Manufacturing news briefs — Stories you might have missed

SEA Electric pushes target of 7 per cent new trucks being electric-powered in 2024 

SEA Electric has praised the recent Grattan Truck Plan: practical policies for cleaner freight report by think tank the Grattan Institute, calling for 2 per cent of new truck sales being zero-emissions in 2024. It has however, said the target could easily be bumped up to 7 per cent. Tony Fairweather, founder and CEO of the electric vehicle maker, said the plan by the Grattan Institute could go further and meet the already accepted baselines set elsewhere around the world. “Across the world, there are jurisdictions which have led the way with introducing guidelines for transport manufacturers and fleets to adhere to,” Fairweather said, citing the Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) Regulation implemented in California and adopted by many states across the US “We are calling for this same framework to be replicated here in Australia, actively lobbying the Federal Government for action. We need clear air quality targets, an understanding of the environmental impacts of transport, combined with zero-emission truck sales targets and company and fleet reporting.”

New Australian VTOL taxi takes shape

Clem Newton-Brown OAM CEO of Skyportz Australia has released this first photograph (pictured)of the home of the only eVTOL (air taxi) developer in Australia – AMSL Aero in Bankstown, NSW. Newton-Brown said: “This is a mock up of the cabin – the real thing is at the other end of the hangar, with a team of experts working on final preparation for the first hover flight (sorry no pics allowed but I can assure you it is very cool!).” Skyportz is developing the landing infrastructure for air taxis and freight drones.

TGA fines radiopharmaceuticals maker $93,240

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) said on Thursday that it had issued seven infringement notices totalling $93,240 to Cyclotek Queensland for alleged breaches of the conditions of its Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) licence. Cyclotek makes radiopharmaceuticals used in Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scans. According to the TGA, the infringement notices were due to past breaches, with affected batches not in supply and no reports of adverse events as a result of their use. “No disruption to the supply of radiopharmaceuticals or impacts on patient services are expected because of this action” it added. “Manufacturers are reminded that serious issues must be investigated to prevent recurrence. Where repeated poor compliance is identified at GMP inspections, the TGA may take regulatory actions to ensure that products made at that site do not represent a potential risk to the public.”

Conflux takes aim at aerospace certification

Metal additive manufacturing innovator of heat exchangers Conflux Technology have begun the process towards the Aerospace certification standard AS9100D. This certification will include Design, which is relatively unusual in this industry. Conflux’s Andrew Milner said: “This marks a considerable step up in our Quality Assurance strategy, and will demonstrate the organisation’s commitment to providing the highest standards of quality and technical excellence to our customers.” Conflux has already passed the first stage of what is a six month process, and is well placed to complete the next stage, currently forecast for completion by the beginning of 2023. AS9100D is an international Quality Management System standard for the Aerospace, Space and Defence industries.

All-Energy Australia expo confirms themes, first expert speakers

The clean energy event All-Energy Australia, a free event taking place over two days on the 26-27th October, has confirmed some of the expert speakers to appear. ahead of a later release of the full program. Event organisers RX Global confirmed the key topics as including Grid Scale Energy, Digitisation, Community and Local Energy, Hydrogen, Electric Vehicles, Decarbonisation, First Nations Energy, Long Duration Storage, Bioenergy, Future Grid, Offshore Wind Energy, Power Purchase Agreements, Energy Management and Distributed Energy Resources. At this stage the experts speakers confirmed include Penelope Howarth, Climate Change Branch at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Grace Young, Chief Innovation Officer at Wattwatchers, Greg Hannan, Head of Network Strategy and Non-Network Solutions for CitiPower, Powercor and United Energy and Helen Rowe, Transport Program Manager for the Climateworks Centre. Registration is available here.

Orbital-Boeing dispute resolved