Asia Manufacturing News August 2011

ASIA MANUFACTURING NEWS • AUGUST 2011

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ASIA MANUFACTURING NEWS • AUGUST 2011

CONTENTS August 2011

Successful businesses take planning

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he growth of manufacturing across Asia was widely read about – and responded to – in the last issue of Asia Manufacturing News with interest in manufacturing developments in India, using products from Delcam.

In this issue the ‘push’ continues with readers having access to some outstanding new products from Fero and SolidWorks. Keeping up with the technology is the name of the game and any equipment – machine tools or software – that can keep your company highly productive and successful is to be encouraged.

Take for example our story on Page 4 which explains how costs can be reduced and profitability enhanced by use of design automation. All across Asia, companies evaluate and re-value their levels of efficiency and success. The costs of being in business, the advantages of being efficient.

From small contract manufacturers I have visited in Kuala Lumpur and on the outskirts of Bangkok and Nagoya everyone is aiming for the best.

So be mindful of the true cost of making ‘a product’ do not neglect your research and development needs and if you have specialists in your company especially assigned to give you the advice for a better way of doing business then listen to them.

Our manufacturing world is highly competitive, everyone is looking for the advantage. If you specialise, use the right equipment and do not accede your cost structure, keep things tight and do not be too flamboyant with spending then life will be good. You will be a happy business owner, enjoying business life in a satisfying way.

4 USING DESIGN

AUTOMATION TO REDUCE COSTS, INCREASE PROFITABILITY

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y implementing design automation, engineer-to-order manufacturers can complete days of custom engineering in just minutes.

NEWS❒❒❒❒❒❒ 10 DISTRIBUTED CLOUD BACKUP:

INCRIPTUS SECURES SECOND ROUND AND GOES INTERNATIONAL

10 HONDA TO BUILD THIRD

MOTORCYCLE PRODUCTION PLANT IN VIETNAM

12 ADVANCED RAILWAY TECHNOLOGY 12 SGX LAUNCHES NEW WEBSITE 15 GREAT WALL MOTOR COMPANY IMPLEMENTS SIMULATION AND VISUALISATION SOFTWARE

16 PURE HACKING CHALLENGES

DEVELOPERS TO BUILD SECURE SOFTWARE

17 ‘UBIQUITOUS ELEMENT STRATEGY’ FOR OVERCOMING POTENTIAL DEFICIENCIES

17 DONGFENG HONDA’S CUMULATIVE

PRODUCTION REACHES 1 MILLION UNIT MILESTONE

www.asiamanufacturingnews.com

ASIA MANUFACTURING NEWS • AUGUST 2011

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FARO LAUNCHES NEW VERSION OF GAGE WITH BLUETOOTH TECHNOLOGY

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he new FARO Gage, with its fresh and elegant design, is now equipped with Bluetooth, solidifying its position as the truly portable, cost-effective, 3D measurement solution for the machine shop.

NEWS❒❒❒❒❒❒ 18 WORLD POWER TOOL DEMAND TO EXCEED $27 BILLION IN 2015

18 DEMAND FOR WINDOWS AND

DOORS IN CHINA TO APPROACH 365 BILLION YUAN 2014

19 NEW TECHNIQUE MAKES

25 JEC ASIA 2011

TO REINFORCE COMPOSITES GROWTH IN ASIA

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n 2010, global composites production expanded by nearly five percent to reach eight million metric tons with the Asia Pacific region accounting for 38 percent of the total production volume.

NEWS❒❒❒❒❒❒ 24 GLOBAL SMART PHONE SHIPMENTS WILL REACH 1 BILLION UNITS IN 2016

29 NZ TECHNOLOGY SET TO CHANGE CHINESE DAIRY INDUSTRY

19 GROWTH OF MASS AFFLUENT

Asia Manufacturing News is published bi-monthly and offers the reader business information and news. Asia Manufacturing News welcomes editorial contributions and encourages readers to share their reflections and views with us. Asia Manufacturing News uses information provided in good faith. We give no guarantee of accuracy of the information. No liability is accepted for the result of any actions taken or not taken on the basis of this information. Those acting on the information and recommendations do so entirely at their own risk.

20 POCKET-SIZE DECONTAMINATION

Managing Editor: Doug Green phone: 0061 06 870 9029 Advertising Manager: Max Farndale phone: 0061 06 870 4506 Web Master: Dan Browne.

ARTIFICIAL BONES MORE NATURAL POPULATION TO RETURN ACROSS ALL MARKETS WIPES OFF TOXIC DANGERS TO WORKERS

21 SOLIDWORKS SOFTWARE HELPS

DESIGN AND TEST “SUPERTRUCK”

22 CORNING EXPANDS CLEAN AIR PRODUCTS FACILITY IN CHINA

23 GREEN CONSTRUCTION –

BUILDING GREEN FROM WITHIN

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ASIA MANUFACTURING NEWS • AUGUST 2011

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Using design automation to reduce costs, increase profitability

Overview

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y implementing design automation, engineer-to-order manufacturers can complete days of custom engineering in just minutes. Design automation also expedites and simplifies the creation of SolidWorks® software models, drawings, quote documents, manufacturing data—virtually any requirement of the custom sales process.

Introduction Across most industries today, profit margins are narrow and will continue to become even thinner.

Even in segments where margins are relatively healthy, competition and global outsourcing make cost reduction mandatory. Historically, the high cost of engineering has contributed so significantly to the attack on profit margins, that numerous attempts have been made to cut the process time or the cost of engineering activities. Most of these approaches have been point solutions, which can be highly important in their own right, but are not applicable across the board.

Design automation, on the other hand, stands out as an effective means of dramatically cutting costs for a well-defined, well-proven range of engineering activities. This is especially so where business needs demand rapid, accurate quoting; consistent engineering; and, most important, minimum time to finished product delivery. www.asiamanufacturingnews.com

Driving design automation The majority of companies share a common goal of reducing design costs. Traditionally, they have had two options: (1) to design less and standardize the product range, or (2) to design faster.

If you want to limit your customers’ choices, the first option is fine. However, the pressure to customize products has risen tremendously over the past few years. In a recent Cincom study, 73

percent of total respondents viewed product customisation as critical for products over $100,000, while another 25 percent considered it crucial even for products under $1,000.

This trend will only grow. The Cincom study revealed that 63 percent of engineers have seen requests for customised products increase over the last five years, and 26 percent anticipate that the growth rate will be between 25 and 50 percent in the next two years.

If you want to keep customers happy and grow your profit margins, the second option is ideal. Along with growth, however, come growing pains, especially if your custom design process is unmanaged.

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More growth, more pain Here are typical complaints that we commonly hear from companies that do not automate their design process: “Because we are always fire-fighting, I often have to use out-of-date drawings just to get the job moving. This can lead to huge mistakes. From receipt of the order, we usually have six weeks to get the job out the door.

Unfortunately, we generally don’t even get the drawings until after five weeks.”

“We simply cannot quote quickly enough. In fact, we reject small inquiries—around 30 percent of possible orders. We also rule ourselves out of a further 30 percent of possible contracts by missing quote submission dates.”

“Our sales people are forever selling things we can’t make… or they sell things that we can’t make at the price they quote to the customer.”

Design automation is the solution to the problems cited above—it provides rapid engineering as well as fast drawing and document production.

Another survey of CAD users asked key questions about the users’ design processes. All survey respondents were aware of design automation since they work in various industry segments that document paybacks from design automation. These include almost all engineer-to-order products and many custom or customizable products—basically, any enterprise whose product must be touched by engineering for a significant percentage of orders.

The primary single determinant of whether design automation will benefit a company or a designer is the extent to which new products are based on previous designs.

Nearly two-thirds of respondents indicated that a significant portion of their products—from 20 to 100 percent—are so derived (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Many designs are based on previous designs, which are good candidates for design automation.

The survey concentrated on areas where design automation can contribute significantly, and prioritized its results into the following wish list for automating engineering activities: • Automated creation of SolidWorks software parts, assemblies, and drawings based on variations of existing products (88.8%) • Automatic generation of manufacturing documents (75.9%) • Automatic retrieval and incorporation of existing product data and calculations (61.8%) • Automatic generation of sales proposals, quotes, and documents (51.8%) • Automated product specification by nontechnical associates, such as sales (45.3%) • Automated, web-based product specification, such as remote sales or customers (30.6%) Clearly, everyone wants some sort of design automation—but the definition of design automation differs from company to company.

Exactly what is design automation?

A variety of companies across a multitude of industries are searching for ways to save time and lower costs in the engineering

process. As a result, various vendors refer to different features or utilities as “design automation.”

Unfortunately, most of these are not useful mechanisms for automation because they cannot handle the entire job.

For companies that offer engineer-to-order products, design automation is specifically defined as a system that captures and more or less automatically applies that engineering activity to product variants resulting in finished designs in minimum time.

• System: a controller—rather than a random assortment of features—that provides an overarching workflow. Design automation systems often drive CAD systems and interact automatically with product lifecycle management (PLM), as well as with other engineering and office applications.

• Engineering activity: all the calculations, rules of thumb, engineering precepts, and product lore that go into a product variant.

• More or less automatic: intelligent design automation systems automate some things, usually repetitive or donkey work, and keep their hands off others, generally areas where experienced engineers www.asiamanufacturingnews.com

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ASIA MANUFACTURING NEWS • AUGUST 2011

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can quickly assess a design requirement and rapidly supply a creative solution.

• Product variants: families of products derived from a central or standard design that must be touched significantly by engineering before full product functionality can be gained.

From an engineering perspective, you can overcome the difficulties encountered in customizing a product by using design automation software. This type of software evolved with CAD technology as a way to streamline customized product development. The idea is to capture a company’s in-house design rules and thereby simplify the creation of variations on a theme.

Design automation does repetitive engineering tasks quickly, rolls up costs for accurate bids, and enforces engineering decisions that prevent sales from specifying noncompliant or unmanufacturable products.

Consider a typical conveyor design, for example. A number of factors affect the design, including space constraints; the weight, size, and spacing of products to be conveyed; belt or link type; and drive system.

Nontechnical people may think it is easy to take a base conveyor design, perhaps done for a recent installation, and rework a few details into a new conveyor for the next customer. Engineers know better, however. Once product weight and size vary in relation to the original design, any number of calculations will be required to give the new system its needed speeds and throughputs. If the original conveyor is for laundry detergents and the new one is for food products, regulatory requirements will mandate different materials and contamination control safeguards.

A wider conveyor carrying heavier products will need more power, while a narrower one will almost certainly be more cost-effective with a smaller motor and gear train.

If needed, more power will require www.asiamanufacturingnews.com

significant changes in the geometry of the drive and motor installation.

Guards, fences, and sensors will certainly be altered, possibly along with corresponding changes in frames, mounts, and metal gauges.

No wonder it can take an average conveyor vendor’s engineering department four to eight weeks to configure a new conveyor system manually.

Is design automation effective and efficient?

Design automation systems have been in use since the early 1980s, helping companies to save time and money. Recently, a machine builder accomplished all the engineering that once took 80 hours in less than one hour by implementing design automation. Within 24 hours, an elevator manufacturer can now create quotes and drawings, including engineering and documentation, which once took weeks with manual methods.

A lifting beam company can respond to customer enquiries with general arrangement drawings and a quotation in less than an hour— deliverables that previously took 16 hours.

Even small products benefit— component brackets that took 45 minutes to configure manually at one company are now done in less than one minute.

So, yes, design automation is both effective and efficient.

The good news is that design

automation is available to every SolidWorks softwareuser through DriveWorksXpress, which is included in every single seat of SolidWorks 3D CAD software.

Do configurators perform design automation?

Many configurators state that they do perform design automation tasks, and countless demos confirm this. However, most are just an afterthought rather than the core competency of the system.

Invariably, design automation is served via programming-based customisation.

Configurators typically mix and match rather than engineer. That is, they can add and remove items on bills of materials (BOMs), but cannot understand the types of calculations required for engineering or the workflow of engineering. As a result, most configurators simply cannot handle engineer-to-order designs.

Design engineers require a system that will drive the CAD package in a coherent and controlled manner. Moreover, every point of automation must be done consistently, with nothing forgotten, nothing fudged—and everything completed.

Table 1. The benefits of design automation In the table below, the key benefits of design automation are reflected by organisational level.

Table 1: Design automation frees up engineering time formerly given to repetitive tasks, recalculation, and specification changes. The resulting benefits apply across the organization, from the individual engineer to the company as a whole.

focus Design automation in practice Design automation should be viewed as a new way of working, not as a single project with a beginning and an end that is only done once. With design automation, you can literally treat every part of an assembly as a variable design that can be automatically modified by inputs.

Doing so, however, would be a mistake. Your first step is to determine which variable parts require engineering while they are being varied, and which will generally be a subset of a given assembly. Then select a best candidate from among these to tackle the first design, which is typically a redesign that literally takes more time than it is worth.

Consider our conveyor illustration as an example. Most conveyors consist of a frame, legs, rollers or bearings, and links or belts. One or more sides require guards and fences. Some consist of straight sections with minimum change in elevation, while others spiral up or down significant vertical distances. There are control and sensor needs, drive and gearing considerations, as well as various other components that will be modified to meet a specific custom requirement.

Since numerous variables exist, it would be naĂŻve to imagine that you could put all of the details about all of these parts into your rulesbased system in one go. Where would you start? What route would you follow? Answer that, and you have the answer to the initially underconstrained task. The key, of course, is to build your automated activities one step at a time.

Build one element at a time Start by automating individual elements. You do not have to start from scratch, however. Since DriveWorksXpress allows you to adopt existing SolidWorks software assemblies, you can add rules and

ASIA MANUFACTURING NEWS • AUGUST 2011

make them intelligent. With the conveyor system, for example, you could begin with a single series of drive and gear designs. In design automation, you can easily create a system whose outputs include dramatically different geometries and configurations based on such specifications as product weight, pitch, and conveyor width. You could then create a rule that takes a specified number of drive systems for a given length of conveyor. From there, you can build rules that will automate the design of idle rollers, then frame components, and so on.

Before long, you will achieve a conveyor-generating system that performs design automation. After you specify the size and weight of the product along with the system dimensions, DriveWorksXpress will calculate the frame design, populate it with drives and idlers, and automatically generate the chains or belts. From there, you

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can add capabilities to create the drawings, documents, and data for conveyor systems, which will be useful first in sales quotations and later in manufacturing documents.

Creating the rules Attaching the rules to the basic design is a straightforward way to select the SolidWorks software model, and then follow the DriveWorksXpress interface as it walks you through the process (Figure 2). The DriveWorksXpress interface enforces a consistent workflow, allowing you to easily attach variables and parameters, engineering rules, and myriad engineering-related activities to the design. In the background, DriveWorksXpress manages all the relationships between rules and assemblies, as well as the necessary interconnectivity between the DriveWorksXpress model and the entities within SolidWorksXpress.

Figure 2: In this example of a gantry crane, the DriveWorksXpress interface walks the user through the process of attaching dimensions, properties, and rules to a given assembly.

As you add rules for the legs, beam, and motor into DriveWorksXpress, it becomes a step-by-step process. Eventually, you will build a complete model; by doing it in steps, however, you can gain benefits along every step of the way. For many projects, you will find it best to maintain a top-down view while working in a

bottom-up manner. A little thought will allow you to reinvest a good deal of the time spent in building one model when you turn to creating the next one.

Clearly, rules-based design automation systems capture the way you engineer, allowing the computer to do much of the recalculations and the remodeling www.asiamanufacturingnews.com

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that take up so much of your time.

These systems can also manage and retrieve a broad range of design methods and criteria built up by your company, including important engineering rules, rules of thumb, and product lore that, if forgotten or ignored, can lead to product problems and unhappy customers.

the CAD systems of the day. The geometry and spatial relationships of every part, no matter how complete in a given company’s CAD system, had to be completely rebuilt in the design automation system. Furthermore, the process required the mastery of an arcane coding language. No wonder consultants were needed.

“Because we are always fire-fighting, I often have to use out-of-date drawings just to get the job moving. This can lead to huge mistakes.”

Key evaluation criteria

In the same way that 3D CAD has become mainstream, modern design automation also offers a mainstream choice. Unfortunately, a number of design automation systems still follow the old mold, possibly because the original model still appeals to system designers.

If you are considering a system that requires third-party coding and handholding—an outdated modality that SolidWorks software moved beyond over a decade ago— then you should move beyond it as well.

The second criterion is maintainability. At most companies, the introduction of a design automation system is generally driven by one or more champions who can see the personal and company benefits of adopting this technology. However, there comes a time in a successful implementation when the system must move beyond the original champions. For this, you need a system that can be understood by many and easily maintained by all.

Engineers choose SolidWorks software for its powerful modeling and revolutionary interface. When you are searching for the ideal design automation model, you want the same dynamic combination.

Unfortunately, it is not included in all design automation packages.

In fact, you will find that design automation business models range from ones that dictate buying software and consulting, to the DriveWorkXspress model which is easily installable software that allows you to build your own rules, calculations, and models quickly.

After all, since you bring product knowledge and expertise to the table, you should retain complete control over that intellectual property.

Solutions that require consulting harken back to the first days of design automation. In the early 1980s, engineering design was far different than it is today. Affordable CAD software that ran on small computers was 2D and not graphical in its interface. Serious 3D design required minicomputers and high-end CAD, and generally mandated specialized consulting for installation and startup. A CAD system that cost $40,000 per seat in 1985 dollars for basic 3D capability could easily demand $100,000 in consulting—and $140,000 in 1985 is the equivalent of nearly $275,000 today. Then and now, that is an investment only large companies could make.

During this time, the early design automation products presented two major obstacles—their price, easily $1 million ($1.9 million today), and their inability to interoperate with www.asiamanufacturingnews.com

Aside from the business model, you should consider the following criteria when selecting a design automation system: 1. Ease of use 2. Maintainability 3. Scalability 4. System integration

Ease of use When companies consider whether to adopt design automation, ease of use is the number one concern. After all, who wants to invest time and money in a system that is so difficult to set up and implement that no one will use it? Engineers need a system that runs on hardware everyone can understand—one that is built on a development platform with a proven track record. A system equipped with user interface and integration capabilities allows you to interoperate with other software systems as well.

To capture engineering rules, your system must use current engineering skills,rather than require engineers to become programmers, system integrators, or IT specialists.

Maintainability

When choosing a system, consider the following questions: • What will happen when a key member of your design team joins another company, or if a highly experienced and valuable team member retires?

• When your organization introduces a new operating system, what will take place?

• What will occur when you introduce new hardware?

• Will the design automation system always work with the latest CAD version,or will there be a time lag?

• When your design teams want to communicate and collaborate across continents, what will be the result?

No matter what changes take place, you must be able to ensure that any project will continue.

Not only must your system be capable of working with mainstream operating systems, but it must also be compatible with the latest versions of your CAD software.

Additionally, the system should enable you to document the details of the rules being used, and also present a clear picture of how they fire, relate, and affect each other.

ASIA MANUFACTURING NEWS • AUGUST 2011

focus Nearly 90 percent could benefit from automatic creation of SolidWorks software parts, assemblies, and drawings.

Scalability Is the solution scalable? That is, can you start small and easily ramp up to a complete system?

Can you expand small automation projects based on highly constrained assemblies into more comprehensive systems?

In practice, the implementation of design automation has no beginning or end. A successful system depends on an approach that allows you to create and refine a process that grows over time—one that automates more and more aspects of your design and engineering, while delivering more and more benefits to your organisation.

If the company’s design automation system provides no easy path to the next component for automation, life becomes difficult.

That is why you must be assured that the next step, the step after that, and all the steps into the future can be easily married to the original project.

System integration Design automation generally begins in the engineering department. However, every company function that interfaces with engineering can eventually benefit from design automation. To offer all the benefits, your design automation system must be capable of integrating with other business systems.

In an ideal world, many companies look for seamless integration among all their systems.

They do not want duplication of effort, and most have discovered the pain of maintaining several separate customer databases run by different departments. Therefore, when selecting a system, you should specify a design automation system that is capable of interoperability with broader business systems.

Return on investment No software purchase would be complete without a consideration of return on investment (ROI).

The ROI of a design automation system depends on a number of factors, including some of the criteria discussed above. Clearly, a key consideration is the length of time it takes to begin using design automation in production.

With generic software, the critical element is how easy it is to install and use. Here, you must factor in the training and the skill sets required by the people who will be using it. A system that never reaches beyond a few outstanding, highly trained engineers is never going to provide the highest possible ROI. Likewise, a system that requires a dedicated programmer or ongoing help from consultants is unlikely to reach mainstream paybacks.

Finally, there is the question of how soon you will begin realizing returns. To a large extent, this depends on how you set your objectives and measure success. A custom or consultant-based solution can take many months before product specifications can be entered into the system and outputs automatically generated. Further, companies often make the mistake of striving for a total solution right from the start. Having to depend on completing every aspect of a design automation project before putting it to real work is highly detrimental to ROI.

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takes twice as long to capture the process in DriveWorksXpress than it does to create a single custom design, by the third new order you will start to get tangible benefits.

With your purchase of SolidWorks 3D CAD software, you have DriveWorks capability built into your investment, as DriveWorksXpress is also included in your distribution media. By identifying a design, an assembly, a subassembly, or a part capable of automation, you will be taking your most important first step. Support documentation and extensive help files are on your distribution media.

You can find more background and guidance from the DriveWorks website: http://www.driveworks.co.uk Choose to design faster—and take your inspiration from the many companies who have successfully implemented design automation.

It is a perfect means to raise your visibility in the company, increase your company’s profitability on custom sales, and allow you to do what you do best—design innovative new products. u

Two-thirds of companies using CAD derive all or part of their new designs from previous designs.

Conclusion Consider again our conveyor system. It might take two days to put the rules that automate the selection of motors and gears, as well as the subsequent geometry of the assembly, into DriveWorksXpress. However, you could automate the design of all future conveyor systems within a week, automatically generating manufacturing data, drawings, and BOMs—each based on inputs that reflect the requirements of each respective customer. So even if it

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business news

Distributed Cloud Backup: Incriptus Secures Second Round and Goes International

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ustralia-based incriptus has announced the completion of its round 2 funding and will soon be offering its round 3 prospectus. The company also recently announced the addition of two key individuals in the U.S. to its management team as it prepares to expand beyond Australia.

Incriptus has introduced a new data backup technology that offers superior data security compared to traditional data centres, is uniquely eco-friendly, and offers nearly unlimited scalability.

Until now backing up data into the cloud has meant sending encrypted files to large, remotely located data centers. incriptus has changed that paradigm through its process of first encrypting files, fragmenting them, then encrypting them again as it distributes the fragments across computers throughout the incriptus user network. As a result, no file can be reconstructed from any individual fragment and no complete document resides on any single computer in any s ingle location.

According to Trevor Glen, incriptus CEO, “Everybody has unused space on their hard drive.

We distribute fragments of data across the hard drives of everyone using incriptus-powered backup.

It happens in the background and the only place those pieces can all come back together again is on the originating computer. No data center operator ever has access to a complete file and no natural disaster can wipe out a single location of backed up data.”

As it prepares to address the data backup needs of the world, the company announced the addition of two individuals with international expertise to its team.

Dr Jana B. Matthews is responsible for organizational development www.asiamanufacturingnews.com

at incriptus and is also serving as a Board Advisor. Matthews has worked with high-growth CEOs, executives and top teams around the world. She has authored seven books on how to grow companies and was named one of 18 Women Business Gurus in the wo rld.

Glenn notes “Dr. Matthews has been a Global Advisor for major companies such as SAP and we are thrilled to be able to leverage her expertise and vast experience as we quickly grow our company.”

Bill Obermeier is responsible for the company’s brand and marketing strategy and also serves as a Board Advisor.

“Bill’s name may be familiar to many Australians from when he was responsible for the brand, advertising, media and sponsorships for Telstra.” says Glenn, “We are excited to have someone with his skills and experience and who has such great insight into both Australia and the U.S. and has worked with companies globally.”

Incriptus-powered backup will be offered by channel partners and not sold directly by the company. Anyone interested in more information about incriptus can contact Glenn at +61 410 634 678 or visit www.incriptus.com.

About Incriptus Founded by five software engineers from Motorola,

Trevor Glen, incriptus CEO

incriptus is a technology solution that encrypts, fragments, and distributes data. incriptus software enables the most secure and eco-friendly backup available by distributing encrypted file fragments to the available hard drive space on computers within a user network. incriptus has received local, national and international awards for its innovative technology. http://www.incriptus.com

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Honda to Build Third Motorcycle Production Plant in Vietnam HANOI:

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onda Vietnam Co., Ltd. (HVN), a Honda motorcycle and automobile sales and production joint venture in Vietnam, announced plans to build a third motorcycle production plant and expand its total annual production capacity by 500,000 units to accommodate consistent and rapidly growing demand of the motorcycle market in Vietnam.

HVN began motorcycle production in 1997, and by 2011, reached a total annual production capacity of 2 million units. The addition of the third plant will further increase HVN’s production capacity to 2.5 million units. u

ASIA MANUFACTURING NEWS • AUGUST 2011

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Better Business Throughout Asia www.asiamanufacturingnews.com

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ASIA MANUFACTURING NEWS • AUGUST 2011

business news

Advanced railway technology trade show, and Colombia’s Transportation Minister, Jordan’s Deputy Minister of Transport, Syria’s Railway Minister and Tunisia’s Railway Minister came to Busan and visited the trade show.

SEOUL: he 2011 Trade show RailLog - Korea Railways and Logistics was held in June at BEXCO in Busan, South Korea, which is the very starting point and final destination of the TransSiberian Railway network. Busan is the second largest city in Korea and a global port city which has hosted APEC Summit 2005 and 2002 Asian Games.

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In addition, under the auspices of ESCAP, the TAR(Trans Asian Railways) International Convention was held from June 14 to 17 with about 100 directors and managers from 28 member countries present.

Along with Germany’s InnoTrans and China’s Modern Railways, 2011 Trade show RailLog is one of the globally prestigious railways & logistics events, hosted bi-annually by Busan City since 2003.

“Korea Railways & Logistics Fair has contributed significantly to the development of national and international railway, logistics, and related industries as well as the enhancement of the global status of Busan,” said a personnel related to Busan City.” “This year, the trade show was expected to produce more results than ever before as the exhibition was expanded and co-hosted with the International Trans Asian Railways Convention.”u

SGX launches new website

This year, the trade show displayed approximately 700 booths, which is a 15% increase from 2009.

SINGAPORE: ingapore Exchange (SGX) introduced in July its improved website sgx.com, designed to enhance customers’ experience as they seek information on Asian listed companies, market data, and regulations.

128 national and international exhibitors included Hyundai Rotem (Korea), ANSALDO STS (Italia), THALES (Canada), BWG (Germany), and Trans Containe (Russia) participated in the

Built to deliver the most frequently requested content with just one click, sgx.com is in both English and Chinese. Using a completely new navigation structure and design, the website is also optimised for access

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via mobile phones.

The SGX website also offers for the first time, opportunities for advertisers to reach an average 1.4 million unique visitors of the website each month.

Mr Magnus Bocker, CEO of SGX said, “sgx.com is created to meet customers’ demand for high-quality market information. Together with our range of products, sgx.com further strengthens our offering to customers seeking access to Asian growth and international capital.” u

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ASIA MANUFACTURING NEWS • AUGUST 2011

innovations

FARO launches new version of Gage with Bluetooth technology SINGAPORE:

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ARO Technologiest has enhanced its FARO Gage product line.

These hardwareand software improvements will simplify users’ measurement workflow and enhance the product’s portability.

The new FARO Gage, with its fresh and elegant design, is now equipped with Bluetooth, solidifying its position as the truly portable, cost-effective, 3D measurement solution for the machine shop. Moreover, it features all new measurement software that makes daily measuring tasks even easier due to its new intuitive user interface.

Thanks to the popular Bluetooth wireless technology, users can now inspect and transmit data up to 10m (30 feet) away – even through walls – without the need for cables.

Bluetooth is the right technology for FARO Gage applications and produces faster set up, extended battery life, and lower power consumption.

“The fully portable FARO Gage was designed with the production floor in mind. It produces accurate results to speed through the toughest measurement challenges,” said Markus Grau, FARO Gage Product Manager at FARO. Furthermore, the FARO Gage measurement software has been completely enhanced. Renamed CAM2® Gage, it features a much simpler and more intuitive user interface that makes it the ideal entry-level inspection software. The CAM2® Gage software is FARO’s CAM2 solution for measuring basic geometry and building dimensions.

It allows users to quickly measure geometric features on parts and easily report the dimensions they need to control. Once users have measured one complete part, they can then repeat the same www.asiamanufacturingnews.com

measurements on the next part with no additional effort. Users can also add images to their inspection plan and hand it over to any operator.

reconstruction of accident sites or crime scenes. They are also employed to generate digital scans of historic sites.

“We believe that these enhancements will simplify the workflow of the FARO Gage users and increase their productivity. This simplified user interface eliminates the learning curve that is often encountered by customers upgrading from hand tools to the more powerful and precise FARO Gage 3D Measurement systems. Operators will be able to teach themselves how to use the software, eliminating the need for measurement experts in the manufacturing environment,” stated Antonio Carvalho, Director of Software Product Management at FARO.

With FARO, 3D measurement and documentation needs can be fulfilled confidently. As a pioneer and market leader in portable computer-aided measurement, FARO consistently applies the latest advances in technology to make its industry-leading product offerings more accurate, reliable, and easy to use. The focus is on simplifying workflow with tools that empower customers, thereby dramatically reducing the on-site measuring time and lowering overall costs.

FARO is a global technology company that develops and markets computer-aided coordinate measurement devices and software. Portable equipment from FARO permits high-precision 3D measurement and comparison of parts and compound structures within production and quality assurance processes. The devices are used for inspecting components and assemblies, production planning, inventory documentation, as well as for investigation and

Worldwide, approximately 10,000 customers are operating more than 20,000 installations of FARO’s systems. The company’s global headquarters are located in Lake Mary, Florida, with its European head office in Stuttgart, Germany and its Asia-Pacific head office in Singapore. FARO has branch locations in Japan, China, India, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, Poland, and The Netherlands. nextSTEP Visit: www.faroasia.com/Gage u

ASIA MANUFACTURING NEWS • AUGUST 2011

innovations

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Great Wall Motor Company implements simulation and visualisation software CHINA: Icona Solutions, which develops, supplies and supports the innovative perceived quality simulation and visualisation software solution, aesthetica, together with its Beijing-based business partner, Sili-Tech Co. Ltd., has announced that, following a comprehensive competitive evaluation of all available software in the areas of tolerance analysis and designs, China’s Great Wall Motor Company has selected aesthetica for use in perceived quality studies on all of its future vehicle programmes.

to aesthetica, directly in the case of CATIA or via IGES, STEP or JT in the case of other CAD software, for real-time analysis and visualisation of the effects on perceived quality of the predicted manufacturing variations. This will enable much faster and easier cross-discipline decision-making on tolerances and locator schemes.

“We are delighted that Great Wall Motor Company has made the decision to adopt aesthetica as the main tool for its perceived quality process,” said Tim Illingworth, chief executive, Icona Solutiuons.

“Together with our business partner, Sili-Tech Co. Ltd., we are confident that we will be able to help Great Wall achieve its aim of higher and consistent perceived quality in all of its future vehicles.”

Earlier this year, Great Wall Motor Company implemented its new ‘Three Hs Strategy’, addressing ‘High-luxury’, ‘Highperformance’ and ‘High-tech’.

As a part of this strategy, Great Wall formed its new Dimensional Management Group and aesthetica was selected as a core tool for helping the company achieve the goal of ‘High-luxury’ throughout its vehicles range.

While Great Wall does expect the use of aesthetica to help save time and money during the vehicle development process, the company’s principal aim is to improve the perceived quality of its vehicles by reducing the average exterior gap dimension on all its high-end luxury vehicles by next year. Using aesthetica will enable it to design its vehicles so that they are less sensitive to manufacturing variation, enabling the company to achieve higher perceived quality, cost-effectively.

First live project With the software now installed in the new Dimensional Management Group, located at Great Wall’s Engineering Development Centre in Baoding, some 100 km south west of Beijing, the first live project on which aesthetica will be used commenced last month (June). aesthetica will be used at all stages of the vehicle design and development process, from the concept phase, where it will be used in setting the dimensional technical specification, i.e. gap and flush targets, through the early and advanced engineering phases for optimising locator strategies, to the detailed engineering and manufacturing stages for the visual analysis of tolerance stacks and for root cause analysis of perceived quality issues.

3D CAD models, principally from Great Wall’s CATIA V5 CAD/ CAM system, will be downloaded

Yimin Jin, chief executive officer, Sili-Tech Co. Ltd., added, “Using our local knowledge, our high-level service and consulting capabilities and working closely with Icona Solutions we have been able to deliver a first rate perceived quality solution to Great Wall Motor Company. I am confident that this is just the first in a growing list of similar successes for Icona Solutions and Sili-Tech in China.”

Icona Solutions Ltd. develops and provides innovative and unique solutions to audit and improve perceived quality in manufactured metal and plastics products. Its software can form an integral part of a product design and manufacturing company’s overall product lifecycle management (PLM) software environment and is supplied and supported globally both directly and through qualified, specialist resellers. Icona Solutions is a member of both Dassault Systèmes’ CAA V5 Adopters and of Siemens PLM Software’s JT Open programs. nextSTEP Visit: www.iconasolutions.com

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ASIA MANUFACTURING NEWS • AUGUST 2011

analysis

Pure Hacking challenges developers to build secure software

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ure Hacking, Australia’s leading specialist information security consultancy has challenged the global software development community to improve its development standards and build secure software.

The consultancy believes that the corresponding rise in software vulnerabilities and increased risks to data security, business operations and reputational damage have reached a critical point requiring intervention. In line with its vendorneutral position, the consultancy has confirmed that the open framework Software Assurance Maturity Model, or OpenSAMM methodology, is well placed to define and measure the security resilience of organisations and the software it relies on.

For Rob McAdam, CEO of Pure Hacking the current lack of security understanding in software development teams has reached its tipping point. “There is a growing lack of understanding about the security required in the development of software, whether it is developed in-h ouse or via outsourcing.

Software outsourcing is growing annually by 30% in India alone and this growth will continue across the global outsourcing hotspots. By participating and contributing to this increased use of outsourcing, organisations unknowingly may be introducing increased levels of security risk in exchange for short term profits,” he outlined.

McAdam believes that development teams may sometimes lack the knowledge of the minimum security requirements for a project. Often, they are under tremendous resource constraints and may not follow processes and technology that is necessary for secure coding and architecture in software development projects.

Many software projects are seen as additional overhead by Boards and senior management and as a result, the organisation outsources the projects due to cost requirements. www.asiamanufacturingnews.com

He claims these same decision makers need to consider this overhead as an investment, “This is someth ing that can protect your smooth and secure business operation. Investing in better protected software is estimated at 100 times less costly as fixing insecure solutions.”

Additionally he believes that without meaningful change to software development processes, the costs of re-working insecure software will also rise.

“Insecure software now has a dollar value attached to it and it is no longer the case that it is a minor inconvenience to address security breaches. Hackers are destroying businesses. The rising incidence of hacking will continue and new legislation will not be able to control it,” he claimed.

In its role as a specialist information security consultant, Pure Hacking advises that there is no ‘silver bullet’ to eliminate software security vulnerabilities.

Web Application Firewalls (WAF’s) and database security tools help reduce the risk, but do not ultimately provide the solution to the issue of un derlying security protocols.

The consultancy is now appealing to the larger business community to introduce a more rigorous standards-based methodology to improve built-in software security standards.

“The days of when it made commercial sense to take a product to market as quickly as possible is part of our past,” advised McAdam.

“The costs are now simply too high when things go wrong. The business public are inevitably going to query why they are being provided with an insecure software

product in the first place. They will want to know how developers can justify charging them for the remediation process.”

“Major corporations have remedied software security issues to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars per crisis recently. If they had adequately addressed security during the design and development stages, the old adage of ‘do it once and do it properly’ would have applied,” he concl uded.

McAdam further believes that the incorporation of the OpenSAMM methodology is ideal for outsourced project managers and developers. OpenSAMM sets a clearly articulated benchmark for all participants.

“We aim to incorporate OpenSAMM into at least a third of our clients’ projects over the next twelve months. My team has forecast this to be one of major growth areas as it directly addresses the issue of rapid growth and risk assessment. We believe this to be one of the greatest cost-efficient investments organisations can make in security today.”

Pure Hacking’s software security solution utilises OpenSAMM (Software Assurance Maturity Model) initiatives to incorporate an end-to-end development process that is uniquely tailored to address the specific software security risks facing each organisation.

This answers the question of how organisations plan, build and maintain secure web and mobile applications – wh ether built internally or supplied by third parties.

Pure Hacking has set the standard for ethical hacking and security consulting since 2002.

Simply put, Pure Hacking saves companies from devastating attacks by enabling secure business. nextSTEP www.purehacking.com u

ASIA MANUFACTURING NEWS • AUGUST 2011

analysis

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‘Ubiquitous element strategy’ for overcoming potential deficiencies biquitous element strategy for overcoming potential deficiencies of rare elements in the synthesis of industrially important electronic, thermionic, and structural materials.

Japanese scientists report on a unique ‘ubiquitous element strategy’ for synthesizing industrially important materials using naturally abundant elements.

This strategy aims to overcome the ‘rare-element crisis’ that was triggered by increasing demand for such elements as lithium, used in batteries, and dysprosium for NeFe-B permanent magnets.

In the review article published in the journal Science and Technology of Advanced Materials [http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/14686996/12/3/034303] scientists from Tokyo Institute of Technology describe their research on the synthesis and applications of oxide materials based on the 20–30 most abundant elements including Si, Al, Ca, Na, and Mg. The key to this strategy is an in-depth knowledge of the role of elements in the physical properties of materials— knowledge available from research on the science and technology of nanometer-sized materials.

Research covered in this paper includes:

• The conversion of ceramic

12CaO•7Al2O3 (C12A7)— interconnected, positively charged nano-cages—into a chemically and thermally stable transparent conductor which undergoes a metalsuperconductor transition at 0.2 K. C12A7 has a wide bandgap of >7 eV and a low work function of 2.4 eV. The authors describe the synthesis, properties, and applications—light-emitting, electron field emitters, and nonvolatile memories—of C12A7 based on their own research.

• The generation of ionized oxygen is important in the electronics industry for applications including the production of silicon diode layers on

semiconductors. Conventional methods rely on the catalytic action of Pt—a metal in scarce supply. Here, the researchers describe the production of large quantities of atomic oxygen by incandescent heating of 2-mm-diameter tube of yttriadoped zirconia—a solid oxide electrolyte that conducts oxygen ions. This method of generating atomic oxygen is more efficient, highly selective in the types of ions generated, and enables lower temperature oxidation of silicon compared with thermal oxidation.

In another example of the ‘ubiquitous element strategy’ the

authors describe the effect of phase transitions on the controlled fracture in mullite ceramics (3Al2O3•2SiO2), which is crucial for impact-resistant armor and bumper shields for spacecraft.

The researchers found that mullite exhibited superior protection as Whipple bumper shields compared to conventional aluminum alloys “tested for the impact by an aluminum alloy flyer at 5.5 km/s”.

Other materials discussed include SrTiO3/TiO2, exhibiting a fivefold higher Seebeck effect compared with bulk material; the pulsed laser deposition of flat MgO(111) films on Al2O3(0001) substrates and of atomically flat MgO(111) films on YSZ(111) substrates with NiO(111) buffer layers. u

Dongfeng Honda’s Production Reaches 1 Million WUHAN:

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ongfeng Honda Automobile Co., Ltd., an automobile production and sales joint venture of Honda in China, held a ceremony to commemorate the 1 million unit milestone in cumulative automobile production.

Attending the ceremony were leaders from local governments as well as Seiji Kuraishi, operating officer for Honda regional operations in China.

Dongfeng Honda has produced the CR-V since 2004, the Civic since 2006 and the Spirior since 2009, expanding its product lineup in accordance with the expanding needs of Chinese customers.

The CR-V has been very popular among Chinese customers as a market-leading model and the industry’s best-selling vehicle in the SUV segment for four consecutive years since 2007. The cumulative production of CR-V since 2004 has reached 500,000 units.

Reflecting its strong sales, Dongfeng Honda has been expanding annual production capacity of its auto plant from the initial capacity of 30,000 units to 120,000 units in 2006 and to 240,000 units in 2010.

In addition, Dongfeng Honda is currently constructing a second plant, which is scheduled to become operational in 2012 with an initial production capacity of 100,000 units, and an expansion of capacity to 120,000 units is already scheduled in 2013.

With this expansion, the total annual production capacity of Dongfeng Honda will reach 360,000 units in 2013. Combined with the capacity of Guangqi Honda Automobile Co., Ltd., and Honda Automobile (China) Co., Ltd. (an export automobile production plant), Honda’s total annual automobile production capacity in China will reach 890,000 units in 2013. u www.asiamanufacturingnews.com

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ASIA MANUFACTURING NEWS • AUGUST 2011

business news

World power tool demand to exceed $27 Billion in 2015

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orld power tool demand is projected to rise 4.4 percent per year through 2015, reaching $27.3 billion. The pace of growth will be most rapid in the developing countries of Asia, where rising incomes and advances in residential and nonresidential building construction activity will bolster demand. The US market will also provide solid growth opportunities, reflecting a turnaround in the current housing crisis, as well as continued enthusiasm for do-ityourself projects by US consumers.

China will post the strongest gains, as the nation continues robust growth in construction expenditures. India will also record strong gains in power tool demand, averaging 9.0 percent annually through 2015. Outside of Asia, the most promising opportunities are in Eastern Europe, where rising fixed investment activity will boost demand. The relatively mature markets of Japan and Western Europe will continue to see gains that considerably lag the global

average, reflective of their belowaverage outlooks for construction expenditures.

Electric tools (plug-in and cordless) dominate world demand, representing over 70 percent of power tool sales in 2010.

Electric tools (most notably hand drills) will remain the leading type of power tool, due to their frequent use in both consumer and professional applications.

Cordless products will continue to post the best gains, as improved

battery technology increases their performance advantages.

Professional demand will grow more rapidly than consumer demand through 2015 as many nations experience recovery in construction activity.

Professional users account for more than two-thirds of power tool sales, reflecting the greater concentration of expensive power tools among this group. Given the amount of use, professionals will spend more on better quality tools, since the initial investment often pays off over the long run through better performance and longer tool life. Consumers, on the other hand, are more likely to shop by price, and rarely have need of expensive tool systems like pneumatics and hydraulics. u

Demand for windows and doors in China to approach 365 Billion Yuan 2014

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emand for windows and doors in China is forecast to rise 7.7 percent annually to 364.5 billion yuan in 2014, a deceleration from the 2004-2009 pace but still among the fastest rates of increase in the world.

Gains will primarily be driven most popular material is plastic, by strong building construction which is growing at the fastest activity, spurred by the country’s rate and is taking share from further industrialization and metal windows, particularly in urbanization. A rise in the average the residential market. Wood size of a housing unit -- requiring windows comprise a very small more windows and doors per portion of the total, with their unit -- will also contribute to use generally limited to high-end gains. These and other trends are residential construction. presented in Windows & Doors Demand for doors in China is in China, a new study from the expected to advance 8.2 percent Beijing office of The Freedonia annually through 2014 to 111 Group, Inc., a Cleveland-based billion yuan. In the door segment, industry research firm. wood is the dominant material Sales of windows are forecast due to its ubiquitous use in to grow at an annual rate of 7.5 interior doors for both residential percent through 2014, reaching and nonresidential applications.

253.5 billion yuan. Metal The emergence of wood doors windows comprise about 60 made from new composite percent of the market. The second materials, such as plastic/wood www.asiamanufacturingnews.com

composites, will further support advances in overall wood door demand. Metal doors account for nearly a quarter of the door market in China where they mainly serve as entrance doors in both residential and nonresidential applications.

The residential market accounted for 54 percent of window and door demand in 2009. Demand in the residential market is projected to rise 7.4 percent per year to 192.5 billion yuan in 2014, boosted by growth in spending on residential construction, especially in the urban-based multifamily market.

Demand for windows and doors in the nonresidential segment will grow faster, rising 8.1 percent per year, due to strong construction activity in institutional and industrial markets. u

business news

ASIA MANUFACTURING NEWS • AUGUST 2011

19

New technique makes artificial bones more natural

KOREA:

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new technique for producing artificial bone implants has been developed by Korean researchers.

Published in the journal Science and Technology of Advanced Material (STAM), the technique combines two methods to approximate both types of bone tissue. By mimicking natural bone, it is hoped the implant material will better complement the natural regeneration process.

Most previous studies have focussed on producing cancellous bone, which has a spongy, honeycombed structure. However, artificial bones for practical applications must also imitate cortical bone, the hard, strong tissue found on the outer layers of bone. Cortical bone is less porous than cancellous bone, but contains canals through which the nutrients for bone formation flow. By developing a process to imitate this canal structure, the researchers made significant advances in the fabrication of artificial bones.

Bundles of polymer-based biomaterials* were wrapped around 0.3mm diameter steel wires by the method of “electrospinning”, whereby fine fibres of material are drawn out by electric charge. These bundles were used to cover a scaffold of cancellous bone structure, made by the standard “sponge replica method” out of zirconia (ZrO2) and biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP). Removal of the steel wires resulted in interconnected structures mimicking small human bones.

The resulting structure had a high strength and a porosity of approximately 70%—similar to natural bone. Tests confirmed the artificial bone structure had a high degree of biocompatibility

which is critical for real-world applications. However, more research is needed to evaluate the biological properties of this material both in vitro and in vivo.

The rapid ageing of the population makes bone loss and fracture a major worldwide problem and stimulates bone regeneration research. Biomimetic approaches to making artificial implants have attracted much attention, but the

dependence of the healing process on interaction with the implant material requires close mimicry of the architecture of natural bone.

This paper marks a significant advance in the development of materials and processing technology for the fabrication of artificial bone structures. * HAp-loaded PMMA-PCL, or polymethylmethacrylatepolycaprolactone-hydroxyapatite.

Growth of mass affluent population to return across all markets

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atamonitor predicts that the number of mass affluent consumers (those with more than $50,000 in onshore liquid assets) will return to growth in established markets* after declining during the recession.

The client base will continue to rise in Asia-Pacific markets, with particularly strong growth for countries such as Singapore.

Research** by the independent business analyst has revealed that more than 5.7 million people slid out of the ranks of the mass affluent in the established markets between 2005 and 2009. At the same time, the mass affluent population in emerging markets such as India and China roughly doubled. While the research predicts growth across all countries, four key markets in AsiaPacific to watch over the next few years will be Singapore, Australia, Taiwan and Indonesia.

Michele Gorman, senior analyst at Datamonitor, said: “The growing mass affluent population provides significant opportunities for banks, particularly HSBC, DBS, Standard Chartered, and Citigold, which already operate in countries like

Singapore, where we predict strong growth.”

Although mass affluent consumers generate some of the highest revenues for banks, it can be difficult to serve them while still making a profit. The research has revealed that mass affluent consumers want to be able to customise the financial services they use. The implication of this is that a one-size-fits-all bundling strategy may not work. Instead, delivering a tiered offering that allows consumers to select the service that suits them would prove popular. HSBC already runs twotiered services for its mass affluent clients, allowing them to pay for what they want most. However, the research shows that most mass affluent consumers do not want to pay for premier services, so they will need to be convinced of a strong value proposition.

Another key finding from the research is that affluent consumers want to feel like they are being taken care of by their financial services providers. This view does not vary significantly by country Continues page 20 www.asiamanufacturingnews.com

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ASIA MANUFACTURING NEWS • AUGUST 2011

business news

Pocket-size decontamination wipes off toxic dangers to workers

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nware is introducing to the Asia Pacific a toxic chemical Decontamination Mitt so effective that versions of it are used by armed forces to neutralise deadly Chemical Warfare Agents.

The Decon Mitt consists of a pouch containing wipedown mitt impregnated with decontaminating powder called Fast-Act . A soft pad material is backed on the mitt by a film, to protect the user from any contamination by substances to which it is applied.

Fast-Act as used in Decon Mitts is a non-toxic, non-corrosive and environmentally friendly sorbent that provides better chemical protection and decontamination capabilities than currently available industrial technologies.

Fast-Act not only adsorbs a wide range of dangerous toxic industrial and military substances, but also it neutralizes them to safer by-products,” says Enware Business Development Manager From page 19

for Environmental and Health, Mr. Scott Whittaker.

differences to preventing injuries and protecting lives,” he says.

“A beauty of the product is that it provides personal, portable and immediately accessible firstresponse protection for personnel working some distances from fixed safety equipment, such as decontamination showers.

Immediate access to protection is very important in accident and spill situations because, saving even seconds can make huge

The self- contained mitt package is designed to fit comfortably within work garment pockets, or may also be carried or stored comfortably in small spaces.

Growth of mass affluent population to return across all markets

and is a key factor for banks to get right. Banks have the ability to offer this by giving them peace of mind through the services they offer. One bank that has launched a service specifically aimed at making mass affluent clients feel lookedafter is Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation in Malaysia.

Ms Gorman continued: “Banks that tailor their services to the specific needs of mass affluent individuals will reap the rewards in the coming years, as the increase in the population of these consumers makes winning and maintaining their business increasingly important.” www.asiamanufacturingnews.com

The Datamonitor Group (www.datamonitor.com) is a world-leading provider of premium global business information, delivering independent data, analysis, and opinion across the Automotive, Consumer Markets, Energy & Utilities, Financial Services, Logistics & Express, Pharmaceutical & Healthcare, Retail, Sourcing, Technology, and Telecoms industries. Combining our industry knowledge and experience, we assist more than 6,000 of the world’s leading companies in making better strategic and operational decisions. u

Fast-Act in a Decon Mitt facilitates decontamination through adsorption and neutralisation of dangerous chemical agents including, but not limited to, acids, halogens, phosphorous, nitrogen organic compounds. Fast-Act technology creates a massive increase in the powder’s active surface area so relatively small quantities of product are effective over broad areas.

(See www.enware.com for a full description of substances on which Fast-Act is effective). nextSTEP Contact Enware Asia Safety Systems Pty Ltd Singapore Warehouse Building 110 Paya Lebar Road #07-02 SINGAPORE 409009 Ph: +65 6536 2687 Fax: +65 6536 2689 Scott.Whittaker@enware.com.au u

developments

ASIA MANUFACTURING NEWS • AUGUST 2011

21

SolidWorks software helps design and test “SuperTruck”

CONCORD, Mass., USA: eremy Singley is not an engineer. In fact, he doesn’t want to be an engineer. However, thanks to software from Dassault Systèmes (DS) SolidWorks Corp., he doesn’t need to be an engineer to produce the ultra-aerodynamic tractor-trailer designs he’s developing with other members of the SolidWorks user community.

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Singley, owner of Jeremy Singley Industrial Design, is designing a kit of attachments to make tractortrailers more aerodynamic resulting in lower fuel consumption. He uses SolidWorks® CAD and SolidWorks Flow Simulation software to experiment with new shapes and test the mechanical practicality of designs to ensure they can still turn and maneuver even as they cut through the air more cleanly. A designer with an art background, Singley relies on SolidWorks to provide the engineering insights he needs to refine his designs. He uses SolidWorks 3D solid models to work out his ideas from a design’s inception through production because he thinks and innovates better in 3D. “I’ve always been a handson 3D guy. I skip right over 2D design hand sketching. I used to go straight to the shop and slap together physical models of scrap wood. Now I breathe a lot less sawdust,” said Singley. “I prefer SolidWorks because it’s intuitive to use, and it has its own intelligence.

With SolidWorks, the software will frequently override your mistakes or at least give you clear clues as to what you need to correct. I like that.”

Singley has used SolidWorks to design everything from consumer electronics to furniture and lighting fixtures. As such, it was a new and exciting challenge when former trucker and drag racer Bob Sliwa contacted Singley through a SolidWorks user group to talk about a tractor-trailer design. Sliwa, with support from over 20 corporate sponsors, including CITGO, Alcoa, and Michelin, wanted to improve tractor-trailer mileage from today’s six to seven miles per gallon to 15 miles per gallon by reducing drag by 60 percent. The goal of the project is to help design the SuperTruck, the world’s most streamlined rig.

In order to participate in this project, Singley decided to learn SolidWorks Flow Simulation to evaluate his designs’ aerodynamics, though not without reservations.

Without an engineering background, he wondered if he could learn the software.

“I took a SolidWorks Flow Simulation class and after two days, I was ready to go,” Singley said. “The software is easy to learn, robust, and works seamlessly with SolidWorks CAD. I can see results right away, make changes, and immediately see the new results. I find that viewing flow over specific surfaces suggests new shapes to try. Often times something that’s happening at the truck’s front grill will cause turbulence 20 feet behind the truck.”

Sliwa is in the process of building a prototype for real-world tests. The curved and bladed components are designed to fit

on flat surfaces on the tractor trailers that cause turbulence. The curved shapes cleave the air more cleanly, reducing drag on the truck and lowering fuel consumption.

AirFlow Truck Company will sell the kits that convert conventional rigs to hyper streamliners that should get at least nine MPG for the average driver, and perhaps close to 15 for a careful driver.

Sliwa, a very careful driver, hopes to set that record.

“Designers’ tools should never be an obstacle to creativity and innovation. This is why improving ease-of-use has been a constant priority at SolidWorks,” said Stephen Endersby, Simulation product manager, DS SolidWorks.

“Jeremy Singley is another example of the creativity we look to foster in our user community.

Great ideas pop up daily; we look to give the tools to bring those ideas to life.”

Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp., a Dassault Systèmes S.A. subsidiary, is a world leader in 3D solutions that help millions of engineers and designers succeed through innovation. Our products deliver an intuitive experience in product design, simulation, publishing, data management, and environmental impact assessment. nextSTEP Visit: www.solidworks.com) www.asiamanufacturingnews.com

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ASIA MANUFACTURING NEWS • AUGUST 2011

business news

Corning expands clean air products facility in China SHANGHAI: orning Incorporated is incorporating a capital expenditure plan of approximately $170 million to further increase the capacity of its clean air products plant in Shanghai, China.

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The investment will be used to expand the Corning Shanghai Company Limited (CSCL) facility and to increase its capacity to manufacture emissions control substrates for light-duty (automotive) passenger vehicles.

This expansion is expected to be complete and operational in the third quarter of 2013.

Mark Beck, senior vice president and general manager, Corning Environmental Technologies, said, “Global sales of automobiles, particularly in China and across Asia, are forecasted to grow steadily over the next several years, increasing demand for Corning’s advanced substrates. Strict emissions regulations around the world are driving vehicles to use more substrates than before and to use advanced substrates.

This significant investment will help us to meet the growing demand. It also demonstrates our commitment to improve service to our customers and to maintaining a leadership position in the emissions control industry.”

“Corning has been investing in China for more than 25 years,” said Eric S. Musser, chief executive officer of Corning Greater China.

“Today’s announcement, the third expansion of our automotive substrate facility, marks another important milestone in our commitment to China. As the first substrate manufacturer to enter China 10 years ago, we are proud that we continue to support China’s automotive industry through a combination of strategic investments, innovative technologies, and values-based market leadership.” www.asiamanufacturingnews.com

Corning Shanghai Company Limited, which is wholly owned

by Corning Incorporated, is a state-of-the-art, high-tech emissions control substrate facility that first began shipping product in early 2001. Corning first expanded the facility in 2007 and last year announced a $125 million second expansion of the facility. Production from this recent expansion is expected to begin shipping in the second half of 2012. In addition to manufacturing advanced substrates, CSCL also includes sales, marketing and engineering support that provide world-class service for Corning customers in China and throughout Asia.

Corning is a leading supplier of advanced cellular ceramic substrates and diesel particulate filters for the world’s major manufacturers of gasoline and diesel engines. The company invented an economical, highperformance, cellular ceramic substrate in the early 1970s that is now the standard for catalytic converters worldwide.

In 1978, Corning developed the cellular ceramic particulate filter to remove soot from diesel emissions. Corning continues to leverage its expertise in materials, processes and manufacturing to develop advanced ceramic substrates and diesel particulate filters that help meet demanding mobile emissions requirements.

Additional capacity will address increased global demand

Mark Beck

Corning Incorporated (www.corning.com) is world leader in specialty glass and ceramics.

Drawing on 160 years of materials science and process engineering knowledge, Corning creates and makes keystone components that enable hightechnology systems for consumer electronics, mobile emissions control, telecommunications and life sciences.

Products include glass substrates for LCD televisions, computer monitors and laptops; ceramic substrates and filters for mobile emission control systems; optical fiber, cable, hardware and equipment for telecommunications networks; optical biosensors for drug discovery; and other advanced optics and specialty glass solutions for a number of industries including semiconductor, aerospace, defense, astronomy and metrology. u

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business news

ASIA MANUFACTURING NEWS • AUGUST 2011

23

Green Construction – Building Green from Within

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sia drives forward with more adaption of green technology in major development projects primarily in the building materials used as well as the practise of sustainable methods in construction.

Research Institute of Malaysia Terms such as Industrialised (CREAM) and Construction Building Systems (IBS), Leadership Industry Development Board in Energy & Environment Design (CIDB) Malaysia, Industrialised (LEED), Green Building Council/ Building System (IBS) is defined as Index (GBC/I) and Lifestyle of a construction technique in which Health and Sustainability (LOHAS) components are manufactured in as previously detailed in Part 2 are a controlled environment (on or becoming well accepted among off site), transported, positioned developers as the industry norm to and assembled into a structure any new projects. with minimal additional site The advancement in works. IBS has the potential construction technology to contribute towards green spearheaded by the Asian construction and sustainability engineers has vastly improved the by promoting sustainability quality of build in new projects from a controlled production with increased sustainability environment, minimization of without compromising on safety. waste generation, and effective This had led to the acceleration logistics management. in project completion and a sharp reduction in the use of raw material in view to the scarcity that has plagued tiny nations such as Singapore and Brunei.

With the inevitable population boom in many parts of the region pushing the demand for household to its highest level in decades, there has also been a real estate boom in many of these vibrant cities of Asia such as Hong Kong which has seen prices of homes skyrocketing as well within the same period of time.

Combine this situation with the core beliefs of most local Asian governments in embracing large scale development projects as the key to their nation’s economic growth, boosting the local demand of raw material and skill, but at the same time contributing to the inflation and real estate boom. The adaption of greener construction will definitely bring more benefits to both developers as well as home buyers at the present scenario.

Reduced Dependency in Foreign Skilled Labour According to a research paper done by the Construction

IBS limits the dependency of foreign skilled labour in the construction industry as workers are now limited to assemble parts of buildings instead of the current conventional methods of constructions. Countries like Malaysia which rely heavily upon foreign skilled labour has seen the massive roll-out of projects under key economic initiatives such as the 10th Malaysia Plan (10MP) and Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) will require numerous skilled workers, both local and foreign to ensure its successful completion. Being sustainable in construction by using limited labour resources is the key to reduction of cost towards embracing green.

The Increase in Quality of Life from Within In reality, green construction has long been implemented in the past; however the term is known to be exploited in recent years to ride on the global sustainability trends. Basic solutions such as the use of double glazing windows (which was invented in 1930s) and commonly used in the west as

By Harish J Hariraj Consultant and founder of Asia Green SME, Harish pursued Mechanical Engineering from Universiti Tenaga Nasional in Malaysia and currently runs his own consultancy firm in Kuala Lumpur providing solutions to businesses in adapting green, clean, and cost effective solutions.

Harish also coaches SMEs and large corporations with a group of experienced professionals and has a huge passion in green and sustainability.

a solution for thermal insulation is not practiced here in the hot and sunny weather in Asia.

The emergence of new age materials such as light weight concrete blocks in building construction replacing cement bricks which has widely been used in this region has by far been the catalyst to change that could increase the quality of life.

With the reduction of internal building heat in the tropical heat that spans much of Asia, the dependency in usage of central cooling systems is also removed gradually thus keeping buildings cooler from within.

Also the recent development of indoor paint by Japanese manufacturers which cleans the air by absorbing formaldehyde, an indoor pollutant contributes significantly to the quality of life Continues page 24 www.asiamanufacturingnews.com

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From page 23

indoors. Solutions like double glazing windows; light weight concrete blocks, interior paint besides the common thermal sensors and regulators and LEDs in homes may change the perception of going green entirely by driving greener adaption from indoors.

A building built in compliance to IBS and LOHAS standards practically improves the quality of life of the building occupants and as well reduces the cost of construction in the process.

Setting the Standards, Regulating the Industry Green Buildings are usually assessed by evaluating factors such as its energy efficiency, indoor environment quality, usage of material and resources and innovation.

The current standard of practice in most countries in the world is Leadership in Energy & Environment Design (LEED) which is used mainly in the US and Canada and BRE Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) in the UK. In much of Southeast Asia, most countries have their

own compliancy to maintain the standards of construction in line with the other international green standards.

For example, in Indonesia, the Green Building Council Indonesia (GBCI), the Green Mark in Singapore, and the Green Building Index (GBI) in Malaysia.

These standards are vital to ensure that developers who embrace green construction methods and technology are rewarded using a proper regulated green rating system which covers various

Advancement in construction technology spearheaded by the Asian engineers has vastly improved the quality of build in new projects with increased sustainability without compromising on safety.

aspects of the development project. In most system, the developers that embrace green are offered a tax incentive benefit which can be transferred to the home buyer.

Reduction in Wastage, Acceleration in Build, Lowering the Cost The use of high performance materials and also concrete in construction reduces the dependency of sand and water in construction as well as the army of skilled labour. With the IBS, most of the major components are manufactured off site resulting in less wastage in construction and less pollution on site. When assembling on site is done, the result is faster construction and shorter period in overall development. The lesser time it takes to build, the lower the cost becomes. Overall green buildings have the tendency to create an environmental impact as well as reducing the cost of construction to address the rise in housing and building demand. The future of the construction world is definitely green u

Global Smart Phone Shipments Will Reach 1 Billion Units in 2016

BEIJING: ccording to the market analysis released by Qualitydress.com, it is predicted that by 2016 the global smart phone shipments will reach 1 billion units. In 2010, the smart phone shipments were 302 million units.

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According to the study, in the next five years, the shipments of smart phones will account for a large proportion of mobile phones.

This is mainly because the price of smart phones in the future will be reduced. Although the mobile phone manufacturers are www.asiamanufacturingnews.com

more competitive, Qualitydress. com believes that this provides an excellent opportunity for new mobile phone manufacturers.

They can provide consumers with the economic models of mobile phones.

Analyst of Qualitydress.com explained: “In developed markets, many consumers want to upgrade the original featured phones for smart phones, but they still need to pay a certain price. But in emerging markets, due to the low consumer purchasing power and lack of carrier subsidies, the low cost of mobile phones becomes a

necessity.

Currently, the standard price of smart phones is ranging from 151 to 399 dollar. The high-end smart phones market will maintain a strong growth. u

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JEC Asia 2011 to reinforce composites growth in Asia

riven by strong economic growth and urbanisation across the emerging markets in the Asia Pacific region, the demand for advanced composites materials is expected to continue growing at a rapid rate. In 2010, global composites production expanded by nearly five percent to reach eight million metric tons with the Asia Pacific region accounting for 38 percent of the total production volume, driven mainly by unprecedented market growth in China and India.

According to the annual survey of the composites market conducted by JEC, the organisation dedicated to promoting composites internationally, Asian production is projected to make up 43 percent of the global composites manufacturing output by 2015.

“The composites market is flourishing worldwide and a lot of this growth will continue to be fueled by industrial developments in Asia,” says Frédérique Mutel, President and CEO of JEC Group.

“Market demand for the use of

advanced composites is increasing across a wide spectrum of applications, and we expect to see sustained growth for composites in the electrical and electronics, automotive, and aeronautics industry segments over the next five years.”

Building on the sheer scale of composites developments in the Asia Pacific region, the JEC Asia 2011 Exhibition and Conference is well-poised to assert itself as the premier industry platform for showcasing composites innovations in Asia.

Now in its fourth successive year, JEC Asia 2011 will be held on 18-20 October 2011 in Singapore.

Last year’s Exhibition attracted more than 7,000 trade visitors from 51 countries, of which 76 percent of the visitors were from the Asia Pacific region.

“The strong participation of top professionals and key decision makers from Asia is a strong affirmation that JEC Asia is the only industry event that brings together the entire composites value chain in the region,” Mutel says.

“Similar to its past three editions, JEC Asia 2011 will be focused on showcasing the latest technologies, technical content and innovative approaches that are at the forefront of composites developments, as well as providing the platform for information exchange and tapping into new business opportunities.”

Proteus flying machine is constructed from composites. www.asiamanufacturingnews.com

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At JEC Asia 2011, South Korea has been selected as the country of honor based on several criteria, namely the potential for rapid growth in the country’s composites market and the strong network that has been established in South Korea between science, technology, R&D centers, universities and the industry. Over the past 15 years, JEC has developed many strong connections with Korean professionals and organizations in the composites field, such as Hanyang University, Hankuk Fiber Glass Co. Ltd. and Korea Railroad Research Institute (KRRI).

With South Korea being named as the 2011 country of honor, JEC Asia 2011 aims to promote composites product showcases, technology, research know-how and professional expertise related to current developments in South Korea. For a cultural point of view, JEC Asia 2011 also aims to provide visitors with a “taste of Korea”.

Tapping into the latest composites innovations The JEC Asia 2011 Exhibition is expected to attract more than 345 participating companies, including key industry players from every segment that makes up the composites value chain. To further underline the growing significance of the Asian composites market, major Chinese composites firms, such as China National Building Materials, CPIC-Fiberglass and Jushi, have already confirmed their participation at JEC Asia 2011.

Other key Asia-based exhibitors at JEC Asia 2011 include Swancor from Taiwan and Konica Minolta from Japan.

The Show will also be supported by the scientific community and major institutions from around the world, including Agency for Science, Technology and Research, Singapore (A*STAR), National University of Singapore (NUS), Hanyang University (South Korea), Stanford www.asiamanufacturingnews.com

University (USA), Building and Construction Authority (BCA), Singapore Tourism Board (STB), Economic Development Board (EDB), SPRING and Singapore Manufacturers’ Federation (SMa).

South Korea has been selected as the country of honor for JEC Asia 2011.

“This year, we shall further leverage the support of our partners in the educational and research community to encourage dialogue between the industry and composites end users and raise awareness of the breakthrough advantages of new composites materials,” Mutel elaborates. “The composites industry in Asia is increasingly coming to terms with the environmental footprint of their manufacturing, and this year JEC Asia aims to drive discussion on bio-based composites as a more environmentally friendly material option.”

New environmental requirements for reduced carbon emissions across industries and the increased pressure on manufacturers to adopt sustainable concepts have driven up the demand for advanced biocomposites and environmentally friendly materials that provide the same level of performance as traditional materials.

JEC Asia 2011 will showcase a range of new bio-based developments for composites — especially on how the use of natural fibers, replacing the more traditional glass and carbon fibers, is fast picking up market momentum. Natural fibers have the potential to improve the environmental credentials of composite materials, such as biobased plastics (or bioplastics), at a feasible cost. Such developments are already burgeoning in Asia, with Japanese carmaker Toyota accelerating the use of bioplastics in mass production vehicles.

JEC Asia 2011 will also

showcase a range of new composites innovations that are impacting the automotive sector.

Based on JEC’s annual survey, the adoption of composites materials in automotive end-use currently stands at around six percent of a vehicle’s weight.

This level of penetration is expected to increase, as advanced composites materials can help automakers to achieve significant weight reduction while cutting manufacturing cost.

“Asia is driving the new growth paradigm for the global automotive industry, with China and India emerging as the two car markets that are showing the most potential,” Mutel explains. “JEC Asia 2011 will provide a varied display of new material developments such as long fiber reinforced composite structures that are revolutionizing automotive production. The key here is to also showcase how these composites innovations can be tailored to the Asian market.”

Gearing up to automated processes The rapid pace of industrial developments in the Asia Pacific region is also driving up the demand for the use of process automation to improve manufacturing processes, especially for high value-added applications in aeronautics and wind energy.

With its strong focus on automated solutions, JEC Asia 2011 is set to introduce the latest process automation capabilities that help manufacturers in Asia achieve cost optimization, enhanced productivity and improved product quality. In the wind energy segment, for instance, wind turbine manufacturers around the world are increasingly using robotics to potentially reduce the cost of blades by 40 percent, which would ultimately make wind energy more cost

business news competitive in comparison with hydroelectric power.

ASIA MANUFACTURING NEWS • AUGUST 2011

potential, and originality.

While only 30 percent of Asian manufacturing processes were automated in 2001, the market penetration for automated manufacturing solutions in the region has grown to 64 percent in 2010, according to JEC’s annual market study.

JEC Asia 2011 will also see the staging of the third Innovative Composites Summit (I.C.S.), an educational program comprising technical conferences and forums focusing on the latest breakthrough innovations across different application sectors in the composites industry.

“Automation is an important driver for technological progress in the composites industry, and JEC Asia 2011 will provide the platform for Asian visitors to be exposed to the latest means of integrating process automation into composites production,” Mutel adds. “Advanced automation technologies also enable Asian firms to differentiate themselves through adopting more sophisticated production methods.”

This I.C.S. will expose the latest means of integrating automation into composites production to gear up to series production. For the first time on JEC Asia a second auditorium has been created to welcome no less than over 70 papers, all integrating high value content and presented by renowned speakers in their field of expertise.

The innovative programme will be organieed as followed:

JEC Asia 2011 will showcase new automation capabilities in manufacturing processes that involve composite materials, with 35 percent of the exhibitors expected to showcase equipment, machines and software solutions for advanced process automation.

Information exchange for Asian composites developments JEC Asia 2011 will be hosting some of the world’s leading composites specialists and decision makers to share their expertise during the end-user forums and innovation award programs that are to be held concurrently with the main JEC Asia Exhibition.

Composites innovation is at the core of JEC’s activities, and the JEC Asia Innovation Awards provides the platform to showcase and award prizes to leading composite solutions that create value in a range of different end-use sectors.

Each year, the selection criteria for the awards are based on technical excellence, exemplarity of the chain of partners, market

4 END USER INDUSTRY FORUMS AERONAUTICS: Combining design, materials and manufacturing expertise.

With the participation of: • Cytec Engineered Materials (USA) • National Aerospace Laboratories (India) • Faserinstitut Bremen (Germany) • Victrex PLC (Germany) • National University of Singapore (Singapore) INFRASTRUCTURE: Industrializing composites for infrastructures.

With the participation of: • Japan Reinforced Plastics Society (Japan) • Mostostal Warszawa S.A (Poland) • Tecnobell Limited (United Kingdom) • Acciona Infraestructuras SA (Spain) • Farassan Industrial Group (Iran) • Sekisui Chemical CO., Ltd. (Japan) • Eastman Chemical Company (Singapore) • Ashland Performance Materials (China)

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AUTOMOTIVE & GROUND TRANSPORTATION: Facing large scale production for composite parts.

With the participation of: • Volkswagen Research (Germany) • Nissan Renault (Japan) • Technology Information, Forecasting & Assessment Council (India) • Honam Petrochemical Corp.

(Republic of Korea) • Huntsman Advanced Materials (China) • Jacob Plastics GmbH (Germany) • Quickstep Technologies (Australia) WIND ENERGY: Reducing the cost of wind energy.

With the participation of: • Holcim (Singapore) • Vestas Technology R&D (Singapore) • Gamesa Innovation & Technology (Spain) • National University of Singapore (Singapore) A CROSS INDUSTRY FORUM: AUTOMATION: The essential step for serial production.

With the participation of: • KUKA Roboter GmbH (Germany) • Flow International (USA) • CGTech AP Sales and Support (Singapore) • Steinblichler Optotechnik GmbH (Germany) • Tecnatom S.A. (Spain) • Oceania Composites Engineering Pty Ltd (Australia) A TECHNICAL CONFERENCE: COMPOSITES DESIGN: Enhancing the mechanical and physical properties of composites.

With the participation of: • Chomarat (France) • National University of Singapore (Singapore) • National Institute of Standards & Technology (USA) Continues page 28

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2 STRATEGY CONFERENCES NEW in 2011 GLOBAL CARBON FIBER MARKET: Towards high quality, reliability supplied, competitively priced carbon fibre.

With the participation of: • Deakin University (Australia) • The University of Tokyo (Japan) • AKSA Akrilik Kimya Sanayii AS (Turkey) • Hyosung Corp (Repulic of Korea) • Toray (Japan) • Mitsubishi Rayon (Japan) ECONOMIC With the participation of: • Korean Society of Composites Materials (Republic of Korea) • Japan Reinforced Plastics Society (Japan) • JEC Magazine (France) • Taiwan Advanced Composite Center (Taiwan) • + additional speakers from China and India

Reflecting the strong note of optimism held by many industry players, JEC Asia 2011 looks set to build on the success of its first three editions and further reinforce its position as the leading composites platform in Asia — a view echoed by some of the past participants.

“We work in the university and have a lot of contacts with companies who are trying to use composite materials. I find JEC to be a very important place to gain new information and to network with other partners,” says Professor Truong Chi Thanh, Can Tho University in Vietnam.

“I believe JEC’s activity is very important in the world. Composite technology is making rapid progress, and we need to share it throughout the world. JEC Asia works very well and is very important for us,” says Kanemasa Nomaguchi, Board Member of the Japan Reinforced Plastics Society (JRPS).

Agreement signed on ecobuilding projects BEIJING: hina Solar & Clean Energy Solutions a premier manufacturer and distributor of solar water heaters, space heating devices, and integrated low carbon solutions providers in the People’s Republic of China, has announced that one of its subsidiaries has signed a joint construction agreement with a Guizhou company on EcoBuildings Projects.

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On July 25th, 2011, Deli Solar Holding Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of CSOL, signed a joint construction agreement with Guizhou Fuxiang Eco-Industrial City Investment & Development Co., Ltd. (short as the “Guizhou Company”) on green ecobuildings construction projects located in Guizhou, P.R.C. These buildings will be planned and www.asiamanufacturingnews.com

applied with low carbon & ecotechnologies for the purpose of energy-saving, low carbon ecology, and integrated solar energy solutions.

The agreement amounts on eco-building engineering costs are more than RMB 4 billion (approx. US 630 million) with net profit rate of approx.

16-18% and will be executed accordingly and continuously under three phases.In the first phase, the total covered area is approximately 1.5 square kilometers, or 0.58 square miles, and the total estimated costs are from RMB 750 million to RMB 900 million (approximately $116.4 million to $14 million). The construction period will be commencing from August 2011 to December 2012. u

About JEC Composites JEC is the largest composites industry organization in Europe and in the world with a network of 250,000 professionals.

JEC represents, promotes and expands composites markets by providing global or local networking and information services. Through Knowledge and Networking, the JEC experts offer a comprehensive service package: the JEC publications – including strategic studies, technical books and the JEC Composites Magazine – the JEC Composites weekly international e-letter and the French e-letter JEC Info Composites. It also organizes JEC Europe in Paris, world and European leader, strongly supported by the industry and thus, five times bigger than any other composites exhibition in average, JEC Asia and JEC Americas, the www. jeccomposites.com website, the JEC Composites Conferences, Forums and Workshops (I.C.S.; InnovativeInnovative Composites Summit) and the JEC Innovation Awards Programme.

About JEC Asia Platform JEC Asia is the leading composites platform in the Asia Pacific region that brings together all global composites industry players. Supported by major professional composites associations from Singapore, Australia, China and Taiwan, India, Japan, Thailand, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, and other countries, JEC Asia Composites Show and Conferences has secured participation from major companies from all over Asia Pacific and western companies, including leading exhibiting companies from every segment that makes up the value chain of the composites industry. nextSTEP Visit :www.jeccomposites.com u

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NZ technology set to change Chinese dairy industry

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he Chinese dairy industry is about as different from New Zealand’s as you can get.

Consider this: – Their average feedlot has 6,000 cows (compared to herds in NZ of 350) – Cows are virtually all feed-lot (compared to NZ’s grass fed) – Their cow-to-human ratio is 1:100 (compared with our 1:1.5) New Zealand’s global leader in animal weigh scales, milk metering and electric fence systems, Tru-Test Group, has just won a New Zealand China Trade Association (NZCTA) award for technology that is set to help revolutionise China’s dairy industry.

The HSBC Best Exporter with China award reflects Tru-Test’s success in opening up the market for walk-over weighing and animal weight data management for the country’s 12 million-strong dairy cow industry.

With vastly higher input costs than New Zealand (in addition to their feed-lot structure, they import lucerne hay from the US, for example) China needs a systematic means of measuring and managing cow performance.

Tru-Test Group introduced the first walk-over weigh scales system to China just over a year ago, and now around 2% of cows in China are being weighed and the data captured. That means 98% are not – underlining the market’s potential.

Tru Test Group’s Market Manager for Asia, Nick Howarth, says the likely uptake of the Chinese dairy farmers and the intensity of the Chinese dairy industry’s production is likely to provide valuable insights for the New Zealand industry and further

opportunities for companies like us who can export unique kiwi technology.

“Given the number of people in China and the size of their industry, their dairy industry will not be a competitor to New Zealand’s – instead it’s a lucrative market for New Zealand technology and an opportunity to better understand the implications of a different style of dairying,” Nick says.

Given the intensity of production in China, Nick believes the majority of Chinese dairy operations will be using the technology within five years.

Tru-Test Group is working in close partnership with their Chinese distributor to educate farm managers about the need for better animal monitoring, and the ROI possibilities.

The distributors’ field force is primarily scientists and technicians who are able to work through the animal health, production and feeding considerations with farm managers.

“Although the Chinese and New Zealand markets are like chalk and cheese, the overall benefits for the New Zealand dairy industry are the same as they are in China. It’s all about maximising the productivity of the dairy herd to increase profitability.”

Tru-Test’s walk-over weigh scales capture and store animal weights. The scales feature advanced technology that enables farm managers to weigh the animals without stopping them on the platform – critical for the dairy environment, and especially in China with their large average

herd sizes.

Walk over weighing has largely been valuable through monitoring mob weight trends. However, with the emergence of electronic identification (EID) technology, farm managers can also monitor individual animal performance.

The weights captured by the walkover weigh scale can help detect potential productivity and animal health issues. It also enables the segregation of high and low performing cows for differential feeding and health supplement programmes, understanding of optimum return on investment from feed inputs and assists in culling decisions. u

Industrial output up 14% HANOI: ietnam’s industrial output in April surged by 14.3 percent from the same period last year, the Vietnam Business News reported.

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The non-alcoholic beverage and pottery/ceramic sectors delivered a 39 percent increase in production, with sugar production rising by 36 percent and flour milling and production up by 24 percent.

Shipbuilding activity however plummeted by 43.3 percent, with chemical and pharmaceutical production falling by nearly 10 percent.

According to the Vietnam Business News, the country’s consumption index rose by 13.7 percent year-on-year, boosted by sharp increases in the sugar, ceramic products and nonalcoholic beverage sectors.u Source: Vietnam Business News www.asiamanufacturingnews.com

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opinion

Pacific Conferences Introducing First Event on Social Media in Jakarta SINGAPORE:

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ith dataplans and mobile gadgets readily available, social media has quickly caught up with the millions in Indonesia, making it the world’s 2nd and 3rd largest market for Facebook and Twitter respectively. This burgeoning trend provided brands with a window of opportunities, including an enticing alternative to reach out and connect with their target audiences.

The increased recognition by brands on this new and exciting communication platform has led to a sudden spike in Facebook fanpages and corporate Twitter accounts being created in the market. However, brands are not able to move beyond these creations, and remain unsuccessful in really connecting with their customers online. What they lack, is a comprehensive social media strategy, well conceived for the long run.

Echoing this challenge, Ari Fadyl, Online Marketing Manager, Indonesia, Nokia, says, “Many companies jump into the social media bandwagon without proper planning, it’s like driving a sports car without a driver’s license. While other companies have started their social media engines, [they] don’t know how to monetise it, or if it’s possible at all.”

Content that encourages two-way conversations to keep customers engaged, and interests piqued, is crucial to establish greater connection with brands’ target audiences. Emphasising the need for this, Aryeh Sternberg, Technical Advisor, GroupM - Interaction, Indonesia says, “No one can argue that social media is booming in Indonesia, and brands need to be part of it. What is missing is the strategy to engage in the right places, in the right ways, with the right audiences.” www.asiamanufacturingnews.com

To address these issues, a 1-day workshop and 1-day conference on “Social Media Marketing” in Indonesia, on the 22 - 23 September 2011. Attendees of this event will be able to pick up tips and frameworks on how they should be approaching social media, get a deeper understanding of the market demands and tools available and obtain insights on challenges they are poised with.

Also, aside from adoption and integration issues, speakers at this conference will also share methods to measure social media ROI, monitor relevant online chatter, as

Content that encourages two-way conversations to keep customers engaged, and interests piqued, is crucial.

well as, share crisis management and communication tips on how to respond online. The holistic structure of the conference aims to cover as many aspects and challenges Indonesian marketers face, with case study illustrations and hands-on exercises to better internalise lessons shared.

The first of its kind in Indonesia, this conference will include case studies and insights from and of B2B and B2C brands like Nokia, Intel, Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, and more. The workshop leader facilitating the 1-day workshop will be Nikolaus Ong, Digital Strategist, Asia Pacific, MRM Worldwide (McCann Worldgroup). Other speakers comprise of digital experts like Aryeh Sternberg, Technical Advisor, GroupM Interaction - Indonesia, and Charles Hogan, Director, Burson-Marsteller Indonesia.

Brightstar to distribute BlackBerry products in Asia Pacific MIAMI and MELBOURNE:

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rightstar Corp., a global leader in services and solutions for the wireless industry, today announced an expansion of its distribution agreement with Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) into the Oceania region.

Brightstar will leverage its strong market presence and relationships across the Oceania region (Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Fiji and Samoa) to deliver BlackBerry® solutions including a complete range of BlackBerry smartphones, software services and accessories.

Additionally, Brightstar will distribute the BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet to the Australian market. The BlackBerry range of solutions will be available from

various network operators and retail outlets in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.

“The further expansion of our RIM distribution business across the Oceania region is an exciting advancement in the relationship between our two companies, and is a testament to the joint successes we have achieved together globally,” said Arturo Osorio, president of Brightstar Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa.

For more than six years, RIM and Brightstar have enjoyed a strong and growing global relationship, and, with this announcement, the companies have now expanded their collaboration to 94 countries and territories.

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calendar

TRADE SHOWS August 2011 KOREA 2011 International Conference on Applied Mechanics and Manufacturing Technology 18-19-20 August. Jeju,Korea.www.iamsie.org/ammt/index.htm

September 2011 AUSTRALIA EPSM-ABEC Biomedical Engineering 14-18 September, Darwin Convention Centre.

NEW ZEALAND Rugby World Cup CHINA ICC-China 20-21 September, Xi’an CHINA China Paper/China Forest 19-21 September China International Exhibition Centre, Beijing.

CHINA VIV-China 21-23 September 21-23 September CHINA Airport and Air Traffic Xpo China 2011, 23-26 September, Beijing

October 2011 CHINA CEBIT Asia 2011 26-29 October, Shanghai Exhibition Centre CHINA 2011 International Conference on Engineering and Business Management 28-30 October. Shanghai. www.engi.org/cer2011/ INDIA International Journal Conference in Recent Trends in Civil Engineering. 30 October, Trivandrum, Karala. www.ijce.engineersnetwork

November 2011 MALAYSIA Engineering Conference IENCON 30 November – 2 December, Pulman Hotel, Kuching, Sarawak. www.feng.unimas

December 2011 SINGAPORE 2011 IEEE International Conference on Industrial Engineering and and Engineering Management 6-9 December. Furana Riverfront.www.ieem.org

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