an important role in shaping the public perception of manufacturing. We all share a common goal in promoting the longevity, innovation and prosperous future of our industry.

Australia has large bodies of water that we need to patrol and unique needs. Our submarine fleet requirements cannot be met without modification and adaptation.

Governments can also play a role in assisting us to promote long-term manufacturing investments and careers. All significant economies are fighting to sustain their manufacturing industries – 18 members of the G20 are in the top 20 contributors to global manufacturing output. Obama’s manufacturing policy is noted by the UN Industrial Development Organisation as a key driver of growth in the US manufacturing industry.

Our Collins Class submarine is currently the only conventional submarine with the range to meet our requirements. The Japanese submarine the Government is considering has an inadequate range for a country the size of Australia. The range of our Collins submarines and their ability to go undetected was successfully delivered through the Defence Science and Technology Organisation and negated the need for air-independent propulsion systems.

The next critical fork in the road for Australian manufacturing is the Abbott Government’s decisions about Naval Shipbuilding and the Future Submarine Project. In order to build the submarines in Australia, the Government must sustain our domestic shipbuilding industry until submarine production begins. These decisions are an opportunity for the Government to reshape the way current and future generations of workers think about manufacturing.

There will need to be a level of know-how developed in Australia in order to understand and fit-out the Future submarines with the necessary military equipment. The Government has no answers for questions about how Australia will be able to upgrade, modify or adapt the Future submarines to meet current or emerging requirements.

We must now hold the Government to account for its commitments to manufacturers. The carbon tax wasn’t the Coalition’s only election policy. Before the election the current Defence Minister Senator David Johnston said unequivocally: “We will deliver those submarines from right here at ASC in South Australia.”

Released on the eve of last year’s election, The Coalition’s Policy for Stronger Defence – September 2013 clearly stated that: “We will also ensure that work on the replacement of the current submarine fleet will centre around the South Australian shipyards.”

The Government must be held to its promise to build the future submarines in Australia, centred around the ASC site in South Australia.

The current Governor-General and former CDF Peter Cosgrove says: “Whenever I am asked why we should build submarines in Australia, my short reply is that we can’t afford not to.”

Nation-building The deep sea technology in submarines is comparable to deep space technology. While we are only beginning to produce instruments for overseas-built satellites, we have already built the solid foundations for a submarine industry through the Collins Class.

The Future Submarines Project would be an enormous boost to manufacturers. Both large shipyards and small and medium enterprises looking to be a part of the high-tech supply chain will benefit. All involved will likely develop new capabilities. It’s easy to highlight potential risks and difficulties in achieving projects, but the returns on successful projects are tremendous.

The publicity around the Collins Class challenges reflects the ability of the Parliament to hold Defence project managers to account. Looking back at how these challenges were overcome, we see the significant capability that will be torn down by a decision to end the Australian submarine industry. It’s a fact that naval experts hold the capabilities of our Collins Class in high regard.

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AMT October 2014

Japan’s proposed changes to its Constitution removing restrictions on its military to self-defence activities also raises serious questions for the Abbott Government about any decision to acquire submarines from Japan. The Japanese also don’t want to provide the submarine design intellectual property.

The Government must look beyond the off-the-shelf “sticker price”.

Price considerations must look at the full potential cost of adapting, modifying and maintaining the submarines after purchase. The cost of sustainment in the context where design information is not available or difficult to obtain, as we have learned through the Collins Class, will impact on cost. Cost will also be affected by whether the supplier is accountable to the Australian Government and Parliament.

What have we learnt from Collins?

Opponents point to the failures of the Collins Class submarine, but they’ll never acknowledge the successes. Anti-manufacturing “experts” never discuss Australia’s unique defence requirements, which were met by local innovations. Nor do they acknowledge the success of the Collins’ performance in war games with partners including the US. Nor do they recognise that the Collins is widely regarded as one of the best conventionally powered submarines in the world.

Through the delivery and ongoing sustainment of the Collins Class, Australia has learnt lessons of great value. These lessons learnt should not go to waste by giving more naval manufacturing experience to Japan or any other country.

The future of manufacturing and the Future Submarines Project are intertwined. A strong statement of support from the Government will provide a significant boost to manufacturing workers present and future. A consensus on the importance of manufacturing as a pillar of a diverse strong economy will go a significant way to supporting the bid to attract investment and skills to our industries.

I urge AMT readers to join with the union and defence and industry leaders in calling for government action on this important nationbuilding project.

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Australia loses ground in Global Competitiveness Report The World Economic Forum’s (WEF) latest Global Competitiveness Report shows that Australia’s relative Global Competitiveness Index (CGI) has deteriorated in the last five years, dropping continuously from a peak ranking of 15th place in 2009-10 to 22nd place in 2014-15.

Australia’s ranking was one position lower than in 2013-14 (21st).

Australia’s GCI score has been broadly stable since 2010-11, but during the same period many other countries have improved their performance on various measures within the WEF Index. As a result, Australia’s ranking – which indicates the country’s relative competitiveness with regard to productivity, capabilities and use of resources – has deteriorated.

Switzerland was ranked again as the most competitive country in the world, closely followed by Singapore. It was the six consecutive year in which Switzerland has topped the Index. Rankings at the top of the GCI have remained relatively stable in recent years.

Large, advanced economies including the US, the UK, Japan and Hong Kong continue to dominate the Top 10, as do the more specialised northern European nations including Germany, Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden.

Business leaders also named tax rates (11.1%) and tax regulations (10.0%) among the five most problematic areas for doing business in Australia in 2014-15. Almost 11% of businesses highlighted concerns about Australia’s “inefficient government bureaucracy”, while just over 10% believe an inadequate supply of infrastructure is impeding Australia’s global competitiveness.

However, there were a number of key areas in which Australia performed strongly. These included: • 1st for secondary education enrolment rates.

• 1st for the Legal Rights Index.

• 1st for our ability to manage inflation.

• 3rd for the “soundness of banks”.

• 4th for the number of mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 people.

Australia’s performance score was generally around the average score in each of the key pillars, relative to other advanced economies.

In terms of rankings, Australia ranked no lower than 30th place in 11 of the 12 pillars of the GCI this year. The key exception is for the “labour market efficiency” pillar, in which Australia ranks 56th place.

• 5th for the number of days required to start a business.

When asked to select the five most problematic areas for doing business in Australia, 25.4% of respondents selected “restrictive labour regulations” as the number one impediment. A restrictive labour market topped the list of key business impediments in Australia in each GCI since 2008-09, but a far higher proportion of business leaders said it is an impediment in the 2014-15 report than in previous years, suggesting that labour regulations have become a greater impediment.

The Global Competitiveness Report 2014 is published by the WEF within the framework of the Global Competitiveness and Benchmarking Network. Research for the Report is conducted by the WEF and its network of over 160 partner institutes. Ai Group is the WEF’s Partner Institute in Australia.

• 6th for tertiary enrolment rates.

• 8th for efficacy of corporate boards.

• 8th for the intensity of local competition.

Australian PMI: Manufacturing slips back in August The Australian Industry Group Australian Performance of Manufacturing Index (Australian PMI) slipped back into negative territory in August, following a short-lived stabilisation in July.

The index decreased by 3.4 points to 47.3, indicating a mild contraction in activity across the sector (readings below 50 indicate a contraction in activity). Continuing the recent trend across the eight manufacturing sub-sectors, only the large food, beverages & tobacco (53.8 points), and the smaller wood and paper products (66.3 points) sub-sectors expanded in August. A decline in new orders (down 3.1 points to 48.8) ended three months of promising expansion.

“The manufacturing sector retreated from the cusp of expansion in August with production, sales, new orders and employment all going backwards,” said Australian Industry Group Chief Executive, Innes Willox. “While exports lifted in August, many respondents expressed ongoing concern about the persistent strength of the Australian dollar, which is maintaining the intensity of import competition.”

The large metal products (up 1.0 point to 47.4); machinery and equipment (down 2.0 points to 45.4); and petroleum, coal, chemicals and rubber products (down 4.6 points to 44.1) sub-sectors all contracted in August, though the metal products result represented its

16 |

AMT October 2014

highest level since May 2012 – the sub-sector has been contracting for four years.

“To date we have not seen the surge in housing construction flow through to the manufacturing sectors traditionally linked to housebuilding, such as metal products and non-metallic mineral products,” Willox continued. “In part this appears to be due to higher levels of import competition and in part because the simultaneous reduction in engineering construction is detracting from demand in these subsectors.”

Along with new orders, all of the activity sub-indexes contracted in August: manufacturing employment decreased 2.4 points to 47.8; production dropped 4.4 points to 46.3; and supplier deliveries declined 2.7 points to 47.7. On the positive side, exports rebounded 4.4 points to 53.2, despite the high dollar, although this was confined largely to the food, beverages and tobacco sub sector.

“More generally, manufacturers remain cautious about the outlook and continue to focus on reigning in their costs, as they battle these weak trading conditions,” Willox added.

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industry news

Australian Made expands in SA, QLD The Australian Made Campaign, the not-for-profit organisation that administers and promotes Australia’s country-of-origin certification trade mark, has announced new initiatives and appointments in South Australia and Queensland.

The campaign has formed a partnership with Business SA to help promote its activities in the state.

“Australian Made is proud to announce a new partnership with Business SA,” said Australian Made Campaign Chairman, Glenn Cooper. “It will provide the South Australian business community with access to a local resource for information about the Australian Made, Australian Grown logo. SA is a hub for manufacturing and growing in Australia, and this initiative will help to promote and support local industry.”

Business SA Membership Executive, Nick Smith, will be taking on the role of SA Account Manager for the Australian Made Campaign. Nick will work within Business SA to help educate manufacturers and growers of genuine Australian products about the benefits of leveraging country-of-origin as a marketing tool.

“The Australian Made Campaign plays an important role in driving recognition and awareness of the fantastic products made, grown and produced across South Australia, and this partnership will help to build on the great work it carries out,” Business SA CEO, Nigel McBride, said.

Meanwhile, Australian Made has bolstered its presence in Queensland with the appointment of a new Account Manager.

Michael Frankland has taken on the role, joining Australian Made’s ranks

from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Queensland (CCIQ).

Frankland will help to facilitate access to the Australian Made logo

by Queensland’s farming, manufacturing, fishing and aquaculture businesses. He will also work with CCIQ to help educate local businesses on the benefits of leveraging country-of-origin as a marketing tool, and how it can be successfully promoted.

“The Australian Made Campaign is proud to be working with CCIQ to provide the Queensland business community with access to a local resource for information about the Australian Made, Australian Grown logo,” said Australian Made Chief Executive, Ian Harrison. “Michael Frankland’s local business expertise will be greatly valued. He will be a tremendous asset to the team.”

CCIQ CEO Stephen Tait said: “As a foundation member of the Australian Made Campaign, we are delighted to be supporting the initiative in Queensland. The Australian Made Campaign helps drive recognition and awareness of the fantastic products made, grown and produced across Queensland.”

The Australian Made, Australian Grown kangaroo logo is used by more than 2000 companies on more than 15,000 products sold in Australia and around the world. According to Roy Morgan Research, it is recognised and trusted by 98% of Australians as a means of identifying genuine Australian goods.

Survey highlights CFOs’ fear of business failure A survey of Australian mid-sized companies has found that 45% of chief financial officers (CFOs) identified their businesses to be at risk of failure during the next three to five years if innovation, futureproofing and risk management is not prioritised over and above ‘business as usual’ activity.

The American Express CFO Future-proofing Survey examined the views of 285 CFOs from companies with revenues between $2m and $200m as part of an exploration of future-proofing strategies being used to navigate increasingly competitive times. The results are published in a white paper entitled Innovation or Fail: Anticipate Risk, Act and Thrive.

According to the survey, more than half (58%) of CFOs reported that their role has changed significantly in the last one to two years. More than 75% of CFOs play a significant role in helping to lead futureproofing strategies. Almost two-thirds of those surveyed (64%) said there was a bigger focus on future-proofing than 12 months ago.

Harnessing technology was widely regarded as a significant missed opportunity, with only a fraction of those surveyed (7%) identifying technology as the most competitive aspect of their business.

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Commenting on the survey results, Christine Wakefield, VicePresident, American Express Global Corporate Payments, said: “Many CFOs are asking themselves whether the risk of failure will increase if innovation isn’t a real priority. The appetite for innovation is definitely there. However many mid-sized CFOs are still focused on ‘business as usual’ improvements, rather than transformational change that would make a real impact on their future.

“The businesses we talked to are financially successful now, but some CFOs don’t have a clear vision of how to build a futureproofing plan. It’s time to get cracking or face the repercussions.

CFOs need to take action now: create a plan of attack and lead your businesses into the future.”

industry news

New steel manufacturing research hub launched A research hub bringing together the best and brightest scientists and engineers from Australia’s steel manufacturers and research institutions to drive industry innovation and improve global competitiveness was launched in Canberra last month.

Based at University of Wollongong (UoW), the Australian Research Council (ARC) Research Hub for Australian Steel Manufacturing will embark on research and development programs that will address: manufacturing techniques and processes; innovation in new products; and best-practice pathways for bringing new ideas to market. The hub was officially launched by Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane at Parliament House on 4 September.

“The Australian Government is preparing a National Industry Investment and Competitiveness Agenda to set the superstructure for industry growth, in particular to encourage greater collaboration between business and researchers,” said Macfarlane. “This collaboration is essential to ensuring Australia’s competitiveness in global markets and in new industries focused on sophisticated and high valueadded manufacturing. Our focus must be on our areas of competitive advantage where Australia has an edge over our competitors.”

The steel industry employs around 90,000 people and adds more than $8.7bn value to the economy. The hub will be supported by cash and in-kind industry and university investment of more than $17m and ARC funding of $5m over five years. Product innovations include a project to develop a self-cleaning, anti-microbial organic coating for painted sheet steel to prevent the build-up of mould, algae and other bacteria on roofs, particularly in humid environments. Mould and other buildup can cause discolouration and eventually degrade the steel, leading to high costs of maintenance, repair and replacement. Steel surfaces with high reflectivity have also been shown to reduce energy needed to cool the building.

UoW researchers, in a long-standing collaboration with hub partner BlueScope Steel, are drawing on expertise in microbiology, surface engineering, and molecular dynamics to make paints and coatings for steel sheeting that prevent bacterial growth.

Also under development is a new roofing system that incorporates thin-film solar panels and aesthetically pleasing designs that can produce energy, heating and cooling for new Australian buildings. The

Steel Research Hub Chief Investigator Associate Professor Michael Higgins (front), with Director Oscar Gregory.

Photo courtesy of Paul Jones, UoW.

system was used to great effect in construction of the Illawarra Flame house, a retrofit project built by UoW and Illawarra TAFE students that went on to win the international Solar Decathlon China 2013.

Supporting partners in the research hub include Arrium, Bisalloy Steels, Cox Architecture, Australian Steel Institute, Lysaght, University of Queensland, University of NSW, University of Newcastle, Swinburne University of Technology and RMIT. Steel Research Hub Director Oscar Gregory said the steel industry has had to face extremely challenging conditions since the global financial crisis.

“Now that the industry is seeing some improvement, it is timely that the Steel Research Hub brings together the combined skills and expertise of university and Industry researchers to transform the Australian industry into a position of sustainability and global competitiveness,” he said.

“The hub will be a great example of university research contributing to industry and customer needs. The investment by government and industry will accelerate the pursuit of product innovations that puts Australia at the forefront of the global steel industry.”

AMTIL members in Technology Challenge win Congratulations to AMTIL members: Successful Endeavours and Hybrid Electronics, which have been awarded a $75,000 grant by the Victorian Government under the Driving Business Innovation Technology Challenges program.

The two companies have been awarded the Feasibility Study stage for the Gas Sensors in Sewers project. The Technology Challenge invited companies to investigate a fixed and re-locatable solution that can measure relative humidity, air flow and differential pressure within a sewerage transfer system.

technology. The two companies collaborated to share technology and expertise in order to develop the intellectual property, which they believe will contribute to a final solution should the project proceed to the Proof of Concept stage. To win the grant, the companies presented a combined case for the project.

Hybrid and Successful Endeavours will be working with Melbourne Water to put together the feasibility study, based on their data logging and sensor interface

The Driving Business Innovation program is an initiative by the Victorian Government aimed at creating local commercial opportunity for Victorian businesses, by

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aligning local business capability with the needs of government agencies.

“This is the kind of new business opportunity that can only be handled collaboratively in Australia and the only way either business could have the opportunity to supply product into a venture like this,” said Ray Keefe, Managing Director of Successful Endeavours. “It will also be world’s best technology. It is good to see a government that gets the need for jobs and income in the future and is prepared to do something positive to support that.”

Industry news

RMIT delivers $30m boost to micro and nano-tech A new $30m research facility at RMIT University’s City campus will drive cutting-edge advances in microand nano-technologies.

The MicroNano Research Facility (MNRF) will bring to Australia the world’s first rapid 3D nanoscale printer and will support projects that span across the traditional disciplines of physics, chemistry, engineering, biology and medicine. The facility was launched by ViceChancellor and President, Professor Margaret Gardner AO. Professor Gardner said the opening of the state-of-the-art laboratories and clean rooms was the start of an exciting new chapter in cross-disciplinary nano research.

Credit to: RMIT University

“At the heart of the MicroNano Research Facility’s mission is bringing together disparate disciplines to enable internationally-leading research activity,” she said. “RMIT has long been a pioneer in this field, opening Australia’s first academic clean rooms at the Microelectronics and Materials Technology Centre in 1983. Over three decades later, this investment in the world-class MNRF will enable RMIT’s leading researchers to continue to break new ground and transform the future.”

Among the equipment available to researchers in the 1200sqm facility will be the world’s first rapid 3D nanoscale printer, capable of producing thousands of structures - each a fraction of the width of a human hair - in seconds. Designed by architects SKM Jacobs, the MNRF also offers researchers access to more than 50 cutting-edge tools, including focused ion beam lithography with helium, neon, and gallium ion beams to enable imaging and machining objects to 0.5nm resolution - about 5 to 10 atoms.

nebulisation; developing innovative energy-harvesting techniques that change the way batteries are recharged, using novel materials that can draw on the energy generated simply by people walking around; and, inventing ways to use water to remove toxins from fabric dyes, with new nanotechnologies that can facilitate the breaking down of those dyes with nanostructured catalysts.

Professor James Friend, Director of the MNRF, said ten research teams would work at the new facility on a broad range of projects, including: building miniaturised motors - or microactuators - to retrieve blood clots from deep within the brain, enabling minimally invasive neurological intervention in people affected by strokes or aneurysms; improving drug delivery via the lungs through new techniques that can atomise large biomolecules - including drugs, DNA, antibodies and even cells - into tiny droplets to avoid the damage of conventional

“This facility is all about ensuring researchers have the freedom to imagine and safely realise the impossible at tiny scales and beyond,” said Professor Friend, who is a Vice-Chancellor’s Senior Research Fellow in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

“Having access to purpose-designed laboratories and leading-edge equipment opens tremendous opportunities for RMIT and for those we collaborate with, enabling us to advance the development of truly smart technology solutions to some of our most complex problems.”

Deakin forges new India partnership Deakin University’s Centre of Advanced Design in Engineering Training (CADET) has entered into new partnership with Indian multinational Cyient Limited aimed at forging greater sub-continental cooperation and helping to drive Australia’s industrial transition from traditional manufacturing to a smarter approach across the value chain.

The collaboration between CADET and Cyient provides crosscultural development opportunities throughout the Pan-Pacific region and an effective development pathway for the next generation of Australian engineers. Professor Guy Littlefair of Deakin University said the collaboration, which focuses on design as well as engineering, provides graduates with practical, market-focused skills that Australian engineers can draw on in their careers.

“Engineering graduates can’t just be good at their primary skill set – they need creativity, innovation and an understanding of market dynamics,” he said. “Cyient will not only assist us in generating a curriculum that delivers real outcomes for graduates, but provide Australian engineering students with unique opportunities to collaborate with one of India’s leading commercial multinationals.”

Cyient, a global leader in engineering, networks and operations, has its Asia Pacific headquarters in Melbourne, and recently announced

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that it was investing in a further 150 Australian jobs to prepare for further growth in this market. The company employs more than 12,000 people around the world and provides leading-edge engineering solutions for the manufacturing, resources, utilities and communications sectors.

Sanjay Krishnaa, Senior Vice-President & Head of Asia Pacific, said the company was looking forward to working with Deakin to create new pathways to employment for engineering graduates as part of its Australian expansion plans.

“Australia’s investment in research and development and technical adaption creates very good opportunities for investment and growth,” he said. “We are uniquely positioned to leverage our expertise and international network to assist Australia’s future engineering graduates to excel, driving Australia’s international competiveness and intellectual capital.”

great ideas and more opportunity.

Australia’s Premier Advanced Manufacturing & Machine Tool Exhibition 26th – 29th May, 2015 Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre Melbourne, Australia www.amtil.com.au/austech

1215AUSTECH

Government news

ICN – Connecting manufacturers for bushfire sprinklers With the increasing and always imminent threat of bushfires confronting our communities, a new Australian invention to protect property has come onto the market.

The Platypus Sprinkler system is the brainchild of Jamie Boyles of Platypus Fire, based in Gippsland, an area prone to bushfires. Boyles is especially pleased that his product is majority Australian-designed and manufactured, which occurred thanks to support from the Industry Capability Network (ICN)’s Gippsland office.

Boyles needed to develop a sprinkler head that was highly fire resistant and the ICN, through its network, was able to find a manufacturer with the appropriate capability and skills. After ICN sourced a number of local companies that had the relevant capability, Advantage Engineering in Braeside, Melbourne, was selected and worked with Boyles to develop a sprinkler head made from glass-reinforced nylon with a flame retardant and UV additive. The one-piece body and shaft – along with the nozzle (in three sizes) – are all 316 stainless steel, and are being manufactured by Dennis Jones Engineering in Morwell.

For Boyles, Australian-made is important. “When we are working with an item for bushfire protection, it is important that the people involved understand what that means,” he says. “I found that working with people here we could discuss a fire situation and they understand it and understand we are looking for. The ICN certainly made that much easier for me by finding the right people.”

The end result is a product designed to protect houses, outlying buildings and commercial buildings, as well as having an application for industries that run conveyor systems, such as the timber industry.

Another outlet is for smaller-scale irrigation, especially for those that want to maximise water use. Boyles is already talking to a number of builders about using the system when constructing homes in fireprone areas.

The Platypus Sprinkler has a number of advantages. Firstly it can operate at water pressures from as low as 50kpa. In a fire situation, when demand from a water main is high and pressure is low, this means the Platypus can still operate. When operating from a tank and pump, the efficient water use and optimum operating pressure of 250kpa can often mean a smaller pump can run the system, so there are cost savings in both capital outlay and running costs.

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It’s also designed so that the water is sprayed out and down with a lower profile, rather than projecting water at a height where winds can dissipate it away from where it is needed.

With three nozzle sizes 2.5mm, 3.2mm and 4mm, the system is adaptable to different buildings and situations depending on the use and levels of risk. At around 350kpa, the large nozzle delivers nearly 15 litres of water per minute in a circular pattern equal to an eight square metre area.

As Boyles says, most people recognise that about 25mm of rain, or an inch in the old scale, is often what is needed to effectively put out most bushfires.

“The platypus system can deliver the equivalent of around 20-36mm per hour depending on nozzle size, so people can understand that will really help in a bushfire situation and when defending against ember attack,” he adds.

ICN matches local capability with business opportunity, assisting with importation and creating jobs for SMEs throughout Victoria. If you would like to become involved in any of the vast opportunities we have available, please visit www.icnvic.org.au or phone 03 9864 6700. www.icngateway.com.au www.icnvic.org.au

Government news

EIP launches Research Connections The Research Connections element of the Federal Government’s Entrepreneurs’ Infrastructure Programme (EIP) is now open to applications.

The EIP offers easy-to-access advice, assistance and tailored support to small and medium enterprises to help them become more self-reliant, competitive and growth-focused. The Programme has three elements: Business Management, Research Connections and Commercialising Ideas. The programme commenced on 1 July and has a phased delivery, where new services are progressively becoming available through to 1 January 2015.

Applications for Research Connections are now open. Research Connections offers businesses a free, personalised, facilitated service with the opportunity to apply for a grant. Services will help small and medium-sized businesses become more competitive by collaborating with the research sector to develop new ideas with commercial potential, as well as identifying any knowledge gaps that prevent business growth.

Experienced facilitators will assess your business’ knowledge gaps, and provide specialist support which may include: • A report containing tailored information and options.

• Referrals to available information and/or additional streams of services.

• Links to existing knowledge and research such as secondary and student research, R&D activity, market intelligence and export opportunities.

• Identification of new research activities that could assist your business and help connect you with organisations that could provide that research.

Research Connections takes a ‘facilitation first’ approach, providing expert advice and a brokering service to link businesses with research organisations. Only some businesses will need funding support to bring research capability into the business to work on a specific project; in other cases, the facilitation service may support business to access other forms of research capability, which could include: access to research facilities; engagement of research organisations; or other avenues of knowledge or assistance.

Coupled with the launch of Research Connections, eligibility for existing programme services has changed, including for Business Evaluations and Business Growth Grants. Following the outcomes of recent stakeholder consultations, changes have been made to target support to businesses operating in key growth sectors within the Federal Government’s Department of Industry portfolio and technologies and services enabling growth in those sectors:

A new force in 3D Printing has arrived!

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• Advanced Manufacturing.

• Food and Agribusiness.

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• Mining Equipment, Technology and Services.

• Oil, Gas and Energy Resources.

• Enabling Technologies and Services of the sectors listed above.

Changes have also been made to adjust the minimum turnover and expenditure thresholds and to consider the types and activities of corporations needed to be eligible for programme services and funds.

More information on eligibility, how to apply and the application form are available from business.gov.au/research-connections. For enquiries about Research Connections email RC@industry.gov.au or phone 13 28 46. More in depth face-to-face assistance is also available from AusIndustry’s national network. business.gov.au/research-connections

The largest Additive Manufacturing facility in ANZ Melbourne: 03 9785 2333 Sydney: 02 8004 0120 New Zealand: 64 9 801 0380

www.objective3d.com.au AMT October 2014

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Tech news

USA: 3D-printed car in 44 hours

Germany: Fingerprints for freight

Local Motors has 3D-printed, assembled and test-driven an electric car - the Strati – in 44 hours at IMTS in Chicago. This is not the first 3D-printed car; that distinction goes to the Urbee last year. However the Strati took just 44 hours to print, versus the Urbee’s 104 days.

The body of the vehicle was printed in carbon fibre reinforced thermoplastic – or ABS - by a large 3D printer called the Big Area Additive Manufacturing machine. This can can build components 10 times larger and hundreds of times faster than existing techniques and print parts up to 2.5m in every dimension; an enormous upgrade that was critical in making the car chassis. The car, which has only 49 parts, has a range of 190km on a single charge, and a top speed of 65kph.“Because you can literally print the car any way you want, if your family goes from two people to three, you trade in and recycle the center part of your car and all the components”.

Screening procedures, such as x-ray scanning of freight, are time consuming and costly and must be repeated in the event of suspicions.

Attempting to resolve the dilemma between efficiency and security and using simple screening procedures, researchers have aggregated features such as 3D contours or RFID identifiers into one central shipment profile for every freight item. Thus, every freight item has one digital fingerprint. This delivers accurate information of freight’s security status throughout the entire transport chain across operations and at any time. The researchers are additionally developing an RFID seal in order to detect subsequent tampering with a shipment.

Mixed

UK: Miniature sensors give aircraft ‘smart skin’ Work is underway to give aircraft, cars and ships human-like ‘skin’, enabling the detection of injury or damage and the ability to ‘feel’ the world around them through thousands of tiny embedded sensors or “motes”. When applied to an aircraft, this will enable it to sense wind speed, temperature, physical strain and movement far more accurately than current sensor technology. Collectively, the sensors would have their own power source and when paired with the appropriate software, be able to communicate in much the same way that human skin sends signals to the brain. There is the possibility of retrofitting the sensors to existing aircraft and even spraying them on like paint.

“In the future we could see more robust defence platforms that are capable of more complex missions whilst reducing the need for routine maintenance checks”.

USA/Italy: 3D printing breakthrough: Electron gun Engineers at the Italian aerospace company Avio have developed a breakthrough process for 3D printing light-weight metal blades for jet engine turbines. The method - called electron beam melting or EBM - builds the blades from a titanium powder fused with a beam of electrons accelerated by a 3-kilowatt electron gun. The gun is 10 times more powerful than laser beams currently used for printing metal parts. This allows the building of blades from layers of powder that are more than four times thicker than those used by laser-powered 3D printers. An improvement was sought to manufacture parts made from titanium aluminide (TiAl) which has a very high contraction ratio and can become fragile and prone to cracks as it cools. The EBM printer solves these problems. Additionally, the shape of the blades can be changed and different blades printed on the same machine in a quick succession.

General Electric

US: First test of real turbine engine conditions Manufactures of turbine engines could expedite the development of more durable, energy-efficient turbine blades thanks to a partnership.

Because of the difficulty of monitoring engines in operation, most manufacturers test blades after flight or rely on simulated tests to obtain data on how the various coatings on the blades are performing.

Until now, creating an accurate simulation has been out of reach, but the team has succeeded in developing a new in situ facility that for the first time accurately simulates these extreme turbine engine conditions.

This goes beyond any other in situ capabilities to allow the influence of temperature, stress and thermal gradients to be studied together.

This enables, for the first time, scientists to view the microstructure and internal strain in both the substrate and thermal barrier coating system during real operating conditions and in real time.

Argonne National Laboratory

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BAE Systems

USA: Ceramics don’t have to be brittle Scientists are on the path to developing materials that possess unheard-of combinations of properties. For example, they might create a material that is thermally insulating but also extremely lightweight, or one that is simultaneously strong, lightweight, and non-breakable - properties that are generally thought to be mutually exclusive. A method has been developed for constructing these materials by taking advantage of the unusual properties that solids can have at the nanometer scale. This method was used to produce a ceramic that contains about 99.9% air yet is incredibly strong, and that can recover its original shape after being smashed by more than 50%. The lab is aggressively pursuing various ways of scaling up the production of these so-called meta-materials.

California Institute of Technology

Spain: Radar and alarm system for construction vehicles Researchers have developed an alarm system for construction vehicles with a low-cost radar network. The innovative system is based on multiple radars that are installed in the vehicles, creating a sensor network. This system will provide workers with a general view at the blind spots. Today, there are diverse safety systems such as cameras or sirens. However, they are adversely affected by typical conditions in construction sites (suspended particles obstruct the camera lens and loud noises disturb the sirens). Radars are high reliability sensors hardly affected by suspended particles, rain or fog, do not need light to work and are easy to instal. Field tests have proved the viability of this system.

Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM)

Product news

Hurco VMC boosts productivity and quality Applied Machinery has recently installed a new Hurco CNC vertical machining centre at Custom Plenum Creations in Wollongong, NSW. The company, a fabricator of automotive parts including high-performance intake manifolds, is owned and operated by Ariel Banco. The VMC machine was purchased to assist in production of the modified intake manifolds, converting what used to be a manual process to a fully automatic one that massively speeds up the production process.

Custom Plenum Creations designs and modifies intake manifolds for all types of engines including cars, quad bikes, and jet skis – essentially anything that is petrol- or diesel-powered. The modifications produce a significant boost in power.

over and over again which allows me to build up stock levels thereby allowing me to supply customers immediately.”

Banco reports that throughout the whole pre- and post-purchase process Applied Machinery’s service has shone through. From the initial answering of numerous questions through to the actual delivery of the machine he found the service from Applied Machinery outstanding. expressed delight with initially was the machine’s user friendliness.

The selection of the Hurco machine was based on Banco’s own research as well as feedback from other CNC users. The machine, a Hurco VM20i four-axis model, was selected after lengthy discussions with Applied Machinery over an extended period of time.

“For someone that had never used a CNC machine before to be able to program it from day one is testament to just how easy the Hurco machine is to use,” Banco said.“The efficiency that the new Hurco machine brings is literally staggering. I simply take the design I have prepared on my computer, program it into the machine, set it in motion and walk away. The machine then carries out the modification while I can get onto other jobs.

The comprehensive training package that Applied Machinery provides with all new Hurco machines provided Banco with an insight into the machine’s many capabilities and features. One of the things that he

“Aside from the huge productivity and efficiency gains, another key benefit of the machine is that it allows for far greater accuracy and repeatability,” he added. “The machine can continue to do the same thing

“Since I’ve had the machine delivered back in early July I’ve had two other representatives from Applied come out and check up on how the machine is performing. That’s just great service,” said Banco. “Quite simply, the Hurco VMC will allow me to produce the very best intake manifolds without any compromise.”

With the many benefits that the Hurco machine has already provided the future is looking bright for Custom Plenum Creations.

Banco is conducting R&D into radiator and intercooling systems and other initiatives are on the drawing board. Certainly other Hurco machines from Applied Machinery could be on the agenda www.appliedmachinery.com.au

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product news

ANCA unveils new FX Linear grinding machines ANCA has introduced a series of three FX Linear grinding machines featuring new motion and control technologies, enhanced accuracy and performance, reduced required maintenance, and a smaller footprint. The FX series is also unique in utilising ANCA’s new LinX linear motor.

The FX Linear machine range is designed for higher productivity and tool and cutter quality, with lower operating costs. The spacesaving range covers a broad spectrum from light manufacture, regrinding and full production. Its best performance and productivity range is for tool diameters up to 12mm, with grinding capabilities for tools up to 200mm diameter.

Maximum wheel diameter is 192mm.

“The FX machine range will be released with a new generation of software RN33, and uses a new generation of automation technology designed and developed by subsidiary ANCA Motion,” explained Grant Anderson, ANCA’s CEO/Director. “These new developments include LinX linear motors, as well the new touchpad user interface, high-performance CNC, remote pendant, AMD5x servo drives and IO box, all of which use the latest Ethercat communication technology.”

The FX machines are compact by design but offer large working envelopes. The grinding wheel is positioned on the C-axis centreline. Together with the compact design this reduces the effects of temperature on machine elements. Coupled with the benefits of the polymer-concrete base, the result is a thermally stable, rigid machine.

The AMD5x control system supports machine operation. The CNC Pad operator panel is a full touch screen with Windows 8 functionality. The screen layout is intuitive and is configured to the machine options. A new hand-held pendant allows improved access to the machine during set-up.

ANCA Motion designed the LinX linear motor for a lifetime of operation in the harsh grinding environment, fully sealed and impervious to contamination. Motor-heating effects are isolated from machine elements and the design allows use of grinding coolant for temperature control. With no need for a separate dedicated coolant and chiller system, there is no additional power consumption or increase in ambient temperature.

In the FX series, LinX motors provide motion in the X and Y axes.

The vertical Z axis uses a preloaded ballscrew to move the grinding head. Coupled with linear scales, the motors provide high precision and performance, resulting in superior tool accuracy and surface finish. The motors avoid issues with ballscrew wear, loss of preload or rigidity, permit smoother axis motion, and eliminate backlash. The result is higher quality tool grinding.

No mechanical moving parts means no loss of accuracy over time due to wear. Higher axis speed and acceleration allow reduced cycle times. LinX motors provide a speed of 50 metres/min. No additional load is placed on machine-axis guidance due to the magnetic attraction in the scales.

The entry-level FX3 Linear machine provides an affordable first step into CNC tool and cutter grinding. According to ANCA, the technology used on the machine delivers an price-performance ratio unprecedented in this market. Although not available with any automation, it offers the same software and application diversity common to all ANCA machines.

The FX5 Linear boasts an automated two-wheel changer to allow more wheels and tool types. Optional automatic headstock clamping and a compact loader enable unmanned operation.

The FX7 Linear is the ideal machine for manufacturing and resharpening. A more powerful 19Kw wheel spindle boosts speed and productivity for a wide range of tool types and geometries. The FX7 also has high-performance servo-drives for quicker movements and reduced cycle times. It includes an automatic headstock as standard and a range of options for high productivity, including a robot loader with capacity for up to 840 tools, a six-station wheel changer for auto-loading of wheel packs and coolant manifolds, a compact loader, and laser probe for in-process tool measurement. www.anca.com

BOFA – meeting new challenges in 3D printing As a world leader in fume extraction technology, BOFA has expanded its range to meet the requirements of the emerging 3D printing industry.

The new range of fume extraction and filtration systems has been specifically designed for the emerging 3D printing industries. BOFA units are essential during stereolithography, selective laser sintering (SLS), fused deposition modelling (FDM), PolyJet technology and wax deposition modelling (WDM).

While bringing technological advances across various industries, 3D printing also creates unsuitable working environments, with potential bi-products such as toxic fumes, dust and particulates. To ensure a safe working environment effective capture and filtration is essential, as detailed in Safe Work Australia’s

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Guidance on the Interpretation of Workplace Exposure Standards for Airborne Contaminants 2012.

BOFA supplies four alternate 3D Printing extractors that meet Australian standards: 3D PrintPRO Mini, 3D PrintPRO Eco, 3D PrintPRO Max and 3D PrintPRO Max+. Compact and efficient, each unit combines high capture performance with proven filter technology, ensuring the effective removal of hazardous particulate, gases and vapours along with odours associated with 3D printing methods. www.raymax.com.au

Product news

Floating 350kg loads almost weightlessly Konecranes has introduced an overhead crane system designed to make loads up to 350 kilos feel almost weightless, to enhance safety and efficiency.

The ATB AirBalancer is a unique technology from within Konecranes’ WLS family of workstations, which are engineered to fit the lifting needs of a diverse array of industries. Using a floating load unit, ATB AirBalancer harnesses air pressure as the power source to make light lifting safer, easier and smoother, which significantly reduces cycle times.

The system prevents overloading and provides uninterrupted three-dimensional movement with no jerky motions while lifting or lowering, thus enhancing precision. The technology greatly reduces any risk of accidental load damage or dropping.

AirBalancer technology is especially good for lifting fragile items and excellent for industries including manufacturing, solar energy, automotive, railroad and heavy vehicle maintenance, and aerospace. Its pneumatic control technology creates a cleaner and quieter working environment at the same time as making it safer to operate and cheaper to maintain.

The ATB AirBalancer offers significantly faster lifting/lowering speeds than chain hoists, with speeds up to 2000mm/sec, depending on the model. Lifting, lowering, grabbing and pivoting can be performed easily using purely pneumatic control technology, for which a variety of options are available.

The system can be tailored to specific needs, with features such as proportional control balancing control, balancing control for fixed load weight, dual load balancing, triple load balancing, automatic load detection or a combination of required features. A versatile range of grab devices is available for whatever materials are being moved. Gripper control elements can be easily added to the modular balancer control panel system, providing all functions ergonomically at operators’ fingertips. Electrical control elements also available. The ATB AirBalancer is compatible with a wide range of other crane systems, including Konecranes XA and XM workstation cranes, and jib cranes. The Konecranes WLS family of workstation lifting systems – in electric crane capacities up to five tons capacity - represents the wide scope of the global Konecranes organisation as one of the world’s leading crane manufacturers and the world’s largest crane service organisation. www.konecranes.com.au

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product news

Three-way protection Faro releases from Ansell HyFlex Edge ScanArm HD Many manual tasks across a range of industries may be completed with greater hand protection and efficiency, with a new comfortable, light duty, oil-repellent multi-purpose glove that provides protection while helping retain grip on small, oilcoated parts and assembly components.

Employing Ansell’s Ripel liquid repellence technology and Ansell Grip technology, the Ansell HyFlex 11-926 glove is the first lightweight HyFlex style to combine protection against knuckle abrasion, oil exposure and oil grip in a single flexible glove. Featuring a durable three-quarter dip coating to ensure full protection to the back of fingers, the glove is designed to provide all-

day comfort, thanks to a soft liner made from a very fine gauge nylon fibre.

According to David Nicholls, Associate Director – Marketing at Ansell, the unique blend of protection, performance and flexibility features incorporated in the HyFlex 11-926 glove bridge the gap from previous generations of palm-dip-style oil-repellent general-purpose gloves built on cut-and-sew cotton liners, to the latest seamless palm-dip gloves. Nicholls says the new glove has been designed to meet the hand protection needs of people handling oil coated parts in the automotive, electrical machinery, equipment, metal fabrication, power tools and transportation equipment markets.

Ansell works with the National Safety Council of Australia as the training partner to ensure hand safety issues, such as handling of oilcoated parts, are communicated through corporate and government organisations. Ansell always recommends that end users perform their own testing and analysis of the suitability of a product for a specific application. www.ansell.com.au

Faro Technologies has released the all-new Faro Edge ScanArm HD, combing the power of the new Laser Line Probe with the flexibility of the FaroArm, to creates one highly affordable, high-performance contact/non-contact portable measurement system.

The ScanArm HD delivers rapid point cloud collection with extreme resolution and high accuracy – all in a compact, lightweight and easy-to-use system.

The new functionalities enable users to seamlessly scan across diverse surface materials regardless of contrast, reflectivity or part complexity and without any special coatings or target placement. The ScanArm HD delivers high-definition data with superior speed and surface coverage, reducing onsite measurement times to scan very challenging materials.

The extra wide scan stripe and fast frame rate boosts productivity by increasing coverage and reducing scanning time. Intricate components can be captured in fine detail as a result of the 2000 actual points per scanline and the new blue laser featuring noise reduction technology. Users can dramatically reduce required training time with the new crosshair feature and existing LED Rangefinder functionality, which provides real-time scanning feedback.

The Faro Edge ScanArm HD is well suited to product development, inspection, and quality control and offers capabilities such as point cloud comparison with CAD, rapid prototyping, reverse engineering, and 3D modeling. www.faroasia.com/Edge

Headland adds new names to line-up Headland has announced two new additions to its metal working product portfolio: German supplier Kaltenbach, developers of the first CNC-controlled circular saw; and Kasto, a leading provider of bar and sheet metal storage.

Founded in 1887, and with more than 50 offices and nine subsidiaries around the world, Kaltenbach’s 125-year history in metalworking and metal fabrication is synonymous with innovation, diligence and dedication to their customers. Recognised as developers of the world’s first CNC-controlled circular saw, Kaltenbach today has more than 120,000 machines in production, including bandsawing, drilling, painting, marking, and plate-processing equipment for the manufacturing and agricultural industries.

Founded in 1844 as a carpentry business, Kasto is the technology leader in sheet metal sawing and storage, including the worldwide-patented arch shaped cutting movement of the first ever power hacksaw.

Headquartered in Achern, Germany, Kasto offers

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AMT October 2014

the complete range of bandsaws, circular saws and hacksaws, in semi-automatic or fully automatic versions for all industrial metal cutting needs. www.headland.com.au

Product news

Heavy can also be easy Fast, with highly accurate contours, and efficient the demand for maximum quality at minimal effort is rising, particularly in the machining of heavy precision parts for the aerospace industry.

Rückle’s MRT 800 2xs swivelling table successfully meets the requirements for multi-face accessibility and machining of massive workpieces in one clamping position. With its rigid mounting and excellent parallel feed, the milling table also gives users extremely good geometric workpiece accuracy and low set-up costs.

Heavy workpieces, such as turbine casings for jet engines, are put into position at an angle. This solution is more efficient and makes the process safer than angling the tool relative to the workpiece. Thanks to the combined turning-swivel unit, even complex geometries such as undercuts and oblique drill holes can be accurately executed.

In addition to excellent stiffness, the MRT is characterised by distortionfree pallet clamping and is ideally suited to the precise machining of workpieces up to 1600mm in diameter and 1000mm in height as well as for loads weighing up to 4000kg. The uncompensated positioning accuracy of the rotary tables is less then ± 2 arc seconds, the axial and radial run-out accuracy is under 10µm.

The tilting and swivel axis of the table is driven by means of bevel gear or spur gear units in a master-slave configuration. They are particularly torsionally stiff and unlike torque motors also provide a high level of safety even in the event of a power failure. The rotary actuator consists of a worm gear or torque motor and can be adapted to the requirements of the application. A specially engineered rolling bearing mounting is used in the rotary axis that provides greater degrees of stiffness and accuracies than conventional arrangements available on the market.

Another advantage of the swivelling table is the exchangeable middle section. It allows the rotary axis for positioning and milling operations to be replaced with an axis for combined turning and milling operations.

Rückle’s modular design principle also allows customers to align the table geometrically correct following a crash or to perform repairs on site without having to dismantle the entire unit. Repair costs are kept in check thanks to the variable exchange of spares identical in design. www.rueckle-gruppe.de

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AMT October 2014

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Special Report – IMTS

IMTS 2014 – Driving manufacturing forward The premier manufacturing technology show in the Americas - the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) 2014 - took place at McCormick Place in Chicago, from 8-13 September.

The 30th edition of IMTS was the fourthlargest and the largest-ever six-day show in the event’s history. Some 114,147 visitors from 112 countries were registered to attend, representing a 13.9% increase over the last show two years ago. Spread across four cavernous halls, the exhibition covered more than 1.282m net square feet of floor space. A total of 2035 companies had stands, displaying the latest in manufacturing technology.

The impressive numbers were reflective of a general mood of optimism about the state of the local industry. Manufacturing in the US has undergone an impressive revival in recent years, helped along by surging demand in key sectors, a wave of technological innovation, and low energy costs. According to the latest survey from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), economic activity in the sector expanded in August for the 15th consecutive month, with production and new orders hitting four-year and ten-year highs respectively.

ANCA

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The mood of optimism was clearly apparent at the show. In conversation after conversation, there was the sense that manufacturing in the US is facing a brighter outlook than it has for many years. More importantly, as the week went on, “sold” signs began appearing on more and more machines throughout the exhibition halls.

“During IMTS 2014 there was a universal vibe among exhibitors, visitors and even students, that manufacturing is now the place to be,” said Peter Eelman, Vice-President – Exhibitions and Communications at the Association For Manufacturing Technology (AMT), the show’s organisers. “Customers came with buying intentions and a confidence that has not been seen in the manufacturing industry in many years. The industry came together and left inspired.”

An industry showcase As well as a daunting array of traditional equipment, the show presented a plethora of new and emerging technologies set

John Hart

AMT October 2014

to revolutionise the manufacturing world, including multi-spindle machines, multitasking machines, automation and robotics, additive manufacturing, digital data integration and in-line quality assurance. In the Emerging Technology Center section of the show, companies, universities and research bodies were given a space in which to present some of the manufacturing technologies we can expect to see having a huge impact in the future.

One feature that dominated the headlines was the ‘Strati’, a 3D-printed car that was produced from scratch over the six days of the show. Printing began at the start of IMTS and only took 44 hours to complete. The car was printed in carbon-fibre reinforced polymer, the same plastic as Lego products, with assembly performed on the stand in the Emerging Technology Center. The completed car, which is capable of a top speed of 65 km/hr, was driven out of the show on the final day.

Techni Waterjet

Special Report – IMTS The ‘Strati’ 3D-printed car was produced over the course of the show and driven out of the site on the last day.

While the Strati was perhaps the most eyecatching showcase for the technological developments that are affecting manufacturing, another key feature of the show switched its focus towards skills, and the challenge of attracting the young people who will become the backbone of the industry of tomorrow. The Smartforce Student Summit gave students a first-hand, interactive view of manufacturing, in addition to promoting careers in the industry.

“A major concern among manufacturers is building a community of workers to fill their needs now and in the future,” said Eelman.

“At IMTS this was addressed beyond all expectations by the Smartforce Student Summit, which more than doubled in attendance over IMTS 2012 and captured the imagination of young people with the truly innovative technologies on display.”

This year’s Summit almost doubled in size since the last IMTS in 2012, with 17,767 elementary, middle and high school students in attendance. And despite all the noise of heavy machinery coming from elsewhere in the exhibition, this was arguably the loudest part of the show, with the chatter of the young people attending projecting a palpable – and infectious – sense of their excitement at what the industry has to offer them.

Australian quality With so much activity and excitement in the air, it was good to see Australian companies playing their part, with AMTIL members John Hart, Techni Waterjet and ANCA all putting on impressive exhibits.

“IMTS has exceeded all expectations,” said Nick Rehfisch, President of John Hart USA. “It’s been really busy. We’ve had a lot of really good customers visiting on the stand.”

The focus at the John Hart stand was on its chip-management systems, which takes the waste metals from the machining process, draws out any coolant, and compacts the remaining swarf into neat briquettes. For the customer, this offers significant financial benefits, with increased recycling value for the briquetted materials, lower freight costs, and savings from the reuse of the recovered coolant. For Rehfisch, IMTS presents an opportunity to educate the market about the technology. “We’ve had an expanded range that we’re showing this year,” he explained.

“And we’ve been able to talk about complete solutions for our customers, which has been really fantastic.”

Rehfisch maintains that being at shows like IMTS is absolutely vital in terms of getting John Hart’s products in front of the right people.

“We’ve been trying to meet with certain companies for maybe 12 months. They’re difficult to reach,” he says. “When you get 100,000 or more people from all throughout the country, it gives us the ability to get to the key decision-makers and take it to the next step a lot faster. The hard work begins now.

The job for us is to take those leads and turn them into sales.”

Over in the North Hall, Techni was exhibiting a range of its latest waterjet cutting technology, including its Electric Servo Pump (ESP). The ESP is still a new technology, and it can be a big challenge for Techni convincing people how quiet and efficient it is compared with other pump technologies. Showing the pump live at exhibitions like IMTS is therefore crucial, and the Techni stand was consistently busy throughout the six days of the show.

“We had over 500 leads, the most we have ever had at any trade exhibition around the world,” says Darren Reukers, Managing Director at Techni. “Unfortunately we didn’t close any orders at the show, but we expect a few over the coming months. Overall, the show was very busy and generally people were upbeat about the immediate future for the machine tool market in the USA.” For ANCA, there was a heavy emphasis on the new, with the launch of its FX range of grinding machines and its LinX linear motor, as well as the unveiling of a revamped stand and the roll-out of the company’s new branding. For Grant Anderson, the new releases created a buzz of excitement both internally and externally.

“The show this year has just been outstanding,” said Anderson. “We’ve had a number of sales. We’ve sold something around ten machines at the show, and we’ve been getting on average around 50 or 60 leads a day, so that’s really good. The US market is definitely coming back. All the signs are that this year we’re going to beat all our records, because the enquiry rate’s gone through the roof.”

With the show running for six days consecutively, along with numerous social events to choose from every evening, an event like IMTS takes stamina. But as far as Anderson is concerned, the effort is more than worth it.

“It is a tiring week – you’re on your feet all day, talking to customers day and night. But that’s what we’re here for, to serve the customers.

That’s what it’s about. All the guys are so excited, and it’s such a dynamic show. We couldn’t be more pleased.” www.imts.com

The Smartforce Student Summit gave students a first-hand view of manufacturing.

AMT October 2014

| 33

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Defence

Defence

Winning the battle Establishing productive partnerships is critical for Australian manufacturers wanting success in the defence industry and its supply chain. By Carole Goldsmith.

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AMT October 2014

Defence

The Australian Industry Group Defence Council is the preeminent entity representing the interests of Australia’s defence industry. Its executive members include the CEOs of all the main defence primes in Australia, such as Airbus, ASC, BAE Systems, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Thales. It also includes companies such as Ferra, Forgacs, General Dynamics, L3, Marand Precision, Rolls Royce, Saab Australia and Thomas Global.

“The National Executive meets regularly with Defence, other national security agencies, ministers, shadow ministers and their advisers,” says John O’Callaghan, the Council’s Executive Director. “It is often the first point of call for government engaging with the defence industry.

“The Government will issue a new Defence Capability Plan (DCP) outlining the array of equipment programs for the Australian Defence Force (ADF). As many as 200 new or replacement programs will be included in the DCP. Over the next 10 years, more than $100bn will be expended by Defence on capital equipment and its support. Around 85% of the equipment currently operated by the ADF is being replaced or upgraded.”

O’Callaghan advises Australian SMEs that want to be successful in the defence equipment supply or sustainment chain to link up with either the Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) or with prime or sub-prime companies.

“As an example, Thales Australia’s major armoured vehicle Bushmaster production in Bendigo, in regional Victoria, has over 100 Victorian-based SMEs as part of its supply chain,” he explains. “Each of the primes source local companies and subsequently SMEs are entering their global supply chains”.

An integral part of the Department of Defence, the DMO works in partnership with Defence industry suppliers here in Australia and globally. A Defence Department spokesperson advises: “For the 2014-15 financial year, the DMO has a budget of $6.1bn for acquisition and $5.6bn for maintenance and through-life support (sustainment) of military equipment and supplies. It is expected that approximately 52% of this – around $6.1bn – will be spent in Australia.”

The DMO’s analysis indicates that this level of expenditure will result in direct employment for approximately 27,000 people. Australian SMEs account for approximately 50% of this employment in support of Australia’s defence capability.

DMO works with the prime defence contractors and facilitates the release of Public Australian Industry Capability (AIC) Plans that highlight the scope of contracted work and indicate future opportunities of interest to Australian companies.

The DMO’s Global Supply Chain (GSC) program creates opportunities for Australian companies to win work in the supply chains of multinational defence companies and their major suppliers. The primes establish Australian industry offices and identify bid opportunities across their defence and commercial business units. This work is then competed for and won on merit.

The Defence Department spokesperson advises that seven prime companies are currently implementing the GSC program (Boeing, Raytheon, Thales, BAE Systems, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin and Finmeccanica). They are working with Australian companies, predominantly SMEs, to enhance their competitiveness and promote innovation. As of August 2014, 91 companies had been awarded more than 470 contracts with an aggregate value of more than $660m.

Advice and grants for SMEs The manufacturing sector is Defence facing many challenges but Industry targeted assistance is available Innovation for companies seeking to Centre (DIIC) win work in defence industry Director and related markets here Andrew and overseas. The Defence Garth.

Industry Innovation Centre (DIIC) has a national team of advisors with a diverse range of defence business experience.

DIIC Director Andrew Garth explains that they can offer SMEs impartial advice and assist them to capitalise on new ideas and access business opportunities and programs. The DIIC is funded by the DMO and managed under an agreement with the Department of Industry.

“Many of our programs facilitate improved competitiveness within defence SMEs,” says Garth. “These range from targeted defence-specific advice through to holistic continuous improvement programs for those businesses engaged strategically with Defence supply chains.

“The Supplier Continuous Improvement Program (SCIP) is designed to increase our industry’s competitiveness by raising its supply chain’s performance. With around 800 companies participating in this or similar programs worldwide, it also provides a means for benchmarking business internationally.”

Within the DIIC’s programs, matched grants of up to $20,000 are available to assist with implementing recommendations.

These grants can be used to deliver a wide range of business improvement initiatives ranging from upgraded business systems to tailored defence engagement strategies and enhanced planning for the future.

“One great aspect of the DIIC is that we complement other Government programs such as the DMO’s GSC program,” says Garth. “The DIIC is able to work with SMEs to improve their export-readiness and maximise their chance of success in entering these international supply chains.

“Defence primes are not typically looking at one-off purchases of a known product. They are looking for strategic relationships with suppliers of niche or innovative products. To that end, they are seeking business partners with processes that show they have long-term plans, manage succession and their costs as well, as control risk.”

BAE Systems – creating opportunities BAE Systems is a truly global defence, security and aerospace company, with over 80,000 employees worldwide.

In Australia, the company is a leading manufacturer and a major provider and maintainer of capability for the Army, Navy and Air Force, with 35-plus major defence contracts.

Continued next page

Two new landing helicopter docks are currently being fitted out by BAE Systems in Williamstown, Victoria.

AMT October 2014

| 37

Defence Team members holding parts produced at BAE Systems’ advanced manufacturing facility in Edinburgh Parks, SA.

The company’s advanced manufacturing facilities cater for hard metal (titanium) and soft metal (aluminium) machining. It provides three, four and five-axis turning and milling. In addition, BAE Systems has invested in a fully automated circuit card line, supported by loom manufacture, to enable the assembly, integration and test of major and minor assemblies. The business is ISO9001:2008-accredited and AS9100 Rev C-approved – the quality management system for the aerospace and defence industry.

This August, BAE Systems signed an agreement to provide advanced manufactured components for the F-35 program as part of a longterm supplier arrangement with Northrop Grumman Corporation.

Continued from previouspage

“We work hard to maximise Australian industry involvement in all of our projects and employ around 4000 people in urban, regional and remote locations across this country,” says Graeme Bent, Acting Director, BAE Systems Land & Integrated Systems. “With a supply chain that is bigger than any other defence prime in Australia, we also provide many opportunities for our SME suppliers. As a prime contractor, we regularly draw upon our domestic subcontractor base as well as our global network. Each year, we place $650m worth of work with our 2200 suppliers”.

Through its Global Access Program (GAP), BAE Systems’ suppliers are supported and introduced to the right people across all parts of the global business. Similarly, the GAP team supports procurement specialists, engineers and project managers to identify world-class capabilities in industry and provides training. “The GAP is a significant and long-term investment that requires relationship building and will take a number of years to mature and grow,” says Bent. “There are other SMEs that have novel and world-leading products and capabilities that we are considering for integration into our future solutions.”

An example of BAE Systems’ supply chain support for advanced manufacturing includes training. Five Australian SME manufacturers are currently participating in a skills development program to learn about the latest titanium ‘roughing’ techniques. The Defence Materials Technology Centre (DMTC) is hosting the program, delivered in partnership with BAE Systems.

“We expect to flow work for the roughing out of titanium blocks to local SMEs in coming years,” says Bent.

Bent explains about the company’s recently opened new facility to build titanium components for the global F35 “Lightning II” Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program.

“This investment helps to address a significant capability gap in advanced manufacturing in Australia and aims to service both defence and commercial markets,” he says. “Our facility contains a twin-spindle five-axis CNC milling machine. This Australian machine tool is only the second one of its kind in the world. It produces the long thin titanium components that will form part of the vertical tails for the F35 aircraft and is capable of producing titanium structures for commercial aircraft, such as cargo and bulkhead doors.”

Under separate contracts, BAE Systems manufactures F-35 vertical tail titanium parts for Victoria-based engineering firm Marand and BAE Systems Plc in the UK. Long thin spar production started in August from the new $10m titanium manufacturing facility at Edinburgh Parks, SA, and the first delivery of these parts to BAE Systems Plc is expected this month.

Stuart Lindley, Advanced Manufacturing Manager at Edinburgh Parks, expands on the company’s titanium components production: “We start with a titanium billet or forging. This is then milled in the threeaxis machine to its rough shape. The finishing production process is completed on the BTP 5000, the twin-spindle five-axis CNC milling machine, where the titanium components are produced, measuring over three metres and half the width of a human hair.”

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AMT October 2014

Under an agreement valued at approximately US$15m that commences in 2015, the company will manufacture around 1000 audio control electronic (ACE) modules, a component for the F-35 aircraft’s communication, navigation and identification (CNI) avionics suite, developed by Northrop Grumman. The agreement initially augments Northrop Grumman’s in-house manufacturing of the ACE module, but provides potential to become the single-source supplier, with increased delivery quantities until the year 2036.

Forgacs and Broens – integrating strengths This August, Australia’s largest privately owned engineering and shipbuilding company, Forgacs, acquired Broens, supplier of precisionengineered solutions to the defence and commercial markets in Australia and globally. Andy Davis is the General Manager for Strategic Business Development at Forgacs and Executive Director at Broens.

“The Forgacs and Broens collaboration will integrate the strengths of both companies,” says Davis. “It will also build capability for the NSW and SA defence industries as well as increase our participation in the defence global supply chains.”

Davis explains that Forgacs fabricates large blocks for defence shipbuilding projects and has been supplying the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) for over 50 years. It is engaged in major project engineering, construction and maintenance for both defence and commercial markets. Broens provides a full range of engineering capability and design as well as custom component manufacturing. It is engaged in all streams of defence and currently has customers across air, land and sea.

“By combining our businesses’ capabilities we can now provide comprehensive solutions into complex defence supply chains,” Davis adds, citing as an example the Australian Army’s Land 400 project, which is producing the next generation of armoured vehicles. “We are now able to produce components and sub-assembly for these vehicles, so we will be tendering for related supply chain opportunities.”

Broens’ sites are located in Ingleburn, west of Sydney, and Elizabeth near Adelaide, while Forgacs has facilities at the Garden Island naval defence base in Sydney, as well as in Newcastle, Brisbane and Gladstone. The two combined companies employ approximately 1000 people.

“We have been constructing blocks for the Hobart-class Air Warfare Destroyer (AWD) project at our shipyards for over four years,” says Davis. “The warships are built using a modular construction method.

This has enabled blocks to be built at different shipyards in Australia.

Some blocks measure around 30 cubic metres and weigh well over 100 tons, with 31 blocks combined to build the entire ship.”

Multiple blocks being manufactured at Forgacs’ shipbuilding facility in Newcastle, NSW.

Defence Broens’ manufacturing facilities are equipped with state-of-the-art CNC machining technology.

Davis explains that the blocks are split up amongst several contractors, including Forgacs, BAE Systems and Navantia in Spain. Forgacs has been contracted to build 37 out of 93 blocks. Each block is fully fitted out with bulkheads, rooms, cable trays, pipework, insulation, heating ventilation and air conditioning equipment.

When completed, these blocks are then shipped to Techport in Adelaide, where the AWD Alliance is responsible for consolidating the blocks and delivering the ships and their support systems to the RAN. The AWD Alliance comprises ASC as the lead shipbuilder, Raytheon Australia as the mission systems integrator, and the DMO. Forgacs won a DMO contract this May to design and build a 30.4m landing craft for the Kingdom of Tonga, with a scheduled delivery in mid-2015. Davis adds that Forgacs will tender to the DMO to build the Pacific Patrol Boats, 31m coastal patrol boats for Pacific Island navy, fisheries and customs departments.

Broens is currently engaged in the F35 JSF global supply chain, supplying specialised tooling and ground support equipment to major JSF contractors. Involvement in the F35 project and its new relationship with Forgacs should result in Broens being a significant contributor to the future maintenance hub solution in Williamtown, Newcastle, where the JSFs will be based and maintained. Davis advises that Broens provides high-precision tooling to most of the defence primes around the world, including BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, Pratt Whitney, Boeing and Northrop Grumman, most of which also have operations in Australia “We also collaborate extensively with local SMEs who provide us with capabilities and materials, such as metallic coatings and composites, to complement our own skills” says Davis. “It’s about enabling innovation.”

Davis says that Broens’ product knowledge and process expertise enable it to design and manufacture to customers’ specific requirements. This, combined with state-of-the art equipment, enables the company to provide a full turnkey service from design, through final manufacturing, to through-life support.

“As well as bespoke items, our automated production line can make a small run of approximately 200 items right up to 10,000-plus pieces,” says Davis. “This is very suitable for defence companies, which may need a smaller run of components and an even smaller volume of aftermarket spares.” For precision tooling, Broens uses three-, four-, five- and six-axis CNC machining up to 19m to manufacture components for defence primes. Davis explains: “We also support the additive engineering industry, using our precision capability to finish off components to their customers’ exacting requirements and quality.”

Currently Broens exports around 30% of its production. In forecasting for Broens’ future expansion, Davis says: “We will concentrate on growing the export of more of our services such as high-precision tooling and modular sub-assemblies into the global supply chains.

“Broens is very optimistic about the international market space. The defence industry is tough, but you have to be in it for the long term for continuous success.” www.industry.gov.au/industry/defence www.tenders.gov.au www.dmtc.com.au www.baesystems.com www.forgacs.com.au www.broens.com.au AMT October 2014 MTIQualos_Mitutoyo HalfVert.indd 1

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Defence

Quickstep pushes the envelope with Dassault Systèmes Quickstep Technologies manufactures high-tech composite parts for clients in the global defence, aerospace and automotive industries, including components for a variety of fighter and military transport aircraft.

From its head office and factory near Bankstown Airport in New South Wales, Quickstep uses sophisticated, advanced composite manufacturing technologies to combine different elements and create high-strength materials such as carbonfibre embedded with epoxy resins. These materials are then used to create parts for clients in the global aerospace, defence and automotive industries. The company also offers a resin spray transfer facility to provide a complete manufacturing solution from layup to cure for clients.

To achieve the degree of precision essential for its manufacturing processes, Quickstep relies heavily on a leading family of design, manufacturing and production, and collaborative technologies. Typically, clients provide Quickstep with a software model of the required item. The information is programmed into the machines in Quickstep’s factory and production begins.

Since the company’s inception six years ago, Quickstep’s design software of choice has been Catia, a 3D CAD design application powered by the 3DExperience Platform, developed by Dassault Systèmes.

An industry standard Philippe Odouard, Executive Director, Quickstep Technologies explains: “Catia is a standard in aerospace, made by a company that was a manufacturer of aircraft to start with. There is no one in the industry who doesn’t use that particular software. So unless you don’t want to receive parts to be manufactured, you have to have Catia.

“Also, for us, the factory equipment we have interfaces very well with Catia,” he adds. “The software has become part of a seamless suite of solutions that basically guarantee we manufacture every part exactly as stipulated by the model, and it provides a way of confirming that each part is being delivered according to the model.”

A couple of years ago, Quickstep decided to complement its design solution with the deployment of Delmia, a digital manufacturing application on the 3DExperience Platform that drives manufacturing innovation by virtually defining, planning, creating, monitoring and controlling all production processes.

Odouard says Quickstep uses the software in two ways: to plan the way products are manufactured on behalf of clients, and to drive cost efficiencies within Quickstep’s own business by planning and optimising the flow of products going through its factory.

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Philippe Odouard, CEO of Quickstep Technologies.

found that it interfaces very well with Catia and allow us to retire a number of legacy programs that don’t integrate with our other systems.”

The integration between Catia, Delmia and Enovia on the 3DExperience Platform is a key requirement of Quickstep’s application strategy.

“Not only has Delmia been able to help us in terms of what we do for our traditional business of manufacturing carbon-fibre parts, but it is also helping us as we develop new processes,” he notes. “It provides a way for us to demonstrate to clients the savings they can achieve by optimising workflows and using our equipment.”

A single authoritative information source In mid-2013, Quickstep embarked upon the next phase of its software journey with the deployment of Dassault’s 3DExperience Platform application Enovia. Developed to facilitate clarity, confidence and consistency in collaborative environments, Enovia will provide a single authoritative source of all information for the company.

“Ensuring an efficient change control process is very important in terms of configuration management,” Odouard says. “It is essential to capture the cost of any change, reconcile that with the customer and invoice them if necessary.”

Change management also calls for tight file management to ensure there is no confusion over design changes or versions.

“Enovia allow us to manage our files in any particular format,” adds Odouard. “We’ve

“Simplicity of integration is paramount for us,” Odouard notes. “We’re in the business of making carbon-fibre parts, not integrating software. We don’t want to waste a lot of time integrating software packages and trying to optimise them so they can work together. Having a supplier that understands our problems and who can give us solutions that are integrated on a single platform is essential.”

With each deployment or change of systems, Quickstep has been guided and supported

by Dassault partner Memko.

“Any solution that provides very wide coverage of your needs is typically going to be a complex tool. Like any software of that complexity, you are going to need good support. We’ve been able to rely very much on Memko to help us in our deployments.

They have also supported us in training and developing our staff so that our employees are proficient in the software.”

For Odouard, some of the most significant benefits deriving from its Dassault’s 3DExperience Platform applications are being achieved in client communication and on the factory floor.

“Being able to model the efficiency of one product or process over another is a great way to drive the development of new products,” he concludes. “It is always much easier to demonstrate the benefits to clients when we have sophisticated models that show how we can do this which translate to cost savings of those designs.” www.quickstep.com.au www.memko.com.au

The Bankstown Autoclave.

Defence

Thales selects Okuma for light arms production Offering world-class technically sophisticated solutions for defence and civil areas, Thales Australia has further advanced its precision capability with the addition of technically advanced Okuma multi-tasking CNC lathes and vertical machine centres into its Lithgow arms factory.

The new machines include two MB56 vertical machining centres, two Twin Star LT2000 horizontal multi-tasking machines, and one LU3000EX 2-Saddle CNC lathe, complementing a number of other Okuma machines in Thales’ highly sophisticated plant. Used in the manufacture of complex components in bolt-action civilian firearms, the new machines provide greatly enhanced efficiency, reducing the use of three to four machine operations to just one, with dramatic savings in production time with world-class precision output.

Thales operates from 35 locations and employs around 3200 personnel within Australia. The company globally is a world leader in defence, security, aerospace and transportation markets.

The machines were primarily selected on account of their advanced technology and capability. However, according to Bruce Hutton, Thales Manufacturing Operations Manager, Okuma’s high levels of after-sales service, its experience, its knowledgeable personnel and the strong links between the Australian-run company and its parent organisation back in Japan, were all major factors in the selection process. Hatton also commented on the excellent relationship that his company has established with Okuma, an “outstanding” hightechnology machinery supplier, in Australia.

Phil Hayes, Managing Director of Okuma Australia and New Zealand, remarked: “Thales and Okuma worked as a team to settle on the high level of Okuma technology that would best suit Thales’ requirements, and then we implemented it. Our nationally available technical resources allow us to support Thales’ impressive program without interruption to our overall support for all customers.

“Investment in new technology will see Australian manufacturing become more and more effective in these days of globally dynamic activity,” Hayes added.

Sharp shooter Building on more than a century of Thales’s military manufacturing expertise in Lithgow, NSW, the new LA101 CrossOver rifle was released earlier in the year. It is the first civilian rifle to be designed and built in Lithgow for over 40 years, and is the only mass-produced civilian rifle currently being manufactured in Australia.

Aimed at the domestic and international hunting/target markets with strong export potential, the manufacture of this rifle is in many ways further enhancing Australian manufacturing capabilities with its modern tactical styling, high degree of accuracy, and extreme reliability. The LA101 CrossOver firearm is designed, developed and manufactured in Australia, with more than 92% Australian manufacturing content. The stock includes an integral moulded trigger guard and butt hook for improved prone hold, and is made from the same advanced injection moulded nylon as used in rifles developed for the Australian Defence Force.

Each military grade steel barrel is cold forged and manufactured to the same high standards as barrels used in military rifles, ensuring that the finished CrossOver hunting/varmint/target rifle combines outstanding accuracy and reliability with modern tactical styling.

Okuma’s Applications Engineer Karl Corry has a competitive shooting background and therefore a comprehensive understanding of the working of most firearms. As part of the turnkey project, this background helped with his understanding of the complex parts that Okuma was tasked with setting up and machining on the LT2000 machine.

“The parts in this project were some of the most dimensionally complex I have been involved in during my machining career,” said Corry. “And to see these coming off the machine completely finished and to the exacting tolerances was a great testament to the machines’ capability and the experience within Okuma to achieve this outcome.”

The statement ‘Tough-Accurate-Reliable’ included in the Lithgow Arms sales brochure for this rifle sits comfortably with Okuma. www.thalesgroup.com www.okumaaustralia.com.au

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AMT October 2014

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Defence

Breaking into defence supply chains Based in Lonsdale in Adelaide’s southern suburbs, Rowlands Metalworks has had a tumultuous affair with defence supply chains. But armed with the lessons it learnt, it is now making successful inroads.

By Jack Baldwin.

It’s hard for most defence suppliers to keep their head above the water.

Even harder in South Australia, when the major shipbuilding projects the state has seen are evaporating in the midst of federal cost-cutting and foreign affairs pacts. For Rowlands Managing Director Cameron Johnston, it’s a bit like an ant biting a pumpkin. That’s how he puts it anyway, explaining: “It’s a jolly great thing and you’re never quite sure where to go in.”

Cameron Johnston, Managing Director of Rowlands Metalworks.

Indeed, Johnston admits, three or four years ago, the company decided to steer clear of defence supply chains entirely.

“We made a very conscious decision of not playing in that market full stop. In fact we identified two: one was automotive, one was defence.”

They seem like prescient choices now. Johnston cites the same reasons for being wary of both: it’s difficult to establish relationships; and there’s heavy tendering on even the smallest parts.

“We thought there might be lower hanging fruit elsewhere,” says Johnston. “I guess if you know and understand the nature of the beast, if you’re not putting it all on black, you’re okay.

“But when they were really getting into building the boats - the Air Warfare Destroyers (AWD) - there were people banging on the door saying: ‘we actually need quality suppliers - why don’t you become one?’ And in fact, we did.”

It prompted a heavy investment on Rowlands’s part. There was a $350,000 brake press perfect for the job - fabricated aluminium ductwork - as well as the cost in both money and management to become quality certified.

“There was excitement on the dance floor,” recalls Johnston. “The guys on the factory floor were excited to be part of that project, and particularly when we had to make sure they had all their welding certifications up to date. There was upskilling that had to be done, and we had to go through an approval process with the ASC (the Australian Submarine Corporation). The work was interesting. We bought all new equipment, making sure we had the best process to make what we needed to make. Those were all upsides.”

The downside came when the $8.5bn AWD project came to a grinding halt, with the Federal Government putting a delay on the third ship being built at Osborne.

“We were cruising along and then for other no reason than a political win, it all sort of evaporated overnight. The downside was possibly not quite understanding the market, that it wouldn’t go on forever,” Johnston says.

“We put it all on black. We didn’t understand the vagaries of this style of work, the stop-start nature. That was learning - and a limitation.

We want to be the best supplier we can, but if there’s a horizon two months away, you don’t get much time to flex your muscle in that. You end up being a tin bender, when I think we’re capable of delivering so much more.”

For a multi-billion dollar project like the AWD, it’s a story that probably has been and will continue to be repeated countless times over: small suppliers burnt by an industry making decisions they don’t have any control over.

Back on top Luckily for Rowlands Metalworks, which had been wise enough to keep their portfolio fairly diverse, they had the opportunity to emerge from the affair as a more mature company. A third of their business had gone, but Johnston and the team pushed on, spreading in to other markets.

They’re even back in the defence supply line, a little further down.

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This time it’s as a supplier of Adelaide-based APC Technology, a manufacturing company specialising in ruggedised computers, terminals and equipment. They make gear for rough conditions, capable of standing up to extreme shocks, temperatures and environments.

For some time a high percentage of APC’s business was in the defence sector. Over the last year five years their portfolio has diversified extensively. Managing Director Scott Begbie even says their most demanding customer is in the dairy industry, where the company’s gear takes more of a beating than it does in tanks.

However, according to Begbie, having a good supplier is even more important when it comes to defence work.

“It’s high-end stuff,” he says. “You have to know that when it turns up it’ll stand up to it and they’ll stand by their work. They do that and they’re great guys, we make great stuff together.”

Johnston and his team at Rowlands supply APC with a range of components that are employed in its final products.

“We do electrical cabinets and specialised electrical housing. We don’t just stop at sheet metal; we’ll also paint it or plate it. We’ll build as much or as little as the customer will let us do,” says Johnston. “We supply them and in turn they add to it their bits and pieces, and then it goes off to their defence customers.”

Rowlands’ engagement with APC was “nothing sexy”, says Johnston, just “a bit of shoe leather being worn out”.

“I think we wondered in the front door and asked ‘What do you do, what do you need?’ We started slowly and built up,” Johnston explains.

Rowlands’ previous experience in the defence industry helps the company immensely here, says Johnston. One of the most critical changes to come about was its quality certification, which the company recently renewed - and not just for defence.

“That was a good thing because it made us more conscious of our processes, and through that we can support customers in their aspirations for who they’re supplying,” says Johnston. “I said in our opening pitch to the auditor, the quality certification is to me good

Defence

Products made at Rowlands’s plant in Lonsdale, SA.

business practice irrespective of what our customers demand. It gives us the edge in terms of continually analysing what we’re doing and if we’re doing it the best way.

“That’s my role as MD. I’m not a sheet metal worker. It’s to ask what are our competitors in Germany or China doing? Quality is all about identifying gaps in the system and trying to plug them up - or finding better ways to do things.”

It’s a necessary step in supplying a customer like APC, whose work demands high-specification, low-tolerance components. It’s a challenge, but Rowlands tries and make sure it meets expectations in quality.

Johnston stresses that the company approaches quality in the broadest sense - not just the final product, but in accurate paperwork, job cards, travel documents that can be tracked, and beyond.

“Anyone can measure a box and make sure it’s the right size,” he adds.

“Needing to meet the certification has brought about a consciousness of their processes that they didn’t necessarily have before.

“There’s no question that defence has pushed us to be overall a better place than what we might otherwise have been. That’s a pretty positive thing, in terms of the technology transfer, the process transfer. I would very much subscribe to that.”

As for the company’s work with APC, it’s a more comfortable fit for Rowlands. Being a smaller supplier, having a larger company as a proxy between them and an occasionally fickle industry does work as a safeguard.

“We’re still a little worried about the nature of the engagement,” says Johnston. “The cold hard fact is that currently, I would be mad to walk away from APC. They are an integral part of what we do. If we lost them tomorrow I’d be devastated. It’s important to me that their profile of purchases from us are not only defence, but also that they’ve got broader customers.”

Johnston doesn’t give the impression that he regrets getting involved in defence in the first place, even if it put the company through some rough times in the past. For Rowlands, who made it through, it was an opportunity to grow and to learn.

“Would we do it again?,” he says. “Would we take up the cudgel again if it was offered? I think we definitely would. We just need to be a little older and wiser about how we commit.” www.rowlandsmetal.com.au AMT October 2014

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Defence

XTEK – Armed with innovation From its technology development and manufacturing base in Australia, XTEK is driving global innovation in the development of body armour, weapon ancillaries and unmanned aircraft systems.

Situated in Canberra, Sydney and Adelaide, the company’s management and staff hail from a range of military and police backgrounds, giving them extensive experience and knowledge in the homeland security market. Consequently, the company’s clients have access not only to cutting-edge products, but also to expert aftersales service, training, support and consultancy.

XTEK supplies advanced weapon systems to the Australian Defence Force and police, government, military and commercial customers in Australia and New Zealand. The company offers a range of products, ancillaries and services across explosive ordnance disposal, forensics, unmanned aircraft systems, high-risk security solutions and the weapons and ammunition sectors. A defence-recognised supplier of strategic capabilities, XTEK is also a member of the Defence Industry Security Program and a Department of Defence DMO-registered technical support agency. It also holds QMS ISO 9001-2008 accreditation.

In 2012, the company successfully completed the development of a ground-breaking composite manufacturing technology that makes it possible to produce lighter, stronger and stiffer composite parts.

XTEK complements its XTclave composite fabrication technology with traditional in-house CNC machining and injection moulding capabilities, to produce structural carbon-fibre components that offer significantly enhanced strength and stiffness.

In 2013, XTEK was awarded a US$1.5m contract by the US Department of Defense’s Foreign Comparative Testing Program for the development of advanced lightweight hard armour plate solutions using XTclave.

The XTclave utilises a novel, patented process to manufacture products including: • Personal ballistic armour including torso and limb protection plates and combat helmets.

• Custom-shaped armour panels for vehicles including cowlings, panel joiners and conduit housings.

• Air, land and maritime vehicle armour panels and spall liners.

The technology uses very high isostatic pressure to generate a fully dense composite with reduced resin ratio. While traditional autoclave systems impart isostatic pressure to consolidate composites, the magnitude of pressure is significantly less and is often inadequate for moulding complicated and detailed geometry.

The XTclave technology enables consistent production of advanced technical composites, such as precision, void-free, structural carbonfibre-reinforced laminates, particularly in the defence sector where small numbers of high-value products are routinely manufactured to exacting standards. Some components, such as solid rocket motor casings, are capable of withstanding extreme thermal and pressure loading. Others, such as small airframes, benefit greatly from the XTclave’s ability to fabricate complex geometric detail.

A major success for XTEK was the development of a bespoke chassis for the Blaser Tactical 2 Long Range Weapon System, tailoring the German platform to the current needs of modern snipers with enhanced functionality, performance and reduced weight. Assisted

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by experienced operator feedback, XTEK engineered enhancements including an ambidextrous folding rear-section that features a closedbolt handle, more ergonomic user interfaces, optimised optics mounts and higher-capacity magazines, while reducing system bulk.

Unmanned aircraft systems XTEK is the only Australian distributor for the world-leading AeroVironment range of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and electric transportation solutions. The US Department of Defense and allied military services use AeroVironment’s hand-launched unmanned aircraft systems extensively to provide situational awareness to tactical units through real-time, airborne reconnaissance, surveillance and communication.

XTEK has taken its UAS experience to the commercial sector with the development of in-house commercial-sector platforms in emerging marketspace. The predominant driver in this market is the cost-effective delivery of collected data and information. XTEK has applied this understanding to develop an easy-to-use, safe and costeffective UAS and has prototyped a number of fixed wing and multirotor versions that can be configured with various payloads to meet a client’s specific technical requirements. XTEK’s UAS technology is predominantly aimed at the mapping, surveying, 3D modelling as well as the asset and environmental monitoring market needs.

With all XTEK UASs remaining under 6kg, these are relatively small, cost-effective platforms compared to the manned aircraft options commonly in use today. XTEK’s first UAS is the XT350, a small quad-rotor mapping UAS weighing 1.2kg with a flight time of ten minutes, designed to be an entry-level mapping and 3D modelling tool aimed at first-time users. It will provide aerial imaging capabilities for the surveying, mining, agricultural, government and environmental monitoring sectors. To complement its emerging UAS manufacturing capability, XTEK also is establishing a UAS services capability, featuring maintenance, servicing and repair, as well as training and commercial leasing services.

Future-proof Future manufacturing will increasingly require fabrication technologies that deliver products with enhanced capability; typically increased strength and stiffness for structural components, allowing for weight reduction and subsequent gains in efficiency. With its XTclave technology, XTEK is well placed to provide such a capability, in applications ranging from personal and vehicle ballistic armour to structural components in airframes and soldier systems. The company is committed to building on this and its ability to develop cuttingedge solutions for the contemporary marketplace to offer enhanced operational capabilities to government and commercial organisations worldwide. www.xtek.net

Defence

CEA – From prototyping to production CEA Technologies has invested in a DMF vertical machining centre from DMG MORI to increase its R&D manufacturing flexibility.

CEA Technologies was established in 1983 by two former Naval Officers, with the goal of creating a centre of excellence for the design and support of systems for the Australian Defence Force (ADF). From the outset, the company’s philosophy was based on the provision of uncompromising design principles and robust through-life system support. This philosophy became an enduring driver of CEA’s business.

“Solutions with Commitment” was established as a pivotal tenet of CEA practices and remains the company’s primary driver in its business conduct, ensuring that the company continues to be at the forefront of innovation. Throughout its brief history, CEA’s achievements have continued to accumulate, resulting in the company growing to become an internationally recognised, world-leading radar and communication systems supplier.

The company continually endeavours to expand its reach into the international market and successfully exports to the USA, Europe, the Middle East and Pacific countries. A steady and continuous corporate growth has resulted in a corporate staff exceeding 270 people located across its five facilities in Australia (Canberra HQ, Adelaide, Melbourne, Newcastle and Perth) and one in the USA. One of the company’s greatest achievements came about in November 2010 when CEA delivered to the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) a world first – the first fourth-generation Active Phased Array Radar (PAR) System to be brought into service anywhere in the world.

The upgrade program will be complete in 2017, with the fourth ship currently being modified.

“We specialise in the design, development and manufacture of advanced antenna, radar and communications solutions for civil and military systems in land, maritime and air environments,” says Michael Hands, Office Manager of CEA’s manufacturing facility in Melbourne. Application areas include maritime surveillance, vessel traffic management, military communications, data fusion and active phased array radar.

The DMF series offers X-travel from 1800mm up to 6000mm, making it especially suitable for the machining of long workpieces.

“The key strength of the DMF concept is that it offers the highest machining flexibility, an increasingly important factor within the manufacturing industry”, explains Matthias Koch, Managing Director of DMG MORI Australia. “The combination of the swivel milling head and the long X travel of the DMF series even allows the integration of two NC rotary tables and five-axis twin-table machining of smaller workpieces to reduce set-up times. The DMF is the true champion when it comes to manufacturing flexibility.” www.cea.com.au www.dmgmori.com

CEA’s manufacturing capacities have substantially increased over the last few years with the successful installation of four NH4000 horizontal machining centres from DMG MORI. “DMG MORI’s horizontal machining centres are pure workhorses,” says Hands. “We run these machines unmanned to manufacture our production parts. However, horizontal machining is not ideal for prototyping. For the R&D side of our work, we needed a flexible machine that offers five-side machining as well as a large working envelope.”

In August this year, CEA installed DMG MORI’s DMF180, a 1.8m vertical machining centre with five-axis simultaneous machining capabilities.

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One on one

Professor Roy Green is the Dean of the UTS Business School at the University of Technology – Sydney. He spoke to William Poole.

AMT: Let’s start with your professional background to date.

Roy Green: I’ve been an academic as well as working in government and industry for most of my career, here and overseas. I was Dean of the National University of Ireland, Galway, which was an exhilarating experience, during the innovation boom in Ireland. On returning to Australia I was Dean at the Macquarie Graduate School of Management for three years, then I transferred to UTS, largely because I could see huge opportunities in connecting areas of interest to me, around creativity, technology and innovation. I felt UTS was a lot better placed than other universities to undertake inter-disciplinary projects and connect with industry and the community.

AMT: Describe an ordinary day.

RG: An element of routine administration is inevitable, but a significant part of the day is taken up with projects the university is working on with industry and with partners and stakeholders more generally. I see myself as a business dean who is externally engaged, developing a business school with a unique, differentiated approach to business and management education. Business education is our core business.

Our new, Frank Gehry-designed building, the Dr Chau Chak Wing building, reflects the ethos and direction of our whole approach - a more integrated approach that builds on specialised knowledge but is not confined to it, and creates graduates with boundary-crossing skills in teamwork, communication and problem-solving.

We’re also looking at how we position ourselves in what we call our Creative Precinct. Around UTS in this part of Sydney, we have an extraordinary flourishing of creative industries - larger companies like Google and IBM, but also smaller companies and startups, in a range of areas with strong connections into other industries, including manufacturing. It’s not an isolated group, but is deeply connected into Australia’s future as a knowledge-based economy.

AMT: Regarding manufacturing and, what projects do you have underway?

RG: Where should we start? There are many! One is with the Auto CRC, looking at the future of the Australian car industry. Many people assume the car industry will be dead after the departure of Holden, Ford and Toyota, but we have a much larger group in the components sector than was ever in car assembly. What happens to them?

Many are deeply embedded in local car assembly and will have to reposition to survive. Many will not, but others have been farsighted and have already begun to diversify: into other industries like medical technologies, defence, electronics, renewables; or into the car components sector in a global context, participating in global supply chains and global production networks. We have some amazing companies already moving their activities – like Marand in Melbourne, into aerospace, or Precision in Adelaide, into the US auto industry.

The Auto CRC was looking for assistance with that strategic repositioning. I guess you could summarise it as a sector in which there are three groups. One is already diversifying and will thrive - these are Australia’s new class of micro-multinationals, SMEs with a global orientation, sometimes best-in-class at what they do in the world. We don’t celebrate them enough. In fact most people would never have heard of them; they just associate manufacturing with decline, but that’s far from the case.

The second group – while not caught unawares by the closure of the assembly sector –nevertheless need to reposition. And it is very worthwhile for public policy to consider the implications of that. It’s not a matter of picking winners, it’s identifying future competitive strengths

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for the economy, and this is one of them. Then we have a third group who you’d have to say are in denial. Many will disappear and it would be a waste of public resources to prevent that. We need a very carefully targeted, strategic approach to what we do in the post-car-assembly world. Another very exciting area is design-led innovation. Our new Professor of Design & Innovation, Sam Bucolo, has led a number of projects for us concerning the significance of non-technological innovations in transforming companies to be more competitive. One form of non-technological innovation is design, an area in which SMEs around the world are capturing value from global value chains. This is something Australian firms are beginning to realise and many of them are now doing.

A good example is RøDE Microphones. RøDE used to produce a small number of microphones for the Sydney market - under Peter Freedman’s leadership, they’re now one of the world’s leading microphone suppliers, producing 60,000 a month. Freedman adopts a design innovation approach, understanding his customers, what they want and how to anticipate market trends. He incorporates huge technology innovations, such as robotics and automation, but also non-technological forms around design innovation.

Professsor Bucolo led a project recently which set out the strategic considerations around design-led innovation, and took a number of companies around Australia as case study examples of how to proceed in this direction. UTS are taking the lead in this area, in Australia and with a number of global partners. This links to our view of the future of business education, in the way we prepare tomorrow’s graduates to implement such strategies, whether they are coming into companies as employees or developing their own startup venture.

AMT: What do you regard as the greatest strengths of Australian manufacturing at the moment?

RG: I think agility in the face of immense competitive pressures would be a key strength. Not everyone shares that strength, but those who don’t aren’t going to be with us long. We’ve gone through a number of periods of transition in Australia. The major one in the last quartercentury has been the reduction of tariffs, requiring Australian companies to reposition for competitive international markets. Now we’re faced with an even greater challenge with the end of the commodity prices phase of the mining boom - our terms of trade have been wound back and it has revealed two things.

One is that we have been lagging in productivity growth compared to the 1990s. One feature of the manufacturing restructuring in the 1980s and 1990s was that we were achieving high productivity growth and therefore with a lower dollar we could become competitive in many areas. Now we have a decline in productivity growth that was masked during the mining boom. And we have a double whammy because, whereas with the end of the 1980s boom the dollar followed the terms of trade down, now the dollar is stubbornly stuck at much higher levels thanks to Australia being perceived as a safe haven currency. This puts double pressure on Australian manufacturing firms: the high dollar making them less competitive; low productivity meaning relatively high real unit labour costs.

So how do we compete? The mining boom has run out of steam.

We’ll continue to export raw materials, but we can’t survive on those terms because the prices for those exports have gone down. Do we throw up our hands and say we should move to the service sector?

Do we move to a third-world economic structure where we hope to maintain first-world living standards by selling each other café lattes?

I don’t think so!

The only remaining source of growth for us is knowledge-intensive manufactures, and we need to understand where our competitive strengths lie in those areas. Other countries are doing it. The UK, for which manufacturing had been written off, has engineered a manufacturing revival largely driven by public policy and relationships between universities, businesses and government agencies, using design-led innovation to create a class of micro-multinationals which undertake “smart specialisation” in global value chains. Now Britain’s equivalent of Germany’s Mittelstand is growing faster than the Mittelstand itself.

It shows that public policy can have an effect, contrary to the views expressed by editorial writers and economists who think leaving things to the market will produce optimal outcomes. It doesn’t work that way in the real world; we have to mobilise resources to ensure that areas that we identify as future competitive strengths, we can deliver on.

Every advanced country does this; they try to understand where they want to be as an economy in 2020 or 2030.

There’s no reason Australia can’t do the same. We count around 1500 micro-multinationals around Australia, none of them household names, many exporting 80%-90% of their product, many of them as good as any business in the market segments in which they operate around the world, sometimes better. Those companies, which contribute significantly to Australian growth, are too busy to participate in the sometimes less-than-sophisticated debates on the future of manufacturing in Australia, which do no justice to the role that public policy can play in identifying and delivering future competitive advantage.

AMT: You contributed to the Prime Minister’s Manufacturing Taskforce report under the previous government. What’s your view of the current administration’s response to that report’s recommendations?

But the current government has a very narrow view of economic policy and the role of government. They’ve taken the opportunity of a claimed budget emergency to cut back on a lot of initiatives or replace them with new ones. It hasn’t been a favourable policy environment for manufacturing in Australia.

The discussion so far has revolved around whether the car industry should receive subsidies, but that isn’t even the most important discussion. The important discussion is about those areas of future competitive advantage and growth - in particular the growth of Australian manufacturing micro-multinationals and their role in global markets and value chains.

AMT: Where do you see the future of manufacturing in Australia?

RG: It’s hard to be optimistic at present, except in pockets of dynamic, innovative activity. As I said, there are possibly 1500 interesting, innovative and successful micro-multinationals in Australia, operating below the radar. The problem is we’re not doing enough in this space, and we’re not seeing any leadership from the government or public policy that would encourage us to do so. So the headline stories are the continuing closure of large-scale plants, which everyone identifies with manufacturing as a whole, which is not the case.

The public debate is very superficial and dispiriting, but this is not necessarily representative of the reality, which in many cases is very dynamic and forward-looking. What we do need now is a strong appreciation on the part of government and the community as to the role that manufacturing will play in the post-mining boom economy.

The right questions are being asked: where do growth and productivity come from? But we’re not seeing as yet the right answer. A large part of that answer has to be knowledge-based advanced manufacturing and related services.

RG: I think it’s disappointing to see statements such as “the end of the age of entitlement” from the Treasurer, who shows no understanding of the economic imperative that drove the discussions in that Taskforce.

It was made up of some of Australia’s leading manufacturers and supported by academic research. It was one of the first times there’d been detailed consideration of how we wish to position as an economy in the advanced manufacturing space.

We still employ almost 1m people in manufacturing in Australia, it’s still a large proportion of our economy and employs about the same number as in the 1960s, yet we have quadrupled production thanks to productivity change over that period. But we needed to understand where to go next and that was the purpose of the report – to look at the way in which we can transform businesses in Australia to capture value at the higher end of the value chain, in clusters of activity.

It led to a proposal from the government to establish Innovation Precincts, where complementary activities in areas of existing or potential competitive advantage could be leveraged. It led to various recommendations around collaboration between universities and business and research agencies such as the CSIRO. It also led to discussions of how to further develop the successful Enterprise Connect program. It had a number of positive outcomes where we thought a consensus was reached.

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forming & Fabrication

Revolutionising steel-beam fabrication Based in Styria in southeastern Austria, the Zeman company has developed a fully automated production line for practically any type of steel beam that includes add-on parts. Individual components arrive on a conveyor at one end, emerging at the other as a perfectly assembled steel beam.

Until recently, the only way fabricators could put steel beams together was by hand.

Structural-steel elements were assembled by manually welding on headplates, baseplates, connection plates and any necessary stiffeners. In Western countries, this is no longer economically viable. More and more firms have therefore relocated their production to low-wage countries, only to face problems with technical fulfilment, deadline-keeping and quality control.

Zeman’s new automated production line does away with these drawbacks. The Steel Beam Assembler (SBA) performs all the steps involved in fabricating a steel member without anyone needing to lift a finger.

Instead, computer-controlled robots execute CAD drawings, in a fraction of the time, errorfree.

The first step is that a conveyor system feeds all the add-on parts into the production line past a high-powered scanner. This detects the position of each part, then captures its dimensions and compares these with target values in the CAD drawings to ensure compliance with specified tolerances. The scanner relays all these data to the positioning robot, in real-time.

This robot now has the job of picking up parts one by one, and positioning them correctly on the steel beam. It has several different magnetic grippers to safely pick up parts of differing sizes and weights. If any parts come in from the in-feed table facing the wrong way, the robot can briefly set them down, then pick them up again the right way round.

The robot handles these tasks much more quickly and accurately than a human ever could. There is no longer any need for laborious measuring up, or the fiddly job of manually attaching add-on parts. With diagonally arranged parts, the task of positioning these dimensionally accurately, and fitting them up in the correct positions, is also carried out smoothly and flawlessly.

Angles, tappets and frame corners are also no problem.

In the case of thick add-on parts and large weld-seams, it is important to pre-heat parts to be joined to prevent distortion or stresscracking. This pre-heating is carried out by the positioning robot, using a heat torch.

Once the plates are correctly placed on the beam, one of the two welding robots tackwelds the plates to the main member in the order dictated by the positioning robot.

If higher capacity and output are needed, the production line can be designed with two parallel lines. In dual-line configuration,

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Robotic beam assembly

while the welding robots finish welding the workpiece on one line the positioning robot can work on the other. The welding robots are also equipped with all the necessary tools - welding torch, plasma cutting device and laser measuring system - with changeovers performed fully automatically.

The welding robots are mounted on a shared longitudinal trackway, but can be separately controlled. For transverse and vertical strokes, there are two further traverse-axes for each robot. The vertical axis also has a telescoping unit, which enables the line to be installed in production buildings of the usual height.

Each welding robot is equipped with laser measuring heads. This enables them to recognise the actual fit-up situation and compensate for any weldment tolerances.

With the plasma-cutting device, the robots can trim edges ready for large-volume welding seams, and make any openings needed in the web, or cut-outs on the members.

When the steel beam is finished, it emerges from the line via the unloading device. The line is designed in such a way that not even a power outage has damaging consequences: Once power is restored, work can resume unhindered.

Innovative software The SBA is the outcome of nearly five years of research and development, and an investment of €4.5m. Significant effort went into the control software in particular. Again and again, fundamental concepts were rethought and significant elements rejected.

The programming work proved exceedingly complex.

For a start, to ensure maximum productivity there must not be any timing overlaps between the two production lines, which would cause unwanted downtime. This made it imperative to prevent any waiting times due to both lines needing to use shared plant components like the scanner or the positioning robot at the same time.

Two production lines mean twice the volume of data, so computing capacity had to be increased. Many computational steps had to be executed in parallel, and with the technology available when the project began, this presented both a challenge and a risk.

As practically all parts of the plant are in operation simultaneously, it was necessary to ensure that the robots do not intrude into each other’s territory and cause collisions, putting a further burden on computing capacity.

Now fully proven and perfected, the control program – called pro-FIT – is the centrepiece of the machine. It consists of several overlapping modules. The first is the clerical processing module, which prepares the production operation, defines the position of each of the parts for attachment, and specifies the welds. Module Two is the control station, where work is divided between the plant control system and the robots. The third is an extensive databank of ‘collected works’ about assembling steel members, and the parameters used in production.

Hardware development began with the in-feed tables. When the plant has two

forming & Fabrication simultaneously, there are also no downtimes.

The beam is automatically fed into the SBA, clamped, and fed out again after fabrication.

Crane-handling is no longer necessary.

production lines, both use the same scanner.

If the positioning robot used by both lines is to be able to pick up parts from both tables and place them correctly on the steel beam, the two in-feed tables must be running absolutely in parallel. Over a length of 30 metres, the maximum tolerance allowed is just plus/minus half a millimetre.

The scanner itself comes from Plasmo Industrietechnik and was specially developed for the SBA with assistance from Arsenal Research. The main problem here was the varying heights of the steel plates and tappets (4-250mm), and the varying widths of the plates (up to 800mm). Firstly, standard solutions were not up to the task because their sensors cannot focus accurately enough – the tolerance required in the measuring of the parts (< 0.2mm) was impossible with conventional scanners. Secondly, the harsh working conditions on steel fabrication shopfloor, so close to welding robots and exposed to metallic dust, presented further obstacles. Through extensive tests, Plasmo and Arsenal Research found a system that met all the demands made of it.

The principal hardware developer was ABB Robotics.

“ABB has worked with us previously on a number of successful joint developments, with us covering all the development costs”, says Ersoy Asil, the Technical Manager for Mechanical Engineering at Zeman. For the welding technology, his company turned to Fronius, and the linear guideway system is from Güdel.

Being fully automated, the SBA delivers savings in man-power costs, minimising labour input. In addition, all the empirical values acquired over the course of many years’ structural steel fabrication experience are filed away in a database, available for reuse on a huge range of different projects.

This enables the SBA to be used in situations where there would not be sufficiently skilled personnel available for manual fabrication.

The main way in which clients can save money at the same time as increasing their capacity is because of the much shorter production times. Zeman promises reductions of up to 85% here. Instead of at least eight hours for a tonne of steel, it now takes just under two hours for the beam to be completely finished.

This also cuts the energy costs.

Moreover, with the correct data, the result is high levels of accuracy and quality. This is taken care of by the control software, which can import all the production data directly from any standard CAD program. Human errors such as misinterpretation, accidental confusion of components or other careless mistakes are a thing of the past – as is the costly subsequent finishing work necessitated by errors during manual assembly.

There is also no longer any need to rectify weld-seam defects, because ultimately even a superbly well-trained specialist could never weld as precisely as a machine. The SBA enhances welding quality still further by automatically pre-heating the weldment.

When higher-grade structural steels are being welded, getting the perfect weld-seam depends upon ensuring uniform thermal input. This also protects the weldment from distortion and stress cracking. Both engineering and detailing data and the individual production phases are monitored at all times – from when components are fed into the installation, all the way through to

when they emerge as the finished product.

Thanks to the machine’s great flexibility, its spectrum of use ranges from one-off L4L fabrication all the way down to singleitem lots. In principle, the SBA can handle all common beam formats: rolled sections, welded plate girders, tapered beams or special formats such as Zeman SIN beams.

Member heights range from 200mm to 1560mm, and the lengths from 3000mm to 16,000mm.

Unlike conventional rolled sections, in this type of I-section girder the web is not straight but is ‘corrugated’ in a wavy, sinusoidal shape. This means greater stability at the same time as lower wall thicknesses. A corrugated profile has the big advantage that its constructional design in itself is sufficient to prevent local bulging – and thus to prevent possible subsequent failure of the beam. Corrugatedweb beams also save around 45% of the weight, with cost-savings to match.

This cost advantage was largely forfeited due to the comparatively labour-intensive manual fabrication of these beams, until 12 years ago when Zeman launched the world’s first fully automated production line for beams of this type. Today, corrugated-web beams of 330-1500mm in width, and 4000-16,000mm in length, can be manufactured 100 % automatically. The web itself only needs to be between 1.5mm and 3mm thick to obtain the desired loading capacity. With the largest possible web height of 1.5m, for example, clear spans of over 40m can be bridged.

In addition, it is no longer necessary to keep a wide variety of different sections in stock.

Web plate, in reels, and flanges in larger plate formats that can be cut to length as necessary, are all that is needed for just-intime production of any desired beam. The corrugated-web beam technology from Zeman also served as the basis for the SBA. www.zeman-stahl.com www.smsales.com.au

As already mentioned, the machine is available as either a single or double-line installation.

For the maximum beam-length of 16m, it is 62m long. The length of any particular plant is easy to work out: the beam-length times three, plus approximately 15m to allow for the fact that the three production zones – infeed, welding and out-feed – cannot be lined up seamlessly behind one another. The width is 13.5m for a two-line plant, and just under 8m for a single-line one. At 6m, both versions have the same height.

Multiple advantages Fabrication with the SBA offers various advantages. There is no need for manual measuring and marking out, as the machine detects every position. Because the robots both work on the same weldment AMT October 2014

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Modern, fully automated manufacturing Manufactured by Krasser in Graz, Austria, the Centurio is a fully automated system for sheetmetal cutting, coil-handling and warehousing.

Sold exclusively in Australia and New Zealand by Sheetmetal Machinery Australia, the Krasser Centurio is the fastest, most advanced system for handling coil, enabling users to change over coils automatically in two minutes or less, change knives in less than 30 seconds, and obtain accurate cuts of +/-0.1mm. Automated handling eliminates human error and scrap waste, maximising efficiency and saving time and money. Stateof-the-art software and hardware enable increased productivity, cutting costs while boosting the bottom line.

The Centurio’s slitter alone is one of the very best in the industry for cutting. The knife blades last longer because they are automatically set precisely in position.

Continuous length slitting is done by up to eight pairs of cutting knives, with diagonal cutting done by a guillotine shear or the optional rotary shear, for further material optimisation.

Because of the variety of sheetmetal types and colours used in different industries and for different applications, the Centurio comes equipped with a material database. It can handle steel from 0.5mm to 1.5mm, as well as other sheet metals such as stainless steel and aluminium. All machine adjustments – for different materials, cutting clearance, knife positions, cutting depth and so on – are done automatically. Some customers invest just in the slitter, but to realise the full cost savings and efficiencies of the Centurio, there are great productivity advantages in the automated coil-handling and warehousing system.

The Centurio automatic coil-warehousing system is designed to meet each customer’s needs. It handles coils up to five tons, and can be configured to store and manage from five to 70 coils. It transports the selected coil to the slitting and cutting machine and automatically inserts the sheetmetal via a patented clamping system into the slitter and cutting unit.

The Centurio dramatically improves the quality of metal cutting and reduce scrap, while saving on manpower, increasing safety, and still tripling production output. It eliminates inventory costs from scratched or damaged coils caused by the use of forklifts for coil changeovers. While coil changeover times are cut to under two minutes, users have the assurance of always knowing exactly how much metal coil inventory is on hand. The coil is weighed with every use and the results are automatically entered into the material database.

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Bendex3D – integrated automation To further automate the Centurio system and the overall operation, Bendex3D is an integrated software solution for sheetmetal manufacturing. The revolutionary system covers all aspects of manufacturing, including cost calculation, process planning, job scheduling, production control and offcut optimisation. Bendex3D is an easy-to- use system that is constantly being improved and refined and offers many possibilities to increase productivity.

According to Bendex3D’s developers, the idea was to create a powerful yet easy-touse tool that accelerates the planning and job scheduling of sheetmetal parts wherever you are - in the office or using a smartphone or tablet PC. Moreover, input errors are avoided, and instantly generated price and material reports help to save time and money.

Using the internal planning tool, users can create customer-specific offers within a matter of seconds, because price and material lists are automatically generated.

Unnecessary order confirmations regarding material, quantities, size or colour are also eliminated through the creation of all necessary manufacturing documents and machine data.

Using the online order system, customers, suppliers as well as internal and external staff can order individual sheetmetal profiles in a matter of seconds: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Bendex3D automatically creates the relevant offer for customers, while the system only accepts orders that can actually be manufactured. Bendex3D informs the user about manufacturing feasibility and difficulties, and additional processes and finishes such as punching, cutting, notching

or tapered parts can additionally be ordered without any additional administrative outlay during the calculation stage.

Internal and external staff can take in orders that customers have created online and release them for production. The production team always works with complete drawings.

Bendex3D generates fully automatic bending programs for RAS XL-Center and XXL-Center folding machines: Construction drawings, material lists and programs can be sent to the machines via USB or the company network.

The service and quality gains achieved through Bendex3D promote sales and customer loyalty , while increasing efficiency and productivity. Bendex3D accelerates processes in all manufacturing stages, before, during and after production. An entire day’s production requirements can be optimised in ways that maximise production speed and minimise scrap. The combination of Centurio and Bendex lets users become fully automated, modern manufacturers. www.sheetmetalmachinery.com.au

forming & Fabrication

Industrial Laser – Maximising resources The general formula for increased profits is to keep overheads down and productivity up.

Industrial Laser Services delivers on both by extending the productive life of mechanically sound laser machines by replacing the aged parts – the laser source, the CNC control, the cutting head and the capacitive height electronics. The result is a reliable machine with renewed functionality and reliability, at a fraction of replacement cost.

Andrew Miles, the owner of General Laser in Melbourne’s west, has maintained this philosophy since he started his company in 2002 with a used Laserlab machine. That machine is still in use today, with a new Silvers control, new Precitec cutting head and capacitive height sensing electronics, and a new PRC 2.5kW laser.

His latest acquisition (the fourth to date) is a refurbished BLS machine with the same treatment, this time with a new 4kW PRC laser for 20mm mild steel. By using the same make of laser and control on all machines, and with a wider range of machines, his operators can move between them freely, maximising productivity and maintaining consistent quality.

By keeping investment cost down and reliability and productivity up, General Laser has continued to grow in what has proven to be a very competitive environment.

“Industrial Laser has supported my company from its first day of operation and has been our sole source of laser equipment and service,” says Andrew. “I see no reason for this to change in the future.”

On the other side of Melbourne, Gippsland CNC is another example.

When Alan Cuthill decided to add laser cutting to his plasma and fabrication business, he knew his immediate needs but not necessarily where his market was heading. He wanted to develop his market before committing to a particular machine.

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His solution was to rent a laser cutting machine from Industrial Laser to meet his immediate needs, and re-evaluate in 12 months. A year later his laser customer base had grown and, so he sent back the rented machine and bought a more powerful, refurbished machine from Industrial Laser to handle up to 20mm mild steel.

With Industrial Laser’s help, Gippsland CNC has been able to adapt to its developing customer base and, by keeping investment costs down and productivity up, their growth continues.

“We have been an Industrial Laser customer from day one,” says Alan.

“Their equipment, expertise and service are exceptional and I consider them to be a major factor in our current and future success.” www.industriallaser.com.au

Richard Ladley of Industrial Laser (left) with Andrew Miles of General Laser.

What company has such vision?

Graeme Johnson of Industrial Laser (left) with Alan Cuthill of Gippsland CNC.

Innovation Rules www.starrett.com.au

Contact Us on (02) 9620 6944 AMT October 2014

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forming & Fabrication

Precision Components - Hot stampin’ When Precision Components invested in hot stamping, the Adelaide-based company placed itself at the cutting edge in terms of metal-forming work for the automotive industry. By Jack Baldwin.

The advanced manufacturing technique, whereby a patented steel blank is heated in excess of 950 degrees Celsius, formed in the press and then quickly quenched in a die cavity, has impressive results. Daniel Ying, Precision Components’ Business Development Manager, said that it’s ideal for automotive companies trying to achieve good crash test results while keeping weight down.

“What makes it unique is before the material has been heated up, it’s the same strength as normal steel shaped in a cold stamping machine,” Ying explains. “But after the hot stamping process, the material becomes three times stronger.”

It also has less chance of suffering from springback, and complex components can be formed in a single stroke.

Automotive companies would typically use thick steel in a vehicle’s key safety components to protect a passenger in the event of a crash. With hot stamping, they can use thinner material, not needing to weld or join any parts, meaning that they achieve the same or better crash test results while keeping weight much lower - essential for meeting fuel consumption expectations in modern vehicles.

find new areas for its hot stamping machine to be put to use profitably.

“We have a unique capability in hot stamping,” says Ying. “Nobody else in Australia can do it. That includes the OEM companies. They don’t have that kind of facility.”

In fact, it was its automotive customers that pushed Precision to take up the technology in the first place.

“We’d heard about the technology and were looking for opportunities,” says Ying explains.

“GM needed hot stamped components for the new VF Commodore, which is now on the market,” Ying explains.

It was the first car in Australia with a total of ten components made entirely from hot stamping.

“They had to make a decision,” he adds.

“Either they purchase these parts from overseas, or they have a local supplier to manufacture them. At the time there was no hot stamping suppler in the country.

“They found one in Korea, a company called GNS, and asked them to have a joint venture with us at Precision, to introduce that capability. That’s the background.”

The technique is by and large automated - Precision employs just two people in the process.

“Everything is basically done by the machine and the robot,” Ying says. “From that perspective it’s a very advanced setup.”

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It also has an advantage over traditional stamping as a lower tonnage - around 30-40% - is needed to form the material.

However, due to the steel’s much higher strength after being hot stamped, traditional steel trimming dies won’t cut it. Instead, Precision uses a large laser to trim the edges of the parts, ready for shipping.

After automotive Unfortunately for Precision, the very capabilities that has made it so well suited to working with the automotive industry - and placed the company as the number one or two stamping supplier in the country - are the ones causing it trouble now. While its array of other high-tonnage pressers can be put to use on more diverse applications, hot stamping is a technique best suited for automotive. Despite a sustained effort to diversify, it’s been hard for the company to

“To be honest, we still haven’t been able to identify a proper product outside of automotive,” says Ying. “There are two reasons. The whole process, the hot stamping and laser cut - they are highly efficient methods for the automotive style of manufacturing, high-volume manufacturing.

“The second is probably because it’s still unknown to most of the industry. I think there are applications but we haven’t been able to identify them yet. We talk to our customers but most people don’t know about it.”

There is one industry that might end up being Precision’s saviour, should it prove to be the right fit.

“We have been approached by the defence industry,” says Ying. “I can’t name them, but there are people doing some studies to utilise hot stamping for defence projects. It’s early days, but there’s a lot of work behind it.

“Hopefully there are some encouraging outcomes from that end.” www.precisioncomponents.com.au

forming & Fabrication

Metal spinning – A forgotten trade Metal spinning is one of the oldest trades in the world, known mainly for spinning thin gauge material.

Using modern CNC machines, Woodland Metal Spinning can now spin stainless up to 6mm with a tolerance of 0.05mm. If a job is round and hollow and has a wall thickness of less than 6mm, there is a possibility it could be spun, which would deliver savings both in terms of materials and in the machining necessary. According to Woodland, it has delivered finished products in many cases for the cost of the billet of material.

Woodland boasts one of the most advanced metal forming manufacturing facilities in Australia, with a team dedicated to providing innovative solutions for its clients. Established in 1937, the company has customers through Australia and is proudly 100% Australian owned. Located south-west of Sydney in a modern 2000 sqm factory, Woodland strives to maintain its place in the industry through a strategy of investing in outstanding people, cutting-edge CNC machinery, and a state-of-the-art in-house toolmaking facility.

In 2012, the company continued its policy of embracing new technologies with the purchase of the latest CNC spinning lathe from Leifeld in Germany. Woodland can now accurately form mild steel up to 8mm and stainless steel up to 6mm. According to Woodland, the machine is equipped with technology that enables it to complete multiple operations in one go, with unmatched capability in terms of precision and production standards.

In today’s changing world and ever-more competitive manufacturing sector, Woodland aims to maintain its solid position through preserving old-world values, building long-term relationships and supporting its customers through the generations. The company’s client base ranges across a variety of industries including: industrial, commercial, mining and defence. www.woodland.net

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Innovation Through Passion AMT October 2014

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forming & Fabrication

Making metal bending costeffective in Australia Many companies are increasingly turning to offshore providers for their metal bends and other components. Customers mainly cite cheaper price points as the leading reason for overlooking local companies. However, this is often assumed rather than verified – you would be surprised just how far your Australian dollar will go without having to go offshore. And you will get superior quality and service as well.

Based in Maryborough, Queensland, Bendpro operates in stark contrast to the assumption that cheaper equals better. While the savings may indeed exist, they are marginal at best and customers often end up paying more to correct shoddy materials and/or a job that does not quite fit the brief.

Bendpro started off as Rotech Industry in 1984 and has since built up over 30 years of experience in delivering quality products and services to customers in nationally. The company is 100% Australian-owned and has a number of clients that operate in a wide range of industries.

There are a number of reasons why opting for an offshore solution may not be the best avenue to take for your business.

Why the procedure matters When it comes to metal bends and components, accurate delivery and quality materials matter. If the bending procedure is off by even a minute percentage point, the project can be put under significant risk. Bendpro uses state-of-the-art technology, years of experience, and thorough quality assurance testing to ensure clients receive highend products that will not put components in jeopardy at a later date.

Bendpro is quality-accredited to ISO9001:2008, which means each project it takes on meets stringent industry standards.

Offshore companies, on the other hand, cannot guarantee that this will be the case. And when it comes to safeguarding your project, this is a chance you should not have to take. With jobs that require specialised pipe bending, it is important to ensure that mistakes are not made along the way.

One of the problems many engineers and company purchasers have had with offshore suppliers is the lack of product and service variety.

While one company may be able to effectively bend steel, it will not have the necessary equipment to deal with other materials such as copper or brass, for example. The added expense that is involved with looking for a new supplier comes alongside the risk of using multiple companies.

Bendpro employs state-of-the-art machinery and CNC bending machines that can effectively handle aluminium, steel, brass, copper and alloys. This means it is therefore unnecessary to look anywhere else for delivery of any additional requirements, even if they develop further after the project’s inception.

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To facilitate the issue of large stock hold, Bendpro offers smaller batch runs to customers nationwide. Together with deals that are already in place with approved freight companies throughout the country, customers are guaranteed quick delivery and turnaround. Offshore solutions often require large initial orders, frequently far exceeding requirements. Furthermore, delivery times are far slower and additional paperwork will often need to be completed.

Experience and service Whether the client operates in the automotive, agricultural, medical, mining, or the oil and gas industry, Bendpro has the necessary experience to deliver customised products that are geared for their specific requirements. Offshore companies may claim to offer targeted products, but will often instead deliver generic varieties that do not tick all the boxes. While offshore materials may deliver in terms of quality (which can never be guaranteed), the personalised customer experience that is built around what the customer’s needs are often impossible to deliver.

At Bendpro, the utmost effort is made to tailor each and every delivery to exact specifications and industry requirements. Bendpro’s service does not end when the products are delivered – the company places a strong emphasis on customer support, ensuring technical proficiency as well as local staff that understand exactly what the customer means and can ensure nothing is lost in translation.

Many customers mistakenly assume that offshore solutions are far cheaper by definition – but the differences are often negligible.

Although materials may indeed be a little less expensive, they will not receive the guaranteed quality offered by Bendpro. The company can also help customers who run into any issues post-delivery, which is something that cannot be said for most offshore companies. Products are delivered to requirements, with a personalised level of service, and without the expensive necessity to revisit a job in future.

Whether the customer is an engineer, an OEM looking for a reliable supplier, or a purchaser for an oil, gas, mining, energy, or construction company, Bendpro has the experience and knowhow to deliver a tailored solution coupled with quality materials. Moreover, Bendpro consistently strives to pass on savings to the consumers while still delivering an environmentally responsible product. www.bendpro.com.au

company focus

Amaero Engineering - Adding value Drawing upon a wealth of academic expertise in additive manufacturing processes, Amaero Engineering is a new venture dedicated to utilising that knowledge in a growing variety of commercial applications. By William Poole.

Some of the components produced by Amaero.

Based in Notting Hill, Victoria, Amaero was established in March 2013 and, following an initial six-month set-up period, has been trading for just over 12 months. The company has close links to the Monash University Centre for Additive Manufacturing (MCAM), essentially serving as its commercial arm. With access to MCAM staff, the company currently has a core technical complement of five, though CEO Robert Hobbs expects the headcount to increase as the opportunities grow.

“We’re particularly involved in additive manufacturing in metals, producing metal components using laser-based processes,” says Hobbs. “At this stage of our development we’re working with a number of companies, mainly in preparing prototypes of components that they’re interested in developing further, and doing feasibility studies for them as to whether this method of manufacture is going to make sense for scale-up.”

The processes that Amaero utilises are costly, so its work is largely confined to low-volume runs of complex, high value-added components, as opposed to mass-production parts, particularly in areas such as aerospace, specialised vehicles, and high-end automotive and motorsport. This inevitably means a client base heavily slanted toward overseas companies, though the often-cited “tyranny of distance” has not proved too significant an obstacle.

“They do value that fact that we’ve been able to produce prototypes rapidly and work with them even though we’re quite a long way away,” says Hobbs. “We’re able to work on that 24-hour cycle - they send us files when they go to bed, and we’ve started producing it by the time they get up! We’ve had very good feedback from the companies because of our ability to respond quickly.”

Hobbs adds that there is also growing interest from Australian companies as they become ever-more alert to the possibilities offered by additive manufacturing. Given the costs and the relative novelty of the technology, a lot of companies are turning to Amaero for proof of concept, for help in making sense of the processes.

Besides the key areas of aerospace and defence, Amaero is also targeting industries such as oil & gas and mining. Alongside production of new parts, the maintenance and refurbishment of equipment in sectors such as these represent a significant business opportunity for the company.

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“You can put an outer layer of cladding of very hard material onto parts to increase their wear resistance,” says Ben Batagol, Amaero’s Business Development Manager. “We are able to do that with our blown-powder machine.”

While prototyping forms a large, and still expanding part of Amaero’s activities, the aim is to move beyond that and get into limited-volume commercial production, with the company essentially becoming a contract manufacturer producing complex, high-value components for OEMs. “We’ll try and position ourselves through strategic alliance relationships with companies we’ve hand-picked to work with. We would become part of their global supply chain,” says Batagol. “We might choose a very specialised part of their supply chain to focus on.”

Layer by layer Amaero employs two different additive manufacturing processes: powder-bed selective laser sintering; and blown-powder lasermelting. The powder-bed process involves using very fine spherical metal powder, spread in a very thin film across a base plate. A laser then traces an outline and fuses the metal onto the baseplate to make the first layer of the component, after which the plate drops down by 50 microns (about the thickness of a human hair) and a fresh film of powder is laid on top. The laser traces over it again to weld that lot of powder onto the layer beneath, and the process repeats over and over to progressively build the component layer by layer.

One of Amaero’s two EOS INT 280M powder-bed selective laser melting machines.

company focus

The Concept Laser XLine is the largest powder-bed machine on the market.

Amaero CEO Robert Hobbs and Business Development Manager Ben Batagol, in front of the Trumpf 7040 machine.

Amaero’s workshop includes a Concept Laser XLine and two EOS INT 280M powder-bed selective laser melting machines. The XLine is currently the largest powder-bed machine on the market. There are only five such machines in the world at present, and Amaero’s is one of only two that are open to external customers, the others belonging to big companies for use purely in-house. Consequently, Amaero’s XLine has generated significant interest from companies around the world.

“With the powder bed, the limit is basically the size of the bed,” explains Hobbs. “So our big machine has a bed volume of 630mm by 400mm by 500mm. That’s the largest we can build with it, which is eight times larger in volume than most other machines available. In terms of shapes, we can build almost anything. If you have projecting ledges, you need to provide support structure underneath beforehand, which is then removed at the end of the operation, but you can build basically anything with it.”

The second process, blown-powder laser-melting, involves a laser mounted on a five-axis robot. The metal powder is blown into stream of the laser plasma, which melts it and deposits it onto the part beneath. The part is again built gradually, from the bottom up, but with the head moving around progressively in a spiral, and without the bed of powder. Amaero’s Trumpf 7040 laser-cell blown-powder facility can accommodate components of up to 4000mm by 1500mm by 750mm.

“With the blown-powder process, you’re able to operate in free space, so it’s very flexible in the shapes that you can produce,” explains Hobbs.

“We find, though, that the process is most effective where you’re using it to repair intricate structures on an existing component. For example, take a turbine blade set – the edge of turbine blades are usually worn, so we can refurbish those edges to a very high tolerance.”

The choice of materials is strictly confined to metals, but within that category, the options are extensive, and growing.

“We can use any metals or alloys that you can get in powder form,” says Hobbs. “And that range is expanding every day. Because of the interest from the aerospace industry, we’ve tended to concentrate on alloys that they use, such as nickel-based alloys for very hightemperature applications, or else the high-strength aluminium alloys used for castings and housings and that sort of thing. Titanium is another area we’re working in because of its interest to the aerospace industry.”

Alongside its state-of-the-art additive manufacturing technology, Amaero’s facilitites feature an array of cutting-edge equipment. It recently took delivery of a Mitutoyo co-ordinate measuring machine (CMM) from MTI Qualos, to ensure the high levels of precision and quality its clients demand. It also boasts a hot isostatic pressing (HIP) machine. HIP is a process whereby metal components are subjected to high temperatures and pressures to reduce their porosity and increase their density, improving their mechanical properties. It’s a crucial element in helping additive manufacturing transition into the mainstream, enabling the production of parts with a level of toughness that rivals those produced through more traditional techniques.

The hot isostatic pressing (HIP) machine.

A collaborative venture As a company specialising in taking diffuse individual particles and fusing them together into a coherent whole, it seems appropriate that Amaero places a great emphasis on collaboration. It aims to build close, long-term partnerships with all of its customers, while its close ties with Monash University are a vital asset.

“Monash has a lot to offer,” says Hobbs. “MCAM has been running for three years but many of the researchers in it actually bring much longer experience. And the fact that we’re able to interest companies from overseas is initially due to the very good reputation Monash has, particularly in Europe. Monash’s researchers understand the materials so deeply that this gives them the extra plus over others who are working in this field.”

“There’s no doubt because of that relationship, when we approach a customer we have the ability to offer both sides of the coin,” adds Batagol. “If they have something which lends itself more to research, we can start in the research field and with the same team we can actually move into the commercial production without changing locations. I think that gives us quite a unique position.”

Hobbs believes the potential of additive manufacturing is immense, allowing manufacturers to innovate quickly and at relatively low cost.

And he sees its influence extending across many industry sectors.

“It does impact a wide variety of fields,” he says. “We’ve been focusing on aerospace and defence, but in the biological side – in terms of bone implants, medical instruments, for example – it opens up a lot of new opportunities.

“In manufacturing, it is being used to make specialised inserts in injection moulding dies and tooling. It’s got the ability to actually put cooling channels very close to the surface – much closer than you can get with conventional processing. It’s also very good for making specialised jigs for machining and assembly.”

“At the end of the day I think it lowers the barriers for people who have an idea for something they want to make,” adds Batagol. “It removes the requirement to tool up across a low run of parts. Without the economies of scale that’s very expensive. But being able to do 3D printing in metals… yes, it is expensive, but compared to the time and cost of producing tooling, you can actually make it work. For lowvolume parts it makes sense.”

Hobbs believes additive manufacturing will be particularly important for Australia as the industry here undergoes a transition towards an operating environment characterised by low-volume production of complex, high value-add products.

“We need to be able to facilitate that transition,” he explains. “We’ve got a part to play. It’s going to be a very different environment to the one we had with the automotive industry. But nevertheless an interesting one. And an exciting one.” www.amaero.com.au

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Cutting Tools

Iscar - Milling intelligently Iscar has introduced a whole range of new cutting tools under the name High-Q-Line. Iscar’s slogan is ‘Machining Intelligently’, so how do these new tools live up to those words?

‘IQ’ is widely known to stand for Intelligence Quotient – a measure of an individual’s degree of intelligence. In addition, ‘IQ’ often refers to Improving Quality – and obtaining high quality. How do Iscar’s new tools contribute to efficient metal cutting? What is their ‘intelligence’?

What are their benefits to the manufacturer?

A considerable part of the High-Q-Line products relates to indexable milling cutters. Basing on them, we consider the above questions.

The IQ of cutting tools According to Iscar, the main aim of cutting tools is to ensure the customer receives maximum performance for increasing his profitability.

It can be reached, only by providing the customer with products that boost metal removal rate and simultaneously feature reasonable tool life. This is a basis for further development of the Iscar cutting tools.

IQ of new developments is reflected not only in the advanced design ideas and innovative technologies. Intelligent application of the new progressive and really “smart” tools allows a significant reduction of production cost due to many factors: versatility, economy with respect to cutting edge and more. Concerning milling, all the above relates to milling cutters.

A good example is Helido 800 – a family of 45-degree indexable milling cutters. This family is versatile and features the ability of mounting inserts of different shapes in the pocket of a cutter. Thus, a Helido 800 cutter can carry a square double-sided insert with 8 cutting edges and also an octagonal double-sided insert with 16 cutting edges. Now the latest developments allow clamping in the same pocket three additional inserts: round, polygonal-shaped for high feed milling (HFM) and octagonal one-sided, designed mainly for machining stainless steel.

Consequently, the cutter pocket is already suitable for securing five completely different types of inserts. The Helido 800 can be compared with a multicolor ballpoint pen that is always in the pocket of your shirt.

One click – and you can write in blue, draft in black and make remarks in red or green. It’s the same in the case of Helido 800: by mounting the inserts of an appropriate type in a cutter, a customer can convert the cutter to a face mill for machining planes, a copy mill for machining 3D surfaces or a HFM cutter for high-efficiency roughing. Intelligent applying of Helido 800 ensures not only productive versatility but also reduces storage costs. Indeed, this provides an intelligent solution, especially for the mid and small-size manufacturer!

IQ milling - the benefits In the 1990s Iscar showcased its milling expertise by introducing HeliMill - the family of indexable milling cutters carrying one-sided inserts with helical cutting edges. The helical edge, produced by intersection of the helical side surface of an insert and its complex top surface, ensures constant relief and positive rake angles of a tool as an assembly when the insert is mounted on the tool. This new approach led to a breakthrough in milling and became to be a classical means in designing indexable milling cutters.

However, the original HeliMill insert had only two cutting edges. The new Heli-IQ-Mill 390 family goes one better, offering tools carrying inserts with three cutting edges. Of course, these inserts have a more advanced cutting geometry; they are produced from progressive carbide grades, but their main advantage is noted above.

HeliDo 490, one of the most popular Iscar milling families, features robust double-sided inserts with four cutting edges. The R&D focused on further improving HeliDo 490 with the HeliDo 690 – also an extremely durable, reliable family of indexable milling tools. However, their double-sided inserts have already six cutting edges.

The customer involved in machining aluminium will find the new HeliAlu high-speed milling (HSM) cutters to be a good solution. Iscar believes

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that these mills create new opportunities for increasing productivity.

The latest machine tools intended for milling aluminium feature very high spindle speeds. However, not every customer can effectively take advantage of these machines in high-rotational-velocity machining.

Using an indexable tool can be a serious obstacle: rising inertial loading can cause displacement of the tool inserts in their pockets, thus presenting many hazards. In HSM mills, the unique pocket design overcomes this obstacle and allows for machining with impressive spindle speed (33,000rpm for the 50mm diameter cutter, for example).

This is a significant factor for increasing material removal rates (MRR) and cutting machining time.

Machining various aerospace parts from titanium requires high tool overhang. Vibrations during such operations are common and the result is poor surface finish, reduced tool life, and noise. To solve the problem, the customer is obliged to reduce cutting data, which decreases productivity. Sometimes using specific vibration-dampening chucks and arbors may be an acceptable solution. However, the high cost of this tooling often makes its application impractical.

At the same time an easy way out of the problem can be found by means of indexable extended flute cutters MillShred P290. The wavelike cutting edge of P290 inserts simply crushes the chip into small segments. This chip ‘chopping’ effect opens new prospects for productive rough milling in unfavourable conditions. The variety of cutting geometries of the P290 inserts makes the family suitable for all main engineering materials.

Regarding the abatement of vibration, Iscar previously introduced ChatterFree – a family of solid carbide endmills with uneven angular pitch of flutes to provide stable cutting in a wide application range.

Now, based on the same design principle, the High-IQ-Line offers an innovative chatter-free solution for the very popular indexable family Heli2000. The new one-sided insert intended for mounting in these

Cutting Tools

tools has two cutting edges that feature different inclination to the insert bottom. Such asymmetry generates a varying axial rake angle of the tool similar to the Chatterfree and thereby significantly improves the tool dynamic characteristics.

Dove-IQ-Mill, Iscar’s new family of 45-degree indexable milling tools provides increased productivity. The Dove-IQ-Mill double-sided insert has a complex shape with a formed positive rake and positive inclination of the tool cutting edge and results in a light cut and good chip formation. The dovetail design of the insert pocket provides extremely rigid clamping and the ground cutting edges and the wiper flats of the insert deliver excellent surface finish. Due to these features, the Dove-IQ-Mill tools ensure a mirror surface even under cutting data suitable for rough passes – which is an advantageous combination of quality and productivity. In addition it is a very economical solution: the Dove-IQ-Mill insert has eight cutting edges.

For customers involved in heavy-duty milling with removing considerable stock per pass, the High-IQ-Line offers several new options. First of all, the face milling cutters with tangentially clamping inserts of the HeliTang family: the 90-degree T490 FLN-22ST with depth of cut (DOC) to 21mm and 65-degree T465-22ST with DOC to 19 mm. For better performance and increased tool life, the pockets of the cutters have protective seats. The new tools have already received good marks from a number of heavy industries, in particular, railway engineering.

eight teeth. The width range of the heads is 2mm-5mm. An especially designed spline connection is used for transmitting torque from the shank to the head in assembly.

Mill intelligently, maximise productivity Iscar maintains that designing better, more innovative cutting tools is the key factor in maximising productivity, and the High-IQ-Line is an effective means for achieving this goal. Its new intelligent milling tools have many applicative opportunities, but only those who use these tools will benefit from their advantages fully, by milling intelligently!

Iscar is committed to always being open for co-operation with the customer to search for new solutions for efficient metal cutting. This co-operation will lead to a productive partnership, and increase the IQ of new generations of high-quality cutting tools - a real and intelligent way to progress! www.iscar.com.au

The new H606 round cutters of the HeliDo family are intended for 3D milling. The cutters carry complex-shaped inserts that can be conditionally named ‘round’. The insert has six main cutting edges; each of them is a 90-degree arc. The six minor cutting edges are straight and their function is dual: to improve cutting action during ramping down and working like a side wiper flat when the cutter works near a vertical wall. According to Iscar, this is an intelligent solution for excellent quality.

The High-IQ-Line offers new tools for milling slots and grooves. Up until recently there was a kind of “diameters’ border area” for slot milling cutters. Above certain diameters there were cutters with indexable inserts, and below were the Multi-Master tools with replaceable solid carbide milling heads. Bridging that gap, the High-IQ-Line offers T-Slot is a family of assembled tools comprising cylindrical shanks and interchangeable solid carbide heads of 32mm diameter with

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Let EZset boost your productivity and save you time and money.

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MADE IN GERMANY

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Cutting Tools

Walter’s GPS 2.20 goes online Now available online, Walter AG has released an update to its recommendation software for metal cutting tools with new functions for milling operations.

Walter GPS enables you to always find the most cost-efficient machining solution on your screen, tablet or even smartphone. The software has seen significant developments since its launch three years ago. In the new version, GPS 2.20, the tool navigation offers new functions for selecting the right mill, new search options for finding a suitable drill, and a product-related search with improved interface.

The 2.20 update covers all Walter’s new products for 2014, and now also recommends the new, more productive, drilling, threading and milling tools that have become available this year. As always, Walter GPS offers an interface to the Walter Tool Shop: recommended tools are compiled in a wish-list and can be ordered or reordered with just one click. With recommendations for the best tool for shoulder milling, face milling, milling of closed grooves and pocket milling, Walter GPS covers almost every conceivable milling operation that is carried out in practice. Search queries always begin with the request for the required machining result, for example “I’m looking for the most cost-efficient tool for a groove that has the following parameters...” Values for premachining or finish machining or for a surface quality that is even more impressive can also be set, such as the RZ roughness value.

New search options are available for drilling. Recommendations are even more precise because users can search with or without a tolerance for the diameter, with or without a regrind length, or even according to complex pilot-drilling strategies. Walter GPS not only recommends the possible tools, but also the perfect machining strategy, including the cutting data, which can be printed out as a PDF document and can then be entered into the NC program on the turning machines.

If a user already has the tool but requires the associated cutting data, Walter has simplified the tool-related search with a new interface and a new structure. This is helpful, for example, when assessing whether a similar tool would be just as suitable for the machining task.

Hardly any production process exists today that does not call upon software at some point. On the contrary – more and more companies are networking their production. The reason for this is that it offers greater transparency throughout the entire process as well as the reproducibility that stems from this, which naturally increases quality and productivity. It goes without saying that the security of the applications is a prerequisite. Software will not replace the machine operator, but should make their work easier. In this regard, Walter GPS is an important building block. www.walter-tools.com

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Dormer expands carbide milling range Dormer has strengthened its solid carbide milling programme with the introduction of several new ranges.

These include additions to existing cutter families as well as completely new ranges such as, for example, corner radius and super finishing cutters. The most significant impact, however, concerns Dormer’s multi-application carbide milling range.

Numerous unequal helix, corner radius and ripper variants greatly expand the options available to customers looking for multimaterial versatility and consistent performance.

Designed primarily to improve production efficiency, the new cutters are recommended for use in a wide range of machines, applications and material types with the subsequent benefits of reduced inventory and time saved on tool changeover. Also included in the multi-material machining programme are three chamfer cutters, available with either 60, 90 or 120-degree angles.

The company’s ball nose cutter range has also been bolstered by new additions. The introduction of several new surface finishes and rake angles broadens the range of applications across the full spectrum of material types, extending to hardened steels (up to 63HRc). A completely new addition to Dormer’s carbide milling portfolio comes in the form of several four-flute corner-radius end mills. All feature unequal helix geometry and a variety of corner radii for smoother cutting action and increased corner life in a range of tough applications including fillet radii machining.

Another two new cutter families target milling operations in a wide range of difficult to machine materials including stainless steels, titanium and nickel alloys. The first features unequal helix and unequal pitch geometry and supports a wide range of operations from slotting to semi-finishing.

“This serves to harmonise the cutting action by reducing vibrations, benefitting tool life and enabling use of increased cutting data whilst also improving surface finish and reducing microchipping,” explains Dormer Product Manager Ricky Payling.

The second range consists of multi-flute super-finishing cutters.

Available with either aluminium titanium nitride or titanium silicon nitride coatings, all feature very high helix and low rake angles for consistent performance and tool life in target materials.

All new cutters are available in a variety of cut and overall lengths to promote use in a range of operations. www.dormertools.com

Cutting Tools

Typhoon powers up low-RPM machines TaeguTec’s new high-speed jet spindle is aimed at machine shops seeking to transform their limited-RPM machines into speedy workhorses at a fraction of the cost.

The Typhoon was developed for applications that need high RPMs for small diameter tools on slow-RPM machines. The new tool is designed for high-speed machining in milling, holemaking and grinding applications. It works by utilising the machine tool’s existing coolant supply, driven by a high-pressure pump as an energy source, to rotate a builtin turbine at speeds of up to 40,000RPM. The Typhoon does not replace the machine’s existing spindle, hence saving the manufacturer thousands of dollars in upgrades or replacement. Instead, it improves the low-RPM machine’s performance, surface finish and tool life capabilities, and increases productivity. To save on energy use, the machine spindle is idle while the Typhoon performs its operation.

The Typhoon’s impressive precision offers excellent surface quality due to its optimised machining conditions, and its plug-and-play feature makes it an easy product to install on existing machines with no modification required. TaeguTec’s Typhoon extends the cutting tool’s life by creating optimal cutting conditions and strong coolant jet flow. Other features include: a direct wireless rotation

speed display system that monitors the actual cutting rotation speed during the machining process; a 2.4GHz frequency transmitter; direct wireless rotation speed monitoring of up to five metres; and a realtime, wireless LED display.

The Typhoon is available in three versions, each covering specific ranges of diameters and speeds for a wide range of workpiece materials and machine tools. It is designed for applications requiring shanks of up to 6mm and cutting diameters up to 3.5mm. It is specifically adapted to workshops where CNC machines have a spindle capacity lower than 15,000RPMs and through coolant with a minimum 20 bar.

During product tests, TaeguTec’s Typhoon considerably improved the performance of limited-RPM machines. During milling and profiling of an electrolytic copper workpiece, it cut machining time by 58% and reduced the spindle wear. In another test that involved milling a turbine part made with a SAE 303 workpiece, the Typhoon increased tool life by 300% and reduced machining time by over 27 hours. In the case of milling a mould made from V2 material, the Typhoon reduced machining time from over 13 hours to just over five hours and saved 50% of the time used during the polishing process.

While performing thread milling tests on a SAE 4340 workpiece, the Typhoon slashed machining time per part by 85%, which in turn increased the tool life by as much as 200%.

TaeguTec’s Typhoon answers growing demand for finish and semi-finish operations on a wide range of processed materials in the die and mould industries. as well as highprecision machining in the aerospace and medical industries. www.taegutec.com

A TOTAL SOLUTION PROVIDER OF AMEC TOOLING Boring Systems

Porting Tools

Sutton Tools is your total AMEC solution provider, with the complete AMEC range added to our extensive product portfolio.

Special Tools

APX Drilling Tools

GEN3SYS Drilling Tools

AMEC’s wide range of products include: Accu Port Contour Cutters, Thread Milling, APX Drill range, Criterion boring Systems and Alvin Reamers. Special or custom options are also available.

The AMEC range is manufactured in the USA combining premium materials, with unique geometry & coatings, and are one of the finest tooling systems in the metal cutting industry.

To find out more contact Sutton Tools 1800 335 350 or cservice@sutton.com.au

Threading Tools

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Cutting Tools

Sutton Tools - High-volume production High-carbon steels and alloy steels require purpose-designed drills to ensure optimum tool life, process reliability and hole quality. Phillip Xuereb explains how Sutton Tools’ R30N Carbide Drills range has been developed to reduce drilling costs.

Materials engineers are constantly striving to develop the latest highcarbon steel and alloy steels to meet the increasingly demanding requirements of industry. While this new breed of materials exhibits unprecedented strength and wear resistance, it also presents a problem for machining operations: the very characteristics that make these materials ideal to withstand the tough environments of new industrial applications, also make them resistant to many conventional tools. The result is a challenge for component manufacturers to machine these materials in a cost-effective manner.

Sutton Tools is one company that strives to keep tool technology in step with the latest developments of these difficult-to-machine alloys. The company is at the forefront of research into innovative tools designed with the right combination of base material, geometry and coating technology to meet the challenges of machining modern materials. Sutton takes a collaborative approach, with its in-house testing and research engineers working closely alongside industry, universities and the Defence Materials Technology Centre (DMTC) to keep its tools at the cutting edge of industrial requirements.

Sutton’s R30N Carbide Drill range is purpose-designed for machining high-carbon and alloy steels up to a hardness of 1400N/mm2 (45Rc).

This drill family has been designed for high-performance and highspeed CNC machining applications where it is necessary to drill thousands of holes quickly and accurately. The range provides an ideal solution for repetition engineering, automotive, aerospace and defence applications.

Secret to success The R30N family has been progressively expanded into the full range available today. Available from 1mm to 20mm in step sizes of 0.1mm — plus tapping sizes — and in imperial sizes from one eighth to threequarters of an inch, the range features several additional options. It encompasses four drill lengths — 3xD, 5xD, 8xD and 12xD — plus a choice of plain-round, side-lock or whistle-lock shanks. These shanks are a nominal collar size, designed to fit into CNC machines.

Moreover, the 3xD and 5xD R30N carbide drills are also available in a choice of through-coolant (IK) and non-IK options, while the 8xD and 12xD are available in IK form alone. The through-coolant design — comprising two holes that follow the spiral of the flute — ensures that when used with through-coolant spindle CNC machines, coolant is delivered at high pressure right to the cutting face of the drill point.

This provides cooling to both drill and workpiece, and assists in pushing out the chips through the flute, enabling faster drill speeds in harder materials. The secret to the success of the R30N range is the carefully engineered combination of base-material, geometry and coating technologies used. Traditionally, carbide is more brittle than high-speed steel (HSS), but the European-sourced solid carbide ultra-micro grain carbide base material used in the R30N drills actually features higher rupture strength than standard carbide material.

Longer lasting The R30N Carbide Drills are designed with a 30-degree helix angle and point geometry. Extensive in-house testing has demonstrated that this combination helps keep the material in its normalised condition — without work hardening — for increased accuracy and productivity, while maintaining the life of the drill. This means it is possible to drill faster and cleaner with straight accurate holes and enabling threading if required.

To enhance the performance in the application of R30N range, Sutton uses micro-geometry — often known as edge preparation — to round off the cutting edge at a nano-level. The result is a tool that loses none of its cutting potential and greatly enhances the tool life.

The final element of the design is the coating. Unlike many tool manufacturers, Sutton benefits from its in-house coating operations, which allow the company to perfect the coating design for each of its tools. The R30N range employs a multi-layer Balzers Oerlikon Alcrona AlCrN coating, optimised specifically for carbide drills.

This coating protects the solid carbide ultra-micro grain base material of the drill by offering a thermal barrier between the workpiece material and the drill substrate. The effect is to deliver outstanding oxidation resistance and hot hardness to the drill. This contributes to the stability at the severely loaded cutting edges and improves the toughness of the multi-layer structure to significantly reduce the possibility of cracking.

Key benefits As well as working with several research institutions to develop the ideal tool design, Sutton also conducts extensive testing of finished products in its in-house Test Centre. With the R30N range, this continued for a period of 18 months. The company assessed the tools alongside the best-performing alternatives currently available on the market, fine-tuning the design where necessary to optimise operational characteristics.

The R30N range provides a good example of Sutton’s goal for each new product on the market: to perform as well or better than the competing leading brands; and to give its customers the confidence that they have the best tool available for any application.

With a tool range like the R30N carbide drills, this exhaustive benchtesting delivers several key benefits to the end user: tool life is extended; process reliability is enhanced and hole quality is optimised. These factors combine to deliver a tool that reduces the cost per hole through quicker drilling, faster feed-rates, less frequent tool replacement, and increased machining accuracy. The impressive breadth of size, length, shank types, and cooling options presented by the R30N Carbide Drills range means the end user has the perfect solution for a broad spectrum of high-carbon and alloy steel machining applications from a single family of tools.

Phillip Xuereb is the Sutton Tools’s former Chief Engineering Executive and currently works as a Technical Consultant for the company. www.sutton.com.au

Sutton Tools’ range of R30N Carbide Drills have been purpose-designed for highcarbon and alloy steels up to a hardness of 1400N/mm2(45Rc).

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WWW.SECOTOOLS.COM/SQUARET4

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YOUR NEWEST SQUARE SHOULDER MILLING SOLUTION

Cutting Tools

Milling and drilling the tough materials The goal of weight reduction in the aerospace industry is driving increasing use of advanced exotic materials such as composites, titaniums and Inconels. These lighter, stronger materials present their own machining challenges. By Teun Van Asten, Wilco van den Boogaard and Pär Nordberg of Seco Tools.

For milling and drilling, aerospace manufacturers often use solid carbide and/or solid high-speed-steel tools. They must achieve the highest quality possible – often through carefully monitored and maintained process security. In most instances, producing perfect parts is a much higher priority than cost, and increasing productivity tends to be secondary. Thanks to machine and cutting tool technologies, materials such as composites, titaniums and Inconels (nickel-based superalloys) have advanced from a stage of being almost impossible to machine to a point today where manufacturers machine them with confidence and efficiency. One technology that gives better process control and consistency is advanced specialised solid rotary mills and drills.

The JC840 double helix finisher.

Milling Composites: The market for carbon-fibre reinforced plastics (CFRP) materials is surging within the aerospace industry. However, the materials are difficult to machine because they are very abrasive and tough on milling tools. Moreover, delamination – when individual carbon-fibre plies separate – must be prevented. These challenges can be overcome with hard, sharp solid-carbide milling cutters with special surface coatings. Two coating processes commonly used are physical vapour deposition (PVD) and chemical vapour deposition (CVD), along with an advanced cutting material polycrystalline diamond (PCD).

From a geometry standpoint, effective composites cutters incorporate low helix angles to reduce axial forces on the laminate layers of the material to prevent delamination. Cutters with both a left and right helix are effective geometries for composite materials. These cutters, often known as compression routers, direct and compress cutting forces toward the centres of workpiece thicknesses - in the case of side milling - to keep laminate layers intact. These geometries make for much freer cutting.

While compression cutters are a common approach, some cutting tool companies, have developed compression cutters with new geometries, such as a double helix. Seco has developed two doublehelix routers. One is a multi-flute tool with smooth cutting edges.

The other has fewer flutes, providing more chip clearance, and chip breakers on its cutting edges. The latter is more for roughing operations, while the former multi-flute option without chip breakers offers ideal performance for finishing operations. Cutting parameters for composites often depend on the materials themselves. Typical speeds for solid-carbide cutters for composites are about 150m/min, and feed rates are around 0.07mm. But within this group of materials, various different types of binders are used, each requiring their own speeds and feeds. The melting points of these binders are often what determine speeds and feeds. Also fibre content and fibre orientation have a significant influence on cutting speeds and feeds and the optimum tool path.

Titanium alloys: Titanium alloys are often used in three application areas: aircraft structural parts, cold section components of jet engines, and landing gear systems. One commonly used titanium is 5553, a near-beta alloy typically used for landing gear parts. TiAl6-4 is an alpha-beta alloy that is one of the most commonly used types of titanium particularly for structural parts.

Titanium alloys have a low thermal conductivity, which means during machining, the heat generated transfers into the cutter instead of being carried away from the cutting zone within the chips. Titanium’s high adhesion means that chips tend to stick to cutters, so very long chips are generated, as opposed to shorter, more easily extracted ones. The material’s strain hardening element, which comes into play during machining, causes a thin layer of material to harden due to pressure generated during machining.

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While titanium can be machined with general-purpose solidcarbide cutters, cutters designed specifically for the machinability characteristics of titanium will usually provide superior results. These special cutters provide extremely high performance, but they can be less versatile when it comes to different materials. For example, Seco has a high-speed steel (HSS) cutter in its program designed for both titanium and stainless steels. Cutters from the Jabro HPM (high performance machining) series are specifically designed for certain material designations like titanium. These cutters incorporate special geometries and design qualities that have been optimised for titanium.

The geometries and design qualities include: helix angles of 40-50 degrees; internal through-coolant channels to keep chips from sticking to cutter flutes and to quickly evacuate chips as well as cool the cutting zone; uneven tooth pitches for reducing vibrations during high depthsof-cut; and a combination of carbide with aluminium chromium nitride coating. No titanium nitride is used; this prevents a chemical reaction between the cutter and material.

There are certain factors that dictate when to use a solid-carbide tool or an HSS tool, notably cutter diameter. Solid-carbide tools should be used when applications require smaller diameter cutters and when workpiece geometries are extremely complex, or if taking heavy depths of cut (ap). HSS cutters are recommended for less-complex workpieces in high-volume applications and when both large widths of cut (ae) and heavy ap are the goal. The tools should also be considered when using older conventional machine tools with high torque and high horsepower.

Inconel: As is typically the case in aerospace manufacturing, Inconel parts tend to be very expensive, not only in the cost of the material itself, but also the time producing them before they even get to the machining stage. Huge losses result when parts are scrapped after hours or even days of machining.

Cutting Tools

as opposed to cut through, the last portion of the hole. The result is composite fibres that are ripped and ragged instead of cleanly cut, causing material delamination.

The JC840 in action.

There are certain similarities between Inconel and titanium, but Inconels are the most difficult to machine. They have very low thermal conductivity and very high levels of strain hardening - higher even than titanium. Inconel also has high adhesion, so cutting speeds can rarely exceed 25-30 metres/min in conventional machining.

Cutter geometries for machining Inconel differ greatly from titanium.

Inconel geometries are angular, relieved with very steep angles.

Such geometry reduces contact between the cutter and material as much as possible. This is critical because Inconel is flexible and has a high memory, meaning it will “give” somewhat when subjected to cutting forces. The longer the contact time between the cutter relief and material, the higher the abrasive wear on the tool and the shorter its working life. To further reduce friction between cutter and Inconel, Seco incorporates a coating of aluminium titanium nitride, polished to an extremely smooth and fine finish.

Machining strategies There are basically four machining strategies for titanium and Inconel.

The first is conventional machining, which involves a balance between ae and ap of 1x1. This means that machining is done at full cutter width (1*Dc) and at a certain depth of cut up to one times cutter diameter and running at average feed rates.

The second strategy is high-performance machining (HPM), which involves cutters specifically designed for titanium and Inconel, such as Seco’s HPM line of cutters. These cutters are run at large ap (up to 1.5*Dc) and at full ae. Large volumes of metal are removed in a short amount of time for increased productivity.

The third strategy is high-feed machining (HFM), which uses very small axial ap and full ae, so width of cut is 1*Dc. The specific geometries of cutters used for this strategy direct cutting forces into the spindle, so this strategy is especially useful in unstable machining conditions due to large tool overhangs and complex applications like pockets with depths of 5*Dc and more.

The fourth strategy is high-speed machining (HSM), which uses low ae radial depths of cut and very large ap depths of cut. Because the radial depth of cut is relatively low, there is a small arc of contact that helps reduce heat in cutting zones due to smaller contact time, and thus allows for higher cutting speeds to compensate and gain productivity.

Both machine tool and cutting tool advancements have made these strategies possible. For instance, Seco’s HPM cutter geometries have special features, such as uneven tooth pitches and curved helix angles, providing necessary stability for high-performance machining strategies. In the case of high-feed and high-speed machining, those strategies tend to be more dependent on machine tool capabilities as well as cutter geometries.

Drilling Composites: For aerospace applications, drilled holes in composites must be perfectly clean, without ragged or frayed fibres that can interfere with and compromise subsequent assembly. Two common challenges of drilling composites are delamination and uncut fibres, especially on the backside or drill-exit side of workpieces. When drilling, tool forces push down on the material and, as the drill nears the exit side, excessive force can cause the drill to push through,

To overcome these challenges, tooling companies strive to decrease drill feed forces against the material by using different point angles and helix angles on drills. It should be noted that some drill geometries generate lower feed forces and perform better than others.

For example, a 140-degree point angle - the most common for solid carbide drills - will work well for several holes when drilling composites.

Unfortunately, as soon as the tool dulls at all, it loses its effectiveness. With its C1 diamond-coated solid carbide drill for composites, Seco imparts a geometry with two point angles: a 130-degree angle in the centre; and a 60-degree angle on the chamfer. In operation, the drill’s centre-point exits the end of the hole first, cutting away some of the hole’s material.

When the 60-degree portion exits, the drill’s feed forces through the material are drastically reduced, with less delamination and fewer, if any, uncut fibres.

In addition to two fluted, diamond-coated drills, Seco has developed a unique three-fluted PCD-tipped geometry for composites. Applied with the same cutting conditions as standard composite drills, this new geometry provides much better results because three edges are cutting as opposed to only two. The drills have sharper cutting edges and generate less feed force per revolution, especially when exiting.

Additionally, with a full PCD tip, as opposed to diamond-coated, the drill can provide up to four times more tool life.

Titanium: In the aerospace sector, most hole diameters are small. For diameters less than 1mm and up to 20mm, solid carbide drills are used extensively in drilling titanium (as well as Inconel). As occurs when milling titanium, heat from the drilling process also tends to go into the tool instead of being carried away within the chips. To combat this, drill geometries typically involve very sharp cutting edges, meaning drills for titanium are uncoated. Also, coatings can increase friction, adding to heat generation. One more important part is the shrinkage of material after machining. Due to that a bigger back taper is needed on the drill body.

Inconel: Because Inconel is abrasive and work hardens, effective drill geometries for the material are basically the same as for titanium.

However, coatings are added for increased wear resistance and to reduce friction. Seco, for instance, uses titanium aluminium nitride coatings to protect its Inconel drills and extend their working lives. When drilling Inconel, lower speeds and feeds are used, mainly because the material is harder and more difficult to cut. The machinability of the material comes into play when drilling, much as when milling Inconel.

In aerospace applications, hole depths in Inconel components are typically only 3 x D. Coatings have played a key role in boosting process security and productivity, and tooling companies continue to gain better control and master drill cutting edge treatments. Through effective variation of coatings, such as titanium aluminium nitride, and control of cutting edges, Seco has developed drills that can essentially allow for doubling drilling speeds and feeds. www.secotools.com AMT October 2014

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robotics & Automation

UR unveils next-gen lightweight robots Universal Robots, the Danish manufacturer of flexible industrial robot arms, has released the third generation of the lightweight robots UR5 and UR10.

Special features of the revised robot arms include true absolute encoders, eight new adjustable safety-rated functions, twice the number of built-in I/Os, and improved possibilities for connecting equipment to the control boxes. The new generation continues to allow a safe human-robot collaboration. Additionally the safety system of the new generation is now certified by TUV. Universal Robots’ lengthy experience in the market was a key influence on the latest product’s refinements. Characteristics such as ease-of-use and quick ROI remain key to the design.

The robot arms UR5 and UR10 are equipped with numerous new features, with Universal Robots remaining true to its approach of userfriendly lightweight robots. The visual appearance of the six-jointed arm with a payload of five or ten kilograms, remains unchanged.

However, inside the robot arm itself, as well as in the controller, are some hidden surprises.

“We are the only manufacturer of lightweight robot arms which already has a long-lasting experience in a wide variety of industries,” says Enrico Krog Iversen, Universal Robots CEO. “Our R&D department worked hard in order to integrate input and feedback from end users in our product development.”

A central innovation of the new generation of UR robots is the True Absolute Encoder. This technical improvement enables a faster startup of the robot arms. The absolute position is recognised right after switching on, eliminating the need for jogging during initialisation of the robot arm. For this reason UR5 and UR10 are now suited for an automatic start-up – even though no battery is needed for this function.

“With the integration of the True Absolute Encoder, our robot-arms can be integrated even more easily into others’ machineries while start-up also becomes much faster and simpler for all applications,” explains Esben H Østergaard, Universal Robots CTO. The safety settings of the latest generation of Universal Robots’ lightweight robots can be adjusted for each specific solution. The robot arm can run in two operating modes in terms of the safety functions – a normal mode and a reduced one.

A switch between safety settings during the robot’s operation is also possible. To achieve this, eight safety functions are monitored by the new patented safety system: joint positions and speeds, TCP positions, orientation, speed and force, as well as the momentum and power of the robot.

The settings can only be changed in a passwordprotected area. All these safety functions are safetyrated PL d and certified by TÜV. “Our new patented safety concept is a logical development of our previous robot arms,” says Østergaard. “The revised UR5 and UR10 can be operated in different modes

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depending on the context. For example, when a human enters the robot’s work-cell, it can continue to operate in reduced mode, and then resume full speed when he leaves again. Or the robot can run full speed inside a CNC machine, and then reduced speed when outside.”

The safety system UR Safety 3.0 of the new-generation UR5 and UR10 is certified by TÜV Nord and tested in accordance with EN ISO 13849:2008 PL d and EN ISO 10218-1:2011, Clause 5.4.3.

Further improvements include 16 additional digital I/Os, which are easy to configure either as digital signals or as safety signals, as well as a revised design of the control box and a rebuilt controller.

The six-jointed, cost-efficient robot arms UR5 and UR10 are especially suited for small and medium-sized businesses. Thanks to their light weight and their user-friendly handling via touchpad, a wide range of applications can be programmed quickly without complex training or deep technological knowhow.

“With our flexible robot-arms, we address a broad target group – whether it is (un-)loading of CNC machines in a ten-man firm or a gluing-process at an automotive manufacturer, everyone benefits from our robots,” says Iversen. “Because they perform the dull or harmful jobs that needed to be done by humans before.” www.universal-robots.com

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robotics & Automation

Defects, a vanishing occurrence?

Recent innovations by Siemens in the development of programmable logic controls (PLCs) is delivering significant results in terms of eliminating defects in automated processes. By Ulrich Kreutzer.

Over the years, the manufacturing process has become more automated, paving the way for greater efficiency. Automation has helped to reduce costs in areas such as time, materials and manpower.

With the introduction of automation, the industry has also been able to cut down on wastage in the form of defective products. However, defects within assembly lines still occur and this can result in significant losses in terms of money and opportunity costs. A recent innovation from Siemens can potentially make defective products a thing of the past.

Siemens’ Amberg Electronics Plant, which was established in 1989, produces Simatic programmable logic controls (PLCs). The devices are used to automate machines and equipment in order to save time and money and increase product quality. They control ski-lifts and the onboard systems of cruise ships, as well as industrial manufacturing processes in sectors ranging from automobile production to pharmaceuticals.

The Amberg plant is Siemens’ showcase plant for PLC systems. The factory manufactures 12m Simatic products per year, about one unit every second. Production quality is at 99.9988%, and a series of test stations detect the few defects that do occur.

“I don’t know of any comparable plant worldwide that has achieved such a low defect rate,” says Professor Karl-Heinz Büttner, who heads the Amberg plant.

Machines and computers handle 75% of the value chain on their own; while the rest of the work is done by humans. Only at the beginning of the manufacturing process is anything touched by human hands, when an employee places the initial component (a bare circuit board) on the production line. From that point on, everything runs automatically. What’s notable here is that Simatic units control the production of Simatic units. About 1000 such controls are used during production, from the beginning of the manufacturing process to the point of dispatch.

At the beginning of the manufacturing process, conveyor belts take the bare circuit boards to a printer, which uses a photolithographic process to apply a lead-free solder paste. In the next step, placement heads mount individual components, such as resistors, capacitors, and microchips, onto the circuit boards. The fastest production line can mount 250,000 components per hour — a process that is controlled by Simatic units.

Once the soldering process has been completed, the printed circuit boards arrive at an optical test system, where a camera examines the position of the soldered components while an X-ray machine inspects the quality of the soldered connection points. Next, each printed circuit board is mounted into a housing. It is then retested and sent to a delivery centre in Nuremberg. From there, the PLCs are shipped to more than 60,000 customers all over the world.

Although production in Amberg is highly automated, human beings ultimately make the decisions. For example, Johannes Zenger, 26, supervises the test station for populated printed circuit boards, even though he himself doesn’t test the components and circuitry.

“My workplace is the computer,” he says.

Like his colleagues, Zenger can monitor the entire value chain from his workplace. That’s because each circuit board has its own unique barcode that lets it communicate with the production machines.

More than 1000 scanners document all of the manufacturing steps in real time and record product details such as soldering temperature, placement data, and test results. As this happens, around 50m pieces of process information are generated each day and stored in the Simatic IT manufacturing execution system.

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“In short,” explains Büttner. “We can observe every product’s lifecycle down to the last detail.”

Software defines all of the manufacturing processes and commands so that production can be recorded and controlled from start to finish.

The system is also closely networked with the R&D Department. NX and Teamcenter, both of which are Siemens PLM software solutions, directly supply the manufacturing processes with the latest Simatic updates. Because the Amberg plant manufactures a thousand different products, very close cooperation with the plant’s R&D department is essential.

The Amberg Electronics Plant is an advanced example of Siemens’ Digital Enterprise Platform — a production environment that may become the standard ten years from now. Here, products control their own manufacturing processes. In other words, their product codes tell production machines what requirements they have and which production steps must be taken next.

This system marks the first step towards the creation of Industry 4.0. In this vision of a fourth industrial revolution, the real and virtual manufacturing worlds will merge. Factories will then be largely able to control and optimise themselves, because their products will communicate with one another and with production systems in order to optimise manufacturing processes. Products and machines will determine among themselves which items on the various production lines should be completed first in order to meet delivery deadlines.

Independently operating computer programs, known as software agents, will monitor each step and ensure that production regulations are complied with.

The Industry 4.0 vision also foresees factories that will be equipped to manufacture one-of-a-kind products profitably, as they will produce items quickly, inexpensively, and in top quality.

The human factor In spite of its highly automated processes, the Amberg plant nevertheless relies on people for the development and design of products, production planning, and the handling of unexpected incidents. That won’t change in the future.

robotics & Automation “I doubt there will be any machine in the foreseeable future that can think independently and work intelligently without human aid,” explains Büttner. This assessment is confirmed by a glance into the main hall.

Approximately 300 people work a shift, and the Amberg plant has a total of about 1100 employees.

One of them is Sabrina Scherl, who exemplifies why human beings are still indispensable, even in highly automated production facilities.

Scherl is a trained photo lab technician who has worked at the Amberg plant as a machine operator for the past nine years. In addition to loading a machine with rolls, on which individual components are lined up, Scherl is responsible for quality testing. She visually checks the populated printed circuit boards on a computer to make sure they are complete. Without Scherl, the fully automated machine would be unable to proceed.

“We’re not planning to create a workerless factory,” says Büttner.

After all, the machines themselves might be efficient, but they don’t come up with ideas for improving the system. Büttner adds that the employees’ suggested improvements account for 40% of annual productivity increases. The remaining 60% is the result of infrastructure investments, such as the purchase of new assembly lines and the innovative improvement of logistics equipment. The basic idea here, says Büttner, is that “employees are much better than management at determining what works or doesn’t work in daily operation and how processes can be optimised”.

In 2013, the Amberg plant adopted 13,000 of these ideas and rewarded employees with payments totalling approximately €1m. In 2012, for instance, Zenger suggested that his test station’s collision needle be replaced with three collision sensors. His suggestion was a big success because the needle could only roughly determine a component’s position on a printed circuit board.

“By contrast, the three sensors can determine the components’ front and back edges as well as any twisting,” says Zenger. As a result of

this idea, previously undetected faults no longer occur.

Although the Amberg plant is highly automated, its appearance hasn’t changed much since 1989.

“The plant now has more and bigger machines than it did 25 years ago,” explains Norbert Eckl, Head of Factory Planning at the Amberg plant plant.

However, a closer look reveals that work processes and results have also changed considerably. Even though the production area has remained unchanged and the number of employees has hardly increased, the plant now manufactures seven times as many units as it did in 1989.

More importantly, quality has increased substantially as well. Whereas the production facility had 500 defects per million (dpm) back in 1989, it now has a mere 12dpm.

“That’s an impressive achievement,” says Büttner with pride.

Adapted from Siemens Pictures of the Future magazine, Spring 2014. www.siemens.com

AMT October 2014

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robotics & Automation

Creating the smart factory of the future Digital innovation and automation can improve visibility across the production line and generate greater efficiency, writes Stephen Keys.

The next industrial revolution is near. IT and software innovation are driving efficiency and automation within manufacturing processes.

Specifically, mega-trends such as mobile, social, cloud and big data are transforming processes and technology platforms to enable the agility, scalability and adaptability needed by businesses to remain competitive.

These trends represent the transformation towards what can be referred to as the evolution of the “digital enterprise”.

Already we are seeing examples of this digital revolution with the emergence of the ‘smart factory’. In particular, through the phenomenon of the Internet of Things, devices and machinery can now communicate with each other, offering manufacturers greater insight into processes. Manufacturers can monitor the status of a part through the production process and beyond. Moreover, armed with knowledge of a product’s whole lifecycle, manufacturers will be able to gather vast amounts of intelligence about the product, meaning parts can be modified or replaced more rapidly and systems can be monitored more precisely. These are all elements of one common theme, known as Industry 4.0. Manufacturers must become digital to exist in the next industrial revolution.

How manufacturers might accomplish the transition into a digital enterprise will depend upon how well they utilise new technologies that enable intelligent business operations, as well as master the challenges of big data. In an era of digital disruption, it will be imperative for Australian manufacturers to think seriously about how they can remain competitive amid such change, and more importantly, how to capitalise on it.

According to a recent report commissioned

by Software AG on the status of Australian organisations as digital enterprises, 31.6% of Australian manufacturers do not consider themselves digital enterprises or are unsure, showing that the industry still has some way to go before becoming truly digital. Moreover, 32% of those organisations believe they are 1-2 years away from becoming a digital enterprise, and 28% are 2-5 years away.

The findings revealed cost as a major barrier to Australian manufacturers becoming digital.

However in addition, 43% of manufacturers indicated that legacy infrastructure and process silos were also key barriers, suggesting vast opportunities exist for streamlining processes.

So how can Australian manufacturers become digital enterprises to enhance efficiency and generate greater automation?

A smart factory with agile processes and greater automation cannot be achieved

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without first obtaining visibility. Through greater visibility, a manufacturer can better understand and manage the production process. By having automatic alerts, for example, manufacturers are made aware of any supply chain disruptions in time to take action. Essentially, transparency across processes means a manufacturer can detect inefficiencies or issues early well before the customer is impacted.

transactions can be cost-effectively managed and which cannot be resolved at any cost.

The next evolution of this is Intelligent Adaptive Processes, whereby systems automatically alter processes to ensure the most efficient path is taken. Visibility can be gained through data visualisation, which involves monitoring the big data generated by machines, both in real time and historically. As a result of data visualisation, manufacturers obtain greater insight into which manual processes are causing delays in the production process and supply chain, and thus require automation.

Further, identifying when a machine is not performing at its optimal level also means the potential to enhance sustainability and avoid inefficiencies, which lead to profit loss. In this way, big data provides the ability to ensure quality assurance tests are confirmations of high product quality and not used to catch errors or product quality issues. This is especially important for aging manufacturing equipment that is outfitted with new sensors to monitor production.

The advantages of using big data

While extending the lifecycles of equipment is vitally important, it is just as important to meet product quality requirements at the lowest possible cost. Leveraging sensor data and advanced analytics with sub-second analysis enables the continued use of older equipment while meeting product quality and production cost requirements.

Big data presents a significant opportunity to manufacturers, as well as the entire supply chain – not just by allowing visibility, but also integration, control, and agility, and consequently, enhanced productivity and efficiency. For example, using big data, organisations can automatically connect critical upstream and downstream processes, seamlessly pulling data from disparate silos to show how each distinct part affects the overall business. With these insights, manufacturers can implement new rules and workflows to optimise their supply chain, saving time and money.

Moreover, utilising big data, manufacturers can better analyse millions of orders around the globe to identify those that are at risk, or those involving large quantities and short lead times, for example. In-memory big data allows these issues to be addressed in subsecond response times by determining which

A major benefit of big data for manufacturers is the ability to minimise the costs of factory downtime through using big data analytics for predictive maintenance. This involves monitoring automated machinery for indications of system failure and scheduling maintenance before the machine malfunctions.

At every link of the production process, information is power. Data analysis offers today’s businesses more information than ever. Having greater visibility across processes will make it easier to filter down to the data a business needs. With an understanding of processes and the data needed to make smarter decisions, manufacturers can transform big data into a major opportunity.

Stephen Keys is the Chief Operating Officer, Asia-Pacific and Japan (APJ), Middle East and Turkey (MET), at Software AG. www.softwareag.com/au

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Compressors

Optimising systems delivers savings Compressed air systems have an average service life of around 30 years – but technological innovation never stops.

According to Kaeser Compressors, modernisation can significantly reduce energy and service costs whilst enhancing reliability and ease of use. A direct comparison between a 30-year-old compressed air installation that, until recently, was used by a supplier serving the mechanical engineering industry and a new state-of-the-art compressed air station illustrates the gulf that exists between the two systems.

The old system had an average air consumption of 8m³/min and a maximum air consumption of around 21m³/min. The total output of all compressors was the equivalent of approximately 150kW of drive power.

The system ran at this output for around 30 years and today’s compressed air quality requirement is the same as it was when the system was originally installed. All in all, this is an ideal example to find out how much money can be saved when a completely new system is used under the same production conditions.

Proper control The first area to consider is compressed air production itself. The old machines are replaced by highly advanced compressors featuring, among other advantages, integrated controllers. The philosophy 30 years ago was to use three 75kW units to produce the required compressed air, but today’s approach is very different and includes a master controller, such as the Sigma Air Manager 2 (SAM2) with 3-D Control, to interconnect compressor operation. This use of internal and master controllers allows

compressors to be used with so-called Quadro or Dynamic control.

Peak-load splitting, or a combination of fixed and variable speed compressors, has proven to be a far more effective method to provide the necessary compressed air.

Specifically, machines of different sizes are selected from the outset and are cycled on and off according to actual compressed air requirement, which means that the most efficient and cost-effective load configuration is always used.

Optimisation with the SAM2 makes it possible, in this case, to reduce the working pressure by around 1.5 bar, from almost 8 bar to 6 bar – which is all that’s necessary for the production processes in question. This measure alone can help slash energy costs by approximately 10.4%, or the equivalent of $11,097 per year.

Lowering the pressure also reduced losses due to leakage, which equates to further savings of approximately $1454 per year. In total therefore, controller-related measures alone would result in energy cost savings of around $12,551 per year.

In addition to controllers, modern compressed air engineering technology offers many other advantages, such as highefficiency compressor airends, energy-saving IE3 motors, optimised cooling systems, integrated separator systems and minimised pressure losses. Through these performanceenhancing features, a further energy saving of $21,050 could be achieved.

Modern compressed air systems use every technical advantage to maximise reliability and energy-efficiency.

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Following compressed air production is compressed air treatment, which presents the next area for optimisation. The old system requires a Class 4 pressure dew point (i.e. +3 °C) in accordance with ISO 8573, which means that the air has to be dried. Replacing the existing refrigeration dryers with contemporary energy-saving dryers, such as Secotec series dryers for example, results in an additional energy cost saving of $5882.

Heat recovery is crucial to efficient energy usage, but its benefits are often severely underestimated or completely overlooked.

Rather than simply letting the compressor heat that results from compressed air production escape unused, it can be put to good use in a wide number of ways, such as for heating purposes or work processes.

This can have huge energy cost saving implications: in this case, around $50,400 per year (with heating oil used as the basis of comparison, at $1.24 per litre).

With all of these individual improvements combined, the total savings when directly comparing a compressed air system that was considered state-of-the-art 30-years ago to an optimised modern system amount to over $38,880, or approximately 37%, in energy costs alone. If factoring in heat recovery, this sum jumps to around $89,280, or 85%!

We must also assume that not all systems were designed with maximum energyefficiency in mind 30 years ago, so the total savings will be even greater for many older systems when taking into consideration all of

Compressors

included that takes frequency-controlled as well as splitting solutions into consideration.

Compressed air quality is another aspect that has to be ensured over the entire period. The audit should be sufficiently comprehensive to note the working pressure in the compressed air station both upstream and downstream from treatment components, as well as at the system’s lowest point of pressure. The potential for identification of leaks in a general sense and subsequent localisation of specific leaks should also be discussed, as should be the relationship and co-ordination between compressed air quality, centralised treatment, and piping material and diameter.

Last, but not least, it should be possible - via controllers - to integrate the entire compressed air system with a centralised system that supports documentation in accordance with ISO 50001.

Controllers are key when it comes to system optimisation.

the advantages that modern compressed air technology has to offer. Experience shows that savings of around 40% to 50% can be realised – and that’s without tapping into the benefits of heat recovery. Needless to say, the cost savings would be far greater if heat recovery was utilised.

On the other hand, potential savings will of course be lower if the systems have at least been partially upgraded to more recent technology at some point since initial installation. Even in such cases though, the total savings can be considerable.

assessment method does not reflect the true load behaviour of compressors with three-phase asynchronous motors running at full load and idling. Certified measurement equipment should be used to perform the audit and a report containing potential improvement strategies should also be

Analysing and modernising older compressed air systems is well worth the effort and, over the long-term, can result in enormous cost savings, despite any initial investment that may be required. The important thing is to have the systems tested within the scope of a high-quality audit and have the system professionally maintained following implementation of optimisation measures.

Compressed air system operators who keep a regular eye on technological innovations and potential measures for optimisation should always be able to enjoy the benefits of an efficient, dependable and cost-effective supply of quality compressed air. www.kaeser.com.au

This 30-year old system has served well, but hides significant potential for cost savings.

Analysis reveals potential So, how does one reveal the energy-saving potential that hides in a compressed air system? This is where compressed air audits can prove invaluable. However, due to the large number of providers that now offer audits, there are massive differences in audit quality. Not all audits are equal, so there are a few points to be aware of…

When commissioning an audit, it is a good idea to clarify whether it will be performed in accordance with the ISO 11011 quality standard, how many years of experience with compressed air technology the provider has, and also to examine any references.

When discussing the scope of an audit, it is important to make sure that it is not limited to just an ampere measurement, since this AMT October 2014

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Compressors

The false economy of air compressor neglect The old adage that prevention is better than cure appears to be highly relevant when considering the topic of air compressor maintenance.

Back in the 1970s, the US car filter manufacturer FRAM aired a memorable ad campaign featuring a mechanic in grease-stained overalls standing next to a car with a burned-out engine. As a prospective customer approaches, the mechanic begins to talk about the considerable expense involved in replacing the engine. He ends his spiel by holding up a small, ten-dollar filter. The extensive work required to replace the engine could have been avoided if the car’s owner would have only replaced the oil filter regularly. The commercial closes with the mechanic looking into the camera and saying: “You can pay me now, or pay me later”.

The message of the commercial is obvious—you can pay a small price to fix something early on or you can pay a big price for it later.

Air compressors are, in many ways, not so different to cars. Built from cylinders, a crankshaft, valves, pistons and moving parts, an air compressor contains similar components to an automobile engine.

Like any engine, a compressor relies on regular low cost maintenance and — if recommended maintenance is faithfully performed — an air compressor will operate for decades.

It is not uncommon, however, for owners of air compressors to take preventative maintenance for granted. Many business owners think that one area to save money is to reduce the servicing of air compressors or to extend the periods between services. After all, they figure, compressors do not actually make anything and add to the running costs of the operation. This can prove to be a very costly oversight. Neglecting scheduled compressor maintenance often leads to premature wear, unnecessary running costs, unscheduled downtime and — ultimately — a shortened life-span for the compressor.

When considering the implications of compressor maintenance neglect, it is important to be aware of the specific issues that may be costing compressor owners thousands.

Power costs With electricity prices skyrocketing in recent years, reducing associated costs is a very pertinent issue for business owners. There are a number of key components in an air compressor that require routine maintenance or replacing to avoid unnecessary increased power consumption.

Inlet filters and the separator element both require replacing at pressure drops of 2 to 3 kPa and 7 psi / 50 kPa respectively. Failure to replace inlet filters can lead to a reduction in compressor capacity of typically around seven percent and higher which, for 100cfm/18.5kW compressors, can cost an extra $272 every 1000 running hours.

Avoiding replacement of the separator element is an even more costly decision. Any increased pressure drop (resistance) greater than 7psi/50kPa will result in unnecessary increased power consumption for the same output and operating pressure. It is not uncommon to find separator elements with pressure differentials of 15psi/103kPa above this point, resulting in 8% additional burden in power costs. In a 100cfm/18.5kW compressor, this can cost upwards of $311 extra every 1000 running hours.

Temperature effects All components in an air compressor have a design life, which is dramatically reduced as temperatures rise. In Australia, where temperatures can reach 40 to 50 degrees Celsius, it is not unusual for compressors to run hot. When a compressor runs hot, all of the components run hot and this can result in significant component

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damage. Prolonged elevated temperature will reduce the life of the compressor significantly.

High running temperatures also result in excess oil consumption and high oil carry-over from the oil vapour produced by these high temperatures. In addition to high oil consumption, high operating temperatures cause considerable damage to products and equipment relying on compressed air. Taking all of these factors into account, the cost is prohibitive — potentially thousands of dollars each year.

Proper temperature can be controlled by having a compressor’s cooling system periodically inspected and cleaned by a service technician. Technicians can also assist by setting high temperature cut-out switches.

Air quality and consumables Dirt, moisture and oil are everywhere — but no one wants them in their compressed air supply. Naturally, as a compressor sucks in air, it also pulls in dust and other particles. For this reason, compressors are fitted with air vents and filters that work to clean the air as it passes through the unit. Over time, these vents and filters become clogged with debris and failure to clean or replace them result in contaminated air.

Contaminated compressed air in a compressor’s system can create problems ranging from mere annoyance to extensive damage to equipment and end products. It can also contribute to a number of other issues, including: • Premature wearing and scoring of surfaces.

• Rust and corrosion in tools, piping and equipment.

• Spoiled paint surfaces.

• Increased scrap rate.

• An unsafe or unpleasant work environment.

It is vital that consumables such as oil, air intake filters, oil filters and airend bearings are monitored and changed by a service technician when required. Failure to do so can damage components beyond repair and cost thousands each to replace. It can also pose a very real fire danger threat — when the airend is starved of oil or the bearings fail, the compression temperature is increased and may result in an internal fire.

Compressors

To take the guesswork out of the equation, compressors generally come with a comprehensive preventative maintenance plan that is specifically tailored for the requirements of the unit. There are also service technicians available around the clock to assist with any urgent compressor servicing needs.

CAPS Australia delivers a comprehensive range of services to ensure their customers’ compressor systems runs trouble-free. Dino Alessio, CAPS’s Rotary Screw Manager, emphasises the importance of compressor maintenance.

“Choosing not to service your air compressor for the sake of saving money in the short-term is a textbook case of false economy,” says Alessio. “Air compressor maintenance is not expensive and, considering the costs it is likely to save in the long run, it more than pays for itself. At CAPS the needs of our customers are always our number-one priority. Our nationwide network of service technicians is available 24/7 to respond to any service needs.”

If you are an air compressor owner and you’re considering skipping or delaying a service, it might pay to keep the image of FRAM’s fictional mechanic in mind. Owning a compressor does not need to be cost-prohibitive. With proper planning and regular maintenance, expensive faults can be minimised or avoided altogether. So give your compressor the lifespan it was designed to enjoy, and remember, you can pay for it now or really pay for it later. www.capsaust.com.au

Unplanned stoppages Air compressors play an integral part in the day-to-day operations of many industries. Consequently, failure of an air compressor unit on a worksite can potentially bring business to a complete standstill. When compressors are serviced regularly, the user will know when the unit will be stopped and can plan accordingly. However, if compressors are serviced on the “fix it when it breaks” principle, not only are the actual costs higher than preventative maintenance — the user will also have to face the consequences associated with unplanned stoppage.

These can include: • Costly downtime (typically around $10,000 per day in turnover for a small factory and $600,000 per day for a large factory).

• Hire equipment fees.

• Disruption to staff and other projects.

• Loss of control over costs.

Compressor maintenance—what to expect It is clear that servicing an air compressor makes good financial sense. However, there is still the question of how often a unit should be serviced. Considering a car should be serviced every 10,000km (approximately 125 hours of continual driving at an average speed of 80km/hr), it is fortunate that an air compressor only requires servicing every 1000-2000 operating hours, or the equivalent of 80,000160,000km, depending on site conditions.

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forum – Logistics

The importance of technology in your supply chain Lawrence Christoffelsz explains the importance of companies updating their technology in order to track shipments and inventory. There many cost-effective solutions available which you may not be aware of, and the process is not as difficult as one might think!

It never ceases to surprise me how many organisations are still unnecessarily struggling with the management and visibility of their supply chain because they refuse to update their technology.

This is as much frustrating as it is disappointing – especially when they engage someone like me to save them money and increase efficiency.

We are now past the half-way mark of 2014 and so many companies still rely so heavily upon overly-complicated spreadsheets and databases in order to track their shipments and monitor their inventory movements. Often missing vital information which could, quite literally, transform their entire business.

Technology is now cheaper than ever and there are a range of off-theshelf packages which can support small and large organisations alike.

These packages are best utilised when they have access to or are linked to an organisation’s suppliers, external warehouses and other 3rd party service providers.

It’s my opinion that this is where the confusion and resistance lies ... when it comes to supply chains, if you can’t connect your data with your external stakeholders, then there will always be excessive manual input, which commonly leads to mistakes and incorrect data. Even the most advanced and expensive software will be limited in its benefits if it cannot easily access the data for all locations and movements.

Some of the obvious benefits of having a strong supply chain software platform are; - Visibility.

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Faster & easier inventory control.

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SKU ageing and tracking.

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Accurate stocktakes.

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Automated alerts and stock level triggers.

- Cost & spend analysis.

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KPI measuring abilities.

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Simplified reports and dashboards.

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Less reliance upon manual inputting of data.

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Improved customer service.

- Continual improvement ability through ‘stand-out’ problems.

The fear of change and/or trying to have the discussions with external stakeholders often put this possibility in the ‘too hard’ basket for many organisations. Of course, I could understand this a decade ago, when scanners and other IT equipment and software development were prohibitively expensive for the majority of SME businesses, but not anymore.

In addition to the above, many companies today simply ‘don’t know what they don’t know’ and are unaware of the range of cost-effective solutions that already exist.

Now, I don’t sell software and I’m not here to recommend any specific supply chain platform or software package – this is very much a ‘case-by-case’ basis for each organisation and their individual circumstances. And, as mentioned earlier, the key to getting the most out of any package is to be willing to spend the time and committing to working with a structured training and implementation program with their external stakeholders to get it working correctly from the start.

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Only when implemented correctly, will the organisation have the ability to dramatically improve efficiencies and identify specific areas of costsaving potential. Unfortunately, this is where the skills gap commonly lies within organisations. It requires a strong commitment from senior management to see this through and can often greatly benefit from outsourcing this task to professionals.

We all know that customers are increasingly ordering in less volume, expecting faster delivery and at more competitive pricing than ever.

This puts a huge amount of pressure on stock ordering, inventory management, fulfilment and even returns or reverse logistics – not to mention the complications it causes in cash flow and for an accounts department.

Unfortunately, so many organisations try to address these problems by shopping around for better deals from transport companies and warehouse providers. However, this isn’t just a matter of squeezing your service providers for better price!

Once an organisation has its own ‘house in order’ and a ‘useable’ supply chain or inventory management system, then they can confidently correctly select service providers based upon their abilities to ‘link’ with their own systems in order to gain the real potential and benefits.

Again, to get this process right, takes planning and skills in order to make it an effective outcome. When completed correctly, it will enable the organisation to work in an integrated fashion with all of their supply chain stakeholders and, most importantly, be in the best possible position to satisfy their customers.

In closing, if you’re one of those organisations who are still using spreadsheets and databases, and spending hours trying to modify them to get them to cope with the needs of your business, then I ask that you seriously get with the times and reconsider the benefits a ‘rethink’ of this situation could bring to your organisation. It’s not as hard as you think. Start by doing an internet search on your computer or if you’re really daring, you can even use your smartphone on the train!

Lawrence Christoffelsz is International Trade & Supply Chain Advisor. He is also Managing Director of Logistics Results Pty Ltd - an Australian-owned and operated company. This team of supply chain, logistics and international trade experts will increase your efficiencies and reduce the costs to your organisation. Ph: 1300 13 17 18 www.logisticsresults.com.au www.exportresults.com.au Lawrence Christoffelsz is also Director and Board Member of the Australian Chamber of International Trade - www.acit.org.au

forum – OHS

The risk of equipment failure when working at heights Incorrect set-up and use of fall-prevention equipment is a major contributor to accidents, as explained by Brendan Torazzi.

Falling from heights is one of the leading causes of workplace injuries and death, according to Safe Work Australia. Approximately 11% of all work-related fatalities are caused by a fall from height. Addressing this troubling figure requires more than an investment in training and equipment, the Working at Heights Association (WAHA) reveals. While ensuring employees are provided with comprehensive working at heights training and personal protective equipment is crucial, a recent WAHA survey found that unsafe tools and fall-arrest system failures may influence a number of accidents and injuries.

“Based on the results of a survey of the WAHA Installer Group, fallprevention equipment cannot be relied on,” WAHA Installer Group Committee Member Carl Sachs explained to the National Safety Council of Australia (NSCA).

The survey found that 94% of fixed ladders and 31% of anchor points in work sites across Australia were potentially fatal due to incorrect installation. Sachs believes failure to install fall-prevention equipment correctly stems from the lack of mandatory training and licensing of installers working in many industries. “Anyone with a credit card and a cordless drill can install this equipment and work at heights,” he revealed, “and there are manufacturers who don’t impose any training requirements on their clients at all.”

A call for industry standards The WAHA and other industry stakeholders have long been campaigning for nation-wide standards to be introduced regarding the installation of fall-prevention systems. In particular, the strongest voices convened in NSW for a falls crisis summit at the Sydney Safety Conference in September last year.

Boosting the safety of the installer As well as increasing the safety of those employees destined to use the completed fall-arrest systems, it is also vital to ensure you have procedures in place to protect the health and safety of the installer.

“Apart from other workers relying on their installations, the installers themselves are exposed to incredible risk of falls when they install the equipment,” Sachs explained.

“Anyone can go and install equipment on the edge of a 30-metre skyscraper. With a framework of training and licensing, there is no reason why an installer shouldn’t certify their height safety installation the same way a licensed electrician certifies their own work.”

Several issues were put to the vote at this event, receiving unanimous support. These votes included the belief that compliance with the Australian Standards should be compulsory, formal training for installers be mandatory and regulators inspect fall-prevention equipment.

Improving the safety of the individual installing fall-prevention systems can include using temporary equipment, such as elevated platforms, harnesses and fall-arrest lines. However, similar to the more permanent installations, incorrect set-up and use of these items can significantly reduce their effectiveness.

“We don’t need more WHS laws,” Sachs explained. “We need a framework which complements the layers of legislation and actually enforces it. Relying on people doing the right thing is not a suitable control for equipment that workers’ lives depend on.”

Accessing working at heights training is an important step in boosting OHS outcomes for those undertaking employment above the ground.

This is because a nationally certified course helps increase knowledge and ability related to these systems.

Currently, no specific mandatory accreditation exists for the installers of fall-arrest systems. Furthermore, installers are not required to access training and can effectively install and certify their own work. This often leads to installations being completed under little scrutiny. The NSCA believes that intense regulation is not necessarily the key to improving quality. Instead, industry leaders need to address the potential conflict of interest introduced by having the installer certify their own work.

In particular, a comprehensive working at heights learning program should include training in the identification, installation, maintenance and use of safety systems and equipment. This enables an individual who has undergone this training to increase their awareness of potential hazards, such as incorrect installation, degraded mechanisms and other risks.

“OHS expert Michael Tooma believes that even providing a secondary trained individual within the installer’s own company may be enough to boost safety standards. “As long as they are a competent person, have the correct expertise and have the independence to be able to certify, this would be an appropriate step forward and improvement to the existing approach – and that in itself would improve the quality of fall-prevention equipment out here,” he said.

It is therefore important to ensure that if your worksite requires fallprevention equipment installation, and you choose to perform this duty in-house, that you provide working at heights training to multiple employees. This will enable your staff to certify and regulate the work of their colleagues, in addition to increasing their ability to recognise potential issues with their own systems.

Once training has been completed, employees are also able to make informed decisions regarding the specific type of equipment that would be best for the situation at hand. This means there will be a reduced risk of workers using the wrong system and being involved in a preventable accident.

Monitoring equipment is also crucial as this ensures that any wear or degradation of systems is identified and addressed as soon as possible, minimising the risk of equipment failures.

Brendan Torazzi is CEO of AlertForce - a Registered Training Organisation. AlertForce specialises in compliance training for Workplace Health and Safety by offering quality online, face-toface and/or blended training approaches to create fast, flexible and competitive OHS training & compliance solutions.

Ph: 1800 900 222 www.alertforce.com.au AMT October 2014

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forum – quality control

Taking quality outside your four walls: Supplier quality Part 1 of 2 In today’s dynamic business environment, suppliers play an important role in bringing products to market.

As businesses continue to evolve and improve efficiencies in the production process, the supply chain plays an ever-increasing role in ensuring business objectives are met, as explained by Seer Pharma.

Companies rely on suppliers to provide the components necessary to manufacture products and meet the pressures of demand. As a growing global market increases demand and specialisation of products, more and more organisations rely on strategic supplier partnerships to help ease the costs of meeting such demands.

As a result of these partnerships, the supply chain often becomes very long and extensive, with suppliers manufacturing components in various countries and regions, each specialised to fit a particular niche required by the end user. In an effort to meet these requirements, supplier quality is often overlooked or not maintained. This lack of visibility of quality into the supply chain can often have an adverse effect on the business, leading to poor quality of product, lost inventory due to quality issues, or even stock-outs of particular product lines.

How can companies streamline their supplier quality management to increase visibility into the supply chain, and incorporate their quality standards and practices down the supply chain?

Let’s outline several key concepts that relate to how companies can extend their enterprise quality management system to their suppliers, and effectively take quality outside their four walls.

Challenge #1 - Lack of Visibility: Simply put, a quality system is only effective if it produces a high-quality product. Many companies streamline quality operations within their company-improving processes, taking corrective action, maintaining compliance, and more. But as demand grows, these companies must outsource to suppliers to provide them with the components they need to continue to meet such demand. If supplier quality is poor, then the overall product suffers. Without visibility into the supplier’s quality system, it’s difficult for companies to ensure a high-quality product.

Challenge #2 - Cost of Poor Supplier Quality: When a product fails to meet quality standards, it is often the parent company (or brand owner) that must incur the liability for such events. Companies will track the cost of poor quality (COPQ) within their organisation, but often fail to track the full cost of poor supplier quality (COPSQ). While many companies will track material costs as they relate to suppliers, the non-material costs such as quality department overhead, inspection overhead, supplier communication, and administrative costs are often overlooked. As a result, the overall COPQ becomes inaccurate due to supplier quality issues above and beyond materials costs. Companies often attribute this to cost of doing business, leading to higher unit costs. Making suppliers liable for both material and non-material costs can help to recover costs due to poor quality.

Challenge #3 - Lack of Communication: When companies enter into a supplier relationship, certain procedures and practices are agreed upon. But without a continual auditing process, there is no way for the brand owner to effectively ensure that the agreed-upon practices are being followed. Without constant supplier collaboration, processes such as non-conformance and corrective actions can ultimately misalign the supplier’s practices with the brand owner’s, leading to quality gaps in the supply chain.

Challenge #4 - Technology Prevents Integrated Relationships: Often, technology plays an important role in how your systems integrate with those of your suppliers. If your systems differ, there may be technology hurdles to overcome. It’s sometimes difficult and costly to bridge the technology gap, and many companies are either reluctant or do

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not find it cost-effective to make the effort to integrate. The result is gaps in communication from one system to the next, and the overall traceability of quality processes suffers. Being able to communicate with your supplier on a technology level is critical in maintaining a consistent system.

Challenge #5 - Security Concerns / Fears: Supplier relationships should be interconnected, but there is a certain level of fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) when allowing suppliers into your systems. While it is important for suppliers to be involved in your process, it can be a detriment if too much access is granted. So many companies opt to not integrate with suppliers; simply out of security concerns or fears they may “know too much.” While a valid concern, eliminating your suppliers completely from your system can harm your efficiencies in the relationship, increasing gaps in communication and limiting quick resolution of quality issues.

Lack of visibility down the supply chain can lead to increased cost of poor quality, limited liability in poor supplier quality, and a breakdown of best practices down the supply chain.

Closing the gap with suppliers There is hope, however, in implementing a best-practices approach to Supplier Quality Management. Creating visibility down the supply chain can be achieved through integration of your quality management system to your suppliers.

In Part 2 of this article, we will take a look at the various ways you can overcome the barriers and challenges to build a Supplier Quality Management System that facilitates quality throughout the supply chain.

SeerSolutions implements flexible business process management software solutions to meet individual client objectives.

SeerSolutions thanks its business partner EtQ (original publisher of this article) for permission to publish this article in AMT. www.seer-solutions.com.au

forum – Finance

Obtaining commercial equipment finance For one in five Australian businesses, a lack of funds was a barrier to innovating, according to figures released recently by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Ken Richards explains that because of banks’ conservative approach to lending, finance for upgrading may be difficult to obtain. Hence the importance of having a partner on-board for commercial equipment finance.

With increasing competition and costs, Australian businesses have invested in innovation and technology to make their businesses more competitive in price, efficiency, accuracy and turnaround times, and Commercial Equipment Finance can become an important ally in this process.

The latest business report on Innovation in Australian businesses by the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that a vast majority (72%) of businesses referred to Innovation as the underlying factor for business profits. At the same time, one in five businesses felt that a major barrier to investing in innovation is a lack of funds. Survey results also showed that innovation had led to a reduction in cost for more than one in four innovating businesses in the manufacturing and agriculture, forestry and fishing industries.

Whilst most businesses view the GFC as a thing of the past, banks continue to be conservative in their approach to lending and this is partly driven by the prevailing low rates and the time it takes to make back any losses, therefore making most mainstream lenders overly conservative in lending, particularly for assets with limited resale value. So where one company may finance a robot, a software or IT upgrade may be extremely difficult to achieve.

Interlease has worked with engineering businesses for over 40 years, as well as most financiers in the Australian market and can attest to the differing financing appetites between financiers, even for the same asset and how this can change over time.

As such, it is evident that finance can be difficult to achieve at times, but not always because the business isn’t in a position to finance the equipment, but due to the internal appetite of the finance company to the industry or asset. And whilst engineering continues to be an extremely competitive industry for a large number of companies, gaining finance can be frustrating and time-consuming.

Having a partner for commercial equipment finance can help in following ways:

1) Reduction of opportunity costs Having immediate access to an expert with a detailed understanding of your industry and the equipment or machinery to be financed and the benefits it can bring, can eliminate teaching a finance company about your business or industry and avoids wasting valuable time searching for a finance company that will be interested in what you are interested in financing.

2) Matching income with expense It is important to choose a finance structure that will best match equipment finance cost with the income generated from the asset, whilst maximizing the tax effectiveness to suit the required cash flow impact. An optimum combination of the Finance Term and Residual/ Balloon will ensure that the monthly repayments over the term are affordable, whilst not leaving a shortfall on the value of the asset at the end of the term. As technology changes are fast-paced today, an ideal combination should also allow quicker replacement of the new equipment with the latest technology, without a major impact on the bottom line.

3) Managing terms of payment and supplier type Often, the supplier can be overseas or you can be dealing with a local agent, each with their own unique payment terms. It is important to make sure that the finance facility matches up with the supplier

terms, resulting in a seamless transaction and timely delivery of the equipment. For example, the transaction can include a Letter of Credit that guarantees payment upon presentation of the documents specified in the terms of the Letter of Credit. This can be further complicated by progressive payment terms with a deposit, onshipment payment and final balance on installation.

Factors such as limiting over-exposure to a supplier (especially an overseas one) for the deposit, getting the documentation right, regular and clear communication with supplier bank and managing the entire process can be quite complex, particularly with the current privacy and PPSR requirements.

Involving the right equipment finance partner early in your procurement cycle can leave you focusing on what you do best and allows you to invest time and energy into getting a quicker pay-back on the technology investment. Making sure that you have an independent finance broker who is an expert in business and equipment finance reduces your complete reliance on your bank, beyond the working capital needs.

Interlease is one of Australia’s largest Business Finance Broking companies with 40 years experience as a specialist equipment finance broker. The range of finance options offered is extensive and also includes the core business of Leasing and Hire Purchase. Interlease carries accreditation with over 40 financial institutions. Interlease takes the time to research your business and combining this with knowledge of your industry, the best finance option is arranged. Intlerlease look takes into account factors such as the likely productivity increases new machinery and systems will provide over a nominated time period and most importantly what effect this will have on cashflow. As part of our customer commitment, Interlease has written a short Guide to Commercial Finance, which provides an overview of the dos and don’ts when seeking commercial finance. www.interlease.com.au Ph: 1300 859 429 krichards@interlease.com.au AMT October 2014

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manufacturing history

60 YEARS WITH MEN AND MACHINES – PART 48

Machine tools and global warfare Part 7 The War is over!

We continue our instalments from the book “60 years with men and machines” - the autobiography of US machinist and author Fred Herbert Colvin (1867-1965).The war is over and Fred muses on the role of machine tools in the conflict and his initial disappointment at being talked out of a final tour. By Fred Colvin The machine-tool industry performed magnificent service in this war and the demand for machine tools was tremendous. Accordingly, the industry inaugurated a large expansion program, including the establishment of “Machine Tool Panels”. An early example of the Panel’s success was that of the Chicago Panel. The Panel was assigned the task of producing – in a great hurry - seven million metal components of artillery shells known as “adaptor-boosters”.This job required a multiple-spindle automatic screw machine, and an intensive search was begun for capacity of this type. A month’s search indicated that only onefourteenth of the required capacity could be obtained—a mere 500,000 units, The Machine-tool Panel was consulted, and it suggested several alternate methods of production that employed turret lathes, chuckers, engine lathes and drill presses instead of the virtually unobtainable automatic screw machines. The required capacity was obtained in short order.

There are other accomplishments of Machine-tool Panels, all of them leading to increased production and savings not only in time, but in actual cost.

Well, the war was coming to a close in 1945, as everyone who followed the communiqués could see. A long succession of victories from January to December of 1944 had paved the way for final triumph in 1945. Anzio, the Marshall Islands, Normandy, the liberation of Paris, the invasion of Germany, the invasion of Leyte, the defeat of the Ardennes pocket, the taking of Luzon, the liberation of Manila—all these landmarks of the Second World War had already taken place when Captain Louis Marshall asked me one day to go to France with a small group of officer engineers in order to study the conditions and methods of the Germans in the French shops which they had made free use of during the occupation. I was full of enthusiasm for the project. We were to follow the armies of Bradley and Patton into Germany and get as much

age there is a slight predisposition to pulmonary infection if there is prolonged exposure to low temperatures combined with dampness and other conditions.”

“You mean I shouldn’t go?” “I mean you shouldn’t go unless you want to run the risk of a fairly certain attack of pneumonia, arthritis, rheumatism, and related disorders that will keep you in a base hospital most of the time. Why not give your insurance company a break for a few more years?”

Of course I was disappointed.

However John Meader went in my stead, replacing me most effectively. Talking with the group later did not increase my regrets over not being with them at the time. They got close enough to the front line on one occasion for John’s aide to collect some shrapnel in one arm while on a tour of inspection of the shops I was scheduled to look at.

firsthand information as possible, both as to tools and methods, and possible plans for new weapons.

I was in high spirits and made all of the necessary preparations. Then, as an added precaution, I paid a visit to my family physician.

“You tell me you want to go to France,” said my doctor. “Yes sir, on the first available plane. There’s a lot of interesting work to be done there, and I think I can help.” I replied. “Let’s see—you’re seventy-six aren’t you?”

“Seventy-seven, to be exact. But what has that got to do with it? I’ve never felt better in my life—and you yourself told me only recently that my heart is in good shape, and my blood pressure O.K. If I take it easy, why can’t I go?”

“For one thing, the war isn’t over yet— you’re liable to be a little slow dodging artillery shells and machine-gun bullets, to say nothing of getting into an air-raid shelter in ten seconds flat. And at your

Everyone knows what followed in quick succession. On March 8, the United States forces crossed the Rhine, and established a bridgehead. The Allied forces pressed on to make a junction with the Russian Army sweeping through Berlin, and General Patton wheeled from Czechoslovakia into Austria soon after the death of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. On May 7 came the unconditional surrender of Germany; April 1 saw the invasion of Okinawa, and the final coup de grace of the whole global war came on August 6, 1945, when the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Eight days later Japan surrendered unconditionally, and the second great Armageddon in history had come to an end. Or was it only a truce?

Being an old man who will leave this mortal coil before the next dozen years or so, I am inclined to believe that there is hope for civilization in spite of the atomic bomb and our present state of international politics. To explain why I think so would take a volume twice the size of this one.

To be continued…

Sixty Years With Men and Machines - The Autobiography of Fred H Colvin, Master Machinist Original © 1947, McGraw-Hill Publishing, reprinted by Lindsay Publications Inc, 1988, Bradley IL 60915, USA.

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AMT October 2014

Rethinking factory logistics, product design, & profitability.

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Trade shows can stimulate investment We are in the midst of a number of major trade shows around the world and their success again highlights the importance of exhibitions as a showcase for technology suppliers.

Having just returned from IMTS in Chicago, where over 110,000 visitor registrations made it the third largest attendance since the show first ran in 1927, I can say with some certainty that the US manufacturing industry has rebounded quite dramatically from the GFC. But it was the positive vibe of the exhibition which really stood out. As each day went by, more and more exhibitors were commenting on the genuine level of interest from visitors.

All three Australian companies at IMTS – Techni Automation, John Hart and ANCA – had exceptional shows with orders being placed and significant enquiries that will keep them busy for many months. There is an IMTS debrief article in this issue so I won’t go into great detail on the show in this column.

Shows including AMB in Hamburg and the upcoming Euroblech (Hanover) and Jimtof (Tokyo) are all larger than in previous years and forecasting strong numbers. These exhibitions provide a great environment for visitors to see the latest technology and for exhibitors to engage with companies that are looking to be progressive.

This emphasises why it is so important for us to have a strong Australian exhibition next May. Austech is Australia’s version of these international events and we need to create a similar atmosphere and positivity to what we are seeing in other countries. Now that Austech only runs every two years, co-located with National Manufacturing Week in Melbourne, it is even more important to develop this as a “Super Show” and have it recognised on the International calendar.

Austech will be a fillip for our manufacturing sector next year and give the impetus needed to drive investment in technology and innovation which is the key to our manufacturing future. Mark it in your calendar now: 26-29 May 2015 in Melbourne will be the only show of its type for the next couple of years. After that, it will not be until 2017 when we will see Austech again.

Whilst on the subject of investment, I should bring you up to date on our discussions with the Government. We are in the process of lobbying for an Accelerated Depreciation Scheme which will allow up to $250,000 per year to be claimed as depreciation on equipment over the next five years. We are confident that this will boost business confidence and provide the encouragement for companies to invest in capital. Our great hope is to have a Scheme in place before Austech next year that will even further enhance the potential of the show.

AMTILinside

AMTIL Christmas events – Book now It seems hard to believe 2014 has gone by so fast, but it’s true: Christmas is coming, and AMTIL is lining up a series of events to help you celebrate.

This year’s festive season involves three AMTIL events, including a dinner for members in New South Wales (NSW), and a lunch for members in Queensland. For members in Victoria, there is our ever-popular golf day and lunch. Places are limited, so book early to avoid disappointment.

Each event offers you the chance to kick off the festive season, network with other AMTIL members in a relaxed social environment, and simply unwind and enjoy yourself at the end of another hardworking year. You could even bring along staff or colleagues as an end-of-year reward.

Details for the events are as follows:

NSW Members Christmas Dinner Criniti’s Italian Restaurant Parramatta Tuesday, 25 November Members: $39pp Non-Members: $85pp Includes three course meal and drinks

QLD Members Christmas Lunch Breakfast Creek Hotel – Spanish Garden Steakhouse Brisbane Friday 28 November Members: $39pp Non-Members: $85pp Includes three course meal and drinks

AMTIL Corporate Golf Day & Christmas Lunch Riversdale Golf Club, Mount Waverley, Victoria Friday 5th December Members: $115pp Non-Members: $145pp Lunch Only: Members $45, Non Members $75 If you would like to attend any these events, please register online at: www.amtil.com.au/events.

Looking for exposure for your business? AMTIL events offer unique sponsorship opportunities to suit all budgets. For more information contact AMTIL’s Events Manager Kim Warren at kwarren@amtil.com.au

AMT – Advertising with impact Those of you who have already leafed through this issue of AMT may have noticed something new around pages 50-51 and 66-67.

AMT is trialling the inclusion of “Impact Cards” in the magazine for its remaining issues this year, with the aim of rolling them out as a permanent feature in 2015. Situated in two fixed positions within the magazine, the Impact Cards are printed on DL-sized, 250gsm card, and are available in both vertical and horizontal formats.

The Impact Cards have been designed so that the relevant pages fall open naturally as the reader flicks through the magazine, ensuring they get maximum exposure. Advertisers can print on both sides of the card, allowing them an array of options in terms of how they choose to present their brands.

NEW

Double siDeD impact carD aDs Australia’s Number 1 industry magazine AMT, is now offering a new advertising initiative with their premium AMT Impact Card Ads • • • • • • • •

2 positions only, bound into AMT* Printed on cover weight 250gsm Full colour, double-sided Optional tear-out perforation Horizontal or vertical format 7,000 key targeted contacts Over 40,000 readers 64% surveyed are decision-makers *Positions are fixed placements within the magazine

For further information contact Anne Samuelsson on 0400 115 525 or email asamuelsson@amtil.com.au

1232 AMT IC Horizontal.indd 1

The introduction of Impact Cards is just the latest initiative by AMTIL to help its members promote their businesses more effectively. We have developed a number of new advertising channels recently, both in print and online, and we are continuing to explore additional options.

Introduced last year, our Product E-Blasts have proved to be extremely popular and are booked out for the rest of 2014. Members who have booked this feature have tended to rebook due to its success. The Product E-Blast schedule for 2015 has now been finalised – and bookings are filling up fast. Meanwhile, online advertising via the AMTIL website remains an economical and effective way to get your message out there.

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In terms of print media, we may be able to assist you by sending out your catalogues to the AMT readership along with the magazine. And, as always, there are a wealth of opportunities for advertising in AMT itself, allowing you to present your brand and products to some of the key decision-makers across our industry.

Our 2015 Media Kit has recently been released and contains details of all the advertising options available with AMTIL. It can be viewed at www.amtil.com.au/AMT-Magazine. To further discuss your advertising requirements, please contact our Sales Manager Anne Samuelsson by phone on 0400 115 525 or email asamuelsson@amtil.com.au.

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AMTILinside

New AMTIL Members

Broens 20 Williamson Road Ingleburn NSW 2565 Ph: 02 9829 1111 sales@broens.com.au www.broens.com.au

Forgacs 50 Fitzroy Street Carrington, NSW 2294 02 4978 9180 forgacs@forgacs.com.au www.forgacs.com.au

Geng Pty Ltd Unit 5, 31 Elmsfield Road Midvale, WA 6056 Ph: 08 9274 6955 cliff.green@geng.com www.geng.com

Intech Chemicals Pty Ltd Unit 2, 2 Stennett Road Ingleburn NSW 2565 Ph: 0419 330 303 info@intechchemicals.com www.Intechchemicals.com

Invenio Pty Ltd L4, 37-41 Prospect Street Box Hill, VIC 3128 Ph: 1300 422 842 info@invenio.com.au www.invenio.com.au

AMTIL on show at IMTS The International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) took place in Chicago on 8-13 September, and AMTIL was there.

AMTIL took a stand among the international associations section of the show.

Throughout the week, the AMTIL stand received a steady flow of enquiries from exhibition visitors, interested in finding out more about the manufacturing industry in Australia, or seeking advice on opportunities there.

“Having a presence at events like IMTS is an essential activity for AMTIL,” said AMTIL CEO Shane Infanti. “As well as representing our members in an international setting, the show presents an invaluable platform for us to establish new relationships and strengthen existing ones with other associations from around the world. Building up those relationships is crucial for us. The resulting exchange of ideas and information is vital in helping us serve our members more effectively.”

Round 21 Battle of the birds Yes, the 2014 AMTIL Footy Tipping competition has once again been run and won. Congratulations to all participants especially Daniel Fisher for taking out the grand prize. At the time of writing, we are leading into the grand final with the two top teams fighting it out. Both the Swans and the Hawks seem to be peaking at the right time and continue to show the true grit required to be crowned champions. That said, will the loss of Buddy Franklin from the Hawks to the Swans deliver the third premiership for both the Swans and Buddy… me thinks yes. In what will be an early brusing encounter, the Swans will run out easy winners with too much class – there’ll be no ugly ducklings come Saturday afternoon, only graceful swans. Till next year, Laurie Sanchez 1 Daniel Fisher

146 (584)

2 Brendan Smith

144 (577)

3 Fethers

142 (593)

4 WSG

141 (606)

AMTIL’s presence at IMTS also provided a focal point for Australians attending EMO, many of whom dropped in on the stand. Over the course of the show, AMTIL members called in at the stand to say hello and catch up.

5 Jeff Hedger

140 (673)

6 Dawks

138 (666)

7 Shane Infanti

138 (676)

“We’ve bumped into a fair few visitors over from Australia,” added Infanti. “It’s been really good having them show up at our stand for a chat. It’s helpful for us to be able to find out what they’re looking for from a show like IMTS. And we’re also able to chip in with useful advice and recommendations on where they might want to go or what they might do well to see. It’s nice to be able to support our members in this way.”

8 SKN

138 (718)

9 EluMan

137 (604)

10 mike.k

137 (623)

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AMT October 2014

Australian Manufacturing Technology Institute Limited

Keeping it Simple.

One Membership, Many Benefits.

connect.inform.grow.

MeMbershIp pAckAges AvAILAbLe AMTIL membership for companies, individuals and supporters within the precision engineering and advanced manufacturing sector.

For more information visit www.amtil.com.au or contact corporate services Manager greg chalker on 03 9800 3666 or gchalker@amtil.com.au

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industry calendar

Please Note: It is recommended to contact the exhibition organiser to confirm before attending event

INTERNATIONAL Euroblech Germany, Hannover 21-25 October 2014 A clearly structured exhibition profile covers the entire sheet metal working technology chain. Includes Sheet metal working, forming; processing of sheet metal/plastic hybrid structures; joining, welding, fastening; tools, dies, CAD/CAM etc. www.euro-blech.de/english AmCon Utah – 22-23 October Michigan – 11-12 November A one-stop-shop design & contract manufacturing expo which includes forming/ fabricating; machining; engineering; prototyping; finishing; assembly. www.amconshows.com India Essen Welding & Cutting India, Mumbai 28-30 October 2014 Features joining, cutting and surfacing technology suppliers and includes equipment for joining, surfacing and cutting processes; heat treatment; CAD production; automation; auxiliary materials. www.india-essen-welding-cutting.com/iewc Mashex 2014 Russia, Moscow 28-31 October 2014 Wide range of metal cutting, forge-andpressing and casting equipment, processing centres for composite materials, equipment for surface treatment, instrumentation, precision tools, lasers, CAD/CAM, robots, components and operating supplies www.mashex.ru Mining and Engineering (M&E) Indonesia Indonesia, Jakarta 29-31 October 2014 Opportunities for Australian and international suppliers enhancing their business profile network with Indonesian mining professionals. www.miningandengineeringindo.com JIMTOF Japan, Tokyo 30 October – 4 November 2014 Leading international machine tool exhibition www.jimtof.org/eng Metalworking and CNC Machine Tool Show China, Shanghai 4-8 November 2014 Includes metal forming/cutting machine tools and special purpose machines. MWCS will, for the first time, launch an individual “True Meaning of Sheet Metal” for professional buyers and visitors. www.metalworkingchina.com/EN Taiwan International Machine Tool Show Taiwan 5-9 November 2014 Includes: cutting/forming machine tools & components; automation; inspection; tube & wire processing equipment; toolholding; software. www.tmts.tw/en

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AMT October 2014

Rajkot Machine Tools Show 2014 India, Gujarat 6-9 November 2014 A complete engineering exhibition specifically designed to promote machine tools, machinery, automation & automotive technology and material handling. http://kdclglobal.com Fabtech USA, Atlanta 11-13 November 2014 Learning opportunities with over 100 educational sessions and expert-led presentations on the latest industry trends and technology in the metal forming, fabricating, welding and finishing industries. www.fabtechexpo.com Metal Expo Russia, Moscow 11-14 November 2014 The whole range of ferrous and non-ferrous products, state-of-the-art equipment and technologies for the steel industry, metalworking, and steel service centres. www.metal-expo.ru/en Myanmar Intl. Machine Tool & Automation Myanmar 13-16 November 2014 Includes Power & Electronics Fair http://mt.emmafair.com/en_US/index.html Metalex Thailand, Bangkok 19-22 November 2014 Includes: machine/metalworking tools; metrology; welding technology; mould & die; sheet metal working; automation; material handling; accessories. www.metalex.co.th Global Industrial Expo 2014 India, Pune 21-24 November 2014 National Exhibition on Manufacturing and Engineering Industry in India www.globalindustrialexpo.com DMP China 19-22 November 2014 China Dongguan International Mould and Metalworking Exhibition.

Concurrent exhibition: Plastics, Packaging & Rubber Exhibition. Special Pavilions: Stamping Machine Zone; Laser Cut Zone; Mould Materials & Parts Zone; Hong Kong Plastic Machinery Asscn. Pavilion; Chemical and Plastics Raw Material Zone; Taiwan Pavilion. www.dmpshow.com Euromold Germany, Frankfurt 25-28 November 2014 World fair for moldmaking and tooling, design and application development. www.euromold.com MACTECH 2014 Egypt, Cairo International Convention Center 27-30 November 2014 Regional manufacturing, trading and networking forum serving the markets of the

Middle East and North Africa. Specialising in machine tools, industrial tools, welding and cutting equipment www.mactech.com.eg Manufacturing Indonesia Indonesia, 3-6 December 2014 Concurrent exhibitions are, Automation & Logistics Indonesia and ‘Tool & Hardware Indonesia. Includes boring/drilling machines & tools, automation; inspection; material handling. www.manufacturingindonesia.com World of Industry India, New Delhi 10- 13 December 2014 Hydraulics, electro-mechanical transmission, automation,, materials handling, logistics, surface technology products, electroplating and surface engineering techniques. www.win-india.com Indo Metal Indonesia, Jakarta 11-13 December 2014 Metal and steel trade fair, with a focus on the synergistic capabilities of foundry technology, casting products, metallurgy and thermo process technology. www.indometal.net

2015 Steelfab Untied Arab Emirates 26-29 January 2015 Metal working, metal manufacturing and steel fabrication trade show. www.steelfabme.com Expo Manufatura Mexico 3-5 February 2015 Machine/cutting/forming/micromaching tools; CAD/CAM; automation; metrology. www.expomanufactura.com.mx 3D Printing - Next Revolution in Multi-Material Fabricated Parts USA, Las Vegas 17-19 February 2015 3D Printing has begun reshaping the manufacturing base – the 21st Century’s industrial revolution. www.dddprintingconference.com TIMTOS Taiwan, Taipei 3-8 March 2015 Metal cutting/forming machine tools, accessories, welding, surface treatment equipment, tube & wire processing, measuring, software, China pavilion. www.timtos.com.tw Hannover Messe Germany, Hannover 13-17 April 2015 All core themes of the industrial value-adding chain – from individual components to the complete smart factory. Current hot topics such as Industry 4.0, energy efficiency and lightweight construction will be discussed. www.hannovermesse.de/home

industry calendar local Mining & Engineering NSW Newcastle Entertainment Centre 8-10 October 2014 Latest products and technologies for the coal mining sector of the Upper Hunter Valley. www.miningandengineeringnsw.com.au Australasian Waste & Recycling Expo Sydney 9-10 October 2014 Innovations in the collection, sorting and processing of waste from the municipal, commercial and construction sectors. www.awre.com.au All Energy Australia 2014 Melbourne Convention Centre 15-16 October 2014 an annual, free-to-delegate, business-tobusiness conference and networking forum hosted alongside an exhibition showcasing renewable energy, clean energy, sustainable transport and energy efficiency. www.all-energy.com.au Sustainability in Business Melbourne Convention Centre 15-16 October 2014 Looks at the core fundamentals needed for a company’s sustainable future and how sustainable innovation can help drive them forward to improve their profitability and social responsibility while reducing their impact on the environment. www.australiansustainability.com.au Motorclassica 24-26 October 2014 Melbourne, Royal Exhibition Building Australasia’s premier event for the classic, vintage and veteran motoring movement, from around Australia and the world. www.motorclassica.com.au

Queensland Gas Conference Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre 25-26 November 2014 Dedicated to the latest developments surrounding Coal Seam Gas and Liquefied Natural Gas in Queensland www.queenslandgasconference.com.au

2015 Avalon 2015 Victoria, Geelong 24 February 1 March 2015 Australian international airshow and aerospace & defence exposition www.airshow.com.au/airshow2015 The Australasian Oil and Gas Exhibition & Conference Perth Convention & Exhibition Centre 11-13 March 2015 Australia’s largest oil and gas event www.aogexpo.com.au Auspack Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre 24-27 March 2015 Specialised trade exhibition for packaging and processing machinery www.auspack.com.au Australian Motoring Festival Melbourne Showground 26-29 March, 2015 Largest cross-section of vehicles, including new and historic cars and motorcycles, SUVs, and special interest vehicles. www.australianmotoringfestival.com.au

Austech Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre 26-29 May 2015 Australia’s premier advanced precision manufacturing and machine tool exhibition.

The only show specifically targeted at the metalworking, machine tool and ancillary market held in Australia. www.amtil.com.au/Austech-Exhibition National Manufacturing Week Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre 26-29 May 2015 Fully integrated annual manufacturing exhibition showcasing the latest products and constantly evolving technologies in the expanding manufacturing market www.nationalmanufacturingweek.com.au/ Safety in Action Melbourne Exhibition Centre 15-17 September 2015 www.safetyinaction.net.au/melbourne CeMAT 5-7 May 2015 Sydney Olympic Park Materials handling and Logistics exhibition: aterials handling, intralogistics and logistics solutions. Features Australia’s key players in the process manufacturing, retail and FMCG market with 3PL’s and materials handling solutions providers to showcase how to create a smart, integrated and efficient approach to materials handling and transport logistics www.cemat.com.au

Safety in Action Brisbane Exhibition & Convention Centre 22-23 April 2015 Dedicated workplace health & safety event www.safetyinaction.net.au/brisbane

Advertiser Index Industrial Laser 69

Iscar 2-3 3D Systems Asia Pacific 8 LMC Laser 57 Acra Machinery 13 LS Starrett 53 AlfexCNC 17 Machinery Forum 83 Amada 90,91 MAPAL 9, 71 AMTIL AMT 10, 73 MTI Qualos 27, 39 AMTIL Membership 87 Objective3D 25 AMTIL Austech 23 OKUMA 7 Applied Machinery Aust. P/L 29 OSG Asia Pty Ltd 4&5 Broens 44-45 Sandvik 15, Vert Impact card 50 CeMAT 21 Seco Tools 65 Complete Machine Tools 31 Sutton Tools 63 Compressed Air Australia 19 Techni Waterjet 55 Delcam 47 Walter Cover Dimac Tools 61 Walter 11 DMG Mori Seiki 34-35 WYSIWYG 92 G-Zero five 41

Would you like to advertise in Australia’s No. 1 precision and manufacturing magazine?

Call Anne Samuelsson of AMTIL on 03 9800 3666 or email asameulsson@amtil.com.au

nov14 Australian Manufacturing Technology

Your Industry. Your Magazine.

NEXT MONTH…

CONSTRUCTION & INFRASTRUCTURE Our main feature looks into how the construction industry and major infrastructure projects are generating fresh opportunities for Australian manufacturers.

ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING MATERIAL REMOVAL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT MOTORS & DRIVES

AMT October 2014

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REMOTE

AMADA MPL LOADER AUTOMATIC

AMADA offers a range of practical solutions for executing flexible production with a high degree of automation and low labor input. The selection ranges from pallet changing systems to loading, unloading and sorting systems, and fully automated production lines connected to automated storage and retrieval systems.

The Amada MPL is designed to help you improve productivity and increase profits whilst reducing lead-time and cutting costs. This fully automated material load and unload system has a small footprint and provides flexible manufacturing of individual parts or large production runs.

• Automatic loading and unloading of large range of materials • Compact solution with minimal footprint • Handling of raw material and processed sheets • Job scheduling for continuous production • Fast cycle time

Amada Oceania Pty Ltd www.amada.com.au

COMPLEX PARTS – BIG PROJECTS

“Our point of difference is speed to market.”

“The Amada FOM2NT laser in combination with the MPL loader / unloader allows us to realise seamless transition from high mix, low volume to high volume work.”

Ryan McClenaghan, Director, Micron Manufacturing sheetmetal design, engineering and manufacturing solution to their customers by specialising in high mix, low volume and high volume work with the flexibility of fast turnaround on custom jobs. “The reason we can do that is that we control the manufacturing process from the design right through to the finished product. Customers

can get everything from one source.”

To produce perfect parts on time, every time, Micron Manufacturing invested in an FOM23015NT laser and MPL3015 loader and implemented a lights-out manufacturing strategy that would enable on-the-fly adjustments to the production schedule with virtually no downtime. To bring this strategy

to fruition, Micron collaborated with Amada Oceania, not only because Amada machines are extremely reliable, Mr McClenaghan explains. “The main reason for going with Amada is the complete solution package. We use Amada from the design process using their Virtual Prototype Simulation Software (VPSS) all the way through to production with our FOM2 laser, HDS press brake & TSIII Spotwelder. The machines and the software are linked together, which saves us a lot of time in manufacture.”

The FOM2 laser is engineered to meet the high quality and shorter lead time demands of today's fabricating companies. Additional enhanced features include the new Amada tuned oscillator from Fanuc as well as spatter free pierce for higher quality piercing in thicker material. “The machine enables us to laser cut parts up to five to six times quicker than before,” says Mr McClenaghan. “But the main plus in productivity is the automation solution, which enables us to run the machine lights-out at night.”

Enabling lights-out manufacturing Efficiency up: The MPL3015 loading/ unloading unit enables minimal changeover time (25 seconds), reducing costs and increasing labour cost efficiencies.

Accuracy: The FOM23015NT’s oscillator AF4000iC generates a stable laser beam without fluctuations. It achieves high quality, stability and cutting speed.

Sydney 02 8887 1100 Unit 7, 16 Lexington Dr., Bella Vista NSW 2153 Melbourne 03 9020 1400 Unit 1, 3-4 Anzed Court Mulgrave VIC 3170 | Perth | Brisbane

REMOTE

In the manufacturing arena, the tried and tested model of high volume, low mix continuous production has been facing some headwinds over the past few years. With end products that are more varied, manufacturers have to adopt a new strategy in production and embrace the model of low volume, high mix. While this paradigm shift may not be particularly welcomed by some, it is necessary to be flexible and sensitive to the prevailing market trends in order to stay relevant.

“Majority of volume manufacture goes overseas, but the way that we have set up using the Amada FOM2NT laser and MPL loader/ unloader allows us to get a new design quickly to the market,” Micron Manufacturing co-founder Ryan McClenaghan says. “We are operating in a very competitive market. Our point of difference is speed to market, specialising in complex parts and big projects.”

Ryan McClenaghan and Edward McMillan founded the Sydney-based business in 2012 and are today proud to offer a complete

3D PReCision

WysiWyg 3D - What you see is What you get in 3D! No project is too small or large. Our range of laser scanning technologies are a combination of both laser and structured light scanners, capable of scanning small detailed parts to our terrestrial scanners used for larger items such as cars, buildings or planes. We operate high end, with high end engineering and surveying quality portable 3D equipment – not a Kinect 360 scanner. Microns accuracy! Detail and accurate.

3D LaseR sCanning • 3D MeasuReMent • 3D insPeCtion anD anaLysis • 3D PRinting

WYSIWYG 3D Pty Ltd Unit 1, 22-24 Norman Street, Peakhurst, NSW 2210 Australia Tel: 02 9153 9974 • Fax: 02 9153 9973 • info@wysiwyg3d.com.au www.wysiwyg3d.com.au