Another Successful Austech Manufacturing Technology Exhibition

26 May 09

It was a little uncertain what this year's Austech exhibition would hold in the face of the global economic crisis. If nobody was investing in new machinery, then would they come to see the latest in machine tool technology anyway?

After setting up the ManufactureLink display, it was noticed how much smaller the National Manufacturing Week section was this year. Approximately half the size it was when Austech was last in Melbourne. Exhibitors were hoping this wouldn't be a sign of a slow show although, thanks to pre-selling all of their exhibition space prior to the GFC, the Austech part of the show was as big as ever.

The answer to whether or not the crowds would come was a resounding yes. With some of the machinery not having been seen in Australia before and some amazing new initiatives showcasing manufacturing innovation, there was still plenty of interest in where manufacturing technology was heading and the crowds still came to Austech.

The ManufactureLink display was setup a little different this year. Due to the unavailability of any proper component sourcing fair at any of the manufacturing shows around Australia, ManufactureLink have for 3 years now taken it on themselves to provide a supplier showcase on their booth. The supplier showcase has been a popular feature when combined with the live ManufactureLink system available on-site. Visitors to the show who have been seeking manufacturing capability are drawn to the ManufactureLink booth and on the spot are put in touch with manufacturers who are the right fit for what they need.

The difference this year is ManufactureLink setup a display cabinet showcasing components from a selection of our suppliers. ManufactureLink also had on display the world's smallest precision turned part which is a tiny surgical pin made by ALCprecision. This micro-component drew many visitors to the booth who had never even heard of Swiss turning before and came to learn about some of the micro-machining techniques available in Australia and what they could do.

Some of the other capability ManufactureLink had on display included micro-machining of titanium medical components, micro-laser cutting of stents and micro-medical components, micro-laser welding, rapid prototyping of plastic components, injection moulded assemblies, micro-motion control devices, 5 axis CNC machining, surface mount electronics, micro-electronics, hybrid electronics, high speed machining, industrial design, spring making, metal stamping and high speed hinge manufacturing using state-of-the-art metal stamping processes. This display of amazing manufacturing capability has countless visitors stopping to take a look and ask questions.

As with previous years, ManufactureLink also displayed brochures from a selection of our supplier network and this again proved popular with visitors. Dozens and dozens of Austech visitors browsed the brochures on display and took away information on manufacturers who had capability they needed.

The first day at Austech was very quiet. After the initial flurry of visitors disippated, the remainder of day 1 was very quiet and the aisles were sparsely populated. But day 2 was a complete turn-around. As with previous shows ManufactureLink had a steady stream of visitors to our booth and we constantly talked to both buyers of custom manufactured components and several of the suppliers from our network. Day 3 which is traditionally the busy day, lived up to its reputation and ManufactureLink were run off their feet all day and right up to the 8:00pm close. Day 4 carried on with more good crowds and another day full of ManufactureLink booth visitors.

As well as the usual enquiries from suppliers wanting to join the ManufactureLink network, it was heartening to see so many buyers visit the ManufactureLink booth to ask about locating manufacturing capability they need. In what is a reflection of the trend ManufactureLink sees through their online sourcing system, most enquiries centred around new product development, or new products ready to go to volume manufacturing. This is an obvious indicator that innovation and new product development is where the future business for manufacturers is coming from. Of all the buyers we spoke to at Austech, only one expressed any interest in manufacturing their products in China which was also a heartening sign.

ManufactureLink assisted buyers at the show with many enquiries for manufacturing and engineering capability. Enquiries  included: manufacture of dental implants, ISO:9100 accredited 5 axis machining of aerospace parts, turnkey manufacture of an electro-mechanical consumer device, manufacture of prototype components for a global manufacturer of electrical equipment, industrial design for a new product that had just completed prototyping phase, toolmaking and injection moulding of model train components, exporting of Australian made manufacturing technology to Malaysia, manufacture of metal injection moulded components for Cochlear, fabrication of storage hoppers, and many, many more enquiries for a large range of different types of manufacturing.

All up this was again a very successful show for both ManufactureLink and their supplier network as a whole. Some discussions were also held with the event organisers regarding some new initiatives for the 2010 show and we may see a bigger and better supplier showcase featuring at next year's show. ManufactureLink will bring you any news of new initiatives for the 2010 Austech exhibition as they develop.

Click here to locate suppliers with specific capability on ManufactureLink's Australian and New Zealand supplier directory.