The Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources has announced a new grant opportunity that will be available to SME food and beverage manufacturers under its Energy Efficient Communities Program. The program is unusually broad and should apply to every SME in the field looking to improve energy efficiency and, while the dollar amount is…
Fortescue Metals Group is pushing ahead with the decarbonisation of its rail locomotive fleet with the arrival of two additional locomotives at Fortescue Future Industries’ (FFI) research and development facility in Hazelmere, Perth. The two four-stroke locomotives will undergo further testing on the new fuel system, joining the first two-stroke locomotive which underwent testing earlier…
Satellite services company SkyKraft has attracted a raft of top investors to a $3.5 million capital raising that will continue its rollout of SmallSat communications satellites. The Canberra company’s new investors include former Macquarie Bank CEO Alan Moss, Lennoxgrove Capital and Adcock Private Equity. Skykraft, based at the UNSW Canberra City, also recently received $1…
By Peter Roberts The peak body for Australia’s largest manufacturing sector – food and groceries – has expressed disappointment with federal government policy and the rollout of its modern manufacturing initiative. The Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) CEO Tanya Barden told a Senate inquiry this week that the sector needed a more coordinated policy…
Today in our editorial series Leadership in factory automation, we hear from Simon Dawson who knows first hand how Australian manufacturers are running the automation race. And for those still in the pre-race warm up, he tells you how to lead out of the starting blocks. It’s no secret that the world of manufacturing is…
SMEs shine at Defence Teaming Centre awards The achievements of six small to medium businesses have been recognised at the Defence Teaming Centre’s (DTC) Awards Ceremony, which mark the DTC’s 25th anniversary. PMB Defence won DTC’s Resilient and Adaptive award, while the Teaming award was awarded to Daronmont Technologies, Zenith Custom Creations, Cold Logic, and…
Subsea buoyancy product manufacturer Matrix Composites and Engineering has received a letter of intent for the purchase of deepwater drilling riser buoyancy systems in Asia. The deal is with HMH USA and is for a new deepwater drilling rig project, and its size suggests that lean time experienced by the company in its oil and…
Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) and AGL Energy (AGL) will undertake a feasibility study to repurpose infrastructure at the Hunter Valley’s Liddell and Bayswater coal-fired power stations to generate green hydrogen from water, using renewable energy. The companies said the announcement reinforced Australia’s potential to become a global green hydrogen superpower, in the process creating jobs…
Agribusiness FMC Corporation and CSIRO-backed start up RapidAIM are to deploy internet of things sensing to monitor insect pests on Australian farms. The companies will deploy RapidAID’s digital surveillance system linked to FMC analytics in orchards in the Shepparton region of Victoria. While RapidAIM has focused initially on fruit fly, the collaboration aims ultimately to…
Today in our editorial series, Leadership in factory automation, we turn to a dynamic Queensland contract manufacturer that is automating the production of lead acid battery components. Here Peter Roberts profiles the Evolve Group. Like most busy contract plastics manufacturing firms, Brisbane’s Evolve Group has had to get very good at flexibility. Switching from one…