Orange's Trang Imagineering researching way to help save soldiers’ lives
Orange’s Trang Imagineering has secured a $218,000 contract to research a way to save soldiers’ lives. Founder Dave Finlay said the research would focus on a three dimensional (3D) scanner which can be used to detect threats such as improvised explosive devices. The technology is already used in mining to detect potential landslides – the scanner continually takes photos and overlays them over each other to find differences. “A lot of mining contractors use a 3D scanner to detect a landslide,” Mr Finlay said. “A landslide doesn’t happen instantaneously, it happens over weeks.” Mr Finlay said the research project was only the start and would benchmark existing technology and whether it could be deployed by the defence forces. It would mean even if the soldiers used the same road 100 times, the scanners could detect hidden threats. Mr Finlay said the research could lead to a product or may be put on hold until technology allows it to be deployed by defence. Trang Imagineering was formed in 2003 and it’s their first contract with the Australian Defence Force. Mr Finlay said nine ideas were submitted to defence before one was selected for further research. The contract was funded by the federal government’s $1.6 billion defence innovation hub. “It’s great to see innovative companies in Calare, such as Trang Imagineering, competing for and winning contracts,” Member for Calare Andrew Gee said in a statement.
Government committee highlights Trang Imagineering as ‘perfect example’.
Trang Imagineering’s research contract has been highlighted as the “perfect example” of an Orange company partnering with the defence industry. In July, Trang Imagineering was announced as the winner of contract to research the potential uses for three dimensional scanners to identify potential threats to Australia. The technology is already used in mining and the research will be completed in Orange. “That fits into exactly what we’re targeting through the government’s ‘Strong, Smart, Connected’ strategy for defence and industry,” state upper house member Greg Pearce said. “Be innovative, be export orientated, be specialised, use our special skills and focus on longer term maintenance and sustenance of defence industry and export. “It’s movable, it can be located in a great place like Orange.” Mr Pearce is the chairman of the state government’s committee on state development. He visited Orange for a public hearing into how the growth of the defence industry may benefit the state. “We want to see the defence [industry] growth benefit the whole of NSW,” Mr Pearce said. Mr Pearce said Orange City Council (OCC) had offered good ideas about how “you use the things that Orange is already strong and well known for”. “The skilled people, a great place to live, but also the land that is available,” he said. “Plus some of the speciality skills that you have here, they’ve just been talking about metals and engineers getting together and forming a co-operative called RENWELD to work together.” Mr Pearce said Charles Sturt University’s Bathurst engineering school could lead to future opportunities. OCC completed a submission to the inquiry earlier this year, flagging the airport, the former Electrolux factory and available industrial land as attributes which may attract the defence industry. Council’s general manager Garry Styles added to the submission on Monday, which he said was a routine part of council’s efforts to explore ways to generate employment and support the region’s economic growth. “The council has given fresh momentum to the question of economic growth following the structural re-adjustment of the Electrolux plant closing,” he said. “There are opportunities to co-locate industries both at the Edward Street site and other sites around Orange.”
https://www.centralwesterndaily.com.au/story/4857741/government-committee-highlights-trang-imagineering-as-perfect-example/
Drafting course on the drawing board.
Drafting apprentices in Orange have to travel to Sydney for one day every week to complete their TAFE course. Orange business Trang Imagineering and Central West Group Apprentices (CWGA) have joined forces to encourage TAFE to run the course in Orange, which they believe will give businesses more of an opportunity to employ drafting apprentices. David Finlay from Trang said it was "almost logistically impossible" to send an apprentice to TAFE in Sydney every Monday and have them back in Orange for work on Tuesday morning. "There's a fair bit involved in spending a day a week at Ultimo, especially for someone straight out of year 12. It would certainly be more appealing to myself as an employer if the course was available here," he said. Mr Finlay said CWGA, the Department of State and Regional Development and TAFE had shown interest in organising the course in Orange during a Skills Summit held last week. He believes other local businesses would be interested in putting on a drafting apprentice if it was simpler for them. "Group apprentices will work as an independent adviser to see if they can find commitment from employers to put on 10 apprentices in the region and they will take that to TAFE. Certainly in Orange there is a shortage of people and the pool of drafting resources doesn't seem to be growing," he said. Any businesses interested in putting on a drafting apprentice should contact CWGA.
https://www.centralwesterndaily.com.au/story/767160/drafting-course-on-the-drawing-board/
Local firm shows it's all in the design.
AN ORANGE firm has pipped Brisbane and Sydney rivals by picking up a major industrial design job on the Gold Coast. Trang Imagineering, founded by Orange locals David and Wendy Finlay, specialises in creating precision plans for steel buildings, which can save massive amounts of unnecessary material costs in the construction phase. In their latest project win, Trang Imagineering has been providing the plans for a Gold Coast shopping centre which involves more than 200 tonnes of steel. "The challenge is that someone gives us a general plan, and then we have to design it down to the smallest detail, to make sure every steel element can be measured and calculated. "This sort of precision work is growing, because it can save up to 30pc of steel wastage which is obviously a big saving with these projects," Mr Finlay said yesterday. The task is already well under way, and for the small company, it is just one of several design projects they have won as far afield as Perth. Mr Finlay said there was no barrier to being a winning company based in Orange, with local companies such as his able to provide the latest draughtsman and mechanical design skills. "I personally think that Orange engineering and allied companies are as good as anyone. "The only limitation of being in Orange rather than a capital city is in the minds of clients, just because they don't know about what the companies here can do. "Orange has been a great operating base for us, and from here we export our skills around Australia," he said. Trang, which opened in 2003, now employs six people at its design shop in McNamara Street.
https://www.centralwesterndaily.com.au/story/767055/local-firm-shows-its-all-in-the-design/
Businesses join forces to chase the big bucks.
MILLIONS of dollars have flooded out of Orange in the last five years as large projects are awarded to contractors outside the region, but a group of engineering and manufacturing firms have come together to pursue those multi-million dollar projects. About $300 million in the last five years has gone to companies outside of the central west and that means lost job opportunities for Orange tradespeople. The Orange Health Service redevelopment, the pipeline construction, and the airport redevelopment are examples of large jobs, too big for any one company to take on. But together CDE Structures, Hort Enterprises, ILB (NSW), Orange Precision Metalcraft, Still Engineering and Trang Imagineering can provide all of the needed expertise and manpower for the job. The six organisations together form Renweld, and spokesperson Phillip Bird said the group wants to get on the front foot to lobby major contractors to consider using central west businesses first rather than allowing money and jobs to leave the area. “And the problem gets worse. Because the successful tenderer comes from outside the central west they don’t know much about the capability of the local companies but they are not even being asked,” Mr Bird said. “We really want to raise the profile of manufacturing and engineering locally.” Traditionally bigger companies have legal and business ties with certain contractors, so they are reluctant to sign on with companies they have not worked with before, Mr Bird said. Mr Bird said he believed central west people were employed to complete less than 1 per cent of the work from the three aforementioned major projects in the area. However the engineering consortium has already had a win. Renweld recently won state government funding under the NSW government’s supply chain accelerator program to build its capability to win larger projects regionally and to win work beyond the central west. The project is about broadening access to information on tenders from across the state and improving the skills of the Renweld members in bidding for work. The project’s goals are to build on the group’s existing collaborations and to win larger, more complex work. “Once we have got our first few wins on the board we expect to create solid momentum and attract many other businesses which service these industries so we can build the collective capacity further,” Mr Bird said. “It has very exciting potential.”
https://www.centralwesterndaily.com.au/story/2604870/united-we-stand-in-renweld/
International recognition for design drawing.
A THREE-dimensional design drawing produced locally has been acknowledged as outstanding within the mechanical design industry by being included in an international calendar. David Finlay, who operates the Orange-based mechanical design company Trang Imagineering, produced the drawing for another local company, Thompson Couplings Limited. The image depicts the Thompson Coupling, the world's first constant velocity joint to feature no load bearing or sliding surfaces. Mr Finlay has been performing design work for the developers of the coupling for the past few years. His image has been included in an Asia Pacific calendar of outstanding designs produced by Solid Edge, a leading computer-aided design software maker. It was one of only four designs Australia-wide to be included in the calendar. The 12 successful images were chosen from more than 150 entries. Mr Finlay said it was unusual way to be acknowledged, but it was a feather in his cap to have his work included in the calendar. Glenn Thompson, who devised the coupling depicted in the image, praised the quality of Mr Finlay's design drawing. He said he was not surprised it had been acknowledged in this way. The coupling itself is being developed for production in a range of mechanical devices. Mr Finlay's image will go on to the annual Solid Edge Global Summit, to be judged among entries from the European and American calendars. The summit will be held in the US in June.
https://www.centralwesterndaily.com.au/story/758963/international-recognition-for-design-drawing/