Australia’s Frontline Manufacturing has been awarded the maximum grant available under the Commonwealth’s Defence Global Competitiveness initiative, receiving A$240,000 toward a substantial upgrade to its CNC machining department. While Frontline started life as a tool making and machining business, in more recent years the company’s main progress has been in fabrication, investing in capabilities, certifications and capital equipment. The CNC department of the business has lagged behind but this recent grant will see all company capabilities brought up to the same level of modernisation and sophistication.
Frontline Manufacturing is a major supplier for defence projects around Australia, especially those in the LAND domain. Frontline has been involved in recent years in upgrading the company’s capabilities to support LAND 400 Phases 2 and 3, with the purchase of a highly accurate, camera-assisted 1,500 tonne brake press for bending armour, a 6m x 3m 6kW laser cutter, a 3mx14m high definition plasma cutter, all in a new factory. Besides capital improvements, Frontline has achieved the certifications of ISO3834.2 and DIN 2303 Q1 and Q2 for welding military vehicles.
The company’s director, Daniel Green said “as a full-service shop, Frontline needed to upgrade its CNC department to keep pace with the improvements elsewhere in the business. The company chose to partner with Samsung and procure a new 4 Axis Machining Centre and a new Multi Axis Lathe with a high speed bar feeder, increasing speed and accuracy, and reducing downtime. This should allow Frontline to not only better service its domestic Prime customers, but be more competitive in global markets for turnkey metal structures, combining fabricated and machined components. Recent Primes’ stated desires to include Australian SME’s into their global supply chains (not just supplying locally for AIC) has pressured companies such as Frontline to upgrade their efficiency and quality in order to be globally competitive, not just be better than domestic peers. The Commonwealth provides much needed assistance to achieve this through their grants program and we are extremely fortunate to obtain this backing.”
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