Robotic powder coating improves efficiency at Electrolux
Every second of every day in any year around the world, Electrolux sells two of its products. This requires state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities, such as the fully automated and flexible powder-coating facility for oven and grill cavities recently installed at Electrolux’s manufacturing plant in Dudley Park, South Australia. Read more »
Robotic automation enabling SMEs to compete on global market
Industrial robots, once the preserve of large-scale manufacturers, are increasingly being seen in small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Read more »
Sticky fingers? Tiny robots to grip nanotubes
How do you handle the tiny components needed for constructing nanoscale devices? A European consortium has built two demonstrators that include microrobots equipped with microgrippers to automatically pick up and install carbon nanotubes thousands of times thinner than a human hair. They have even tackled that ever-present bane of nanotechnology - sticky fingers. Read more »
Night Train bound for Australia
Shamic Sheetmetal has now become the first in Australia to sign for delivery and installation of a completely automated ‘lights-out’ materials handling system. Read more »
Packaging for experts
Foodstuffs must be packaged precisely, safely and, above all, carefully. That final factor alone presents a particular challenge for packaging line manufacturers, whose machines need to meet increased standards when packaging delicate foodstuffs. Read more »
Precision motion control for plasma cutters
Four high-definition precision plasma cutters used to help build new aircraft carriers for the British Navy use the latest in four-axis motion control. Read more »
When two bulk conveyors are better than one
To manufacture high-purity chemical and isotopic products, American company EaglePicher engineered a new process in which five bulk products are transferred, weighed with a high degree of accuracy and conveyed to a mixing system. Read more »
Tarago reservoir automation improves Melbourne water supply
Located near the small township of Neerim South, the Tarago reservoir is the first of three major Victorian state government infrastructure projects designed to increase Melbourne’s drinking water supplies by 240 billion litres per year by 2011. Read more »
A breath of fresh air for Jayco
As an increasing number of Australians head off camping to experience one of the great Australian dreams, recreational vehicle manufacturer Jayco needed to expand manufacturing capacity to keep up with demand. Read more »
Recycling gets a concrete solution
There was a time when this building rubble would end up as landfill, but more recently new waste minimisation strategies have emerged. Here, concrete recycling processes are proving extremely valuable, both economically and environmentally. Read more »
New Zealand kiwifruit meet labelling standards
With growth in the volume of trade and rising consumer awareness of food safety guidelines, the kiwifruit supply chain encapsulates major logistical challenges that must be met to ensure the New Zealand kiwifruit industry’s competitive position in the marketplace. Read more »
Wang Components takes the integrated way with Profibus
Set up in 1963, Victorian-based Wang Components was initially involved in the water pumping and irrigation business before moving into the manufacture of quality clamps and couplings. Over the past few years, the company was able to use the features of Profibus to implement a creative automation plan. Read more »
Tweed Shire Council extends SCADA with ethernet radios
When it comes to controlling water and wastewater supply, the Tweed Shire have a lot to cover. Their water supply system comprises 24 water pumping stations, eight treatment plants, 174 wastewater pumping stations and 641 km of water-mains piping. Read more »
Profibus implementation at Coopers
When Coopers Brewery, Australia’s third-largest brewer and largest family owned brewery, relocated from Leabrook to Regency Park in 2001, the company took the opportunity to expand its capacity by commissioning an entirely new brew house, linking all measuring points with a Profibus communications system. Read more »
Robot solves skills shortage for coatings specialist
Finding specialised qualified staff and the need for greater efficiency in an increasingly competitive marketplace motivated Peter Harrison, the General Manager of Melbourne-based Hilustre Coatings Pty Ltd, to investigate the possibility of using a robot at the company’s spray painting facility. Read more »
Online support saves OneSteel time and money
As part of its Solution Enhancement Support Program (SESP), OneSteel implemented a secure, online connection to Honeywell’s global technical assistance centre (TAC) support team enabling faster and more accurate problem identification and resolution. Read more »
Laser particle sampling at Paraburdoo iron ore
The installation of an Outotec PSI 500 particle size analyser at Rio Tinto Iron Ore at Paraburdoo, in the Pilbara, is the first in Australia. Read more »
SEW drives Melbourne Airport upgrade
Melbourne Airport recently embarked on an upgrade and expansion of its baggage-handling system, enlisting materials handling and automation group BCS Group to carry out the redevelopment. BCS Group implemented the new baggage-handling system, founded on technologies from drives solutions group SEW-Eurodrive. Read more »
Smarter robotic palletising
More and more, customers are wanting to automate the palletising function within their production facilities but are often unable to provide space for such a system. And in today’s current economic conditions, customers are becoming even more focused on the return on investment of their capital equipment purchases. Read more »
New overland conveyor for the Port of Newcastle
ABB is to provide a drive system for an overland coal conveyor at a new export terminal being built by Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group (NCIG). The new terminal will enable an increase in coal exports from the Newcastle region of New South Wales and will be constructed at Newcastle Port, Kooragang Island. The project represents the largest single-stage development of a new coal terminal of this magnitude in the world. Read more »