A recently released report says double-digit growth for magnetic flowmeters in China will be driven by investments in infrastructure.

The inaugural Queensland Manufacturing Technology Exhibition (QMAN), to be held this month in Brisbane, will provide professionals working in the manufacturing industry with a unique opportunity to access the latest solutions and technologies across the manufacturing spectrum.

Diversified industrial manufacturer Eaton Corporation announced it has signed an agreement with Invensys PLC to purchase its power systems business, Powerware Corporation, for US$560 million.

Yokogawa Electric Corporation has announced it has concluded an agreement with Degussa, a major chemical manufacturer in Germany, to be a global supplier of process control systems for plant automation. The Yokogawa products and services covered by this agreement include Centum CS 3000 integrated production control system hardware/software.

BlueScope Steel has announced the planned acquisition of Butler Manufacturing Company, a pre-engineered building systems operator in North America and China.

In co-operation with the US Consumer Protection Safety Commission, Fluke is voluntarily recalling the TL221, TL222 and TL224 modular test leads. Users are asked to send back test leads for replace-ment. This recall does not affect the test leads permanently attached to test probes that come standard with most Fluke Digital Multimeters. The recall does not include currently manufactured TL221, TL222 and TL224 test leads that are marked with a SureGrip symbol, either by a tag around the silicon wire, or the symbol moulded onto the connector end.

Plastics producer Nylex has announced a $9 million acquisition of water systems company Australian Rotomoulding Industries Plastank (ARI).

The worldwide market for plant-level expenditures in the oil and gas industry, which totalled more than US$196 billion in 2003, will reach almost US$218 billion by the end of 2008, expanding at a Cumulative Annual Growth Research (CAGR) exceeding 2%, according to a study by the ARC Advisory Group.

There is much press given these days to product lifecycle management (PLM) systems, due to the successes being achieved in the automotive, aerospace, electronics, defence and general manufacturing industries.

Radio frequency identification (RFID) first appeared two decades ago as a wireless non-contact reading technology that allowed it to be used in harsh manufacturing environments where some barcode labels could not survive. Recently, Microsoft announced its intention to study the possibility of its software participating in the now ever-expanding world of RFID processing systems.

A range of new products, services and advice will be on display at the upcoming Queensland Mining and Engineering Exhibition (QME) to be held in Mackay, 27-29 July.

The University of Sydney has appointed Professor Greg Hancock, a member of the University's academic community and world expert in engineering construction, as new Dean of the Faculty of Engineering.

Profibus International, representing more than 1200 member companies worldwide, has announced that at the end of 2003 Profibus devices installed in factory and process automation applications had surpassed an historic 10 million benchmark - a total substantially higher than any other fieldbus solution.

In co-operation with the US Consumer Protection Safety Commission, Fluke is voluntarily recalling the TL221, TL222 and TL224 modular test leads. Users are asked to send back test leads for replacement. This recall does not affect the test leads permanently attached to test probes that come standard with most Fluke Digital Multimeters. The recall does not include currently manufactured TL221, TL222 and TL224 test leads that are marked with a SureGrip symbol, either by a tag around the silicon wire, or the symbol moulded onto the connector end.

A new grade of stainless steel spring wire has been developed by Sandvik Materials Technology. Designed for applications with a high number of expansion and contraction cycles and where springs must retain their mechanical properties over long periods, the new grade combines good spring characteristics with high fatigue resistance and a low relaxation rate, according to the company.