Best of the week — the five most popular stories among readers, October 13 – October 17, 2025

What were the five biggest stories of the week? Here’s what visitors to @AuManufacturing were reading.

5) Former Queensland premier appointed chair of Advanced Materials and Battery Council

Industry lobby group the Advanced Materials and Battery Council (AMBC) has rejigged its leadership team, with former Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk (pictured) appointed its new chair.

In a statement Monday, the AMBC said the former premier brings “proven executive leadership in policy delivery and large-scale industrial development” to the role.

Outgoing AMBC Chair Craig Nicol – who is also CEO and founder of Graphene Manufacturing Group – said his time had been “an honour” and occurred at a time of “significant growth for Australia’s advanced materials industry”.

4) InfraBuild wins Innovation of the Year at World Steel Association awards

GFG Alliance-owned steel recycler InfraBuild has won the Innovation of the Year award at the annual Steelie Awards, hosted by the World Steel Association (worldsteel.)

Tracey Sen, Executive General Manager of Communications, represented the company at the event in Washington, DC and which was hosted by the industry group representing 85 per cent of the world’s steel production.

The Steelie Awards are in their 16th year.

3) New CEO begins at Ampcontrol 

Gareth O’Reilly, who formerly headed Schneider Electric in the Pacific Region and Fletcher Building in Australia, has been appointed as the new CEO & Managing Director of electrical engineering firm Ampcontrol.

In a statement on Tuesday, Ampcontrol’s Chair, Greg Sedgwick, praised O’Reilly’s professional calibre, industry experience and international background.

“This is a very exciting time for our business and the people of Ampcontrol. I’m looking forward to having Gareth lead and help us achieve our growth strategy,” said Sedgwick.

2) Erema Group buys into BlockTexx, seeking to scale textile-to-textile recycling “to industrial levels”

Austrian-headquartered Erema Group, the world leader in plastic recycling equipment, has made an unspecified strategic investment in Brisbane textile recycling technology startup BlockTexx.

The two companies shared the news at industry fair the K show in Düsseldorf, Germany this week, saying the development is aimed at scaling “post-consumer textile-to-textile recycling to industrial levels”.

BlockTexx was founded in 2018 and is commercialising a world-first technique to turn mixed polyester-cotton fabric into plastic flakes and cellulose for reuse. It currently has capacity to process 10,000 tonnes of fabric every year at its Queensland recycling plant.

1) 95 per cent of participants satisfied with Lean Manufacturing Pilot Program: NSW government

Fifty-nine regional NSW manufacturing SMEs have participated in the state government’s Lean Manufacturing Pilot Program, an $800,000 initiative launched in March.

According to a statement on Thursday, the companies involved were able to “save time, cut costs and improve profits” through the program, which offered “tailored on-site audits” to “identify practical ways to implement lean manufacturing principles and improve their operations.”

It described lean manufacturing as “an internationally recognised business management process that focuses on continuous improvement, reducing waste and achieving better results through process efficiencies.”

Picture: credit Flavourtech