By Peter Roberts The construction of nine Hunter-class frigates in Adelaide by BAE Systems Maritime is known for its pioneering work on digital manufacturing on a giant – $35 billion – scale. But it is less well known for its part in demonstrating and leading efforts for Australia to finally develop the type of government…
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Drone engine manufacturer Orbital UAV has signed up a new customer for its drone engines – US Navy supplier Skyways. Under a MOU, Perth-based Orbital will deliver pre-production, heavy fuel engines to Skyways for integration into next-generation cargo-carrying UAV’s for flight testing. Skyways has been selected by the US Navy’s Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft…
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RM Williams expands Australian manufacturing Iconic bootmaker RM Williams has increased local manufacturing since the takeover of the company by interests associated with Perth billionaire Andrew Forrest, according to media reports. The company told afr.com that about 70 per cent production by revenue is now manufactured onshore, up from about 60 per cent two and…
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Sleep apnoea treatment company ResMed had a bumper first quarter of FY22 announcing quarterly revenue up 20 per cent on the previous corresponding quarter and operating profit up 21 per cent. The company announced revenue for the quarter of US$904 million and net income of US$203.6 million. ResMed, founded in and with major operations in…
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New research supports the possibility of Australia competitively exporting green hydrogen to Germany, even against nations that are geographically closer, according to the federal government.
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Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) has acquired the commercial assets of green hydrogen technology companies Xergy Inc and Xergy One Ltd to form FFI Ionix Inc. Based in the United States, FFI Ionix will commercialise hydrogen production technologies, including ion exchange membranes for water electrolysis, electrochemical compression, water transmission and fuel cells. FFI Chief Executive Officer,…
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Miner Rio Tinto and steel producer BlueScope will work together to explore low-carbon steelmaking pathways using Pilbara iron ores, including the use of clean hydrogen to replace coking coal at BlueScope’s Port Kembla Steelworks. The two companies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to research and design low-emissions processes for the steel value chain,…
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The steady rotation of ministers through the industry portfolio has caused only “minimal disruption” to the Industry department, officials fronting Senate Estimates have said, alongside a government minister who described the turnover as “political trivia”.
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Contract manufacturing group Entech Electronics and Brisbane diagnostic company Ellume have shown that when it comes to long production run electronics manufacturing, the old prejudice that Australian manufacturers have to offshore production to compete no longer holds true. Ellume, which automated its factory in Brisbane to make the company’s Covid-19 rapid antigen test with the…
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Metal additive manufacturer Conflux Technologies has raised $8.5 million to boost capabilities and buy new equipment in a series A investment round. Investors Germany’s AM ventures and Australia’s Acorn Capital backed Conflux which uses metal additive manufacturing (AM) to improve heat exchangers for automotive, aerospace, energy and defence use. AM Ventures provided initial seed funding…
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