Garry Cox posts: German company Sonnen has announced it will begin assembling lithium-ion batteries at the former Holden plant in Adelaide within a month. The plant, which will move to full manufacture as demand ramps up, has been given a massive boost by the new state government’s solar rooftop/battery storage scheme which was launched this…
The Victorian government has announced financial support to electric truck maker SEA Technologies to build a new plant in Victoria’s La Trobe Valley. The facility is expected to employ 500 Latrobe Valley locals, and assemble 2,400 vehicles a year – specialising in the production of electric delivery vans and minibuses using SEA Electric’s proprietary, and…
US rocketry company Rocket Lab is to launch two Adelaide-made micro-satellites from its NZ launch complex ‘in the coming weeks’. Adelaide’s Fleet Space Technologies’ Proxima 1 and 2 micro-satellites will be sent into space where they will test its software-defined data transmission radios. Fleet Space plans a network of more than 100 nanosatellites which will…
Sydney’s Quickstep Holdings (ASX: QHL) achieved sales of $17.6 million in the first quarter of the financial year, up a massive 42 per cent on the previous corresponding period. “The business achieved positive NPAT in Q1 FY19 and expects to deliver positive EBIT for the full year FY19. While EBITDA for Q1 was $1.2 million,…
Melbourne-based Supacat has signed a partnership agreement with Rheinmetall Defence for the design and manufacture of systems for the army’s new Boxer combat reconnaissance vehicle (CRV) fleet. Rheinmetall recently won multi-billion contracts for the supply of its armoured 8×8 CRV, with Supacat to provide a number of sub-systems. The vehicles will be manufactured at a…
Sydney mining services and manufacturing company BIS has launched a new cost-effective mine haulage truck, Rexx made by its recently acquired Powertrans subsidiary. Rexx carries a 160 tonne payload and has a range four times that of conventional dump trucks. Operational costs are kept low by features such as smaller, cheaper wheels and tyres than…
Allen Roberts asks: Every business has a key strategic metric, one that encapsulates the productivity of the investments made in the business, that can be tracked over time, and broken down progressively as you move into the operational levels of your business. The metric you choose should reflect the strategic choices you make. It should…
Winder Controls Australia has commissioned a new Number 1 winder and Tower Mounted Friction Winder at Glencore’s Cobar copper mine. Work at the CSA Mine involved the removal of old equipment, remanufacture of structural elements and the lifting of the new hoisting machinery 52 metres above the ground. Motor, gearbox and hydraulic power pack were…
A rash of new ventures and partnerships are increasingly aligning Australia to foreign sources of technology and providing access to global supply chains. Just this week new agreements have been announced in sectors ranging from automation to shipbuilding and R&D. Sage Automation will work with Spain’s Detegasa to support RAN ships and to manufacture locally…
Forum member Jeremy Nathan of B2B marketplaces asks the big question: Is the US/China trade war good for Australian business? hashtag#economy hashtag#business Join the conversation in the Australian Manufacturing Forum here. Picture: Industry Search.
