energy

Rising energy costs and lack of reliable supply are threatening to push Australia’s red meat processing offshore. The Australian Meat Industry Council (AMIC) is currently conducting a survey of its members to determine the scale of the problem and help create an energy policy for the industry. According to AMIC’s Robert Barker, affordable and reliable … Continue reading Energy costs threaten Australia’s biggest manufacturing industry →

Epson is expanding its range of SCARA (selective compliance assembly robot arm) robots with the launch of its T series of robots that will offer a low total cost of ownership (TCO). The T3, the first product in the series, has recently been released, with a gradual rollout in other regions to follow. The T3 … Continue reading Low-TCO SCARA robots →

A team of scientists from Edith Cowan University has developed what they say is the world’s first commercially viable clear solar glass. Referred to as energy-harvesting clear glass, the technology has been developed by a team of researchers from the Electron Science Research Institute (ESRI) at Edith Cowan University, in collaboration with Perth-based company ClearVue … Continue reading Perth team producing world’s only clear solar glass →

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has warned that Victoria could face 72 days of power supply shortfalls over the next two years, following the shutdown of the Hazelwood plant next week. According to AEMO, the shutdown of the Hazelwood plant, which supplies up to a quarter of Victoria’s power, could lead to breaches of … Continue reading Victoria warned of 72 days of potential blackouts →

Australian energy solutions company Cool or Cosy has bought Tindo, Australia’s only solar panel manufacturer.  Cool or Cosy CEO Glenn Morelli has plans to expand Tindo’s Mawson Lakes factory. According to Morelli, a 400 square metre expansion will create at least ten more jobs and significantly increase manufacturing capacity.  The CEO has also expressed interest … Continue reading Cool or Cosy acquires solar panel manufacturer Tindo →

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 →

Australian industry has backed AGL’s $300 million plan to import Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) into NSW & Victoria from Western Australia, according to The Australian Financial Review. The plan comes as manufacturers and industry have complained about increasing gas prices and concerns that too much of Australia’s local supply of gas is being exported. The … Continue reading Australian industry backs AGL gas plan →

NHP has announced a partnership with local IoT experts, Switch Automation, to deliver InfoSyte, an exclusive energy management software solution from NHP tailored for the Australian and New Zealand markets. A powerful cloud hosted energy management platform, InfoSyte has the ability to integrate with energy, water and gas measuring devices along with other facility systems such as building management systems (BMS) and … Continue reading NHP partners with Switch Automation to deliver InfoSyte →

Start planning now to reap the many benefits of connected manufacturing. There’s been a lot of noise over the last two years around the “Internet of Things,” or IoT. However, more recently a subcategory of IoT, the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), has been getting a lot of well-deserved attention. This brings together many key … Continue reading The Industrial Internet of Things: Why you need to get up to speed fast →

Chemicals manufactured or imported before January 1 2017 will be allowed to be supplied without having to meet Work Health and Safety Regulations’ labelling requirements, according to Safe Work Australia. Safe Work Australia CEO Michelle Baxter said this was decided in response to concerns raised by chemical suppliers in the lead up to Australia developing … Continue reading Safe Work releases new hazardous labelling regulations →

According to news reports, due to a massive boost in coal cash this year, Queensland will likely use plow money into manufacturing jobs. The QLD government is also announcing a two-year program to shield manufacturing jobs with grants ranging from $50,000 to $2.5 million – at a total cost $20 million over two years. The … Continue reading Thanks to coal cash, QLD set to splurge on manufacturing →

Manufacturers in fluid management industries such as power, chemicals and oil and gas, often require complex software architecture to ensure their operations are safe, efficient and reliable. A new partnership between Honeywell and Flowserve will combine domain knowledge of flow management equipment with Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technology to help solve some of those … Continue reading Honeywell and Flowserve combine to fix IIoT manufacturing issues →

ExxonMobil and Bentley Motors today announced a multi-year extension to their global strategic partnership that showcases the performance benefits of advanced synthetic motor oil technology. ExxonMobil and Bentley Motors will also continue their collaboration in motorsports, lubricant sales, marketing and technology. The ExxonMobil and Bentley Motors relationship began in the early 2000s when Mobil 1 … Continue reading ExxonMobil and Bentley Motors extend global partnership →

Some $6.12bn worth of growth opportunities fall through the cracks of Australian mid-sized businesses every year due to insufficient or variable cash flow, according to research released by American Express today. More than one-third (40 per cent) of mid-sized CFOs admit their business has been delayed or unable to achieve a strategic business objective due … Continue reading Cash flow variables a business growth killer says study →

Australia’s innovations will grow into successful businesses with help from the CSIRO Innovation Fund, a $200 million fund to commercialise early stage innovations from CSIRO, universities and other publicly-funded research bodies. The CSIRO Innovation Fund, launched today, will support co-investment in new spin-out and start-up companies, and SMEs engaged in the translation of research generated … Continue reading CSIRO to spend $200m on Aussie innovation →

Senator Xenophon deserves a Christmas card from the nation’s steelmakers, after his negotiation with the government to deliver their Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) legislation. The deal saw significant changes made to government procurement rules. The changes require that companies bidding for government projects worth more than A$4 million and will need to outline in … Continue reading ABCC amended local content rules will help Australian steelmakers compete against low-quality imports →

According to reports, Downer Rail has sub-contracted all manufacturing duties of 24 double deck Sydney A or Waratah class trains to joint venture partner, China’s CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles Co, with Downer itself providing the maintenance support for a minimum of 25 years. The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union criticised the award of the contract, saying … Continue reading Sydney’s new trains to be made in China →

South Australia has opened a new manufacturing technologies centre to help businesses grow by providing access to the state’s best researchers, financial institutions and global supply chains. The $1.2 million centre, situated in Adelaide’s northern suburbs at the University of South Australia’s Mawson Lakes campus, will help businesses identify methods by which they can adopt … Continue reading New tech hub opened in South Australia →

Nvidia and Fanuc Corporation have announced that they will be collaborating to implement artificial intelligence on the Fanuc Intelligent Edge Link and Drive (FIELD) system to increase robotics productivity and add on to existing capabilities to automated factories worldwide. Adding AI to the FIELD system will give robots the ability to teach themselves to do … Continue reading Fanuc & Nvidia announce AI collaboration →

Materials handling company, the Kion Group, has successfully completed its $2.1 billion dollar (A$2.86 billion) acquisition of automation and supply chain optimisation specialist Dematic earlier this month. With the acquisition, the Kion Group will now feature a suite of products ranging from forklift trucks to AS/RS solutions. “The transaction brings together the world’s most profitable … Continue reading Kion completes Dematic acquisition →