Doug Green

About Doug Green

Posts by Doug Green:

Unions pushed Toyota too far

In 2008 there were six companies manufacturing cars in Australia but by 2017 there will be none. The motor industry in Australia has been struggling for years and now with the demise of Toyota, there is urgent need for the future of manufacturing there to realign itself – especially to the plight of the component manufacturers who by 2017 will be struggling to exist, unless they start now to find some new markets for some new products. It has basically become unsustainable for companies to continue producing cars in Australia. Ford, Holden and Toyota have each blamed multiple factors rather than a single issue. The common factors have been a high Australian dollar that has hurt export opportunities – mostly for Toyota and Holden – and sweetened deals for those brands importing, Australia’s high production/wage costs, and a car market that has become too small and fragmented – 50-odd automotive brands compete for a slice of a million-vehicle market. Despite government industry assistance that has been estimated at between $500 million and $1 billion annually, the local car makers have struggled financially. Ford has lost about $600m since 2008, Holden was profitable only twice between 2005 and 2012, and while Toyota posted a $149m profit in 2012 it lost $150m over the three previous years. Once Ford declared in May 2013 it was planning to abandon local production of the Falcon large car and Territory SUV in October 2016, there were immediate fears for Holden and Toyota due to the implications for the critical automotive parts supplier base in Australia that served the trio. The closure of the five Victorian and South Australian production facilities operated by Ford, Holden and Toyota will directly result in the loss of approximately 6600 manufacturing jobs by 2017: 2500 from Toyota’s Altona plant, 2900 […]

Hope for Australian renewables fading fast

Deployment of solar PV has grown at a 48% compound annual growth rate since 200 in Australia. Construction of the southern hemisphere’s largest solar PV plant is getting underway. This follows swiftly on from the announcement that Australia has recently completed its two millionth small-scale renewable installation, just eight months after reaching the initial million mark. On first glance it appears Australia’s time in the renewable sun is just around the corner. Deployment of solar PV has grown at a 48% compound annual growth rate since 2005, and the state of South Australia generated over 25% of power supply during peak output in January. Yet AGL Energy’s 102MW Nyngan Solar Plant provides a false glimmer of hope for Australian renewables, which are struggling to break through the billowing smoke of the fossil fuel industry. The Verdantix Energy Profile of Australia, highlighted how power generation is overwhelmingly dominated by fossil fuels, with coal generating 70% of electricity, dwarfing both wind and solar at 2% and 1% respectively. It appears the clouds are gathering for renewables as the government is planning to water down the Renewable Energy Target – a subsidy scheme which has underpinned the surge in solar and wind investment in recent years. “Elected in September 2013 on a mandate to scrap the carbon tax, the Coalition is on the warpath to put renewables on the backburner.” Elected in September 2013 on a mandate to scrap the carbon tax, the Coalition is on the warpath to put renewables on the backburner and cement Australia’s dependency on fossil fuels, as it seeks to put the brakes on rising electricity prices. Details released in December on the Emissions Reduction Fund – the cornerstone of the Coalition’s new energy and climate change legislation – reveals that the firms failing to meet emissions reductions targets will most likely go unpunished. With a declining manufacturing […]

ByRay Australia changes name

ByRay Australia, a provider of cutting tools, plasma consumables and lubrication systems, announced has changed its name to TruCut Solutions. The name change is intended to more accurately reflect the company’s business focus, operations and long-term goals. “We specialise in providing high-quality cutting consumables and technical support to profile cutting and machining industries,” says company director David White. Mr White said that the TruCut Solutions name is expected to provide broader marketplace appeal and recognition. TruCut Solution’s professional staff are driven to find the best solution to their customers’ cutting needs and are able to supply custom tools made in-house to suit all individual requirements. Furthermore, TruCut Solutions has recently been awarded the agency for Hypertherm Powermax hand plasma systems and consumables in the greater Sydney area. Powermax plasma systems cut and gouge a wide variety of metal types, thicknesses and forms. Hypertherm’s Powermax line of products consists of six systems from small to heavy-duty, high-capacity handheld cutting. Products include: For routers and mills: * Solid carbide router and milling cutters * HSK and ISO tool holders * ER collets * Unist micro mist cutting lubricators and coolant * Ceramic spindle bearing replacement and balancing * HSD high speed spindles For plasma profile cutting: * Hypertherm mechanised and hand plasma consumables * Hypertherm Powermax hand plasma systems * Centricut plasma and laser consumables to suit Kaliburn, Thermal Dynamics, Esab and other brands

Power women halve home energy use

Ten Sydney women have joined forces to make savings on their energy bills that would be enough to power four average family homes for a week. Many of the women exceeded their 20 per cent target and reduced their energy usage by more than half, providing them with significant financial savings in the lead up to Christmas. The three-month Women Power pilot was made possible by a City of Sydney environmental grant to 1 Million Women, an organisation of women taking action on climate change by changing the way they live. Katie McSweeney, who lives in the inner west, said her journey as a power woman was educational and enlightening and she is reaping the rewards of reduced power bills. “I really started paying attention to my power usage patterns, which allowed me to identify simple ways to cut my energy consumption,” Ms McSweeney said. “My technology-loving partner has dozens of chargers and appliances around the house. By switching them off when not in use, I was really able to cut energy consumption.” Ms McSweeney cut her energy consumption by 41 per cent, doubling the target set for her by 1 Million Women and said she was surprised at the significant difference achieved through simple measures.”Most of my energy consumption came from my hot water heating and charging of electronic appliances such as tablets, laptops and phones.”I was able to cut down my energy consumption dramatically by turning them off as well as turning off unnecessary lights and taking short showers. My power bills are now down to about $12 a week from $21 which is a fantastic result.” Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the pilot was a great example of women harnessing their economic power to make smart choices and save energy and power bills.”Everyone can play a part […]

Qantas cuts 5000 jobs

Qantas Airways will cut 5000 jobs as it moves to speed up its $2 billion cost cutting plan. The cuts,to made over a three year period, will involve the loss of 1500 management and non-operational roles and comes as the carrier booked a $252 million underlying loss for the six months to December 31. Qantas will also exit the Perth-Singapore route and use smaller aircraft on flights from Sydney and Brisbane to Singapore.

Helping farmers worldwide

(Picture) Waikato engineering graduate Andrew Russell scans milk samples which will later be analysed, during a visit to a Waikato milking shed as part of his role at Lely Sensortec Ltd. Using electronic engineering to help farmers worldwide is an exciting reality for University of Waikato graduate Andrew Russell. Andrew works for Lely Sensortec Ltd, a company which designs animal management products. His role within the company is to complete research and development into new and innovative ways to electronically sense cattle herd health. In the past a significant project for the company has been creating a milk quality monitor for use on dairy farms. “On a typical day I may be working on data analysis, or designing and assembling new prototypes. Testing these prototypes is a highlight, during which we visit farms, talk to farmers and recreate real life situations,” says Andrew. The former St Paul’s Collegiate student completed a Bachelor of Engineering and Master of Engineering at Waikato University. He chose Waikato because it was close to home and had the bonus of the School Leavers Scholarship. “Although engineering at Waikato University is relatively new, I think the degrees offered are just as good if not better than ones obtained from a traditional ‘engineering’ university.” He says the main experience that stood out in his undergraduate degree was the opportunity to complete work placements as part of his study. “Work placements are an opportunity to get a foot in the door and get some real life experience. During my second work placement I worked here at Lely Sensortec. I studied the effect of temperature on sensors and learnt how to calibrate against temperature effects.” Following undergraduate study, Andrew received a masters scholarship from the Ministry of Science and Innovation, which allowed him to build further on his relationship […]

Hot Runner range expanded

The G24 Hot Runner Temperature Control System was designed for use on injection moulding applications, but also for other applications such as controlling thermoforming, blow moulding and extrusion (profile and sheet). The new products include:- A new Mini Touch-Screen – which provides full feature performance at a lower cost. It is windows based and available for controllers with up to 48 zones. G24 Controller with 12 zones – This is the ideal solution for moulders running smaller hot runner systems applications. It features a half-size control block with 15 amps per zone control. It is available with either the new lower cost Gammaflux Mini Touch Screen or the traditional full-featured interface. A new Mould Wizard – an all new controller setup and configuration tool which provides fast, easy setup and access to key G24 features. It guides users through the setup process and unlocks hidden profitability by more fully utilizing the advanced features of the controller and decreases setup time simultaneously. It is available on all Gammaflux G24 controllers. Gammaflux specialise in the production of hot runner controls for the plastics injection moulding industry. They have a reputation for providing innovative solutions for temperature control and their systems are used worldwide in some of the most challenging injection moulding applications.

Olympus instrumentation for the recycling industry

Adaptable, lightweight analysis instrumentation suitable for the recycling industry was the focus of the Olympus display at the Australian Waste and Recycling Exhibition (AWRE) recently held in Melbourne. Each year, AWRE provides an opportunity for exhibitors to showcase innovation, meet with key figures from industry and government on the trade show floor and at seminars and workshops. The Delta Professional has been developed specifically for the Alloy and NDT sectors, especially companies conducting analysis of manufactured and scrap materials such as stainless steel and a wide range of other alloy types. Also displayed at AWRE was the GoldXpert, a stylish and functional bench-top precious metals analyser ideal for the new and second hand precious metals market. The unit was designed to be compact and attractive, ideal for use on a showroom floor. The GoldXpert can take the drudgery out of routine analysis.It is easy to use and provides carat and compositional analysis results with one push of a button. An XRF analyser uses a controlled beam of radiation to excite the electrons in a sample causing the elements to ‘fluoresce’. Each element fluoresces at a specific energy level, which can be identified as a characteristic peak. A higher peak indicates a greater concentration of an element. Technological advances have enabled Olympus to design and build lighter and more compact analysers that are now more affordable for smaller companies. In Australia the largest market for XRF analysers has been the mining and mineral exploration sector. Overseas scrap metal companies, especially in Asia and the US, use XRF extensively, but in Australia a lot of companies are yet to discover the benefits the technology provides. Scrap metal is like gold, if you can identify the composition of your scrap accurately you can really take advantage of the market.

New injection technology in one machine cell

Krauss Maffei will exhibit at Chinaplas in April 2014 a KM CX 200-180/180 W twin injection moulding machine in collaboration with Zahoransky Group of Germany and their innovative patented ‘cube technology’ concept TIM (Total Integrated Manufacturing) enabling the moulding, assembly and testing of multi-component parts in one injection moulding cell. The key to the efficiency of the system is the two mounting plates which are positioned outside the tool. This allows complex assembly processes to be carried out in parallel to the production without increasing the cycle time. The mounting plates can be moved on the X and Y axis by 180¼ and at the completion of the injection process the moulded parts can be picked up by the assembly jig and combined with the parts that have already been produced. The rotary cube mould system is run on Krauss Maffei CXW Spin Form Series Injection Moulding machinery. This series combines the proven dual platen technology of the CX and MX series and offers ideal accessibility to the mould and space for the integrated assembly stations. The central positioning of the two opposing injection units allows for hot runner systems with natural balancing and short flow paths. Energy saving servomotors control the movement of reversing the plates in the opening direction and the rotation of the cube mould with absolute position accuracy. The unique system provides energy and space savings and is available in clamp sizes ranging from 1,800 kN to 40,000kN.

Intercad acquires Solidtec Solutions

Intercad Pty Ltd, the leading supplier of 3D solid modelling products and services across Australia and New Zealand, has acquired fellow 3D CAD specialist Solidtec Solutions. As part of the deal, Solidtec personnel will join Intercad to further increase the level of expertise at the company, which over the past three years has transitioned into a full-service mechanical computer-aided engineering solutions provider. “We will merge the two businesses to support a larger range of services,” said Max Piper, Chief Executive Officer, Intercad Pty Ltd. “Established nearly 25 years ago, Intercad is the longest-standing 3D solid modelling specialist in the region, giving us a depth of industry knowledge that is evidenced in the range of services we offer and the breadth of products we represent.” Solidtec sales personnel will join Intercad as a result of the acquisition. Former Solidtec Chief Executive Officer Shane Preston said the sale will ultimately benefit both organisations – their personnel and the customers. “Manufacturing is facing significant headwinds, but it’s a resilient industry and companies are constantly looking to invest in services that increase productivity in a competitive global market,” said Piper. “Intercad is working on developing partnerships with organisations such as IC3D to further strengthen our ability to offer customers a more complete solution that meets their requirements and maximises their investment in SolidWorks, including products for steel fabrication and simple language translation.”

«‹ 110 111 112 113

News Ticker

Doug Green

About Doug Green

Posts by Doug Green: