Pioneering emergency lighting systems

Clevertronics, a specialised emergency lighting company, has pioneered the use of batteries in its products using a new Lithium based technology. The result is fittings that reduce maintenance costs in excess of 80 per cent.

In the past 12 years, the company has been growing in excess of 20 per cent per year and increasing its employees in Australia from 20 to 150 people. For Tony Todaro, managing director of Clevertronics, this consistent growth has been made easier by having Bank of Melbourne to support the business.

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6S Series 1.6mm 316 Stainless Steel IP66 Enclosures

Kraus & Naimer have expanded their range, adding the 6S Series of stainless-steel enclosures to provide a more robust alternative for aggressive environmental conditions.

The 6S stainless steel enclosures provide rigorous protection for vital switchgear but with the same footprint as popular plastic versions.

Ideally suited for Dairy, Food & Beverage Industries, the 6S Enclosure Series can withstand even the most demanding environmental situations.

To download this whitepaper, please fill out the form below.

President of Chief Executive Women joins CSIRO board

Engineer and experienced senior executive, Kathryn Fagg, has been appointed to the CSIRO Board for a five-year term.

The President of Chief Executive Women, Fagg, replaces outgoing board member, Hutch Ranck.

The Minister for Industry, Science and Technology, Karen Andrews, said Fagg’s background in engineering, combined with her executive skills and wide business experience, made her an excellent choice for the board.

“As well as impressive business experience and executive expertise, Fagg has distinguished herself in cultural and community organisations. I warmly congratulate her on her appointment,” said Andrews.

Fagg has held senior executive roles in logistics, manufacturing, resources, banking and professional services, including with Linfox, BlueScope Steel and ANZ.

Fagg is the Chair of Boral and a Director of Note Printing Australia, Djerriwarrh Investments and Incitec Pivot. She is also the Chair of the Melbourne Recital Centre and the Breast Cancer Network Australia, and was formerly a Reserve Bank Board member.

Her qualifications include a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) from the University of Queensland and a Master of Commerce (Honours) from the University of New South Wales. In 2017, she was awarded the Ada Lovelace Medal for Outstanding Woman Engineer by the University of New South Wales.

“I look forward to Ms Fagg’s contributions to furthering the interests of the CSIRO as it continues to deliver excellence in science and innovation,” said Andrews. “I also thank Mr Hutch Ranck for his valuable contribution to the CSIRO Board since 2011, and wish him every success in his future endeavours.”

3D intelligent sensors: Adding dimension to your machines

In an evolving world where efficiency and speed are at the forefront of industrial production, factories are looking to smarter, flexible technology to improve their outputs. Intelligent sensors with 3D technology enable machines to perceive their environment with human-like vision, giving them the ability to work faster and more effectively – even in unstructured environments.

The ifm range of 3D imaging sensor technology not only provides solutions for current applications in the production and logistics sectors, but flexibility for customisable, future applications. The possibilities with this innovative technology – particularly in light of the next industrial revolution – are countless.

To download the white paper, please fill out the form below.

Webinar: How combining renewable PPAs and demand response results in savings

The Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF) in partnership with WWF-Australia and Flow Power have produced a research paper outlining the prospective savings from combining PPAs with demand response.

The report, “Best of Both Worlds: Renewable Energy and Load Flexibility for Australian Business Customers,” outlines the prospective savings from the uptake of corporate renewable PPAs with demand response for three large Victorian-based businesses, representing the following industries – water utilities, agriculture and industrial manufacturing.

Register for the Webinar by filling out the form below.

 

Webinar: How combining offsite renewable PPAs and demand response results in savings

The Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF) in partnership with WWF-Australia and Flow Power have produced a research paper outlining the prospective savings from combining PPAs with demand response.

We discuss the findings of The Best of Both Worlds: Renewable Energy and Load Flexibility for Australian Business report with special guest speaker Jonathan Prendergast from ISF.

The report outlines the prospective savings for three large Victorian-based businesses, representing the following industries – water utilities, agriculture and industrial manufacturing.

Register for the Webinar by filling out the form below.

3M Respirators: Comfort and safety, right from the start

3M has always been an innovator in worker health and safety. No matter what your respiratory safety solution challenges may be, we provide an extensive range of Disposable, Reusable and Powered and Supplied Air Respirators. Our 40 years experience in Safety Leadership and thousands of patents later enables us to provide you with protection and comfort for a range of applications and conditions.

Real-time maintenance: The bridge to predictive maintenance

The healthy functioning of machinery is at the core of all industries. While maintenance is essential, the approach to maintenance is evolving to become more efficient. It’s not just about downtime, but the costs involved if parts are replaced at the wrong time, which can happen with scheduled maintenance. With the intelligent sensor technology and network connectivity we have today, businesses are already adopting a real-time monitoring and condition-based approach to maintenance. This is an essential bridge to the future of predictive maintenance and the next global industrial revolution: industrie 4.0.

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100% inline quality control in plastic processing with intelligent sensor system

Inline inspection of product quality is an integral part in quality control process from plastic processing and injection moulding. With the combination of sensor technology from Micro Epsilon, a 100% automated inline quality control in the production line is now possible. Using the combination of thermoImager and color sensor, it is now possible to achieve time-efficient, accurate measurement with 100% of traceability.

Minimising the risks and impact from hazardous substance injury in the workplace

Accidents in the workplace happen. The question for managers to consider though is one about minimising risk. Besides adhering to the regulations, what actions can an employer take to minimise the risk of employees working with hazardous substances? 

The following white paper tackles this question, with a discussion of relevant Australian standards, safety systems and equipment that can minimise the impact of workplace accidents. It also provides examples and context to injury from people working with hazardous substances, with the aim to provide readers with a clear insight into good practice. 

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Insight Core – Turning Welding Data Into Dollars

There are many reasons why companies want to improve the productivity or quality of their welding operations, but real improvements aren’t achievable without quality data. Having the right tools in place to measure and analyse workplace data is also essential for growth. A welding information management solution gives companies the ability to assess performance metrics, including both output and quality. This information – or data – can then be transformed into dollars by making improvements to existing practices. Accurate, real-time data collection and analysis gives businesses a baseline to work from and improve upon. Having the software in place to measure the impact of these improvements then enables businesses to establish benchmarks for quality and performance.

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Safety gated community with Pilz

With the modular safety gate system from Pilz you can tailor a safety gate interlock to suit your own industrial environment – whether that environment has machine tools, presses, packaging or special purpose machinery.

This modular system allows you to create the gate interlock you need while still taking advantage of the benefits of economical series connection, rapid diagnostics, additional control, and push button operation plus an optional escape release.

Two safety gate sensors, PSENmlock and PSENslock, can be combined with a range of components to create gate interlock to suit your purposes, rather than an ‘off the shelf’ gate interlock that isn’t ideal for your plant. When you are dealing with the safety of workers and machinery, you need the exact fit, not just a close fit.

PSENslock

PSENslock offers safe positon monitoring with process guard locking all in one system. It is a non-contact safety gate system which provides a safe alternative to existing mechanical technology to prevent swing gates and sliding gates from being opened unintentionally.

With an electromagnetic holding force of up to 1000 Newton (N) and a manipulation-proof actuator, the PSENslock unit combines safety gate monitoring with a non-contact magnetic interlock.

This combination of safe position monitoring and process guard locking means that PSENslock non-contact safety gate systems are suitable for universal use.

Pilz safety gate systems combine safety, standard and diagnostic functions in one unit, and are suitable for rugged environments.

Featuring an open design, these safety gate systems can be connected to Pilz control technology as well as any other standard evaluation device. As a result, Pilz components can also be retrofitted to plant and machinery.

PSENmlock

PSENmlock offers safety gate monitoring and safe guard locking for the protection of personnel and processes to the highest category PL e in one device. This is a reliable safety interlock for small, light, large or heavy doors and gates.

The flexibly mounted actuator ensures high tolerance compensation and unrestricted functionality even with sagging gates.
With a holding force of 7500 N and the integrated latching force of 30 N, PSENmlock prevents the guard from opening inadvertently. This makes PSENmlock particularly suitable for machines with a hazardous overrun such as rotating knives, flywheels or robots.

Additionally, an integrated mechanical restart interlock prevents the guard from being closed, without the need for separate accessories.

Not only does the restart interlock make operating the machine safer, it also prevents an unexpected restart during maintenance operations.

Escape releases

In the unfortunate situation that someone is trapped inside the hazardous area, the new Escape Release accessories can be used to deactivate the locking mechanism on PSENmlock, allowing the trapped person a means of escape.

Two different escape releases are available to add to PSENmlock.

One variant connects directly to the PSENmlock while a remotely connected version uses a cordset that utilises a pull-push wire. This enables the installation of the safety gate system and escape release to be physically separate.

This system is easy to install and low maintenance as the pull-push wire does not have to be under tension.

PITgatebox

The new Pilz PITgatebox allows easy operation of your safety gate system at the touch of a button via four pre-configured combinations of pushbuttons, key switches and ESTOP.

These pushbutton units enable commands to activate, stop or reset a machine or system.

PITgatebox’s slim design means the robust control unit, can be installed quickly and easily on standard profile systems. The die cast zinc housing offers shock, vibration and collision resistance.

Thanks to the incorporated M12 12-pin connection and rotatable end caps the unit is easily integrated into new or existing plant and machinery.

 

To download the whitepaper, please fill the form below:

LOCTITE Hybrid adhesives aim for best of both worlds

Henkel Australia and New Zealand has announced its recent advancement in hybrid adhesive technologies – LOCTITE® Universal Structural Bonders which have been developed to combine the high speed of an instant adhesive with the bonding strength of a structural adhesive.

LOCTITE products provide solutions across the whole spectrum of adhesive technologies and manufacturing processes. They are used in markets as diverse as electronics, automotive, aerospace, biomedical and many manufacturing industries.

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Safe robotics: Safety in collaborative robot systems

Combining human abilities with those of robots in industrial environments creates production solutions that are characterized by better quality, lower costs, improved ergonomics, and faster working cycles.

Taking the current status of the international standards that deal with the safety of industrial robots, specifically the safety of robots for collaborative operation, this white paper will explain the guidelines contained in these standards which apply to the development of safe collaborative robot applications.

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Matthews Australasia announces new head office relocation to accommodate sustained growth

Matthews Australasia, a leading family-owned product identification and inspection company, has moved into its new offices at 10 Lakeview Drive, Scoresby to accommodate sustained company growth.

The state-of-the-art facility including offices, warehouse and a distribution centre has been designed to provide maximum value to Matthews’ staff in addition to its broad network of suppliers and customers.

Mark Dingley, CEO of Matthews Australasia, said “The decision to expand our head office in Melbourne reflects our ongoing success over many years as well as our confidence in the future. This is an exciting time for Matthews and marks a huge milestone for the company, our employees and customers who will all benefit from the opportunities this expansion presents. Our new offices are an open, collaborative space, allowing for a better work environment for current and future staff and the opportunity for further business diversification and expansion.”

The building was designed by workplace specialists Peter Ryan Architects, whose Caribbean Park designs have been shortlisted for the 2018 annual Victorian Architecture Awards. Building materials and finishes were selected to enhance the use of natural light throughout both the office and warehouse areas.

The new space reflects Matthews’ focus upon delivering quality customer service, and has been designed to support efficiency for all departments. The building is located in Caribbean Gardens Business Park and provides easy access for staff as well as reduced transit times for supplier and customer freight.

To find out more about Matthews Australasia please visit www.matthews.com.au

Why it’s time to make the switch to digital time and attendance software

Traditional time cards and punch clock have been the standard way to monitor time and attendance in work places for many years. Despite their inefficiencies, high error risk and timely processes, just under half of all businesses are still using this process to track employees time and attendance.

Research shows that companies with automated time and attendance systems have seen a 63 per cent decrease in payroll error rates.

To learn more about time and attendance digitalisation download the full white paper by filling out the form below.

Birdstone proves packaging design with clear 3D printed prototypes

When Australian food company Carman’s launched its new Super Seed and Grain Crackers, the food company kept presentation and preservation top of mind, and enlisted Birdstone, an Australian packaging design agency, to design an engaging tray insert.

Due to the complexity of the casing designs and unique functional requirements involved, 3D Systems’ On Demand Manufacturing experts helped Birdstone select the most suitable prototyping process, materials, and finishing process to meet its outlined requirements.

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LOCTITE Hybrid adhesives aim for best of both worlds

Henkel Australia and New Zealand has announced its recent advancement in hybrid adhesive technologies – LOCTITE® Universal Structural Bonders which have been developed to combine the high speed of an instant adhesive with the bonding strength of a structural adhesive.

The patented hybrid technologies bring four great addition into LOCTITE’s structural bonding range: LOCTITE HY 4090, LOCTITE HY 4080, LOCTITE HY 4070 and LOCTITE HY 4060 GY. They’re formulated to meet the rising demands in assembly design and maintenance repair for:

  • High performance structural bonding
  • Multi-surface structural bonding
  • Dissimilar substrate structural bonding
  • Low hazard structural adhesives

Expanding your Design Solutions – LOCTITE HY 4090 and LOCTITE HY 4080

LOCTITE HY 4090 has a high viscosity and is an off-white to light yellow gel. The fixture time is 90 – 180 secs and it’s suitable for gaps up to 5 mm. LOCTITE HY 4090 provides high moisture, temperature (up to 150 °C) and UV resistance which is great for outdoor applications. It also resistant to vibration, shock loads and impacts.

LOCTITE HY 4080 GY is a 2-part, grey, cyanoacrylate/acrylic hybrid structural adhesive providing toughness and excellent adhesion to metals, composites and plastics. It provides fast fixture at room temperature and high operational strength within the first hour. It has good resistance to peel and impact loads while maintaining high shear strength over a wide range of temperatures and larger gaps.

Essential maintenance repair tools – LOCTITE HY 4070 and LOCTITE HY 4060 GY

LOCTITE HY 4070 is a 2-part, transparent, cloudy colorless to pale yellow cyanoacrylate/acrylic hybrid gel adhesive that provides an ultra-fast fixture at room temperature in bond gaps up to 0.2 in (5 mm). Its gel consistency prevents adhesive flow, even on vertical surfaces. It suits various substrates including most plastics, rubbers and metals. It is used where complete cure of excess adhesive as well as temperature and moisture resistance, is required. The compact packaging design also provides four convenient mixing nozzles which make LOCTITE HY 4070 essential for every tool box.

LOCTITE HY 4060 GY is a two component, general purpose structural adhesive that provides a high strength combined with fast fixture at room temperature. LOCTITE HY 4060GY provides good temperature and moisture resistance which also makes it suitable for applications in high temperature/humidity environments. It is designed to bond a variety of substrates including metals, most plastics and rubbers. This product is ready-to-use and can be dispensed directly from the pack without additional equipment. Most importantly, the product is machinable after cure.

Limitless Bonding

LOCTITE products provide solutions across the whole spectrum of adhesive technologies and manufacturing processes. They are used in markets as diverse as electronics, automotive, aerospace, biomedical and many manufacturing industries.

The LOCTITE Universal Structural Bonders will find applications within those markets and reach beyond the conventional industry approaches. On the other side, the manufacturers will need to work at how to maximise the benefits of the added moisture resistance, the better gap filling properties, the high vibration resistance and so forth. That can only be good news for an industry that is going through tough times and facing global competition. The combination of speed and strength that LOCTITE Universal Structural Bonders offer promises to bring sought after cost and efficiency benefits. The possibilities are limitless.

For more information, contact Henkel to learn more about LOCTITE Hybrids adhesives and Henkel’s broad array of structural bonding solutions.

LOCTITE Technical Hotline: 1300 885 556

Email: loctite.enquiries@henkel.com

www.loctite.com.au/hybridadhesive

 

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Conveyor safety: Prevent injury and increase productivity

Conveying systems are a conventional method of moving bulk materials in the manufacturing industry. While adequate guarding protects workers from moving parts, one of the standout facts when it comes to personal injury in the workplace is that most accidents can be traced to unsafe work practices by either operating or maintenance personnel. The simple reality is that having trained personnel prevents such injury.

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Belden MachFlex Industrial Cables

Machines are becoming highly systemised, smaller and compact day by day due to the special requirements of end users and customers. These special requirements are becoming a challenge for the machine builders as they need to stay competitive while ensuring a robust performance for their machines. Belden is introducing a new line machine builder choice cables to help the machine builders tackle this challenge by offering cables in smaller sizes to save installation space and highly durable to meet the flexibility, physical and mechanical requirements.

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