Company News

Trisco Foods scoops major export award

Brisbane-based, family-owned food manufacturing business Trisco Foods has been recognised for its commitment to taking locally developed products to the world. Trisco was recently named Premier of Queensland’s Exporter of the Year 2019 at the annual Queensland Export Awards. Trisco Foods produces world class food ingredients, such as syrups and sundaes, that are used here and abroad by leading food companies. It has a strong presence throughout the Asian region and has been exporting for many years. This year, Trisco opened a factory in Colorado Springs to service demand in the United States. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the award was a deserved win for a family that was always innovating and always striving to provide high quality products and service to clients here and overseas. The Premier said the company’s production and warehousing facility is located in Brisbane with many of the raw materials grown and processed locally. “The first factory was a small building of two rooms attached to the rear of the family home in Hope Street, South Brisbane,” she said. “From these humble beginnings the business has grown into a huge success story and we’re extremely proud of this Queensland business from Brisbane taking on the world.” Tristam Foods CEO Mike Tristram said the company had worked tirelessly in recent years to expand its international footprint through new product development and innovation. “It is a cliché, but this is a genuine team effort with many people contributing to our success,” he said. “Our goal is quite simple. We want to create unique and innovative food solutions and take them into new markets, both in Australia, the US and across the globe.” The Tristram family is well known among older Queenslanders as the name behind the soft drink with the marketing slogan, “Say Tristrams Please”. The brand and […]

K2 expands footprint in Asia-Pacific Region with acquisition of Australian distributor

Low-code application development company to expand presence in Australia to meet increasing demand for cloud-based process automation solutions SourceCode Technology Holdings, Inc. (“K2”), a leader in enterprise low-code application development, today announced the acquisition of its distributor SourceCode ANZ Pty Ltd. (“K2 Australia”). K2 and K2 Australia share a long history of collaboration and joint innovation. With this acquisition, K2 establishes a direct presence in Australia, further investing in growth across the region to meet the increasing demand for cloud-based process automation solutions. “The acquisition of K2 Australia immediately provides us with a strong and established foothold in Australia,” said Evan Ellis, CEO at K2. “As part of our ongoing growth strategy, we are confident we can leverage our common vision to strengthen and expand the adoption of our cloud-based process automation platform.” Combining the expertise of the talented K2 Australia team with the global resources and market strength of K2 will create a collaboration that can accelerate the delivery of innovative process automation solutions across the region. “K2 is an ideal match for our team and the work we aspire to do in helping enterprises digitally transform,” said Hennie Laubscher, managing director of K2 Australia, who will join K2 as the vice president of Asia-Pacific. “By joining the K2 family, we can accelerate our growth in the region and deliver low-code applications on a broader scale.” About K2K2, a leader in enterprise low-code application development, enables companies to speed time-to-market and simplify the creation of modern process applications, automate workflows and transform their businesses. More than 4 million users in over 84 countries, including 30 percent of Fortune 100 are using K2 to take control of their business processes, increase visibility and improve operational efficiency. Discover what you can accomplish when you connect your people, processes and data at […]

Climate change drives new focus on tank top protection

As Australia’s drought deepens and the UN warns of the worsening effects of climate change, local industries are moving to protect their water and process fluid tanks from heat stresses, high winds, evaporation, airborne pollution and wastage. “Tanks now are being built to hold their contents more safely and securely than ever before, and protect it for longer and in more challenging operating environments,” says tank bearing engineer and manufacturer Mr David Booty, Manager, Hercules Engineering (a division of Cut To Size Plastics). Steel, concrete and fibreglass water and industrial fluid tanks need secure roofs that can withstand expansion and contraction caused by factors such as increasing climatic and load variations, says Mr Booty, whose company is currently supplying bearings for roofs to protect tanks with surface areas as large as 10,000 sq m (100m x 100m, holding 90ML of water, the equivalent of dozens of Olympic pools). He says such protection is needed for even larger tanks used by industry for applications as diverse as potable, process and firefighting water. “They can hold upwards of 10, 20 or even 30,000 tons of liquid that must be protected from the elements and from pollution to safeguard it for use in water, wastewater, emergency fire protection and high purity industrial processing applications.” A challenge facing developers and operators of buildings and processing plants for industrial and municipal uses is ensuring their top structures can flexibly cope with internal movement from climatically induced expansion, contraction and wind and rain forces. They also must cope with production stresses caused by heavy and changing loads, vibration and other factors encountered within diverse industries – as well as dust, bird droppings, rain-borne impurities and other airborne pollutants that can affect tanks used by industries in remote, rural and grimy urban settings, including industries such […]

Fixing problems caused by rezoning inner city industrial land

Carl GrodachProfessor and Director of Urban Planning & Design, Monash University Chris GibsonDirector, UOW Global Challenges Program & Professor of Human Geography, University of Wollongong Justin O’ConnorProfessor of Cultural Economy, University of South Australia Since 2000, planning authorities in Australia have overseen a massive rezoning of inner-city industrial land to make way for mixed-use residential development. They claim central industrial space is obsolete in a post-industrial economy driven by knowledge, finance, and real estate. And rezoning offers opportunities to house people near jobs and services, thereby slowing urban sprawl. While industrial rezonings have contributed to the densification of Australian cities, they also open the door to real estate speculation and accelerate gentrification. This has forced many people to move outward in search of affordable shelter. Rather than fostering walkable 20-minute neighbourhoods, “ghost shops” haunt many new mixed-use residential developments. And sprawl continues unabated. Other problems stem from a fundamental misunderstanding of contemporary manufacturing. The loss of central industrial zones displaces a range of specialised manufacturers, creative producers, and small businesses. With them go the quality jobs and vital services they provide. In the process, the diversity of land uses and jobs is reduced in the very places that policymakers want it. Can urban policy make room for manufacturing and create real diversity and a mix of employment opportunities in our cities? Australian manufacturing misunderstood Manufacturing employment has declined for decades. This is typically attributed to competition from low-wage countries. In reality, Australian manufacturing is changing and is largely distinct from overseas high-volume, low-cost mass production. Urban policy and an outdated vision of manufacturing are as much to blame for the loss of central industrial land. Today, Australian manufacturing is small, nimble, and specialised. Firms with fewer than 20 people provide 93% of all manufacturing employment. And most firms (74%) have fewer than five employees. These businesses are not pumping out automobiles or anoraks. […]

Activated carbon startup eyes commercial plant

A South Australian startup that has developed a low-cost technique for making activated carbon from agricultural waste will soon begin a capital raising round to fund commercial production. Adelaide-based company ByGen is looking for investment of A$1.5 million to build a full-scale plant capable of producing commercial quantities of activated carbon. Founders Lewis Dunnigan (CEO) and Ben Morton (CTO) established a pilot plant at the University of Adelaide last year, and have experimented with a variety of widely available agricultural wastes including almond shell, sawdust, grape marc and rice husks to produce high quality activated carbon. Activated carbon has a variety of uses including purifying liquids such as drinking water, food and beverage processing, odour removal, remediating contaminated soils and in the precious metals industry. It is traditionally made from coal, wood, or coconut shells, but Dr Dunnigan said he believed ByGen’s product was the first made sustainably from wastes. “We came up with a really low cost, low energy way of making activated carbon and then we realised there was a lot of demand for it, so we’ve commercialised the technology we developed,” he said. Activated carbon has many uses from water purification to soil improvement and mineral processing. “Traditionally you have to make it at about 1000 degrees, using steam or harsh chemicals. We felt like the energy intensive processes in developing countries with non-renewable feedstocks weren’t sustainable, so we tried lots of different Australian agricultural wastes and came up with the ByGen process.” The ByGen process is significantly less energy intensive with quality and yields in-line with existing technologies; four tonnes of agricultural waste produces approximately one tonne of activated carbon, with a value of up to A$2500 a tonne. The process can be done at the source of the waste production to reduce transportation costs and produces activated carbon at […]

Industrial Internet 4.0 Summit 2020

It’s a pleasure to welcome Frank Seeley to the Industrial Internet 4.0 Summit 2020! An absolute legend with a fantastic story to tell, Frank will deliver a keynote address from his decades of manufacturing experience, entitled “Innovation – The Elixir of Success”. So… who is Frank Seeley? Founder and Executive Chairman of Seeley International – Australia’s leading manufacturer of heating and cooling systems. One of the key drivers behind Seeley International’s success has been Frank’s commitment to the continual promotion of excellence in all that it does. Another is his catch-cry – “If enough of us keep right on innovating and automating, then there’s a huge and prosperous future for the Australian manufacturing industry!” Why spend 2 days out of the office: Discover how Australia can leverage Industrial Internet 4.0 to differentiate its manufacturing sector and compete globally Understand how knowledge and research is transferring into practice through multi sector collaboration Find out how manufacturers turn challenges into opportunities Define the necessary foundation needed to start the smart factory journey Explore what the up-skilling challenge looks like in the age of Industrial Internet 4.0? Identify the top IoT security challenges Book your ticket before 29 November to save up to $800. You can save even more by bringing the team with a discount of up to 25% available. Register online, email or call us on +61 (0)2 9977 0565.

Adaptalift Group forklifts – HysterUT and Yale UX ranges

Australian materials handling leader Adaptalift Group is backing the new Hyster UT and Yale UX Series lift trucks to satisfy a strong need in the Australian market for quality-engineered, cost-effective forklifts suited to lower frequency applications typically limited to 1,000 hours a year. The new Hyster UT Series and Yale UX Series diesel or dual-fuel counterbalance forklifts, pallet trucks and stackers, in six different capacities from 1.5-3.5 tonnes, deliver an attractive, affordable and uncomplicated range for enhanced user choice across many industries. The new ranges provide an attractive option for customers who require quality materials handling equipment – backed by service provided by the dealer network and support of the globally leading Hyster-Yale Group – but don’t need advanced functionalities for their tasks. Adaptalift Group is a major dealer for both Hyster and Yale in Australia, and is demonstrating its full support for the launches of the reliable new forklift ranges through strong local stock levels. Adaptalift Group, which has more than 38 years’ experience in the materials handling industry, is uniquely positioned to offer both the new Hyster and Yale lift trucks, which will add to their fleet of approximately 10,500 units across Australia, backed by a workforce of more than 400. Customer benefits Hyster and Yale’s new ranges provide a simple approach to materials handling – backed by 24/7 service – which is particularly attractive to customers whose materials handling equipment is required to work intermittently over a working week, on an as-required basis, typically up to 1,000 hours a year. Not only do the new ranges fill a gap in the market for a high quality, low usage forklift backed by reliable service, they also have outstanding features for the user. For example, the 3-piece overhead guard, comfortable seat and access step. The new Hyster UT and […]

Igniting stalled labour productivity

-Doug Green, Publisher, Australian Manufacturing News The Fourth Industrial Revolution is said to (it will) ignite stalled labour productivity in manufacturing through connected machines, people, data and value chains. The question is though; Is their stalled labour productivity or is there a reduction of manufactured product demand in the world in the current economic client? Maybe both? Or is labour productivity continuing to be low from workers, based on their ability to enhance workplace efforts? Meaning that today’s technology may not be being maximised in the workplace. We get all excited when the PMI Index shows manufacturing over 50 percentage points. When you consider the voting numbers for the recent local body elections…well, let’s not! Get the picture? There is a considered opinion that at the top end not enough development and manufacturing is going on with expensive technology equipment readily available. At the lower end, the same thing applies. Except that companies are not coming to grips with efficient use of the equipment. So, businesses may be setting up with the latest equipment ready to strike when opportunities arise, or they may be maximising right now to the best of their ability? On the other hand, the country has no shortage of creative and enterprising businesses contributing to the economy, with key staff realising their goals and dreams by being part of development teams involved in quite exciting projects. Productivity is good in these businesses. At present it seems that the land is where the most promise exists for product innovation. In horticulture and industry, it is ‘gang busters’. Enormous contributions to the country with quality goods, famous on world markets but still in need – and wanting to hear about – developments to make their businesses even more efficient. Stalled labour productivity may well be able to move […]

Clean, high-tech: this is the factory of the future

Factories have long held a place in the popular imagination, not just as sources of employment and community prosperity, but also as hectic, noisy, grimy and polluting facilities, where thousands of people are employed in largely low-skilled line positions. Today’s factories are changing. Breathtaking advances in technology, automation and globalisation are transforming how and where manufacturers plan, construct, operate and integrate their factory networks. They are also ushering in significant operational, political and societal changes. From America’s Rust Belt to rural India and China, a chorus of voices is struggling to understand: how are technologies changing how we produce and distribute products? Are automation and free trade taking away valuable factory jobs? What type of skills will be required? How can communities prosper in the face of new production technologies? How and when should manufacturers upgrade their legacy equipment to embrace new technologies to boost yields and efficiency for advantage or simply to remain competitive? Businesses, governments and society alike must understand the technological dynamics at play and collaborate together to ensure tomorrow’s factory towns prosper. What will the factory of the future look like? The key answers will come from the factory floor where new technologies like 3D printing, advanced robotics, the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, wearable devices, and virtual and augmented reality are converging to create new value, enabling the hyper-efficient and flexible factory of the future. The value created is real: large global producers have increased efficiency and reduced costs by up to 30% across all operations, driven by improvements in overall operating efficiency, lower inventory, energy and water costs, and reduction in incidents involving safety. While the pace of change and how these changes will propagate across networks will differ by industry and country, the factory of the future is a more digital, virtual and […]

AI petri dish scanner sold into Europe

LBT Innovations has made its first international sale of an artificial intelligence instrument, which it claims could revolutionise the global medical laboratory industry. Based in Adelaide, South Australia, health technology company LBT Innovations told investors this morning that it had made its first overseas sale of the APAS Independence instrument, which scans the contents of petri dishes and uses an algorithm to detect bacterial colonies from medical samples. The technology incorporates computer vision to hasten the time required to detect infections in samples from patients. LBT Innovations CEO Brett Barnes told local news site InDaily the technology had the potential to automate a process that is currently conducted manually at medical labs across the globe, and that it is faster and more accurate than microbiologists at making clinical diagnoses based on the samples. The sale to German clinical laboratory Labor Dr Wisplinghoff, announced on the ASX today, is only the company’s second, bringing in about $330,000. But Barnes said there was a potential demand for the product spanning about 2000 laboratories in Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States and Germany, and that this relatively small first international sale was an indication of things to come. “It’s a big, global market opportunity for us,” said Barnes. “As a singular transaction … what it really signifies (is) confidence that the technology is being adopted. “We’re at the start of a global commercialisation.” Barnes said that the technology, developed with the University of Adelaide in 2015, eliminated one of the more mundane and tedious processes from the daily workflow of a microbiologist. “This isn’t a play of putting a profession out of work,” he said. “It’s an efficiency gain (that) frees up microbiologists for more value-add activities.” He added that a clinical trial involving 10,000 patients had demonstrated the technology’s accuracy and speed.

«‹ 58 59 60 61 ›»

News Ticker

Company News