MEMJET RETURNS TO AUSTRALIA

Pioneering inkjet engine developer Memjet is bringing production back to Australia, creating a new factory in Ryde, NSW, which will build systems for export around the world.

The move completes a full circle for the business, which came out of reclusive genius Kia Silverbrook’s research facility in Sydney, before being taken over by a US business.

Silverbrook at one time held the world record for the number of patents, with thousands to his name. The Memjet engine is now used by around 30 inkjet solutions suppliers, including the likes of Canon, Gallus, Konica Minolta and MGI.

All products assembled in Ryde will be exported. Bringing production to Australia is part of the on-shoring trend that is positively impacting many areas of print, as overseas supply lines become challenged.

“There are big benefits to vertical integration in Australia”, said Jason Thelander, chief technology officer, Memjet. “We have a stable economy, great scientific and engineering capability, as well as a highly skilled workforce. With new robotics and ultra-smart software, our manufacturing is competitive with Asia.”

Until recently, however, most print engine assembly was done overseas, in particular in northeast Asia. “A typical print engine might have print heads from Australia, inks from Japan, and other subsystems from Singapore and Malaysia,” says Thelander. “The print engine would be assembled overseas and then exported to assembly plants around the world. For most models, about 70-80 per cent of the value-add happened in Asia.”

To create the factory, the company bought new AI-powered robots from Germany and wrote software – called ‘the juggler’– that tells them how to prioritise work. This means the robots can switch between manufacturing tasks without human intervention. And it means the company can maximise the efficient use of time in a particular manufacturing cell.

Thelander says the new Australia-made strategy includes sourcing most components from suppliers in Australia. “When we reach full production, about 80 per cent of the parts for our Australian-built print engines will come from Australia,” he says. “For example, we used to get most of our dye inks from international suppliers. Now, all of them will be sourced from Australia.”

He believes strongly in the future of advanced manufacturing in Australia. He said, “Advanced manufacturing can deliver a big reduction in factory head-counts. The combination of new robotics and smart software means we can reduce manual labour by a factor of between four and seven.

“So, a printhead production line in Asia that used to require 106 people now needs just 28 here in Australia. And we think we can ultimately get that labour requirement down to 15. This means we can do more with the same headcount.

“Advanced manufacturing makes Australia competitive with Asia. It is not that we are ‘taking jobs’ with automation: these jobs would have never existed in Australia, they would have gone overseas along with the supply chain.”