A five-hectare site in Sydney has been chosen as the new home of Devondale’s $60 million milk processing plant. Australia’s largest dairy foods processor will build its facility at Erskine Park in the city’s west, according to a media release from Devondale and CSR Limited. Devondale, which is a business brand of Murray Goulburn, announced in April that it plans to...

QMI Solutions, a Queensland-based company that helps manufacturing businesses improve their strategies and increase competitiveness, has released an online assessment tool that will allow businesses to see how they rate in terms of strengths and weaknesses in being LEAN. The Better Through LEAN assessment tool, available at www.betterthoughlean.com, is based on the principles of LEAN manufacturing, but it can be...

Minister for Industry and Higher Education Kim Carr strongly believes in the future of car manufacturing in Australia. In an interview with the Herald Sun, Minister Carr shared his plans to have discussions soon with car manufacturers Toyota and Holden about their “future in Australia”. "I'm strongly of the view we can have a viable auto industry if we have the...

The Australian Made Campaign (AMCL) has issued a statement welcoming the action taken by the ACCC against online ugg boot seller Happiness Road, trading as Koala Jack, after the website displayed the Australian Made logo. In October 2012, the Koala Jack website displayed the green and gold Australian Made logo and other statements that the boots were made in Australia, however following...

The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) has expressed its dismay over the failure of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to cut interest rates, saying there is an “extremely strong case” to do so amidst the current state of the economy which continues to show weakness in sectors like manufacturing and construction. In a statement released by CFMEU,...

Global packaging manufacturer Amcor has announced on Monday that it has reached an agreement to acquire the operations of Jiangsu Shenda Group, a Chinese flexible packaging firm, for RMB 350 million or about AUD 62.2 million. The purchase price represents eight times calendar year EBITDA, says the firm. The agreement is subject to regulatory and other conditions and is expected...

Manufacturing, Innovation and Trade Minister, Tom Kenyon last night attended a public meeting in Port Pirie to discuss legislation before State Parliament providing Nyrstar with regulatory certainty for the company’s proposed $350-million smelter transformation. The smelter, which already supports more than 800 full-time jobs in the region, is proposing an upgrade that will transform the 120-year smelter into a state-of-the-art facility,...

Australia’s comeback Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has unveiled his new cabinet on Monday morning, with Senator Kim Carr and Mark Butler MP taking over the ministry vacated by the Hon. Greg Combet, former Minister for Climate Change, Industry and Innovation, who stepped down from politics last week. Under Rudd’s new front bench Carr assumes the roles of Minister for Innovation,...

For the first time in two years the Australian manufacturing sector is showing signs of rebound. The Wall Street Journal reported on the latest Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI) released by the Australian Industry Group for the month of June, which shows the industry improving 5.8 points to 49.6 in June from May. The index has risen nearly 13 points in...

On its first year anniversary it looks like the carbon tax is shouldering the blame for the decline in the quality of a popular consumer good—chocolates. According to reports from The Daily Telegraph, rising electricity prices and the sky-high dollar are responsible for the change in taste and quality of chocolate products. The article written by Taylor Auerbach cites information coming...