Clever design drives packaging throughput
When Visy Automation embarked on the development of its second-generation inline VL18 lidder machine for Australia’s largest meat processor, Bindaree Beef, the company called on SEW-Eurodrive to provide an innovative motor and drive solution. Read more »
Automated handling of activated carbon in bulk bags
Automation reduces dust and labour for municipal water treatment plants. Read more »
Fully automatic ink filling at intervals of seconds
Precision Mechatronics Pty Ltd supplies application- and customer-specific machine solutions for various industries and areas of application. With the development of an ink cartridge filling machine, the company is positioning itself in a niche market; nevertheless, the demands on the machine are anything but small. Read more »
Automated slaughter line for salmon
Norway is now operating the first salmon slaughter line in the world to use automatic bleeding based on machine vision and robot technology. The innovation makes for more rational operation, says the system’s pilot operator. Read more »
Emission reduction and baghouse optimisation through advanced bag filter management
Fibrothetford Ltd is the world’s third poultry litter-fired power station and is based at Thetford in Norfolk. The plant burns over 400,000 tonnes of poultry litter per year to produce 38.5 MW of electricity, enough for a town of around 93,000 homes. Read more »
Drives move 55 million tonnes of gravel in China
In the remote south-western province of Yunnan, some 2000 km from Beijing and Shanghai, Sinohydro is constructing an important piece of China’s renewable energy program. The Xiang Jia Ba dam and hydropower scheme is the nation’s third-largest hydropower system and another major step forward in China’s sustainable energy and water resource management strategies. Read more »
Frontline benefits from ABB’s robotic technology
Producing perfect aluminium welds and eliminating harmful dust during polishing operations has been achieved by the acquisition of a series of CSF (Complete Surface Finishing) robotic solutions at Frontline Australasia at its plant in outer south-east Melbourne. Read more »
Wind generators use drive technology proven in Australasian industry
Advanced industrial drives technologies available in Australasia are being used internationally to manufacture advanced wind power generators. Read more »
Powder handling equipment improves filtration at desal plant
The Tampa Bay Seawater Desalination Plant produces up to 94.6 million litres of drinking water per day (up to 10% of Tampa, Florida’s drinking water), making it the largest seawater desalination plant in North America. Since March 2007, the plant has desalinated over 13.6 billion litres of drinking water from the Tampa Bay. Read more »
Ethernet for Brisbane container terminal
The Patrick Autostrad Terminal at Brisbane is now benefitting from remote control via industrial ethernet technology. Read more »
TCP/IP-compatible drives simplify crane simulator
A three-axis motion platform, based on Baldor Electric Company’s ethernet-compatible drives, is helping to further increase the realism of crane training experience. Read more »
Variable speed drive improves cement plant process control
With an annual production capacity of approximately one million tonnes, Jura Cement is Switzerland’s second largest cement producer and is part of Jura-Holding. Jura Cement’s plants in Wildegg and Cornaux produce high-quality cement for different fields of application. Read more »
Automated waste sortation for councils
An Australian waste sortation specialist has devised a turnkey system for councils and regional bodies that uses automated primary sortation as a fast starting point to separate different types of waste. Read more »
SEMF automates Sugarloaf in record time
The Sugarloaf Pipeline will provide a significant boost to Melbourne’s water supply, and is a key part of the Victorian government’s three-pronged approach to securing Melbourne’s water reserves. The 70 km pipeline will transfer water from the Goulburn River, near Yea, to the Sugarloaf Reservoir, outside Yarra Glen on Melbourne’s outskirts. Read more »
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 »