May 2016

Sundance Energy Australia’s Borrowing Base $67 Million

DENVER – Sundance Energy Australia Limited (ASX:SEA) (“Sundance” or the “Company”), a U.S. onshore oil and gas exploration and production company focused in the Eagle Ford and Greater Anadarko Basin, is pleased to announce the completion of its second quarter 2016 borrowing base redetermination. The borrowing base under its Revolving Credit Facility with Morgan Stanley has been reaffirmed at $67 million. CEO and Managing Director Eric McCrady commented, “We are pleased with the outcome of the semi-annual redetermination of our borrowing base and appreciate Morgan Stanley’s support.” The Company’s Term Loan with Morgan Stanley remains unchanged at $125 million. The Revolving Credit Facility matures in May 2020 and the Term Loan matures in November 2020. Sundance Energy Australia Limited is an Australian-based, independent energy exploration company, with a wholly owned US subsidiary, Sundance Energy Inc., located in Denver, Colorado, USA. The Company is focused on the acquisition and development of large, repeatable oil and natural gas resource plays in North America. Current activities are focused in the Eagle Ford and Greater Anadarko Basins. A comprehensive overview of the Company can be found on Sundance’s website at www.sundanceenergy.net.

Use the super computer in your pocket for new levels of productivity

Anyone with a smartphone or tablet now can connect securely in an industrial setting to access performance metrics and data analytics. By Kyle Reissner, mobility platform leader, Rockwell Automation You can use any digital device to easily access performance metrics and data analytics from your plant floor and machines. How are you using that freedom? Your smartphone is now as powerful as your desktop. That mobility is more than viewing a webpage or report on your tablet; it’s a fundamental shift in how we live our lives. Seventy percent of us carry a smartphone or tablet into the office. We are mobile. Yet many of us still live as if the world is flat. You know the analogy. For thousands of years people lived like they would fall off the edge of the earth if they ventured too far from what they knew. Then we realized the world is a sphere, and that opened a world of possibility. Since the 1980s, we’ve used the Purdue Enterprise Reference Architecture to define clear layers between systems. Our first shot at mobility was the replicate a web browser in a Palm Treo. It was a good start, but it fell short of the ultimate user experience. Some people are using the latest devices to extend 20-year-old technology. That type of mobility is resulting in very small increases in productivity, in the range of 1 to 2 percent. I suggest a loftier goal for mobility —10 percent — and for everyone in the plant, not just one or two people. It’s possible because we now have the technology that lets people do things they couldn’t do before while reducing the cost of curiosity to literally zero. Now, anyone with a device can connect securely, expand their area of influence, deploy a system more quickly and […]

‘5 Reforms Over 5 Years’ – Resource industry launches workplace relations campaign

Australia’s resource industry has launched a campaign for 5 Reforms Over 5 Years to get our workplace relations system back on track, and ensure our resource industry and broader business community can compete globally and attract job-creating investment to Australia. “Australia needs to do better on how we regulate work and workplace relations,” says AMMA chief executive Steve Knott. “A modern and competitive workplace relations system needs to do more than provide protections for employees, it must also support individual choice, flexibility and agility to ensure businesses can invest, prosper and create job opportunities. “These five reforms would deliver growth, productivity and a more positive operating environment for businesses of all sizes and across all industries. They address significant flaws and imbalances in the current Fair Work laws that create barriers to employment, investment and doing business in Australia.” The 5 Reforms over 5 Years draws from AMMA’s federal election survey in which over 100 leading resource employers, employing more than 85,000 Australians, detailed their experiences working under the Fair Work Act. The five reform priorities are as follows: 1. Focus enterprise bargaining, and ensure legally protected strike action can only be taken over claims pertaining to the employment relationship, not union ‘wish lists’ of claims. 2. Return balance to union workplace entry laws by creating an enforceable code of conduct and removing union access to employee lunch rooms when other suitable meeting rooms are available. 3. Expand agreement making options to facilitate employment arrangements, both individual and collective, directly between employees and employers. 4. Reform unfair dismissal and ‘general protections’ laws to ensure employers are not forced to pay ‘go away money’ to settle claims without merit. 5. Replace the Fair Work Commission with modern, balanced institutions by creating an Australian Employment Tribunal and a separate Employment Appeals Tribunal. “Australia has a choice […]

NMW 2016 finishes on a strong note

This year’s National Manufacturing Week (NMW) – May 11 – 13 in Sydney – has ended on a solid footing for the more than 200 exhibiting companies, 50 speakers and over 5,000 visits by attendees at the combined NMW-Safety First Conference and Expo event. Feedback to organisers, Reed Exhibitions, is that participants have gained new insights, information and all-important inspiration for growth in their businesses. This year’s events were defined by the twin themes of innovation and collaboration: with several Seminar Theatre sessions focusing on opportunities for manufacturers to break down the barriers to innovation. “The time for action is now,” urged The Hon Karen Andrews MP, Asst Minister for Science, in a Keynote Address on NMW’s final day, Friday May 13. “I know that SMEs have had some hesitation in the past around approaching the universities for partnership – due to barriers such as cost – but I invite businesses to come talk to the Department of Industry, or to me personally: because there are some real opportunities on the table, and we are keen to help business make connections that can support your growth.” The Assistant Minister’s comments were reflected throughout the NMW Seminar Theatre program: including in a Day 2 panel discussion focusing on funding for business innovation. Several SMEs,, including Marathon Targets, HMS Equipment and more, joined AusIndustry to share examples of how government assistance can help connect growth-hungry businesses connect with potential partners, and new ideas for growth. In a separate Day 2 session, Western Sydney University’s Dr Sasha Alexander challenged visitors with the observation that “Everytime a stranger enters the business, innovation happens.” Dr Alexander went on to explain how an outsider’s view of your business – from industry partners, consultants and even competitors – can challenge your assumptions, opening your eyes to new […]

Australian manufacturing is misunderstood

Company tax reform a boost for Australia’s resource industry

Statement by AMMA Chief Executive Steve Knott Australia’s resource industry welcomes the Turnbull Government laying out a roadmap to bring Australia’s company tax rate into line with the OECD average. While immediate support for small and medium businesses will provide junior miners, explorers and suppliers to the resource industry with welcome tax relief, the 10-year plan to have a 25 per cent company tax rate across the board will provide a great boost for investment in new major resource projects. The resource industry is in the business of long term planning and development, with multi-billion dollars investment decisions often having lead times of more than 10-years. Thus, certainty and stability is critical for Australia’s resource industry to remain a globally competitive place to invest, employ and do business. AMMA urges the opposition to take a bi-partisan approach to company tax reform; one that will see both major parties commit to the 25 per cent target within 10 years whether in government or opposition. These important budget measures must be complemented by other reforms that maximise the proportion of Australians in jobs, paying tax and generating growth. Australia cannot allow our unbalanced, increasingly uncompetitive workplace relations system to remain in a holding pattern, creating barriers to jobs and growth. The next Australian Government must tackle the growing imperative for workplace relations reform. Implementing key recommendations from the Productivity Commission’s review of our workplace relations framework would be a very positive starting point.

TQF gearboxes ideal for automation tasks

The new low-backlash TQF series of precision planetary flanged gearboxes is engineered with outstanding torsional stiffness for applications such as industrial automation. It is the latest in the versatile TQ series of Bonfiglioli Transmissions that are ideal for applications demanding high dynamic characteristics and the ability to handle a high number of start-stops and reversals with outstanding reliability. The TQF flanged design is suited to machine tools, packaging machines, precision rotary axis drives, traveling gantries, columns and material handling axis drives, as well as tasks requiring high positioning accuracy, dynamic cycling operations, tilting movement and compact solutions for motion control. Typical applications requiring high performance servo drive systems with extremely low backlash include working centres for metal, wood marble, stone, printing, paper and glass products across diverse industries. The TQF series – which joins the TQ in-line series and TQK right-angle series – comes in five sizes delivering rated output torque ranging from 30 to 800 Nm and acceleration output torque from 45 to 1200Nm, covering the needs of most industrial automation applications requiring the high dynamic performance offered. The TQF has the highest torsional stiffness in the TQ family of drives, delivering increased accuracy and higher radial load to offer greater overall load capacity and high reliability. The monobloc planet carrier ensures higher radial load capability as well as markedly higher torsional stiffness, offering a high safety factor for transmissible torque and increased dynamic response. Bearings have been carefully selected and sized to suit the torque rating of the gearbox and provide quieter operation. The new series features a high level of mechanical protection (IP65), a flanged output (similar to EN ISO 9409), and a low level of acoustic pressure. The series is ideally suited for Bonfiglioli’s BMD permanent magnet high performance servo motor, which has compact dimensions, giving […]