equipment

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab has placed an order for an underwater drone from Australia’s robotics company, Aquabotix. According to various news sources, the drone will be utilised in NASA’s Ocean Worlds exploration program. Capable of reaching depths of up to 300 metres, the Endura 300 drone will be used for mapping oceanic environments to help NASA … Continue reading NASA places order for Australia’s Aquabotix drone →

Andrew Donald Design Engineering (ADDE) has developed the first end-of-line automated palletising system for Australian standard pallets, which incorporates Universal Robots’ UR10 robot to create a collaborative and flexible palletiser.  With most packing operations still finishing with an operator loading a carton onto a pallet manually, ADDE saw an industry need to find a solution … Continue reading ADDE launches Australia’s first automated, collaborative palletising system →

The Queensland government said that their local SMEs are benefitting from a state government’s investment in a remotely piloted aircraft project with Boeing. Minister for Innovation, Science and the Digital Economy Leeanne Enoch mentioned late last month that eight Queensland SMEs have already been engaged to provide systems engineering support, and to develop and manufacture hardware … Continue reading QLD SMEs and Boeing to work on world-first technology →

The need for an Australian-owned builder for the $89 billion 12-submarine and nine-frigate program was emphasised in State Parliament in a statement  last week by South Australian Defence Industries Minister Hamilton-Smith. The Minister said that indications coming from Canberra are that the French Government-owned Naval Group (formerly DCNS) having been chosen as the architect and … Continue reading Australians must build future submarines and frigates: SA Defence →

Earlier this year in May, Schneider Electric was named as one of Australia’s top ten most attractive employers for job seekers by employment firm Randstand. Randstand’s annual survey of 7795 potential job seekers saw Schneider Electric come in at number nine, alongside other commended Australian employers including Qantas, ABC, Virgin Australia, PwC, Coca-Cola Amatil and Seven … Continue reading Schneider Electric named one of Australia’s most attractive companies →

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 →

Last week, the NSW government announced the funding for the renewal of the Fitzroy Street shipyard slipway to reactivate the Port of Newcastle and the Hunter as a major marine ship repair and maintenance precinct. For this project, defence company Thales Australia will begin stage one of a phased redevelopment of the site, creating an … Continue reading New life breathed into Newcastle maritime maintenance →

An in-principle agreement by Hydro Tasmania to buy electricity from the proposed Granville Harbour wind farm on Tasmania’s west coast is gathering momentum. According to a press release by Hydro Tasmania, the in-principle Power Purchase Agreement with Westcoast Wind Pty Ltd has been reached in consultation with the Tasmanian Government. The agreement sees Hydro Tasmania … Continue reading Granville Harbour wind farm proposal gathers momentum →

At the recent Paris airshow, it was reported that Boeing released a forecast for aerospace services demand, projecting the need for expansive services over the next 10 years, valued at US$2.6 trillion (A$3.4 trillion). The outlook is said to demonstrate “tremendous potential” for growth in the aerospace services markets Boeing serves, including: Maintenance, engineering and … Continue reading Boeing: Tremendous growth predicted in aerospace market →

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 →

Olympus has announced that it has opened a new, purpose-built calibration centre in Perth to meet increasing demand from industrial customers for local service and support. “The key focus of the centre is to service the local WA market by reducing the time involved in calibrating equipment. The turnaround times can be quite tight but by … Continue reading Olympus opens new calibration centre in Perth →

South Korea’s JB Asset Management has put in its bid alongside private equity firm Newlake Alliance for the Arrium Australia assets which include the Whyalla steelworks, according to a report by the AFR. The report mentioned that the Korean consortium is also proposing a 200 megawatt gas-fired power plant be built as part of the proposal which would not … Continue reading JB Asset Management $5.3b backing of Newlake’s Arrium bid →

Hilco Industrial Acquisitions B.V. has announced that it has begun the private treaty sale process on all machinery and equipment assets located at the Toyota manufacturing facility in Altona North, Melbourne. The Private Treaty sale begins immediately and is scheduled to run until the plant officially closes on October 3, 2017. Upon closing, Grays Online … Continue reading Toyota plant equipment sale marks end of Australian auto manufacturing →

Italian multinational dairy company Parmalat has committed to a $12 million upgrade of its Adelaide factory. The company has invested $30 million in the Clarence Gardens facility since 2011. The company’s Australian chief executive Craig Garvin said its investment shows the company’s commitment to South Australia, which he believes is important in light of the recent … Continue reading Milk manufacturer invests $12m in SA facility →

City of Sydney Mayor Lord Clover Moore has been accused of snubbing Australian manufacturers by spending $258,000 to import children’s playground equipment from France. Liberal Councillor Christine Forster dubbed it “ludicrous” that the Mayor would choose to source the Darlinghurst park’s new play equipment from France as opposed to a Sydney-based manufacturer. “There’s absolutely no … Continue reading Sydney mayor faces backlash over imported playground equipment →

The new GEMÜ 4242 combi switchbox is suitable for secure and fast applications in most food and other types of process plants. It is small, compact and light, and is ideal for pneumatically operated linear actuators. With its integrated 3/2-way pilot valve made of anodized aluminium or stainless steel, the new combi switchbox 4242 from … Continue reading New switchbox for food processing plants →

Cutting tools maker Sandvik Coromant has signed an agreement to become a Premium Partner of leading machine tool manufacturer, DMG Mori. According to DMG, Sandvik Coromant will be the only tooling manufacturer to be named as a DMG Mori premium partner. As a DMG’s premium partner, Sandvik Coromant will work together with the machine tool … Continue reading Sandvik Coromant becomes DMG Mori Premium Partner →

Most robots achieve grasping and tactile sensing through motorised means, which can be excessively bulky and rigid. A Cornell group has devised a way for a soft robot to feel its surroundings internally, in much the same way humans do. A group led by Robert Shepherd, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and principal … Continue reading Engineers develop robot with human-like tactile senses →

MTPConnect and the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre (AMGC) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to work together in undertaking activities to accelerate the growth of advanced manufacturing in the medical technology, biotechnology and pharmaceutical (MTP) sector in Australia. Both MTPConnect and AMGC have been established as part of the Federal Government’s Industry Growth Centres … Continue reading Collaboration set to boost Australia’s advanced manufacturing sector →

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 →