Industry Update Oct 2023 - Issue 134

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Issue 134 Oct 2023 $12.00 inc. GST

Are manufacturers ready for mandatory emissions reporting?

With climate-related financial disclosure on the horizon, large Australian manufacturers would be wise to start considering how they manage mandatory reporting of their carbon emissions.

T

he Australian government is shifting to align the country with jurisdictions such as Europe and the US in introducing mandatory sustainability reporting for large listed and unlisted entities and financial institutions, including climate emissions.

Although still at proposal stage, the federal Treasury has now closed submissions on its second consul‑ tation paper seeking views on the

design and implementation of the government’s plan for the disclosure of ‘climate‑related financial risks and opportunities’.

The Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) will be responsible for developing Australian climate disclosure standards, which would closely align with the International Sustainability Standards Board’s (ISSB), IFRS S2.

Submissions to Treasury’s proposal include input from a wide variety of industry, energy and accounting companies.

Most are in favour of the proposed staged approach, which gradually adds reporting requirements to companies based on their size, as per below*:

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• Group 1 - 2024-25 onwards Entities required to report under Chapter 2M of the Corporations Act and that fulfil two of the three thresholds: – over 500 employees; – value of consolidated gross assets at the end of the financial year of the company and any entities it controls is $1 billion or more; – The consolidated revenue for the financial year of the company and any entities it controls is $500 million or more, AND entities required to report under Chapter 2M of the Corporations Act that are a ‘controlling corporation’ under the NGER Act and meet the continues on page 15

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CONTENTS

WHAT’S POOR LUBRICATION COSTING YOU?

Industry News.......................................................................... 6 From the Publisher.................................................................... 8 From the Minister.................................................................... 10 From the Shadow Minister....................................................... 12 Business, Finance & Accounting............................................... 14 Climate Risk Reporting............................................................ 15 Energy, Waste & Recycling...................................................... 16 Universities, Research & Collaborations.................................... 22 Personal Protective Equipment.................................................. 26 Australian Made.................................................................... 28 Community............................................................................ 32 Machinery............................................................................. 34 Automation, Robotics & Smart Factories................................... 41 Robotics & Technology............................................................ 44 Electric Vehicles...................................................................... 45 Motor & Drives....................................................................... 46 Construction........................................................................... 49 Workplace Health & Safety..................................................... 50 Products................................................................................ 51 Electronics.............................................................................. 56 Events.................................................................................... 64 ROKLive................................................................................ 66

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United Fasteners’ Commitment to Quality with ISO Certifications

U

nited Fasteners, a renowned name in fasteners and industrial supplies, recently earned triple ISO certi‑ fication, encompassing its Head Office along with its South Australia and Western Aus-tralia branches. This achievement reinforces the company’s commitment to excellence and sets a new industry standard.

United Fasteners’ attainment of ISO certifications for Safety, Environmental and Quality across three key entities, ensures a uniform approach across the organisation; one which provides a safe and harmonious workplace, care for the natural environment and upholding the delivery of high-quality products and services to customers.

For customers, it guarantees

unwavering excellence, regardless of loca‑ tion. United Fasteners is well-prepared to meet evolving industry demands, position‑ ing itself as a top choice for those valuing welfare and quality in their supply chain.

United Fasteners’ triple ISO certifi‑ cation solidifies its industry leadership, showcasing relentless pursuit of safety, environmental responsibility, and quality. It’s a significant accomplishment with far-reaching positive impacts.

4 | Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023

United Fasteners unitedfasteners.com.au

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INDUSTRY NEWS

Advanced manufacturing opens in Lithgow

D

efence manufacturer Thales has opened a new small arms facility in Lithgow, the first step in its advanced manufacturing plans for the regional NSW town.

Thales owns the historic Lithgow Arms facility and has ambitious plans to transform it into a hub for Industry 4.0 and the precision manufacture of next-generation Australian-designed weapons systems.

Lithgow is the only small arms manufacturing loca‑ tion in Australia, and Lithgow Arms has provided small arms and weapons systems to Defence for 110 years, and currently exports to 17 countries.

The new facility will house a purpose-built live firing test and will accelerate the research and technology development of digitised small arms and weapon system platforms.

Thales says the facility will integrate traditional precision manufacturing and digital technologies, including 3D printing and automated electro-plating and metal treatment capabilities.

There will be collaborations with research institu‑ tions, SME partners and key industrial partners, and training of the next generation of skilled advanced manufacturing workers in that part of NSW. Thales Group thalesgroup.com

Boeing awards old and new in supply chain

A

ustralia’s famous, century-old government sci‑ ence agency, the CSIRO and a comparative fledg‑ ling, the seven-year-old Indigenous Defence and Infrastructure Consortium, have been recognised in Boeing’s Supplier of the Year Awards.

CSIRO, which this year won the Pathfinder Award for using new technologies and processes to create new value for Boeing’s supply chain, has previously been recognised by the awards, most recently in 2018.

Sydney-based Indigenous Defence and Infrastructure Consortium won Boeing’s supplier Diversity Award for an agile, diverse supplier which goes beyond expectations.

The consortium has been a Boeing supplier for six years providing services such as ICT programming and support, cyber security, facilities and quality manage‑ ment, aerospace certification and training services.

IDIC was set up to bridge the gap between indigenous enterprises and broader business and also works in areas of defence, construction products, energy and gas, water and waste, machinery and equipment, metal fab‑ rication and production, as well as printing including 3D printing.

In the past 34 years CSIRO and Boeing have invested over $200 million to advance production systems, improve safety, reduce waste and increase environmental sustainability in aviation. In 2023, Boeing recognised new value created by the CSIRO’s breakthroughs in space, advanced materials, data analytics, energy, manufactur‑ ing, robotics and autonomy.

Earlier this month, CSIRO and Boeing jointly released the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Roadmap, which charts a path for decarbonising the aviation industry.

Acting CSIRO chief executive Kirsten Rose said the 34-year strategic relationship with Boeing has impacted industry through collaboration, science and innovation.

“We look forward to continuing to grow CSIRO and Australia’s global profile as a research and development leader driving innovation across manufacturing, space, technology and sustainability,” she said.

6 | Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023

The CSIRO’s five-year, $35 million research agree‑ ment covers the largest number of concurrent projects with Boeing over its 30-year partnership and involves collaboration with teams across Boeing.

With a focus on space technologies, CSIRO is helping Boeing research better ways to track objects in space. It is also developing lightweight radiation-shielding mate‑ rials for spaceflight, and ways to manufacture satellite components in space stations.

Boeing’s Supplier of the Year Award program highlights the accomplishments of the company’s top-performing suppliers, which have been proactive,

transparent and reliable in a challenging environment.

Maria Fernandez, President of Boeing Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific said that Boeing and CSIRO “tackle issues of great importance to the global aerospace industry through innovation and investment here in Australia.”

More Info csiro.au

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Industry News

Nutrition brand to double output on Gold Coast

Q

ueensland nutrition and well‑ ness company Fixx Nutrition says it’ll double production vol‑ umes with a new manufacturing facility in Burleigh Heads, Gold Coast.

The company says the production ramp-up comes ahead of a launch in South Africa, after growth in the UK, South Korea and US. Founded six years ago by athletes Michelle and Jan Buchegger, the company’s all-natural sports products and dietary supplements are used by amateur and pro‑ fessional athletes to resolve cramping and give endurance athletes nutrition.

“Our clients include professional cyclists, triathletes, local sporting codes such as the AFL along with the NRL, the New Zealand, English and Pakistani international cricket teams, national rugby sides like the Wallabies and the Springboks, along with most of the English Premier League clubs,” said Fixx Nutrition co-founder Jan Buchegger.

industryupdate.com.au

Buchegger said the greater care athletes are taking around what they put in their bodies is driving demand for Fixx products.

“We really believe in turning to nature to find answers to the myriad of problems that athletes face, and we absolutely love our job of harnessing the power of science to provide solutions for athletes worldwide,” Buchegger said.

The Bucheggers founded Fixx after selling their previous business, food manufacturer and supplier Fehlbergs Fine Foods to Australian food giant Riviana.

A late-night phone call to procure some pickle juice from a leading sports scientist for athletes was the impetus for them to move into the sports nutrition category.

Fixx Nutrition fixxnutrition.com

Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023 | 7

FROM THE PUBLISHER Publisher

Editor

Margie Smithurst

Scott Filby

I

t’s great to hear from readers who are enjoying the ‘Universities, Research and Collaborations’ section of our magazine and who appreciate reading about which research organi‑ sations specialise in particular types of collaborations.

For SMEs in particular, knowing that certain universities have world-class technology facilities that they want you to use for research and testing, could make a real difference to advancing into Industry 4.0 and 5.0.

We’re pleased to let you know that the section is growing, and we welcome regular columns from CSIRO from our next edition.

Industry Update Media is also announcing a new LinkedIn group, which can be easily found at Industry Update Manufacturing Hub. Join us there because those who do can post interesting, thought-provoking articles about trends in manufacturing and manufacturing technology — and Industry Update will post our own.

Also let us know your company’s latest developments or new products or

services that other companies ought to know about.

And, don’t be surprised if you think this edition has two covers - it does!

We have a ROKLive special, covering the highly successful September show produced by Rockwell Automation, on our ‘second’ front cover at the back of the magazine.

On the topic of shows, many congrat‑ ulations are in order to both Modern Manufacturing Expo and Workplace Health and Safety Show for success‑ ful shows in tandem in Sydney in September.

The WH&S show attracted thousands of attendees - with 30% more people flocking to the stands than the previous year.

This year, there’s been a focus on psychosocial hazards, and companies have been keen to understand what new regulations mean for them.

We have one edition left before the end of the year, which has come around as quickly as it usually does, and again, thank you for being loyal readers.

W

ith the federal government at the second consultation stage for its ‘climate-related finan‑ cial disclosures’ proposal, mandatory emissions reporting is on the agenda for large companies from 2024/25.

But even if you’re an SME, it’s worth considering how ready your business is for such reporting and disclosure.

In our lead article we give an overview of the proposed staged plans for indus‑ try, along with some points companies could start considering.

Don’t forget to take the survey at the end of the article about how prepared you think your company is.

Also on the ESG side of business, don’t go past our article on ELGi, the global compressor company headquartered in India that’s been going above and beyond in terms of ESG and CSR for years, with a school and training institute for under‑ privileged youth.

In terms of recycling, Australian companies are pushing ahead with new technology. Visy’s new pulping system in Melbourne, with a first of its kind drum pulper in Australia that can recycle any

kind of paper, including greasy pizza boxes, is a boon for manufacturing tech‑ nology development, and hopefully, as the company says, for ‘green collar’ man‑ ufacturing jobs - an increasing market.

In another Australian manufacturing success story, INCAT Tasmania is mak‑ ing international headway with the local construction of the largest lightweight battery-powered ferry in the world, for a South American customer And our Universities and Collaboration section continues to showcase the important practical devel‑ opments that universities – often in col‑ laboration with industry – are making.

As per every edition, we continue to hear from the federal minister respon‑ sible for manufacturing, in this case Ed Husic, and the shadow minister, Sussan Ley. The $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund is also now ready to co-invest alongside the private sector.

Keep an ear out for the policies and procedures around evaluating potential investments.

$8m for next generation of engineering innovators

E

ngineering and science education in Australia will be advanced by an $8 million donation to the Powerhouse Museum, Parramatta, by the Sir William Tyree Foundation. The donation will sup‑ port generations of students, particularly in Western Sydney where the Powerhouse Museum is due to open in 2025.

Sir William Tyree, who built an engineering and manufacturing empire in south-west Sydney, was a passionate philanthropist and advocate for education.

In the early ‘60s, his original firm, Tyree Holdings, was the biggest maker of trans‑ formers in the southern hemisphere.

The latest visionary donation from the Tyree Foundation will establish: • An annual Australian Engineering Summit to promote research excel‑ lence and innovation and encourage new generations to engage with engi‑ neering and its possibilities. Presented by the Powerhouse, the summit will draw together leaders in engineering and feature keynote speeches, panel discussions, industry-led workshops, as well as an industry expo.

• School workshops — annual, free, hands-on engineering school holiday workshops for Years 7 to 10 students from Western Sydney. The Powerhouse will collaborate with TAFE NSW to devise programs about technology, engineering and science.

• The Tyree Foundation Gallery, set to be one of the most substantial spaces at

Powerhouse Parramatta, will inhabit 2,000 square metres of floor space.

Robbie Fennell, Chairman of the Sir William Tyree Foundation, said she was thrilled to partner with Powerhouse Parramatta.

“The investment reinforces the Sir William Tyree Foundation’s ongoing com‑ mitment to developing the next generation of Australian innovators, engineers, and entrepreneurs,” said Fennell.

“We are very proud to support stu‑ dents across Western Sydney and NSW to actively pursue engineer-related education and careers and to catalyse multidisciplinary collaborations right here at Powerhouse Parramatta.”

Powerhouse Chief Executive Lisa Havilah said the partnership with Powerhouse Parramatta will have a generational impact on the profile of engineering in Australia.

“Together we will realise incredible new programs that will engage young people, support industry and embed engineering into the programs and col‑ lections of Powerhouse Parramatta.”

Minister for the Arts John Graham said the programs the Tyree Foundation has generously supported will bring together educators, researchers, and industry leaders to create new paths for young people across NSW into future engineering and science jobs.

Sir William Tyree was nationally and internationally honoured for his

8 | Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023

Attending the announcement of the $8m donation: left to right are Dr Peter Tyree, Chairman of the Sir William Tyree Foundation Robbie Fennell, Powerhouse Trustee David Borger and Lord Mayor of Parramatta Sameer Pandy. contribution to engineering. In 1969 he sold his transformer manufacturing company to Westinghouse Electric Company and pursued humanitarian interests. He later returned to manu‑ facturing, setting up the Tyree Group of Companies. In a six-decade career, he significantly influenced the modern energy landscape. He died in 2013 at 92.

His family remains committed to South-west Sydney given the growth and expansion of their business from their original plant in Kingsgrove.

The Sir William Tyree Foundation was founded by Sir William and his family in the early 1970s. It estab‑ lished university Chairs of Electrical Engineering and of Otolaryngology, Tyree Energy Technologies Building, the Tyree Foundation of Health Engineering at UNSW and the University of Sydney Power Engineering Laboratory as well

as supporting undergraduate engineer‑ ing scholarships to tertiary students throughout Australia.

Most donations via the Sir William Tyree Foundation come from the Tyree Group of Companies whose charter requires the group to donate up to half its trading profits to the Sir William Tyree Foundation.

The Powerhouse Museum is at the intersection of arts, design, science and technology. Its $1.4 billion infrastructure renewal program is spearheaded by the cre‑ ation of Powerhouse Parramatta; expanded research and public facilities at Powerhouse Castle Hill; renewal of Powerhouse Ultimo; and ongoing operation of Sydney Observatory. Its digitisation program will provide new levels of access to Powerhouse collections which include half a million significant objects. industryupdate.com.au

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FROM THE MINISTER

The National Reconstruction Fund is ready to co-invest

I

n September, the board of the National Reconstruction Fund met for the first time and the NRF Corporation is now officially up and running.

The NRFC will provide $15 billion in co-investment finance alongside and in conjunction with the private sector, much like the successful Clean Energy Finance Corporation.

That will leverage a far greater amount of total investment into Australian indus‑ try and it will help Australia be a country that makes things again.

To elaborate on what is possible with a co-investment model, the $10 billion co-invested by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation since 2012 has supported a total of $36.5 billion in investment in clean energy projects.

The CEFC’s success at crowding-in pri‑ vate sector finance for renewable energy generation has helped spur record levels of large-scale wind and solar farms and rooftop PV uptake in Australia.

The NRF Corporation’s eight board members bring the skills needed to strengthen Australian manufacturing and our industrial capabilities.

The government has brought together a strong mix of skills and experiences from all parts of the nation to help ensure the NRF delivers for Australians.

Crucially, they also have specialist knowledge spanning the NRF’s seven priority investment areas – renewables and low emissions technologies; medical science; transport; value-adding in the agriculture, forestry and fisheries sectors; value-add in resources; defence

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capability; and enabling capabilities.

Board Chair Martijn Wilder estab‑ lished investment and advisory firm Pollination and has over 20 years’ expe‑ rience as a leader in sustainable finance.

He is also a founding director of the CEFC. Ahmed Fahour, who is currently chair of Invest Victoria, has occupied senior executive and board roles across banking, financial and other services in a career spanning three decades.

Dr Katharine Giles is the current CEO and Managing Director of OncoRes Medical, a growth-stage medical device development and manufacturing com‑ pany based in Western Australia.

She is also a Venture Partner at Brandon Capital Partners, and a member of the Curtin University Commercialisation Advisory Board.

They and their fellow Board members will bring a truly national perspective to the NRF’s activities – ensuring the bene‑ fits of economic diversification reach all parts of Australia.

The Board met on 18 September, and work is continuing to finalise policies and procedures around evaluating potential investments.

These will be made public as soon as possible.

To expand the pipeline of quality, investment-ready projects for the NRF, we announced the $392 million Industry Growth program (IGP) in our May Budget.

The initial stages of commercialisa‑ tion and business growth can be high risk and high cost, presenting significant

Minister for Industry and Science

Ed Husic

challenges for many SMEs. To help mitigate such risks, the IGP will offer matched grant funding of $50,000 to $5 million to eligible projects in NRF priority areas.

Access to industry-led specialist advi‑ sory services will also be on offer.

One of the greatest assets to the Australian manufacturing sector is Australia’s world-class research and development which has delivered break‑ throughs like Wi-Fi, the ultrasound scanner, colour xerography, spray-on skin, and the pacemaker.

Our scientists and researchers continue to deliver globally important advances in areas like quantum comput‑ ing, robotics, software development and renewable technologies.

The Albanese government is also clarifying long-term R&D objectives that support industry growth.

Earlier this year, we released

Australia’s first National Quantum Strategy, a document setting out how to better translate Australia’s research edge into creating leading industries.

We’re developing a new National Battery Strategy with the goal of estab‑ lishing a globally competitive end-toend domestic battery manufacturing ecosystem.

And our forthcoming National Robotics Strategy will lay out how we can grow our robotics and automation companies and integrate these technolo‑ gies across the wider economy – poten‑ tially adding between $170 billion to $600 billion per year to GDP by 2030.

We have all the ingredients needed for re-industrialisation and the NRF will ensure a stronger, more future-focused manufacturing sector.

One that creates good secure jobs for Australians and delivers long-term economic prosperity.

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FROM THE SHADOW MINISTER Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Minister for Industry

Sussan Ley

We need to back manufacturers without getting in the way

W

hile visiting a major manufac‑ turer recently, I asked the CEO what would help his business to continue to grow.

His answer was one his father had given to a Prime Minister before.

“We need the government to get out of the way”.

This is a sentiment I hear time and time again.

I hear it from businesses that are doing well, and I definitely hear it from businesses that are on their knees.

As a Liberal and as someone who has seen firsthand the blood, sweat and tears that go into starting, running, and growing a business, this view is one I well and truly understand.

In my role as Shadow Minister for Industry, the official spokesperson for the Coalition on industrial policy, it has forced me to reflect closely on the role of industrial policy and to think carefully about what will help and what will hurt.

Because, what seems like a bright

idea in the bowels of a Department in Canberra often does not work in places like Western Sydney’s Eastern Creek, or across the Hunter, in Perth’s industrial hub of Kwinana or along Brisbane’s western corridor.

It is critical we get the settings right.

The stakes are high, both for our manu‑ facturers who are the ones risking their livelihoods, and for our nation.

As the world faces seismic shifts in power and the return of geopolitical con‑ flict, Australia’s industrial base, which has always been key to our national prosperity, is once again critical for our national security and sovereignty.

This fundamental shift has driven even the most ardent free marketers to support sovereign industrial policy in a way we have not seen for over forty years.

In the United States, the centre of free market thinking, there is a debate under‑ way about the extent to which the gov‑ ernment should play a role in supporting the growth of strategic industries to

12 | Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023

meet strategic challenges. President Biden has progressed significant major industrial policy legislation including the CHIPS and Science Act alongside the mammoth Inflation Reduction Act. In a global economy these decisions affect how Australia should approach indus‑ trial policy and there is a live debate here about the best path forward.

The pandemic taught us all just how painful broken supply chains can be and what happens when you rely too heavily on one part of the world for the things we need. While Australia outpaced the global community in our response, thanks in large part to inno‑ vative approaches from hard working Australian businesses, we have learned hard lessons.

But now, well and truly through the pandemic, we face new risks and new challenges. Great power compe‑ tition. Resurgent and sticky inflation.

Workforce shortages. Rising energy costs. The return of government

regulation and assertive industrial relations. It is a perfect storm for manufacturing.

Academics and commentators debate these concepts on our television screens and across social media, but you, our manufacturers, are living them every single day.

For our part, the Coalition’s Modern Manufacturing Strategy was our plan to back manufacturing without getting in the way.

Our approach was to put in place a plan to back strategic industries, like food manufacturing, defence and space, while also focusing on driving down input costs.

We took a ‘technology not taxes’ approach to energy because we wanted government to get out of the way and for the market to deliver affordable, reliable energy.

Today, with a change in political stripes, there are some that argue gov‑ ernment needs to be doing more, inter‑ vening more, taking a more direct role or even an ownership stake in Australian industrial businesses. Those people are saying government knows your business better than you do.

My view, a view only strengthened by the voices I hear every day on factory floors, is we need to resist the lure of government intervention and we need to listen to industry.

Because the answer is not rocket science, it’s economics.

Government needs to focus on bring‑ ing the price of inputs down and pushing productivity up.

Industry knows that the focus of any intervention has to work right across the supply chain, end to end, to make a difference. Central to that must be driv‑ ing down input costs, that’s where the Government must take action.

Government needs to focus on what industry is begging them to fix - energy prices, labour shortages and inflation - instead of trying to play the role of investment banker.

It is a simple formulae: we need to back business without getting in the way.

Because this is a critical time for our manufacturers and for our nation.

But today it doesn’t seem like anyone is listening.

industryupdate.com.au

INDUSTRY NEWS

Tasmania to deliver the world’s largest battery-electric ship

I

ncat Tasmania continues to kick inter‑ national ship building goals with the construction of the largest lightweight battery ship built in the world, which it will deliver to South American customer Buquebus.

The 130-metre ship, a Ro-Pax ferry, is being built in Tasmania and will be 100% battery electric, with a battery energy storage system at over 40MWh – which the company says is four times larger than any battery installation constructed or installed for marine transport anywhere in the world.

The batteries power a series of E-motors which drive the water jet pro‑ pulsion system.

“We are proud to be building in Tasmania this first-in-class ship for Buquebus, who like us share a vision to be at the leading edge of low emission ship‑ ping in the world. Incat has always been an innovator and once again we are leading the world and the world is taking notice,” said Incat founder Robert Clifford.

“This worldwide interest in Incat’s capabilities to deliver electric ships is a great opportunity for Tasmania and we expect this interest to magnify.”

Incat has positioned itself as a world leader in the construction of pure-elec‑ tric, lightweight, zero-emission ferries.

With a growing interest in bat‑ tery-electric ships, the company is now working towards the construction of a second, smaller battery-electric vehicle/ passenger ferry.

Clifford said the company expects to see many more battery-electric ships built at Incat and has finalised plans to recruit at least another 200 employees over the next 12 months, expecting the workforce to more than double in coming years.

Decarbonising the ferry future “The Buquebus ship is leading the world in this type of ship construction and will have leading-edge technology in terms of zero emissions propulsion and storage systems. Once in operation the shoreside charging systems will have 50% more capacity than any current instal‑ lation world-wide,” said Incat Managing Director Craig Clifford.

“The world-first Incat Hull 096 will have a capacity for 2100 passengers and crew, 225 cars and will also include

Buquebus construction a duty free shop of over 2000 square metres on the one level.”.

“The opportunities for jobs and investment here in Tasmania are exceptional.

“The Australian government has a clear plan for decarbonising the econ‑ omy and with 100% renewable energy and already net-zero emissions having been achieved here in Tasmania we are ideally placed to build zero emission ships for the world right here.

CSIRO report calls for focus on hydrogen-powered heavy transport

H

Hydrogen-powered vehicles, like this one refuelling at Coregas’ Hydrogen Refuelling Station located in Port Kembla, NSW, will play a significant role in decarbonising road transport in Australia.

Heavy emitters Australia’s transport sector currently accounts for 18.6 percent of our green‑ house gas emissions, with heavy vehicles a large contributor, and CSIRO’s chief scientist Professor Bronwyn Fox said we urgently need to decarbonise the sector if net zero commitments are to be met.

“While we know hydrogen will play a

critical role, we also know that much of the key infrastructure for storing, mov‑ ing and distributing hydrogen for use as a transport fuel – including pipelines, storage tanks and refuelling stations i­ s yet to be built,” Prof Fox said.

“That’s why this report is so important.

It identifies priorities for action, including areas that would benefit from targeted research and innovation.”

ydrogen-powered vehicles can play a significant role in long-haul travel and freight transport, according to a new report by CSIRO and GHD Advisory.

The ‘Hydrogen vehicle refuelling infrastructure’ report says Australia risks being left behind other countries if it doesn’t step up its focus on hydro‑ gen power — which needs to happen alongside efforts to decarbonise road transport with electric vehicles.

The advantages of hydrogenpowered vehicles are that they’re quicker to refuel, have a greater range between refuelling stops and can maximise their payload because they don’t need to carry large, heavy batteries required by elec‑ tric vehicles.

The report sets out the opportunities and challenges for deploying refuelling stations for hydrogen-powered road vehicles in Australia.

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Hydrogen infrastructure The report compared the different hydrogen storage and dispensing options available, and evaluated refuelling infrastructure options based on fuel demand and distance from the hydrogen source.

It found that while all Australian hydrogen refuelling stations currently have onsite hydrogen production, we will need to move to centralised offsite production and

“In fact due to Tasmania already having achieved overall net-zero emissions we are the only location on the planet that is able to construct zero-emission, battery elec‑ tric ships in an already net-zero emissions environment for our customers”.

Incat incat.com.au

distribution of hydrogen in order to refuel vehicles at scale.

Lead author of the report, Shawn Wolfe, Executive Advisor at GHD Advisory said Australia has only five hydrogen refuelling stations in operation, with 20 planned or under construction.

“The pace of the transition to hydrogen-powered transport is moving a lot faster internationally than in Australia,” Wolfe said.

“Companies like Daimler and Ampol are not hedging their bets it’s a hydrogen and electric transport future.

“We need to get into lockstep or risk being left behind.”

Dr Patrick Hartley, who leads CSIRO’s Hydrogen Industry Mission, said research is happening at every point of the hydrogen supply chain, from hydrogen production through to storage, distribution and ulti‑ mately utilisation technologies like fuel cells.

“Australia is unique in terms of our size and sparse distribution of population, so finding ways to make hydrogen available across the continent will be a key enabler,” Dr Hartley said.

“This report will help regulators and industry stakeholders understand where they can best focus their activities and prog‑ ress their plans to develop infrastructure for hydrogen-powered transport.”

Download the report

Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023 | 13

BUSINESS, FINANCE & ACCOUNTING technologies. By closely managing expenses and continuously seeking oppor‑ tunities for cost reduction, manufacturers can improve their cash flow position and overall profitability.

Critical cash flow tips for manufacturers

M

anaging cash flow effectively is crucial for any business, especially in the manufacturing industry where various financial chal‑ lenges and uncertainties can arise.

Poor cash flow management can exert significant pressure on manufacturing operations, making it difficult to meet expenses and potentially leading to insol‑ vency and liability for company debts.

In light of rising inflation, sup‑ ply chain issues, and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) intensifying efforts to recover outstanding debts, it is essential for manufacturers to have strong control over their cash flow. By gaining a comprehensive understanding of cash flow dynamics, manufacturers can proactively manage liquidity and address potential concerns early on.

result in a director penalty notice and potential claims of insolvent trading.

Having a cash flow forecast enables business owners and operators to prior‑ itise payments and plan ahead, thereby avoiding penalties.

By accurately projecting cash inflows and outflows over a 13-week period, man‑ ufacturers can gain better visibility into their financial position and make informed decisions. This allows them to anticipate any potential shortfalls in cash and take proactive measures to address them.

The cash flow forecast should consider factors such as sales projections, accounts receivable collections, accounts payable obligations, and any upcoming expenses or investments. Regularly reviewing and updating the cash flow forecast helps man‑ ufacturers stay on top of their financial

delay payments, manufacturers may need to consider stricter measures, such as suspending supply until outstanding pay‑ ments are made. Regularly reviewing and analysing debtor ageing reports helps iden‑ tify customers with overdue payments, allowing manufacturers to take appropri‑ ate actions to recover the cash. Efficient debtor management ensures a steady cash inflow, improves cash flow stability, and reduces the risk of bad debts.

If your manufacturing business is facing tougher trading conditions and tighter cash flow, it is recommended to consider implementing the following strategies and processes:

obligations and make necessary adjust‑ ments to ensure sufficient liquidity.

manufacturers to identify specific areas of concern promptly. By aligning expenses with revenue projections, manufacturers can control their costs and maintain a healthy cash flow.

Budgeting should involve a thorough examination of all expenses, including raw materials, labour costs, over‑ heads, and other operating expenses.

Manufacturers should analyse histor‑ ical data and market trends to make accurate revenue and expense projec‑ tions. Regularly reviewing the budget and comparing it with actual perfor‑ mance helps identify any deviations and enables timely corrective actions.

To reduce overhead costs, manufactur‑ ers can explore various strategies such as renegotiating supplier contracts, optimis‑ ing inventory levels, improving opera‑ tional efficiency, and exploring cost-saving

13-week cash flow forecast A detailed 13-week cash flow forecast is a valuable tool for monitoring both cash inflows from debtors and cash outflows for the payment of creditors. This fore‑ cast should encompass various elements such as employment entitlements and historical debt repayments.

By continuously monitoring existing and upcoming expenses, manufacturers can ensure the availability of sufficient short-term assets to meet obligations promptly. Failing to meet certain payments, particularly those related to employee entitlements and the ATO, may

Debtor management processes Once a cash flow forecast is in place, it is crucial to focus on debtor management and expedite the conversion of invoices into cash. Establishing robust cash col‑ lection processes is essential for timely payment collection.

This includes promptly sending out invoices, following up on overdue payments, and implementing clear policies for credit terms and collections.

Manufacturers should also identify key performance indicators (KPIs) for debtor management, such as average collection period and debtor turnover ratio, to measure the efficiency of their collections process.

In cases where customers consistently

14 | Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023

Budgeting Implementing a comprehensive bud‑ geting system for expenses is a vital practice that enables effective cash flow management and ensures desired profit margins are achieved. Creating a detailed plan of expected outgoings and regularly comparing them to actual expenses allows

Preparation and review of budgets/forecasts Budgets and cash flow forecasts are dynamic documents that should be continuously reviewed and adjusted based on changing circumstances and business objectives. Depending on the current con‑ ditions, it may be necessary to review and update these forecasts and budgets on a regular basis, such as monthly or quarterly.

By regularly comparing budget fore‑ casts with actual results, manufacturers can identify any cost overruns and take appropriate action.

It is crucial to maintain accurate and up-to-date data within accounting sys‑ tems to generate reports that facilitate effective decision-making processes.

Regular budget and forecast reviews enable manufacturers to identify trends, evaluate their financial performance, and make necessary adjustments. By analysing the reasons for any deviations from the planned budget, manufacturers can identify areas for improvement and implement corrective measures. This ensures that the budget and cash flow forecast remain relevant and aligned with the business’ objectives.

Consulting a specialist In addition to implementing the above strategies, it is important for manufac‑ turers to seek guidance from experts in cash flow management specific to the manufacturing industry. Consulting with a William Buck Manufacturing Specialist can provide valuable insights and tailored advice to optimise cash flow management practices. These specialists have indepth knowledge of the manufacturing industry and can help manufacturers navigate the complexities of cash flow management during periods of instability.

A specialist can assist manufacturers in developing customised cash flow man‑ agement strategies based on their unique business requirements. They can provide guidance on cash flow forecasting, debtor management, budgeting techniques, and overall financial management. Leveraging their expertise can help manufactur‑ ers overcome cash flow challenges and improve their financial resilience.

By adopting a proactive approach to cash flow management and implementing the recommended strategies, manufac‑ turers can position themselves for success even in challenging economic conditions.

Prioritising cash flow stability not only ensures the business’s financial health but also enables manufacturers to take advantage of opportunities for growth and innovation. It is an invest‑ ment that pays off in the long run by safe‑ guarding the business against potential risks and uncertainties.

William Buck williambuck.com

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CLIMATE RISK REPORTING

Are manufacturers ready for mandatory emissions reporting?

Emissions definitions Scope 1

from sources that an organisation owns or controls directly

Scope 2

that a company causes indirectly and come from where the energy it purchases and uses is produced.

Scope 3

that are not produced by the company itself and are not the result of activities from assets owned or controlled by them, but by those that it’s indirectly responsible for up and down its value/ supply chain.

NGER publication threshold.

• Group 2 - 2026-27 onwards Entities required to report under Chapter 2M of the Corporations Act and that fulfil two of the three thresholds: – over 250 employees; – value of consolidated gross assets at the end of the financial year of the company and any entities it controls is $500 million or more; – consolidated revenue for the financial year of the company and any entities it controls is $200 million or more, AND entities required to report under Chapter 2M of the Corporations Act that are a ‘controlling corporation’ under the NGER Act and meet the NGER publication threshold.

• Group 3 - 2027-28 onwards Entities required to report under Chapter 2M of the Corporations Act and that fulfil two of the three thresholds: – over 100 employees; – value of consolidated gross assets at the end of the financial year of the company and any entities it controls is $25 million or more; – consolidated revenue for the financial year of the company and any entities it controls is $50 million or more, AND entities required to report under Chapter 2M of the Corporations Act that are a ‘controlling corporation’

under the NGER Act. *Treasury consultation paper, June 2023

Initially, the suggestion is that compa‑ nies would have to disclose*: • Scope 1 and 2 emissions • ‘material’ climate-related risks and opportunities, as well as how they identify, assess and manage those risks and opportunities • information about the ‘governance processes, controls and procedures’ used to monitor and manage the above risks and opportunities • information about the company’s climate strategy and decision making, including disclosure of the company’s transition plans.

• climate resilience assessments against at least two possible future states, one of which would need to be consistent with the global temperature goal set out in the Climate Change Act 2022 (Cth) which is to contribute to ‘holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels’.

• information about their climate-re‑ lated targets and plan for achieving them and progress to date. *Summary courtesy of Minter Ellison

continued from front page

The idea is that the new climate disclosure requirements would be published with companies’ annual financial reports.

“At some point in the next 1-5 years carbon emissions reporting is likely to become as normal as doing financial reporting and taxes,” Simon Lunn, Sustainability Analyst at William Buck accountants told Industry Update.

“If the climate consultation passes, there will be a domino effect of smaller companies scrambling to meet the demands of the Group 1 companies, or the first mandated group, from the 2024/25 financial year.”

The dreaded Scope 3 Scope 3 emissions – the emissions that are generated indirectly by third parties, via the supply chain for example – are one of the more problematic reporting concerns.

The government’s proposal suggests that reporting of the more elusive Scope 3 emissions would be phased in later, during the second reporting year, and kept from then onwards.

Widely acknowledged to have data col‑ lection and calculation difficulties, the first consultation paper saw only 40% of submissions supporting a requirement for Scope 3 reporting.

In a submission, Australia’s larg‑ est cattle herd business, Australian Agricultural Company noted that Scope 3 emissions pose a “unique” challenge for the agriculture sector.

With over 80% of total emissions in a typical food and agricultural supply chain sourced “from the farmgate”, said the com‑ pany, the responsibility falls on farmers to reduce this impact with “little to no reward”.

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Survey: how ready is your business for ESG reporting?

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How businesses can prepare At this point, businesses are being advised to start preparing for mandatory

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climate-related financial risk disclosure (CRFD) by doing the following*: 1. Take time to read and understand the ISSB Climate Standard, which is what’s likely to be required under the CRFD regime. As well, consider seeking advice on the Standard.

2. Identify what may be assessed: this will include emissions sources within your manufacturing operations, both direct and indirect (Scope 3); climate-related risks and opportuni‑ ties; as well as measures to mitigate climate impacts. Also consider biodiversity impacts, which may also become part of the ISSB’s Standards.

3. Determine the capability in your company to implement the CRFD regime: if your company hasn’t ever measured or reported emissions data, this will be an important consideration.

Consider using professional advisers to help identify what your organisation needs to do to make sure its reporting aligns with the CRFD regime.

4. Data collection systems: if your company hasn’t collected emissions data before, start researching robust data collection systems that include emissions data, energy consumption and other relevant metrics.

5. Keep up to date with the process of the CFRD: stay across changes in the Treasury’s consultation plans, make sure the company’s board is kept up to date with reporting obligations, and then the climate-related risks and opportunities once reporting begins.

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The end result is a fresh perspective and a focused strategy to help you move forward.

10/03/2023 9:41:13 AM Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023 | 15

ENERGY, WASTE & RECYCLING from the system, this can reach into mil‑ lions of litres being saved by our designs.

We estimate that every year, almost 2 mil‑ lion litres of oil is an avoidable discharge.”

ELGi’s long commitment to setting standards

by Margie Smithurst

Students at ELGi’s vocational training school in Coimbatore, India.

Ramesh Ponnuswami, ELGi’s Executive Director for Oceania and Southeast Asia

T

here probably aren’t many air compressor companies that have set up a school for children from low-income families and a vocational training school for young students from underprivileged backgrounds, but that’s what sets ELGi apart in the industry.

Established in South India in 1960, where most of its manufacturing still takes place, ELGi has built a global pres‑ ence, including in Australia, and ranks seventh in global market share.

Where corporate social responsibility

“For more than 20 years, ELGi has been putting more than that into CSR – and largely that has gone into education.”

(CSR) and environmental and social gov‑ ernance (ESG) have become catchwords for companies to trumpet their commu‑ nity or sustainability initiatives, ELGi has been quietly taking those initiatives for decades before the terms became part of corporate lingo.

“CSR is mandated in India. From 2013,

the government legislated that every com‑ pany should put away 2% of their three-year average pre-tax profits towards eligible projects,” Ramesh Ponnuswami, Executive Director for Oceania and Southeast Asia for ELGi, told Industry Update.

“But well before that, for more than 20 years, ELGi has been putting more than that into CSR – and largely that has gone into education.”

Ponnuswami comes from the Indian city where the company was founded – Coimbatore, and on the outskirts, you will find Singarampalayam, the home of ELGi’s sprawling Air Compressors Plant, and where ELGi runs its vocational training school, which was set up in 2016 for disadvantaged students who don’t have the means to go on to higher educa‑ tion or trades after year 10 or 12.

“Following a strict screening process, a group of promising students are selected every year for the three-year training program, which provides these youngsters with technical training, basic engineering, and advanced production technology.

“The facilities include two multime‑ dia classrooms and practical labs for training in machining, welding, and electrical work. The trainees get free boarding and an income, which helps them provide critical financial support to their families, with the intent of absorbing them into our shop floor at the end of the training program.

“We have had 320 students complete the program successfully and currently have 87 in various stages of the program, expected to graduate between 2024 and 2026.

“These are the things that make ELGi different. We kind of set the standards.”

But these aren’t the only standards that ELGi looks to move ahead on – the company is constantly improving its compressors to meet international energy and environmen‑ tal standards, and even surpass them.

“Fundamentally, we are a technolo‑ gy-driven company, and we keep looking at how to keep thinking and staying ahead. What is the need of the hour? It is energy and also a company’s environ‑ mental footprint.”

16 | Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023

Oil-free for lower emissions Compressors are often called the ‘fourth utility’ along with water, gas and elec‑ tricity, and they’re used across a huge variety of industries: from dentists, to automotive manufacturers, steelmakers, textile production, food and beverage and pharmaceuticals.

“These are the things that make ELGi different. We kind of set the standards.”

The majority of the world’s compressors are oil-lubricated but increasingly (and already, in pharmaceuticals for example, which need to have no contaminants) com‑ panies want to use oil-free compressors.

In 2019, after extensive testing and research by its team of specialist engineers and compressor experts, ELGi brought out its AB series of oil-free compressors.

“Our aspiration is to provide oil-free compressors at the same efficiency and costs as an oil-lubricated system. Our products are aimed at bridging this gap.”

The environmental advantages of oil-free compressors on a broad scale are obvious, but the challenge, says Ponnuswami - which ELGi is working on - is to overcome the market impediments to making the shift.

“In an oil-based compressed air system there’s always some oil traces getting carried over into the air line for example. And over time, this means you have to top your compressor up with oil. Typically, global companies work at two parts per million of oil from the compressor, which would be the emis‑ sion amount. But our compressors are typically one part per million, which is half of that.”

“So, the design of our oil-free compres‑ sors halves their emissions. Now, when you translate all of that oil getting discharged

Variable speed drives for energy efficiency In terms of energy efficiency, ELGi has been focusing its product development on the industry shift from ‘fixed speed’ motors in compressors to motors incorporating ‘variable speed drives’ (VSD) also known as ‘variable frequency drives’ (VFD).

“These drives are significant in terms of saving energy because a customer’s com‑ pressed air usage typically can be very vari‑ able, and if you’re running a compressor motor at the same speed, it’s inefficient.”

“These devices help vary the load on a compressor and therefore run it more efficiently, based on demand.”

The cost of installing the variable speed drives does come at a premium, says Ponnuswami, but there is signifi‑ cant payback.

“You’ll typically get that extra money back, depending on the usage, in a few months. So, globally, companies have started to move towards this.”

Many European countries have man‑ dated the IE4 standard of motor from July this year (the bulk of the Australian market uses IE2 and IE3) and ELGi has developed products that meet the IE4 standard.

“So, we are looking to bring the future into the present as fast as possible,” said Ponnuswami.

ELGi is also working to use the excess heat generated from compressors, which typically goes to waste, in a heat recovery system that captures up to 96% of what’s generated, and can heat air in a room, or water or oil.

“This reduces the need for additional heating systems or equipment that runs on conventional electricity, and therefore reduces CO2 emissions, energy consumption is better, and so on.”

“Our aspiration is to provide oil-free compressors at the same efficiency and costs as an oillubricated system.”

Ponnuswami says ELGi has developed heat recovery systems that can be integrated into their compressors or used as a stand‑ alone system, and customers such as a rub‑ ber processing facility in Europe, or a paper factory in India, are already using them.

ELGi is constantly looking to optimise energy usage and environmental out‑ comes with its products, and set industry standards.

ELGi elgi.com

industryupdate.com.au

Energy, Waste & Recycling

Sea Forest helps meat industry meet net zero T

asmanian company Sea Forest is growing seaweed to help the red meat industry reach its net zero goals by producing ‘emissions-bust‑ ing’ livestock feed. The product’s properties come from an Australian seaweed, asparagopsis armata, which has huge potential for reducing methane emissions when fed as a supplement to ruminant animals.

Supported by $675,000 in co-invest‑ ment from the government’s Australian Manufacturing Growth Centre, livestock feed resulting from the $3.2 million project could reduce livestock methane emissions by up to 98%. Sea Forest now

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boasts a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility at its Triabunna headquarters.

Sea Forest aims to hit capacity within five years, by cultivating 7,000 tonnes of asparagopsis per annum. This would be enough to mitigate the equivalent of 1.2 million tonnes of CO2, and equates to removing 300,000 cars from the world’s roads. The company’s mission is to com‑ bat climate change and generate more food with fewer resources.

“AMGC has greatly assisted Sea Forest in reaching its commercial outcomes as the funding allowed us to fast-track com‑ pletion of our commercial-scale process‑ ing plant which has enabled us to meet

our ambitious supply targets,” explained Sam Elsom, CEO of Sea Forest.

“The [collaborative] process of detail‑ ing each project milestone, together with its associated budget and regular reporting has also been very helpful and ensured that project costs were largely contained, limiting the risk of budget overruns and timing delays.”

Sea Forest is one of a handful of companies using asparagopsis-related intellectual property (IP) licensed from FutureFeed, a commercialisation com‑ pany based on IP developed by CSIRO, James Cook University, and Meat and Livestock Australia.

And emissions reduction is not the seaweed’s only benefit: asparagopsis grows and sequests carbon more rapidly than land plants and also boosts live‑ stock growth rates.

“This is a great Australian idea that has now been turned into a successful commercial business via manufactur‑ ing. Through the commercialisation process, Sea Forest has developed a local product with global potential, while generating jobs and supporting global moves to reduce emissions,” said Dr Jens Goennemann, Managing Director, AMGC. As a result of the project, Sea Forest has systems and practices in place for industrial-scale processing and pack‑ aging of asparagopsis extract, which is delivered to beef, milk, and wool produc‑ ers in an oil-based solution.

The extract’s compounds change the enzymatic behaviour in the final

chamber of animals’ stomachs. Methane emissions can be reduced by up to 98% with just 0.2% of Sea Forest’s product in ruminant feed. Methane is a greenhouse gas 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide, and a significant contributor to the 15% of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions that come from the agricul‑ tural sector.

Sea Forest currently has a number of trials underway in Australia; the most notable is with burger chain Grill’d which offered a ‘game-changer burger’ early this year.* The game-changer pat‑ tie is made of black angus beef fed with asparagopsis supplements (as well as grass) which reduces livestock emissions by almost 70%.

The years of Australian research into asparagopsis will be an important con‑ tributor to meeting the Australian red meat industry’s goal of carbon neutrality by 2030 (CN30.)

The Sea Forest project took about 18 months to complete and has created nine full-time roles and upskilled a further eight staff at Sea Forest, which has been growing seaweed at Triabunna, Tasmania since 2019. The project has the potential to create over 50 new jobs in Triabunna where the company focuses its manufac‑ turing and market development.

More Information amgc.org.au

Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023 | 17

Energy, Waste & Recycling

Put your pizza boxes in: Visy reforms Victoria’s recycling

Federal Environment Minister, Tanya Plibersek; former Victorian Premier, Daniel Andrews: Visy CEO Mark De Wit; and Visy Executive Chairman Anthony Pratt, at the Visy Coolaroo drum pulper. Image courtesy Visy.

V

ictorians can throw cheesy, greasy pizza boxes into their paper and cardboard recycling bins, now that Visy has upgraded its facility with a drum pulper which is the first of its kind in Australia and can recycle any waste paper.

The new pulping system will recycle an additional 95,000 tonnes of mixed paper and cardboard every year – increasing Victoria’s capacity to recycle the materials by more than 40% – thanks to a $24 million co-investment from the federal and Victorian Labor governments and Visy’s own $18.5 mil‑ lion investment.

The upgraded Visy facility at Coolaroo in Melbourne’s north can also process agricultural sector packaging among other ‘contaminated’ paper packaging.

Its new FibreFlow drum pulper from Austrian-based Andritz is the latest in paper recycling and is much bigger than Visy’s former equipment so it can handle higher volume as well as paper that, previously, was impossible to recycle because of contaminants.

The drum pulper pulps more slowly so it can recover more fibre and its drum-within-a-drum removes and rejects contaminating material. But the recycler still encourages people to

75K+ PRODUCT SKUS

continue to remove and not recycle the most contaminated parts of pizza or other paper waste rather than send it, as is, to recycling.

The recycled paper from the drum pulper will be used to make cardboard boxes for Victorian farmers, boxes for the agricultural sector plus take-away food containers including more pizza boxes and packaging for some of Victoria’s favourite food and beverage brands.

Visy’s upgrading is part of its intention to invest $2 billion during the next decade to reduce landfill, cut emissions and create ‘green-collar’ manufacturing jobs.

“We’re not only manufacturers,” said Visy Executive Chairman Anthony Pratt.

“We’re actually in the landfill avoidance business which is good for greenhouse gas reduction as well because as things decay in landfill they produce methane gas which is ... worse for climate change than carbon dioxide.”

“So recycling is an important weapon against climate change.”

Innovate for recycling jobs Tanya Plibersek, Minister for the Environment and Water said this recycling facility is a perfect example of the kind of innovation needed to

AUSTRALIAN OWNED

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boost manufacturing in Australia while creating jobs.

“And it’s just one of the 128 projects funded so far from our $250 million Recycling Modernisation Fund,” she said.

The Albanese government’s Recycling Modernisation Fund is accelerating Australia’s circular economy so that when a product is no longer required for its initial purpose, it is either reused, recycled or remanufactured.

Projects already announced under the Recycling Modernisation Fund will add more than 1 million tonnes of processing capacity every year, keeping Australia’s waste out of landfill and supporting new jobs.

The Victorian government funding is part of its planned $515 million invest‑ ment to transform the state’s waste and recycling sector, which includes $380 mil‑ lion via the state’s circular economy policy ‘Recycling Victoria: a new economy’.

Yet, CEO of the Waste Management and Resource Recovery Association (WMRR) Gayle Sloan warned that to meet the Australian government’s target of 80% resource recovery by 2030, the waste and recovery industry needs to be supported to add 10 million tonnes of capacity in seven years.

“Facilities like these in Victoria are vital, but we need to do more across the entire nation. Australia desperately needs additional onshore manufacturing capacity and new domestic markets for recycled material to drive that extra investment [and] … to establish an inte‑ grated supply chain,” she said.

Sloan said this was only achievable through increased demand for recycled materials, a demand which must be led by all governments so that world-class onshore facilities with fast-tracked approval processes can do the job.

“Firstly, this requires a national commitment to streamline planning processes … to enable quick and efficient delivery of this essential infrastructure.

“And secondly, it requires a clear regulatory framework which will force [product and packaging] generators to design for extended life, and for the abil‑ ity to recycle and then use this material as remanufactured content.

The hurdles include vast distances.

Visy believes its upgraded facility with the new drum pulper and its also upgraded Queensland facility together have capacity to handle all Australia’s paper and cardboard waste — if only the waste could get to the two facilities.

At the Visy opening, Plibersek also announced two smaller Victorian recy‑ cling projects, which will divert an extra 11,600 tonnes of plastics from landfill in Victoria each year: plastics recycling

by GT Recycling in Moolap and by EQ Plastics in Dandenong.

Meanwhile … in Queensland The Albanese and Palaszczuk govern‑ ments are funding diversion of almost 70,000 tonnes of waste from landfill every year through six new recycling projects.

The governments’ $12.79 million investment and an additional $24.4 mil‑ lion from industry will increase waste recycling capabilities across South East Queensland including the Gold Coast, Logan, Toowoomba and Brisbane, as well as in Rockhampton.

The new infrastructure will sort, pro‑ cess and transform waste plastics, paper, cardboard and glass into new products for use in agriculture, manufacturing, con‑ struction and sustainable food packaging.

Queensland Deputy Premier Steven Miles MP said Queensland is growing and needs to do more to keep waste out of land‑ fill and turn it into useful new products.

“Businesses are ready to take advantage of the economic growth emerging from the opportunities presented by global shifts in demand for cleaner, greener, and more responsibly sourced products.

The next round of the federal gov‑ ernment’s Recycling Modernisation Fund targets advanced solutions for hard-to-recycle plastics. Applications close in November.

More Information dcceew.gov.au

TECHNICAL EXPERTISE

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KEEP IT TOGETHER Get a quote today 1300 580 954 unitedfasteners.com.au 18 | Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023

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INDUSTRY NEWS

“ANY ISSUE IS FIXED STRAIGHT AWAY. THAT’S THE BENEFIT OF A LOCAL SUPPLIER WITH FULL TECHNICAL SUPPORT AND BACK-UP.” STEVE MORRISS, CLOSE THE LOOP, SOMERTON, VIC

A roadmap to transform your energy efficiency

T

he Australian Energy Update 2022 reported Australian manufacturing consumed 407 PJ of gas in FY2021.

Despite many modern manufacturers investing in renewable fuels and solar PV, the gas share of energy use in man‑ ufacturing remained at around 40% for the last two decades.

Since 2021, Australia’s gas prices surged, affecting commercial and industrial gas users. Tightening supply and deterioration in contract flexibility sparked a reconsideration of energy and productivity.

As large energy consumers, the quickest and most cost-effective method for manufacturers to manage increasing energy prices, without losing productiv‑ ity, is energy efficiency.

Tackling energy efficiency has the potential to reduce consumption by 5 to 50% or more. You can start with The Australian Manufacturing: Gas Efficiency Guide. But a tailor-made roadmap, designed with support from energy man‑ agement consultants Green Energy and Carbon Management (GECM), will put your business goals at the centre of your modern manufacturing transformation.

Gas efficiency measures range from simple, effective pipe and valve insula‑ tion to transformative waste heat recov‑ ery and switching to biomass, biogas, or heat pump technology. Cloud-based energy management systems, equipment performance monitoring and fuel effi‑ ciency, can also optimise productivity.

A legacy of simplified metering systems that were installed years ago are hampering Facilities Managers from tackling energy costs. Out-dated

industryupdate.com.au

metering systems cannot provide the data you need to take back control of energy management.

Submeters are a game-changer for modern manufacturers. Unlike regular utility meters, submeters digitise con‑ sumption data at the equipment level and support plant automation.

Submeter data is so powerful that the first report our certified EnMS Advisors deliver is a comprehensive Metering Gap Analysis. This involves identifying exist‑ ing meters and ideal sub-metering to establish best practice energy manage‑ ment with the GECM Productivity Suite.

Digitising energy management creates a richer picture of energy consumption, and energy waste, in your production line. The Productivity Suite gives you access to the energy, carbon, and cost detail you need to plan your energy transformation and prioritise investment opportunities.

Become a leader in modern manufac‑ turing by lasering in on energy efficiency for productivity.

Save costs in the long term, balance your short-term investment, reduce your exposure to price volatility, reduce fossil fuel dependence, reduce plant hazards and waste, reduce the cost of carbon off-sets, improve your stand‑ ing as a sustainable manufacturer and secure profit margins. That sounds like a winning combination, doesn’t it?

GECM gecm.com.au

At Applied, our number one priority is ensuring that our customers across the country get the machinery they need, with the support they expect.

With nearly 30 years’ experience, and thousands of satisfied customers across the country we’re here for the long term. We’re a true machinery partner – just ask Steve Morriss.

Real Service. Real Support. Real People. That’s Applied Thinking.

Call: 03 9706 8066 Email: sales@appliedmachinery.com.au Visit: www.appliedmachinery.com.au or www.genoxmachinery.com.au

Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023 | 19

Energy, Waste & Recycling

Kempsey Shire Council - Gorman Rupp Pumps: Streamlining Internal Clearance Adjustments for Safer Operation Project Background The Kempsey Shire Council (KSC) has completed a significant upgrade of their vacuum sewage system transfer pumps.

Previously, they utilised lobe pumps for transferring raw sewage from their vacuum tank to their sewage treatment plant. However, the ongoing mainte‑ nance demands of these sewage pumps were causing both cost and logistical issues for the council.

Ian Allsopp of KSC was made aware of the success achieved by the Bundaberg Regional Council when they switched from lobe pumps to Gorman-Rupp Ultra VS Series two-stage self-priming sewage pumps. Operators across Australia who rely on Gorman-Rupp pumps have expressed their satisfaction, noting these pumps as a safe and efficient alternative for sewage pumping.

Exploring the Options The application at KSC closely mirrored that of the Bundaberg Regional Council.

Both organisations operate a vacuum

tank system that draws sewage through a network of sewer lines maintained under negative pressure, necessitating periodic pumping. Due to the vacuum conditions (reaching up to -80kPa), the transfer pump needed to provide substantial suction lift capabilities while generating sufficient discharge pressures to trans‑ port sewage to the wastewater treatment plant. In this case, it involved an addi‑ tional 60 meters of distance, resulting in a total dynamic head of 68 meters.

After a thorough system evaluation, Hydro Innovations recommended the Gorman-Rupp VS3A60-B self-priming pump equipped with a 45kW motor. This pump belongs to Gorman-Rupp’s Ultra VS Series of two-stage self-priming sew‑ age pumps, capable of achieving heads of up to 90 meters. As a self-priming pump, it excels at creating the necessary vac‑ uum to overcome the negative pressure inside the vacuum tank. This sewage pump features a self-cleaning wear plate system to handle stringy materials such as rags, boasts a large open impeller to

20 | Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023

manage larger solids, and incorporates a sizable removable cover plate for easy access to pump internals for blockage removal or inspection.

The Innovative Solution One notable advantage shared by all Gorman-Rupp sewage pumps in Australia is the ability to make inter‑ nal clearance adjustments externally, eliminating any exposure of operators to sewage or wet well environments.

These adjustments can be completed within minutes, ensuring that the pumps maintain peak operational efficiency throughout their lifespan.

Ian Allsopp and a small delegation from KSC visited Bundaberg to confirm the success reported at the Woodgate site with the Gorman-Rupp units. Following a comprehensive review of the instal‑ lation and discussions with Bundaberg Shire Council operators, they made the decision to proceed with the purchase of the recommended Gorman-Rupp self-priming pumps for their project.

The Pumps Gorman-Rupp’s Super T Series self-priming centrifugal wastewater/ sewage pump has set the global standard for this technology since 1963, accu‑ mulating over 50 years of excellence.

In 2005, Gorman-Rupp introduced the “Ultra-V” and “Ultra VS” series pumps, retaining the same features while being designed to handle higher pressures.

Both series are engineered for cost-ef‑ fective, trouble-free operation, boasting superior solids handling capabilities and a generously sized inspection cover for easy access to pump internals during service or blockage removal.

For further information on these pumps, please contact Hydro Innovations at info@hydroinnovations. com.au or call us on 02 9898 1800.

Hydro Innovations hydroinnovations.com.au industryupdate.com.au

RELIABLE & SIMPLE WATER AERATION

Much safer and much easier to maintain.

Before

After

sales@HydroInnovations.com.au www.HydroInnovations.com.au

UNIVERSITIES, RESEARCH & COLLABORATIONS

Newcastle Uni, ASCON to capture carbon

Image: University of Newcastle

A

Hamburg-based international oil and commodities trading company ASCON Group, which is committed to finding less emissive pro‑ cesses for heavy industry, has partnered with the University of Newcastle (UON) to lead a $6 million research project.

The collaboration aims to commer‑ cialise revolutionary carbon cap‑ ture technology, known as Versatile Advanced Methods of Cleaning Offtake Gases or VAMCO. VAMCO is designed to enable heavy industries to capture their carbon emissions while producing environmentally friendly products such as green steel, hydrogen, and ammonia.

Developed for point-of-source capture of fugitive emissions from coal mines, VAMCO now shows potential for various industry applications, including coalfired power stations and steel plants.

UON’s Laureate Professor Behdad Moghtaderi who leads the research team at the University of Newcastle’s world-class interdisciplinary research facility Newcastle Institute for Energy and Resources says underpinning the project is a vision to accelerate national capabilities in new and emerging CO2 capture technologies that are recognised as pillars of decarbonisation.

“This could potentially provide

an effective short- to medium-term (2030-2050) pathway for lowering global greenhouse gas emissions. Importantly, such systems are expected to remove CO2 at an indicative cost of about A$50 per tonne as opposed to current costs which vary between A$100/tCO2 and A$300/tCO2 depending on the type of capture technology employed.”

The project plan includes the con‑ struction of three pilot-scale facilities to rigorously test the VAMCO technol‑ ogy in 2026. At least one of these pilot facilities will be at the planned ASCON Bioenergy with Carbon Capture Storage site in Scotland.

ASCON Group’s Decarbonisation and Green Innovation Business Director, Nate Macmillan, points to the way carbon capture technologies are helping the fossil fuel industry reach net zero by 2030, especially for the potential of blue hydrogen production.

Among VAMCO’s notable advantages is its lower cost and environmental friendliness, attributed to a proprietary CO2 adsorbent developed by researchers at the UON. Adsorption occurs when a solid holds molecules of a gas or liquid or solute as a thin film.

Designs on sustainable production

L-R RMIT’s Allister Hill, Associate Professor Simon Lockrey and Dr Liam Fennessy with Helen Millicer from One Planet Consulting. Credit image - Carelle Mulawa-Richards, RMIT University.

A

report mapping Australia’s transition to a circular economy through good design has won the prestigious Good Design Award for Design Research at this year’s awards ceremony in early September.

RMIT University in collaboration with Arcadis and One Planet Consulting produced the Enabling Design for Environmental Good report which highlights opportunities for Australia to use design to improve the sustainability of production processes, materials, prod‑ ucts and business models across local industries — as well as the risks of not boosting sustainability.

The Good Design Awards Jury

recognised the research and passion behind this project as setting a new standard for circular design strategies in Australia.

The research was commissioned by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water to help guide a coordinated approach to sustainable design.

Project lead, RMIT Associate Professor Simon Lockrey, said the award win is a crucial step forward to helping Australia transition to a circular economy by 2030.

“This call for a new and coordinated approach to designing sustainable prod‑ ucts and industries is not a nice-to-have, but an urgent necessity,” said Lockrey.

“This Good Design Award for our proj‑ ect represents national recognition by

22 | Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023

the design industry that both co-design research and sustainability strategy are timely and pertinent for the sector.

“We hope this will lead to greater awareness and uptake of circularity by both those who design, and those who manage and fund the design process.”

The annual Good Design Awards are the highest honour for design and innovation in products and services and reward diverse projects across 11 design disciplines covering more than 35 cate‑ gories and subcategories.

And the top award goes to The Good Design of the Year Award, which goes to just one exemplary project

The collaboration is part of the Trailblazer for Recycling and Clean Energy (TRaCE) program, which aims to accelerate the commercialisation of recycling and clean energy technologies.

TRaCE, supported by the Australian Government Department of Education, is a collaboration between industry, UNSW Sydney, and the University of Newcastle, which aims to position Australia as a world leader in recycling technology and materi‑ als and contributor to the world’s move to net-zero emissions.

The collaboration is an example of the partnerships between industry, research and government which are fostered by the NSW Decarbonisation Innovation Hub. Hosted by Sydney and the University of Newcastle, and supported by uni‑ versities across NSW, the hub aims to foster collaboration, partnerships and innovation. It was set up in mid2022 with funding from the NSW Government through the Office of the Chief Scientist & Engineer and The NSW Environmental Trust to address NSW Net Zero Plan Stage 1: 2020-2030 to reduce emissions by 50% by 2030, 70% by 2035 and achieve net zero by 2050.

across all disciplines and categories this year went to Bioscout which has created a world-first airborne disease tracking device that equips growers and agrono‑ mists with autonomous insights into a crop’s microclimate.

Agricultural growers typically rely on their intuition and symptoms to manage crop disease. Knowledge and experience cannot be understated but can leave room for invisible ailments or mislead growers to negative management and overspraying.

The BioScout team recognised an oppor‑ tunity for a self-sustaining, solar-powered device that sits without side-effects in fields boosts sustainable management and also reduces costs.

It captures airborne particles in real time, as its in built spore sampler and sensors collect location and disease-spe‑ cific data to be uploaded to a cloud-based server. Machine learning algorithms are then applied to identify and classify spores at speed before enabling action by notifying farmers.

BioScout sees the unseeable in a range of complex agricultural settings and can function continuously for years without human intervention.

Its early detection empowers growers to rely less on chemical spraying and supports healthier, high-yielding crops.

It has seen incredible success out in the field, taking guesswork out of farmers’ disease control measures.

More Information dcceew.gov.au

industryupdate.com.au

Universities, Research & Collaborations

T

Out of the lab and into the market Expertise - Passion - Automation

he Victorian government has announced new commercialisation partnerships with five of the state’s universities.

The co-investment partnerships, worth $87 million, are part of the $100 million Breakthrough Victoria – University Innovation Platform which backs the commercialisation of worldclass research and innovation so that more home-grown ideas are developed and manufactured in Victoria.

The new partnerships, with Deakin University, La Trobe University, Monash University, RMIT University and Swinburne University, are aimed at help‑ ing commercialise critical research and unlocking its market potential.

Each university will contribute up to $9 million in funding matched by Breakthrough Victoria to invest in startup and early stage companies spun out of their own research, with typical pre-seed investments of around $500,000 each.

“By setting up dedicated part‑ nerships to invest in startups and early stage companies coming out of Victorian universities, we can help move life-changing research out of the lab and into the market right here in Victoria,” said Breakthrough Victoria CEO Grant Dooley.

The government says investing in startups at the critical early stage will help fund product concepts, prototypes,

and trials to support research with strong commercial potential to move beyond the research and development phase.

“We are backing the translation of unique research and development from our world-class universities into commercial opportunities locally and globally,” said Minister for Industry and Innovation Ben Carroll “This partnership between Victorian universities and Breakthrough Victoria will ensure our brightest ideas grow locally.”

The funding is aimed at boosting the development of local innovations and sovereign manufacturing capabilities, while building a pipeline of Victorian products and startup companies to invest in and help scale up globally.

There are now six university partnerships established under the Breakthrough Victoria – University Innovation Platform, with the University of Melbourne Genesis Pre-Seed Fund announced last year.

In addition to the $2 billion Breakthrough Victoria Fund, the Labor government is providing targeted industry investments to drive innova‑ tion through LaunchVic’s $15 million Alice Anderson Fund to support more women-led startups and the $15 million Industry R&D Infrastructure Fund to incentivise local business to increase their R&D activity.

Energy savings of the future

SMC’s Air Management System reduces air consumption by up to 62%.

NOW!

But how?

1. Sustainability benefit: CO2 reduction of air consumption thanks to standby mode. This feature senses changes in your machines’ status and “automatically” reduces the air pressure.

2. Visualisation of the system’s air status: Pressure, flow and temperature can be visualised and monitored.

3. System scalability: Compatible with wireless systems and complete with a unique encryption for high security.

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SMC Corporation Australia | New Zealand Group

www.smcanz.com Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023 | 23

Universities, Research & Collaborations

Fusion device to be built by UNSW students in world first

Dr Patrick Burr from the UNSW School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering is heading up the nuclear fusion student project. Photo: UNSW

U

NSW Sydney is set to get the first nuclear fusion device — a tokamak — that’s wholly designed, built and run by students.

The students are part of a university scheme which engages undergraduate and postgraduate students in ambitious, long-term, multidisciplinary challenges led by UNSW academics.

The fusion construction project aims to have the small-scale ‘tokamak’ device – a doughnut-shaped vacuum cham‑ ber with powerful magnets to control and heat streams of plasma to extreme temperatures, enabling nuclear fusion – operating in three years or less.

It will be led by nuclear engineer‑ ing expert from the UNSW School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Dr Patrick Burr.

“This project will be the first in the world where students will design, build and manage a fusion reactor,” said Dr Burr.

“We want to excite the next generation of innovators and make them realise how they can make a big change in the world.”

Fusion is widely considered to be inherently safe since the process is not based on a chain reaction, as is the case with nuclear fission.

Fusion is the same process that powers the sun and has the potential to pro‑ vide clean, abundant energy on Earth if successfully and safely harnessed. Fusion energy is one of the fastest-growing energy sectors globally, and there is considerable work going on around the world to harness fusion as a clean energy resource.

A tokamak is a doughnut-shaped machine that uses very powerful magnets to confine plasma in a vacuum where it is heated to such high temperatures that nuclei can fuse together and release energy. Image: Getty Images

Fusion is the opposite reaction of nuclear fission, which powers conven‑ tional nuclear power plants.

Tokamak technology Potentially, the tokamak would be followed by other devices that could achieve fusion using different methods, such as high-powered lasers.

The program is being supported by industry partners Tokamak Energy and HB-11 Energy and Dr Burr who said the VIP students will have to push the bound‑ aries of possibilities with fusion energy.

“They will have to master skills that are

$86 million for 200 research projects

T

wo hundred new research projects — which could inform the best way to upskill the Australian workforce or improve prediction of rising sea levels — will benefit from more than $86 million in funding.

The investment in Australian R&D and innovation comes under the umbrella of the Australian Research Council’s (ARC) Discovery Early Career Researcher Award program (DECRA).

ARC Chief Executive Officer, Judi Zielke PSM, says funding innovative research is one of the foundations of the economy and society.

“Increasing Australia’s research and innovation capacity generates new knowledge and results in the develop‑ ment of new technologies, products and ideas, the creation of jobs, economic growth and an enhanced quality of life in Australia,” said Ms Zielke.

Awarded ARC DECRA projects include: • Queensland University of Technology ($382,440): to inform regulation of the Australian digital game industry, ensuring effective and ethical ways of safeguarding the Australian community against risks like surveillance, harmful advertising, and predatory design.

• University of New England ($410,778): to reduce the

environmental and economic burden of food waste by enabling its use as feed for poultry, thereby reducing both the cost of poultry for the community and Australia’s annual greenhouse gas emissions by up to 5%.

• University of New South Wales ($432,485): to better understand misinformation evolution and distri‑ bution in online social media networks

24 | Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023

and create capabilities to eliminate misinformation to strengthen Australia’s resilience, especially during critical events.

• University of Notre Dame Australia ($448,008): to advance knowledge of the intersection of modern slavery and climate change to assist Australian businesses in addressing these issues holistically, while holding businesses accountable.

also highly sought after in other indus‑ tries, like safety-critical infrastructure, transportation, outer space, and of course conventional nuclear technologies.”

“The students … will have to develop solutions to big engineering challenges, [and] work closely with industry partners.”

Other research universities around the world, including in Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, Turkey and USA, already operate traditional fission reactors for training nuclear engineers, materials testing, or the production of radioisotopes for medicine and industry.

• University of Tasmania ($444,000): to improve understanding of ice-ocean interactions and subglacial melting, and reduce uncertainties in projections of the Antarctic ocean’s contribution to global and regional sea-level rises.

For the full list of funded DECRA projects, including a snapshot of funding by state and territory and more informa‑ tion on the ARC DECRA scheme, please visit the ARC website.

Earlier last month, a final report from the Independent Review panel, Trusting Australia’s Ability: Review of the Australian Research Council Act 2001, generally endorsed the results of the ARC over the past 20 years.

Zielke said the report was a strong endorsement of the positive impact the ARC has had on Australia’s research capa‑ bility over the last 20 years and affirms the broader reform schedule the ARC is already undertaking to restore stake‑ holder trust and drive excellent research for the advancement of all Australians.

“The Government’s response to the review confirms the ARC’s role in under‑ pinning and shaping the national research landscape. It will [further] define in legislation our role in supporting basic and strategic basic research as well as applied research, research integrity, evaluation of the excellence, quality and impact of research in Australian universities, and the development of researchers through their career progression.” industryupdate.com.au

POWERED FLOOR CRANES APPLICATIONS

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Pulling parts or finished goods from crates.

Placing finished goods into crates.

Loading and unloading tray trucks and utes with awkward and heavy items.

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packking.com.au

PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT

This shirt is a conversation starter

By Liz Tully, Workplace Mental Health Specialist and Founder, Mental Wealth at Work

W

orkplaces across Australia have not stopped talking about mental health, and blue-collar employees particularly need support.

Nobody knows this more than Dan Allen and Ed Ross, the Co-founders and Directors of both TradeMutt workwear, and TIACS, a mental health counselling

service for blue collar workers.

Their story is confronting and inspira‑ tional. Dan and Ed met on a building site in Brisbane in 2014 when they started working on the same day. It was a day that both the boys agreed, changed their — and later many others’ — lives forever.

Dan was a tradie and Ed was starting

out as a mature-age apprentice. Lumped together as the newbies, they were given the mammoth task of waterproofing 150 lineal meters of block wall. They shared many laughs over their common love of Jim Carrey movies and joking around forged a strong bond.

That bond would be pivotal, especially on the day that Dan received tragic news about one of his best mates. Only three days before, another of Dan’s mates rang excitedly about landing a mature-age carpentry apprenticeship. This was a huge moment because he’d been looking for an opportunity like this for some time. Dan was stoked for him! However, on that Sunday, Dan got the heartbreaking news that his mate took his life the night before.

It was a day he’ll never forget.

Fair to say it affected both Dan and Ed deeply but in different ways. Dan just lost one of his best mates and Ed was suddenly Dan’s number one supporter. Through their ensuing journey, and countless con‑ versations, the friends identified a glaring issue that needed to change.

Although mental health is a serious topic that demands discussion, its heavy tone is an obstacle. Why would anyone want to talk about something that only ever seems to be discussed with a sense of doom or in whispered voices? They felt like something needed to be done to help reframe the conversation and make it more accessible. Their initial idea was to take a job site safety garment and use it to start conversations about mental health.

With deep belief in the idea and ‘bloody hard work’, the idea became a business called TradeMutt, a social impact and workwear company by tradies for tradies. They launched a range of funky, eye-catching workwear that start conversations – making an invisible issue impossible to ignore.

The shirts have many unique features including ‘This Is a Conversation

Starter’ embroidered across the back and a QR code stitched under the pocket flap with a direct link to TIACS, their free mental health counselling service for the blue-collar workers and rural communi‑ ties. TradeMutt donates half its profits to fund this counselling service.

Navigating the world of professional mental health support can be tough. What Dan and Ed soon came to learn was that when someone was having a conversation with a peer or loved one and felt professional support might be needed, it was hard to gain access either due to long wait times, cost, needing a referral, not the right fit, or lack of nearby services. The many barriers to finding professional help mean most people with common mental health conditions do not seek support. So TIACS was born.

The service is a free text and phone service with qualified counsellors who help support anyone who is a blue-collar worker, truckie, tradie or rural worker or perhaps their friends and loved ones. To date, TIACS has supported over 17,000 clients with more than 16,000 hours of free counselling. Their counsellors have helped with a wide range of concerns including relationship issues, anxiety, depression and grief.

The not-for-profit organisation relies on the financial support of the industry and community to pay counsellors and cover operating costs.

Visit their website to find out how you can assist Dan and Ed’s mission for TIACS to be the mental health counsel‑ ling service mates tell each other about.

For TIACS’ free mental health support, text or call 0488 846 988 open Monday to Friday between 8.00am – 10.00pm.

TIACS tiacs.org

New entrant to Oz safety wear market

B

uilding on the success achieved in Asia in the past 40 years, South Korean safety wear manufacturer KameLo has announced its official grand entry into the Australian market to help safeguard Australian workers.

With a mission to provide ‘more than protection’, KameLo’s high-quality per‑ sonal protective equipment (PPE) meets the diverse needs of workers in trades and industry.

With its origins in crafting specialised welding gloves, KameLo’s dedication to quality and innovation swiftly gained recognition, enabling KameLo to pursue partnerships with renowned global corporations such as Hyundai, Kia, Samsung, and POSCO. Drawing on first-hand experience as well as industry expertise, KameLo manufactures products from tempera‑ ture-resistant cryogenic gloves, UV protective sleeves and hybrid knee-pad

protection, to lightweight flame-retar‑ dant welding jackets.

The company has consistently delivered exceptional safety solutions that not only ensure protection, but also prioritise user comfort. KameLo prides itself on its R&D to meet evolving standards including CE and KC Safety Certifications across their product range.

“We are excited to bring KameLo’s proud 40-year legacy of quality and innovation to the Australian market”, said Jung-Jae Choi, CEO of KameLo Korea.

“Our ‘more than protection’ approach and dedication to worker safety are evi‑ dent in every single product. ”

26 | Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023

KameLo kamelo.com.au

industryupdate.com.au

Personal Protective Equipment

Locally manufactured P2 masks help address silicosis problem

G

reat Southern Safety P2 masks are the first cup style P2 masks manufactured in Australia, and are designed specifically for tradies, renovators and home users.

The P2 design protects against air‑ borne particles, and offers a comfortable fit for working in uncomfortable con‑ ditions. With sealed protection against thermally and mechanically generated particles, the masks come in both valved (GSSP2V) and non-valved (GSSP2)

options for different preferences and work environments.

Designed with physically demanding tasks and prolonged use in mind, the valved masks have an exhalation valve, enabling easier breathing and reducing moisture build-up inside the mask.

Comfort for tradies Tradies are more conscious than ever about what they’re inhaling on the worksite. With this in mind, Great

Southern Safety’s P2 masks protect tradies against what they can - and can’t - see.

The cup-fit is designed for comfort, security and optimal protection during long hours of work.

The masks are shaped to provide a snug and ergonomic fit with the cup design ensuring minimal contact with the mouth and nose, giving better breathability and the ability to easily talk.

The P2 masks are suitable for various applications, including working with asbestos, stonework, woodwork, dusty operations, plastering, insulation and handling fine powders.

Silicosis response Great Southern Safety’s P2 masks offer high level filtration, capturing most airborne particles, including dust, silica dust, asbestos and bushfire smoke. They also meet all the requirements of Australian standards.

Silicosis is a growing concern for those working with dust particles. It is industryupdate.com.au

a progressive and potentially fatal lung disease caused by inhaling crystalline silica dust.

Industries where workers are most affected are construction, mining and manufacturing, where exposure to the fine silica dust is common. Silicosis can lead to lung scarring, breathing difficul‑ ties and even death in severe cases.

Great Southern Safety recognises the growing concern about this disease, and their P2 masks are a locally manufactured response to help address the problem and protect workers in high-risk industries.

The importance of P2 masks P2 PPE face masks serve as a crucial barrier to hazardous particles in work environments.

They significantly reduce the risk of inhaling harmful substances such as dust, silica, asbestos and bushfire smoke.

Prolonged exposure to these parti‑ cles can lead to serious health issues, including respiratory problems and lung diseases, like silicosis.

Australian made to meet quality and safety standards Great Southern Safety’s P2 masks are proudly manufactured in Australia safeguarding them against currency fluctuations and shipping delays.

They meet the requirements of Australian & New Zealand Standard AS/ NZS 1716:2012, and are independently tested, undergoing rigorous quality checks.

Great Southern Safety greatsouthernsafety.com.au

Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023 | 27

AUSTRALIAN MADE

Aluminium-free drawers for mine sites

B

ARE YOUR

PRODUCTS

CERTIFIED

AUSSIE?

APPLY TO USE THE LOGO

28 | Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023

AC Systems’ cabinets are popular on mine sites for good reason – they are arguably the strongest modular spare parts drawers on the market.

These cabinets will last for years, even in tough environments. Some mines have raised concerns about the aluminium trims that smarten up the BAC drawer handles, as well as the aluminium lock bar that locks all the drawers, due to the prohibition on aluminum in many underground applications. BAC Systems has configured an aluminium-free cab‑ inet in response to this need so miners can work with peace of mind.

According to a report posted by the Queensland Mining Industry Health and Safety Conference, when aluminium endures a high-energy impact with rusty steel, it is liable to generate an incendiary spark that can ignite methane gases in the mine (Bell and O’Malley – 1996). The BAC drawer handles and single drawer-lock channels are positioned prominently at the front of the cabinet and, when carried underground in a pod by a telehandler or other such vehicle, could be susceptible to a high-energy impact.

So BAC has adopted an alumin‑ ium-free policy. Quite simply, all aluminum is replaced by other suitable materials for all cabinets made by BAC Systems for underground use. The changes are: 1. The use of plastic drawer-handle covers

2. Single drawer locking channels are changed to a more robust steel alternative 3. Even the embedded aluminium lock bar is removed completely. This means that BAC cabinets that go under‑ ground are not key-lockable, but are safely held shut by the single-drawer locks 4. Dividers within the drawer are sup‑ plied in either tough ABS Plastic, or galvanised steel – never the alumin‑ ium option In most of these scenarios at mine sites, cabinet security is not needed, and so underground pod-users are not concerned by the removal of the lock bar.

BAC single-drawer locks have proven more than up to the task in ensuring the drawers remain safely closed during transit into the mine.

BAC customers can be confident that, with aluminium elements removed, they will still have a robust, user-friendly industrial storage cabinet for their pods and service vehicles. The advantages of BAC drawer storage modules remain: amazing storage capacity, easy adjust‑ ment, and longevity.

BAC Systems bacsystems.com.au

industryupdate.com.au

Australian Made

Shoppers ready to pay for Australian-made goods

R

esearch shows that Australian consumers remain determined to support local businesses and indus‑ try, even as costs of living increase, and Australian Made CEO Ben Lazzaro says the ‘buy local’ trend is not slowing down.

A 2023 Roy Morgan study found that over two thirds (69%) of Aussies have been looking to buy more Australianmade products in the last 12 months, and 73% said they are willing to pay more for Australian Made rather than imported products. A third of respon‑ dents said they would be willing to

pay up to a 10% premium for products that carry the trusted green-and-gold kangaroo logo.

Lazzaro says buying Australian is still a priority for many people because they want to support local manufacturers.

“When you buy Australian Made, you know what you are getting – products made to the highest manufacturing standards and grown in our clean, green environment. They also have significant social, environmental and ethical bene‑ fits. People are starting to think more in terms of value than simply product price.

“That’s why it’s so important for businesses to make it clear to con‑ sumers that they make their products here. The Australian Made logo has a proven, 35-year track record in making the ‘Australian connection,’ and aligns businesses with the positive traits asso‑ ciated with the logo.”

This recent study is complemented by previous research that shows the power of the iconic green-and-gold kangaroo.

One of Australia’s most-trusted certifi‑ cation brands, the Australian Made logo is recognised by 99% of Australians, and

93% of Australians said they are con‑ fident products displaying the logo are actually made or grown in Australia.

In the study, four in five (86%) Australians said buying Australianmade products is important to them, while very few people (only 2%) said buying Australian-made wasn’t import‑ ant to them.

Most Australians (67%) stated that they ‘often’ or ‘always’ buy Australianmade products, citing supporting local jobs and the economy as their reason for doing so, followed by the quality or reliability of Australian-made products.

Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says that buying Australian-made goods drives a strong emotional response in four out of five consumers, with many Australians saying they feel positive or proud when they buy Australian-made.

“Generally, people feel positive that they are able to support Australian jobs, with supporting ethical practices also a key reason Australians feel good about buying Australian-made, particularly for those aged under 35,” says Levine.

Lazzaro points out that more than 4,500 businesses are licensed to use the logo on thousands of products sold here and around the world.

Australian Made australianmade.com.au

Ora et Labora

BAC Systems Pty Limited Phone: (02) 9832 2777 industryupdate.com.au

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“all has its Method” Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023 | 29

Australian Made

EOS shows off its counter-drone success DE beam director installed

A

t the Klondyke Range Complex in Western New South Wales last week, Electro Optic Systems (EOS) demonstrated its Australianmade directed-energy and kinetic counter-drone capabilities in a field environment, for an audience of poten‑ tial export customers from Europe, the Middle East, North America, and Southeast Asia.

EOS believes the demonstration

was the first of its kind in Australia where moving drones were successfully engaged by a moving vehicle from which the ‘Slinger’ kinetic weapon system was operated. In the demonstration, drones were destroyed by machine guns out to 500 metres and lasers beyond 1000 metres, with high accuracy.

The demonstration follows the Slinger’s launch and announcement earlier this year that the 30mm weapon system

would be part of a US security assistance package being sent to the Ukraine where they would be used from gun trucks. Each Slinger contains a radar, 30mm stabilised cannon with proximity-fuse, high-ex‑ plosive or armour-piercing ammunition designed for tracking and drone engage‑ ment at a range of more than 800 metres.

The Ukraine version will be used in coor‑ dination with Northrop Grumman’s M-ACE (acquisition, cueing and effector) system.

The recent demonstration showed the Slinger system, designed and manufactured in Australia using an Australian supply chain, shows Australia has sovereign capa‑ bilities to meet government and defence needs, including countering contemporary and emerging threats.

Executive Vice President of EOS Defence Systems, Matt Jones, said the tests exceeded expectations for all counter-drone systems.

“Drones are a threat in military and civilian environments right now. Counterdrone capabilities, like those developed by EOS, are becoming increasingly essential, and will save the lives of our allies, or perhaps our own defence force personnel in the future,” said Jones.

As well as export potential, the direct‑ ed-energy capability also demonstrates EOS’ capabilities in an area of priority for the Defence Advanced Strategic Capability Accelerator (ASCA), and the focus of AUKUS Pillar II on electronic warfare.

EOS is a leading sovereign defence industry exporter and provider of

Drones destroyed after kinetic kill engagement advanced military technology to the Australian Defence Force. In April the company announced it had secured two conditional contracts worth up to A$120m and A$61m respectively to supply its industry-leading weapon systems to Ukraine. Under the first contract, EOS will provide up to one hundred remote weapon systems (RWS), while the second contract entails up to fifty RWS units. To fulfil these orders, EOS will leverage its extensive net‑ work and supply chain, comprising more than one hundred suppliers from Australia and elsewhere.

EOS eos-aus.com

Made in Queensland grant

A

Brisbane chair manufacturer, Chair Solutions, has been given a $635,000 Made in Queensland government grant to buy new equipment to expand and grow.

The Northgate company is one of the recipients of the fifth round of grants awarded by the government in its $101 million Made in Queensland (MiQ) grants program.

The company makes seating for offices, hospitals, waiting rooms and schools across Australia.

With the money, Chair Solutions intends to purchase an injection

moulding machine and plastic moulds to expand its manufacturing capabilities and bid for large-scale projects.

“This new equipment and training for staff will enable us to pursue larger con‑ tracts and continue our strong growth record,” said Chair Solutions Managing Director, Carl Davies.

“We’ve had strong growth in hospitals recently, providing almost 25,000 chairs to the Sunshine Coast Hospital, Lady Cilento Hospital and the Gold Coast University Hospital.

“Our core business is offices but we also provide chairs to stadiums and recently

ARE YOUR

PRODUCTS

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30 | Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023

provided soft seating and removable seat‑ ing to the Cowboys Stadium.”

The new equipment is also expected to reduce production costs and time by up to 40%, while increasing their workforce by 12 full-time staff over the next five years.

The Queensland government says its MiQ program has created and supported more than 5,900 jobs and generated more than $110m in private sector investment.

“The Palaszczuk Government will always back our manufacturing industry because it contributes so much to our state’s

economy and creates good, secure jobs.

“Made in Queensland gives manu‑ facturers the practical and financial support they need to grow their business and create more jobs,” said Qld Minister for Manufacturing, Glenn Butcher.

“This is a local manufacturer who is embracing Industry 4.0 and growing the business to become even more competi‑ tive nationally and internationally.”

Applications for the sixth round of MiQ will open in October. industryupdate.com.au

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COMMUNITY

Elexon’s rise from the ashes By the Elexon Electronics team

T

ragedy struck at Elexon Electronics during the early hours of the morning on August 12 this year, as a devastating fire destroyed our manufac‑ turing facility in Brendale, Queensland.

The building the company had called home for nearly 20 years was basically destroyed, a result of a lithium-ion battery that ignited. While the company had stringent preventative measures in place, the unfortunate event is a reminder of the risk modern batteries pose.

The morning after Once the fire was extinguished, grief set in for the entire team. Elexon Electronics is a business with passion‑ ate staff, from engineers to electronics assemblers, which made this tragedy a difficult time for valued team members.

Before we had time to fully process what had happened, what we had lost, and what it meant for our customers, we were met with an outcry of support.

Local businesses, families, and even industry competitors stepped in to help.

As soon as we could safely do so, we began removing complex manufactur‑ ing equipment to assess the damage.

Unfortunately, most of our recently acquired machinery was destroyed and we were left to start from scratch.

We commenced the investigation and insurance process immediately while the debris settled, heartbroken but focused on the future. We would be back, stronger than ever, and that sentiment was held by the entire team.

It is in difficult times that kindness shines through, and we couldn’t be more thankful for the incredible support we received.

“We are truly blown away and deeply grateful for the outpouring of support from the local community,” said Elexon Electronics CEO, Frank Faller.

“Not only did local businesses, fam‑ ilies and staff help us out, but so did our

competitors. This industry is stronger if we support each other and to receive the help that we did is truly inspiring.

“Support from companies like IntelliDesign, Crystalaid, M&Y, Extel, GPC and Entech helped keep us not only stay afloat, but recommence manufac‑ turing almost straight away. We would also like to thank Suba Engineering and HW Technologies who both assisted us by quickly securing the equipment we needed.

“From the bottom of our hearts here

at Elexon Electronics - we thank you.”

One company that proved instrumen‑ tal in assisting us through the recovery process, is fellow Queensland manufac‑ turer IntelliDesign.

“We rang Frank as soon as we heard in the morning, when we woke up in the US because we were travelling at the time. We were just shocked and wanted to highlight that ‘we’re here and we’ll do whatever we can to help’,” said IntelliDesign Sales & Marketing Manager,

32 | Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023

Frank Harrington.

IntelliDesign had lost their facility to fire around a decade ago, so they shared their learnings and approach to getting through it.

“It was really a turning point for our business, recovering from it, so we shared what we had learnt and put our hand up to help,” Frank Harrington said.

Despite being competitors, Frank says IntelliDesign didn’t hesitate for a moment to step in and help.

“It just doesn’t matter if Elexon is a

competitor or not. You just want to help out and support the industry,” he said.

Solution-focused approach First up, a temporary ‘war room’ was established, allowing our teams to work collaboratively and find solutions to con‑ tinue delivering for our customers.

It’s easy to let grief take a hold but, inspired by the overwhelming public support, we pushed on. Within a week, our team worked day and night to secure

an alternative facility just a short drive from the one we lost.

The new facility, located just 1500m from our old building, is larger and will allow us to expand our operations.

Within two weeks, we had a functional warehouse setup at the new site and a range of temporary production equipment was secured, some of it leant to us by industry partners, allowing us to commence doing what we love - manufacturing.

While much of the high-precision, automated equipment we use carries long lead times - produced overseas in limited numbers - Suba Engineering and HW Technologies helped fast track temporary machinery with accelerated lead times.

“This whole process takes time, while a lot has fallen into place for us such as the new facility and the ability to source man‑ ufacturing equipment, the support of the wider industry is what made it happen.

“If any manufacturers are looking at upgrading or replacing machinery, we highly recommend considering Suba Engineering and HW Technologies.

They go way beyond for their customers.”

“I would never have thought we could turn the situation around so quickly,” Faller said. “6 weeks after the devastat‑ ing fire, we produced the first set of PCB boards for one of our main products. We already started building a few simple assemblies and by the end of October, we will be working on a job for a defence customer. It would have never happened without our amazing team, the support of our community and the patience of our customers,” explained Frank.

We still have lots to do. The biggest job Elexon has to complete is the re-fit of the manufacturing floor which is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year, just three months after the devastating fire.

Safeguarding for the future In order to prevent a catastrophe like this from occurring again at Elexon Electronics, we have worked to develop safe storage and handling strategies for lithium-ion batteries.

This work encompasses a fire safety plan, reviewing process, staff training, lithium fire extinguishers and blankets, and an advanced early detection system.

We are also now storing all lithium batteries in an insulated and tempera‑ ture-controlled 40-foot container outside of the building.

For our partners and the general public reading, we urge you to familia‑ rise yourself with the dangers of lithi‑ um-ion batteries, as they become more prevalent than ever. The average home contains countless lithium batteries, as do workplaces and of course electronics manufacturing facilities.

From the entire Elexon Electronics team - we will return, more resilient and with an advanced manufacturing facility even more capable of providing unmatched quality for our customers.

Elexon Electronics elexonelectronics.com

industryupdate.com.au

INDUSTRY NEWS

Meyer’s CG.P series recyclers

M

eyer is a leading manufacturer of PET recyclers and colour sorters.

Their CG.P model uses visible light, infrared light and UV light to sort PET bottles and bottle scrap – specif‑ ically in relation to colour sorting and colour purity classification.

The stepless dimming system can remove impurities like discolouring, ageing, as well as fluorescent and alu‑ minium flakes.

The CG.P series can also be used for

flake colour sorting in household appli‑ ances, storage batteries, PVC, HDPE, WEEE and other materials.

The machine can process up to 3-8 tonnes per hour and it is easy to learn and simple to operate.

NEW full feature oil injected screw compressors 4-22kW

NEW generation series-4 screw compressors up to 160kW

Oil free scroll compressors Medical, instrument, dental

High pressure piston and booster up to 40 bar(g)

Applied Machinery appliedmachinery.com.au

Concertina doors lock up Central, Sydney

O

ne of Sydney’s heritage-listed landmarks, Central Station, has just finalised installation of Australian Trellis Door Company’s steel concertina doors at the station’s Eddy Avenue entrance and the side entry on its northern concourse.

Central Station is Australia’s largest train station in size and passenger num‑ bers and is a busy transport interchange for many light rail and heavy-gauge commuter trains, and bus services.

ATDC installed the concertina doors in a side-by-side, tandem, overhead tracking configuration which minimised the storage depth of these doors to only 8% of the overall spans being secured.

Lock-up was achieved through a series industryupdate.com.au

of intermediate up-and-down locking mechanisms which offer seamless lock-up without needing to lock onto any railway station walls and without floor tracking.

ATDC’s skilled crews carried out installation works between 10pm and 4am over three consecutive nights.

The doors were specified by renowned architectural firm Woods Bagot. Project manager for the installation was inter‑ national engineering and construction company Laing O’Rourke.

Trellis Doors trellisdoors.com.au

NEW refrigerant compressed air dryer with sustainable, efficient and smart operation From 15-6,000 cfm

For sales and service support contact your nearest BOGE partner www.boge.net.au or (03) 5940 5913

Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023 | 33

MACHINERY

Helmholz partnership expands Lapp range

Helmholz is shaping this market trend with a new strategic gateways portfolio that is being continuously expanded.

L

APP Australia has announced a distribution partnership with the Helmholz®, the German company specialising in decentralised I/O system, industrial protocol converters, and secure IoT remote machine access.

LAPP Australia Managing Director, Simon Pullinger, sees the partnership as another step in LAPP’s expansion of its automation and IT solutions, products, and expertise capabilities.

“Helmholz has an excellent track

record of more than 30 years of proven and practical success, extending from industry leaders such as ThyssenKrupp drive components and Mann green energy efficiency solutions, through to specialist machine manufacturing and industrial automation innovators.”

Helmholz’s product spectrum extends from a decentralised I/O system to switches and repeaters, gateways, a NAT gateway/firewall and secure IoT remote machine access technologies integral

to remote maintenance, visualisation, alarm functions and logging.

“Helmholz’s market-driven, clever, and uncomplicated Protocol gateway, repeater, and coupler products – such as PROFINET, PROFIBUS, CAN-Bus, ModbusTCP, Ethernet / IP MQTT and the myREX24 V2 portal now in Australia – offer a combination of German quality with cost-efficient, reliable, and expand‑ able technology,” says Pullinger.

The Helmholz range will be managed nationally through industrial automa‑ tion engineer Uthaya Sivanathan, who is Technical Solutions Manager for the Industrial Automation and Networking division of LAPP Australia, the leading supplier of cables and connectivity solu‑ tions. LAPP Australia is a full branch of the one of the most successful family-owned companies in Germany, LAPP Group.

Clever yet simple “The agile and innovative team of 100 specialists at Helmholz are service and quality-focused. Their Germandeveloped and manufactured technol‑ ogies offer the operating convenience that’s needed as the pressure increases on industrial networks in these times of accelerating automation.

“Helmholz’s market focus is to offer the perfect solution for every automation task: through market-driven, clever products and uncomplicated, fast, and effective sup‑ port that is vital to ensuring production

uptime and product time to market.”

Pullinger says LAPP Australia’s industrial automation and networking division will provide a consultative service to specifiers seeking individual solutions within the Helmholz range, which ideally complements and further significantly broadens LAPP Australia’s capabilities.

“With products like our standard cable ranges, customers look at the features they need and buy straight from the website. But for industrial automa‑ tion and networking systems there are more complex requirements that the IT division serves, while offering our trade‑ mark service and quality advantages.”

Pullinger says the quality, reliabil‑ ity, and practicality focus of Helmholz complements LAPP Australia’s’ capa‑ bility expansion here across technology solutions involving market sectors such as intralogistics, rail, energy storage systems, food and beverage, resource, and industrial processing.

LAPP Australia is part of the LAPP Group, a leading global manufacturer of quality German-manufactured cables, connectors, and industrial connectivity solutions for a broad range of industrial applications.

LAPP Australia lappaustralia.com.au

MILLING AND MACHINING STEEL WORKPIECES? DO IT FASTER SAFER SMARTER Using economic, energy-efficient Permanent-Electro Magnetic Workholding Systems from Tenomagnete and Serpent & Dove.

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Phone 02 9971 7577 Email sales@serpent-dove.com 2/6 Taronga Place, Mona Vale NSW 2103 serpent-dove.com.au 34 | Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023

industryupdate.com.au

Machinery

Greasing bearings in motion

T

he importance of greasing bearings when they are moving is often not understood or is overlooked.

Possibly, it’s often not done due to prac‑ ticalities such as moving machinery and OH&S regulations.

Grease introduced into a station‑ ary bearing will take the path of least resistance. Many housings only have one grease entry point. Grease is typically pumped in by a high-pressure grease gun or lube system at a higher than necessary volume, and in a short time, in the hope that the new grease will make it into the bearing and remove the older grease.

Some of the grease might enter the bearing but if there’s any sort of con‑ straint to its entry, it can simply pass out the closest seal instead. Older grease is one the constraints if it’s left in the bearing — it then tends to block the entry of new grease.

This older grease is likely to be on the peripheries of the rolling surfaces, not on the areas of contact where lubri‑ cation is needed. This means that the older grease, which may be oil-depleted, additive-depleted, contaminated or oxidised, remains. Not only is it limited as a lubricant but its presence impedes the entry of new grease into the rolling elements.

So the bearing might not have been lubricated even though grease has been added to the housing.

The optimal time to grease a bearing is when it’s moving because a moving bearing has less resistance to grease industryupdate.com.au

input. Slow and progressive grease input at low pressure into a moving bearing allows the grease to be taken up into the moving bearing elements.

Grease added slowly and regularly will provide continuous purging of old grease that has reached the end of its useful life. Thus, older grease is prevented from remaining in the bearing long enough to become depleted or contaminated or worse, to harden, and become a lubrica‑ tion maintenance problem.

Correctly lubricating a bearing in this manner will also mean the bearing needs less grease because the grease is more efficiently used. The actual amount of grease needed to lubricate the contact surfaces is small, however to achieve better efficiency the grease must be introduced slowly and continuously.

Using less grease results in less contam‑ ination clean-up and it’s better for both the environment and costs.

The benefit of lubricating bearings slowly and continuously when in motion can be measured in terms of reduced failures and productivity increases.

GreaseMax lubricators provide an effec‑ tive and proven method of reliably provid‑ ing continuous lubrication in all industries and operating environments.

GreaseMax greasemax.au

Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023 | 35

“Setting the standard for Quality & Value”

LASER GUIDE SYSTEM PUNCH & SHEARS

Single Hydraulic Cylinder System Includes 6 Sets of Round Punches & Dies

Includes Multi Vee Pressbrake Attachment

The Sunrise Punch & Shears are manufactured in Taiwan, also known as Ironworkers are well recognised in our Australian market for the machines being reliable & durable due to their structurally well manufactured unique design & engineering excellence. Sunrise is ISO-9001 certified by BVQI, and our products meet the CE safety requirements and regulations. Sunrise relentlessly seeks continuous improvement and product development to keep a step ahead of their competitors.

60 Tonne Capacity 45 Tonne Capacity

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Hydraulic Punch & Shear The Sunrise Punch & Shears are manufactured in Taiwan, also known as Ironworkers are well recognised in our Australian market for the machines being reliable & durable due to their structurally well manufactured unique design & engineering excellence.

Sunrise is ISO-9001 certified by BVQI, and our products meet the CE safety requirements and regulations. Sunrise relentlessly seeks continuous improvement and product development to keep a step ahead of their competitors.

Dual Hydraulic Cylinders with Independent Operating Stations Includes Auto Touch & Cut Systems, Laser Punch Guide & 6 Sets of Round Punches & Dies 60 to 80 Tonne Order Codes: P174 - P175

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• Large 158mm spindle bore, (Optional 238mm) • 510mm wide induction hardened 3V bed • 2 speed high/low tailstock • 12 spindle speeds (8-680rpm) • Includes 3 & 4 jaw chucks, faceplate, steadies, light, foot brake & coolant system

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Large 120mm spindle bore 400mm wide induction hardened bed $ 2 speed high/low tailstock 54,945 inc GST (L642D) 12 spindle speeds (12-1200rpm) Includes 3 & 4 jaw chucks, faceplate, steadies, light, foot brake & coolant system

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Machinery

Building better hyperspectral imaging for mining

Dr. Friederike Körting setting up the HySpex camera in a UAV configuration for airborne data acquisition

M

ineral resources are essential to Australia’s national security as well as to economic prosperity.

Growth in demand for critical minerals, now referred to as ‘green minerals’, is being stimulated by the move towards a renewable economy, and this calls for innovative approaches in mining.

One such innovative technology is hyperspectral imaging. So, what is hyperspectral imaging, and can it be even more useful to miners?

Hyperspectral imaging, or imaging spectroscopy, combines the power of digital imaging and spectroscopy. Hyperspectral cameras scan an item or area, collecting the light intensity of each pixel across the electromagnetic spectrum.

The light striking each pixel is broken down into many different bands of colours. This provides thousands more colours than what our eyes can see or what a RGB camera in a smart phone for example, can capture.

Humans can only see or collect three colours: red, green and blue, whereas a hyperspectral camera collects and analyses a wide spectrum of light instead of just three colours. This provides an enormous amount of data which results in three-dimensional image cubes com‑ prising two spatial dimensions and one spectral dimension.

NEO’s HySpex hyperspectral cameras are advancing the use of spectral imag‑ ing in the mining sector.

HySpex NEO high resolution single core scanner

38 | Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023

Hyperspectral cameras in mining HySpex cameras are already used by various service providers in the mining sector and provide data of the high‑ est quality for mineral identification.

One example is in exploration where hyperspectral cameras are used to scan, interpret and archive kilometres of drill core.

Broken down into hundreds of differ‑ ent wavelengths, the unique spectral sig‑ natures for each mineral are recognised — enabling geologists to identify rock types and changes in mineralogy with depth in a drill core.

This process is so valuable to geolo‑ gists that CSIRO has developed a ‘spec‑ tral library’ or database of hundreds of samples to help with the fast identifica‑ tion of mineral types.

Dr. Friederike Körting, a Spectral Geologist and Hyperspectral Imaging Specialist at HySpex, says that mineral resource exploration and mining is an essential part of today’s high-tech industries and elements such as rareearth elements (REEs) and copper are in especially high demand due to green shift technologies.

Rare-earth elements are necessary components of more than 200 products in a wide range of applications. They are used in high-tech consumer products, such as cell phones, computer hard drives, electric and hybrid vehicles, and even flat screen monitors and televisions.

“Modern exploration techniques from multiple platforms — for example spaceborne and airborne — to detect and map the spectral characteristics of the materials, require spectral libraries as an essential reference,” says Dr Körting.

“They include field and laboratory spectral information in combination with geochemical and mineral analyses for validation.’

Spectral data Reference libraries of spectral data such as the CSIRO’s on its site (and app) called ‘MyLogger’ are used to enable hyperspec‑ tral scanning of large areas of Australia.

Dr. Körting and HySpex were involved in gathering hyperspectral data in a former copper-gold-pyrite mine in the Republic of Cyprus to assess the mine’s current state and to map the mineralised zone.

Compiling, interpreting and analysing the hyperspectral data requires real expertise.

Finding a way of enabling non-expert users to analyse and interpret their hyperspectral data is the business of Prediktera, a Swedish company provid‑ ing hyperspectral data analysis software called Breeze and Breeze Geo which enables users to gain more from their data and interact with it easily.

This enables a fast turnover rate, return on investing in a hyperspectral camera and makes sure that the hyper‑ spectral data can quickly be integrated and used for online monitoring, proac‑ tive intervention and modelling.

As a new development, HySpex has joined forces with a consortium of European partners and the Sustainable Minerals Institute in Queensland, enabled by funding from Horizon Europe and AusScope, in a project called M4Mining.

The group challenges themselves to deliver a hyperspectral drone that can provide calibrated, corrected and inter‑ preted data from a scan within real time and in more detail, enabling data-led decisions, supplying real time surface mineralogy and ensuring site safety by using autonomous drone based data acquisition.

Raymax Lasers raymax.com.au

industryupdate.com.au

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Machinery

Designed in Australia for Australia I n business since 1973, Accurpress has sold more than 30,000 machines globally and is the largest supplier of press brakes in North America.

Accurpress Australia was formed in 2015, giving Accurpress the ability to deliver world class machinery to the Australian and New Zealand markets.

Since then, Accurpress Australia has been working with partners to design, manufac‑ ture and install tailored, automatic press brake solutions to address challenges with production, efficiency and costs.

Accurpress Australia specialises in larger capacity press brakes (up to 3000 tonnes) with safety and intelligence designed by Australians for Australians.

The company is led by a highly moti‑ vated and experienced team with more than 80 years’ combined experience in press brake sales, design, manufacture, installation, maintenance, training and operation.

Consisting of Technical Director Michael Stratos, Sales Director Mike Dye and Operations Manager Wayne Strother, the team is committed to deliv‑ ering for businesses.

The team believes in strong service and strives to deliver the highest quality, reliability and value to customers.

Accurpress Australia specialises in • large tonnage capacity press brakes up to 3000 tonnes

• world-class press brake safety systems • fully integrated automation systems • customised press brake tooling • fully automatic vee blocks • energy efficiency systems • world leading Delem control systems – DA-58T, DA-66T, DA-69T • fully programmable 2D and 3D offline software • automatic hydraulic tool clapping • ancillary equipment, sheet followers, materials handling, • guillotines, turret punches

Power savings With green energy technology, Accurpress machines’ electrical and hydraulic systems only consume power when the back gauge or upper beam are in motion, offering up to an 85% energy reduction on larger machines.

Downtime reduction is a feature of all Accurpress Australia press brakes, and the machines’ electrical and hydraulic systems are designed by Australians with that feature as a priority.

All electrical and hydraulic com‑ ponents are available in Australia, so in the unfortunate event of a machine breakdown, there are no lengthy waits for components from overseas to get a machine back online.

Accurpress Australia works closely with technical service technicians Australia-wide for fast service and

backup if and when required.

With market leading control systems, fast approach and return speeds, stateof-the-art back gauges and an array of optional automation, Accurpress Australia press brakes ensure high pro‑ ductivity and reduced downtime.

Accurpress Australia offers

three-year parts and labour warranty on all press brakes.

Accurpress accurpress.com.au

Applications for DAVI products include: Energy industry Davi 3 and 4 rolls are the industry leader to roll the heavy duty, thick plates to build nuclear reactor and tur‑ bine housings.

Shipyard DAVI rolls are used to produce all the different rolled shapes in the shipyard industry.

Earth moving machines DAVI plate rolls are the ideal choice to roll thick plates with high resistance and special anti-abrasive steel.

Structures DAVI angle rolls and section bending machines are widely purchased for building heavy and large dimensioned structures.

Truck containers Davi CNC controlled 4 rolls machines are the right choice to produce truck tanks, to 12 meters (40 feet) long and more.

Off-Shore platforms DAVI 3 and 4 rolls are the plate rolls of choice to build monopiles and tripods, in thick plate and high resistance steel.

Aerospace/aircraft DAVI supplies the turn-key solutions to produce aircraft and aerospace components such as wing and fuselage sections, and components for aero‑ space vehicles and capsules.

Boilers, pressure vessels, heat exchangers The high accuracy required to form these components, Davi 3 and 4 rolls have the technology to be the leading choice among top manufacturers to produce these large components.

DAVI MCB E30 CNC HDC

DAVI MCB N30 CNC rolling heavy duty bridge pylons

40 | Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023

industryupdate.com.au

AUTOMATION, ROBOTICS & SMART FACTORIES

Maximising the cold chain operational footprint At the 2023 Refrigerated Warehouse and Transport Association of Australia (RWTAA) Conference, Swisslog’s Sean Ledbury and Charles John gave a presentation on overcoming challenges in the frozen food industry while achieving energy savings and better ROI.

T

he frozen food and cold supply chain industry is facing increasing challenges, with many companies in Australia and New Zealand struggling to keep up with rising energy costs, labour shortages, and other issues.

Swisslog has implemented more than 2,000 warehouse automation projects in more than 50 countries so it has a proven ped‑ igree in refrigerated warehouse automation.

Maximising the integrity of the cold chain in the refrigerated warehouse and transport sector is mandatory to ensure confidence in food quality, every day, according to RWTAA Executive Officer Marianne Kintzel.

“Automation is a major part of the future of the cold chain,” she said.

Labour shortages “One of the biggest challenges compa‑ nies are facing now is labour shortages,” said Swisslog’s Sean Ledbury.

“Low temperatures make refrigerated warehouses harsh environments, where humans should spend minimal time to avoid hypothermia and other health and safety risks. Using automation to do tasks in freezer areas removes workers from

these harsh environments, freeing them up to work in more suitable areas,” he said.

Other challenges facing the cold chain industry include changing customer demands, new compliance regulations, and energy consumption. Food produc‑ tion is facing increased challenges too, with water scarcity, soil degradation, deforestation, and reduction in farmers, all playing a part in making the supply chain more complex.

Energy savings Charles John said an automated high-bay chilled warehouse can reduce the energy load by as much as 20% compared with conven‑ tional more labour-intensive alternatives.

“Not only does it reduce the power bill, but it typically allows for four times more storage within the same building footprint, so you are maximising use of the available space,” he said. “This is becoming increasingly important, as industrial land continues to become more expensive in major cities across Australia and New Zealand. Adding capacity without having to purchase a new site can make for a superior ROI.” Cold chain compliance Compliance is essential in the cold chain due to the harsh nature of chilled and deep-freeze environments, and the strict requirements which different food and beverage products need to meet.

Automation can help meet these compli‑ ance regulations in areas including:

• Providing automatic doors with airlocks to efficiently separate storage from shipping areas • Making sure the cold chain is respected throughout from production to shipping • Providing an automatic connection with the production area and the shipping buffer in deep-freeze temperatures • Creating a cleaner, safer environment, by not needing to use ice • Better goods management process and error-free traceability by advanced software Intelligent software The conference audience heard that software such as Swisslog’s SynQ can optimise warehouse operations and deliver a range of benefits.

“SynQ can control order planning, order picking, consolidation, shipping, storage, receiving and put-away, and the benefits extend beyond these tasks, too,” said Ledbury.

In addition to being a warehouse management system, SynQ can perform the task of a warehouse control system, or material flow system, and can seam‑ lessly interact with enterprise resource planning and e-shop systems.

Swisslog swisslog.com

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info@accurpress.com.au accurpress.com.au

Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023 | 41

Automation, Robotics & Smart Factories

The way is up for efficient warehousing

U

S-based commercial real estate services firm CBRE Research last year ranked Australia as the coun‑ try with the lowest industrial property vacancy rate in the world.

Driven by the growth of eCommerce, warehousing space is extremely scarce, therefore in high demand and expensive.

To stay competitive in the current market‑ place, and capitalise on the space available, businesses need to optimise operations.

“Vertical stacking is the way to go,” says Jason Wu, Business Development Manager, AutoStore Australia and New Zealand.

“It enables businesses to maximise their use of space without the need to buy, rent or construct a larger warehouse facility.”

Five key benefits of vertical stacking 1. Increases storage density without a larger storage footprint: Storing multiple stock-keeping units (SKUs) per storage location or bin will expo‑ nentially increase your storage capac‑ ity without a significant increase in operational or real estate costs. “This means you can offer your customers more products, faster,” adds Wu. 2. More efficient picking and inventory management: It’s easier and quicker to target specific stock items for picking and packing, while keeping a firm handle on stock levels.

3. More efficient operations: Vertical stacking opens up routes through the warehouse, enabling more efficient workflows and saving time. “You’ll eliminate the bottlenecks and errors that undermine productivity, instead enabling your warehouse to process orders more quickly and accurately

than before,” says Wu. 4. Better warehouse safety: A vertical storage design makes it easier for workers and machinery to move through the space, without risking collisions or accidents.

5. Cost effective: Vertical stacking delivers ROI fast. “By maximising your use of space, optimising inven‑ tory levels and streamlining work‑ flows, you’ll effectively minimise costs and achieve improved profitability,” says Wu. He points to the AutoStore grid – the vertical cube storage solution which forms the framework for the company’s Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS). The grid is modular and easily customised to dovetail with the layout of a customer’s floorplan, enabling 90% warehouse space use.

“You’ll eliminate the bottlenecks and errors that undermine productivity.”

Automation is the game changer Wu believes automation will unlock significant benefits in a vertical stack.

“Automation technology speeds up operations and fulfilment with high throughput, and unbeatable uptime.

It also enables excellent visibility for

42 | Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023

inventory accuracy and it minimises shrinkage, waste, and delivery errors.”

The AutoStore ASRS solution com‑ prises automated robots that travel over the grid, picking up or storing items in bins. The robots are designed to move in four directions, making it easy for them to reach any bin on the grid, and deliver a 99.9% picking accuracy. They’re self-monitoring and recharge automati‑ cally as required.

“At the fastest site, the ASRS presents 20,000-plus bins per hour.”

“The high density of the AutoStore grid makes travel distances 25-40% shorter once we have the bin in the cube,” adds Wu. The AutoStore ASRS is the fastest ‘Goods to person’ system per square metre – enabling order fulfilment times of less than a minute from order to shipping. At the company’s fastest site, the ASRS pres‑ ents 20,000-plus bins per hour.

Other benefits of the AutoStore ASRS include its energy efficiency, as well as its modularity and scalability.

“Our robots use about 100 Watts during operation, while 10 Robots use less energy than a standard vacuum cleaner,” explains Wu. With this system, customers achieve lower costs per fulfilled order.

Jason Wu, Business Development Manager, AutoStore Australia and New Zealand “They report significant savings on labour and energy costs, while pro‑ ductivity and efficiency increase. The result is a more profitable warehouse,” concludes Wu. AutoStore is a technology company that develops hardware and software for order-fulfilment solutions to help businesses achieve efficiency gains within the storage and retrieval of goods.

The company offers both hardware and software capabilities and the AutoStore technology is interoperable with other third-party solutions.

AutoStore autostoresystem.com

industryupdate.com.au

Automation, Robotics & Smart Factories

Automation with the lightest, affordable cobot

Cost-effective, lightweight and simple suits human-robot collaboration: the new Igus ReBeL with polymer gearbox. Image: Igus GmbH

A

utomation is easier with Igus’ new 10-kilo ReBeL, that lowers entry to service robotics.

Together with low costs, low mainte‑ nance and simple operation, ReBeL makes new ideas in service robotics feasible for smaller companies and startups — from installed use on agricultural drones to mobile support as household help.

In nursing, in dispensing machines, in the field or in factories, lightweight collaborative robots can help automate monotonous tasks.

The lightweight plastic robot has a fully integrated tribo strain wave gear with motor, encoder, force control and controller. Electronic components in the fully integrated strain wave gear enable human-robot collaboration. This is because encoder technology enables forces and torque to be determined and limited via the motor current in com‑ bination with the angle measurement.

For this, Igus relies on a double encoder, in which a measurement is carried out in front of and behind the joint. This detects forces and torque levels and responds accordingly.

Game-changing plastics Plastic in the ReBeL results in an extremely compact, lightweight design.

With a net weight of less than 10 kilo‑ grams, the robot is the lightest cobot on the market. Its payload is 2 kilos and it has a reach of 700 millimetres. Thanks to the low starting price, under 4,000 Euros including control system, ReBeL industryupdate.com.au

can even be used in areas where robotics was not previously worthwhile.

Many innovative ideas are now becoming feasible: from use in an auto‑ mated, guided vehicle system to use as a bartender.

“Many young companies are currently showing what is possible with low-cost automation,” says Alexander Mühlens, Head of Automation Technology at Igus.

“For example, textile production engineering firm, ADOTC uses an Igus articulated-arm robot which does the automatic feeding and removal of textile pieces to and from the sewing machine.

Since energy prices for robots are comparable worldwide, this automated product is worthwhile.”

Barriers keep falling As well as the lower price, Igus also lowers other entry hurdles such as com‑ plexity. For example, the new ReBeL, like the other articulated-arm, delta or linear robots from Igus, can be tested and operated very easily.

For this purpose, Igus offers free control software. It is easy to define and simulate the movements of the robot quickly. This saves companies com‑ missioning costs and makes them less dependent on integrators.

Treotham Automation

The Alternative Solution Any business needing to move more product out the door does have options. As frequency of parcel movement increases, any level of automation can only assist.

Handling freight and moving customer orders in greater numbers has certainly accelerated in recent times, and finding quicker, smarter ways has always been key to success.

Certainly the rapid growth in e-commerce has exponentially multiplied the rate at which parcels need to get out the door and at ever-faster turnaround times.

Often we get a request to assist in sometimes quite simple, “low-target” solutions to lift performance to get the customer through a perceived temporary situation.

However most customers are very receptive to receiving an alternative and longer term solution that will give them broader and more sustained scope for growth.

By providing “the alternative solution”, Adept Conveyor Technologies shows the customer much greater potential by looking in broader terms rather than just the temporary or initial request.

It takes just one phone call.

Adept Conveyor Technologies 6-8 Amour St, Milperra NSW 2214 1/116 National Blvd, Campbellfield VIC 3061

www.adeptconveyor.com.au

treotham.com.au Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023 | 43

ROBOTICS & TECHNOLOGY

Advanced Navigation opens robotic manufacturing facility

R

obotic and navigational technol‑ ogies manufacturer Advanced Navigation has opened a manufac‑ turing facility for autonomous systems at University of Technology Sydney’s Tech Lab. Located in the Botany precinct, the new high-tech facility will be used to scale up the manufacturing of the company’s AI navigation systems for GPS-denied environments, including its digital fibre-optic gyroscope technology, Boreas.

The new facility will strengthen Australia’s sovereign capabilities, said co-founder and CEO Xavier Orr. “A key step is to build our industrial capacity in high-tech, as well as drive knowledge exchange and propel collab‑ orative initiatives between government

agencies, academic institutions and industry leaders.”

Advanced Navigation is one of the few in the world capable of manufacturing strategic grade fibre-optic gyroscopes, which enable reliable navigation for marine vessels, space missions, aero‑ space, defence, autonomous vehicles and flying taxis.

The company deploys its unique AI-based physics algorithms to solve complex chal‑ lenges earth-bound and beyond.

In addition to the manufacturing capability, the facility will be home to research collaborations between Advanced Navigation and UTS. “UTS is pleased to be working with Advanced Navigation to tap into critical growth areas, including AI, robotics and space technologies,” said Professor

Andrew Parfitt, Vice-Chancellor and President of UTS. “The collaboration between UTS’ global research leaders in autonomous systems technology and Advanced Navigation’s exceptional team of scien‑ tists and engineers, utilising UTS Tech

Mapping the world’s tech framework

Tech Policy Design Centre Director, Professor Johanna Weaver

A

first-of-its-kind Tech Policy Atlas, to support evidence-based research and policy on the innova‑ tions shaping our future, is being launched by the Tech Policy Design Centre at The Australian National University.

Director of the Tech Policy Design Centre Professor Johanna Weaver says that until now there was no central repository for researchers, industry leaders and policy‑ makers to understand how and where this [tech] policy is being implemented.

“Not only is the technologist building the tech shaping our future, but so too are policymakers and legislators who regulate and set standards by which the technologist must comply.”

“We’re proud to say that thanks to the hard work of everyone at the Tech Policy Design Centre and our partners all around the world, that is no longer the case.”

The Tech Policy Atlas provides an

interactive, in-depth experience for users to explore tech policy from around the world, and is helpfully segmented by the 36 coun‑ tries it covers and by jurisdiction, category and type. Researchers can also access pri‑ mary sources, with up-to-date information on publication date and time, pdf records, as well as archived sources.

Professor Weaver said there is a ten‑ dency for people to associate regulation with red tape yet good regulation fosters innovation and keeps us safe.

“This Atlas will help foster research that will drive better regulation, not just more regulation.”

“Global powers like the US, EU and China are in the headlines and at the forefront of global tech policy develop‑ ment, but what I’ve found most amazing is how many parts of the developing world are quickly coming to grips with the implications of new technologies, in

44 | Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023

their own context”.

“Across Africa, Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya have all identified and adapted to many of the gaps in their tech policy frameworks.

Since 2016, Fiji has introduced several bills to deal with cybercrime, false information and online harms.”

“This Atlas will help ... drive better regulation, not just more regulation.”

Professor Weaver emphasised that functionality was a primary priority in designing the Tech Policy Atlas. “We wanted to make it as accessible and easy to use as possible.”

Lab’s cutting-edge facilities, highlights our commitment to developing sovereign capabilities for defence and space.

“We look forward to deepening and expanding our collective capabilities with Advanced Navigation to accelerate the production of high-impact innovations.”

“One of the hardest parts of research‑ ing global tech policy is knowing which government website to go to and collat‑ ing and accessing your sources, so we put a lot of work into making sure that users had a smooth experience” “Now with only a few clicks you can access and compare information on e-commerce consumer protection in India, ethical frame‑ works for AI in Colombia, and digital abuse legislation in Tonga”.

The Atlas currently covers 36 countries from around the world, and includes over 2000 entries, with more being added. Professor Weaver said the work on the Atlas is still ongoing.

“The Atlas is open-source and we rely on contributions from users to expand and update the dataset. Our expert team at the Tech Policy Design Centre are constantly reviewing, analysing, and adding to the submissions we receive to make sure everything included in the Atlas is accurate and up to date” “It really highlights how fascinating and critical future developments in global tech policy will be, and we at Tech Policy Design Centre can’t wait to keep working at the forefront of this expand‑ ing field.” Professor Weaver said.

The Tech Policy Design Centre is a nonpartisan, independent research organisation at the Australian National University. Mission is to develop fit-forpurpose tech policy frameworks to shape technology for the long-term benefit of humanity. We work to mature the tech-governance ecosystem in collabo‑ ration with industry, government, civil society, and academia.

The Atlas techpolicydesign.au

industryupdate.com.au

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

HARTING backs EV trip from Europe to Qatar Crossing mountains, oceans and traversing the desert – HARTING supported an intrepid e-mobility road trip across Europe and Arabia initiated by the Geneva Motor Show.

C

an electric vehicles travel long distances in regions where there’s limited charging infrastructure?

A road trip from Geneva to Doha in Qatar has aimed to prove they can.

The Geneva International Motor Show (GIMS), one of the world’s leading motor shows since 1905, announced an e-mobility challenge with this year’s ‘Tour d’Excellence’.

While Europe has well developed charging infrastructure, the Middle East is still in its early stages. The Tour

d’Excellence from Geneva to Doha aimed to prove that even under challenging circumstances, long distance trips with electric vehicles are feasible.

The event took place over five weeks in August - September, 2023 and HARTING supported drivers and vehi‑ cles with its electromobility technolo‑ gies on the 6800km long route.

Innovative vehicles powered by innovative technology Driving two Volkswagen ID.Buzz vehicles, duo Frank M. Rinderknecht (founder and CEO of the concept vehicle specialist Rinspeed) and record-breaking driver Rainer Zietlow of Challenge4.de strapped in for the intrepid e-mobility adventure.

The two traversed several continents

Frank M. Rinderknecht founder and CEO of the concept vehicle specialist Rinspeed, who partnered with driver Rainer Zietlow of Challenge4.de for this e-mobility challenge and then crossed the Mediterranean – with the route extending from Switzerland to Italy and on to Croatia, Turkey, Greece, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

In the process, Rinderknecht and Zietlow tackled regions where a charging infrastructure hardly exists.

At the end of September, Rinderknecht and Zietlow arrived at their final destination in Qatar.

The HARTING Technology Group was at their side.

The company is VW’s Tier 1 supplier of electric cables, VW Group Award 2020 winner in the E-Mobility category and ID.Buzz supplier, and it develops robust, reliable and user-friendly charging solutions.

“With our partnership-based

participation in the ‘Tour d’Excellence’, we have once again taken the opportu‑ nity to demonstrate the performance of our e-mobility solutions,” said Marco Grinblats, Managing Director of HARTING Automotive.

“We have known Frank M. Rinderknecht and Rainer Zietlow for many years and have already worked suc‑ cessfully with them on several occasions.

“They are living our HARTING motto, especially in this challenge: ‘Pushing Performance’!”

HARTING Australia harting.com/au

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www.tente.com.au Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023 | 45

MOTOR & DRIVES

Bonfiglioli to double local HD gearbox assembly

by Margie Smithurst

Planetary combination drive gearbox

A

new heavy-duty (HD) gear‑ box assembly machine which will double output and reduce delivery time will be up and running at Bonfiglioli’s Sydney factory by early next year, says the company.

The family-run Italian business, with a global presence and manufacturing premises in Australia, says its invest‑ ment is a response to increasing heavy industry demand.

Assembling the bevel-helical gear‑ boxes in mono-block housing, which each weigh at least a tonne, currently takes up to four days, including testing and painting.

Kris Jaryn, Bonfiglioli’s National Manager of HD and Planetary, says the Sydney plant does about three to four units a week at the moment.

With a second machine, which is enroute to Australia, the company is optimistic it can deliver six to seven gearboxes a week.

HD growth Heavy duty gearboxes, including plane‑ tary ones, are the fastest-growing sector in the company, making up about 35% of sales, says Jaryn.

“The main sectors where these gear boxes are used are mining, material

handling, cranes and winches etc..

“About 85% of our gearboxes are used for over-land and underground convey‑ ors,” Jaryn tells Industry Update.

“And those conveyors can be a few kilometres long.”

Bonfiglioli has also established a niche in the market, combining planetary and bevel-helical gearboxes for specific pur‑ poses such as feeder conveyors, where a high ratio with high output torque is needed.

The gearboxes are typically assem‑ bled in the 5000-square-metre western Sydney factory from components that are shipped from Europe, but some‑ times, when large orders need to be done simultaneously, they’re built in Italy or Slovakia to save on space and labour.

Mining makes up most of their cus‑ tomer demand – coal, gold, iron ore and even lithium, and Bonfiglioli competes with other companies for business.

While the company has regular monthly orders for smaller gearboxes, for instance, which are also assembled at the Sydney factory, its HD series is project-based and orders come in sporadically.

The gearboxes’ destination isn’t always local – the company is about to send 12 HD gearboxes, which were assembled in Italy, to a lithium mine in Africa.

They will soon send another 12 com‑ plete conveyor drive assemblies to Perth.

Those have been assembled in Sydney.

Kris Jaryn, Bonfiglioli’s National Manager of HD and Planetary Demand and supply The company keeps about $10 million worth of stock at its Sydney premises, and about $3.5m of that are components for heavy duty gearboxes.

Covid’s shadow is still affecting the sector, says Jaryn.

“After Covid, everyone was struggling a bit with stock, and we have occa‑ sionally had issues with delivery. This prompted us to increase our local stock‑ holding and to send simultaneous large orders to Europe to save on time.

“We offer the market high quality products and have a good local presence with local expertise and service.”

“This new machine will allow us to quote shorter delivery times for customers.”

Bonfiglioli bonfiglioli.com

Conveyor drives support logistics market growth needs of the logistics sector. Our team has decades of combined experience in the development of specialised and complete conveyor systems for material handling and warehousing applications.”

Martin Broglia, Managing Director of Bonfiglioli Australia and New Zealand

A

ustralia’s logistics market is estimated at over $139 billion and with an annual growth rate of 4.04%, it’s expected to reach $173 billion in the next four years.

According to Martin Broglia, Managing Director of Bonfiglioli Australia and New Zealand, “Much of this growth stems from the rise of eCom‑ merce with the International Trade Administration ranking Australia as the 11th biggest market for eCommerce.”

“With the heightened demand and projected growth, Bonfiglioli is well-po‑ sitioned to support the ever-changing

The changing market demands smart solutions The local logistics and warehousing sector are facing significant challenges. Among these are the growing demand for rapid fulfilment, labour shortages, as well as climbing costs and the scarcity of warehousing space.

“Customers are looking for reliable compact conveyor solu‑ tions that offer variable speed control and synchronisation with other equipment. Energy efficiency, scalability, safety and material flow control are essential in these applications,” explained Broglia.

“The goal for every business owner in the sector is to manage costs, while ensur‑ ing optimal throughput and efficiency.”

To meet customer demand, Bonfiglioli provides a complete drive transmission package, including the gearbox to the decentralised inverter.

46 | Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023

“In applications where high effi‑ ciency is required, we can offer our synchronous reluctance motor with IE4 efficiency,” said Broglia.

Gearmotors that set the standard Bonfiglioli’s conveyor drive solutions include the A Series, C Series and VF-W Series gearmotors.

• The A Series bevel-helical gearmotor, with a compact, modular design and universal mounting features, delivers high efficiency. Offering high efficiency and reliability, low maintenance costs and a wide torque range of between 100 and 14,000 Nm, the A Series delivers exceptional

performance , even in harsh conditions.

• The C Series inline helical gearmotors offer high torque density and a wide speed choice, in a highly compact design. With special seals and surface protection, these motors are ideal for use in harsh environments. Offering energy-saving operation and a wide output speed selection range, these are a solid choice for a range of industrial applications.

• The VF-W Series worm gearmotors are specially designed for the food and beverage industries, delivering efficient performance in a cost-effective package.

This is a reliable and robust range of gear‑ motors, delivering a long operating life.

“The logistics and warehousing sector is integral to the health of our economy, particularly in the context of a global marketplace. Ensuring the smooth and efficient flow of materials and, in turn, the optimal performance of businesses in the sector is critical,” said Broglia.

Bonfiglioli bonfiglioli.com

industryupdate.com.au

Motor & Drives

Two-metre linear racks for any application

W

ittenstein’s range of Alpha linear racking now offers two-metre racks as an option as well as its tried-and-tested one-metre racks) and they are ideal for use in short axes where they simplify assembly even further.

When combined with the famil‑ iar INIRA® concept for simple, fast, ergonomic and precise rack assembly, the new two-metre version provides yet more advantages.

The high-quality, two-metre rack is Wittenstein’s response to increased demand for this length, which enables customers to simplify their assembly processes even further. The y-axes of laser-cutting machines, the lifting axes of gantry robots, plasma and waterjet cutters, the telescopic axes of Cartesian robots, tool changers and the seventh axis in robotics are just a few typical applications.

The tried-and-tested, one-metre racks have a reputation for simple transport, standardised stocking and assembly-friendly handling. INIRA® clamping, adjusting and pinning, too, makes assembly even faster and more efficient. The potential applications for these one-metre racks include wood, plastic and composite machining centres, metal-cutting machine tools,

laser-cutting machines and the position‑ ing axes of gantry robots. Case-hardened one-metre racks are available for very high-feed forces.

Racking to suit any application Wittenstein Alpha linear systems are known for versatility. They consist of perfectly matched combinations of a gearbox, pinion and rack. Their possible

applications extend from automation to high-precision axes in machine tools.

The cymex® sizing software is used for dimensioning depending on the specific smooth running, positioning accuracy, feed force, rigidity and axis configura‑ tion requirements. Adapted solutions for re-lubrication round off the systems.

Wittenstein develops products, sys‑ tems and solutions for highly dynamic

motion, precision positioning and smart networking for mechatronic drive technology and they are distributed by Treotham Automation in Australia.

Treotham treotham.com.au

Creating tomorrow’s solutions, today For over 60 years, Bonfiglioli has been developing tailored transmission and drive solutions for industrial automation and wind energy.

With a network of 21 branches and 14 production plants in 80 countries around the globe, we bring you tried and tested world class solutions.

Let’s build the next 60 years, together.

www.bonfiglioli.com/australia/en www.bonfiglioli.com/new-zealand/en

industryupdate.com.au

Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023 | 47

Motor & Drives

Sustainability boosts longevity and easy maintenance

The convenience of ordering spare parts online is a game changer for SEW’s customers.

D

esign principles at SEW-Eurodrive stipulate that its products should always be as easily repaired and as maintenance-friendly as possible.

Careful consideration during the design process ensures SEW-Eurodrive’s range of products is relatively easy to service and repair. For example, SEW-Eurodrive’s mechanical products including motors and gear units can be non-destructively disassembled and then reassembled again once worn con‑ sumables and parts have been replaced.

“This means the service life of our products is extended, inherently reducing the need to dispose of non-ser‑ viceable units, which can often end up in landfill,” says Darren Klonowski, General Manager - Sales and Marketing.

Service and repair of products is usually carried out at one of SEW’s ded‑ icated service centres which are staffed by qualified repair technicians. Once returned to base, the units are thor‑ oughly inspected followed by a recom‑ mendation on the best course of action to

extend their service life.

End users’ own maintenance teams are able to purchase SEW-Eurodrive’s propri‑ etary spare parts to maintain and service their installed base in-house.

Klonowski says, “SEW-Eurodrive’s Life Cycle Services include the enhanced Online Support functionality. These Life Cycle Services are based on a holistic and carefully considered, closed-loop concept that covers the entire service lifespan of a product while in use,” says Klonowski.

Life Cycle Services include: • Advice on market trends, application and industry know-how, including impending change to regulations and specifications.

• Planning and engineering, such as concept development and drive selection service.

• Installation and start-up, including advice on installing, commissioning and programming.

• Services and maintenance through remote product monitoring, servicing and repairs and readily available spare parts.

• Modernisation through retrofitting legacy products with new solutions via energy efficiency tools.

• New online support functions Online support functionality “Digital transformation has been and will continue to be at the forefront of all industries. SEW’s online support plat‑ form delivers just that.” says Klonowski.

It can be broken up into four different sections: • Engineering and selection • Inquiry and order • Delivery and material flow • Startup and maintenance SEW-Eurodrive has recently released a suite of E-commerce functions enabling registered customers to make a selection online including placing an order.

“Whether it’s a spare part or a fully assembled product, you can select it directly in the product configurator.

SEW’s diverse product range offers many combinations and most of these can also be replicated directly in the E-selection

portal.” says Klonowski.

“Time is very valuable so offering the convenience of online ordering to SEW customers is a game changer. Factories operate 24/7. If an overnight maintenance officer wants to order a spare part instead of waiting for our sales representatives to arrive the next morning, they can order the part immediately,” says Klonowski.

SEW customers have appreciated the availability of CAD data and documenta‑ tion for many years.

Our products, CAD data and docu‑ mentation is readily available on demand via the SEW’s online support portal.

Simply enter the product’s serial number or use our convenient product configura‑ tor to access this valuable information.

“It certainly benefits our customers because they are not waiting to get the information they want — it is just a click or tap away,” says Klonowski.

SEW-Eurodrive designs and develops mechatronic transmission systems and motor control electronics. Its range of integrated solutions includes geared motors and gear units, high-torque industrial gear units, high-efficiency motors, electronic frequency inverters as well as servo drive systems and decen‑ tralised drive systems, plus engineered solutions, support and training.

Australian SEW-Eurodrive opera‑ tions are ISO 9001-certified in quality management systems. This covers sales, assembly supply, service, and technical support for mechanical power transmis‑ sion equipment and for electric variable speed drives. It also covers the design of customised drive base assemblies and components.

SEW-Eurodrive sew-eurodrive.com.au

The new 2-metre rack with RP+ planetary gearbox

SCAN QR for more

GEARBOXES

Contact Treotham Automation • 1300 65 75 64 • info@treotham.com.au 48 | Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023

industryupdate.com.au

CONSTRUCTION

Fibre-reinforced rebar slashes weight by 75%

Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) rebar from Korea makes work twice as fast and puts less load on buildings and structures.

A

high-strength alternative to traditional reinforcing bar that is a quarter of the weight of the same size steel product is being brought to Australia from South Korea by Technofast.

John Bucknell, Technofast Founder and CEO, believes the South Korean Dong Shin Materials Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) rebar product typically doubles work speed or better while also imposing less load on buildings and structures.

The GFRP, for which Technofast is exclu‑ sive Australian distributor, is also safer to handle and install, as well as being versatile for architects, builders, and engineers to use

on projects, including those with elec‑ tro-magnetic field issues because it curtails electro-magnetic interference.

“This GFRP rebar is a proven product in service in a multitude of applications, including precasts, bridges, roads, rail, tunnel, tank, dam, dock, flood mitigation, tetrapod (four-legged) structures, facto‑ ries, logistics centres, modular construc‑ tion, civil works, infrastructure, tower base, and other domestic, commercial, and industrial applications, and particularly tower structures,” said Bucknell.

Technofast’s link with Korea’s high quality manufacturing, engineering, energy, and construction sectors extends

over more than 20 years, including exports of its EziTite® speed and safety-oriented hydraulic fastening systems.

Reduced costs It is produced by one of the world’s most advanced GFRP plants into which extensive R&D and GFRP mass-produc‑ tion technology has been invested over the last five years to offer proven, quality, cost-efficient product.

“GFRP rebar used to be more expen‑ sive than steel rebar, but new mass production technology in a new plant permits manufacture at a highly com‑ petitive price,” says Bucknell.

The 5000-square-metre plant spe‑ cialises in advanced technologies includ‑ ing nanomaterials, secondary battery material, EMI shielding, and machine R&D,” he says.

“Advanced production technology has cut the time involved in manufacturing.

Time also equals cost in construction project cycles, where GFRP rebar not only saves material costs, but also transport, fossil fuel pollution, labour at a time of labour shortages, and heavy equipment costs.

Other benefits include compliance with the relevant standards in Asia, the US, and Europe, with guidance on specific types of projects in Australia available through Technofast, which is widely experienced across a broad spec‑ trum of safety, traceability, compliance, and sustainability requirements.

Safer, more sustainable “Our distribution of this product comple‑ ments perfectly our own manufacturing and distribution of Technofast’s wide range of hydraulic fastening, safety, and maintenance ranges to a large range of established customer bases across mining and energy, manufacturing and mainte‑ nance, construction and civil engineering, primary processing and materials han‑ dling, water and wastewater, and ports, electrical and communication infrastruc‑ ture. Many existing customers may also have a need for this innovative, safe, and rapidly installed product.”

“In addition to the safety benefits relating to musculoskeletal injuries, use of this material in the applications for which it is suited reduces rebar manu‑ facturing carbon emissions by more than half conservatively, ranging up to 75% as estimated by its smart energy manufac‑ turers, which also produces solar energy systems.

The new rebar’s sustainability credentials include reduction of waste caused by traditional reinforced con‑ crete’s vulnerability in some applica‑ tions to salt, moisture, chemicals, and factors that can produce waste due to frequent maintenance.

Technofast technofast.com

When Safety, Convenience and Reliability are important...

Workshop/Warehouse

Service Centre

• Maintains a safe area reducing the risk from cable tripping hazards and ladder falls from spring reels

• Maintains a safe work area reducing the risk from cable tripping hazards and the impact on personnel and the service area.

• Keeps the power socket in safe location at all times reducing wear and tear and risk from electrocution • Provides power when and where it’s needed and out of harm’s way when not required • Safe, easy and secure operation for staff/operators requiring minimal training

• Removing the need for ladders with spring cable reels reducing the risk from a ladder fall • Keeps the power socket in safe location at all times reducing wear and tear and risk from electrocution • Safe, easy and secure operation for staff/operators requiring minimal training

• Reliable 240v 10amp supply directly at your workspace

• Reliable 240v 10amp supply directly at your workspace

Factory Floor

Office Space

• Maintains a safe work area reducing the risk from cable tripping hazards

• Safe, easy and secure operation for staff/operators requiring minimal training

• Removing the need for ladders with spring cable reels removing the risk of a ladder fall

• Maintains a safe area reducing the risk from cable tripping hazards

• Keeps the power socket in safe location at all times reducing wear and tear and risk from electrocution

• Keeps the power socket in safe location at all times

• Safe, easy and secure operation for staff/operators requiring minimal training • Reliable 240v 10amp supply directly at your workspace

• Quiet and smooth operation not creating issues during operation • Provides power when and where it’s needed and out of harm’s way when not required

SPECIFICATIONS • Standard Australian 240v 10amps power outlet • In built clutch prevents damage if cable gets caught • Powerful enough to retract 10 metres of cable and socket

• Integrated Bluetooth® Technology - works from any Bluetooth® activated phone • Safety protocols lockout second user while in operation • One APP will operate up to 10 reels

1800 733 722 | e: sales.au@conductix.com | w: www.conductix.com.au

industryupdate.com.au

Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023 | 49

WORKPLACE HEALTH & SAFETY

Sydney’s Workplace Health & Safety Show attracts over 2,300 professionals

P

roving that workplace safety and wellbeing are top of mind for Australian businesses, the Workplace Health & Safety Show has confirmed that 2,357 visitors attended its Sydney event this year – 30% more than in 2022.

“The 2023 Workplace Health & Safety Show was a huge success, with a strong turnout from occupational health and safety professionals representing the building and construction industry, man‑ ufacturing, transport and logistics, health and pharmaceutical, agriculture, waste management, as well as the education

sphere,” said Marie Kinsella, CEO of the International Conference & Exhibition (IEC) Group, the organisers of the show.

The show’s extensive free education program which included seminars, panel discussions and workshops, provided a comprehensive briefing on the latest reg‑ ulatory changes, employer obligations, best practices and industry innovations.

“The show proved to be the perfect platform for shared learning and dynamic discussion, with seminar theatres packed to capacity,” added Kinsella.

In addition, visitors and partici‑ pants benefited from the networking opportunity and in-person engagement with prospective customers and industry partners.

Local government as well as prom‑ inent safety associations and industry bodies were among the sponsors and speakers, including the Australian Institute of Health and Safety (AIHS), the Working At Height Association (WAHA), and SafeWork NSW. In addition, the show secured the support of a range of high-profile spon‑ sors, including, Skytrust, SHOWA, HSI Donesafe, JESI, Occphyz, EcoPortal, Cm3 Contractor Management, Ascom, Heart & Brain Works, Jobfit, Roadsense AU, Molemap, Etiscope, Preventure, Vitality Works, Dettol and Alcolizer.

“This is a phenomenal testament to the quality of our show,” said Kinsella.

The show’s trade expo featured 150 leading hygiene and safety brands, including SC Johnson, KameLo, Natural Cool Air, Schmalz, Work Healthy Australia, Anchor Safe, the Black Dog Institute, Fleet Safe, Global Safety Index – and many more.

These companies showcased the latest in occupational health and safety

50 | Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023

products, services and solutions, includ‑ ing cutting-edge technology innovations such as wearable sensors, mobile apps and cloud-based software systems.

“This expo catered to every aspect of workplace safety and worker wellbeing, from hygiene to PPE and safety gear, road safety, skin safety and psychosocial wellness,” said Kinsella.

Congratulations are extended to Dettol Pro Solutions, which won the award for the best stand, with their extensive array of hygiene products.

“In 2024, we are expecting an even bigger Workplace Health & Safety Show, taking place from 22-23 May in Melbourne and then from 18-19 September in Sydney,” concluded Kinsella.

“Building on the exciting momentum gained this year, we are anticipating that the 2024 Shows will offer even more exhibitors, high-profile presenters and more visitors.”

Workplace Health & Safety Show whsshow.com.au

industryupdate.com.au

PRODUCTS

An ideal acoustic cabinet

I

ntroducing the MFB S17 acoustic cabi‑ net, a cutting-edge enclosure designed to address the persistent issue of excessive server fan noise in populated areas.

This cabinet offers exceptional noise reduction, with the capacity to reduce noise levels by up to 43dB, ensuring a quieter and more peaceful environment.

Constructed with precision and durability in mind, the MFB S17 features a welded frame construction made from Galvanneal steel. This robust material not only enhances the cabinet’s struc‑ tural integrity but also contributes to its noise-reduction capabilities by reducing sound resonance.

Inside the cabinet, specialised sound absorption materials are fitted, further enhancing noise reduction.

The interior design ensures that even

the loudest blade servers operate at sig‑ nificantly quieter levels, making it an ideal choice for shared office spaces, residential areas, or any environment where server noise needs to be managed effectively.

The MFB S17 is engineered to support heavy server loads, with a static load rating of up to 1000 kilograms. This ensures that it can accommodate multiple blade servers and other equipment while maintaining its noise-reduction performance.

Compliance with industry standards is a top priority, and the MFB S17 conforms to the IEC 60297 19” Racking standard, ensuring compatibility with a wide range of server equipment. The cabinet also features adjustable front and rear internal mounting angles, providing flexibility for various server configurations.

To optimise airflow and thermal man‑ agement, air plenums are strategically

fitted within the cabinet with passive air fans to direct hot air away from sensitive components and release it into the atmo‑ sphere. This ensures that servers remain cool and efficient without compromising noise reduction.

In summary, the MFB S17 acoustic cabinet is an excellent solution for man‑ aging and controlling excessive server fan noise in populated areas.

Its exceptional noise reduction capabilities, durable construction and adherence to industry standards make

industryupdate.com.au

it the go-to choice for businesses and organisations seeking a quieter and more productive workspace.

Say goodbye to disruptive server noise and hello to a more peaceful and efficient work environment with the MFB S17 acoustic cabinet.

MFB mfb.com.au

Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023 | 51

Products

Clamps with benefits

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lamping with MagAutoblok-Tecnomagnete per‑ manent-electro-magnetic chucks allows uniform clamping of workpieces over the entire surface, reducing the possibility of vibrations during machining.

The permanent-electro system does not generate heat that can deform the workpiece.

In a number of types, including MillTec and MillTec Grip, every size and type of milling and machining duty for large and small components is possible with perfectly uniform clamping of workpieces.

MillTec Grip models do away with the need for mechan‑ ical elements to clamp the chuck to machine tables.

Permanent-Electro Magnetic Chucks are powerful (for example, a 405mm x 610mm chuck at 15,600 kN Force), lightweight, compact, easy to install and oper‑ ate, and give significant immediate advantages. They use electric power only for a few seconds during the energise and de-energise cycle.

Mag Autoblok-Tecnomagnete chucks and magnetic lifting systems are sold in Australia and the Pacific region by Serpent & Dove—Applied Magnetics.

Serpent & Dove serpent-dove.com

Pioneering packaging for FMCG

I

n the dynamic world of packaging and manufactur‑ ing, one name stands tall as Australia’s premier pro‑ vider of packaging equipment manufacturing, hire and services – Packserv. With a nationwide presence and more than two decades’ expertise in the packaging sector and services in both sales and rentals, Packserv has established itself as the go-to resource for on-de‑ mand packaging equipment and accessories.

Packserv’s specialisation spans a spectrum of indus‑ tries, offering equipment solutions for filling, capping, labelling, printing, coding, and sealing. For any busi‑ nesses packaging FMCG, whether it’s candles, cosmetics, condiments, or cleaning products, Packserv has it covered.

Packserv knows the packaging requirements of each prod‑ uct category are unique, and catering to these distinctive needs with machinery that can adapt to fully automated

set-ups, and all are locally manufactured.

Packserv is committed to local design and manufac‑ turing. This not only helps cut down lead times but also boosts cost-effectiveness. The emphasis on local manu‑ facturing goes hand in hand with Packserv’s promise to provide immediate and efficient service, ensuring mini‑ mal disruptions to customers’ production processes.

Among its latest innovations, Packserv is proud to present the Automatic Four-head Filling Machine.

This cutting-edge equipment boasts a unique design enabling simultaneous filling of multiple bottles, with a remarkable capacity of up to 40 containers per minute.

If speed is demanded by manufacturing processes, the PFM-4C Automatic Filling Machine answers by com‑ pleting multiple bottle fills within seconds.

From thin liquids to creams and pastes, including granulated or semi-solid products, the Automatic Four-head Filling Machine handles a diverse range of products with unmatched efficiency.

The machine’s reliability and performance is enhanced by its rotary product valve system.

The Four-head Auto Filling Machine from Packserv is an investment for manufacturing operations. The inclusion of a conveyor system streamlines the produc‑ tion process, making it faster and more efficient than ever before.

Packserv is where the production of Australia’s fast-moving consumer goods truly comes to life. The company’s unwavering commitment to excellence, combined with innovative solutions and local expertise, makes Packserv the trusted partner of choice.

Packserv packserv.com.au

CONVEYOR ROLLERS AND COMPONENTS German Components, Assembled in Australia

BEARINGS

WHEELS

DRIVES

Comprehensive Roller Range - Many size and material combinations.

Polymer and Metal Versions assembled here in Australia. (Static & Driven) Component Range unmatched from any other Australian supplier High Quality & Reliable Performance – Backed by supplier.

No comparable European products Available as sub-assemblies on the local market.

Competitive Pricing on all Parts and Rollers Design Assistance & Product Support – For the designer and conveyor manufacturer. Supporting the needs of the maintenance engineer.

52 | Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023

02 9771 1748 mrtaustralia.com.au

industryupdate.com.au

Products

Precision for efficiency, productivity and profit

T

he importance of precision and accuracy in modern industries can‑ not be overstated. From monitoring and controlling processes to ensuring the safety of personnel and equipment, accuracy is crucial for success.

AMS Instrumentation & Calibration offers a comprehensive range of process instrumentation and calibration hard‑ ware and software for a whole range of industries, including mining, water and wastewater, food and beverage, and oil

and gas and government utilities.

With more than 50 years’ experience and with 300 years’ collective technical knowledge among staff, AMS has built a reputation as a reliable, knowledgeable supplier of high-quality instrumentation industryupdate.com.au

and calibration equipment. Many AMS suppliers have been with the company for many years so the team’s extensive product knowledge is ensured.

The product range includes tem‑ perature and pressure calibrators, a full range of flow meters for liquids and gases, level instrumentation, pressure and temperature instruments, as well as analytical instrumentation and ancil‑ lary equipment, to suit a broad range of applications.

Accurate measurement and control of variables like pressure, temperature, and flow rates are essential for maintaining safe and efficient operations in many industries.

AMS offers a range of highly accurate devices, including calibrators, calibration pumps, software, and related systems, to suit commercial and industrial appli‑ cations to ensure the equipment is maintained within its stated accuracy.

AMS also provides a complete range of flowmeter devices, such as orifices, venturis, nozzles, and electromagnetic, ultrasonic, and thermal flow meters suit‑ able for measuring liquids and gases.

For level instrumentation the range consists of thermal dispersion flow / level / interface switches, differential pressure gauges, tank level indicators, inventory monitoring, sanitary devices, mechan‑ ical and electronic transmitters. The analytical range consists of oxygen analysers, relative humidity, dew‑ point, multi gas analysers, turbid‑ ity, colourimetric, pH, conductivity, redox, CO2. AMS is able to supply a complete range to suit any applica‑ tion for industrial and commercial processes.

By supplying precise, accurate and reliable instrumenta‑ tion for these critical variables, AMS helps all industries optimise their operations and improve their overall efficiency, produc‑ tivity and profitability.

AMS’ calibration equipment and software ensure that plants are maintained in optimal operation. The quality calibration hardware offers high accuracy and can be used within the plants or in the workshop. Calibration workstations can be supplied to further enhance capabilities. The range of cal‑ ibration software integrates fully with other maintenance software packages, streamlining maintenance processes and enabling easy data management. The calibration management software helps

users manage instrumentation assets easily and affordably. Furthermore, AMS offers NATA-traceable certificates with most repairs completed in-house on their range of calibrators, reassuring clients that their equipment is in good hands.

AMS understands that every industry has unique needs and challenges and maintaining the quality of instrumen‑ tation and calibration equipment is important considering the investment made. That is why AMS’ experienced product managers and sales engineers customise solutions to meet each client’s specific requirements.

The AMS team of highly trained tech‑ nicians offers on-site calibration and service, ensuring that clients’ systems remain fully operational with minimal downtime.

AMS offers a full range of training courses either on-site or at its Melbourne head office on the equipment it rep‑ resents — enabling clients to get the most out of their investments. AMS product managers also offer courses in calibration, calibration software, general instrumentation and analytical instrumentation which can be tailored to customers’ needs.

AMS Instrumentation & Calibration is a reliable and knowledgeable supplier of precision instrumentation solutions for multiple industries. The company’s com‑ prehensive range of high-quality products and services makes them a one-stop shop for all process instrumentation needs.

With a commitment to superior products and services, AMS Instrumentation & Calibration is the go-to supplier for preci‑ sion instrumentation solutions.

AMS has offices in all main Australian states and is continually looking at expanding. This year AMS has become a majority stake in Streat Control (NZ) in New Zealand, a move which further expands its range.

AMS Instrumentation & Calibration Pty Ltd ams-ic.com.au

Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023 | 53

Products

Step into the future Centre Hospital East and more.

Scouting for castors for AGVs?

T

ente’s range of Scout Castors have been optimised for the high demands of automated guided vehicles. The range is available in swivel, wheel brake, directional lock and fixed configurations.

Features of the Scout range include: • Optimised steering mechanism: with directional lock for improved steering around bends, as well as moving in a straight over long distances • Flexible lock function: use of two independent actuation systems in one castor • Quick maintenance: the swivel bearing is lubricated with long-life grease and is fitted with a grease dispenser for easy maintenance • Reduced accident risk: slim design to avoid collision in narrow passages • Easy steering: precision ball bearing in swivel head for excellent rotational

properties under high loads • Uninterrupted use: swivel bearing with dust ring for continuous, uninter‑ rupted movement • User-friendly brake: simple ball-pen operation to engage or disengage the wheel brake • Washability: the housing is made of stainless steel and can easily be washed and cleaned

54 | Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023

See the range

Tente tente.com

T

he ITV series – SMC’s range of electro-pneumatic regulators/elec‑ tric vacuum regulators – offers step‑ less control of air pressure in proportion to electrical signals. The range is now available with an industrial ‘internet of things (IIoT) upgrade’ to include IO-Link functionalities.

Shaun Collett, NSW State Manager of SMC Corporation Australia New Zealand (ANZ) says SMC’s R&D department focuses on enhancing key product ranges in line with mandates around energy savings, IIoT functionalities and space savings.

“Most recently, SMC has announced the expansion and relocation of our interna‑ tional Technical Centre from Tsukuba to the Kashiwanoha Smart City’” Set to open in autumn 2025, the expan‑ sive premises comprises three five-story buildings and covers a site area of more than 42,000 square metres. The move to Kashiwanoha will put SMC in good com‑ pany — some of the country’s top research institutions including the University of Tokyo, Chiba University, National Cancer

Smart control of apps “We take the requirements of our customers to heart. Globally, our team of sales engineers gives feedback about customer requests, and we develop our products accordingly.”

The ITV series is yet another popular component in the range that required a ‘facelift’ to meet the ever-changing needs of SMC customers. Collet breaks down ITV’s key benefits as follows: • Make it simple: “The series offers dynamic control of air pressure by means of electrical signals.”

• Get ready for IIoT with IO-Link: “Customers can exchange data and parameters remotely via a network of their choice.”

• Less space required: “The ITV series boasts a compact and lightweight design, with integrated LED display.”

• IP-rated enclosure: The ITV series enclosure is IP67 rated to protect against water and dust.

• Energy savings: “The series has a power consumption of just 4W or less, which is particularly important in a time where energy prices continue to soar.”

“The ITV series offers a sensitivity range of 0.2kPa, linearity of +/- 1% or less and a hysteresis of 0.5% or less,” says Collett.

“It’s compatible with communica‑ tion models like CC-Link, DeviceNet™, PROFIBUS DP, RS-232C, IO-Link.”

Founded more than 60 years ago, SMC operates in 83 countries, employs 21,000-plus people including an engineering R&D team of 1,700. SMC is a leader in pneumatics and automa‑ tion and offers more than 12,000 basic products with over 700,000 variations.

SMC has been voted by Forbes magazine for three consecutive years as one of the world’s most innovative companies.

SMC smcanz.com

industryupdate.com.au

INDUSTRY NEWS

WA rewired with $3 billion Image of courtesy of Green Biz / The Conversation

A

‘landmark’ CommonwealthWestern Australia Rewiring the Nation deal has been signed by the Albanese and Cook Governments to strengthen WA’s energy security and affordability and meet climate goals by expanding and upgrading electricity grids in Perth, the South West, and in the North West Pilbara region.

The federal government’s up to $3 billion support via its Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) will be concessional loans and equity investments to WA for the South West Interconnected System (SWIS) and the North West Interconnected System (NWIS).

Priority projects in these grids have been identified through WA’s demand assessments, and modelling by Australian Energy Market Operator confirmed sustained investment in transmission infrastructure is needed in the SWIS. The SWIS is WA’s main electricity network, and serves more than 1.1 mil‑ lion residential and business customers in Perth and across the South West. It starts north in Kalbarri, runs through

industryupdate.com.au

Perth, down to Albany in the south, and extends to Kalgoorlie in the east.

This deal will finance priority projects across the SWIS to increase the supply of renewable energy, and connect it into the grid by plugging in renewable generation hubs.

According to modelling, as new industrial users connect to the grid over the next two decades, the SWIS grid will need to have up to five times more elec‑ tricity than today — and new energy grid investment will help it meet demand.

This agreement fits with recent reports of WA’s plan to convert its grid to large-scale solar and storage to reach its goal of build‑ ing 50GW of new energy capacity in the next 20 years. It will also ensure existing infrastructure upgrades are coordinated between industries and governments.

Today, the Pilbara’s NWIS electric‑ ity grid consists of mainly standalone networks owned by private companies and public entities, with less than 2% generated from renewables.

Western Australian Minister for Energy Bill Johnston thanked private

industry for their commitment to under‑ take a crucial role in decarbonisation.

“It is expected the private sector will largely fund the cost of renewable energy generation and transmission infrastruc‑ ture in the Pilbara, to the tune of tens of billions of dollars over the coming decades,” Minister Johnston said.

“The low-cost finance program will help unlock this significant investment.

“Keeping Western Power in public hands has allowed the state government to support this significant program of works by funding transmission infrastructure in the SWIS — where we have already funded $126 million in the recent Budget to kick‑ start early network planning.”

Premier of Western Australia Roger Cook described the package as significant.

“We can accelerate … key energy transmission projects to facilitate decarbonisation, while also building on my Government’s climate action plan and initiatives towards more secure, cleaner, reliable and affordable energy supplies.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that the Rewiring the Nation

program will help future-proof WA’s energy supply, while also cre‑ ating new jobs in energy, mining and manufacturing.

“On the weekend I visited Karratha and saw first-hand the economic power of the Pilbara – as the global economy decarbo‑ nises, we need to provide opportunities for regions like the Pilbara to be powered by as much renewable energy as possible.”

The WA government recently wel‑ comed an agreement by mining giants on moving to shared or common-use electricity infrastructure that showed an understanding of the need for more renewable energy use in north-west WA. The Australian and WA governments say they will work closely with First Nations Australians to understand their views on this investment and support their participation in the state’s clean energy transformation.

The infrastructure work funded by the deal is expected to create about 1,800 construction jobs, and unlock future projects across WA, helping to empower regional communities.

Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023 | 55

ELECTRONICS

AI trusted to pick parts, with reservations

A

survey by element14 shows 86% of respondents trust AI to play a role in component selection for their designs, and almost one quarter of those (23%) said they would “completely” trust AI to select components.

Overall, the survey results indi‑ cated engineers believe AI will have an increasing role in component selec‑ tion in future. Yet there appears to be lingering concern about intentional or unintentional bias in AI systems because some designers responded saying they would trust AI to play a “limited” role in selections subject to reviews and checks by themselves.

Although most respondents welcomed complementary AI, they also felt that human beings will always be required as part of the selection process, especially for safety-critical systems and innova‑ tive designs. Interesting opinions among

the responses included the following: One retired systems engineer said, “AI is no substitute for good engineering calculations. I have been following AI for more than 40 years and it is more overhyped now than ever.”

When others pointed out that humans, too, make errors, this engineer said, “I am more willing to tolerate human error than rely on an AI solution where I cannot control the data used to train the AI model.” So there’s a concern that engineers will not be able to fully understand why an AI module selects particular products.

Another respondent highlighted a common view that AI could be more useful as an assistant than a replacement. He

“I’d reserve the right to vet everything the AI selected.”

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said, “That comes with the caveat that I’d reserve the right to vet everything the AI selected. In this capacity, AI would be used as an enhanced search engine of sorts.”

A respondent that was keen to use AI said, “I don’t see why AI couldn’t be fully integrated into the component selection process. Hardware design is fundamen‑ tally composed of patterns. It’s just a matter of time until people discover ways to get online netlists and schematic PDFs and use them as good AI training data. In fact, AI will even be able to improve on them once there are better digital repre‑ sentations of devices and what’s inside them, coupled with telemetry from all the subsystems.

“AI has a deep and rich well of sources

SIDE PULL PREVENTERS / ROPE GUIDE PROTECTOR Prevents side pulling and protects rope guides and drums on most multi-fall cranes & hoist • Prevent dragging of loads • Easily fitted to any crane/hoist • Helps reduce down time

to draw from that will enable it to learn even more. There are already completely generic AI systems that can do impres‑ sive, if limited selection, even building up simple VHDL* for example. It’s specifying what logic to use and how to assemble it. AI is already writing code for me. All I need to do is vet it.” [*VHDL is VHSIC Hardware Description Language; VHSIC is Very High Speed Integrated Circuits Program’] Another regular user of AI for selecting components voiced misgivings about AI’s ability, stating that AI modules still have a lot to learn about reliability and how to consistently make the best choices.

Cliff Ortmeyer, Global Head of Technical Marketing and Solutions Development at element14, says the distributor’s survey results clearly show that engineers are starting to see AI’s place in terms of component selection in their designs, especially where safety or innovation are considerations.

“As AI models get more sophisticated, it seems clear that they will become more useful for modelling designs, selecting components, shortening design cycles and reducing time to market of new products.”

element14 Survey Results

2023 has been a big year for manufacturing!!

Finish it off by promoting your products/services in our November edition Our November special features includes: • Transport & Logistics • Alcohol & Drug Awareness Safety Feature • IT Hardware & Software • Fasteners & Adhesives • Hygiene/PPE To advertise contact Scott or James - sales@industryupdate.com.au News/editorial - editor@industryupdate.com.au

02 9439 1288 / industryupdate.com.au

www.liftco.com.au

56 | Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023

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Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023 | 57

Electronics

As the market slows, invest in the future

By Mike Slater, Vice President of Global Business Development at DigiKey

T

he last three years have been nothing short of chaotic around the world. Many business decisions seem to have been made reactively rather than strategically as the world navigated unprecedented times. As we move onto what’s next and begin to step back and assess the past three years, as well as look forward, what’s clear is that we’re at a point of transition.

As a distributor for electronic compo‑ nents and automation products, DigiKey has been in a unique position during the pandemic. Overall, our industry has

been in an upcycle and now, along with the rest of the world, we’re looking at a downturn. However, while we may be in a slower growth period, at DigiKey we don’t pull back during these times, we build for the next cycle ­— understanding it’s exactly that, just a cycle.

In my business development role, I have the opportunity to talk to and hear from customers, suppliers, and rep organi‑ sations. So, I’m going to share what I’m seeing and hearing from people who have been on the frontlines of the industry.

Over the past 40 years, the semicon‑ ductor industry has gone through many cycles, just like any industry. While the past three years have felt anything but average, when you look at the last upturn cycle, or when billing overall was going up, it was actually pretty average.

On the flip side, since October 2022, the industry has been in a downturn. In contrast to the upcycle, this downturn has been more dramatic than previous downturns. The only downturn during the last 40 years that’s been stronger has been the one coming out of 2018.

Market slowdown predicted While no one has a crystal ball, experts

58 | Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023

are seeing an overall decline in the mar‑ ket. The World Semiconductor Trade Statistics predicts the semiconductor market is going to shrink by 4% this year.

Gartner is a little less optimistic and is predicting a greater than 11% decline in the market.

According to the Electronic Components Industry Association, sales of semiconductors have fallen across the world, most substantially in Asia, but America isn’t far behind.

What customers are saying Overall, our customers are anticipating a slow market through the end of year, and common themes we’ve heard include: • Inventory is at a record high, but orders are slowing. This is a contrast from the supply shortage many had experienced over the past couple of years.

• The industry is still experiencing supply chain issues with advanced semiconduc‑ tor products and power supplies, and this continues to be a challenge.

• Demand for products is decreasing.

Even with the downturn, there are still market segments where we’re seeing growth, including medical, biotech, agriculture and energy.

What suppliers are saying Similar to DigiKey customers, suppliers are expecting a slowdown, but not neces‑ sarily a steep drop. Suppliers and distrib‑ utors have excess inventory, more than ever before. But there are still several markets that are strong and continue to show growth, including military and aerospace, medical and automotive.

At DigiKey we’ve also been talking with suppliers about their plans for the future, including planned product changes, introductions and retirements.

The last thing an engineer wants to do is design a part that is soon obsolete. We’re happy to be able to pass these insights along to customers and help them plan ahead.

Doubling down on future investment While there is variation in what people are seeing and predicting for the market through 2023 and beyond, it’s widely agreed that the peak is over. How steep the drop, how long and how dramatic this cycle will be is still up in the air.

What we do know is that even with this shift in the market, DigiKey is ready for what’s ahead and isn’t slowing down. During downturns, we keep investing, we keep inventory, we keep pushing big projects and we invest in technology that benefits our customers and suppliers.

This is true in all global regions, including Australia. We are witnessing a huge amount of innovation this year and know that it will be a big year for new product launches, and we’re thrilled to help support that growth in Australia.

Australia is packed with smart engineers, innovations, R&D activities, as well as the region’s own manufactur‑ ing capabilities. These are all critical to supporting the domestic demands from smart cities, factory automation, agriculture, mining, personal health‑ care and more. Due to the relatively smaller volume and competition on time-to-market, we are seeing more and more demand shifting to the modules in sensor and radio frequency applications.

As we continue to expand our product portfolio, we are not limiting ourselves in the fields of electronic components.

We are also expanding sourcing globally for new technologies and products that Australian customers search for.

It’s a good time for customers to think ahead and plan for the future.

While most electronic components and automation products are plentiful, it’s a good time to identify alternative parts through DigiKey’s myLists, our list management and parts solution, rather than wait until it’s crunch time or there’s another supply chain issue. We know it’s always a cycle.

We exist to serve design engineers and customers worldwide. We’re committed to that purpose and aren’t about to slow down.

Digikey digikey.com.au

industryupdate.com.au

PRODUCTS

Turnkey RFID for production and logistics

by David Coghlan, Business Development Manager RFID and IIoT, Turck Australia

R

adio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems have revolution‑ ised the way businesses track goods and manage their inventory. This technology enables precise, end-toend tracking of movement of goods, automatic confirmation that the correct materials and tools are being used in the production process and also for increased security at access points.

It’s a wireless system comprised of tags and readers. Readers have one or more antennas that emit radio waves and receive signals back from the RFID tag.

Almost any object can be equipped with an RFID tag, making it reliably identifiable from a distance.

1

system shows low inventory levels.

For industrial tasks, RFID is a proven and powerful auto-identification technol‑ ogy for Industry 4.0, providing contactless transmission of large amounts of infor‑ mation, including over long distances, with easy connection and integration to higher systems from product life cycle to enterprise resource planning.

Choosing the right frequency RFID technology is based on magnetic near-field communication. High frequency (HF) technology (13.56 MHz) is commonly used in digital production processes.

However, if longer detection ranges are required, or if bulk readings of 200 or more

Data transfer to higher-level systems

Data transfer to higher-level systems Communication in logistics and produc‑ tion plants today is normally structured on hierarchical levels. RFID readers with an Ethernet interface establish a direct exchange of information with higher-level systems such as a PLC, SCADA, Manufacturing Execution Systems, ERP or the cloud. This means that movement of goods is visible in real time, detected goods are matched with the database or, perhaps, invoices are automatically generated by accounting software.

1

IIoT applications 2 via OPC UA The platform-independent communi‑ cation standard OPC UA simplifies the integration of RFID solutions into PLC, MES, ERP or cloud systems. With the AutoID Companion Specification, it is also possible to exchange devices between auto ident systems from different manufac‑ turers. Turck played a significant role in the development of this standard and, for secure communication, has its own RFID interface with an OPC UA server. The interface offers mixed operation of HF and UHF read/write heads.

2

Once an object has a tag, it leaves a digital trace — data which businesses can analyse and use to make decisions for supply chain automation. The digital trace includes automatic recording of inbound or outbound goods, monitoring of work progress or tracking material consump‑ tion. The collected data can easily be actioned, either directly at the read point by providing alerts when mistakes such as delivery errors occur, or later based on reports on the server, for example by generating orders for materials when the

Integrators, middleware and turnkey Particularly in the implementation of UHF projects, the expertise of system integrators can be a huge benefit to the end user. These specialists not only have expertise in the parameterisation of read/ write heads, for example knowing how to exclude interference with other devices, but they can also look after the installation of middleware. In any system, the middle‑ ware is what makes the information on a data carrier usable, by filtering and trans‑ mitting or visualising it as required.

Track-and-trace processes Turck has offered complete turnkey RFID solutions through its subsidiary Turck Vilant Systems since 2018. The RFID specialist has now delivered more than 1,000 turnkey RFID system instal‑ lations in 35 countries and has improved the efficiency of all track-and-trace processes along the supply chain with reader systems, internally developed middleware and on-site service.

Turck Australia turck.com.au

IIoT applications via OPC UA

data carriers are needed, users should opt for ultra high frequency (UHF) technology (920...926 MHz for the Australian and New Zealand regions).

Turck modular IP67 RFID systems are capable of parallel operation of both HF and UHF read/write heads from a single controller while also providing decentralised signal processing directly on location in the field at the machine, which can enable faster processing and reduce load on upstream control systems.

60 | Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023

industryupdate.com.au

PRODUCTS RFID process topology

RFID Server

Device Manager

Turck’s Vilant RFID Turnkey Platform consists of …

RFID Server The heart of the Turck Vilant RFID Platform is the RFID Server. This has two main functions, which are RFID Data Management and System Health and Maintenance. Customers can choose either a local installation or a cloud-based solution. The RFID Data Management solution is the Visibility Manager. Its primary functions include data consolidation from the data collection applications, integra‑ tions to customer business systems and reporting. The System Health and Maintenance solution is the Device Manager. Both server applica‑ tions have web-based user interfaces and they each provide flexible user management.

industryupdate.com.au

Visibility Manager The Visibility Manager is designed for data consolidation, data mining and it also includes an integration layer with support for most common ERP and warehouse management systems (WMS). Different RFID use cases are served by different RFID touch points such as printers, gates, forklifts, con‑ veyor belts and handhelds. The data collected from individual RFID touch points with the data collection soft‑ ware is consolidated in the Visibility Manager, which in turn mines the data to generate reports and data for customer systems.

Visibility Manager features • Data and reports on material, prod‑ uct and asset location • Data and reports on materials, prod‑ ucts and assets • Map view to report current mate‑ rial, product and asset location and distribution Device Manager The Device Manager manages the complete RFID System. It serves both a system health and system mainte‑ nance functions. All RFID devices serving different RFID touch points are connected to the Device Manager. Each customer location and each individual device on that location can be monitored and accessed remotely from the Device

Manager. This means that all printers, gates, forklifts, conveyor belts or hand‑ helds are visible, and their software can be updated when necessary.

Device Manager features • Data and reports on all RFID devices in the network • System health alerts • Remote access to RFID devices From the smallest to the largest RFID applications, the comprehensive Turck and Turck Vilant RFID platforms offer tracing through the entire supply chain ensuring maximum material availability, full inventory visibility and absolute delivery accuracy.

Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023 | 61

PRODUCTS

New EO oil-free compressors BOGE’s EO series scroll compressors generate completely oil-free compressed air, with low vibration and quiet operation.

S

ensitive work environments such as dental surgeries, laboratories and hospitals have relied on 100% oil-free compressed air from BOGE for many years.

BOGE’s scroll compressors have been specially developed for conditions where completely oil-free air is a must.

The closer a compressor gets to the workplace, the more crucial the sound pressure level becomes.

BOGE’s EO series is also particularly suitable for sectors with sensitive work environments because of its extremely low vibration and noise levels.

New and extended The BOGE oil-free scroll compressor EO with an output of 30 kW is completely new.

Procurement costs have been reduced and efficiency values increased by chang‑ ing the performance and dimensions of the compressors.

BOGE models EO7, EO15, EO23 and EO30 have been added to the existing range.

The changes BOGE has implemented have ensured the systems are more

compact and have increased efficiency values.

The compressors stand out as requir‑ ing less space and offering a modular concept.

Certain models are also available as a double system with a compressed air receiver, and with either an integrated or external refrigerant dryer.

The two-stage cooling concept with a surface cooler and high-quality alumin‑ ium aftercooler guarantees optimum output temperatures.

The focus control 2.0 can be used to perfectly adjust up to four scroll com‑ pressors to the relevant requirements and suitable for high-level interface communication with BMS. Main advantages at a glance: • Completely oil-free compression • Super-silenced whisper-quiet design • Low vibration operation • Modular design • Space-saving • State-of-the-art control concept • Low maintenance • Installation close to your workstation BOGE boge.net.au

I N ST RUMEN T AT I ON & CALIBRATION PTY LTD S P E C I A L I S T S www.ams-ic.com.au AMS have been suppliers of instrumentation and calibration equipment to all industries since 1973 representing some of the world’s

ENCLOSURE CABINET PRECISION COOLING

COOL

KEEP

Designed to keep your electronics cool and operating at optimum performance - Cooling capacities range from 30W to 6kW - IP Ratings – IP54 (Indoor), IP56 (Outdoor) & IP66 (Harsh) - Mild Steel Powder Coat and Stainless Steel - Seifert also offer Peltier Coolers, Heat Exchangers Fan Systems, Heaters and accessories – Complete Thermal Solutions

03 9801 1906 62 | Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023

e info@seifertsystems.com.au w seifertsystems.com.au

Flow Measurement Specialists

www.ams-ic.com.au sales@ams-ic.com.au

industryupdate.com.au

PRODUCTS

MBS switches to LocAl green aluminium battens

M

BS Architectural has switched to Capral’s LocAl® green lower-carbon aluminium for its Apollo Concealed Clip aluminium batten system. The move offers archi‑ tects, designers, builders and developers cleaner, greener, lower carbon alumin‑ ium battens.

The Apollo Concealed Clip aluminium batten system is a modular, highly custo‑ misable batten system offering eight pro‑ file shapes which can be adapted to suit requirements. The system is suitable for wall and ceiling applications, deliver‑ ing flexible design options that can add depth and texture to interior spaces.

“The Apollo aluminium batten range comprises eight profile shapes extruded

by Capral,” says Daniel Wearne, General Manager at MBS Architectural.

“Across the [Capral] range, we supply more than 80 tonnes of aluminium into Australian construction projects annually.”

“We believe in the power of innova‑ tion to shape a sustainable future,” says Wearne.

“By reducing the embodied carbon content in our extruded aluminium battens, we are forging a path towards greater efficiency and excellence in our industry and cultivating a greener built environment.”

It is estimated that the embodied carbon emissions of materials used in Australian construction are 30 to 50 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equiv‑ alent (CO2e) per year (for domestic pro‑ duction), which is between 5% and 10% of national greenhouse gas emissions.

These numbers are hard to ignore. As architects, building designers, develop‑ ers, and industry become increasingly aware of the embodied carbon issue, demand for lower-carbon building prod‑ ucts will continue to rise.

In November 2022, Capral introduced LocAl®, a lower-carbon primary alumin‑ ium option, across its locally extruded products. The LocAl® offer includes industryupdate.com.au

two lower carbon aluminium options: LocAl® Green with carbon emissions of 8kg CO2e/kg Al* and LocAl® Super Green at 4kg CO2e/kg Al*. Capral believes these are among the lowest car‑ bon aluminium available globally.

MBS was quick to move all of its pur‑ chases of Apollo aluminium battens to LocAl® Green and offering LocAl® Super Green to meet project requirements.

The main contribution to the carbon emissions of aluminium comes from the electrolysis process used in aluminium smelting. Around 60% of the aluminium sector’s greenhouse gas emissions are from production of electricity consumed during the aluminium smelting process.

The carbon emissions in primary aluminium production range from under 4kg CO2e/kg Al to over 20kg CO2e/kg Al, largely dependent upon the energy sources used during the aluminium smelting process. The current global average carbon emission for primary aluminium is approximately 16.8 kg CO2e/kg Al.* Capral’s introduction of LocAl® results from a significant change in how the business procures primary aluminium, carbon emissions and sustainability practices are now a big part of the conversation for Capral’s aluminium billet contracts as it seeks to source more sustainable aluminium for the Australian market.

Capral sources all aluminium it supplies under the LocAl® banner from aluminium smelters certified under the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) Performance and Chain of Custody Standards. Capral holds ASI certifica‑ tion, demonstrating its commitment to responsible production, sourcing, and management of aluminium products.

Capral capral.com.au

Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023 | 63

EVENTS

‘Manufuturing’ with precision

A

ustralia’s premier manufac‑ turing technology trade show, Australian Manufacturing Week (AMW 2024), promises to be a dynamic event that brings together profession‑ als, companies and experts from many industries related to manufacturing, engineering and technology. Organiser AMTIL’s goal is that AMW 2024 is more than an exhibition. Rather, it is to be the centrepiece of a week-long celebration of manufacturing in Australia.

“On the back of the overwhelming success of AMW 2022 in Sydney, we have returned to Darling Harbour, Sydney, for April 2024 and we’re excited to be deliv‑ ering another strong show,” says Shane Infanti CEO of AMTIL. “We are very pleased to have the sup‑ port of the NSW Government as the major sponsor for AMW 2024. Government support is important in delivering the message to our industry that manufac‑ turing is important and that the support mechanisms are there to assist.”

“The stats from our Melbourne show at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre showed conclusively there’s a healthy appetite for large-scale manufacturing exhibitions.”

The numbers from the Melbourne AMW 2023 show are something of which AMTIL is particularly proud, as 15,914 attendees visited 348 exhibitors in the biggest exhibition space in Australia.

AMW 2024 is expected to deliver the same if not better.

“We will again be running the Future Solutions Speaker Program on the floor of the show. Themed towards Opportunities and Managing Change, the speaker program is once again free to visitors to attend,” says Kim Banks, AMTIL’s Head of Events.

“Our plans for AMW 2024 include expansion of our welding and air technol‑ ogy zone and, robotics and automation zone. This will round out the event in rep‑ resenting the manufacturing technology sectors in Australia.”

AMW 2024 17-19 April, 2024 Sydney ICC Darling Harbour

AMW 2024 australianmanufacturing week.com.au

There will be seven distinct zones at AMW 2024, each showcasing the highlights of the different active sectors in Australian manufacturing.

Additive Manufacturing Zone

AUSTECH Machine Tool Zone

Targeted at the metalworking, machine tool and ancillary market. AUSTECH covers advanced manufacturing prod‑ ucts and processes including: • CNC machinery, lathes, mills • contract manufacturing/precision machining • cutting tools, tooling and tool holding • forming and fabricating machines • plasma, laser, waterjet and ultrasonic machines

Showcases the most advanced addi‑ tive technologies and techniques including: stereolithography, selective laser sintering, material extrusion, sheet lamination, binder jetting, cold spray-processing, material jetting, directed-energy deposition, powder-bed fusion, VAT photo-polymerisation and wire-arc manufacturing.

Weld and Air Solutions Zone

Highlight advanced welding processes and offers interactive experiences that demonstrate developments and applica‑ tions. Welding is used in creating more than half of all products manufactured in Australia and of course is critical in metal fabrication and manufacturing.

Plastics Technology Zone

Hands-on opportunity to see and feel the latest in plastics machinery, mould-mak‑ ing technologies, recycling materials, and many processes in plastics manufac‑ turing. Plastic technology is a specialisa‑ tion which includes the study of diverse types of chemicals that exhibit plasticity and ways plastics can be used.

64 | Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023

Australian Manufacturers Pavilion

Showcases the capabilities of Australia’s precision engineering and advanced manufacturing. It includes some of Australia’s more accomplished compo‑ nent manufacturers, precision engi‑ neering firms, toolmakers, advanced manufacturers, and general engineering companies.

Manufacturing Solutions Zone

Exhibits solutions to the most com‑ mon manufacturing challenges — from materials handling and warehousing to integrated manufacturing and safety.

Equipment from materials handling and logistics, safety products, through to the latest software for streamlining manu‑ facturing operations, as well as specialist services including law, finance, skills, training, and recruitment are all here.

Robotics and Automation Zone

Features the latest state-of-the-art equipment and processes for the optimisation of manufacturing operations. Robots are practical technologies, with artificially intelligent software ‘brains’, created and designed by engineers to refine, manufac‑ ture, and move Australian manufacturing ahead. The robots of today are liberat‑ ing human workers from an ever-growing array of repetitive and dangerous tasks.

There will be industrial robotics, robots, automated solutions, instrumentation control systems, measurement, pneumatics, IOT, Industry 4.0 and digitalisation.

industryupdate.com.au

Events

Upcoming Events

Qld launches Women in Manufacturing Apprentice awards

Hunter Manufacturing Awards

AMW 2024

20 October 2023 NEX, Newcastle

17-19 April 2024 International Convention Centre Darling Harbour, Sydney

The Hunter Manufacturing Awards (HMA) inspire and encourage vibrant and enduring manufacturing in our region and are interested in seeing initiatives that have been identified, driven, and resolved within our region which includes Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, Hunter, Upper Hunter, Central Coast and Mid North Coast. hma.org.au

T

he Queensland Government is bol‑ stering support for women in manu‑ facturing through the launch of the Women in Manufacturing Apprentice Awards 2024.

Nominations are now open for the Women in Manufacturing ‘Leading Apprentice Award’ and runner up – the ‘Highly Commended Apprentice Award’ for 2024 and recipients will be announced at the annual International Women’s Day Women in Manufacturing Breakfast next year.

The awards seek to celebrate Queensland’s leading female apprentices who demonstrate strong leadership capabilities in the workplace.

The winner will receive $10,000 and the runner-up, $5,000, with the prize money to support the winners with the cost of items such as tools, uniforms, education or career development courses.

These awards are part of the Women in Manufacturing Strategy, launched earlier this year.

“The Palaszczuk Government is backing female apprentices, “ said Qld Minister for Training and Skills Development, Di Farmer.

“We have made it very clear that increasing the number of women in male-dominated industries is a priority.

“It’s not just an equity issue, it is a necessity.

“Our Workforce Strategy blueprint includes many programs helping to

increase participation of women in the workforce.”

The Awards are seeking to promote the strength of women in manufactur‑ ing, but also help attract more women to this incredible industry.

The Women in Manufacturing Strategy aims to attract, train and retain more women in the manufactur‑ ing industry by focusing on increasing participation in traditionally male dom‑ inated roles, to achieve more diversity in the industry right across Queensland.

One manufacturer who is leading the way in increasing women in their work‑ force is steel supplier and manufacturer, BlueScope Steel.

About 30% of BlueScope’s manu‑ facturing workforce is women, which they attribute to proactive employment diversity policies.

BlueScope is committed to maintain‑ ing a 40% gender balanced Board and executive team and driving increased representation of women across all levels of the organisation.

“We have seen a cultural transformation in our workplaces where representation better reflects the communities in which we live, work and operate” said BlueScope Steel General Manager People Australian Steel Products, Rebecca Roberts.

“There is a greater sense of belonging, a willingness to contribute and an over‑ all positive environment.”

Thinkfood LIVE

Australia’s premier manufacturing technology trade show, Australian Manufacturing Week (AMW 2024), promises to be a dynamic event that brings together professionals, compa‑ nies and experts from many industries related to manufacturing, engineering and technology. Organiser AMTIL’s goal is that AMW 2024 is more than an exhi‑ bition. Rather, it is to be the centrepiece of a week-long celebration of manufac‑ turing in Australia.

25-26 October 2023 Carriageworks Sydney

australianmanufacturingweek.com.au

Thinkfood LIVE focuses on the pre-manufacturing stage of food and beverage production and the new prod‑ uct development cycle.

28-30 May 2024 International Convention Centre Darling Harbour, Sydney

ARBS 2024

thinkfood.com.au Shaping Change at the 23rd World Congress on Safety and Health at Work 27 - 30 November 2023 International Convention Centre Darling Harbour, Sydney The triennial World Congress on Safety and Health at Work is an opportunity to connect with global leaders in safety and harm prevention from more than 120 countries. Hosted

by SafeWork NSW, the International Labour Organization (ILO), and the The International Social Security Association.

ARBS 2024, the Air Conditioning, Refrigeration & Building Services Exhibition, is Australia’s only interna‑ tional HVAC&R and building services trade show. ARBS provides the most comprehensive range of HVAC&R and building services products and solutions in one location, allowing the entire industry to connect across three days. arbs.com.au

safety2023sydney.com

WHAT’S POOR LUBRICATION COSTING YOU?

www.greasemax.au industryupdate.com.au

Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023 | 65

ROKLIVE PARTNERS

Rockwell Automation’s PartnerNetwork empowers the future of manufacturing Rockwell Automation partners showcased the benefits of simplified project implementation, streamlined supply chains, and optimised value for investment

R

OKLive 2023, Rockwell Automation’s massive automation industry event, had the theme “The future of manufacturing is here. Are you ready?”

The sold‑out event, which hosted more than 600 people over three days on the Gold Coast, focused on interop‑ erability, seamless integration, data

visibility and usability, and the con‑ nected enterprise for major industries including manufacturing, food and beverage, mining, oil and gas, and water and wastewater. Key themes discussed included sustainability, cloud technol‑ ogy, cybersecurity, and innovation.

To assist in delivering simpli‑ fied project implementation, and

accelerating return on automation investment, Rockwell collaborates with its PartnerNetwork™, which consists of member companies that have extensive experience in delivering products or services that are designed to work seam‑ lessly with Rockwell solutions.

“As IT and OT continue to con‑ verge, our PartnerNetwork plays an

increasingly vital role in connecting everything together across the entire supply chain, and from the plant floor to the top floor, to deliver the strongest technology, strategic, and competitive advantages to industry,” says Rockwell Automation Regional Director, South Pacific, Anthony Wong.

“Partners are chosen judiciously, and must meet stringent criteria, so that we can deliver the best resources to our customers,” he said.

“We are delighted that more than 100 of our OEM, system integrator, distrib‑ utor, strategic alliance, and technology partners participated in ROKLive 2023.

Plus, 11 partners exhibited on the show floor, where they could showcase their capabilities and interact with industry professionals. Feedback has been that they had useful conversations about new and existing projects where their skills could add further benefits.”

“Members of our PartnerNetwork are highly skilled suppliers with a strong knowledge of how products are integrated. They are industry leaders who follow standards compliance and have deep engineering knowledge.

They extend the value of Rockwell’s comprehensive product, software, and solutions portfolio, so that end‑users see value sooner, and continue to reap the benefits of automation, data utilisation, and digitalisation for longer,” concluded Wong.

Partner exhibitors

Rockwell Automation PartnerNetwork members at ROKLive 2023 included:

NHP Electrical Engineering Products NHP is the exclusive distributor and Authorised Service Provider for Rockwell Automation throughout the South Pacific region. It has 20 branches across Australia and New Zealand.

With more than 50 years’ experience, NHP’s local team applies vast electrical and engineering industry expertise to meet specific project needs.

Claroty Claroty secures cyber‑physical systems across the Extended Internet of Things (XIoT). Claroty’s comprehensive cyber‑ security portfolio seamlessly integrates with existing infrastructure to provide real‑time visibility, threat detection, risk and vulnerability management, and secure remote access.

Endress+Hauser Endress+Hauser is a leading supplier of industrial measurement and automation equipment, providing services and solutions for industrial processes across the world.

Endress+Hauser’s product range includes process solutions for flow, level, pressure, temperature, digital commu‑ nications, and a broad range of industrial measurement.

Fluke Fluke has a comprehensive range of tools and solutions from industrial electronic installation, maintenance, and service, to precision measurement, quality con‑ trol, and the ability to quickly pinpoint cable defects.

HMS Industrial Networks HMS stands for Hardware Meets Software, and the company’s technol‑ ogies enable industrial hardware to communicate and share information with software and systems, such as those developed by Rockwell Automation.

Mettler Toledo Mettler Toledo is a leading global sup‑ plier of precision instruments, weighing equipment, and associated software. The company offers IIoT‑enabled solutions critical to connecting devices, helping collect data, and supporting advanced data management to meet customer needs.

Panduit Panduit simplifies network deployment for better equipment optimisation and broader risk management, with its range of integrated information

66 | Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023

technology and operational technology architecture.

From data centres and office facilities to plant floors and processing lines, Panduit provides the physical infra‑ structure, expertise, and service to turn connectivity into a competitive advantage.

SmartSights SmartSights is a global leader in data‑ driven analytics, reports, and notifi‑ cations. By providing comprehensive visibility into critical infrastructure management, SmartSights enables swift problem resolutions and impactful, data‑driven solutions.

ProSoft ProSoft specialises in industrial com‑ munication solutions for automation and control applications. A major strength of the ProSoft range is linking together automation devices from different sup‑ pliers so that they can communicate and connect seamlessly.

Stratus Technologies Stratus delivers zero‑touch edge computing platforms that are simple to deploy and maintain and are protected from interruptions and threats.

Stratus can ensure continuous availability for Rockwell Automation products, which enables customers to securely run mission‑critical applica‑ tions, including in remote locations, and turn data into actionable intelligence.

Sensia Sensia combines technical excellence with domain experience specific to the oil and gas industry.

By uniting the process automation and safety, real‑time control, and IoT technologies of Rockwell Automation with the unmatched measurement and instrumentation, software, and analyt‑ ics capabilities of Schlumberger, Sensia delivers intelligent action from reservoir to refinery.

industryupdate.com.au

VIDEO PRODUCTION Tim Webster

Product Videos / Case Study Videos / How To Videos Manufacturing Current Affairs Videos

NEW

Australian news presenter (Channel Ten, Foxtel, Sports Tonight, 2UE And 2CH)

2-Part

Documentary

Video Production Highlights • Hosted by national news presenter Tim Webster • Filmed in a 6pm nightly news broadcast style TBA • Creating a high level of integrity for client’s products and services • Average video length of 1 - 2 minutes • Individual client playlists, all videos in one place • Videos on website or any social platform • All magazine advertising includes a QR code that links back to website Product Video Packs

Important Online Video Statistics

Companies now need good video content, buyers expect it and will just go elsewhere if they don’t have something interesting and informative to watch.

In 2022, online videos will make up more than 82% of all consumer internet traffic — 15 times higher than it was in 2017 (Cisco).

More importantly it increases sales by 81% With over 1.5million impressions and 600,000 views in less than 12 months, our videos are getting high rates of engagement.

Each video has an accompanying story published online, in e-news and in the magazine (with a QR code) to integrate all media options.

Industry Update youtube.com/c/IndustryUpdate

2,502,095 impressions 1.1 million views Since its launch in 2017, Industry Update Video has been a remarkable success, with content spanning the whole of the manufacturing industry.

43% said video was made necessary by new challenges, including the coronavirus pandemic.

Viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video, compared to 10% when reading it in the text (Insivia) 22% said they had become clearer on the ROI of video and this had given them confidence to invest.

Source : wyzowl.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com

Some of our Industry Update Video clients

Number one manufacturing publication in Australia Circulation of 19,233 and readership of 76,932 Audited by

02 9439 1288 / sales@industryupdate.com.au

industryupdate.com.au

ROKLIVE PARTNERS

ROKLive 2023 showcases sustainability and new software technologies continued from back cover

Shown for the first time in Australia at Gold Coast ROKLive, it is a general indus‑ try application which Rockwell is pitching at businesses with remote operations – anything from mining to wineries.

It allows users to design, test and deploy manufacturing applications directly from.. a web browser, and collaborate in real time with other system users, all within a simple, sleek graphics environment.

Rockwell acquired the software when it bought ASEM, an Italian company that specialises in world‑class industrial PCs. ASEM had also developed the Optix

platform and Rockwell decided to incor‑ porate it into its visualisation offerings, which include FactoryTalk View and Panel View in its FactoryTalk Design Hub. It was unusual for Rockwell to acquire something that overlaps with existing products, Adrian Giecco, Director of Software and Control, AP told Industry Update, but there were good reasons.

“Optix is really how you would build a visualisation platform today from scratch. It has cloud design‑enabled workflows, and it’s got OPC Unified Architecture (originally developed by

the OPC Foundation) — an industrial protocol that has emerged as the stan‑ dard for Industry 4.0 because it builds a data model that allows connectivity between machines and also connectivity to IT systems in a simple way.”

Giecco says the advantage of the Optix visualisation platform is that it attracts a different audience than older products do.

“You don’t want to install five differ‑ ent packages, and then figure out how to integrate them. New users expect one‑ click installation, like an app on a phone, and from there, one click to connect. So I

think the workflows are simplified.”

Paul Haikal, Rockwell Commercial Portfolio Manager for Visualisation Software, told Industry Update Optix is easily picked up by the younger genera‑ tion coming into the workforce.

“For those who are graduating today with C Sharp and CSS programming and web development, they are instantly familiar with the concepts and the ter‑ minology of Optix, such as a style sheet and cascading style sheet programming.

“I think for any new talent today, Optix provides that instant benefit to the team because the existing team may have learned COBOL and now here’s a new generation that says, ‘what’s a display? But I know what a container is and the concept of containers absolutely exists in Optix.”

Other Optix features include built‑in ‘revision control’ in a cloud‑design envi‑ ronment – essentially, version histories of changes – saved to the equivalent of OneDrive.

“So it is very different to the tradi‑ tional automation paradigm of saving fi les to a PC,” says Haikal.

It is also a cost‑effective Human Machine Interface (HMI) option, with a scalable pay‑for‑what‑you‑need runtime licensing model based on what applica‑ tions are used.

“Optix is the only HMI based on features, so that you only pay for what you actually need. All the user interface components are included – these are things like controllers, web connectivity, and reporting,” says Haikal.

“As a platform‑independent software with built‑in interoperability, and a user‑ friendly interface, Optix will further assist industry as information technology and operational technology converge and need better communication paths.”

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68 | Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023

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ROKLIVE PARTNERS

Minimise operational risk while maximising productivity By assisting companies to identify the risks and opportunities that are prevalent in their industry or application, NHP can facilitate the required services and solutions to maximise operational investment in accordance with priorities and objectives.

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ot only is NHP the long‑standing exclusive authorised distrib‑ utor for Rockwell Automation throughout the South Pacific region, NHP is now also the sole authorised service provider in this region for the automation giant.

In conjunction with Rockwell Automation and NHP’s other major supply line partners both locally and overseas, NHP offers customers genuine spare parts, technical support and training through to on‑site service and repairs, leveraging industry and tech‑ nology‑specific expertise to maximise operational investments, improve your business and meet your everyday needs.

Together, NHP and Rockwell Automation’s teams of service profes‑ sionals are able to: • Prepare for the future of SMART man‑ ufacturing through The Connected Enterprise, which delivers value by integrating your industrial assets with the rest of your supply chain; • Train workers and augment your work‑ force to manage knowledge transfer and develop new skills to enable IT/ OT convergence, and take advantage of innovative technology; • Prepare for people and asset safety with assessments, engineered offer‑ ings, pre‑engineered solutions, and

a remote audit‑and‑tracking service to confirm that people follow proper procedures; • Go beyond a ‘keep‑it‑running’ mindset and make the most of your production infrastructure with asset and plant optimisation services; and • Tap new and expanding information infrastructure and security services to better define, design, deploy, manage and monitor the right network infra‑ structure for your plant The right parts, in the right place, at the right time An Installed Base Evaluation™ provides better knowledge for you to make informed decisions, thanks to insights into your installed base. This is much more than simply counting parts – it’s a thorough analysis of your critical plant assets and their condition.

This service provides the knowledge needed to help you make data‑driven decisions regarding the support and obsolescence management of your installed base assets.

With an IBE, NHP can help you better understand and pinpoint your lifecycle risk by site, area, line, machine and panel. By optimising your maintenance, repair and operations, NHP help ensure you have the right parts, in the right place, at the right time.

An IBE will enable: • Thorough analysis ‑ the IBE goes beyond simple part counting and pro‑ vides a comprehensive analysis of criti‑ cal plant assets and their condition; • Data-driven decisions ‑ the service equips customers with the knowledge

70 | Industry Update Issue 134 Oct 2023

needed to make data‑driven decisions regarding the support and obsoles‑ cence management of installed base assets; • Lifecycle risk identification – you’ll be able to pinpoint lifecycle risks by site, area, line, machine and panel, helping you to proactively manage and optimise your assets; • Optimise maintenance and spares ‑ by optimising maintenance, repair and operations, the IBE ensures you have the right parts in the right place, at the right time, reducing costs and increas‑ ing uptime; • Inclusion of non-Rockwell Automation products ‑ the IBE collects both Rockwell Automation and non‑Rockwell Automation products, creating a comprehensive plant hierar‑ chy model for the facility; • Consultative approach ‑ the IBE delivers analysis and recommenda‑ tions through a consultative approach, helping you to understand the impact of equipment updates and spare parts management strategies; • My Equipment dashboard ‑ access to an online tool that provides easy to read dashboards with the ability to maintain the asset list as changes occur on site, giving an updated anal‑ ysis to lifecycle risk and spare parts management.

ACB modernisation: retrofits and upgrades To complement your IBE, NHP Services and Solutions can perform ACB ret‑ rofits to facilitate the installation of a range of products and brands, as well

as customising solutions to suit specific requirements.

NHP can work within your existing switchboard environment to provide a cost‑effective solution, resulting in an increase in system reliability, minimis‑ ing production downtime and thereby lowering your operational costs.

NHP’s ACB retrofit solutions are engi‑ neered according to relevant Australian standards and recognised industrial practices.

Power quality services NHP’s range of power quality services assists in determining your require‑ ments, through to ensuring your power quality system is optimised and deliv‑ ering enduring results. NHP’s power quality services include: • Power quality audits • Commissioning services for: ‑ NHP Power Factor Correction systems ‑ NHP Static Var Generators ‑ NHP Active Power Filters • Periodic service and maintenance of NHP power quality systems; and • Installation of NHP power quality systems.

To start an IBE journey, email nhpservice@nhp.com.au or call your local NHP Account Representative on 1300 647 647.

NHP nhp.com.au

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100% Australian owned specialists in electrical and automation products and solutions

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Contact us to find out more: nhp.com.au | nhpnz.co.nz 1300 647 647 | 0800 647 647 nhpsales@nhp.com.au | sales@nhp-nz.com

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AUSTRALIA'S LARGEST CIRCULATING MANUFACTURING MAGAZINE

Issue 134 Oct 2023 $12.00 inc. GST

Special Edition

ROKLive 2023 showcases sustainability and new software technologies

by Margie Smithurst

A

Rockwell’s FactoryTalk Optix HMI visualisation program

focus on sustainability and Rockwell Automation’s latest software were the big themes of this year’s ROKLive at the Gold Coast Convention Centre in September.

On the main floor, Rockwell Automation showcased the company’s applications in mining, oil and gas, water and wastewater, and food and beverage industries, along with cloud solutions, an innovation station and smart manufacturing.

New to Rockwell’s central display was the sustainability section and in partic‑ ular, two emissions‑reporting software applications for compliance.

Both designed by Kalypso which Rockwell bought four years ago, Software CEM or (Advanced Continuous Emissions Monitoring) and Unify Twin’s GLens Sustainability software allow for com‑ panies to track and record their carbon emissions in real time. This is something

Australian companies will increasingly have to do from next year onwards.

CEM has the more detailed focus of the two and includes a breakdown into water, air gas, electricity, and steam emissions.

Rockwell says the lower‑cost Unify Twin software is popular in India and the Middle East as a more accessible platform.

The programs are best employed alongside a proactive sustainability department, which would take the information and use it to plan for future emissions reduction.

FactoryTalk Optix Of the new Rockwell software products, the company is particularly confident in uptake of the Human Machine Interface visualisation program, FactoryTalk Optix, launched in Australia and NZ in July this year and which is already seeing strong sales in Asia. continues page 68