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Hydraulink’s Trans-Tasman motorcycle marvels chase a dream

A Trans-Tasman team of keen motorcyclists from hydraulic hose and fittings organisation, Hydraulink, put their company’s ‘can do’ work ethic into practice recently in an off-road odyssey to see the Moto GP at Phillip Island. Hydraulink Campbelltown Principal Jeff McCoskery and Australian colleagues Lyndon Heffernan, Chris Greet and Chris Cater decided to show a good time to their Hydraulink New Zealand counterparts – Principal Bruce Andrew and his son Nick from Hydraulink Tauranga – during their visit over the Tasman to Western Sydney, to travel together to see the races 1,000km away. To make things even more interesting, Jeff decided not to stick to the tarmac highways and byways, but to do as much of the trip as possible charging through fire trails, dirt roads and dense, often nearly invisible, bushland tracks, then overnighting at character-filled local country pubs. The Hydraulink adventurers set out from Campbelltown, bound for the highway and whatever came their way, off-road. The cherry on top of an already unforgettable trip was being accompanied by champion riders Chris Cater and Lyndon Heffernan – who was a motor cross and Enduro champ in the 1990s – and now runs guided adventure trail tours organisation ‘Detour’, as well as the Yamaha off-road riding academy. Chris is a well-known champ whose achievements date from the 1980s. “We decided to take the two Hydraulink Kiwis on an off-road adventure they wouldn’t forget in too much of a hurry,” said Jeff McCoskery, who enjoys the strong camaraderie that exists among the Hydraulink staff throughout over 400 service points throughout New Zealand and Australia, including some of the countries’ most rugged territory, where they have to go to deliver their hydraulic hose, fittings and mobile service to customers needing it in the bush or in the Outback. This trip was even harder […]

Harting solutions for the machine building industry

The Harting Technology Group accompanies you through technological transformations. Innovative components, consultants, services and systems help guide customers into the digital future. As a single-source solution, the company offers everything from individual components to custom-fit systems. Harting is advancing the digitalisation of the machine building industry with innovative, scalable interface solutions for all types of power, signal or data connections in machinery. These solutions can take advantage of demands in practically any industrial sub-segment. Selected machines in the key sub-segments of the machine building industry are catered for and advice offered for configuring interfaces for power, signal or data The solutions are well suited for use in other sub-segments – if the application requirements and the applicable standards are comparable. Typical machines that use Harting solutions include: Plastics and rubber machinery Printing machines and machines for print finishing Metal-forming machines (including punching and laser machines) Metal-working machine tools Wood-working machinery Machines that produce semiconductors Food processing and packaging machinery Robotics Handling and assembly Electric cranes Mobile machines Han-Modular – The market standard for modular connectors With the Han-Modular series, you can optimally design connectors to supply machinery and equipment. This is made possible by combining individual modules for different transmission media. Signals, data, power and compressed air – in standard-sized industrial connector housings. Han-Modular offers easy-to-handle, highly flexible solutions with a small footprint and versatile functionality. Hygienic and robust: Connectors for the food industry With Han F+B, Harting has created a range of connectors especially designed for the requirements of the food industry. Smooth surfaces make it harder for bacteria to accumulate. The hoods, housings and seals are robust and protect the internal contacts against hose water and aggressive cleaning agents. Hygiene and safety are particularly important in food processing. Machines and equipment must be designed so that they are […]

Getac Select delivers specialised solutions

Getac has announced the launch of its new Getac Select program to the Australia market, offering a fast and reliable way for customers to solve complex IT challenges. Getac Select combines carefully chosen, pre-configured rugged devices, software, accessories and professional services into a series of specialised solutions, optimised for individual applications and user groups. Each solution draws on extensive customer feedback and Getac’s deep industry experience to create particularly advantageous combinations of products and services that can’t be found anywhere else as a single offering. Since its foundation 30 years ago, Getac has established a proven track record of working closely with customers, helping them to overcome the business/operational challenges they face and delivering complete satisfaction. At the C-level, this means using strategic IT investment to optimise business performance against strict budgets. For IT managers, it’s efficient operations, comprehensive device management and fast repair times, resulting in low total cost of ownership. For end users, it’s having powerful devices and accessories they can rely on even in the toughest working environments. In recent years, these challenges have increasingly required unique product and/or software configurations not available off the shelf, making procurement more difficult and often involving compromises. Getac Select eliminates this by enabling customers and partners to quickly obtain complete, pre-configured solutions to their specific industry challenges, all from a single, central source. A clear structure helps guide them to the right solution for their needs, containing all the necessary devices, software, accessories and professional services required. This streamlined approach means customers also benefit from optimal product availability and fast delivery times, with all devices thoroughly tested and certified to ensure the high-quality standards they expect from Getac. The launch of the Getac Select program in Australia provides users access to devices that have been carefully chosen and pre-configured, optimised […]

Takeovers Panel findings in relation to Energy Resources of Australia

Rio Tinto acknowledges the findings of the Takeovers Panel in relation to Energy Resources of Australia Limited’s (ERA) renounceable entitlement offer to raise $324 million (A$476 million) for the rehabilitation of the Ranger Project Area in Australia’s Northern Territory. The company will consider the Panel’s judgement before determining next steps. Rio Tinto group executive Energy & Minerals Bold Baatar said “Rio Tinto agreed to fully subscribe to and underwrite an entitlement offer in the absence of any other commercially viable solution being available to ERA for the rehabilitation of the Ranger Project Area. “We will now consider our options in light of the Panel’s orders so that ERA can fulfil its important rehabilitation obligations and commitments to the communities in which it operates and relevant authorities.” Under the terms of its mining approvals, ERA is required to end mining and processing activities at Ranger by January 2021 and complete final rehabilitation by January 2026. On 8 February 2019, ERA finalised its closure feasibility study for Ranger Project Area rehabilitation, resulting in a material increase in anticipated rehabilitation costs. Following this increase, ERA advised it needed extra funding to meet its rehabilitation obligations to the Commonwealth Government, Northern Territory Government and Traditional Owners.

Oomiak Refrigeration opens office in Kuala Lumpur

The Melbourne Markets Epping plantroom is concepted, designed, installed and maintained by Oomiak Refrigeration. The company started in 2006 in Adelaide, South Australia, and has established a presence in every mainland Australian state with its expertise in the design and manufacture of industrial and commercial refrigeration. Oomiak already has several clients in Asia including in Sri Lanka, South Korea, Philippines and major Malaysian frozen food manufacturer Kawan. Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Cate McGuire said establishing a permanent presence in Asia had always been part of Oomiak’s growth plan. She said the new Kuala Lumpur office had already attracted interest from the Malaysian government, which has recognised the need for sustainability in fresh produce. “The Asian market has a rapidly growing appetite for fresh fruit and vegetables, and with that comes the need to adequately cool and store produce to ensure it maintains maximum freshness for customers,” McGuire said. “Our leading-edge industrial refrigeration equipment and fresh produce ripening systems, as well as the expert advice we give to clients, has been extremely well received in Asia. Oomiak was engaged by Perth Shipbuilder Austal to supply and commission air conditioning systems for two Cape Class Patrol Boats for the Royal Australian Navy. “We see enormous growth in the region over the next decade and we feel we’ve really got something to offer in terms of reducing wastage, preserving the shelf-life of food and adding value for them.” The use of natural refrigerants such as ammonia and its engineering capacity to design efficient systems tailored to specific client needs has been key to Oomiak’s success. Oomiak has about 65 employees with about 25 of those based at its Adelaide headquarters

AEMO gives SA-NSW interconnector project top priority

A $1.5 billion project to build a high capacity electricity interconnector linking South Australia and New South Wales has been listed as a top priority by interconnector the Australian Energy Market Operator. AEMO has published its Draft 2020 Integrated System Plan (ISP), listing the 330kv SA-NSW transmission line at the top of its Group 1 Priority Projects. The 900km interconnector linking Robertstown in South Australia’s Mid North with Wagga Wagga in central New South Wales is expected to provide grid stability and lower electricity prices in South Australia when completed from 2022. Electricity infrastructure provider ElectraNet is planning the $1.5 billion 800MW National Energy Grid interconnector with its NSW counterpart TransGrid. The project was listed as Group 2 in the previous 2018 Integrated Systems Plan. Other projects given Group 1 priority in the 2020 Draft ISP include upgrades to interconnections linking Queensland with NSW and NSW with Victoria and Increasing inertia and fault current in South Australian transmission networks. South Australian Minister for Energy and Mining Dan van Holst Pellekaan said the project would increase stability and reduce electricity prices for residential and commercial customers. “In essence AEMO has labelled the SA-NSW interconnector a ‘no brainer’ to deliver cheaper, more reliable electricity for South Australian households and businesses,” he said. “South Australia currently only has interconnection with Victoria which puts us at the end of the line and vulnerable to the type system risks that saw the entire state blacked out in 2016.” Modelling released earlier in the year showed that small and medium businesses with significant electricity consumption will save many thousands of dollars each year when the interconnector is energised. The South Australian Government granted the interconnector Major Project Status in June with the NSW Government is declaring it Critical State Significant Infrastructure in August. AEMO describes Group […]

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APCO celebrates sustainable packaging leaders at annual awards ceremony

The Australian businesses leading the way in sustainable packaging design and innovation were recognised at the annual Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation Awards in Melbourne. The Hon Trevor Evans, Assistant Minister for Waste Reduction and Environmental Management, joined more than 180 guests to celebrate the achievements of the 18 award-winning organisations, representing a broad range of sectors, including manufacturing, retail, transport, technology, hospitality and pharmaceuticals. The finalists and winners (full list below), were selected based on their performance in sustainable packaging design, recycling initiatives and product stewardship programs to develop sustainable supply chains. Supply chain specialists CHEP took home the coveted Sustainable Packaging Excellence award, in recognition of their dedication to collaboration. In addition to delivering a global reusable packaging model, CHEP works with hundreds of businesses to build and support sustainable supply chains. Other award recipients included BioPak (Outstanding Achievement in Leadership), which in the last year has undertaken a number of impressive sustainability initiatives including the development of compostable packaging for single-use food service items. Also recognised was Panasonic (Outstanding Achievement in Outcomes), which has worked on a range of reductions and material efficiency initiatives including a 57% reduction in overall packaging for its 4K BD Player. This year’s event also featured two new categories – High Performing New Member, which went to Marechal Australia, which has seen 100% of solid waste being recovered. Also newly introduced in 2019 is the APCO Sustainability Champion Award, a category recognising individual achievement. Congratulations to Diarmaid O’Mordha, Quality and Sustainability Manager for Endeavour Drinks, who was awarded this prize in recognition of his commitment to improving packaging sustainability across the wine industry supply chain. As the lead organiser of the Wine Industry Sustainable Packaging Alliance, Diarmaid has led several projects that are driving industry uptake of the 2025 National Packaging Targets and worked […]

Commercial pilot projects fast track green cooling technology

Industrial cooling systems that utilise solar energy, thermal storage, smart technology and non-toxic refrigerants will be trialled at three major commercial sites. South Australian company Glaciem Cooling Technology has received $2 million in Australian government funding through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) to demonstrate the technical and economic value of integrating thermal energy storage with renewable energy into Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration (HVAC&R) applications. The trial systems will be installed in South Australia at Pernod Ricard’s Rowland Flat winery in the Barossa Valley and Ceravolo Orchards in the Adelaide Hills, as well as in the Reef HQ Aquarium in Townsville, Queensland. The $4.95 million project will allow Glaciem to field test its Thermal Energy Storage solution in commercial and industrial HVAC&R settings. Glaciem and the University of South Australia have spent a decade developing a low cost thermal energy storage technology to store and discharge energy using a heat transfer process. This occurs at a temperature suited to the specific application using special material. The technology has the added benefit of using natural refrigerants rather than commonly used synthetic refrigerants, such as carbon dioxide, which are harmful to the environment. The air-cooled CO2 refrigeration system has been operating at The Bend Motorsport Park, about 100km southeast of the South Australian capital Adelaide, for about 15 months, providing UniSA and Glaciem with more than a year’s worth of clean data in a commercial setting. Glaciem’s technology also uses an advanced control and forecasting system to optimise the system’s operation based on weather forecasts, electricity price forecasts, and customer demand forecasts to allow the storage system to maximise savings. Glaciem CEO Julian Hudson said the three projects all demonstrated different applications across a variety of industries and would provide valuable data to prove the financial model in the field and drive the cost of […]

Rubrik drives Fenner Dunlop cloud expansion

Australian manufacturing business benefits from Rubrik’s native integration with Microsoft Azure to accelerate its cloud migration objectives Rubrik, the Cloud Data Management company, today announced Fenner Dunlop Australia gained 91 days of added productivity by moving to the Rubrik platform, with those resources to be invested in its cloud expansion strategy and other value-add projects. Rubrik’s seamless integration with Microsoft Azure for long-term retention has allowed Fenner Dunlop to eliminate tape, leading to significant cost savings and operational simplicity. Headquartered in Melbourne, Fenner Dunlop manufactures and supplies a complete conveyor system from head-to-tail: belt, electrics and terminal equipment. With more than 30 sites in Australia, the company delivers engineered conveyor solutions to evolve the way mining companies approach their conveyor belt life cycles, saving costs, and increasing productivity. “As a company, everything we do is supported by information systems—manufacturing, technical support, installation, maintenance, diagnostics services, you name it,” said Sammy Jammal, National IT Manager at Fenner Dunlop Australia. “If the system is down for even 10 minutes, the whole operation would come to a halt. This not only has financial implications but is detrimental to our brand reputation and diminishes our customers’ confidence. As an IT team, we want to leverage technology that can help optimise our processes, allowing us to focus on enabling our users and thereby benefiting our customers,” said Jammal. Jammal oversees an IT team of six which supports over 900 employees nationwide, including the core applications – spanning finance, payroll, time and attendance, paperless office and workflow automation systems – which employees need to perform their roles. Prior to Rubrik, Fenner Dunlop struggled with its tape-based legacy backup and disaster recovery solution’s slow performance and time-consuming upgrades. “Our previous solution was extremely unreliable,” said Jammal. “We didn’t know if backups would take four hours, 20 hours, […]

Rio Tinto approves $749 million investment in Pilbara iron ore mine

Rio Tinto has approved a $749 million (A$1 billion) investment in its existing Greater Tom Price operations (100% owned) to help sustain the production capacity of its world-class iron ore business in the Pilbara of Western Australia. The investment in the Western Turner Syncline Phase 2 (WTS2) mine will facilitate mining of existing and new deposits and includes construction of a new crusher as well as a 13-kilometre conveyor. The new conveyor system will help lower greenhouse gas emissions from the mine by 3.5 per cent compared to road haulage and the business is continuing to assess additional options to reduce emissions including renewable energy solutions. Pending final government approvals, construction will start in the first quarter of 2020 with first ore from the crusher expected in 2021. Production of high-quality Brockman ore will support the company’s flagship Pilbara Blend, which continues to be the preferred baseload product for China’s steel mills. The project is expected to deliver an attractive internal rate of return with a capital intensity of about $25 per tonne of production capacity. The investment is included in Rio Tinto’s existing guidance for Pilbara replacement capital for 2020 to 2022. As part of the investment, the haul truck fleet at the mine will be fitted with Autonomous Haulage System (AHS) technology to enable autonomous haulage at WTS2 from 2021. The ongoing deployment of autonomous haulage at the company’s Pilbara operations is delivering significant safety benefits as well as enhancing productivity and reducing costs. Approximately 50% of the company’s haul truck fleet will be capable of operating autonomously by the end of the year with plans being assessed to expand this in the years ahead. Consistent with its proven track record, the company is continuing to reskill, redeploy and retrain as automation technology is implemented. Rio Tinto Iron […]

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