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Trial aims to help support more solar

Solar customers in South Australia and Victoria will soon be able to feed more energy into the grid thanks to a new project announced today by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA). ARENA has announced $2.09 million in funding to a consortium led by SA Power Networks to trial a new approach to integrating rooftop solar with the grid, using smart inverters. Distributors SA Power Networks and Victorian-based AusNet Services have partnered with industry-leading inverter manufacturers, Fronius, SMA, and SolarEdge, and energy management software company SwitchDin to develop the technical capability needed to offer customers flexible rather than fixed export limits for solar. The $4.84 million project will develop and test end-to-end technical capability to enable flexible export limits for solar PV systems. The capability will be built into Australian products from market-leading inverter manufacturers and will be enabled in many other inverter brands through SwitchDin’s Droplet gateway device. Through a 12 month field trial involving about 600 customers in South Australia and Victoria, the project will test the viability of this kind of connection arrangement, and refine and develop the associated technologies and customer connection service to the point where it could be offered as a standard service to all customers installing solar. Australians are currently installing new PV systems at a rate of more than 200,000 per annum across the NEM. These systems provide many benefits but also present challenges for distribution networks in maintaining safety, quality and security of supply. Distribution networks such as South Australia’s are reaching the limit of their capacity to host rooftop solar in some areas without major investment in network upgrades. Alternatively, they may have to impose zero or very low export limits for new solar connections in congested areas. “We want more solar, not less,” said Paul Roberts, […]

Measured IR changes will stimulate investment, jobs

The industrial relations amendment bill introduced by the Morrison Government today contains measured, incremental improvements to Australia’s employment laws that will encourage businesses to invest and create jobs in the post-Covid-19 economic environment. Australian Resources and Energy Group CEO, Steve Knott AM, said key areas of the IR reform bill address longstanding concerns and priority reforms for mining, oil and gas, and service sector employers. “Improvements to enterprise bargaining, greenfields agreements and certainty around casual employment, are areas of huge value to Australia’s resources and energy employers,” Mr Knott said. “While the enterprise bargaining changes are modest and mostly administrative in nature, they do address a number of process issues that have led to significant delays and frustrations in getting enterprise agreements approved within a reasonable timeframe. “Allowing greenfields agreements for major resources and energy projects to run for up to eight years to match their typically longer construction timeframes, is a common-sense reform that will help Australia secure the enormous national opportunities within its major project investment pipeline. “It is pleasing the government has acted on the advice of senior executives from AMMA member companies, who stepped forward to highlight the significance this relatively simple change will have on influencing final investment decisions for multi-billion-dollar, nation-building projects. “The government has also struck an appropriate balance with its proposals for casual employment. Casual employees will have new rights to convert to permanency after 12 months with an employer, whilst businesses will be protected from ‘double dipping’ backpay claims which, if left unaddressed, would leave up to $39 billion in contingent liability looming over the economy. “Collectively these measures will reduce employment-related red tape and risk for resources and energy employers, which have been the lifeblood of the national economy and labour market during an extraordinarily difficult year for all Australians.” […]

Mint Innovation raises $20m to build gold biorefineries

Precious metals refiner Mint Innovation will start mining in Sydney next year. Then the New Zealand cleantech company has its sights on building a second biorefinery in North West England. Mint Innovation has raised NZ$20 million to help build those plants, which are based on its proprietary biometallurgical process and scalable platform. During successful trials at its first biorefinery in Auckland, Mint Innovation recovered significant amounts of gold and copper from crushed and powdered electronic waste. Dr Will Barker, Mint Innovation’s CEO, says the Series B capital raise was led by New Zealand technology investor Movac, with strong support from around the globe, including Blackbird Ventures and major long term investor Icehouse Ventures. “This raise gives us the capital we need to deploy our technology, starting with the Greater Sydney biorefinery in early 2021,” Dr Barker says. “Once commissioned, the plant will be able to process up to 3,500 tonnes of electronic waste each year. “That’s enough capacity to turn all the waste circuit boards in New South Wales into precious metals, including gold and copper. Ideally those metals will be sold back to local businesses, such as jewellers and manufacturers, creating a truly circular economy.” Movac partner David Beard says the future for Mint Innovation lies in its plant design and technology being licensed for biorefineries to be built in cities around the world. “With the disposal of e-waste a growing issue, as countries like Mainland China close their doors to importing waste, a disruptive cleantech company like Mint Innovation has the potential to establish a global footprint quite quickly,” he says. Dr Barker says the second plant is expected to start being built later next year. The North West of England has a heritage in chemical process innovation and Mint Innovation wants to bring clean tech to an […]

Anatomy of a data-driven supply chain

By Jonathan Attia, Managing Director, Wiise Data is what drives informed business decisions. It’s crucial to have key data points across your supply chain to get complete visibility, and maximise efficiency and resilience. As the COVID pandemic has shown, as soon as there’s an external environmental impact to Australia’s supply chain, every facet gets impacted. Businesses have not only had to throw out their forecasts but suddenly experienced major supply-demand issues. Either they had too much stock that was no longer in demand, or they had the right stock that was in demand, but couldn’t keep up with supply. Data is vital in such a situation. Being able to access inventory levels across different locations and warehouses enables business owners and staff to see exactly where they might have extra stock to help supply demand. If you can see exactly what stock is where, you can easily move it around as needed and get it out of the door sooner. Real-time optimisation of your distribution keep both customers and suppliers informed and happy. Data is also important to understand which customers have purchased in the past, and which customers are your top buyers. This enables you to specifically target them with promotions to help get stock out the door faster. For manufacturing businesses, understanding cost of sale is particularly critical to success. You need to be instantly account for changes in shipping fees, for example, so that you’re always selling your products or manufacturing your goods at a profitable level. Profit is key. This means knowing exactly what items you need to produce something, how much it costs to produce it (while taking into account all of the hidden costs such as labour and so on) and how much you should sell it for. To do this, you need the […]

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Rockwell Automation at 29th Automation Fair At Home

The first hybrid live and virtual Automation Fair At Home saw over 40,000 participants registered from 146 countries and featured speakers include PartnerNetwork™ representatives from Cisco, Cytiva, ExxonMobil, Gartner, Microsoft, Thermo Fisher Scientific and more Rockwell Automation, Inc., along with its PartnerNetwork™, held its 29th signature industry showcase event, Automation Fair® At Home, November 16 – 20, 2020. Due to the pandemic, the event had been dynamically re-imagined as a primarily virtual experience to safeguard customer, partner, and employee health and safety, with all content from the event available on-demand now until June 2021. Automation Fair At Home showcases the newest products, solutions, and services in industrial automation and digital transformation. Due to the hybrid nature of this year’s event, attendees across different time zones and geographies had access to over 175 engaging educational opportunities and over 90 exhibits, through livestreams and on-demand video recordings. The agenda included engaging hands-on labs, training sessions focused on the newest hardware and software technologies, industry-focused forums, and more. Commenting on the event, Blake Moret, CEO and Chairman, Rockwell Automation, said, “The acquisition of ASEM S.r.l and Kalypso, as well as partnerships with Microsoft, PTC, and others, make our ecosystem the best in the industry. “This partner ecosystem, combined with our technology and domain expertise, allow us to say there is no one better positioned to add value at the convergence of IT, and operational OT technology for our customers. “We bring the Connected Enterprise to life for customers around the world and across a wide variety of industries. And during these times it’s especially important to look at the ways we increase the resilience, agility, and sustainability of our customers.” He added, “Sustainability is at the forefront of Rockwell Automation and our customers’ minds. We are committed to a carbon-neutral future, helping our customers […]

Mental Health expert manufacturing webinar provides insights to industry eaders

Over 400 industry leaders registered for R U OK? Director and renowned author Graeme Cowan’s webinar on workplace mental health for the manufacturing industry last month. In partnership with WorkSafe’s WorkWell Program, the webinar “Creating mentally healthy workplaces in manufacturing” focused on supporting employers and business leaders to take the first steps to create a mentally healthy workplace. Graeme introduced industry leaders to the ‘primary prevention approach’ and stepped through the work related factors that impact mental health and safety in the workplace. Graeme also detailed the WorkWell Toolkit – a free online tool using a step-by-step approach to help employers promote mental health and prevent mental injury in the workplace. With information tailored to manufacturing, the WorkWell Toolkit contains practical information including tip sheets, policy examples, case studies and templates covering work-related factors that impact workplace mental health. Graeme Cowan said by focusing on improving workplace mental health, businesses will yield a great return on investment. “There is a $2.90 return on investment for every $1 invested in creating mentally healthy workplaces in the manufacturing industry,” Graeme said. “Effectively protecting the psychological health of your employees can lead to less costs from work absences, conflict, errors, injuries and grievances. “WorkSafe’s WorkWell Toolkit equips business leaders by providing the tools to create a mentally healthy workplace through primary prevention,” he said. You can sign up for the WorkWell Toolkit here: https://bit.ly/33uYm0V

Local research collaboration cuts wear and tear on mineral processing equipment

In a new $2.4 million research partnership between the University of South Australia, LaserBond, and the Innovative Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre (IMCRC), experts are set to develop some of the world’s most resilient minerals processing equipment. LaserBond, a pioneering Australian surface engineering company and the University of South Australia’s specialist Coatings Research Group at the Future Industries Institute, continue their fruitful collaboration on a new challenge. Minerals processing machinery, often worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, endures some of the harshest possible conditions – erosion, corrosion and wear and tear induced by repetitive impact. A key competitive advantage for the industry and for manufacturers would be to increase the longevity of mineral processing equipment through composite coatings (called cladding). The improved cladding needs to match facility maintenance shutdown schedules. By matching the machinery life to service schedules, unforeseen shutdowns can be avoided or minimised. Shutdowns for repairs and maintenance of the equipment can cost more than $100,000 for every hour of downtime. UniSA lead researcher Professor Peter Murphy, says he welcomes the chance to grow the advanced manufacturing sector within Australia. “This comes at a time where we need to nurture our manufacturing capability and this project has the capacity to grow, employ and lead Australia through the challenging economic times,” Prof Murphy says. Key researcher on the project, UniSA’s Industry Associate Professor Colin Hall says industry experts in surface engineering, such as LaserBond, have long recognised the challenge and have specialised in the development of hard, wear-resistant coatings using laser cladding. “What we hope to do through this partnership is work with LaserBond to refine the technology, specifically focussing on key areas within mineral processing machinery prone to wear in different circumstances, to provide tailor-made coatings that resist that degradation,” Assoc […]

‘Project life’ agreements set to unlock jobs and investment

Australian Resources and Energy Group AMMA welcomes today’s confirmation that the Morrison Government will legislate for ‘Project Life Greenfields Agreements’, a crucial industrial relations reform that will create jobs and economic growth by stimulating investment in the resources, energy and infrastructure sectors. “AMMA has advocated the case for Project Life Greenfields Agreements for at least a decade,” Chief Executive Steve Knott said. “The inability to secure industrial relations certainty for the full length of a major project construction phase has been a massive disincentive to investment in the past. “Investors would often scratch their heads as to why greenfields agreements had a maximum duration of four years when applied to projects that take an average of six years to build. It makes no sense and is a very real barrier to securing final investment decision. “This simple but important change will significantly boost Australia’s ability to secure new major project investment in the ultra-competitive post-COVID global marketplace. “The resources and energy sector has displayed remarkable resilience in the face of pandemic-related challenges. The Government is right to do all it can to present an attractive investment platform and stimulate growth in the industry keeping our national economy afloat.” AMMA notes the Federal Department of Industry’s Office of the Chief Economist last week released its Resources and Energy Major Projects Report, strongly indicating that investment in Australia’s resources projects has entered a new growth cycle. The Chief Economist reported the number of resources and energy major development projects increased by 19 per cent to 335 projects, and the value of projects in the investment pipeline increased by 4 per cent to $334 billion. “Once investment is secured and construction is completed, major resources projects deliver revenues of many billions of dollars to state and national accounts, funding public infrastructure and services, […]

Aspera Mobile launches low-cost AS6 4G dual-SIM smartphone and new F42 4G flip phone

Full-featured phones for just $99 and $149 Aspera Mobile has launched the latest in its range of full featured and cost effective mobiles – the feature-packed, 5.99” large screen AS6 smartphone which features face recognition, a fingerprint sensor, dual-SIM and 4G for just $149 and the F42, 4G flip phone with pre-loaded social media apps and easy to use large buttons at only $99. Aspera Mobile MD Allan Robertson explained, “In the AS6 Aspera has kept its brand promise to bring a great value, budget-priced smartphone to consumers and we have specifically designed it to suit anyone looking for a large screen, full Android phone that won’t break the bank. Also, to get face recognition and a fingerprint sensor in a full-featured smartphone for $149 is exceptional value and very rare indeed.” Robertson takes his and Aspera Mobile’s commitment to Australian consumers very seriously and the company has continued to forge ahead in a very competitive market for close to a decade with local Australian-based customer service backing up its range of high quality, unlocked, reliable, and budget conscience phones. He continued, “In an age where the price of some mobile phones is running into thousands of dollars despite them being locked to a network, our success over the last ten years has proven that there is an increasing demand for high quality, low-cost alternatives. The AS6 gives you that in a smartphone and the F42 is ideal for the young or elderly, budget-conscious user wanting a simple phone with easy-to-read large buttons and the most commonly used social media apps – including WhatsApp™ and Facebook™ – already installed.” As all Australian telcos continue to wind down their 3G networks, having a new 4G phone is not only critical but makes good and practical sense. At just $149 the Aspera […]

Dematic to commission new automated national distribution centre for Woolworths in Sydney

Dematic today announced it has been selected by Primary Connect – the supply chain arm of Australia’s largest supermarket, Woolworths Group – to supply a state-of-the art automated fulfilment system for the new National Distribution Centre (NDC) in Moorebank Logistics Park, Sydney. Dematic, a global leader and innovator in warehouse automation, has a long history with over 50 years presence in Australia serving the supply chain industry. “Our local capability with over 600 employees and a manufacturing facility in Belrose, Sydney, ensures we continue to provide quality service and systems to our customers,” said Michael Jerogin, CEO of Dematic APAC. “We are very proud to be a trusted partner of Woolworths and thrilled to be building on this partnership by playing a key role in Woolworths’ automation strategy.” The Dematic solution for the new NDC will build store-friendly pallets for Woolworths’ retail stores. The Flexible Mixed Case Order Fulfilment system, powered by the Dematic iQ Warehouse Management System (WMS), will handle 9,000+ products from 900 suppliers, delivering daily to over 1,000 stores nationally. The 40,700 square metre Moorebank NDC is planned to feature wall-to-wall automation, providing the flexibility to cater for seasonal and other peaks in demand, such as those experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is designed to deliver store orders, catering for Woolworth’s expected growth with built-in scalability and modularity. The transport advantages alone are expected to provide benefits to Woolworths, helping to remove at least 26,000 truck movements between Woolworths facilities from New South Wales roads annually. “The investment at Moorebank is designed to transform the way we serve our stores, strengthen our network and deliver on our ambition to create Australia’s best food and grocery supply chain,” said Paul Graham, Primary Connect Managing Director and Woolworths Group Chief Supply Chain Officer. “Cutting-edge automation will build tailored […]

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