Smart Manufacturing

By Matthew Addley, Industry Strategist – Manufacturing, Infor The semiconductor and chip shortage affecting the automotive and technology industries is likely to persist through to 2024, which means Australians will continue to face longer wait times for cars and tech products. Even though manufacturers are expanding chip production, and governments are increasing investments in semiconductor technology, the problem is unlikely to be resolved in the medium term, especially due to the long lead times and other production complexities. The ongoing disruption has turned the spotlight on supply chain vulnerabilities and its impact on everyday commodities – from mobile phones to automobiles. The growth of the global semiconductor industry in the last decade was driven by widespread technology adoption and the subsequent demand for microchips. However, a mismatch in supply and demand has decelerated growth in the past few years. The pandemic in particular led to automobile sales plummeting in 2020, which resulted in automakers cutting chip orders and moving production lines to meet demand for other applications. What they didn’t anticipate was a rapid rebound, which has left automakers struggling to meet existing demand. Despite the subdued outlook, local manufacturers can learn the lessons and build resilience to navigate future disruptions by: 1.     Leveraging data insights Many manufacturers still have a very siloed approach to running supply chains. The benefit of operating in a data-driven economy is that there are myriad tools that you can use to analyse information within the business to understand what to tackle first. Without actually re-engineering their products to use less chips or find a magical new source of that particular supply, manufacturers can adopt modern, data-driven processes that can help adapt to sudden changes. Modern cloud-deployed ERP solutions are invaluable to capture and track data throughout an organisation. 2.     Optimising supply chain agility Earlier this year, the […]

The steadily expanding hydraulic hose, fittings, and service company, Hydraulink Australia has celebrated its high achieving franchises in its 2022 Network Partner Awards. Hydraulink operates through more than 400 service points across Australia, New Zealand and Oceania, and its success is driven by hard-working franchises and network partners that embody the company’s “can do” ethos and attitude to service. “The Network Partner Awards are to show our appreciation for the people behind the scenes, on the road at a dawn breakdown, getting under dirty machines, working in intense rain, or blistering sun,” says Hydraulink Australia National Franchise Manager, Wayne Abbott. Hydraulink’s customers value maximum uptime for demanding industries such as earthmoving, construction, quarrying, civil engineering, road, agriculture, forestry, food and beverage, ports, logistics and a range of others. “Hydraulink franchises are seeing our customers day-to-day and helping them solve problems. They need to be well versed in the customer’s specific machinery, so they can figure out the problem and get it operational again,” says Abbott. Long service franchises Hydraulink has an outstanding record of franchise loyalty, with most franchise owners spending several years with the business, and many staying for more than a decade. At the awards night, several franchises were acknowledged for reaching new loyalty milestones, including: 5 Years – Hydraulink Campbelltown NSW, Jeff McCoskery 10 Years – Hydraulink Blacktown NSW, Ben Walker 15 Years – Hydraulink Hunter Valley NSW, Shane Goodwin 15 Years – Hydraulink Wollongong NSW Complete Hose, Andrew Turner 25 Years – Hydraulink Albany, WA, Al Curnow Hydraulics, Al Curnow Network Partner of the Year The most coveted award on the night was the Network Partner of the Year award. “This ‘best of the best’ award takes into account Hydraulink brand commitment, total sales of Hydraulink products, and year-on-year sales growth,” explains Abbott. “In 2022, we […]

Quality 4.0 is the digital transformation of quality management and the alignment of software and digital processes with the capabilities of Industry 4.0. *Scott Philbrook, Managing Director of RS Australia and New Zealand discusses its elements, implementation, and outcomes in the AU/NZ manufacturing environments: The manufacturing sector has embraced the digitisation and connectivity of Industry 4.0. Smart, connected technologies have revolutionised all aspects of our manufacturing processes. The ongoing evolution of Industry 4.0 technology, integration, and digitalisation has seen quality management become even more vital to manufacturers; the merging of new technologies and capabilities married to traditional quality management has seen the emergence of Quality 4.0. This is about readying manufacturers for the future by equipping them with connected, advanced, purpose built tools. Companies that invest shrewdly in Quality 4.0 will not only see increases in operational efficiency, but they will also benefit from maintaining a quality driven culture and increased customer satisfaction. Quality 4.0 does not replace traditional quality management principles: it instead enhances them to partner with the Industry 4.0 manufacturing environment. There are elements that support Quality 4.0; they include the ability to effectively collect multiple sources of data promptly so decisions can be made in an agile manufacturing environment as data has always underpinned improvements in quality management. This is supported by connectivity between engineering, manufacturing, and quality teams – and the application of machine intelligence for data analysis. Implementation and enhancements of Quality 4.0 requires systems including artificial intelligence and machine learning, blockchain, cloud technology, connected and edge devices, and big data that replaces paper based methods: thus allowing collaboration between all shareholders throughout the manufacturing process. However, Quality 4.0 is not just software: it requires engagement from the top management down, and processes created by those who use the system. To successfully implement Quality […]

Charlie Hales, Managing Director, Waterstons Australia In a study conducted by Waterstons Australia, 80% of manufacturing businesses have a heavy reliance on manual work and are still using spreadsheets whilst 40% of businesses see process inefficiencies and a lack of proactivity to change as real issues. The future landscape of technology within manufacturing not only includes the implementation of new technologies but the adaptation of current tech, people and processes to future-proof these businesses. Looking to the past to prepare for the future, retrofitting current equipment and tech is currently a viable option for many manufacturing businesses to improve their current situation. Through the Waterstons Innovation Fund, manufacturers are testing out new processes and software with old technology. Retrofitting existing equipment with cameras and sensors combined with machine learning. The purpose is to automatically detect quality issues in outputs as well as to proactively detect when a piece of equipment isn’t operating as normal. This type of retrofitting is typically low cost, not requiring new machinery or systems. The Human Asset Looking at the human element of the future landscape, it’s imperative that manufacturing business remain highly educated and connected with their tech. Integrating training on something as simple as Microsoft Excel and a retraining program on current technology within the business can often be a huge edge for the business. Looking at cyber security, many infiltrations of a company’s systems begin with a stolen password. The importance of your human element is imperative to the future of any manufacturing business. Cultivating a strong company culture can sometimes be overlooked by organisations. However, ensuring your human assets and culture are cohesive, collaborated with and trained correctly reduces the risk of potential disdain from employees who could potentially leak data. There are a multitude of instances like this which can incur […]

Why was the pharmaceutical industry your chosen sector? I’ve worked in the pharmaceutical industry for almost all my career. It is always rewarding to know the work you do is helping others live a healthier life. I am also involved in different community groups and charities and donate a lot of my time every week to them, which Viatris encourages its employees to do. Therefore, working in the pharmaceutical industry is a natural fit with what I value. Can you tell us a bit about how you have grown in your career through a role in pharmaceutical supply chain? I have been very fortunate to have headed up our supply chain through a period of significant and sustained business growth and transformation. In my time, I’ve led the supply chain through the combination of Mylan and Upjohn into Viatris, in which we’ve built a new Distribution Centre and we’ve almost doubled our distributed volume and product range. This has meant leading a lot of interesting and challenging projects and having the opportunity to grow my team and develop new leaders and talent which has been really rewarding. What has been some of your biggest career highlights? Any awards or moments of celebration? A big career highlight has been overseeing the development of our new distribution centre. Before the centre, we were reaching our limits of warehouse capacity and had a complex supply chain as we were operating out of various locations. Along with the expert employees in the team, we were able to consolidate our supply chain from one location to service our customers and by extension the Australian patients who rely on our medicines. It has also been great to see our supply chain team continue to maintain an excellent safety record. Internal assessment and audit are core components […]