Manufacturing

For the seventeenth year in a row, diversified global manufacturer Milliken & Company has been recognized by Ethisphere, a leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices, as one of the 2023 World’s Most Ethical Companies. Milliken is one of 135 honorees spanning 19 countries and 46 industries and one of only six honorees appearing on the World’s Most Ethical Companies list every year since the award was founded in 2007.

Autel, one of the leading manufacturers and suppliers of professional diagnostic tools, equipment and accessories in the automotive aftermarket, is stepping up its expansion into the Asia and Australian markets with a full range of energy vehicles charging solutions for residential and commercial use. The move is part of Autel's strategy to expand its presence and provide comprehensive solutions to meet the needs of customers in different regions.

IperionX Limited announced the appointment of Harold Sears as Additive Manufacturing Senior Advisor. IperionX’s lower cost, lower carbon and circular titanium metal powder is a critical input to manufacturing a wide range of specialized titanium components. Harold Sears’ appointment as Senior Advisor will increase IperionX’s technical capability to rapidly additively manufacture high-quality, low-cost prototype and production titanium components for advanced industries. Harold Sears brings over 32 years of experience in rapid manufacturing technologies, including 29 years in additive manufacturing.

Juniper Networks, a secure, AI-driven networks provider, announced that Divi’s Laboratories, one of the largest active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) companies globally, has selected Juniper to deliver highly available, ultra-reliable networking solutions across its manufacturing operations, the largest API manufacturing facilities in the world.

Gradiant, a global solutions provider for advanced water and wastewater treatment, announced it has acquired Advanced Watertek, an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and service provider for membrane-based water and wastewater treatment systems. This strengthens manufacturing resources for Gradiant’s custom-designed and integrated systems, which represent the leading edge of water & wastewater treatment for solutions in desalination and water reuse, minimum and zero liquid discharge, and resource recovery.

SEE has completed the previously announced acquisition of Liquibox for $1.15 billion on a cash and debt-free basis. This acquisition unites two leaders in the flexible packaging industry and aligns with the high-performance growth and innovation cultures of both companies. Liquibox is a pioneer and manufacturer of Bag-in-Box sustainable fluids & liquids packaging and dispensing solutions for food, beverage, consumer goods and industrial end-markets.

Gold Coast-based company Plant Doctor has expanded its manufacturing arm with the launch of a new and specialised business AgTech Freeze Drying. Operating from a 220 square-meters site in Biggera Waters, the purpose-built facility has brought additional jobs to the area and provides a continuous supply of exceptional freeze dried powdered products.

TerraSource Global – a manufacturer of high-quality material sizing equipment based on the Gundlach, Jeffrey Rader and Pennsylvania Crusher brands, and subsidiary of Right Lane Industries – announced the acquisition of Elgin Separation Solutions (Elgin) as of January 12. Elgin designs, manufactures and services material processing equipment for mining, energy production, recycling and waste management. Core products include vibratory centrifuges (CMI™), decanter centrifuges, mobile packaged treatment systems (KEMTRON™), vibrating screens (Hyper-G™, Tabor™ and Norris™ brands) and cuttings dryers (CSI™).

IperionX Limited (IperionX) has won the U.S. Department of Defense’s National Security Innovation Network (NSIN) Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Grand Challenge contract. IperionX will be eligible to produce titanium metal powders from scrap materials and rejuvenate out-of-specification titanium powder for the AFRL. The Grand Challenge is a program hosted by the U.S. Department of Defense’s National Security Innovation Network.

Recharge IndustriesTM, a Scale Facilitation® portfolio company, has engaged Accenture as its engineering provider to move forward on building one of the largest gigafactories in Australia. At full capacity, the lithium-ion battery cell production facility in Geelong, Victoria, will generate up to 30 gigawatt hours (GWh) of storage capacity per year for electric vehicles (EVs) and stationary energy storage markets. Construction will begin in the second half of 2023, with the goal of producing batteries equal to 2 GWh annually in the second half of 2024 and 6 GWh by 2026. As operations expand, the factory will employ 1,500 to 2,000 workers.