Blackmores sells off Chinese medicine brands

Vitamin producer Blackmores has simplified its product offerings around the Blackmores name with the sale of its China-oriented Global Therapeutics businesses to McPherson’s Limited for $27 million. McPherson’s, a once well-known Australian manufacturer with roots dating back to 1860, has been rebuilding itself in the health, wellness and beauty products fields and takes on Global’s…

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Reimagining the laser: new ideas from quantum theory could herald a revolution

By Howard Wiseman, Griffith University Lasers were created 60 years ago this year, when three different laser devices were unveiled by independent laboratories in the United States. A few years later, one of these inventors called the unusual light sources “a solution seeking a problem”. Today, the laser has been applied to countless problems in…

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Westlab moves to automate medical gown manufacture

Laboratory and hospital supplier Westlab has moved to automate manufacture of hospital gowns as it extends its range of locally-made personal protection equipment (PPE). The company, which is also planning for continued competitiveness with imports in a post-Covid-19 business environment, is working on a number of fronts to develop automated production facilities to manufacture isolation…

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Quickstep gains sales despite Covid risk to aerospace sector

Composites manufacturer Quickstep continued its expansion in the latest quarter, reporting sales up 16 per cent to $22.6 million over the previous corresponding period. During the quarter volumes from existing products ramped up and final qualification parts were produced for its newest product, the flare housings for the MJU-68 being developed by Chemring Australia for…

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Furnishing industries call for reform of Victorian procurement policies

A storm is brewing over government procurement policies within the furnishing sector, with members of Australia’s peak industry body, the Australasian Furnishing Association (AFA), pushing for reform. It seems that the AFA may have ‘hit a nerve’, with the issue spilling over into other areas of manufacturing. The AFA Membership has called for a review…

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