Automotive

Last week, Toyota Australia reported that its last Toyota Aurion has rolled off the line at Toyota Australia’s Altona manufacturing base after 11 successful years, racking up over 110,000 sales domestically, as well as 70,000 that were built for the export market. It was Toyota’s answer to the big-Aussie V6 family sedan that broke cover … Continue reading Last Toyota Aurion rolls off the line →

QuintessenceLabs was awarded a $3.26 million investment from the Australian Department of Defence to continue the expansion of its quantum key distribution (QKD) capabilities and extend it to free space communications. This was the largest of the eight investments recently made by the Defence Innovation Hub, a part of the Australian Department of Defence. QuintessenceLabs … Continue reading QuintessenceLabs gets investment boost from DoD →

Sydney will be home to a world leading startup and innovation hub, creating up to 6,500 new jobs, thanks to a $35 million investment from the NSW Government. A media release from the NSW Industry mentioned that the Sydney Startup Hub will be the first of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere and will allow … Continue reading Sydney to “cement” its place as a global startup leader →

The Australian Army’s 7th Brigade, based at Gallipoli Barracks in Brisbane, has received its second delivery of locally manufactured trucks, trailers and modules as part of a $1.6 billion LAND 121 contract. The delivery comes with a boost to local jobs with more than 220 new jobs in the state’s heavy vehicle manufacturing industry and flow on … Continue reading Local truck manufacturing creates jobs in QLD →

A BIS Research report forecasts the global 3D printing plastic and photopolymer material market is estimated to reach $1.86 billion (A$2.37 billion) by 2023 at a CAGR of 21.5 per cent from 2017 to 2023. The report says that it is because of the reliable properties of plastic and photopolymer, their cost effectiveness as compared … Continue reading Global 3D printing plastic and photopolymer market to reach A$2.37 billion by 2023 →

Microland, a global hybrid IT service provider, has announced that it has been positioned as a “Major Contender” in Everest Group’s Peak Matrix for Solutions: IT Infrastructure Services Automation 2017. Everest Group had analysed 15 leading service providers on a combination of analyst assessment and feedback, collated from client interviews. Based on the analysis, Microland emerged … Continue reading Microland a major contender in Everest Group’s Peak Matrix for Solutions →

Nearly 100 former automotive workers will have an opportunity to be a part of Victoria’s construction industry, due to new funding from the Andrews Labor Government. During a recent visit to Unipod in Derrimut, Minister for Industry and Employment Wade Noonan announced the company had received a grant from the Local Industry Fund for Transition … Continue reading Former auto workers to join construction manufacturing →

Indonesian manufacturers are hoping to break into Australia’s car import industry. “Australia barely has a car manufacturing industry,” Indonesia Automotive Industry Association chairman Yohannes Nangoi told Netral News. “It imports 1.2 million cars a year, but not a single one of them is imported from Indonesia. This should be seen as an opportunity.” According to … Continue reading Indonesia plans to capitalise on Australia’s dying auto industry →

At a time when the Australian car industry is on its knees, manufacturers are using links in the motorsports industry to drive automotive technology in a new direction. Steven Impey discusses opportunities the race world is offering innovators on the factory floor. Putting a car on the racetrack takes patience and precision while maintaining neck-break … Continue reading Can elite motorsport hand Australia’s automotive industry a new gear? →

Victorian Manufacturing Awards 2017 was presented in the Crown Palladium and rewarded the best Manufacturers in small, medium and large businesses. The theme for the event was centred around Australia’s drive towards growing advanced manufacturing – a concept that is gaining traction among many Australian manufacturers, especially the SMEs. The opening keynote address by Jake … Continue reading Advanced manufacturing to be a focus: Victorian Manufacturing Hall of Fame Awards 2017 →

An Australian start-up wants to mass-produce autonomous electric vehicles, and potentially build a battery gigafactory. CEO of start-up A2emCo, Michael Molitor, has revealed that the company aims to produce almost completely Australian made, fully autonomous vehicles by 2020. According to Molitor, the vehicle’s prototype is already designed, with six evaluation prototypes being built overall. While … Continue reading Start-up aims to mass-produce EVs in Australia →

A Victorian vehicle manufacturing start-up aiming to produce the first Australian-made electric vehicles has been given a kick-start thanks to a new funding initiative by CSIRO. CSIRO Kick-Start is an initiative that offers dollar-matched funding of up to $50,000 to enable research projects for start-ups and small businesses that are on their way to becoming Australian success … Continue reading CSIRO backs Victorian electric vehicle manufacturing start-up →

The latest State of the Nation Report featured a spotlight on the Australian automotive industry, painting a picture of the industry following the end of local car manufacturing. Despite the imminent closure of the Australian automotive manufacturing industry later this year (Holden and Toyota cease local manufacturing in October 2017), Australians are buying more cars … Continue reading The Australian auto industry post-manufacturing →

In light of the announcement of the Australian government’s pledge to offer support for auto workers affected by company closures, the Australian Labor Party (ALP) has accused Liberal Senator and Industry Minister Sinodinos of “misleading” auto workers who are likely to lose their jobs when Holden and Toyota close their production lines later this year. … Continue reading ALP claims Coalition is ‘misleading’ auto workers →

Researchers have developed a type of rechargeable battery called a flow cell that can be recharged with a water-based solution containing dissolved carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted from fossil fuel power plants. The device works by taking advantage of the CO2 concentration difference between CO2 emissions and ambient air, which can ultimately be used to generate … Continue reading Battery recharging using carbon dioxide →

Over the past few decades, the manufacturing industry has undergone numerous major upheavals. Right now, we are witnessing the dawning of the next era with Industry 4.0, boosted in Asia by China’s recently announced China 2020 vision, in which they outlined plans to adopt new technologies and industries, marking a shift away from traditional manufacturing, … Continue reading The dawn of the new industrial era with the smart factory →

According to research by Curtin University, corrosion may be costing the Australian economy more than $30 billion each year. Within industrial environments, exposure to things like water, acid or salt causes corrosion of geared motors. This, in turn, reduces the strength of the corroded parts and inevitably means they have to be replaced. In corrosive … Continue reading Corrosion is eating away at Australian industry →

It may sound like science fiction, but wastewater treatment plants may one day turn ordinary sewage into biocrude oil, thanks to new research at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The technology, hydrothermal liquefaction, mimics the geological conditions the Earth uses to create crude oil, using high pressure and temperature to achieve in minutes … Continue reading Making fuel out of sewage →

Digital mediation platforms and trends such as the circular economy will profoundly change the ways manufacturers operate, believes supply chain expert Jan Godsell. Brent Balinski spoke to the Warwick Manufacturing Group professor about how this could look.

A second arrest in the United States has been made over the “defeat device” Volkswagen emissions scandal, following the company’s admission in September 2015 that it had cheated emissions laws.