Manufacturers' Monthly September 2013

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Publisher: Martin Sinclair martin.sinclair@cirrusmedia.com.au Managing Editor: Cole Latimer Ph: (02) 8484 0652 Fax: (02) 8484 0722 cole.latimer@cirrusmedia.com.au Editor: Matt McDonald Ph: (02) 8484 0645 Fax: (02) 8484 0722 matthew.mcdonald@cirrusmedia.com.au Journalists: Brent Balinski Ph: (02) 8484 0680 Fax: (02) 8484 0722 brent.balinski@cirrusmedia.com.au Alex Heber Ph: (02) 8484 0884 Fax: (02) 8484 0722 alex.heber@cirrusmedia.com.au Editor-at-Large: Alan Johnson Ph: (02) 8484 0725 alan.johnson@cirrusmedia.com.au Graphic Designer: Dave Ashley david.ashley@cirrusmedia.com.au Creative Director: Julie Coughlan Production Co-ordinator: Mary Copland Ph: (02) 8484 0737 mary.copland@cirrusmedia.com.au VIC/Overseas Sales: Michael Northcott PO Box 3069, Eltham, VIC 3095 Ph: 0448 077 247 michael.northcott@cirrusmedia.com.au NSW Sales: Anthony Head Tower 2, 475 Victoria Avenue, Chatswood, NSW 2067 Ph: (02) 8484 0868 Fax: (02) 8484 0722 Mobile: 0414 644 664 anthony.head@cirrusmedia.com.au QLD Sales: Sharon Amos PO Box 3136, Bracken Ridge, QLD 4017 Ph: (07) 3261 8857 Fax: (07) 3261 8347 Mobile: 0417 072 625 sharon.amos@cirrusmedia.com.au NSW, SA/NT & WA Sales: Cirrus Media Ph: (02) 8484 0868 anthony.head@cirrusmedia.com.au Published 11 times a year Subscriptions $140.00 per annum (inc GST) Overseas prices apply Ph: 1300 360 126

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Inside

For daily news visit manmonthly.com.au

SEPTEMBER 2013

42

24

4 Editorial ■ New Government must keep the

spotlight on manufacturing

6 Comment ■ Competitive Gas – why we need a

domestic gas policy

8 Analysis News ■ What’s happening

Which laser is right?

14 Q&A

42 Product Focus: Body Protection ■ Multi-purpose gloves

■ Face to Face with Matthew

Arblaster

■ Turning machines

■ Work shirts

■ Portable CMM for gear

■ Work boots

measurement

16 IT@MM ■ CAD/CAM/CAE

18 What’s New ■ LED Lamps

■ Knee protection pads

30 Made in Australia

44 Security Systems

■ A look at three successful

■ Realising the benefits of

exporters

integrated security

■ Dual measurement multimeters

34 Automation & Robotics

46 Carbon Composites

■ Chip trappers

■ New directions in robotic

■ Quickstep gets its carbon

■ Stressing jacks

technology ■ Custom robots deliver the goods at Electrolux Adelaide plant

22 Skills & Training ■ Towards a sophisticated

38 Materials Handling

manufacturing future

■ Improving Warehouse Efficiencies

24 Metalworking

■ Forklift Safety System

■ Which laser is right for you?

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ANALYSIS >> TECHNOLOGY >> SOLUTIONS

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Metalworking & Machine Tools >> Made in Australia Skills & Training >> New Directions in Robotics Forklifts & Attachments >> Body Protection

composites show on the road

48 3D Printing ■ 3D printing from the industrial to

the medical ■ Additive manufacturing: from

scanning to designing to printing

Behind the cover

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Manufacturers’ Monthly SEPTEMBER 2013 3

MA0913_004.pdf

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Editorial

COLE LATIMER – Managing Editor

editor@manmonthly.com.au

New government must keep spotlight on manufacturing Australia simply can’t let any more opportunities for manufacturing pass by.

W

ell, the election has been and gone. Did you get out and vote?

As I sit here and write this, unfortunately the election is still a few days off and I don’t have a crystal ball here to tell me who is going to win, and take this country on a new road.

What I do know, however, is that whoever is now the new prime minister of Australia has got their job cut out for them when it comes to manufacturing.

In the lead up to the election the industry was at the focus of the major parties’ policies (we’re looking at Labor, the Coalition, and generally ignoring the role of the Greens and the always entertaining Clive Palmer), and how they could support it, or at the very least, give the impression they are.

Because the impression of support, as opposed to any concrete evidence, is seemingly more important.

Under the previous government 0 9 1 3prime _ 0 0minister 4 _ T UR (led M byAformer Julia Gillard), one of the major

initiatives was the Prime Minister’s Manufacturing taskforce which examined productivity, the cost of the high dollar, Australia’s position in the global manufacturing landscape and potential solutions to the industry’s current woes.

As the report stated, it “reflects both the critical challenges facing the sector and the rich opportunities for manufacturing over coming years”.

This report outlined just how important the manufacturing industry is to the nation, saying that “manufacturing’s future and Australia’s future go hand-in-glove”. everything, and like much apparent It developed a number of potential government support of late failed to policies and fixes to manufacturing’s materialise. slow down, examining how it could Adding insult to injury, many rebound and focus on new areas with of the issues identified were well government support. known and common problems It attempted to cover the whole plaguing the industry, ones that gamut of the sector, and provide had been brought up repeatedly in a step by step policy change that regards to government policy but would help it to recover. which had simply been ignored.

And then what did it do?

Both parties have promised the Basically nothing. earth, and repeatedly donned the 1 Time 2 0 1and 3 -effort 0 8 -were 1 3 poured T 1 0 : into 5 5 : 1 hi-vis 7 + 1in0 an : 0effort 0 to show that they a report that was expected to change are in touch with industry, although

It’s time to act on manufacturing. strangely enough Labor and the Coalition’s industry ministers, Kim Carr and Sophie Mirabella respectively, have been unusually silent.

Hopefully this silence does not becoming a theme for the incoming government, whether they be a new party or the incumbent.

Considering the important role that manufacturing has played into the lead-up to this election, we can only hope that this spotlight on the industry continues.

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MA0613_000_NAC.pdf

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Industrial COMMENT MARGARET DONNAN – CEO Plastics and Chemicals Industries Association (PACIA)

Competitive Gas – why we need a domestic gas policy Gas producers claim that the market will sort out what’s best for the nation. But, as Margaret Donnan writes, such a laissez-faire approach to gas doesn’t account for ‘the market’ failing to operate as it should.

E

lectricity and the carbon price have dominated our national policy debate in the past three years, but in the first 100 days of the next government’s life, there’ll be a new energy problem to tackle: natural gas.

Between 20 and 25 per cent of energy use in Australia is gas consumption and the predicted tripling of its price over the next few years will hurt our households and manufacturers.

Australia’s domestic market for gas had settled at around $3 per gigajoule (into Sydney or Melbourne), reflecting plentiful, easily-accessible reserves in Bass Strait and the Cooper and Bowen basins.

Our proven reserves – according to the Prime Minister’s Manufacturing Task Force – are 184 years.

This is the gas market that Australian industry operates in: cheap and plentiful gas, one of the underpinnings of Australia’s first world economy.

Unfortunately, the LNG export plants in Queensland are forwardbuying as much gas as they can for export, which has removed around 80 per cent of the eastern market’s natural gas from the domestic supply. Remaining domestic gas is then re-priced as if it was being sold in the Asian market – a strategy called export parity pricing.

Manufacturers have expressed their opposition to export parity pricing, pointing out that countries in Asia pay up to $12 per gigajoule for Australian LNG because they are gas-poor countries who must import.

Australian industry operates in a gas-rich environment – the previous $3 per gigajoule gas supply reflected the reality of this abundance of natural gas.

Furthermore, because of the size of the LNG export terminals at

6 SEPTEMBER 2013 Manufacturers’ Monthly

Asian countries pay up to $12 per gigajoule for Australian LNG. Gladstone, their forward-buying of gas has taken in the easily-accessed gas from Bass, Cooper and Bowen, which is also the ‘cheap’ gas.

Whether by design or accident, local manufacturers’ new gas tariffs are paying for new exploration.

Gas producers have mounted an argument that the market will sort out what’s best for the nation, and some have labelled the manufacturing sector ‘interventionist’ and ‘protectionist’.

However, taking an economic laissez-faire approach to gas doesn’t account for ‘the market’ failing to operate as a market should.

According to the Bureau of Resources & Energy Economics’ Australian Energy Projections report from 2011, Australian gas production will increase fourfold to 2035. But prices won’t come down. The Prime Minister’s Manufacturing Taskforce in 2012 identified that natural gas prices had already risen by 70 per cent and were likely to go higher because of the export LNG market.

Moreover, the Australian gas market has none of the competitive tension we associate with a market.

There is no spot price for gas, there are no gas-on-gas competitors,

entire basins (wells, pipelines, interconnectors) are controlled by single entities, and export parity pricing is based on 20-year supply contracts to north Asia.

This is not a market where Australian business can shop for the best price.

The scramble to send LNG north to Asia has not only distorted gas pricing, it has made supply uncertain.

Already, a number of large chemical enterprises in this country cannot secure supply contracts past 2016 – this is critical because industries such as fertiliser and plastics use gas as a transformational agent in production.

Uncertainty over gas means investment into the chemicals industry is not coming to our shores because one of our strategic, competitive and available advantages – low and stable gas prices – has ceased to exist.

We have already lost a one billiondollar investment – from Newcastle to the southern United States – primarily because the company could buy $4 per gigajoule gas in the US compared to the almost $9 gas on offer in Australia.

The looming gas crisis also means

we lose our ability to develop clever graduates, to keep smart projects onshore and to see ideas through from concept to production.

Without a robust chemicals and plastics industry we would never have invented and produced the Australian polymer banknote – the local inventors would have developed it in Singapore, Texas or the Netherlands.

Value-added industry is crucial for a nation’s long term prosperity.

According to the National Institute of Economic and Industry Research (NIEIR), for every $1 gained via LNG export, $21 to $24 is foregone in domestic industrial production.

Clearly, an export-weighted gas policy is not sustainable.

The solution is for government to design a domestic gas policy that creates stability and certainty in the homeland, while allowing a profitable LNG export business.

This is possible without invoking the negatives of ‘regulation’. In the United States and Canada, gas regulation protects domestic users – it doesn’t stop producers making a return on investment.

In the US this means there are virtually no LNG exporters because domestic consumption soaks up supply, while Canada reduces gas exports as production reduces. It’s hardly ‘interventionist’.

In Australia we have no domestic gas policy and we need one badly. The federal Minister for Resources and Energy, Gary Gray, is investigating the domestic gas market but the issue is one needs resolution.

Natural gas is a ‘first 100 days’ issue for whoever occupies the Prime Minister’s office after September 7. We all look forward to discussing a framework that allows all parties to thrive off what is, after all, a national resource. manmonthly.com.au

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MA0913_008.pdf

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Analysis NEWS Apprentices win pay rise

T

he Fair Work Commission has awarded first and second-year apprentices pay rises of up to $100 a week.

First-year apprentices who have completed Year 12 will now receive $398.50 per week, or an increase of 30 per cent. And the pay of second-year apprentices who have completed year 12 will increase by 18 per cent. The move was welcomed

by The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU).

ACTU secretary Dave Oliver called the decision a “great outcome for current and future apprentices and for the broader economy”.

“Current wages see apprentices barely able to meet living costs; they are considerably less than other job options and barely more than the Newstart allowance,” he said.

“There is also little recognition of the needs of adult apprentices. [This]

Salaries of apprentices will rise by up to $100 a week. decision is a real step forward.”

However, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) was less enthusiastic about the decision.

Andrew Dettmer from the AMWU criticised the decision on the grounds that those who are already in the system will receive no pay rise.

“We know that there are many

Developing Asian economies need to develop manufacturing DEVELOPING Asian economies need to industrialise if they wish to eventually achieve high income statues, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has stated.

As reported by AFP, the ADB says that nations which do not develop a manufacturing sector but move from agriculture to the services sector are likely to fall into a ‘middle income trap’.

High-income economies are defined as those with per capita incomes of more than US$15,000.

An ADB study of 100 nations showed that economies within this category have at least an 18 percent share of manufacturing in total output and employment for a sustained period.

ADB chief economist Changyong Rhee said at a news conference in Singapore, “A lion’s share of Asian economies are moving directly from the agricultural sector to the services sector, bypassing industrialisation.

“We find that historically, virtually no country becomes a high-income country without having a significant degree of industrialisation.”

Rhee added that it is actually difficult for an economy to go beyond the middle-income stage without the 18 percent threshold in employment and output share.

Countries that have moved from the agricultural 8 SEPTEMBER 2013 Manufacturers’ Monthly

Economies which don’t industrialise attract only ‘lowquality’ service jobs. sector to the services sector without the necessary levels of industrialisation include the Philippines, India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

Rhee says that these countries do not attract service-sector jobs such as legal and IT work.

Instead, they only attract ‘low-quality’ service jobs.

According to Rhee, the problem is not a result of a lack of understanding of the need for manufacturing within governments. It comes down to local politics and government structures.

apprentices who are failing to complete their apprenticeship because of the low rates of pay and that was the evidence that we led and wasn’t contradicted,” Dettmer said.

“We know therefore that by only applying to prospective apprentices that we’re going to have a situation where the existing apprentices won’t see their rates of pay addressed.”

The decision was not welcomed

by Master Electricians Australia (MEA). The organisation said the increases “would destroy the apprenticeship system and kill future apprenticeship opportunities for the building and construction industry”.

MEA Workplace Relations Manager Jason O’Dwyer said the wage rises “represented a significant blow for productivity in the industry and for Australia’s economy”.

Machinist found guilty of manufacturing guns A fitter machinist from a large Newcastle firm has been jailed for four years and six months for manufacturing handguns.

The Newcastle Herald reports that Andrew Peddie, 40 of Lake Macquarie pleaded guilty to illegally manufacturing firearms in his garage and possessing illegal firearms.

According to a statement of facts tendered to Newcastle District Court, police attended Peddie’s workplace where they found a hand-made singleshot pistol in his locker. The pistol could fire a .22 calibre round.

Peddie had claimed that he found the item but a search of his residence revealed more guns as well as firearm designs.

The NSW bikie gangs squad first became aware of the existence of the illegal firearms when they found one of them in a Belmont North home during a raid in 2011.

And in September 2012 police found another pistol with a threaded barrel in the possession of a Newcastle drug dealer.

Peddie was given a non-parole period of two years and six months. Time already served means he will be eligible for parole in August 2015.

manmonthly.com.au

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MA0913_010.pdf

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Analysis NEWS Port Pirie smelter needs upgrade: report THE Port Pirie metal smelter requires a planned $350 million upgrade if it is to meet better environmental standards. Without the upgrade it would probably have to close.

As The Adelaide Advertiser reports, these findings come from the Nyrstar Port Pirie Smelter Public Environmental Report which has been released for public comment.

According to the report, if the smelter were to close there would be significant disruption to the community in the form of job losses, cuts to private investment, closure of schools and reduced government revenues.

The location has been an industrial site for 124 years and the report claims it would not cause any further harm to water, marine, flora or fauna.

However, it says, “Reduction of blood lead levels (in the Port Pirie population) has plateaued and a step change in ongoing emissions from the smelter is required to facilitate

The site of the smelter has now been an industrial site for 124 years. the next phase of emission and blood lead level reductions.

“The primary objective of the Port Pirie smelter transformation is to facilitate that step change by upgrading the smelter’s primary lead production facilities.”

Belgian-based Nyrstar and the State and Federal Governments have agreed to a $350 million deal for the upgrade, but the company has yet to make a final decision on whether to go ahead with the upgrade.

The report is open for public comment until September 18.

Meanwhile, The Australian reports that thousands of workers could lose their jobs if the smelter doesn’t become more profitable.

The Australian has obtained a memo to staff of the Port Pirie smelter which says the smelter “cannot continue to run unprofitably for the next three years.”

The Port Pirie smelter also supports the operation of the Hobart zinc facility. These two plants employ a total of 1400 workers, while an additional 4200 people have jobs would be indirectly affected by any closure of the plants.

The notice from Nyrstar general manager Glenn Poynter says, “Our current performance questions our capability to run the site and deliver a profit.

“The site’s current levels of performance are well below what is acceptable and what the site is capable of, and even with an old plant, we need to do much better.”

Siemens to build new $5m facility in Adelaide

The money would help around 7000 new and existing manufacturing workers.

Prime Minister commits $35.6 million for manufacturing jobs PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd has announced that Labor will spend $35.6 million to retrain manufacturing workers under a Manufacturing Skills Plus program.

AAP reports that the money would help around 7000 new and existing manufacturing workers.

The announcement followed the announcement of a $35 million youth employment program, Step into Skills. The latest announcement builds on that funding.

Echoing a statement that he made in his first 10 SEPTEMBER 2013 Manufacturers’ Monthly

press conference as Labor leader in 2006, Rudd told reporters, “I never want to be the prime minster of a country that doesn’t make things any more.”

“We believe what we need for the future of our manufacturing is to move up the value-added chain into high skill, high tech sectors.”

He added that the government wants to “...help companies move from low skills, low technology manufacturing to high skill, high tech sectors where we will find the jobs of the future.”

ENGINEERING and electronics company Siemens has confirmed it will build a facility in the new Tonsley Park industry hub in Adelaide.

AAP reports that the new centre, which will cost the company $5 million, would be expected to employ 35 workers.

Siemens will move from its current Lonsdale site, where 20 people are currently employed. As such, the new facility is expected to create 15 new jobs.

The new plant will mainly be for the repair and maintenance of turbines used in the oil and gas sector.

As Perth Now reports, the new Tonsley industrial precinct is the site of the former Mitsubishi car plant.

Siemens will join Flinders University and TAFE SA at the new site.

According to Siemens vice-president of energy David Pryke, the new facility will measure 2500sqm and the company will have the space to expand and double that size in future.

The redevelopment of the Tonsley industrial precinct follows the March 2012 release of a masterplan for the site by the South Australian government.

Commenting on the site, Premier Jay Weatherill said, “This is very much, for us, part of a plan to transform an existing manufacturing base in South Australia to an advanced manufacturing base.”

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MA0913_012.pdf

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Analysis NEWS Rudd pledges $500 million more for Aussies take top honours at Solar Decathlon car industry A team from the University of Wollongong PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd has pledged to give the automotive manufacturing industry an extra $500 million from 2016 to 2020.

The SMH reports that, on top of that, hundreds of millions more in assistance will be provided over the subsequent decade.

The funding is intended to secure the medium-term future of Holden’s operation and the Australian arm of Toyota. It is hope that it will protect the jobs of 50,000 auto-sector workers.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott told reporters in Perth on Saturday that the Coalition was prepared to support the motor industry with conditions. ‘’We want the industry to have a future, not just a past, and we are prepared to make a substantial commitment to it but it must be a sound rationally based commitment with a realistic prospect of success,’’ he said.

MA 0 9 1 3 _ 0 1 2 _ E C I ‘’There is the existing significant

It is hoped that the assistance will protect the jobs of 50,000 auto-sector workers. support which the Coalition entirely accepts with this one provision: that we think the automotive transformation scheme should have $1 billion in it as it was originally budgeted rather than the $1.5 billion the government put in there at the height of the GFC.’’ AAP reports that Opposition industry spokeswoman Sophie Mirabella said that the coalition’s approach is to make it cheaper to build cars in Australia by cutting the 1carbon 2 0 tax, 1 3 reducing - 0 8 - 1company 3 T 1 0 :tax 4 7 : and slashing business red tape.

and TAFE Illawarra has taken out first place in the Solar Decathlon in China, the most recent addition to the international family of Solar Decathlon competitions.

As Solarbusiness.com.au reports, the team (known as ‘Team UOW’) won the competition ahead of 19 other teams from around the world.

Team UOW won for their ‘Illawarra Flame House’ which they assembled and disassembled twice in Australia, before shipping it to China and rebuilding it in less than two weeks.

The awards won by Team UOW included First place in ‘Engineering’; First place in ‘Architecture’; First place in ‘Solar Application’; Second place in ‘Communications’; Second place in ‘Market Appeal’; First place in ‘Energy Balance’; First place in ‘Hot Water’; Second place in ‘Appliances’.

The award was a timely reminder of Australia’s expertise in the field of solar energy. It comes as Bloomberg reports that there was a large surge in solar panel shipments for the second quarter 3 of 7 2013. + 1 0 : 0 0 In fact, three of the four largest

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ECi can reduce operational costs, improve productivity and increase profitability.

There was a large surge in solar panel shipments for the second quarter of 2013. manufacturers outperformed their expectations by as much as 32 per cent.

According to The Business Spectator, much of the increased demand is coming from Asia. The region may soon account for half the world’s solar energy demand and China has the potential to increase its solar capacity by five times by 2015.

Meanwhile, The Australian reports that in Western Australia the Liberal government has reversed its decision to halve the solar panel electricity feedin tariff. The back flip follows a major public outcry and dissent within the government.

ECi M1 offers complete integration from quote to invoice: Customer Relationship Management

Quoting and Estimating

Quality Management and Reporting

Advanced Planning and Scheduling

Accounting & Payroll

Job Costing and Analysis

Yes, you CAN do business your way with the powerful M1 ERP software for growing manufacturers!

Visit www2.ECiSolutions.com/M1-ican to find the solutions that fit YOU!

US: 866 617 6389 • AUS: 1300 130 241 • NZ: 0800 441 186 • UK: +44 0333 123 0333 • NL: +31 023 555 49 49 http://manufacturing.ECiSolutions.com • ECiM1@ECiSolutions.com ECi, M1 and the ECi Red Box logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of eCommerce Industries, Inc. All rights reserved.

12 SEPTEMBER 2013 Manufacturers’ Monthly

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Analysis NEWS Coalition launches manufacturing policy

Steinway agrees to $US512 million takeover

ICONIC piano maker Steinway Musical Instruments has agreed to accept a $US512 million ($A565.28 million) takeover bid by the Paulson and Co investment group.

TONY Abbott, visiting a Volvo Group AAP reports that the price equates to $US40 per share. Paulson facility, has announced the opposition’s increased this price from its original offer of $US38 per share. manufacturing policy.

The announcement follows the decision by rival bidder, private equity firm The Coalition, which is ahead in most Kohlberg & Co., which had offered just $US35 per share, to stop bidding. recent polls, would benefit the industry The Paulson bid came during the ‘go-shop period’. This is a time when through measures such as cutting company bids are often not actually expected. The go-shop period is used to ensure taxes (it has previously announced a cut that companies can claim that they did everything possible to get good from 30 to 28.5 per cent in the tax rate), offers for shareholders. It can be a defence against possible law suits. doing away with the carbon and mining John Paulson said in a statement, “Steinway has a 160-year history of taxes, changes to workplace laws, and cuts manufacturing the highest quality pianos and musical instruments. The to regulation, Abbott said.

“I want Australia to be a country If elected, the Coalition plans to cut industry company’s proven business model and highly skilled employees provide a that makes things,” AAP reports the regulation. strong foundation on which to expand.

“We fully intend to maintain the superb quality of Steinway’s musical opposition leader as saying. instruments, which are the finest in the world.”

He claimed that one in seven Two funding announcements were Chairman and chief executive of Steinway, Michael Sweeney said in manufacturing jobs had been lost since made for the industry, budgeted at $50 a statement, “At $US5.00 per share more than the offer from Kohlberg, the beginning of 2008. million each: a Manufacturing Transition this transaction provides shareholders significant additional value for their The federal opposition leader, in Fund and a restoration of funding to investment.

Brisbane with shadow industry minister Export Market Development grants.

“At the same time, our employees, dealers, artists, and customers can Sophie Mirabella, suggested that the A minister for trade and development rest assured that Steinway will be in excellent hands under John Paulson’s government’s approach to the automotive would also be appointed, and “Strategic stewardship.” sector had been immature.

Growth Action Agendas”, which would Steinway is renowned for its legendary Steinway grand piano. The list of Abbott said that the Coalition’s “bring industry and government together approach would not mean that, if elected, to develop strategic, coordinated and long virtuoso pianists who have played the pianos includes Arthur Rubinstein, it would, the A D _“Run M A Ndown MB A C road A P Rafter _ 1 1 . p d f term P aplans g e for1 growth 9 / 0and 3 / viability” 1 1 , 2was : 3 3 Ignacy P M Paderewski, Vladimir Horowitz, Evgeny Kissin, Mitsuko Uchida and Lang Lang.

Holden waving a blank cheque at them.” announced.

manmonthly.com.au

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Q&A:THE PEOPLE OF MANUFACTURING Q&A: Matthew Arblaster, Production Supervisor As part of our Q&A series we interview you, and find out what your job is day to day. In this edition we speak to Matthew Arblaster, a production supervisor at Bayer and a nominee for the 2013 Endeavour Awards Young Manufacturer of the Year award.

Manufacturers’ Monthly: What

focused subjects than more traditional engineering courses.

Since then I have completed a certificate 3 in Accounting, a Diploma of management and have attended the Bayer Leadership course and the Global excellence in operations course.

To improve my business skills I am currently completing a MBA at Victoria University.

are your primary roles and responsibilities in your job? Give us a day in your working life.

Matthew Arblaster: I am responsible for production department of the Australian site of Bayer MaterialScience. In this role my biggest and most challenging task is to mentor the Production and Maintenance teams to ensure we have a culture of Safety, quality and efficiency. This involves me working with and developing team leaders and operators so that they can make the correct decisions and build on their knowledge to ensure the plant runs smoothly. I run and coordinate training days for the teams to align and develop skills and aim to create a development culture.

As well as this I help production operators and maintainers solve problems and address any critical issues that may arise. Another key responsibility is to work with scheduling to coordinate future production and develop new products. I also need to ensure that I am “on top” of what happens at the 24hr plant to ensure production runs according to plan … put things back on track when things go array.

Other parts of my role involve being the global lead for efficiency which involves coordinating the shared knowledge with my global counterparts to ensure we learn from each other and deliver best practices.

One of the things I love about my job is that no two days are the same, and even the best planned day can take a completely different course, which can create some new and interesting challenges.

MM: What training/education did you need for your job?

14 SEPTEMBER 2013 Manufacturers’ Monthly

MM: How did you get to where you are today? Give us a bullet point career path.

MA: During my 3rd year at university

Arblaster is responsible for the production department at the Australian site of Bayer MaterialScience.

MA: I believe there are three areas of skill set in any job - technical, financial and people skills. In terms of technical skills, my engineering degree gave me the problem solving skills I needed to be able to learn onsite more about my industry and how the equipment I was working with operated. In terms of financial skills, I am focused on completing the MBA as this gives me a broad understanding of all business disciplines. People skills is the hardest one as there is no set recipe that can be taught. I have been fortunate enough for Bayer to send me on leadership courses to

give me the theories, but the real learning comes from reflecting on conversations and thinking “how did that go, how could I have done that better?” and continually challenge yourself.

Due to my love of manufacturing as a child, spending Saturday mornings in my father’s factory and any other free time pulling apart my mother’s cake mixer just to see how it worked, I enrolled in a Bachelor of Industrial Engineering and Engineering at Monash university – this was the only manufacturing focused course I could find and had far more human and business

I needed to complete a summer work experience for my engineering course, I applied at Bayer and I was lucky enough to be selected.

Working there for 5 years I was given challenging and rewarding projects including managing the maintenance department, project managing a $6M new production line and a large upgrade to the existing machinery.

From here seeking new challenges, I moved to Fosters Wine Estates to become the plant engineer at the state of the art Wolf Blass Packing Center to help implement lean manufacturing. I then took a position implementing an environmental government program as well as Capital projects in the engineering team, which gave me the opportunity to travel to many of Fosters’ sites to work with the different local teams.

At this point I wanted to focus my career on people management and leadership, and for this I needed to understand what it was like to work on the shop floor and be managed.

To obtain this experience I took an opportunity at a Fosters winery in the Napa Valley in California USA, where I shoveled grapes, operated the crusher and drove forklifts.

Looking to continue developing manmonthly.com.au

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leadership and people management, I returned to Bayer to manage production and work for my mentor Bruce Scott.

at the core of this task what function does this do and how do we do this simply.

MM: What is the biggest challenge MM: What tools and/or software do

facing your business?

you use on a daily basis?

MA: Higher cost pressures MA: Basic computer.

MM: What is the one thing that you are most proud of in your professional life?

MA: How my team has come together with a very proactive attitude and will challenge themselves.

For this we won the annual Bayer Achievement award in 2012.

Arblaster is currently completing a MBA at Victoria University.

MM: What is your biggest frustration

are a problem for everyone in manufacturing around the world and we are expected to do more with less, through building a strong base of skill and flexibility in our teams and thinking long term with our equipment we can be competitive.

China’s costs are increasing rapidly which will open up more opportunities for Australian manufactures, by making sure our plants and teams are skilled and ready we can grab them.

MM: Biggest daily challenge?

MM: Biggest career challenge?

MA: Balancing the daily demands

MA: Many challenges, but when I

MM: Is there anything else about your

of plant management to the longer term tasks.

This task is becoming easier by developing and empowering my team to make decisions, freeing MA 0 9 1 3 _ 0 1 5 _ me K EtoL focus my time on longer term goals.

look back they have all been human MA: In the whole manufacturing focused. Machines are complex but industry we are all doing more and logical, people are complicated and more with less, but it’s about finding i am learning that it takes different simple ways to complete the new 1styles 2 0for 1 engaging 3 - 0 8 - different 1 3 T 1 0 : 5 0 : 1 tasks 5 + 1which 0 : 0is0 easier said than done people. … in the end its about questioning

job you want Australia to know about?

in your job?

manmonthly.com.au

MA: I really want to thank my Father and Bruce Scott who have both been amazing mentors throughout my career, as well as Bayer.

Manufacturers’ Monthly SEPTEMBER 2013 15

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TechnologyIT@MM CMM for a whole aerospace blade

R

enishaw is highlighting a developing family of high performance hardware and software products for co-ordinate measuring machines (CMM), specifically designed to aid the measurement and manufacturing of aerospace blades.

All products complement the company’s Revo 5-axis measurement system and include Apexblade planning software for Revo sweep scanning and Dmis programming, Modus airfoil analysis for the calculation and reporting of blade section profile and airfoil characteristics, and SurfitBlade to aid reverse engineering of the complete airfoil.

Historically, blades have been measured in sections due to the limitations of measurement techniques. This recent family of products enables the whole blade to be inspected rapidly and accurately, allowing unlimited section or full surface analysis based on highprecision contact probe data.

Apexblade software, according to the company, has been designed to quickly generate collision-free programs that drive the Revo measurement system to carry out complex ‘sweep scans’ that will

This family of products enables the whole blade to be inspected rapidly and accurately. collect point cloud data from across the entire blade surface. The CAD model is imported into the virtual Revo CMM environment prior to the automatic generation of the measurement plan. Both transverse

and longitudinal scans are supported and each sweep can be split, an assistance with edges where the actual position is expected to be significantly different from the nominal CAD. Once the user is

happy with the program, a DMIS file is generated that can be executed within Renishaw’s Modus metrology software.

According to Renishaw, a key advantage of its new approach to blade measurement is that a cloud of tip centre data points is generated over the entire airfoil and root surfaces. The Modus point cloud sectioning (MPCS) functionality then allows “on surface” sections to be constructed by intersecting any defined plane with the captured point cloud. This can be carried out at the time of measurement, or in the future if further sections at different locations are required, without the need for re-measurement of the blade.

The Modus airfoil module then allows the user to take the nominal aerofoil sections available from the CAD model and the actual sections from the MPCS to provide blade fitting functionality for the reporting of blade section profile and aerofoil characteristics. Modus offers comprehensive graphical reporting tools and the profile measurement results, which are fully integrated with all other feature measurement reports, and can be output in pdf file format.

Imaginit forks out $64,000 of BIM training IMAGINIT Technologies, a company providing technology solutions to organisations with engineering design and information technology requirements, announced last month that it is offering $64,000 worth of Construction Industry Training Board (CITB)-funded Building Information Modeling (BIM) training to members of the CITB. 100 places are allocated under the program, providing subsidies totalling $64,000 for CITB members for the Introduction to BIM, BIM and Revit MEP and BIM and Navisworks courses.

“We’re proud to be offering subsidised BIM training to CITB members as we truly believe an 16 SEPTEMBER 2013 Manufacturers’ Monthly

organisation’s most valuable asset is their people,” said Michael Lachs, the managing director, Australia, for Imaginit Technologies.

“Our combination of top-tier instructors, curriculum that’s been proven with the delivery of thousands of classes and real world examples, ensures students will maximize their learning in every session.”

Imaginit provides a range of public and tailored in-house CAD training courses.

The adoption of BIM across Australia is changing the way the construction industry collaborates and builds projects. Governments including Singapore are mandating BIM for building projects.

100 places are allocated in the training program. manmonthly.com.au

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Multi-axis machining and software solutions GERMANY’S Schott Systeme, a CAD/CAM developer, will be displaying their newest 5-axis prepositioned and simultaneous machining capabilities at the EMO 2013 exhibition in Hannover, from 16th to 21st of September.

Schott provides standard 5-axis machine post processors at no extra cost. 3+2 axis prepositional programming is included within the standard version of their Pictures by PC CAD/CAM software.

5-axis simultaneous programming is also available as an additional add-on module.

The software supports the prepositional machining of 2.5D and 3D milling techniques, as well as engraving and drilling. Feature recognition identifies regions to machine, with drill optimisation sorting multi axis holes into depth, machining

require further machining with a smaller tool. This enables the residual material to be completely removed.

Automatic safety retraction zones are setup around a part, so any tilting movement of the machine head is undertaken away from the component.

New machining strategies include 5-axis z constant simultaneous milling and 5-axis double projection milling. This later capability is popular with industrial engravers.

A 5-axis toolpath is firstly folded onto a cylindrical surface. The resulting toolpath is then folded onto The software supports the prepositional machining of 2.5D and 3D milling techniques. a second cylindrical surface (for example a ring with orientation and shortest machining version also includes multi-axis double curvature).

M material A 0 7 1 3recognition, _ 0 0 0 _ Bwhich OG 1 2The 0 1original 3 - 0 6version - 1 8 Tof0Pictures 9 : 0 4 by : 4 2 + 1 0 : 0 0 time. rest The newest ‘Pictures by PC 3.6’ both analyses and marks areas that PC software was launched in 1983.

Aerospace and defence project software FRENCH company Dassault Systèmes has developed ‘Co-Design to Target’, an integrated aerospace software suite.

According to the company, the software is developed in response to demands placed on aerospace and defence companies to deliver projects and programs on-time, on-budget and on-target.

This task is often made difficult by increasingly complex systems, overly aggressive plans and the premature incorporation of new technologies.

In addition, the design phase is often plagued by disconnected workflows, point solutions differing across a programs ecosystem, and the constant flow of unpredictable changes into a program’s design.

Dassault Systèmes claims to have addressed this with their software, which provides multi-disciplinary simulations for reaching performance targets, and early and continuous quality checks for accelerating product maturity to specification. Stated benefits include improving system reliability and overall product performance.

Capabilities include a real-time view manmonthly.com.au

est f The software provides multi-disciplinary simulations for reaching performance targets. of program status that connects the elements between all the processes in a program’s execution; real-time view of an aircraft’s design performance by providing designers and architects with the ability to design not only in the context of traditional digital mock-up (DMU) but also new Functional Mockup (FMU) that incorporates a designs’ behaviour’; and integrated engineering value streams – from design and simulation to part fabrication planning.

The software is said by the company to lower costs by reducing program complexity.

erman ngineering

FOR YOUR NEAREST DEALER VISIT www.boge.net.au OR CONTACT 03 5940 3266

Manufacturers’ Monthly SEPTEMBER 2013 17

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What’sNew See more new products at manmonthly.com.au

Mini power pallet truck LENCROW Materials Handling now offers the EPT20-18ET, a 1800kg mini power pallet truck.

Designed to work in the back of delivery trucks, the unit has a self-weight of just 280kg.

The pallet truck has a boosted drive unit that is intended to provide better traction on ramps and tailgate loaders.

And it also has newly designed casters and an inbuilt battery charger.

Designed with the needs of the beverage sector in mind, it meets the demand for a large capacity as well as a low self weight.

The pallet truck is built to work with hardwood pallets with 25mm bottom boards.

The pallet truck is relatively light-weight.

According to the company other pallet jacks have struggled with these pallets.

Lencrow Materials Handling 1300 245 993 www.lencrowgroup.com.au

Newly CE-compliant chip trapper

The hose is resistant to several chemicals.

Flexible hose for liquid transfer needs LIQUIFLEX from Eximo is manufactured from food grade PVC and provides high resistance to both internal and external pressures.

Given that it can withstand extremes of both hot and cold (0°C-60°C), the hose is suitable for a range of applications including the transfer of liquids in the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, chemical and water treatment industries.

It is crush-resistant and can be used for the delivery and suction of liquids including beer, milk, fruit juices, wine, spirits and a range of other liquid products.

Designed and made in Germany, the hose features a smooth, soft transparent PVC wall combined with rigid anti-shock red PVC-reinforced helix rings. This makes it strong and flexible and is intended to ensure its structural integrity.

Available in diameters from 20 mm-150 mm, it is Phthalate-free and conforms to EU and FDA regulations.

It has a bend radius of between 90 mm and 680 mm and a maximum working pressure of 10 bar.

Made of heavy-duty PVC, the hose is also resistant to a number of chemicals including Ammonium Sulphate, Ammonia, Aluminium Sulphate, Calcium Chloride, Citric Acid, Ferric Chloride, Glycerine, Phosphoric Acid, Sodium Hypochlorite, Sulphuric Acid and Zinc Chloride.

Eximo 02 9757 1233 www.eximo.com.au 18 SEPTEMBER 2013 Manufacturers’ Monthly

EXAIR’S chip trapper is designed to provide a fast way to clean large coolant sumps. The unit has met the environmental standards of the European Union and now carries the CE mark.

The chip trapper is capable of removing solids such as chips, swarf and shavings from used coolants and other liquids.

It vacuums the coolant or liquid into the (included) 55 gallon drum and traps all solids in a reusable filter bag. It is recommended for use on machines with sumps, parts washers, tanks and storage containers.

With a turn of the flow valve, clean liquid pumps back out. Coolant that would last only six weeks without the use of such a device is said to last six months when the chip trapper is regularly used.

The chip trapper is powered by compressed air and has no motors or impellers which can clog or wear out. Safety features include a built-in pressure/vacuum relief and an automatic safety shutoff valve

The chip trapper now carries the CE mark. that prevents spills or overfilling.

The chip trapper comes with a number of accessories and an optional spill recovery kit is also available.

Compressed Air Australia 1300 448 246 www.caasafety.com.au manmonthly.com.au

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Brought to you by

New generation LED Lamp

The flow meter provides comprehensive information.

Air/gas flow meter SUITABLE for critical operations and hazardous environments, the ST100 Series Thermal Mass Air/Gas Flow Meter from Fluid Components International is now rated for Safety Integrity Level (SIL) 1 compliant service.

The Flow Meter has been classified as a Type B subsystem in accordance to IEC 61508-1 with a hardware failure tolerance of 0.

The Probability of Failure on Demand (PFD) meets SIL-1 capability standards.

It is suitable whether the need is for 4-20 mA analogue, frequency/ pulse, alarm relays or digital bus communications such as HART, Fieldbus, Profibus or Modbus.

Should a plant’s needs change over time or an upgrade be desirable, the flow

meter adapts as necessary with a plug-in card replacement that can be changed out by plant technicians in the field.

The Flow Meter’s graphical, multivariable, backlit LCD display/readout provides comprehensive information with continuous display of all process measurements and alarm status, and the ability to interrogate for service diagnostics.

The user-friendly unit stores up to five unique calibration groups to accommodate broad flow ranges, differing mixtures of the same gas and multiple gases, and obtains up to 1000:1 turndown.

AMS Instrumentation and Calibration 1300 316 970 www.ams-ic.com.au

Logistics software THE Calidus Total Logistics Software System is designed to help Third Party Logistics services companies and wholesale/distribution businesses increase the efficiency of their transport and warehouse operations.

This is a comprehensive logistics operational system including warehouse management, transport planning and execution, collection and delivery management and supply chain tracking.

It is intended to help to optimise complex distribution networks by managing orders, inventory and labour from a single or multiple control centres.

The fully integrated system includes features such as electronic proof of delivery, rail container management and voice directed picking.

There is the option of a traditional implementation at the client’s premises or using a SaaS approach whereby companies can select from a range of managed service options that combine the benefits of Cloud Computing with a secure hosting facility owned and managed by OBS Logistics.

OBS Logistics www.obs-logistics.com

manmonthly.com.au

HELLA Australia has chosen leading mobile lighting brand Allight as the national roll-out partner for the next generation of its HypaLUME LED floodlight.

The launch version of the 240w floodlight produces 22,053 effective lumens per lamp, and is becoming popular for mobile Minespec towers following its success in fixed lighting applications and on vehicles.

Eight lamps can be mounted on an Allight MS-9 mobile lighting tower, and the 176,424 lumens they produce provides enough light for many operating areas of a mine or civil construction project.

The breakthrough will make LED an efficient and economical option for virtually all the operating areas of a mine and open up the LED space to Allight’s lighter and more portable metrospec towers.

The success of LED in mobile lighting applications stems from the efficiency and economy gains it brings to mining and construction projects.

Hella Australia 03 9581 9333 The LED lamps are suitable for mobile Minespec towers. www.hella.com

Portable industrial computer MICROMAX offers the Artila Electronics Matrix-516, the new generation of its ARM-based box computers.

This industrial box computer is a small form-factor, Linux-ready computing platform that is designed for reliable, 24/7 unattended control at low-power consumption levels.

It is recommended for a variety of industrial applications, including intelligent transportation systems, building automation, energy-saving systems and factory automation.

It is intended to provide high performance with a 400MHz Atmel AT91SAM9G20 SDRAM A D _ M A NCPU, M P R64MB I MA R _ 1 and 3 . p 128MB NAND Flash.

It is adaptable, offering multiple I/O interfaces, including 2 LANS, 8x isolated RS-485 serial ports, 2x USB hosts, 1x micro-SD and 21x GPIOs. The Matrix-516 offers easy development of C or C++ programs or web-based applications such as SQLite+ and PHP. The computer includes a failsafe design and a Linux environment that is highly scalable and configurable.

It includes a Data Flash with a backup Linux file system, which provides system recovery and startup if necessary.

Micromax df P a g e 1 1 1 / 01300 2 /322 1 536 3 , www.micromaxsa.com.au

RD S SET TING THE STAENSDAAFE WITH INNOVATIV ONS STORAGE SOLUTI

EFFEC EFFECTIVE E CTIVE COMPL COMPLIANCE FOR EVERY INDUSTRY Designed and manufactured in Australia 1300 134 223 1300 307 895 sales@storemasta.com.au www.storemasta.com.au

Manufacturers’ Monthly SEPTEMBER 2013 19

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What’sNEW Compact stressing jacks

The multimeter can measure temperature.

Dual measurement multimeter GW Instek rolls out the new generation Dual Measurement Multimeter – the GDM-834x series, which has two models – GDM-8341 and GDM 8342.

Its features include 50,000 counts, VFD dual-display, 0.02% basic DC voltage accuracy and a USB protocol connector to provide users with measurement precision, lucid data observation, and the convenience to connect with the personal computer.

The multimeter series not only supports the fundamental measurement items provided by general multimeters, but also includes capacitance and temperature measurement functions.

It also provides many auxiliary

functions to meet the measurement requirements for manufacturing process tests, educational experiments and testing facilities.

The series offers two ways of storing and retrieving data: first, the USB flash drive storage function – operating alone without connecting with a computer; second, USB interface (virtual COM port) and optional GPIB interface (must be installed in factory) for automatic measurement system users to conveniently save and retrieve data.

Tekmark Australia 1300 615 882 www.tekmark.net.au

DURABLE, lightweight and compact stressing jacks are being introduced by Enerpac for use in the construction, engineering and infrastructure industries.

They are suitable for use on elevated structures including bridges, beams, production plants, resource facilities and high-rise buildings.

The 30-ton hardened steel hollow double-acting jacks are part of a comprehensive family of stressing products from Enerpac, including a complete range of anchors, chucks, wedges and stressing jack systems for pre-tension and post-tensioning, and resource industries including mining and energy.

The 6DAH series – weighing between 20-27kg – stress strand up to .6” diameter, with their powered extension and retraction safely and simply controlled by a bleed valve on the pump.

Standard jack strokes extend from 150-300mm. For smaller strands .5”, jack grippers are available.

Enerpac 1300 198 007 www.enerpac.com/en-au

Order picker SUITABLE for any stock picking/stock replenishment application, the Powerlift Sprint is designed as an alternative to ladders or using an expensive order picker to pick light loads at low levels.

It has a platform height of 3.3m, enabling stock to be picked or placed at 5.3m and its material tray has a capacity of 90kg.

It offers fast travel and lift speeds, and features intuitive controls.

And, given that it’s simple and safe to operate, it is said to be a good buy for operations with inexperienced or casual staff.

Control of forward and backward movement is proportional and can be controlled simultaneously with the raising and lowering functions without moving the hand. Its raising system has eliminated the usual chains and as such requires no maintenance like chain inspections and greasing.

Operator safety is optimised through 20 SEPTEMBER 2013 Manufacturers’ Monthly

Up to three rear-vision cameras can be installed.

Light-duty truck adds reversing camera

The order picker has a 90 kg capacity. the use of double foot sensors and a left hand sensor which means the operator needs to be in a stable, correct position to allow activation.

Powerlift Material Handling 1300 232 186 www.powerlift.com.au

THE Hino 300 Series light duty truck is now equipped with an integrated reversing camera which complements its raft of standard safety systems.

The reversing camera sends a video feed to the Hino multimedia unit, which is fitted as standard across the entire Hino truck range.

In dark or low-visibility situations such as early mornings, night or inclement weather, the camera uses infrared technology to ensure drivers remain aware of their surroundings, regardless of the conditions.

The multimedia unit features a large 6.1-inch high-definition touch-screen, DAB+ digital and conventional AM/FM radio receivers, CD and DVD player, USB and SD input, and is Bluetoothenabled.

Up to three Hino rear-vision cameras can be installed and viewed on the screen in a variety of configurations, including viewing all three simultaneously in a split-screen arrangement.

Hino 1300 014 466 www.hino.com.au manmonthly.com.au

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Brought to you by

Twin-belt turning device for palletising bags

The robotic palletizing system is economical.

Robotic palletizing system THIS robotic palletizing system is claimed

by Robotize to be within the price range of small businesses.

OHS Regulations aim to protect workers from musculoskeletal disorders with the requirement that the activities such as palletizing bags or boxes be eliminated as far as reasonably practicable.

In the past, it wasn’t practicable for small manufacturers to implement expensive automated solutions. These companies would instead implement pallet lifters, and vacuum lifting hoists to assist workers to minimise, but not eliminate the risks.

Whilst the use of engineering aids

(lifters and hoists) increased costs and failed to eliminate injuries, this robotic solution is intended to decrease operating costs and eliminate any risk of musculoskeletal injuries.

The solution is simple to use, reliable and suitable for a wide range of product types and sizes. New programs can be created or adjusted simply and no programming knowledge is required by operators.

As such, this system is suitable for companies with changeable stacking requirements.

Robotize 1300 916 431 www.robotize.com.au

THIS twin-belt turning device is designed to facilitate the gentle palletising of bags filled with bulk material.

It is said by the company to be an alternative to the existing The twin-belt turning device represents an alternative to the existing clamp-type clamp-type turning device. turning device.

It works with two separately driven belt conveyors. By up to 2,400 mm, the palletiser palletises applying a differential speed between bags filled with bulk material on any both belts it is possible to turn the bag to commonly used pallet size and in all be palletised by 90 degrees or, in some technically feasible packing patterns. cases, by 180 degrees.

The variable bag and pallet sizes are According to the company, this adapted by rapid parametric setting procedure ensures a dimensionally stable with multi-programming. This high level bag which is important for products with palletising system is intended to place a certain flow behaviour and for soft bags into the desired packing pattern bags. quickly and gently.

The twin-belt turning device is Beumer Group Australia designed M A 0 for 9 1use 3 _with 0 2the 1 paletpac _ R E C high1 2 0 1 3 - 0 8 - 1 3 T 1 002:9450 5 60380 : 2 7 + 1 0 : 0 0 capacity palletiser. With a stack height of www.beumergroup.com

SAFETY CORDONS

MADE EASY.

OPC Server for WITS MATRIKONOPC has released its OPC Server for Well Site Information Transfer Specification (WITS).

It provides open data connectivity to well site data systems using WITScompliant devices.

Areas in which WITS-based data is common at a well site include geology, drilling, cementing, drill stem testing, electronic data recorders (EDRs) that capture logging while drilling (LWD) and measurement while drilling (MWD) data.

According to the company, it is intended to give end users direct access to their WITS data via any [OPC enabled] application and make it easier to share and work with key data onsite and with the rest of the enterprise.

Key features of the Server for WITS include support for communications through TCP/IP, UDP and/or serial channels and simultaneous support for WITS Level 0 compliant active and passive devices.

It permits read and write access to available data points and is fully compliant with OPC DA 1.0, 2.0a and 3.0 specification.

MatrikonOPC 07 3840 6949 www.Matrikonopc.com

manmonthly.com.au

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AUSTRALIAN

MADE

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Skills& TRAINING Towards a spohisticated manufacturing future As The Manufacturing & Engineering Institute of Australia sees it, there’s life in manufacturing yet. But if we want to keep the sector healthy in this country, we need to realise the importance of skills and training. Matt McDonald reports.

T

imes are hard for the Australian manufacturing sector. So hard, some say, that the sector is dying.

“Manufacturing in Australia is not dying,” David Armston, Secretary of The Manufacturing & Engineering Institute of Australia (MEIA) told Manufacturers Monthly. “What’s happened is the volume bottom end of the market, the commodities stuff has largely gone to Asia because it is cheaper.”

As a result, Armston explains, smart Australian manufacturers need to concentrate on supplying more precision components. In other words, the survivors will be those who produce added valued, differentiated items.

Businesses who follow this path “are actually buying themselves a future by being in specialist niche markets rather than volume markets because … the volume markets have all mostly gone to the cheaper Asian operators.”

Securing the future of Australian manufacturing, or more specifically Australian metals manufacturing, is what MEIA was set up to do. The organisation aims to fill the gap between the larger, established industry associations and smaller (SME) metal manufacturers. It acts to help those SMEs find their way to value-added niche markets and help them to survive and prosper.

As a bridge between SMEs and the broader industry, MEIA helps share new ideas and the latest technologies to everybody in the industry. It aims to improve the work practices of businesses and the skill sets of their workers.

Skills and Training Armston says that skills and training are two of MEIA’s major focus areas.

Indeed, TAFE and Manufacturing 22 SEPTEMBER 2013 Manufacturers’ Monthly

Physical capital and human capital are two key concerns of MEIA. Skills Australia are represented on the organisation’s board.

Within ‘Skills and Training’, he identifies four key issues that need to be addressed if Aussie metal manufacturers are to survive.

The first issue is the skills shortage. This may be a bit of a no-brainer to anybody closely associated with the sector, but a look at the figures sheds light on the extent of the problem.

The six monthly Skill Shortages, New South Wales report, published in 2012 by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations provides information about the NSW labour market and reports on the results of its ongoing skill shortage research.

According to the report, in 2102

64 per cent of occupations in the technical and trades category had a skills shortage. This was an improvement on the 2011 figure of 77 per cent, but was still very high.

The second issue of concern to MEIA flows on from the skills shortage. Australia doesn’t just have a skills shortage. We also have an issue with skills mix.

“We need to help SMEs think about the skill mix they need for the future. For their businesses to survive and prosper we’ve got to help them work out what skill mix they need,” Armston says.

“This means they have to understand what’s happening in technology, what’s happening in education, what’s happening in the general industry trends … younger

workforce … older workforce … this sort of stuff.”

The third key issue is training funding.

According to Armston, in every state, governments are looking at the TAFE sector and working out how to fund it into the future.

This is proving a difficult task and at the moment “... for both TAFE and the private sector registered training organisations there’s a lot up in the air in terms of funding.”

“We believe one of our roles is to make it easier for SMEs to understand what the options are in terms of funding their training.”

The fourth and final issue is how to deal with red tape.

Armston explains that, when it comes to training, there a lot manmonthly.com.au

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of options. And with various organisations offering them training packages, many SMEs find it difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff.

As he puts it - “A lot of the smaller companies are saying it’s all too hard to understand what is available and what isn’t, both from the government sector and from the private sector.”

How can MEIA help?

“We are trying to provide a clear path to SMEs so they know how to go about upgrading the skills of their organisations now and in the future,” says Armston.

Without such a path, he says, many businesses find the whole issue of training too confusing and too daunting. So they don’t bother.

Step one on the path is letting businesses know where the work is.

SMEs need to look to the future and consider technology trends like 3D Printing, CAD and so forth.

In Australia the number of people employed in the manufacturing sector has halved in the last 10 years. As painful as this shift has been, it was always going to happen.

The maths is simple. This country can’t compete with Asia at the high volume end of the market.

So the manufacturers who succeed are going to be the ones who find themselves the right markets and equip themselves with the necessary M A 0capital 9 1 3 to _ succeed.

0 2 3 _ API physical And they will also need to have

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the human capital to succeed. This involves apprenticeships and technical training. And, increasingly, it involves workers with graduate skills. MEIA can also inform businesses about such issues.

As Armston puts it – “Human capital means that you actually have to think about what are the skill needs of your business for the next five years and what sort of people do you need.

“Do you need to upgrade the skills of the people? Do you need to replace the older workers who are going to retire?

What sort of apprentices David Armston, Secretary of The Manufacturing & or graduates do you Engineering Institute of Australia. need?”

“It’s about trying to help people plan and deliver a successful worked with. There are good models business.” and ways to do this.”

The first was held last month MEIA Forums at Miller TAFE in south-western To get this information out there, Sydney. The program incorporated MEIA is offering a series of Forums a regional World Skills competition and Seminars. for apprentices and a manufacturing Commenting on the forums, and engineering suppliers EXPO and Armston says, “People will be Seminars. encouraged to bring not only The importance of skills and themselves but their boss and their training to MEIA was reflected by key people. So that’s the model and the fact that three of the papers 1it’s 2 0 1 3 well - 0 8in- a1lot 3 of T 1industry 0 : 3 8 : 0 delivered 1 + 1 0 : on 0 the 0 day focus on the worked associations and institutes I’ve topic.

Manufacturing Skills Australia addressed the topic of the future direction of funding for qualifications in manufacturing and engineering; Australian Industry Group gave a paper regarding policy influences, services and working with MEIA; and state and federal government representatives addressed the issue of government support.

From here, the forums are to become quarterly events with the aim of keeping everybody in the industry informed and up-to date with the latest information.

At time of printing, the Federal election had not yet been fought and, as with much of the economy, the industry was in something of a lull. But by November when the next MEIA event is scheduled, the immediate future will be clearer and the focus of discussion will be on the post-election options for manufacturers.

Armston sums up the ambitions of the Forums like this – “We’ve got to provide value, we’ve got to provide forums, we’ve got to provide knowledge and information – so they get knowledge transfer, business improvement … and they also get an industry social life. If they’re interested in the first two, the third comes automatically.”

And, hopefully, so does future success.

MEIA 0419 242 886 www.meia.org.au

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Metalworking& MACHINE TOOLS Which laser is right for you?

While laser cutting has been around for decades, there still appears to some confusion between fibre and CO2 laser cutting machines. Alan Johnson reports.

W

hen the first fibre laser cutting machine was introduced several years ago many in the metalworking industry believed the CO2 laser was dead for cutting metal.

But Dave McHugh, Managing Director of LMC Laser Services, disagrees saying it all depends on the application.

“Fibre and CO2 are the two main types of laser cutting machines on the market, and they are both great

machines. We sell both, so there’s no bias,” McHugh told Manufacturers’ Monthly.

“While some people try to make the differentiation quite difficult, and talk about it being high tech, in fact it’s quite simple.

“If you want to cut thin section metals up to 5-6mm thick, including copper and brass, and that is all you do; you wouldn’t go past a fibre laser machine.

“The fibre machine is faster and

the edge quality is as good. So, for manufacturers of thin-gauge metal components, a fibre laser cutting machine is the better choice. Having made that point, fibre lasers can cut similar thickness’s in carbon steel as CO2 lasers using oxygen as the assist cutting gas.

“However, the moment you want to cut thick carbon steel, with oxygen as the assist gas, the only choice is a CO2 laser machine.”

McHugh explains that it’s the spot

size of a fibre laser that is the key differentiator.

“The spot size on a fibre laser is about 10 times smaller than a CO2 laser, so you get far better energy concentration.

“For example, a 2kW fibre machine, with nitrogen as the assist gas, will cut thin materials at similar speeds to a 6kW CO2 machine.

“However, the problem with the spot size being approximately 10 times smaller on a fibre machine

The spot size of a fibre laser is the key differentiator between laser cutting machines.

24 SEPTEMBER 2013 Manufacturers’ Monthly

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is when it comes to cutting thicker carbon steels. With oxygen as the assist gas, you need a larger kerf so you can get the oxygen through.

“The fibre laser machines get around this problem by de-focusing the beam to a spot size similar to a CO2.

“Which means a 3 or 4kW fibre laser, cutting thick carbon steels, will only cut at the same speed as its equivalent CO2 laser, because you have defocused the beam.

“The machines defocus the beam by moving the lens, or other methods, similar to moving a magnifying glass to burn a hole in paper using the sun. If you don’t focus it, you won’t burn a hole.

“By defocusing the beam on a fibre laser machine, you create a spot size big enough to create a kerf wide enough to get the oxygen through,” McHugh said.

Cost differences When it comes to cost of the machines, McHugh says a fibre laser cutting machine is more expensive Watt for Watt to buy, but the running costs of a CO2 laser are far higher.

“With fibre lasers there are no laser gases, no turbines, no vacuum pumps, and no optics other than lenses and windows, which are a small consideration.

“However the power supplies on a fibre laser machine can be very expensive to replace. But saying that, most are guaranteed for two years, which can be many operating hours in a busy jobbing shop,” McHugh said.

When it comes to applications, McHugh says again the key difference between the machines revolves around the diameter of the focal point.

“While in theory only, you can have a focal point as small as 10.6 micron in diameter on a CO2 laser, the focal point on a fibre laser can, in theory be as small as 1.6 micron, roughly 10 times smaller. That opens up a far bigger window of microscopic applications for the fibre laser cutting machine.”

McHugh says over recent years both types of machines have become smarter and faster, with increased computing power. manmonthly.com.au

“One of our latest Bystronic machines can cut over 600 2mm holes in 1mm mild, with nitrogen as the assist gas, per minute. It’s going that quick that you really can’t see what it’s actually doing, it’s just a blur.

“The computing power of the latest machines, fibre and CO2, is fantastic, and we are now seeing more and more companies using our Bystronic machines in ‘lights-out’ operations, “Be it fibre or CO2, the real smarts come about because of increased computer power. These latest machines are very easy to program, with no special skills required.

“With fibre lasers you don’t need to change the focal point or nozzle alignments, and with the latest CO2 laser machines Bystronic have automatic head changes, which change the focal length for cutting different materials, plus automatic nozzle changes and alignment, bringing the CO2 laser closer in operational specs to the fibre laser.

“Now with these latest CO2 lasers you can go from, for example 1mm mild to 10mm stainless, without any manual intervention on the machine at all.

“So while a simple CO2 machine might be more cost effective for some manufacturers with limited range of materials and long runs, for a company with a wide range of materials to cut, and where changeover time is critical, the latest automated CO2 machines are ideal.

“However, for companies that only want to cut up to 5-6mm thick material (almost any), using high pressure nitrogen as the assist gas, you wouldn’t buy anything but a fibre laser cutting machine, but as soon as you want to cut thicker carbon steels, with oxygen as the assist gas, then a CO2 laser machine is the far better option.

“This is why CO2 machines are the most popular with contract cutting companies, and will remain so because of their flexibility in cutting different materials and thicknesses,” McHugh said.

LMC Laser Services 03 9555 5525 www.lmclaser.com.au

Pa ge

1

2 8 / 0 9 / 1 2 ,

ABSOLUTE COOLANT PROOF CALIPER

FOR USE IN THE TOUGHEST MINING ENVIRONMENTS After introducing the World-Renowned Absolute System to Digimatic Calipers, Mitutoyo now announces a further major breakthrough in electronic Caliper Design.

The New COOLANT PROOF Caliper achieves an Ultimate Dust/Water/Coolant protection level.

IP67

The COOLANT PROOF Caliper can be used in tough workshop conditions where at present only a mechanical Vernier Caliper can be used.

M.T.I. QUALOS PTY. LTD. 55 Northern Road, West Heidelberg, Vic. 3081.

Telephone: (03) 9450 1900 Freecall: 1300 135 539 Facsimile: (03) 9458 3217 Website: www.mtiqualos.com.au

Manufacturers’ Monthly SEPTEMBER 2013 25

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Metalworking & MACHINE TOOLS SS and super alloy drills

The CMM has a measurement volume of 1.5m up to 4.5m.

Portable CMM for gear measurement HI-TECH Metrology has released the Romer Gear Measurement System from Hexagon Metrology, a portable CMM 3D gear measurement system.

The Romer Absolute Arm is combined with Quindos software for the analysis of special geometries; to measure complex parts usually inspected on complex metrology devices.

The system is capable of measuring internal and external gears of cylindrical, straight or helical shape with unknown parameters.

Its measurement volume from 1.5m up to 4.5m makes it possible to

measure even large gears without the logistical difficulty of having to move them.

The database structure of the software contains all measurement data, making it available for further processing and reporting later.

For gear measurement tasks, the Quindos Unknown Gear package makes it possible to calculate all relevant gear parameters by measuring only one single gear tooth, making it especially useful for the re-manufacturing of broken gears.

Hi-Tech Metrology 1800 283 095 www.hitechmetrology.com.au

WITH newly developed hardwearing super alloys calling for innovative tools for effective and efficient machining, Sutton Tools recently released the Black Magic range of carbide drills for high-quality drilling of the latest materials found in the aerospace and oil and gas industries.

The drills have been developed specifically for drilling stainless steels and super alloys, such as austenitic grades 304 and 316, duplex grades, as well as inconels 718 and 725.

The range is designed for use in CNC machining equipment for component producers to the aerospace and oil and gas industries, and is available from 3mm to 13mm in 0.1mm step sizes, and from 13mm to 20mm in 0.5mm steps. Across this range, there are further options that include a choice of two drill depths – 3xD and 5xD – and two different drill lengths.

According to the company, it is the cutting geometry, the edge preparation, the coating and the base material that defines the unique performance and cutting characteristics of the drills. The R30-IK geometry has been designed and produced with more positive relief angles, which helps prevent work-hardening occurring.

The Black Magic range features a Balzers Oerlikon Helica multi-layer (AlCr-based PVD) coating, which has been optimised especially for carbide drills. This coating protects the solid carbide ultra-micro grain

The drills have been developed for stainless steels and super alloys, such as austenitic grades 304 and 316, duplex grades, as well as inconels 718 and 725. base material of the drill by offering a thermal barrier between the work-piece material and the drill substrate.

Sutton Tools 03 9280 0891 www.sutton.com.au.

German machine tool industry optimistic for 2013 FOLLOWING two years of substantial growth, the German machine tool industry expects a modest increase in production output of 1% during 2013.

“This means the sector will be back to its previous high from 2008,” said Martin Kapp, Chairman of the VDW (German Machine Tool Builders’ Association).

“Last year went better than expected: the good starting position with the order books full and capacity utilisation at a high level sustained production throughout 2012,” said Kapp.

With growth totalling 9%, the sector achieved a production volume worth 14.1 billion euros.

26 SEPTEMBER 2013 Manufacturers’ Monthly

At the same time, German machine tool exports reach a new high of 9.5 billion euros, representing a rise of 20%, the highest figure ever measured.

Kapp said the German machine tool industry’s single biggest market continues to be China. With a volume of around 2.4 billion euros and growth of 14%, the Chinese market bought more than twice as many German machines as the second-largest market, the USA. However, the German domestic market, characterised by risk-averse mid-tier customers, stagnated at 6.8 billion euros, still considerably below the pre-crisis level.

For 2013, the VDW’s forecasting partner, Oxford Economics, is confident that industrial production output and fixed-asset investments will once again be showing a somewhat steeper increase worldwide. This applies primarily to Asia and America, less to Europe.

“All in all, the macro-economic environment offers plenty of momentum in 2013.

“Early indicators like the worldwide Purchasing Manager Index and the ifo Business Climate Index for the German machine tool industry have been pointing upwards for some months now,” said a confident Kapp.

manmonthly.com.au

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Metalworking & MACHINE TOOLS Turning machines THE new CTX 450 ecoline and 650 ecoline machines are the first jointly developed turning machines from DMG and Mori Seiki.

The new machines feature large turning and spindle passages along with a rigid and compact design, which according to the company, demonstrates how much emphasis was put on ergonomics.

The work area was designed to provide optimal chip fall and clean up.

Two different chip conveyors (to the right or the rear) are available and the large doors also provide quick access to the work area.

The company says the two new machines complete the series and set new productivity and performance standards with their servo turrets and high rapid traverse speeds.

The CTX 450 has a maximum swing and turning diameter of 650mm and 400mm respectively, while the CTX

The new machines feature large turning and spindle passages. machine has a maximum swing and turning diameter of 800mm and 600mm.

The longitudinal (Z) is 600mm for the CTX 450 and 1,100mm for the CTX 650 machine.

Additional features of the machines include an ergonomic control panel, a 15” TFT screen, dialogue programming, 3D “live“ simulation, a VDI or BMT turret, verified thermal stability, real C-axis with a direct encoder and an optional direct path measuring system (X/Z).

DMG Mori Seiki Australia 03 8545 0900 www.dmgmoriseiki.com

RMIT installs new high-end laser processing machine THE RMIT Advanced Manufacturing Precinct has installed a Trumpf TruLaser Cell 7020, a high-end laser processing machine which can be configured for laser cutting, laser welding and laser additive manufacture with both powder and wire feedstock.

RMIT’s Milan Brandt said with Australian manufacturers facing a number of significant challenges to stay competitive, the industry must focus upon advanced manufacturing technologies and processes.

“Metal additive and laser welding are growing areas of research internationally with significant commercial potential, so we purchased and installed the TruLaser Cell to help promote these processes locally and work with progressive companies on developing new products and processes based on laser technology.

“With Ford withdrawing its Australian operation by 2016, now is a key time to invest in various new ways of manufacturing, and welding in particular to ensure more efficiencies are gained and processes are automated as much as possible.

“RMIT is investing heavily in exploring different ways of manufacturing in Australia, within both polymer and 28 SEPTEMBER 2013 Manufacturers’ Monthly

The machine can be configured for laser cutting, laser welding and laser additive manufacture. the laser metal deposition field.

“The machine we purchased is a very versatile machine allowing companies to explore the full potential of laser technology,” Brandt said.

Headland Machinery 1300 592 061 www.headland.com.au. manmonthly.com.au

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LS Parting off and grooving of small components SECO has announced the introduction of X4, a new multiedged, tangential tool for parting off and grooving of small components.

Available in cutting widths from 0.5 – 3.0mm, X4’s inserts are designed to minimise material consumption The inserts are offered in a wide range of shank sizes. in parting off and enable precise grooving and copying of for a wide variety of common workpiece small and medium-sized, complex parts. materials.

To increase flexibility, every specific To further increase X4’s performance, X4 insert seat can accommodate all X4 inserts with the MC chipbreaking insert types, allowing for reduction of geometry can be applied. tooling inventory.

This versatile geometry achieves Depending on the cutting edge width, excellent formation of comma and clockthe tool’s maximum cutting depth spring chips in a variety of materials ranges from 2.6 – 6.5mm and can cut and uses a straight front edge line to off maximum bar diameters from 5.2 – guarantee a straight bottom within a 13mm. groove.

The inserts are available in neutral, Seco Tools Australia right-hand M A 0angled 7 1 3 and _ 0 left-hand 0 0 _ P angled CS 1 2 0 1 3 - 0 6 - 1 8 T 11300 1 :557 5 326 3 : cutting edge options and are suitable www.secotools.com

Wireless gauge interface FOR companies who need to measure products where it is not convenient to have cables or a PC close by, MTI Qualos has released Mitutoyo’s new U-Wave Wireless Gage Interface.

The system is described as simpleto-use and allows wireless data communication from a hand-held measuring tool to a PC. With a cordless range of up to 20m, the system is designed to increase the flexibility of measurement data recording in a wide variety of situations.

With U-Wave, the measurement station and PC no longer need to be adjacent, thus enabling more freedom in determining the layout of inspection facilities and shop floor areas.

Also, since the U-Wave is free of cable-to-PC constraints, operators can perform measurement on large work pieces with greater agility. And, by eliminating cabling issues, the U-Wave is ideal for use with long measuring tools which may require special care in handling.

In operation, the U-Wave-T sends 3 Digimatic 9 + 1 0 tool’s : 0 0output (the U-Wave-T may plug directly into the Digimatic port

THE FINE LINE BETWEEN PLASMA AND LASER QUALITY Effective Cutting Width 2.0 - 2.5m Effective Cutting Length 3.2 - 45.0m Solid Welded Construction

Partners

The interface allows wireless data communication from a hand-held measuring tool to a PC. or attach via a short cable) and sends it to the U-Wave-R which loads data into Excel or SPC software via included U-Wavepak software.

MTI Qualos 03 9450 1900 www.mtiqualos.com.au

The PCS Fineline incorporates the latest precision high definition plasma technology.

It’s been designed for high speed and ultra high accuracy plasma cutting of material up to 50mm.

• Up to 2.5m effective cutting width • Infinite length • Automatic torch height control • Plasma cutting • Single spindle drill • Paint marking

• Automatic plate alignment • Automatic plate feed • Extra safety devices • Wireless pendant • Digitally zoned fume extraction • PCS designed & manufactured cutting tables

+61 3 9305 2555

www.profilecuttingsystems.com

manmonthly.com.au

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AustralianMADE Made in Australia: A look at three successful exporters Brent Balinski speaks to three very different Australian manufacturers about how they’ve been able to sell to the rest of the world.

“B

ounce-back tipped for industries” read a headline accompanying a story about a Grattan Institute report released in July, suggesting that manufacturing had survived the boom “in reasonable shape” and is set to rebound.

The possibility of a declining dollar is usually thought of as good news for manufacturers. “It’s going in the right direction now,” offered Ian Harrison, the CEO of Australian Made, when the subject came up.

With the worst of the pressure from an unusually high dollar hopefully over, we asked a few exporting success stories how they’ve been able to sell a significant chunk of what they make overseas, and who were able to compete on quality, with cheapness – especially to a customer overseas – not available as a selling point.

Carving out a niche Macnaught has been in business, at the same southern Sydney of Turella, since 1948. It makes fluid transferrelated products, about half of which are exported. It exports to over 60 countries.

“Our key to success has been that most of our products are tailored to very specific applications and we understand who uses them and why,” CEO Bob Hill told Manufacturers’ Monthly.

“Many larger competitors design their products to suit a broader range of applications, whereas we tend to focus on niche markets with specific needs.”

Hill gave the example of metered hose reels. He explained there were companies that built hoses suitable for service vehicles, sure, but 30 SEPTEMBER 2013 Manufacturers’ Monthly

Macnaught had developed a reel for this specific market. As the needs for such an item were similar over the world, export potential has been strong.

Adapting to the high dollar had had its challenges, but the company retained considerable overseas demand for their products, which include flow meters, hose reels and grease pumps.

After-sales offerings – including two- and 10-year warranties on products and a guarantee of replacement parts being available for 10 years after purchases – are also an important part of the business.

“A key point of difference to many of our competitors is Macnaught actually designed the products we sell and therefore we can support our customers with technical expertise directly over the phone without delay,” operations manager Steve Gavin explained.

“Time is money for all of us and getting answers quickly is a valuable resource to our customers.”

The GFC forced the company to re-think what it does well, as well as adapt to the disappearance of a lot of companies in its supply chain.

Macnaught has developed the ability to manufacture some components in-house, and invested in equipment to boost their agility, with machinery that enables them to quickly switch “from one of two or three products during the same day.”

“We have invested heavily into CNC machinery to produce components effectively from billet materials which are still readily available from local suppliers,” said Gavin.

“With this internal manufacturing

The falling Australian dollar is seen as good news by our manufacturers. manmonthly.com.au

>>

MA0913_031_MAC

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Made in Australia Ergonomic handle

Impact resistant UV stabilised polypropylene case Easy to remove side plate for swivel access & hose replacement

Industry compliant hose and fittings Positive internal hose latching allows mounting in any position

Lockable swivel mount

FOR OVER

25 YEARS

Available in various models to suit most pail sizes Revised lid assembly allows different height grease pails to be catered for.

The use of polymer material in the air motor means no lubrication is required Zinc components for underground coal mining compatibility Robust yet lightweight materials KY SUPERGRIPâ&#x201E;˘â&#x20AC;? 3 jaw high pressure coupler for positive connection 50:1 pump ratio for maximum grease pressure Wide, flexible follower to suit most tapered pails Low air consumption means smaller compressor and less power used Strainer on pump inlet to prevent contamination Tried and tested B2 booster gun and Z swivel to boost grease pressure up to 10,000psi 4m of tough high pressure grease hose

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www.macnaught.com.au 1800 185 102 Manufacture Monthly Ad1_3.indd 1

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Australian MADE >>

perspective it has been essential that we adopt a LEAN manufacturing philosophy to remain competitive both locally and overseas.”

On a different note Something that’s said of locally made products is that they can be expensive. The received wisdom is that Australian companies would be best suited trying to compete on quality rather than price.

“Rarely is a product or produce from Australia going to be at the cheaper end of the market,” Harrison told Manufacturers’ Monthly.

“Very recently, a company from Sydney launched their mattress range into China – AH Beard – and the uptake has been sensational.

This is an example of offering quality rather than price as a competitive advantage. Harrison feels this is where Australian companies could do well, especially in the Asian Century, where recently affluent Asian customers view Australian products as luxuries they can suddenly afford.

“There are companies that are exporting other types of furniture into Asian marketplaces, not because it’s cheap: it’s not. But because it’s very good quality – it’s unique, it’s Australian, and there’ll be a demand

Macnaught makes fluid transfer-related products. among the middle- to upper-class areas.”

One company that’s been enjoying increased overseas success has been Maton Guitars. With a history going back to 1946, Maton is a distinctly

Australian brand operating at the premium end of its market, and has a global reputation for its highquality acoustic guitars and pickups.

According to general manager David Steedman, exports have grown

Quickstep produce a highly advanced, unique product that forms part of a global supply chain.

32 SEPTEMBER 2013 Manufacturers’ Monthly

from 10-15 per cent of total revenue to almost 25 per cent.

“Domestically we still enjoy leading brand status, and our domestic market is still our bread and butter, and is really, really important and always will be,” Steedman told Manufacturers’ Monthly.

“But of course we need to export to survive and export to grow.”

He listed countries including New Zealand, the US, the UK, Japan, Germany and Hong Kong as mature markets, and said that lately Continental Europe and China had emerged as growth export destinations.

“We’re particularly excited about our market in China,” Steedman said.

After a long, careful search for the right distributor, one was appointed this year and sales outstripped expectations very quickly.

Being Australian and being known as a premium product are huge parts of Maton’s success. It uses uniquely Australian materials as a point of difference against its competitors.

“Queensland maple, Victorian Blackwood, and we also use Bunya pine: we were the first to use that in the world,” said Steedman, who has been with the company since 2004. manmonthly.com.au

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“And what that does is give a unique tone as well as physical style.”

He added that the attention to detail given to the company’s products was also a hugely important part of what made them successful, as was the dedication to innovation.

“We do things in such a way that our staff here are more like craftsmen, whereas overseas guitar makers are more like production workers,” said Steedman. “It’s a really important difference.”

“Consistency of tone, quality, appearance and performance are what we are known for. If someone goes to a particular model in our stable, they know that if they pick up that guitar out of a factory or out of a shop in Parramatta or out of a shop in Perth it’ll play the same” He singled out the development of a new pick-up, the company’s AP5 Pro, as an example of thoroughness with research and development.

The product’s designers, engineers and others involved in the process – including elite Australian guitarist Tommy Emmanuel – spent four years testing, developing and replicating the version it was based on, and finally improving on it.

“The final version of the product was revision number 68,” said Steedman.

“We thought we were there about two years ago. That was a great product, and it was at the level our artists required. And we had to do two more years of work to develop that tone and get it to the stage where we are now.”

Again, this is an example of a company working in a niche, investing heavily in time and money, and creating a world-beating product.

Stepping up to the challenge Last month Manufacturers’ Monthly went to Quickstep’s Bankstown site, where the carbon composites maker was announcing the fast-tracking of commercialisation of its Resin Spray Technology for vehicle parts, which it hopes will be eventually used in Audi cars.

Quickstep, a supplier to US aerospace giant Northrop Grunman on the Joint Strike Fighter project and the winner of Manufacturers’ Monthly’s Manufacturer of The Year award in 2011, is often held up manmonthly.com.au

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as an example of what Australian manufacturers can do well: produce a highly advanced, unique product that forms part of a global supply chain.

Examples of companies doing this include Textor Technologies (who sell to Kimberly-Clark), Ferra Engineering (Boeing) and ANCA (General Electric, Boeing and many others).

Quickstep announced in July that it had provided its 100th part to the JSF project, and, the month after that, that it agreed to licence its patented Quickstep Process to Russian firm ORPE Technologiya.

The company employs 80, though predicts this will rise to 100 at the end of the year.

Quickstep’s precision manufacturing creates skins and wingflaps for American planes,

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Kim Carr gave his opinion.

“This is able to move the whole issue about the economics of manufacturing in Australia,” Carr told Manufacturers Monthly.

“There are still high-skill, highwage jobs here, but there’s still a capital-intensive process. So the proportion of labour costs and the total cost of production is reduced, but the opportunities to produce on world markets are enhanced.”

And what would companies need to do to successfully export?

“We have the very best science, the very best universities, and the very best research capacities in the world,” he said.

“We’ve got to utilise these more effectively.

What we need is people that have got the right attitude, the entrepreneurial spirit to want to get out there and make a

There’s a big, wide world out there for Australian manufacturers. and its technology will soon be used to protect Russian satellites, and it has – though cash flows have sometimes been an issue – been held up as an example of where the future of Australian manufacturing might lie.

And how much of what it makes is it able to export?

“Well that’s easy: 100 per cent,” managing director Philippe Odouard said.

“We don’t supply anything to the Australian market. We might if this [RST] takes off with the car industry, but there’s probably a fair bit of work to get done to get there.”

Asked what Quickstep said about where Australian manufacturing could do well, industry minister

quid, to apply new technologies to develop new industries.”

According to figures from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade released in June, Trade in Primary and Manufactured Products, Australian manufactured exports were down 4.4 per cent in 2012 to $33.0 billion. The persistently, unfavourably high dollar and other factors mean this wasn’t an unusual result. ...Products lets us know that the industry’s exports “have decreased by an average of 3.8 per cent per annum over the past five years.”

But there’s reason for optimism.

There are Australian manufacturers – such as those above, but there are many, many more – whose

wares have been internationally in-demand, despite the difficulties.

“The currency has come off about 15 per cent since April,” Innes Willox, the CEO of the Australian Industry Group, noted in July “If it is held down or falls further, those companies that have been able to stay afloat will be very globally competitive.”

As we write this, the opposition has just announced that if elected its manufacturing policy will include increased funding for manufacturing exports, through $50 million in export market development grants.

And the federal government has spent the last year – following Ken Henry’s Australia in the Asian Century white paper – encouraging the industry to try and reap the future rewards of the booming Asian middle class, and the estimated 2 billion people living in Asian cities by 2025, some of whom will want and be able to afford quality imported products.

There’s a growing realisation that what’s being made in Australia is going to be very important. When the hunger for our resources has evaporated, the need for a diverse economy – and healthy exports from manufacturing – can only become more apparent.

And why shouldn’t this be a focus?

We make a lot of great things, including but nowhere near limited to flow meters, guitars and hightech carbon fibre panels.

As far as the markets Australia should be targeting, Harrison believes that there are many countries where this could be done successfully. The Asian century might offer rich rewards, but it’s a big, wide world out there.

“Even though the government has announced a strong focus in the last 18 months on Asia, and that’s very relevant, it is inappropriate for the government to not provide support for Australian exporters in a wide range of other, more supposedly mature markets, such as the US, the biggest consumer economy in the world, Europe, South America, and in due course Africa,” said Harrison.

“We can’t put all our eggs in the Asian basket. We have a natural relationship with Asia because we’re in proximity, but there are established markets that will always be important for Australian businesses.”

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Automation& ROBOTICS New directions in robotic technology Robotic technology is developing all the time. As Hartley Henderson writes, the latest innovations in the field include equipping robots with ‘perception’ and improving the interface between human and machine.

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onfronted with a range of challenges including competition from low cost countries, skills shortages, and sluggish productivity growth, there is a need for Australian manufacturers to seek alternatives to conventional production methods.

While some 99 percent of Australian manufacturing industry consists of SMEs that often have low volume, high value production runs, current industrial automation is largely designed for high volume, low variation processes. To meet their needs, SMEs generally require more flexible, lower cost approaches to production.

A recently released White Paper from the Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Future Manufacturing Flagship focuses on the need for affordable investment in technology.

It points to recent advances in robotics and information and communications technology, and the need for close collaboration between worker and robot to achieve optimum outcomes.

More affordable new approaches to automation are required including assistive automation to provide flexibility in support of high variety low volume production runs.

CSIRO’s Dr Peter Kambouris says we need to change the way we manufacture by providing companies with more flexible systems to deliver customised products.

“Avenues are being investigated to introduce appropriate automation into SMEs with a view to adding value and assisting the worker through autonomous solutions, rather than replacing the worker,” Dr Kambouris told Manufacturers’ Monthly.

“This is a very unique paradigm shift for Australia that involves providing the robot with perception so that it knows what is around it and can navigate through

34 SEPTEMBER 2013 Manufacturers’ Monthly

its environment to grasp and manipulate items in the production process.

“There is a need for new thinking to look at manufacturing processes in a different way, where the robot assists the worker or is directed by the worker.

“CSIRO is working on building a robot to assist the worker, incorporating the use of information systems to provide knowledge to help the worker to do complex tasks, which in turn will lead to enhanced quality control and improved productivity.

“Significant productivity improvements could also be achieved by looking at how data and information is linked and transferred in the supply chain. New systems are required to handle information.”

The CSIRO White Paper emphasises that to maximise competitiveness, Australian manufacturers need to seek alternative affordable investment

component of CSIRO’s Lightweight Assistive Manufacturing Solutions (LAMS) concept that is designed to work with and make work easier for humans and to deliver a potential new era of flexibility and agility to Australia’s manufacturing industry.

Wearable technology

CSIRO’s Dr Peter Kambouris. solutions that provide flexibility to respond to volatile demand.

To assist in the way ahead, significant technological advances are being made in a new generation of lightweight robots with advanced vision systems that are particularly suited to the requirements of SMEs. These robots form a key

CSIRO has developed wearable technology that provides workers with access to a virtual pair of expert eyes and hands to guide them through difficult tasks via a headmounted camera.

The system consists of a helper unit and an operator unit, both of which use a wearable computer, a head mounted camera, and a near eye display with video screen.

Through a shared visual space between the helper and the operator, the operator can virtually see the helper’s hands pointing and gesturing to objects visible through the near eye display.

Developed initially for use in the mining industry, the ReMote system is currently being trialled in manufacturing industry in the USA and in a Melbourne manufacturing company.

Kambouris believes that by providing access to expert helpers in real time, the new ReMote technology has the potential to make SMEs more agile and more competitive.

Singapore action

CSIRO’s ReMoTe hands-free technology enables skilled experts to oversee repair of equipment at a distance.

In Singapore, manufacturing accounts for some 20 percent of GDP, and key sectors include electronics, chemicals, precision engineering and biomedical.

The country is currently experiencing full employment and a shortage of manpower, and as a result, there is a strong focus to boost productivity and one of the ways is on the continuing development and uptake of industrial robotics. manmonthly.com.au

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A new breed of industrial robots is emerging that is easier to teach and programme, interfaces more with humans and is easier to operate.

The Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech), a research institute of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), is playing a key role in carrying out collaborative research with academic institutions, co-developing automation equipment and machines with companies, transferring technology, and conducting training for manufacturing industry.

With more than 360 engineers and scientists employed, SIMTech is proactively assisting SMEs to move up the value chain through a variety of programs backed by a combination of government and industry client funding sources.

According to Dr Guilin Yang, senior scientist and group manager of mechatronics at SIMTech, there is a strong focus on high value manufacturing, and the human-robot interface where robots become co-workers, particularly in relation to carrying out manual and repetitive tasks.

and autonomous vehicles to handle different products.”

Dr Yang says some 65 percent of SIMTech clients are SMEs that are provided with a range of assistance, including the T-up technology upgrading scheme, where researchers are attached to SMEs to identify needs and help in developing technologies to meet those needs.

SIMTech and the National University of Singapore Faculty of Engineering recently launched joint research laboratories in precision motion systems and industrial robotics geared towards high value manufacturing and improving productivity.

The joint laboratories aim is Dr Guilin Yang, senior scientist and group manager of mechatronics at SIMTech. to boost industry automation “Robots with an increasing sub-system design, together with by enhancing the capability, number of axis are being developed sensors to identify objects and performance and intelligence of to undertake a greater range of improve safety at the work station. precision machines and robotic tasks. Generic manipulators can be “Mobile manipulators are systems to allow for higher equipped with different tools to work also being developed that are throughput, higher accuracy, with high mix, low volume products,” proving very useful for materials and greater human-machine Dr Yang told Manufacturers’ transfer M A 0 on 9 1the 3 _shop 0 3 floor 5 _ NasPwell A 1 co-operation 2 0 1 3 - 0on 8 unstructured - 1 3 T1 0 : 5 7 : 2 1 + 1 0 : 0 0 Monthly during a recent interview in as flexible systems of automation manufacturing shop floors.

Singapore.

“Robots are being reconfigured to handle different products in unstructured environments which provides greater flexibility in production processes, and a lot of development is going into ease of programming and control.

“Significant advances in robotics technology for manufacturing industry include precision mechtronics (mechanical engineering combined with electronics) featuring high speed and high accuracy as well as high dexterity and adaptability. This makes these robots easier and safer to use in a human-robot interface.

“Key areas of research include hybrid force-motion A decoupled planar positioning system, an example of a control and integrated precision motion system. manipulator and

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Automation & ROBOTICS

Custom robots deliver the goods at Electrolux Adelaide plant At a time when the Australian manufacturing industry is confronted with substantial challenges, an innovative custom designed automation system is delivering significant productivity benefits for an Adelaide manufacturer. Hartley Henderson reports.

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eviathan Design, in the Melbourne suburb of Rowville, has designed, manufactured and installed an automated cell to bond metal trim and plastic columns to a glass panel to form a door outer assembly used in free standing household cookers manufactured by Electrolux Home Products in Adelaide.

The Adelaide factory, which employees some 450 people, produces around 1300 cookers per day including Electrolux, Westinghouse and Chef brand names.

Leviathan Design has in-house machining facilities capable of producing all components required for the system. These were designed in 3D CAD and the model was used directly by the company’s CNC machines to produce the components.

This ensured that the company had complete control from design

through to the manufacturing process.

Sales engineer at Leviathan Design, Glenn Westonsmith, points out that the automated production cell designed for Electrolux is extremely compact, with seven ABB robots all working together in the one cell, which is very unusual.

“A critical requirement of the project was to achieve a cycle time of 14 seconds. A full computer simulation using ABB’s Robot Studio software was used to show the proposed system capability,” he said.

“This simulation was continually updated and tested throughout the project to check the cycle time.”

Automated system The oven doors are constructed of three parts: painted glass sheets supplied in stacks, plastic injection molded columns provided in trays, and powder coated or stainless trim placed by hand onto the conveyor.

The buffer cell shown from above.

Main elements of the automated production system are the robot oven door bonding cell, overhead link conveyor, and the robot storage buffer.

A key task of the robot oven door bonding cell is glass separation and paper removal. The glass sheets tend to stick together due to vacuum between the sheets, but this issue

was solved by gripping the glass stack so that the top sheet can be removed by robot without the second sheet sticking.

Paper removal is provided by a high velocity fan creating a vacuum to suck the paper away to a hopper.

Westonsmith says it is critical that glass and trim is accurately aligned for assembly of the doors, so glass

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and trim are placed on ‘air tables’ to provide a frictionless surface.

“Small holes release air to provide a flotation cushion so that friction between the glass and the table is reduced to almost zero. This ensures that the glass and trim consistently align to a datum position,” he explained.

“The glass bonded doors are then stored in a curing oven for 20 minutes for accelerated curing of silicon. This double sided oven was designed and manufactured

by Leviathan Design to provide redundancy and to ensure that cycle times could be met.

“The oven maintains a controlled temperature and stores 80 doors (40 in each side). The complete system can run at a reduced speed with only one side of the oven operating. Glass and trims are inspected by a vision system of Cognex ISM1050 vision cameras to ensure that the correct components have been loaded.”

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The bonding cell from outside the safety fence.

Task optimisation Seven robots supplied by ABB Australia were required to assemble the doors and tasks are shared between the robots to optimise cycle time.

Tasks undertaken by the robots include: • IRB2600: Robot 1 – Picking trim, placing trim on regrip station.

Picking trim from regrip station and placing on assembly table.

• IRB2600: Robot 2 – Plasma treating trim on regrip stations for better silicon adhesion.

• IRB2600: Robot 3 – Picking glass,

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•

•

•

•

confirming correct glass with vision system, applying label, checking label barcode with vision system, placing in regrip station.

IRB2600: Robot 4 – Picking columns, plasma treating columns for better silicon adhesion, placing columns in regrip station.

IRB2600: Robot 5 – Picking glass from regrip station, applying silicon bead, placing glass on assembly table.

IRB2600: Robot 6 – Picking columns from regrip station, applying silicon bead to columns, placing on assembly table.

IRB4600: Robot 7 – Picking assembled door from assembly table, place into curing oven. Pick

cured door from curing oven and place onto overhead conveyor.

All product conveyors, robot grippers, curing oven, regrip tables and assembly tables were designed and manufactured by Leviathan Design. Gluing systems are German-made SCA Schucker supplied by Australian distributor H Technologies.

Transfer system To transfer the doors 45m down the factory to a storage buffer cell, a conveyor was designed and manufactured using tabs to align the doors on a plastic top steel chain.

Westonsmith says this conveyor is 4.5m off the ground to provide access

underneath for forklifts and cranes as well as pedestrian access.

“The longer reach IRB4600 can pick the doors from 900mm high in the bonding cell and place them onto the conveyor at 4.5m high. The robot sits on a 2m high stand to enable this reach.

“At the end of this conveyor, a transfer unit lifts and transfers the doors into the buffer cell and rotates them through 90 degrees so that they are oriented for storage. The doors are then lifted by another IRB4600 and loaded into the buffer storage cell.

“At the same time, as doors are required for production, they are picked out of the storage cell by the same robot and loaded onto the out-feed conveyors. The doors are picked on a ‘first in, first out’ basis.”

According to Peter Bradbury, channel manager robotics at ABB Australia, the IRB4600 enables more compact manufacturing cells with increased production output due to its small footprint, slim swing base radius around axis 1, the fine elbow behind axis 3, small lower and upper arms, and the compact wrist.

Custom design Senior manufacturing engineer at Electrolux, Chris Henkens, says the strongly integrated one cell system developed by Leviathan Design is ideal for operation in the limited floor space available.

“We are now in a much better position to compete with imports from low cost countries …,” Henkens said.

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Materials HANDLING Improving warehousing efficiencies There’s a wide range of forklift types available for manufacturers to improve productivity, but which trucks are best for you? Alan Johnson reports.

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ith manufacturers looking to improve productivity across all areas of their operations, the choice of forklift truck and the layout of a company’s warehouse can have a huge impact on companies’ bottom lines.

To help manufacturers improve their warehousing efficiencies, Linde Materials Handling has developed a range of software packages including one on the building of specialist trucks.

Grant Smith, Corporate Warehouse Solutions Manager with Linde Materials Handling, says using the design tool, and working with the customer, the company is able to design a forklift truck to suit.

“From that point, we can look at the productivity of the truck, look at the configuration of the warehouse as far as what size aisles it’s working in, how high it’s going, and what loads it’s carrying.

“That gives us some desired throughput and what sort of productivity we would get out of that truck. We can then calculate the number of trucks required to achieve the customer’s overall goal,” Smith told Manufacturers’ Monthly.

“However, this is just a small piece of our bigger solution. We have developed a software package called Stratos, a warehouse design and simulation program with the ability to give the customer a holistic approach to their warehouse and manufacturing application and the flow of product through the organisation.

“It’s a schematic design system that gives us the ability to very quickly run a conceptual design and do comparisons with how it would look if we did it this way, compared to this way or this way.

“From that basic layout configuration, where we can then set out a layout and know the storage capacity we have, we can then run a simulation on how it will actually operate.

38 SEPTEMBER 2013 Manufacturers’ Monthly

VNA (very narrow aisle) trucks offer density of storage coupled with excellent product selectivity.

“With the parameters set with a schematic design, we can then very quickly allow the customer to visualise how the system will look and prove to them how it will actually work with simulation.

“The secret of the system is that while it is creating the images in 2D it’s also creating them in 3D at the same time,” Smith said.

Productivity Smith says one of the most common problems he sees in warehouses is poor product flow.

“That’s where our Stratos software package comes in. It’s a value add service with no cost to existing customers, and for new business,

it’s one point of difference with our competitors.”

Smith says the system can work with both new and remodelled warehouses, but also for existing warehouse operations.

“We can run the simulation on the footprint of the existing footprint; ‘we have a problem’ is generally where it starts.

“For example, at the moment I have a customer with an issue of productivity. They have invested millions of dollars in infrastructure but they are not achieving the productivity they should be achieving.”

Smith says the software can help them quantify their design

by planning out what they have.

“This is not with a view of changing the layout, it’s with the view of changing the way they operate within that footprint.

“We have the ability to conceptually look at a warehouse operating reach trucks, for example, compared to counter balance trucks, compared to VNA (very narrow aisle) trucks, and what the customer is going to achieve with each option.

Smith says VNA offers greater density of storage and greater selectivity of the product, which gives a company more flexibility in their model range, as opposed to a double deep or a deep storage application. manmonthly.com.au

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“But it’s not just in the warehouse cell, the Stratos system goes a step further and can cover the complete manufacturing site, including traffic flow, dock utilisation, production facility etc, and include it all in the simulation process from production into the warehouse and look at it holistically for lean warehousing principles to be put in place.

Smith makes it clear, the system is not designed to sell as many forklifts as possible.

“Once we have the modelling in place, we can then look at the utilisation of the trucks that are there, and see if there is potential to take trucks out, using our Fleet Focus Management tool.

Smith explained that it’s a consultative service, and all about the best fit for the customer.

“We recently took a customer, who just had an Excel spreadsheet of roughly how many square metres, no actual building, from concept stage to having a design they could look M atAin0 under Smith 9 1 3 three _ 0 3 days,” 9 _ AD A said.

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expensive and it’s a mode of Regarding options to the traditional operation that companies have forklift in the warehouse, Smith says to commit to. “But it’s far more manufacturers should also be looking productive. at counter-balance trucks, electric “For example, a reach truck can and IC, with electric trucks growing put away and retrieve around 13 in popularity with increasing levels pallets an hour, while a VNA truck of performance. can achieve 23 to 25 pallets an “There used to be quite a hour.” difference in performance between “And while a reach truck will electric and IC, but today that gap operate up to 11 or 12m, a VNA has been closed considerably with truck will operate up to 17m,” he the capabilities of today’s electric said. counter balance trucks more For companies looking at efficient with far less emissions.” automatiing their operations, Smith Smith says what other truck says Linde is presently bringing to manufacturers should be looking the Australian market flexible AGVs. at is the reach truck, especially the “We have certain vehicles in our smaller companies, which require a range that can be turned into an 3m aisle. “They offer flexibility and AGV or with the flick of a switch are readily available.” they can be used as a standard “Then there are the specialist forklift. applications with big throughputs Smith says another technology and a high density of storage. Those manufacturers should be looking to companies should look closely at improve productivity is RFID. VNA trucks which can work in a “Users can interface their trucks 1700mm wide aisle getting a far with their WMS (Warehouse 1greater 2 0 1utilisation 3 - 0 8 -of1space.

3 T 1 1 : 0 6 : 5 Management 8 + 1 0 : 0 0System) so that an Smith admits they are more operator literally hits the button and

the truck takes him or her to the next location,” Smith said.

“In my experience, manufacturers can reconfigure their existing warehousing facilities to great effect, greatly improving productivity and potentially eliminating the need to use 3PLs.” Smith says everyone wants automation to reduce the number of workers in their warehouse, but warns it’s a ‘buyer beware’ proposition because it may not necessarily be the whole answer.

“It might be better to look at the way they operate holistically from the time the product comes through the door, as raw material, to time it goes out as a finished product.

“To make sure within that process that they automate the areas where they can get efficiencies, as opposed to going to a fully automated system which may not deliver the efficiencies they require,” Smith said.

Linde Material Handling 02 9831 9500 www.lindemh.com.au

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Materials HANDLING Forklift safety system TOYOTA Material Handling Australia (TMHA) has launched the SpotMe safety system designed to guard against collisions at ‘blind’ intersections within a warehouse; both forklift-to-forklift and forkliftpedestrian collisions.

The system, which can be used at crossings, blind corners, doors and exits etc, is available nationally from TMHA branches, or it can be installed by TMHA service technicians or a customer’s maintenance staff.

The sensor and warning devices are simply fixed to the walls; no set-up is required on the mobile fleet.

The warning unit can be connected to a standalone battery or plugged into the mains, and the sensor battery lasts up to three years.

SpotMe’s infra-red (IR) directionsensitive sensors detect the movement of approaching forklifts and pedestrians at the crossroads.

If a collision danger is spotted, a SpotMe warning unit is activated to

The sensor and warning devices are simply fixed to the walls; no set-up is required on the mobile fleet. help the forklift operator(s) and/or operator and pedestrian to avoid an accident.

According to the company, the alternating flashing lights (LEDs) used by SpotMe are far more

efficient in preventing accidents than flashing beacons or other types of warning lights.

The system is also said to provide benefits in reduced wear and tear on the forklifts with fewer panic

braking stops, reduced energy consumption and less chance of damage to goods.

TMHA 02 8706 6129 www.toyotamaterialhandling.com.au

Reach truck takes out design award

The reach trucks have capacities from 1.4 to 2.0t and lift heights of up to 13m.

40 SEPTEMBER 2013 Manufacturers’ Monthly

WHILE not available in Australia until the end of the year, at the earliest, Linde’s new range of advanced reach trucks has been awarded the internationally renowned “red dot design award” in Essen, Germany.

According to the company, the high-ranking panel of judges from around the world were impressed by the R14 – R20 reach truck’s dynamic shape and eye-catching colours.

The new R14 – R20 reach trucks have capacities from 1.4 to 2.0t and lift heights of up to 13m, but the company says it is their combination of major improvements in performance, ergonomics and safety which sets them apart.

A wide range of choices for mast/chassis/battery combinations together with additional optional features will allow Linde to work with local customers to specify reach trucks configured for the exact work environment in which they will be deployed.

The R14 to R20 model range choice extends to standard, drive-in and cold-store versions with four different chassis widths, five different chassis lengths, over 200 mast options and seven different battery sizes up to 930Ah. Additional features include clear-view torsion resistant fixed masts with integrated side shift and tilting carriage, induction-hardened reach channels, powerful maintenance-free AC traction, lift and steering motors, low-effort electric steering and four independent braking systems.

Linde Material Handling 02 9831 9500 www.lindemh.com.au

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Electric lift trucks

Low profile reusable plastic crate

NISSAN Forklifts has added the TX Series, 3-wheel, ac-powered lift trucks to its line of electric material handling equipment.

Featuring 100% ac-powered dual-drive motors and the Nissan Forklift’s exclusive ac-tech controller, the lift trucks are said to perform at higher efficiency levels and provide significantly lower operating costs.

The new lift trucks are available in 1250, 1500, 1600, 1750, 1,800 and 2,000kg capacities and include a newly designed vehicle control module.

Clear communication through an LCD panel readout and keypad The new lift trucks are available in 1250, 1500, 1600, 1750, 1,800 and 2,000kg capacities. allows operators and technicians to identify and respond to truck parameters turning speed limits, traveling lift according to the needs of the height limits and seat-actuated application without a separate power interrupt for lift- and tilt-lock. handset.

Available optional equipment With the use of personal allow the lift trucks to be further identification numbers, operators customised for specific applications can access one of three standard including a freezer package for coldperformance modes or tailor a mode storage applications in temperatures of their own. The lift trucks allow up as low as -31degC. to five unique operational profiles.

Powerlift Material Handling The lift trucks also come standard 1300 550 607 with seatbelt warning alarms, www.powerlift.com.au

CHEP has developed a new generation reusable plastic crate (RPC), the Gen 3.

The company claims the crate has the lowest profile, or height, in the world when The crates come in three sizes. folded down.

The crate comes in three sizes (22 litre; 34 litre and 48 litre), is compatible with the previous version crate and comes with new ‘lift lock’ handles, which are intended to enable faster, easier assembly and fold-down for improved efficiency and safety.

The crate is intended to improve space utilisation and reverse logistics by up to 29 per cent.

This provides benefits to the grower and the retailer.

It is fully compatible in both open and folded down configurations with Chep’s previous generation crates. In addition, it reduces product damage by eliminating bulging, breaking and collapsing.

The crate allows for improved cooling/ripening efficiencies through crate venting.

The venting design also makes produce quality inspections easier to conduct.

Cool room moisture and rain does not affect the crate’s performance and produce can be sprayed and watered as it moves through the supply chain.

Chep Australia M A 0 9 1 3 _ 0 4 1 _ WH I 1 2 0 1 3 - 0 8 - 1 3 T 1 01300 : 5279 3 897 : 4 6 + 1 0 : 0 0 www.chep.com

EP reach truck LENCROW has released the new EP V series reach truck. The unit is available in two capacities – 1600kg and 2000kg.

Standard features on this unit include 360 degree steering, fingertip control, front wheel braking and full AC operating system. The unit’s current can offer mast heights to 8000mm and the unit comes with a height indicator.

According to the company, AC operating systems have made the use of electric forklifts and reach trucks a better option for many operations.

This system is said to offer more responsive unit functions and allow longer duty cycles with more efficient use of battery power.

The standard battery offered with these units is a 48 volt, 600 amp model.

This is more than sufficient for a standard shift cycle.

The reach truck features German, Italian, American and Chinese components.

Lencrow Materials Handling 1300 245 993 www.lencrowgroup.com.au manmonthly.com.au

MARKING TECHNOLOGIES

Markmates & Portadots

Pryor is a UK based company that develops marking tools for trade and industrial use.

The dot marking machines are fully programmable. The machines can mark using text, logos, serial numbers and data matrixes. Capable of marking curved surfaces as well as flat. The software is window based (easy to use)it uses std power and requires no air. It will mark steel, aluminium, s/steel and some plastics. Will mark steel up to 62HRc. The machines only need to be cleaned and oiled on a regular basis. They are easy and safe to use.

Markmate Applications: *Programmable marking *Component identification *Serial numbering *Logo marking *Certification marking *Part numbering *Label and tag marking *VIN marking *Turbine blades

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1300 780 876 www.whiteint.com.au

Manufacturers’ Monthly SEPTEMBER 2013 41

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Product FOCUS: BODY PROTECTION Breathable work shirts KingGee has designed a range of work shirts to tone down the extremes of summer.

H

eat stress is a serious issue on site. When working in the hot summer sun, suffocating work clothes don’t make a difficult job any easier.

Heat rash, muscle cramps, dehydration, nausea, and heat stroke are just some of the problems caused by heat stress.

This is exacerbated by clothes that are heavy and lack ventilation, which in turn traps heat and acts as insulation, raising the body temperature even more.

Dr. Joseph Kosterich states that “heat stress is something that we don’t often hear about but needs to be taken seriously, especially by tradesmen.

“As a tradie’s job is physical it is especially important that they wear cool and supportive clothing when on site.”

Responding to this problem, KingGee has developed the Work Cool 2 range of work clothes.

According to the company, these latest shirts have “next generation fabric which provides greater air permeability” as well as “venting in the underarm and shoulders to increase airflows”.

Their breathability is ISO 11092:1993 compliant.

The work shirts are tear resistant.

Tested by the CSIRO, the “shirts feature a rip-stop breathable cool fabric that increases its tear and

abrasion resistance,” KingGee’s Work Cool product manager Nicolas Gronier said.

The shirts also have reinforced stitching for toughness.

This toughness has been rated to durability standards AS/NZS 29191987.

In regards to sun safety, the shirt also “provides optimum sun protection with its longer sleeve and collar extension that is twice as large as other shirts.”

Work Cool 2 shirts also meet the Australian standard for day and night visibility. The shirts weigh about 145 grams each.

Kosterich added “for the body to cool down it relies on adequate air circulation close to the surface of the skin, so if the workers wear clothing which impedes air flow and limits effective evaporation of sweat then the likelihood of heat stress is increased.

“A shirt like KingGee’s Work Cool 2 with breathable fabric cooling vents and a longer sleeve is a good option for tradesmen.”

The company said breathability was tested by the CSIRO, while strength and tear resistance were independently tested by the Qualspec Group.

KingGee 1800 658 791 www.kinggee.com.au

New generation multi-purpose gloves ANSELL has extended its range of HyFlex Multi-Purpose gloves with the introduction of the HyFlex 11-840.

Building on the HyFlex 11-800 and 11-801 products, the HyFlex 11-840 glove is said by the company to offer extended wear life due to a more durable and longer lasting coating, plus a new generation liner that copies the shape of the hand.

The glove provides maximum durability due to a 1.1 millimetre thick FORTIX nitrile coating. It’s a lightweight, light duty glove with an abrasion-resistant coating and, 42 SEPTEMBER 2013 Manufacturers’ Monthly

according to the company it’s ideal for tasks that require mechanical resistance and precise handling of small, dry parts.

The gloves’ ultra-light, nylonspandex liner is intended to provide comfort during extended wear across different applications.

As well as providing breathability, the glove is designed to encourage consistent glove use because it offers the freedom of movement critical to general purpose performance.

Ansell Industrial Healthcare 1300 187 796 ppe.ansell.com.au

The glove is designed for a long life. manmonthly.com.au

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Elastic sided work boot OLIVER Footwear has released a new elastic sided boot that incorporates all the traditional Oliver features of comfort, durability and safety protection. The boot has been designated the Oliver AT 55-222. Its release adds to the company’s range of safety and industrial footwear choices. The company now claims to offer boots which are suitable for virtually all wearer and working environments in Australia today.

It is an elastic sided boot that has a wheat coloured, water resistant, Nubuck leather upper with the added feature of a ‘TECtuff’ rubberised toe bumper to safeguard against premature wear caused by scuffing. The comfort features of the boot begin from the sole where the two layers of a dual density nitrile rubber; a softer midsole and a high density hardwearing outsole, cushion the foot and help to reduce foot, leg and lower back fatigue.

The ‘COMFORTcushion’ feature is said to protect the heel and ball of the foot and with the ‘NANOlite’ foot bed, the boot is said to provide underfoot comfort, cushioning and support. The raised surface of the ‘NANOlite’ foot bed is designed to massage the foot when walking to promote greater blood flow and further reduce fatigue. The dual density sole is heat resistant to 300°C of surface contact, resistant to mineral and organic oils and acids and is intended to afford slip resistance.

Like the other footwear styles in the range, the new boot has a ‘NATUREform’ Type 1 steel toe cap with a wide profile shape to suit your foot and prevent contact between toes and the toe cap. Heavy duty Kevlar stitching across all critical seams are intended to provide increased strength and add to the durability of the boot.

Oliver Footwear MA 0 8 1 3 _ 0 0 0 _ E N W 1 2 0 1 3 - 0 7 - 1 1 T 1 01300 : 4832 9 228 : 5 3 + 1 0 : 0 0 The work boot features a water resistant Nubuck leather upper. www.oliver.com.au

Knee protection pads THE Guardsman range of knee protection pads is available from Visionsafe.

There are two models available, The Air Suspension Knee Pad (KP4020) and Anti-slip Knee Pad (KP4019).

The KP4020 features a hard, transparent knee cap shell with nylon tensioning strings threaded behind to provide an air cushion.

According to the company, it is designed to absorb pressure and provide a shock absorbing capability.

The KP4019 has a soft, hardwearing foam knee cap pad to increase comfort and prevent slipping over extended periods of kneeling.

Both knee protection pads feature manmonthly.com.au

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The knee pads are made of a hard wearing material and can be laundered.

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Call 1300 369 273 www.enware.com.au/ehs Manufacturers’ Monthly SEPTEMBER 2013 43

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SecuritySYSTEMS Realising the benefits of integrated security Tasmania’s Museum of Old and New Art has invested in the latest cost effective protective technology. The systems employed at the museum are also suitable for use in the manufacturing sector. Hartley Henderson reports.

A

s threats to the security of business enterprises increase, there is a growing need to ensure that the latest cost effective protective technology is in place.

The Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), located near Hobart, is the

largest privately funded museum in Australia.

The site, which covers around 9,000 square metres and has some 400 pieces on display at any one time, attracts about 370,000 visitors per year.

In order to safely house the

owner’s personal collection as well as valuable pieces on loan from around the world, a customised integrated building services system, incorporating the latest in security technology, has been designed and installed by Honeywell Building Solutions.

The installation includes the company’s recently launched Digital Video Manager (DVM) R500 closed circuit television surveillance system which forms an integral component of Honeywell’s Enterprise Buildings Integrator (EBI) building management system.

Honeywell’s Enterprise Buildings Integrator (EBI) building management system.

44 SEPTEMBER 2013 Manufacturers’ Monthly

manmonthly.com.au

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Security response According to the company’s regional leader of marketing and strategic development, Michael Brookes, the key to improved security response and productivity is integration.

“This means managing the different functions as one integrated security solution and converging this with building management systems,” he said.

“EBI ties all aspects of a security solution together, including surveillance, access control, and intrusion detection. It also integrates building climate control, safety, energy management and other core facility controls.

“Open systems provide flexibility to integrate a wide range of sub-systems as well as expand cost effectively. For example, the Security Manager function of EBI allows you to integrate your building’s safety, access and security systems into a single operator interface with centralised alarming, CCTV and digital video controllers, and cardholder management.”

Open networking At MONA an integrated solution is provided that brings together CCTV, access control, security, BMS, electrical control and monitoring, fire detection, intercom, biometrics, and photo ID. DVM’s system architecture is built upon industry standard open networking, PC hardware, and software applications. It supports a vast array of commercial off-the-shelf hardware providing freedom of choice when selecting cameras, PC, storage, and networking hardware.

The basic architecture consists of a Database Server and a Camera Server that can be installed on the same machine. Additional Camera Servers, backup Camera Servers and Analytical Servers can be added to the architecture to support larger numbers of cameras.

Operational efficiency According to Brookes, the updated DVM R500 surveillance system sets new standards in operational efficiency, cost effectiveness and performance through a redesigned user interface, smart diagnostics and forensic search capabilities. manmonthly.com.au

26/08/13,

1:28:00

“The updated user interface provides improved productivity through ease of navigation, while smart diagnostic modules analyse system operations to help security operators to quickly process activity reports.

“Key features of the system include synchronised and instant playback of multiple cameras, motion searching that detects movement in a selected area and tags it for review, and time scrubbing to quickly locate critical incidents and footage.

“Importantly, DVM uses standard communications technology, off-theshelf hardware and existing network infrastructure and wiring for fast, easy installation.

“It also facilitates integration of existing analogue equipment to the LAN/ WAN, and supports integration with third party products and applications.

“Full integration with EBI is, however, achieved without the expense and future support inherent to custom software integration or complicated interconnection wiring.

The new DVM user interface allows the display of multiple cameras in the main workspace via a single drag and drop operation from a multi-level camera tree representing either physical locations or operatordefined logical groups.

“Live and recorded video from a maximum of 25 cameras can be viewed at any one time whereas previously forensic analysis required the time consuming investigation of individual cameras. Integration with EBI allows direct linkage of video recordings to alarms and events enhancing operator awareness of specific situations, and an enterprisewide view is achieved from a single workstation screen, thus enhancing operational efficiency.

“At MONA, key facility management functions are controlled by one person from the one location, including HVAC, fire and security, which provides significant cost benefits while delivering a reliable and effective building management system to protect a huge personal investment by the owner.”

Brookes points out that DVM’s flexible architecture makes it easy to add or relocate cameras along

PM

MONA to manage multiple complex systems from a simple single interface, and by maximising the building automation capability, security staff resources to run day-today operations can be minimised,” he said.

“Where the overall system stands out is in its use of EBI to provide a single integrated platform to deliver a safe and secure environment for the extensive art collection, staff and visitors.

“We are easily able to identify where there has been unauthorised motion or an incident in an area by dragging footage into a timeline view from multiple cameras, which can provide huge operational efficiencies. Analysis and reporting that would normally take four to five hours is now measured in Single interface minutes.

Site project manager at MONA, “Another benefit of the integrated Steve Devereaux, believes the stateplatform is that if a fire alarm goes of-the-art integrated BMS/access/ off, cameras under the DVM R500 security/CCTV system is world class. system automatically activate the “Importantly, MD A_ 0 F 9 E 1 N 3 S _ the 0 0integrated 0 E _ B S_ WI1 3 . .p p dd f fEBI PP awhich gg e eintegrates 1 1 1 2 / 1 0other / 1parts , 3of,2 : 9 3 :3 5 : 9 5 1 AM PM A WI F a /8 0 /3 1 graphical user interface has enabled the security system.” a buildings network, so there is no need to purchase and maintain racks of recording equipment, monitors and switches.

“New CCTV monitors require only a PC with suitable software and a network connection, and database and camera servers are available in a redundant configuration, so that if the master server fails, the system automatically reverts to the backup server,” he explained.

“A significant benefit of DVM is its scalability in that it is configurable from a small, one facility system, to a large corporatewide system. The distributed video architecture of DVM R500 is capable of seamlessly integrating the video operations of numerous systems into one virtual platform.”

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Carbon COMPOSITES Quickstep gets its carbon composites show on the road As the Australian automotive manufacturing sector continues on its uncertain path, one local manufacturer has made a move that it hopes will revolutionise the sector. Brent Balinski reports.

A

dvanced composites manufacturer and Joint Strike Fighter project supplier Quickstep has announced the launch of automobile parts made using the company’s Resin Spray Transfer technology.

The company announced at its Bankstown facility that it was fasttracking the commercialisation of its RST for car parts, such as door panels, assisted by an AusIndustry grant. According to the statement, the composite parts are being trialled by a number of German auto firms, including Audi.

“The car we’re working on with Audi is the A1,” Quickstep managing director Philippe Odouard told Manufacturers’ Monthly of the technology, which has been used to create carbon fibre-based roofs for the German company’s cars in demonstrations.

According to Quickstep, the robotised RST process offers quick turnovers, parts half the weight of their steel equivalents, and a highquality surface finish.

“When the part comes off the press, it’s actually ready to be painted straight away,” explained Odouard.

“So a lot of other processes give you a part that has a lot of pitting; a lot of little holes. And you need to block them with putty and cure that putty and sand it. It’s extremely time-consuming, very manual.”

The price of carbon fibre currently prohibits its inclusion in any non-high-performance vehicles, but this will not always be the case, Odouard hopes, as the material’s use becomes more widespread.

There are indications that demand for the material is on the way up.

According to the University of Manchester’s Professor Andrew Walker, an authority on carbon composites and a former chief 46 SEPTEMBER 2013 Manufacturers’ Monthly

Quickstep’s resin spray transfer technology automates production of strong, lightweight carbonfibre composite car panels. manufacturing engineer at Airbus, the use of carbon fibre will increase from 60,000 tonnes a year currently to 250,000 to 300,000 tonnes a year in 2020.

“This is Silicon Valley on steroids,” he told The Australian earlier this year.

“There is nothing growing more rapidly.”

Quickstep also hopes that fuel efficiency benefits from lighter weight vehicles and demands made by an “emerging emission-legislated world” would also help make parts made by RST production more appealing.

“If you take a [Holden] Barina today, for instance, that has an emission of 158 grams of CO2 per kilometre, the threshold in 2015 will be 130 grams,” said Odouard. “So you are already 28 grams above, 100

Euros per gram, that’s 2,800 Euros.”

Quickstep, which was founded in 2001 and listed on the ASX in 2005, was assisted in developing the technology by a $2.5 million Climate Ready grant.

Industry minister Kim Carr, who spoke at the launch, told those present that Quickstep represented “all that was good about modern manufacturing in Australia,” and that the co-investment in the technology helped link Australian science, innovation and business.

“And this is not just a new technology, though, it’s a new industrial process,” he told Manufacturers’ Monthly.

“And carbon fibre is a way of it’s basically what is an old textile; if you think about it, it’s a way we transform the textile industry.”

Carr called Quickstep an

example of the future of Australian manufacturing, with a company staffed by those in highly-skilled, highly-paid positions, creating a unique, globally-competitive product.

“We have the very best science, the very best universities, the very best research capacities in the world,” he said.

“We’ve got to utilise these more effectively. What we need is people that have got the right attitude, the entrepreneurial spirit … to apply new technologies to develop new industries.”

The launch follows Quickstep’s recent announcement that it was licensing its patented out-of-clave Quickstep Process to Russian company ORPE Technologiya for use in making satellites.

It hopes to sell and eventually license its RST method. manmonthly.com.au

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MA0913_048.pdf

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27/08/13,

8:52:25

AM

3DPRINTING Scan, interpret, make: 3D printing from the industrial to the medical To many, 3D printing is still a bit like ‘black magic’. Brent Balinski brings things back to earth and looks at some of the latest developments in additive manufacturing.

Educating the market “At the moment it’s so much of an education for local businesses where we are, the way it all operates,” explained Callum Davies from Filor, which in May added 3D printing to its range of 3D services, of attitudes towards the technology.

“At the moment to them it seems a little like black magic; a bit foreign to them,” he told Manufacturers’ Monthly.

Demystifying the technology and educating the market have been a big part of what Davies has been up to this year, though he sees huge potential in Western Australia for 3D printing to make a difference, especially when joined with existing laser scanning and metrology.

Davies joined Filor this year, and had spent much of his professional life before that using scanning and measurement, learning CMM systems at mining manufacturer Geographe.

“They used it directly in their quality system to double-check really tight tolerances like bores and gearboxes; it’s quite a big deal for manufacturers, and it’s quite a part of doing the old micrometer Vernierstyle measuring.

“So having an arm that you can go ‘right, here’s a bore on the left hand side of my gearbox, here’s the other bore. How concentric are these?

Here’s my machine tolerance that I’ve given in the drawing and here’s the nominal size that I want. Is it a pass or a fail?”

As a scanning, measurement and 3D printing bureau, their service is aimed at those wanting to skip the capital investment on an in-house Romer or FaroArm and on training somebody to use these.

“We’re basically a service bureau for data acquisition,” said Davies of that side of his business.

“Basically we go out and we collect data for engineers, drafties, 48 SEPTEMBER 2013 Manufacturers’ Monthly

It’s still a work in progress to show clients and potential clients how 3D printing can be useful for them. surgeons, historians – all types of industry – and we take the data and provide it to them. For historians we also give them the option of making a 3D print of it for study if they don’t want to touch the original or if they’ve only got it for a certain period of time.”

Which brings us back to the newest area of the business –

additive manufacturing through fused deposition modelling – for which Filor invested in a Stratasys machine earlier in the year.

Filling a niche It’s still a work in progress to show clients and potential clients how it can be useful for them, but the effort’s worth it, and there’s a gap in

the market in the south-west of the country, Davies believes.

“In WA we’ve got a couple of companies that offer 3D printing, but unfortunately there’s really only one that offers high-quality 3D printing and they do colour, but the material substance is not what we want,” he said.

Filor serves industries such as manmonthly.com.au

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engineering, architecture, design and even marketing, but of particular interest are the medical uses of additive manufacturing, for example in creating prosthetics or in prepping for surgeons.

Davies cites his own hip replacement operations, which mightâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been completed much quicker and more easily. A 45-minute and a three-hour operation could possibly have both have been made shorter if the orthopaedic surgeon had more detailed information, such as physical models based on scans, Davies guesses.

Getting into hospital Royal Perth Hospital has been using the technology for some time. In 2006 it performed a hip replacement with a joint made out of selectively laser sintered titanium alloy. It acquired a printer in 2010 and 3D printing is put to uses at the hospital including pre-planning for surgery.

In delicate surgery â&#x20AC;&#x201C; such as in the recent story M A 0 9high-profile 1 3 _ 0 0 0 _ Mabout LA Washington Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Hospital

3D printing will find its place in engineering, architectural, and medical applications. preparing surgeons before heart can print out a patientâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s skull exactly operations â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 3D printing has been to scale, based on a CT scan, and if enormously useful in knowing what someone has, say, cancer, they can needs to be done before an incision utilise a third-party printing service is even considered. that uses a polymer base, to try same based on the CT 1 â&#x20AC;&#x153;The 2 0 1 3 - thing 0 8 - applies 1 5 T 1in5 : 2 7 : 0 and 0 + print 1 0 : a0brain 0 neurosurgery,â&#x20AC;? said Davies. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If we scan that has got the same kind of

properties of a brain in the rubbery aspect, but also with a tumour in there. It allows a surgeon to sit at his desk, maybe a week before his surgery, get some tools out, and practise the surgery based on that patientâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s exact anatomy. â&#x20AC;&#x153;And thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s where we want to be. We want to position ourselves regionally in WA to aid the medical community. And whether that means we interface with the diagnostics labs, where they run CT scans and the MRIs, or whether we go straight to the surgeons, either way, all we need to do is supply them with the correct data, and CT scanning weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re getting nowadays is so high resolution that 3D prints are almost too easy.

Davies believes that having 3D printing as something more widespread throughout hospitals could bring huge benefits, with shorter stays and, as a cumulative result, shorter hospital waiting lists. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The interface with technology is already there, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just the education thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lacking.â&#x20AC;?

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MA0913_050.pdf

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3D PRINTING Additive manufacturing: from scanning to designing to printing For all the hype surrounding 3D printing and what it could offer Australian businesses, there’s a fair bit of caution around investing in expensive, industrialgrade machines, and in finding what applications it might suit. Brent Balinski reports.

W

ith this in mind, Williams United, a six decade-old engineering firm, has added a new business unit, Williams 3D. It hopes to capitalise on a curious yet cautious environment, providing a holistic group of services related to additive manufacturing.

“It’s a matter of educating what’s possible before we can get a proper understanding of what industries are going to take up this technology first,” explained managing director Dean Williams.

“There’s a lot of interest in 3D printing, but people are still quite tentative,” he told Manufacturers’ Monthly.

“Because it’s early on in the Australian market and it’d require them changing their designs to suit additive manufacturing a lot of the designers and engineers are kind of stuck in their ways and being constrained by designing for manufacturing in the past, and I think we’ve got to kind of convince them to step over.”

Changing the way companies think about design is one of the goals for businesses like Williams, who are operating in a business-to-business market, where the market might not have considered the ways additive manufacturing can be made to work for them.

And what – with a little guidance – could a business hope to gain from 50 SEPTEMBER 2013 Manufacturers’ Monthly

People are still tentative about 3D printing. a consideration of 3D printing in the way it designs its products?

“We have the ability with additive manufacturing to add complexity into the design, so with that we can reduce the number of parts required to make a full assembly. Also, we can reduce the weight of the part without affecting the strength of the part.

“We’d sit with them together to do that and then we might go through a few design iterations where we might print it – there’s no better way of communicating than having a physical product to hold and then make modifications from there.”

The company has recently invested in a Fortus 400mc machine from Stratasys (through Tasman Machinery). The machine prints in nine types of thermoplastic through fused deposition modelling (“polycarbonate and ABS are the two main families we use” said Williams), with a build envelope of 400 x 400 x 400 mm, allowing several

parts to be produced during print times that can take longer than 12 hours.

Williams is targeting areas such as consumer products, industrial products, and the automotive and architectural industries, as well as encouraging its existing client base to think about what additive manufacturing could offer them.

The company also offers precision 3D scanning, using a CreaForm EXAScan handheld unit, which allows them to go to a customer rather than the other way around.

“They don’t have to bring the product to us for us to scan it,” said Williams.

“For example, we have a customer which wanted to do a left-hand drive to right-hand drive conversion for a car, so we’d go out on the site instead of having them bring the whole thing to us.

“And it’s much more convenient for the customer. Then we take that data, a point cloud, and then we fix

up the data to make a watertight model of it. And from there in SolidWorks we can modify the design, if needed, tidy it all up, and then press print.”

Williams plans to be a part of the CSIRO’s Additive Manufacturing Network, which will hold its first meeting on August 20, and hopes that this and his own company’s efforts will help the industry learn more about how they might get some mileage out of the much-hyped technology.

He believes that the caution around adopting 3D printing will disappear with time, as more and more engineering and industrial design degrees are awarded.

“These graduates will be comfortable with the technology because it is now a core part of their industrial design courses.”

“When they find employment we will see a significant uptake in the use of additive manufacturing,” he said. manmonthly.com.au

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