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Who said the Australian Electronics Industry was Dead? by Ross Tester Versatile Technology – an Aussie Innovator I t started out as an invitation to see a model tank. Not just any model tank, but a 1/5-scale fully operational German “Tiger” Tank. But while we were there, we had a look at the company Gerard Dean, the tank’s creator, had set up. More on the tank anon – but our visit to Versatile Technology, in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, proved to us that not all Australian technology has disappeared offshore (even if 97% of their products do, go offshore that is!). What’s in a can? When you pop open a can of beer or soft drink, do you ever think about the technology that goes into that can? No, of course you don’t: you just want to enjoy the contents then throw away (woops, recycle) the can when it’s empty. 76  Silicon Chip Most companies have mission statements with motherhood, feelgood comments. Here’s Versatile Technology’s, displayed for all to see as you walk in the front door! But there is an enormous amount of precision engineering and manufacturing in that can. What happens, for example, if the contents (which are usually under quite high pressure) find a weakness in the can and decide that the outside world is a better place to be? For example, only recently, a friend of mine emailed me a picture of the interior of her car following just such an incident with a can of Coke on a rather warm day. As you no doubt realise, a car’s cabin temperature can easily reach 60-70° and more, sitting in the sun even on a relatively cool day (see RACQ report, February 2009). If the can is in direct sunlight (as this one was) then it can actually get hot enough to burn you. Cans have several safety mechasiliconchip.com.au nisms built in to prevent them exploding – and these are exactly the areas that Versatile Technology manufactures machines to test. For example, that “dimple” or concave in the base of the can is not there to save the beverage manufacturer some beverage. It’s designed to expand as the pressure inside the can exceeds a certain safety margin – we’ve all seen cans that have been frozen, for instance, where the concave dimple has “popped” out and become convex. The can will topple over if this happens – but that’s a few orders of magnitude better than having the can explode. Exactly the same thing happens if the can is overheated. One of Versatile’s gauges seals the can then pumps air into it until it pops, in order to prove that the can is within spec. Then there’s the thickness of the can itself – is it uniform; does it have any thin spots which may allow it to deform or explode? Here they measure the thickness with a margin for error of just 0.5 microns. How thick is that? Blonde hair is about 10-30 microns in diameter! (Black hair is even thicker). How about the join between the can itself and the lid (bet you never thought that it was a two-part assembly, did youE)? And there’s the opening tab – it’s purposely designed as a weak point to allow you to get at the contents without an opener. But if it’s too weak. . . Incidentally, remember those old “ring pulls” which used to cause many a broken fingernail when removing, or cut feet when carelessly disposed of at the beach, park, etc? (Or which were/ are the treasure hunter’s nightmare, causing metal detectors to go crazy!) Well, Versatile Technology showed me some brand new cans with that type of opening – it turns out there are certain cultures in Asia and the Middle East which demand them, instead of the stay-attached-to-thecan type we’re all used to these days. All of these parameters – and many more – are what Versatile Technology manufacture testing equipment to, well, test. Incidentally, they use the industry moniker “gauges” for the equipment they build. They don’t manufacture the cans themselves – they manufacture a broad range of test equipment which is sold around the world to corporations Versatile’s Gerard Dean talking to a potential customer that do manufacture at last year’s METPACK show in Essen, Germany. He cans. Billions of cans! came away with a briefcase full of new business! In more recent times, they’ve also started making gauges to ducers, for a company that supplied test other containers, such as PET soft Ford, Holden etc. drink bottles and even steel cans. The It was a small show and most of the principles are the same but different work was done in Dean’s back shed. tests require a completely different Fast-forward 35 years, when in 1990 approach. Versatile Technology was formed to build custom measurement systems The company for the Australian industrial market, Long before Versatile Technology predominately in the automotive area. was established, Gerard Dean set up It was tough and they drained the a business making small custom-de- investors’ cash pretty fast. The jobs in signed measurement instruments, in- the automotive area had tight margins cluding precision rotary torque trans- and other jobs were very small. What Versatile Technology needs, they make in their own machine shop. This gives them outstanding quality control, while keeping production costs to a minimum. siliconchip.com.au January 2016  77 Versatile call them “The Big Four.” They provide full automatic, high accuracy dimensional and destructive testing for beverage can plants. A bit of luck! Then, luck came Versatile’s way. A shareholder had a mate who worked for a beverage can maker, who complained about an American gauge that measured the buckle strength on the bottom of the can. It constantly broke and getting spare parts and service was very difficult. Versatile took on the job and one of their original employees, Peter Trebble, invented a new sealing system to test the buckle. They incorporated his idea into the new gauge – and the customer loved it and rewarded them with extra orders. Gerard, along with his wife Annie, took the gauge to the Metpack trade show in Essen, Germany. Within an hour of opening, a German company said they would order eight gauges. Over the next few years “Versatile” gradually became less and less “versatile” – despite retaining the name – and more and more focussed on the can industry. By 1995 exports exceeded local production and has increased ever since. In fact, last year they exported over 99% of production to the USA, Europe, Japan, China, South America, Middle East and Asia. Last year they manufactured more automatic gauges for canmakers than any other supplier worldwide and their “other” gauge market is constantly growing. Infectious enthusiasm The first thing I noted about Versatile was the incredible infectious enthusiasm (some might say eccentricity?) of Gerard Dean. It’s an enthusiasm passed on to all staff, who were almost passionately demonstrating what their particular gauges would do. I confess that some of it I didn’t quite understand – but that didn’t stop the “Versatilers” trying to explain it all to me. The second thing I noted was the age of the staff. Gerard tends to hire specialist staff straight out of University “before they’ve had a chance to be corrupted by the way others work” and most of the staff appear to be very young – but at the same time very professional. The company doesn’t have a high turnover so there are several who have “grown up” with the Versatile way. Most of the hires are to expand the operation, not to replace someone. It’s a somewhat “quirky” company, witnessed as you walk in the front door by the company mission statement... “Total War”, it reads! Another piece of evidence: all of the equipment the company makes is given a name – almost universally that of a WWII German ‘plane, tank or other battle equipment. Why? “Why not?” asks Gerard! “I told you we were different!” International reputation The FE056 Front End Gauge scans and graphs an aluminium beverage can wall. Measuring a floppy 90 micron thick can wall made to a manufacturing tolerance of ±5 microns pushes measurement gauges to the limit. The gauge resolves to 0.1 micron and must have no more than 0.5 micron error over 100 readings. 78  Silicon Chip Over the years, Versatile has developed considerable – and highly specialised – expertise in the testing and gauging of metal packaging, to the point where in 2014 the “little Aussie company” achieved the unthinkable – they became the world’s leader in the industry, exporting equipment to names that probably mean little to most people, but if you’re in the beverage industry, will be very familiar. A point of clarification: very few (if any) beverage packagers manufacture their own containers (or “closures”). Instead, they rely on international companies such as Ball, Rexam, Crown, Ardagh, UCC Japan, KJM, Helvetia, Silgan and many more around the globe. And the chance are that those comsiliconchip.com.au In house, from conception to finish While the majority of their equipment is intended for cans (aluminium and steel) they also have the gear to test other closures, such as PET soft drink bottles. panies have one, or ten, or many more Australian testing and gauging machines from Versatile. They’ve recently signed huge contracts for “greenfield” manufacturing sites being built for local packaging manufacturers in many countries, from the heat of the middle east to the freeze of northern America. In fact, one of our photos shows several completed and tested gauges being prepared for delivery to a can manufacturer in Minnesota, USA, in the next six weeks – and one of Versatile’s engineers will be on hand for installation and commissioning. Let me tell you, even for staff used to Melbourne’s four-seasons-in-one-day, northern Minnesota in January is not a fun place to be! The next gauge to be installed is just as likely to be in the heat of the middle east, or deepest, darkest Africa, or . . . eye as an empty can was loaded into the machine for testing. Long story short, the location was one of the driest on the planet, with consistently 10-20% maximum humidity. As the cans were moving along the line, they were picking up a static charge and it was this, arcing to the mechanism, which caused the problem. A simple earthing strap solved the problem and it has performed perfectly ever since! Another engineer was installing a machine in a can factory in Lagos, Nigeria, when the car he was driving, even with an armed bodyguard, was hijacked by locals with their “tools of trade”, AK47s. Did it phase him? Not on your life: he simply obtained new transport and continued on with the job. Much of the gauging and testing equipment is developed to specific customers’ requirements. Their SGU, or Special Gauges Unit, will build a tailored automatic unit to the customer’s brief (or better than it!) and guarantee the outcome, in a no-surprises, all inclusive package. Again a team of dedicated engineers handle all aspects, from initial discussions and job briefing, through confidentiality agreements, quotations, design, building, testing, etc – right through to installation, commissioning and even operator training. “Given the enormous amount of design and effort required, we don’t make any money on the first unit,” said Gerard. “But we’re so confident they will find our gauges so much better than anything else they’ve used, they’ll come back with additional orders. It happens time and time again, even in such a limited market as we serve.” Indeed, one European can manufacturer has come back and ordered five new gauges. They have a sixth one, of local manufacture (because they had to due to political pressure!) but it generally sits unused while the Versatile equipment provides them with so much more data – and with guaranteed accuracy – that they don’t need it! Some examples of special projects include destructive gauges for crush, buckle and distortion applications, automatic “pop and tear” or buckle gauges testing container integrity, on-gauge camera capability with extremely high precision measurement incorporated, and much more. Faultless here, but not there! One of the other engineers told me about a machine they’d installed in the USA after design, building and (absolutely flawless) testing in Melbourne. The only problem was it wasn’t exactly flawless, in fact exactly the opposite. Every time it was started up the computer crashed! After much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth, the engineer in charge was working on the problem late at night, long after the factory had shut down and most of the lights were off. It was in this environment that he noticed a spark out of the corner of his siliconchip.com.au The Tester Testing – the author reviews final trials on equipment destined for a European customer. January 2016  79 But they also develop generic equipment to suit a worldwide market. Their dedicated team of mechanical, electrical and electronic engineers start with the concept, producing almost everything in house (or minimal subcontracting where required). They design the process required, then design the equipment and the electronics required to achieve it. From original printed circuit boards and computer code, to the mechanical assemblies, pneumatics and measurement equipment then through to the large housings and finally, the data analysis and reporting systems, it all comes out of the factory in South Oakleigh. Speaking of the factory, they must be doing something right, as Gerard Dean has recently purchased the adjoining factory, doubling their floor space and enabling significantly more design and production output. Huge R&D Most organisations think they are doing pretty well if they invest 5% of turnover in research and development. 10% is almost unheard of. Versatile invest 20% – over a million dollars a year – to keep well ahead of the game; showing some of the biggest names in the field the way things should be done. An example is their unique customdesigned V2 embedded processor, which, in conjunction with similarly custom-designed hardware, tightly integrates measurement, control, the FORECASTS THE END OF LOOSE TABS In another world first for Versatile Technology, we introduce Tab Tracer. Now a standard feature for our Automatic Pop & Tear and Automatic Openability Gauges. INTERNATIONALLY PATENTED TAB ALIGNMENT STATION. TAB TRACER MEASURES RIVET TIGHTNESS ON EVERY TAB STRENGTH TEST AUTOMATICALLY. WORKS ON ANY END. WORKS ON ANY SIZE. Measurements of force versus angle are calculated and displayed graphically - live as they happen. user interface and data analysis/output on every piece of equipment. They proudly state that their equipment is not based on any existing computer platform – Windows, PC or otherwise (not even the games controller they’ve found in some opposition equipment!). In aluminium beverage cans Versatile’s scanning automatics are the acknowledged market leader. In DWI (Drawn Wall and Ironed) beaded steel cans, Versatile automatics dominate the market. Guaranteed performance Most test equipment is manually operated, requiring a complete stop and component change for differentsized enclosures, Versatile’s is not only fully automatic but can make changes “on the fly”. Some of the equipment is stand-alone but they have the capability of integrating into an existing production line for continual sampling and checking. Versatile will not ship a unit until it is completely calibrated, traceable to NATA/NIST standards. They told me that theirs is far ahead of most “somewhat” competitive equipment. “Most equipment is calibrated to five microns (about the thickness of a human hair),” he said. “Ours is calibrated to one micron and our design objective is 0.5 microns.” All equipment is also Gauge Safety Tested and shipped with its own safety test record and in these days of OH&S making increasingly difficult requirements, its own Risk Assessment. Word of mouth is the best advertising To find out more and see the Tab Tracer in action, go to www.versatiletechnology.com.au The Automatic Tab Tracer - Only available from Versatile Technology. THE AUTOMATIC DECISION IN ADVANCED TESTING AND MEASURING SYSTEMS FOR THE PACKAGING INDUSTRY GH OU T DE MA 35 Cleeland Rd Oakleigh Sth Vic 3167 Aus Tel +61 3 9548 8983 Fax +61 3 9548 8958 contact <at>versatiletechnology.com.au w w w. v e r s a t i l e t e c h n o l o g y. c o m . a u IN LIA RA ST AU It mightn’t mean much to you or I but if you’re a can manufacturer, this poster could be a godsend! It’s just one of the many Versatile Technology gauges. 19441_VT_Cannex_A4_posters.indd 1 80  Silicon Chip 26/05/15 12:51 PM Versatile Technology does very little advertising. Their marketing effort is aimed more towards trade shows and, being almost universally held overseas, that’s where they place some of their innovative equipment. They earned the ire of a recent European show organiser (and other exhibitors) when they rather cheekily hung a very large banner near the entrance to the show inviting people to their booth. They got away with it by telling the organisers “that’s the way we do things in Australia!” Gerard Dean told me “we are different to other companies. We’re the young upstarts from Down Under and we don’t play by the same rules as our siliconchip.com.au opposition. We’re better!” “For many companies, gauging and measurement equipment is just a small part of their product line and operation and they don’t give it the support that is necessary. It is Versatile’s only business and we go out of our way to not only design perfection into our products but support them to the hilt.” “When we get the opportunity to demonstrate what our gear will do versus what they either have been used to or have had demonstrated by others, their jaws hit the ground. Most opposition equipment is designed to give either the barest statistics that management want or the parameters that production want. Ours gives both, with reports that boards can understand, analyses of what is being produced and how they can ensure the absolute maximum in production levels at the highest possible standards.” “We’re not being boastful, but ours is the best in the world bar none. OK, we are being just a little bit boastful!” Copies and (imperfect) clones One of the difficulties Versatile Technology faces on a regular basis is other organisations (and almost universally out of Asia) trying to produce a competitive machine by the tried-andtrue method of copying everything in the Versatile machine. Invariably, this has failed – partly because of the steps that Versatile go to protecting their code, hardware and so on (even though patented in mostcases, that doesn’t stop rip-offs) but mainly because of the company’s reputation on the world stage. They’ve even gone to the extent of putting in some “blind leads” from time to time (extremely important bits that do . . . nothing!) and when they see one of the copies at a trade show, sure enough, the blind lead is built right in – still doing nothing! Potential customers are quick to see the imperfections in opposition equipment (and if not, Versatile Technology have no qualms in pointing it out!). The end result is that customers come back to Versatile, even if it is more expensive. “If you want perfection, you need to spend a little more,” they say. SC Do you know of a successful, innovative Australian (or NZ) electronics company whose story deserves to be told? Let us know! email editor<at>siliconchip.com.au siliconchip.com.au About that tank! Gerard Dean’s “Der Tiger”, a one-fifth scale, fully operational WWII Tiger Tank “took ten minutes to dream up and ten years to design, build and get running.” That includes laser-cutting a steel chassis that needed a fork-lift to unload from the truck (just the chassis!) and realising that aluminium would be much lighter . . . to finding (after the event) that aluminium for laser cutting was not really suitable for welding . . . to designing and crafting every component in the Tiger’s motor, running gear, control systems and even the operating cannon – then putting it all together. That is when a lot of the fun started, getting all the “bits” to work with each other. Even the custom-built 16-channel radio control system recreates the Tiger’s 10WSc radio and driver’s controls. But in the end, the masterpiece faithfully reproduced (as much as possible) the original, much-feared Wehrmacht war machine. In 2013, it took out the Gold Medal in the Internal Combustion Engine category at the Model Engineering exhibition, England. motor built “from the ground up” by Dean; he’s constructed many over the years and even had a flathead V8 before it was pointed out that the Tiger had a V12 – so Dean then set about designing and building the V12. The motor (and its add-ons) has not been without its problems, most particularly when Der Tiger was sent to England and several key components failed. But each time, Dean has re-designed, re-made and re-installed to keep Der Tiger moving. The book Gerard Dean kept a detailed record of the trials and tribulations building Der Tiger, with a 124-page book simply called “Der Tiger” the end result. It’s comprehensively illustrated with diagrams, 3-D generated illustrations, block diagrams and so on. We’re not saying that anyone could pick up a copy of “Der Tiger” and build a 1/5 scale Tiger Tank . . . but at least you’ll know what you’re up against! The book is available from Ploughbooksales.com.au; Price is $28.00 + $6.60 p&p Hand-made motor(s) It’s powered by a homedesigned and built 150cc V12 petrol engine (the original Tiger had a slightly larger 21 litre Maybach diesel engine), an eight-speed gearbox (same as the original) and the finished tank weighs in at 250kg – hefty enough in its own right (imagine what it would have been in steel!) compared to the original’s 58 tonnes. The hand-made 150cc, V12 engine which powers The V12 is not the first Der Tiger. January 2016  81