Today Leadership in factory automation looks at the potential of collaborative robots as a low-cost, more flexible and safer alternative to traditional factory robots. By Professor Jonathan Roberts. Manufacturing in Australia is dominated by small to medium enterprises (SMEs). Many of these businesses are not in a position to adopt mass production manufacturing methods due…
Today our editorial series, Leadership in factory automation, turns to a greenfields site where Tindo Solar is more than doubling production of solar photo voltaic panels in a totally new factory – and installing as much automation as it can squeeze in. By Peter Roberts Shayne Jaenisch guides me around the masses of ultra high-tech…
Leadership in factory automation today looks at 3RT, a company that turns wood waste into a product that looks and performs like 100-year-old hardwood. Founder and managing director Peter Torreele says that advanced automation is essential to goals of an affordable product that performs like naturally-grown timber, and can be made and sold locally anywhere in the world. By Brent Balinski.
DEWC Systems and REDARC Defence Systems will partner in a multi-year, multi-million dollar agreement in which REDARC will provide the defence Electronic Warfare solutions company with design and manufacturing capabilities. DEWC Systems CEO Ian Spencer said: “The combined strengths of REDARC and DEWC Systems, we will be able to deliver the latest sovereign electronic warfare…
Lithium sulphur battery developer Li-S Energy will collaborate with Boeing’s Insitu Pacific unmanned aircraft systems company to test the company’s high energy density batteries. The companies signed a MoU to integrate, test and evaluate and eventually put into service Li-S’s innovative battery systems (pictured below) in a range of Insitu uncrewed aircraft systems. Should this…
Today our editorial series, Leadership in factory automation, turns to one of the most advanced automation projects underway in Australia – the development of the first Mega-line by Carbon Revolution to manufacture its unique one-piece carbon fibre road wheels at scale. By Peter Roberts. Geelong one-piece carbon fibre road wheel manufacturer Carbon Revolution is pressing…
Having already revolutionised the world of hearing implants, could Australia be on the way to another ground-breaking commercial product – a vision implant? This is the potential raised by an announcement that a bionic eye being developed by a team of biomedical researchers at the University of Sydney and UNSW has shown to be safe…
Today in our editorial series, Leadership in factory automation, Glen Casey reveals the bottom line of learnings in his work for more than 60 major companies. Before you automate – get the basics right, analyse and plan. The Global pandemic has had a dramatic effect on the way consumers and companies now do business which…
Today our editorial series, Leadership in factory automation, looks at the quintessential dilemma, and opportunity for Australian manufacturing – flexible mass manufacturing for the large number of product types needed to satisfy Australia’s diverse local markets. Here Peter Roberts profiles Electrolux Home Products. Electrolux Home Products single Australian factory is what Australian manufacturing has been…
In the second day of Leadership in factory automation, Daen Simmat looks at why the “robots versus jobs” rhetoric presents a false choice. As history shows us, for example with ATMs being introduced at banks, existing jobs will be improved and new ones created through adopting technology.