Alpha HPA‘s leadership reshuffle
Chemical company Alpha HPA announced on Monday that Rob Williamson is stepping into the role of Managing Director, with Rimas Kairaitis moving from the role to serve as serve as Executive Director and Chief Commercial Officer. Chairman Norman Seckold said, “We are very pleased to optimise these key roles as we set up for the Company’s next exciting growth phase, with Rob and Rimas continuing their highly effective senior executive leadership in building the Alpha business.” The company added that it is moving “towards an exciting new phase, including expanding our operations in Queensland and developing the world’s largest single-site high-purity aluminium materials facility”
Manufacturing returns to growth, “albeit only marginally”
The manufacturing industry’s performance improved “for the first [time] in a year during January”, according to the S&P Global Australia Manufacturing Purchasing Manager’s Index. The PMI’s results, released on Monday, showed that “output returned to growth with new orders falling at a softer rate”, while employment levels increased “supporting the clearance of backlogged work”, according to a statement from S&P. However, purchasing activity and inventory levels fell, “while business optimism also declined”. The overall PMI result was 50.2 in January, up from 47.8 in December, marking “the first improvement in manufacturing conditions since January last year, albeit only marginally.” Jingyi Pan, Economics Associate Director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, added: “That said, purchasing activity fell at a faster rate while optimism levels also declined at the start of the year amid domestic and external uncertainties. At the root of the issue remains subdued demand, which will need to improve to inspire better confidence among manufacturers.”
First Arafura Class OPV delivered
NUSHIP Arafura, the first Arafura Class Offshore Patrol Vessel, has successfully been accepted by Defence ahead of delivery to the Royal Australian Navy. Nova Systems, which has been involved in the SEA 1180 project for more than seven years — offering its expertise in naval architecture, test and evaluation, engineering management, logistics, seaworthiness and acceptance activities — welcomed the news on Monday, This new vessel is one of two OPVs being constructed in South Australia by shipbuilder Luerssen Australia, with an additional four being built at Henderson in Western Australia. The primary role of the OPV is to undertake maritime patrol and response duties, alongside Australian Border Force, and other Australian Defence Force units and regional partners.
Austin unbothered by Trump tariffs
Mining equipment company Austin Engineering has provided an update on its US business following the announcement on the weekend of United States tariffs on Canada and Mexico, with US President Donald Trump placing duties of 25 per cent on imports from those nations. Austin said on Monday that the last nine months had seen it complete “a repositioning of its US business to ensure it would not be directly affected by tariffs imposed on goods imported from Mexico, or exports from the US to Canada, if Canada was to enforce its own tariffs in response.” It listed development of a new truck tray sub-assembly supply chain route using Canadian contractors for sub-assembly builds, with a new supply chain route developed over several months, with ten truck body sub-assembly kits built using using two Canadian-based contractors. Though it previously imported some sub-assembly trays from Mexico to the US, it ceased this supply chain route several months ago, and retains sub- and final-assembly contractor relationships in Mexico for supply of truck trays in that region, if required.
MEMKO secures approval for 3D printed components
Engineering business MEMKO has achieved what it says is “a significant milestone in vertically integrating, design, test, certification and manufacturing of aircraft cabin components”, after the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) awarded it production and design approval certificates. In a statement on Friday, MEMKO said it had achieved CASA Sub Part 21M design approval and CASA Sub Part 21G one-off production approval for a 3D printed Airbus A320 arm rest cover. The company said its intent “was to address a common issue in the aviation industry: the frequent damage to certain aircraft cabin parts” and address the lead time, cost and availability issues of replacement parts for these components. MEMKO Managing Director, Miro Miletić, added, “We are excited about the opportunities this certification brings and look forward to expanding our capabilities to support the aviation sector.”
National Small Business Strategy released
