By Colette Southam, Bond University The federal government wants to boost Australia’s productivity levels – as a matter of national priority. It’s impossible to have that conversation without also talking about innovation. We can be proud of (and perhaps a little surprised by) some of the Australian innovations that have changed the world – such…
What were the five biggest stories of the week? Here’s what visitors to @AuManufacturing were reading. 5) Samsara Eco, lululemon announce ten-year offtake agreement on recycled nylon, polyester Enzymatic recycling startup Samsara Eco and sportswear company lululemon have built on a partnership first announced in May 2023, announcing a ten-year offtake agreement that “could see” Samsara’s material “support…
As @AuManufacturing prepares to deliver our 2025 Australia’s 50 Most Innovative Manufacturers report this week, Simran Gill gives a wrap-up of the recent awards event. There are also video interviews from the day with Rux Energy, the Smartcrete CRC, Allegro Energy, Advanced Navigation, the Australian Business Growth Fund, Mapei Australia, and Australia Wide Engineering. Australia’s…
A claimed world-first remote sewer inspection has been carried out by Central Coast Council, using a remote-controlled buggy developed by American engineering firm KBR and CSIRO spinout Emesent. According to a statement from KBR on Thursday, a custom-built remote-controlled vehicle (ROV) recently completed its first mission, scanning over 640 metres of sewer pipe between Terrigal…
Sydney-based industrial biotechnology company MicroBioGen has struck a deal with French research and bioengineering group Lesaffre, initially focussing on baking, food and biochemicals. According to a statement from the pair on Thursday (Central European Time), the deal involves a “worldwide exclusive license and collaboration agreement” combining MicroBioGen’s expertise in yeast biotech with Lesaffre’s “bioengineering and…
As this title has written before, there remains a textile, clothing and footwear (TCF) sector in Australia. Its products can confusingly cut across other sectors (for example wound care fabrics or geotextiles) and the companies that contribute to it are regularly on the small side. But it’s still here. An EY report from 2021 estimated…
AnteoTech announced on Thursday it had received a sales order worth $213,000 from the Serum Institute of India under their five-year purchase agreement. The Brisbane-based biotechnology company said its Life Sciences business unit was on track to achieve approximately $930,000 in sales for FY2025, representing an increase of about 130 per cent over FY2024. AnteoTech…
Cochlear announced on Thursday the launch of the Nucleus Nexa System, which the company described as the world’s first and only smart cochlear implant system featuring internal memory and upgradeable firmware. The Australian medical device company said Australians living with hearing loss are among the first in the world to access the next generation technology,…
Enzymatic recycling startup Samsara Eco and sportswear company lululemon have built on a partnership first announced in May 2023, announcing a ten-year offtake agreement that “could see” Samsara’s material “support approximately 20% of lululemon’s overall fibres portfolio”. The news follows R&D work that has resulted in the world’s first enzymatically recycled nylon 6,6 product sample…
Rockwell survey finds ANZ manufacturers affected by “technology paralysis”, life sciences benefiting from AI The 2025 State of Smart Manufacturing (SoSM) Report from Rockwell Automation, released last week, surveyed 1,560 manufacturers from 17 countries (including 85 organisations in Australia and New Zealand) and has found the local health and life sciences sector leading AI adoption.…