R&D

The wrong response to Holden’s factory closures in 2017 could tip South Australia into recession, warned the state’s top economic adviser.

The end of manufacturing in Australia for Holden has highlighted the need for smarter industry policy, according to an expert on the manufacturing sector.

The cost of keeping automotive manufacturing in Australia is high and the investment not always spent wisely, but the loss of the sector would be profound.

Federal assistant treasurer Arthur Sinodinis has said that the federal government would like to see more locally-made, innovative, global success stories.

Robots that are controlled by the human mind may be able to help workers in the field of advanced manufacturing, according to a US research team.

Held late last month, the Productivity, Process and Innovation conference assembled a host of experts to address the key challenges facing the industry. Brent Balinski took notes regarding some of the big themes from a panel discussion on the issue of “Challenges in Australian Productivity”.

Cook Medical has spoken of what it sees as a need for tax reform to encourage the development of Australian IP locally.

From optimising factory processes to having a hand in massive movements of iron ore to checking in bags at airports: sensors are everywhere, making things work. So is SICK.

Ahead of Professor Hermann Simon’s visit to Australia next month, we will be considering his “Hidden Champions” concept, which has been used to help explain Germany’s export success.

“It’s actually taken us six years right from the brief to today,” said Martin Peek, a senior design engineer at Dyson, during a recent visit to Manufacturers’ Monthly to explain the company’s new line of vacuum cleaners.

Australia’s ailing car manufacturing industry will receive a A$200m funding boost. And all cars in Commonwealth fleets will have to be Australian-made.

Cook Medical has criticised current measures to encourage innovation in Australia, and is lobbying with the Export Council of Australia for tax incentives to manufacture locally.

The Californian city of Fremont seems to be benefiting from an effort to attract intelligent manufacturers. Mayor Bill Harrison told Brent Balinski a little about Warm Springs, Fremont’s innovation hub.

A Brisbane-based manufacturer has proposed a new incentive for companies that manufacture locally products for which they own or have licensed the patent.

Manufacturers’ Monthly took a tour of Keech’s Bendigo site recently. CEO Herbert Hermens and COO Cameron Watts told Brent Balinski about the investment efforts the steel castings company has made to boost its competitiveness.

Industry minister Greg Combet has defended the level of government support given to automotive makers in Australia, claiming that a Coalition government would cut funding.

Scientists at the University of Sydney are creating more cost effective biodegradable PPC polymers.

Day two of National Manufacturing Week included two areas of particular concern for the industry, the Asian Century and what our factory’s might look like in the future.

St Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne, is hosting an AdBioFab conference today and opening Australia’s first biofabrication unit next month, with aims to develop the application of medical 3d printing technology.

Many people seem to equate manufacturing with 19th century technology, with the steam engine and grease, but in fact that is not the case.