SIX companies that have successfully applied innovative technology in recent times have been announced by Manufacturers’ Monthly as finalists for this year’s Endeavour Awards.
Now in its third year, the awards program is sponsored by BlueScope Steel and offers Australian manufacturers an opportunity to showcase their achievements and expertise to customers and suppliers, both locally and overseas. Winners and a highly commended will be presented with an award at a ceremony held on the 31st August at Darling Harbour, Sydney.
The award for Technology Application of the Year was kindly sponsored by and will go to one of the following companies:
Adelaide Brighton Cement
Product: Cement Kiln Downtime Elimination
ADELAIDE Brighton Cement (ABC) implemented Citect’s Ampla MES at its Angaston manufacturing operations in order to reduce downtime and increase Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE).
As a result, the company reported a 50% reduction in plant stoppages, increased output from each asset and decreased cost per tonne of manufacture.
Operators now measure plant downtime in real-time during each shift and accountability rests on all levels.
Advance Metal Products
Project: Complete Manufacturing Solution
ADVANCE Metal Product’s line-up of leading edge equipment is increasing their productivity in today’s demanding manufacturing environment.
The Finn-Power Laser 1 punch combination machine enables a reduction in direct labour and the number of manual operations.
The Salvagnini 4m robotic bending cell provides an increase in production throughput of some parts by up to 50%.
Further operational improvements have been initiated with the Salvagnini P4 panel bender, which eliminates potential dimensional tolerance problems.
Broens Industries
Project: Automotive Component Machining Line
BROEN’S automotive component machining line was designed and developed for a major Australian automotive supplier that required a high volume component machining production line that was able to take a cast component and machine it into a ready for assembly part.
The line incorporates one of the latest applications of protocol integration over Ethernet.
Only the second known application of its kind in the world, Broens engineers worked closely with Australian and international suppliers to provide an innovative and cost effective solution.
Chep Automotive
Project: CHEP Automotive Logistics Management System (CALM).
CHEP’s implementation of CALM signalled many things: the first roll-out of Manugistics in the Asia Pacific and the first within CHEP to globally use customer forecasts, rather than historical data, for planning purposes.
The project team at CHEP implemented the CALM system project on time in seven months, within budget and to quality specifications. As a result, the company was able to identify supply chain problems, improve processing efficiency and provide a more proactive level of service to their customers.
Express Coach Builders
Project: Spray Booth Implementation
EXPRESS’S main objective was to paint the company’s buses in the quickest possible way by utilising the latest technology in paint procedures.
The solution was to install two spray booths that enable buses to be painted plain white in only 90 man hours, while previously it would have taken 130 hours to complete the same operation.
The installation has reduced the number of people required in the paint section, which has in turn reduced cost and improved quality.
So-Rite Engineering
Project: Food Processing Machine
SO-RITE Engineering has achieved major efficiency gains on its food production line by adopting new Bonfiglioli gearbox and inverter combinations to synchronise a variable speed process control.
Each of the motors operates at different speeds for different tasks, such as cutting muesli bars to different lengths. Usually this would mean a lot of mechanical setup each time but with variable speed drives, the company electronically established a constantly maintained differential among the four gearmotors to synchronise the various machine stages.