Comment by Peter Roberts Rio Tinto will close New Zealand’s largest aluminium smelter operated by New Zealand Aluminium Smelters (pictured) in what should be a stark warning to the Coalition dithering on energy policy. A strategic review of the smelter which produces 335,290 tonnes of ultrahigh purity aluminium from Australian bauxite found the business is…
Like quantum computing or fusion energy generation, for a long time hypersonics has been described jokingly as something that’s the technology of the future, and which always will be.
By Peter Roberts Food and beverage has been one of the few manufacturing sectors increasing its share of GDP through the decades-long long decline in manufacturing’s share of the economy. Our new world leading wine industry is already the star performer, with our industry leading the world in viticulture and winemaking. Along the way it…
Analysis by Peter Roberts Australian science and industry has a surprisingly key role to play in the new more potent defensive stance announced by Prime Minister Scott Morrison yesterday. Many of the systems envisaged such as hypersonic cruise missiles, directed energy weapons and our own satellites are still in the development phase. However the past…
Recent weeks have seen a renewed focus on supporting Australian made goods. From the industry minister — citing a “groundswell of community support” for locally-produced stuff — downwards, there’s hope consumers and businesses will open their wallets to Australian companies, creating local jobs in the process. Not everybody is certain it will work out…
Politicians state and federal have been revelling in photo opportunities with that innovative coterie of manufacturers who have risen to the challenge of making personal protective gear (PPE) and medical ventilators that were formally imported. The latest was SA Premier Steven Marshall who visited the Detmold facility in Adelaide with Stephen Wade MLC (pictured), a…
Analysis by Peter Roberts One of the features of new methods of production that are emerging as part of the industry 4.0 revolution is the fact that Australian industrial machine manufacturers are coming to the fore. @AuManufacturing has reported on the several companies that are making innovative 3D printing industrial machines locally from SPEE3D to…
Comment by Peter Roberts On a day when the federal government announced some bad news for university students the Prime Minister, Scott Morrison called a press conference to denounce cyber attacks on Australia. Manufacturers have been hit in recently weeks by crippling attacks that cut production. First BlueScope Steel was forced to shut down some…
The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Kate Carnell says small businesses will play a critical role in the post COVID economic recovery, calling on the federal government to establish a small business procurement panel. The panel, proposed in ASBFEO’s COVID-19 Recovery Plan, would require Government contracts with a value of up to $10…
In recent weeks, we have reported on manufacturers applying their expertise to developing Covid-19 tests. Brent Balinski spoke to Samantha Ollerton of GreyScan, which is building a trace detection device for surfaces, where the virus can linger for days. March was a month where everything changed. Whatever your business, it was time to rethink…
