News
The latest insights from experts in the field.
An Australian recycling success story
Australia has set the goal for 70% of plastic packaging to be recycled or composted by 2025, and for unnecessary single-use plastic packaging to be phased out. To help meet this target within this tight deadline, the Australian Government has introduced a grant to support the construction of large-scale plastic recycling projects.
Why Invest in Smart Manufacturing Practices?
We’re all privy to talks about smart manufacturing, smart factory, machine learning, IIOT, ITOT convergence, and so on, and many manufacturers have already embarked on their smart manufacturing journeys. Let’s take a pause and really think about it… Is it really important or is it a fad? If it is important, then why?
Before investing in new technology, consider its holistic value.
Predictive maintenance — to catch equipment breakdowns before they appear and reduce downtime — is becoming a priority for manufacturers. As evidence of this, Balluff was recently asked by a Melbourne manufacturer to deliver a solution that proactively manages maintenance on press tools.
Drive Solutions for Innovative Solar Technology
Sewage treatment plants consume large amounts of electrical energy and space. It is not possible to cover the area with conventional photovoltaic systems since the settling basins must be accessible from above at any given time for operational reasons.
NORD worked with DHP technology to redefine solar technology and deliver a solution with the PLC integrated in the drive unit, controlled via weather station and an algorithm that allows to manage the sequences independently even in case of incidents, maximising the plant’s operational safety.
Open IIoT Group Launches the Podcast of the Year
As a cohort of some of Australia’s most prominent automation brands, ‘breaking through the jargon’ to make complex smart manufacturing concepts simple, an Open IIoT podcast is a long time coming. As a future-thinking podcast, there could be no better place for a launch than a similarly future-thinking event: the Modern Manufacturing Expo on 20 and 21 September at the Sydney Showgrounds.
AUSPACK FILES: Jim Wallace, Sales Manager at Balluff, talks about Open IIOT
Hear from Jim Wallace on Open IIoT’s mission and goals for manufacturing in Australia.
Additive manufacturing unlocks industry 4.0 possibilities
The concept of Industry 5.0 – developing Artificial Intelligence to work alongside robots and smart machines- has been an increasing topic of conversation in the global manufacturing landscape. However, a number of key manufacturing insiders have argued that Australia still needs to get to grips with Industry 4.0 before we can move on to the next phase of industrialisation.
Product News: A customised finish with Beckhoff’s servo control
The design options open to Pinggau-based BT-Watzke are close to endless. That’s because the traditional Styrian company operates its own in-house engineering. Servo drive technology from Beckhoff Automation likewise plays an important role.
Predictive maintenance to alleviate challenges
The margin for error in food processing and packaging is slim to none, with a breakdown in the production line potentially resulting in a whole batch of products being discarded. The Open IIoT Group explains how machinery data and predictive maintenance tools can reduce those risks.
KUKA iiQoT: One platform for all robots
What condition is your robot in? How efficiently is it working? KUKA iiQoT has an eye on all the condition data: from hardware to software and on to the controller. This central platform leverages the advantages of the Industrial Internet of Things and bundles the data of a complete robot fleet transparently and clearly in one dashboard.
OPEN IIOT featured on PKN at Auspack 2022
Richard Roberts, National Industry 4.0 Operations Manager at ZI-Argus spoke to PKN’s associate editor, Wayne Robinson about the Open IIoT demo unit – on display at AUSPACK 2022.
Key To Unlocking Maximum Value from Industry 4.0
No matter how efficient your production output is, if Industry 4.0 technologies are not used to capture and visualise the data of these processes, true manufacturing success cannot be realised.