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Small car creates jobs
The Rudd Government is supporting ailing automobile giant GM Holden by offering a grant to build an all-new, fuel-efficient line of small cars in Australia – a venture which will generate up to 1,200 jobs in the engineering and manufacturing sector immediately. The new front-wheel drive, four-cylinder small car will be constructed from the third quarter of 2010 at the GM Holden Elizabeth plant in South Australia and design and engineering work will be provided from Port Melbourne in Victoria.
Ozwater 09 wets appetite
Hundreds of experts in the water industry will gather in Melbourne from 16th to 18th March to discuss Australia’s path to sustainable water management at the Ozwater 09 conference and exhibition. Hosted by the Australian Water Association (AWA), the event brings together local and international organisations, utilities, environment and resource agencies to discuss the theme: From Challenges to Solutions.
Major LNG control contract
Yokogawa has won the contract to replace the control system in the Northwest Sanderling vessel which is used to ship liquefied natural gas from Western Australia’s North West Shelf overseas. The control company will supply its CENTUM VP Integrated Production Control System to monitor the LNG cargo, and the ProSafe-RS safety system for the boiler and ship quarters.
New Honeywell president
Norman ‘Norm’ Gilsdorf has taken the top job at Honeywell Process Solutions, nabbing the global presidency from retiring Jack Bolick. Gilsdorf moves up from his post as former vice president and general manager of the Process Solutions business in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
Plant equipment sales slump
The average industry spend on plant and machinery upgrades and maintenance will fall rapidly this year, according to a survey of over 480 CEOs in manufacturing and construction. The new Australian Industry Group (Ai Group) survey said 2009 will be the toughest year in more than a decade with the ongoing impacts of the economic crisis placing at risk business’s expenditure.
Khrone relocates for success
Khrone Australia has relocated its head office for expected growth into a purpose-built, larger and better-equipped premises in New South Wales. This follows the company claiming “phenomenal growth” since its inception in 1998, with staff numbers doubling in the last five years alone.
Champions of distribution
Champion Compressors has signed a national distribution deal with Cameron Compression Systems to become the only authorised local distributor to stock Cameron’s range of centrifugal compressors, which offers models ranging from 110kW to 1,600kW, with larger units up to 30MW available on request.