Wampfler AG will merge as of January 2007 with the Delachaux group, which is listed on the French stock exchange. In this deal Delachaux will take over 100% of Wampfler AG. The purchase price has not been disclosed. The seat in Weil am Rhein, its location as well as the brandname 'Wampfler', will be retained.

BOC, supplier of gases, industrial and safety products in New Zealand, has signed an agreement with Shell to purchase Shell New Zealand’s (Shell NZ) commercial LPG business, including its shareholding in Liquigas.

Lawson Software, a global provider of enterprise software applications, has appointed Stephen Moore as the new vice-president of its Australia and New Zealand operations.

Treotham Trading has announced it has opened a Brisbane office to service the entire state of Queensland.

Swedish company, Magu Automation AB, manufacturers of process equipment for coating mobile phones, and AGA, the Swedish subsidiary of Linde Gas, have agreed to cooperate in the field of surface coating, gas-related products and wet-chemistry. AGA has sold a licence for its concept CC 1200 that Magu will offer its customers. The agreement means Magu can now offer coating and lacquer equipment within a moveable clean room to any supplier of plastic parts around the globe so that surface decoration and functional coating can be carried out on the spot. To install the transportable coating/lacquer equipment to a plastic production unit will take only a few hours.

Peak Oil, the theory that world oil production will soon reach a peak and go into sharp decline, is the subject of a new analysis by Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA).

Kinder and Co is taking a ‘cradle-to-grave’ approach with plastic components it supplies once they are at the end of their life cycle.

In a time of acute skills shortages, Australia’s consulting engineers are working hard to ensure the future of both Australia and the industry by developing innovative business diversity, building educational projects, ensuring a career for engineering graduates, creating opportune partnerships and using DIMA’s immigration program.

Mipac has been contracted through Xstrata Technology to design and commission the plant-wide control system and electrical systems for a major upgrade to Kazzinc’s Ust-Kamenogorsk plants in Kazakhstan.

BOC has officially opened its $10m operations centre in Wagga Wagga, NSW. The facility uses sophisticated technology to package ammonia and sulphur dioxide for markets around Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific.

The Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWFN) has released a report which says energy-saving technologies would reduce the need for new power plants and bring about massive greenhouse improvements.

Intelligent Systems Australia (ISA) has been approved by AICSYS Advanced Industrial Computer Systems to be master distributor of its products in Australia.

Victoria’s talent for great design across diverse manufacturing sectors was showcased in October during the State of Design 2006 program.

Scientific Solutions has reached an exclusive distribution agreement with Quantachrome Instruments, a leading supplier of high technology surface area and pore size instruments to distribute Quantachrome Instruments in Australia and New Zealand.

The 2006 Engineering Excellence Awards have this year recognised the world-class expertise of Queensland engineers with the award of the overall RW Hawken Award being presented to Brisbane-based Sinclair Knight Merz working with HOK Sport Venue & Event for their work on the Nanjing Sports Park in China.