Belgian group Nystar says it will lay off 120 of its 600 staff at the world’s largest lead smelter at Port Pirie in South Australia. The company confirmed the earlier @AuManufacturing repor that the completion of its $660 million plant upgrade meant fewer staff were required in future. A sinter plant and the former blast…
Fascinating statistics from the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report, 2018, show just which jobs are most vulnerable to automation or performance by a robot. But it is this image from Visual capitalist brings it home that it is not just manual labour, clerical work and data processing that are at risk. Even what…
Western Australian regional manufacturer, GrainKing has built a massive new production facility at Cunderdin in the WA wheat belt to boost output of its high-strength steel grain bins. Grain King, formerly known as Trufab, has just opened a 17,000 square metre workshop – roughly the size of the MCG – to make its Nyrex, Titan…
Australia’s leading manufacturer of enclosures and cabinets, B&R Enclosures, has opened its latest production facility in Suzhou, China taking its manufacturing footprint globally to more than 40,000 square metres. The plant, which offers mechanical and electrical design, engineering, manufacturing, project and supply chain management services, has been designed to apply industry 4.0 technologies. Mr Marko…
Hearing implant maker Cochlear (ASX:COH) has expanded beyond its hearing speciality into the field of sleep, an area now dominated by fellow Australian manufacturer ResMed. Cochlear invested $21 million in a capital raising by Nyxoah S.A., a Belgian medical device company commercialising a nerve stimulation implant for the treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Jan Janssen,…
BAE Systems Australia has celebrated the production of its 3,000th missile controller used to guide the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM). Developed jointly by Australia, the United States and Canada, ESSM protects our warships against anti-ship missiles. BAE’s thrust vector controller guides the ESSM during the launch phase. BAE’s Australian CEO Gabby Costigan said yesterday…
US commercial rocket company, Rocket Lab last night launched its low cost Electron rocket into space, carrying two Australian micro-satellites into orbit. The Electron lifted off from the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island late evening AEST carrying Fleet Space Technologies Proxima 1 and 2 satellites. The rocket, nick named “It’s Business Time”, reached…
By Helen Hull. It’s not technology or even budget that’s holding Australian organisations back when it comes to digital transformation, it’s culture. New research* of mid- to large-sized Australian businesses highlights the barriers faced along this journey, reinforcing internal organisational issues including a lack of leadership and culture, and aversion to risk taking, In a…
Comment by Forum member, Professor Aleksandar Subic, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Development) Swinburne University. When Mike Cannon-Brookes, co-founder of Australia’s most successful tech company, Atlassian, talks about Australia’s potential in tech innovation, he compares it to our film industry. We won’t beat Silicon Valley, the billionaire says, but just as our filmmakers, actors and cinematographers…
Comment by Peter Roberts. The giant Nystar silver, lead and zinc refinery is a looming presence over the main street of South Australian mid-north industrial town, Port Pirie. On this weekend when I visited the city its massiveness looms larger as the company has confirmed that as many as 100 of the 700 workers are…
