Comment by Peter Roberts This week the seamier side of Australian business was again in the spotlight as supermarket group Woolworths admitted to underpaying staff by as much as $300 million over a decade. There were the usual explanations that this was all the fault of our complex industrial relations system. This is a ridiculous…
Metal 3D printing company Titomic’s (ASX: TTT) Melbourne production bureau has been busy manufacturing test parts for prospective customers using its Titomic Kinetic Fusion process (TKF) 3D printers. In his monthly investor update, Titomic managing director Jeff Lang listed a number of cases where the company’s strategy of producing test parts for customers was leading…
EMVision Medical Devices (ASX: EMV) has completed building its first portable brain scanner (pictured) which is now ready for trial in a clinical environment. The Brisbane company, which listed only a year ago, said the device was now undergoing calibration and testing for delivery to Brisbane’s Princess Alexandra Hospital later this month. A further two…
Explosives and chemical manufacturer Orica (ASX: ORI) has returned to protitability after a period marred by writedowns for plant breakdowns and writedowns following new IT implementations. The company announced statutory Net Profit After Tax for the year ended 30 September of $245 million, compared to a $48 million loss in 2018. NPAT before individually significant…
Barely half of employers are making use of nationally accredited VET training for their staff as the system continues its long-term decline. New figures from the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER), show 50.9 per cent of employers made use of the VET system in 2019, down 3.5 percent from the year before. And…
Leigh Creek Energy (ASX: LCK) is in discussions with ‘several international companies’ in the nitrogen fertiliser market to establish a new production plant in South Australia. The company has successfully demonstrated in-situ gassification of coal reserves at Leigh Creek, making it the largest uncontracted gas reserve in eastern Australia. The company said in a statement:…
Canberra-based electronics and systems developer Electro Optic Systems (ASX: EOS) has completed the takeover of communications business EM Solutions and released increased profit forecasts for the year. The company is now a subsidiary and a foundation for EOS’s new communications division, alongside its divisions in defence and space business. EOS’s expertise is in laser communications…
Increasing regional strategic uncertainties require new defence industry policies to achieve military self-sufficiency, according to to military strategists. Writing in the journal of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, David Harvey and Graeme Dunk said Australia was not prepared for conflict from fuel supplies to bullets and spare parts. They argue: “For Australia to be more…
The Australian National Fabrication Facility (ANFF) and NASA are to collaborate in developing new electronics technologies and new uses for advanced materials. Under a just signed umbrella agreement, the ANFF’s micro and nanofabrication expertise will work to solve challenges faced by the aerospace industry. The ANFF provides academia and industry with access to more than…
By Stuart Corner of IoT Australia CSIRO has developed a groundwater sensor system that it says will make environmental monitoring faster, more reliable and less labour intensive for the resources industry. The system went on display the International Mining and Resources Conference in Melbourne this week, as CSIRO looks for partners to bring the technology…
