sustainability

Investing in R&D is an important part of operations for many manufacturing companies and can drive the achievement of long term success, Deloitte’s Andrew Leung & Jason Crawford explain.

Samsung and LG have won national awards for manufacturing the most energy efficient flat screen televisions in Australia.

E & A Contractors has secured elements of RPG’s wind farming business and is working with Siemens to make wind towers for the Snowtown II project.

The Australian managing director of Alcoa, Alan Cransberg, has called for Australia to use its natural gas supply more effectively.

National Manufacturing Week 2013 will feature value- and productivity-boosting solutions for those in the industry, as well as two brand new Product Zones.

The short story of how one Subaru automotive plant achieved a zero landfill status, recycling every single thing.

James Brindley, managing director of Lion Beer, Spirits & Wine Australia, has announced that its Swan brewery at Canning Vale in WA will shut its doors by early next March, and relocate its production units to SA.

Melbourne-based Metallic Waste Solutions has been awarded close to $2 million in Federal Government funding to build a commercial scale pilot plant to recover zinc by-products at its Adelaide steel recycling plant.

A report shows expenditure on energy as a percentage of turnover increased by 10% between 2008 and 2011, as pressures mount from the carbon tax and rising electricity bills.

The carbon tax has made its ugly entrance onto Australia’s economic landscape and is rightly hogging all the headlines, however we can be quietly confident that when Tony Abbott takes over the reins in Canberra the insidious tax will become history.

While the unpopular carbon tax comes into force this month it is linked to some good news in the form of the generous $800m CleanTechnology Investment Program (CTIP) specifically for Australian manufacturers.

An Australian Industry (Ai) Group survey marking the start of the carbon tax has found a big proportion (42%) of businesses across the manufacturing, services and construction sectors will try to put up their prices immediately following the introduction of the scheme on 1 July.

Escalating demands to save energy have lead suppliers to develop new, more efficient motor and drive systems. Sarah Falson investigates.

Average gross profits of crystalline photovoltaic (PV) industry module manufacturers fell to just nine US cents per watt in the first quarter of 2012, putting huge pressure on suppliers according to the latest quarterly report from IMS Research.

Western Sydney food manufacturer Crafty Chef will reportedly reduce its carbon emissions by more than 50% through a factory upgrade and new freezer system designed to bring massive energy savings.

The board of the government’s Climate Change Authority has ‘heavy responsibilities’ to maintain competitiveness in manufacturing, warns the Australian Industry Group (Ai Group).

Forward-thinking manufacturers flocking to Albury City’s new 450-hectare industrial precinct have set the bar high for new tenants in the area, making sustainability a focus point for plant design.

Two UNSW-developed technologies have been recognised with Collaborative Innovation Awards at the Cooperative Research Centres Association conference in Adelaide recently.

Eleven businesses have each nabbed a share of $8.1 million in funding to help them improve production efficiency in preparation for the carbon tax.

Australia is lagging behind Asia, the US and Europe when it comes to manufacturing clean energy technology, a report has found.