Global printing technology manufacturer Memjet is slated to begin operating a new factory in North Ryde, Sydney, bringing the manufacturing of its engines back home.
The advanced manufacturing new facility will start locally producing the cores for Memjet’s commercial printing machines by the end of 2022.
The company is a pioneer of advanced digital ink-jet printing technologies, which serve as the brains of many of the world’s best-known printing brands, such as Canon, Konica Minolta, PCMC, MGI, and Gallus.
Jason Thelander, Memjet’s chief technology officer, highlighted the big benefits of vertical integration in Australia, citing the country’s stable economy, great scientific and engineering capabilities, and highly skilled workforce.
“With new robotics and ultra-smart software, our manufacturing is competitive with Asia,” Thelander said in a media release from Austrade.
Local manufacturing also means a USD 15-20 million increase in Australian value per year, with 100 per cent of the company’s output going out as exports.
The majority of the company’s design and research and development work is executed in Australia, until recently, when the company conducted most of its print engine assembly overseas, particularly in northeast Asia.
“A typical print engine might have print heads from Australia, inks from Japan, and other subsystems from Singapore and Malaysia,” said Thelander. “The print engine would be assembled overseas and then exported to assembly plants around the world. For most models, about 70 to 80 per cent of the value-add happened in Asia.”
Memjet decided to bring four product lines for printer engines back from Asia.
The company procured new artificial intelligence-based systems from Germany and wrote software, dubbed “the juggler,” to enable robots to switch between manufacturing tasks without human intervention.
This means the company can maximise the efficient use of time in a particular manufacturing cell.
The new Australian-made strategy includes sourcing most components from suppliers within Australia, Thelander said.
The new North Ryde factory will include a collaborative manufacturing centre and employ up to 140 engineers and scientists.
“Our new robots and ultra-smart software enable us to quickly manufacture high-tech, low-run components for other innovators,” Thelander said. “We can also assemble parts with minimum human input. This is high-efficiency collaborative manufacturing — and it has a great future in Australia.”
