Manufacturer of the Year: Finalist

In 2010 we were also finalists for Casey Manufacturer of the Year and we achieved that again in 2011 at the Casey Business Awards.

Casey Manufacturer Of The Year Finalist 2011

Our congratulations go to Rex Vandenberg and the team at Injectronics for their win as Casey Manufacturer of the Year 2011. Very much deserved and a classic example of an Innovative Australian Electronics Manufacturer.

For those who know us well, we are not primarily an Electronics Manufacturer but provide the Electronics Design and Embedded Software Development for new or improved products for Australian Electronics Manufacturers. Another way of saying this is that we are R&D, Research and Development, for hire. And we sometimes also handle production logistics where that suits our clients since we have all the contacts and know all the processes. So I was very pleased to be recognised for how good our Electronics Manufacturing capability really is. Manufacturing is the largest economic sector in Casey and we were recognised as being in the top 3 manufacturers at the Casey Business Awards in 2011. This is also a good reason why the clients we serve end up with outstanding Electronics Designs that are well suited to Low Cost Electronics Manufacture; we understand Electronics Manufacturing.

Now if only they had a category for Electronics Design …

Casey Business of the Year 2011

MadCap Cafe

Congratulations to MadCap Cafe for their win as Casey Business of the Year for 2011. As winners of Casey Business of the Year 2010 we know what a boost this can be to a business and I particularly liked their focus on making coffee to provide employment and opportunities to those suffering from mental illness.

Electronics Design

From the team at Successful Endeavours, recently recognised nationally for our Electronics Design capability with a win for Electroncis News Future Award: Industrial Electronics, we would like to thank our suppliers, clients and supporters for being part of the journey of supporting Australian Electronics Manufacturers in 2011. And the year isn’t over yet!

Electronics Design Team at Successful Endeavours

Successful Endeavours specialise in Electronics Design and Embedded Software Development. Ray Keefe has developed market leading electronics products in Australia for nearly 30 years.  This post is Copyright © 2011  Successful Endeavours Pty Ltd

Casey Business Awards

Casey Business Awards 2011

Shar Balmes Mayor of Casey

Paul Higgins aka Futurist Paul

Manufacturer Of The Year

• source all the components including electronics components, case, labels, batteries and machined and LASER cut items
• get the PCBs loaded (we can handle small quantities in house but once you get over 30 PCB sets it becomes cheaper to use a dedicated SMT line)
• program, test and calibrate the loaded PCBs
• fit labels to the front chassis and then fit all the connectors, indicators and switches
• fit the battery to the case
• assembly the unit including the seals (this is an IP65 rated product)
• apply serial numbers
• final assembly and test then pack in shipping cartons with labels and matching serial numbers
• ship to client who then sells them direct to their customers

ABB CQ900R Smart Controller

Industrial Electronics

Industrial Electronics Future Award 2011

Electronics News Future Awards Industrial Electronics

The Electronics News Future Awards are the premier Electronics Design awards in Australia, a point that was made at the awards ceremony by one of the sponsors, Kontron. Kevin Gomez, Editor of Electronics News, speaking about the winners in each category said “These 6 projects represent some of the most outstanding work being done in Australia today”.

Future Awards Industrial Electronics Trophy

As well as handing out trophies, there were 3 keynote speakers and a roundtable discussion on the future of Australian Electronics Manufacturing. Electronics News are covering the outcome of the discussion in detail in their October magazine. We look forward to their coverage of this very important topic.

Electronics News have recently released profiles of each of the winning entries at Future Awards 2011: The Winners and Senator the Hon Kim Carr, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research; declared that the companies profiled by Electronics News showed that Australia can Win The Innovation Race.

We also appreciate the support from VECCI and ManufactureLink with their coverage of this success as well as the Star News Group.  The articles are at:

• Industrial Electronics Award VECCI
• National Industrial Electronics Award Manufacture Link
• Industrial Electronics Award Berwick Gazette
• They’re Bright Sparks Pakenham Gazette

Ray Keefe has been developing high quality and market leading electronics products in Australia for nearly 30 years.  For more information go to his LinkedIn profile at Ray Keefe. This post is Copyright © 2011  Successful Endeavours Pty Ltd

How Green is my iPhone?

Have you ever wondered just how green an iPhone really is?

Well today’s blog post was sent to me by Dr Marc Dussault, The Exponential Growth Strategist. It’s an Infographic taken from DailyInfographic.com. At Successful Endeavours, we’re always interested in recycling and sustainable technologies and solutions. You will have seen some of that is past posts on how to be greener with the Electronics Design including Electronics Design for Green Manufacture? , Green Electronics Strategies – Reduce Power While Awake and Green Electronics Strategies – Sleep Saves Energy .

For this post we will use the infographic to specifically look at how GREEN the iPhone 4 is versus the iPhone 3G from the perspective of the production, use and disposal of the phone.  Some key figures I noted or calculated are:

• Production Emissions are 57% of all emissions in the iPhone 4 product lifecycle
• 58.9% of the weight of the iPhone 4 is in materials that are easily recycled
• Packaging Reductions save 14% in transport fuel

The Packaging Reductions are an excellent example of simple things we can all do to save on emissions. And Apple offer a full recycling service that is aimed at being environmentally friendly which is also a great thing to put in place.

Electronics Manufacturing Energy

The area that stands out for me is the energy that is consumed in production of the iPhone 4. This is not an iPhone 4 specific problem but a general problem for Electronics Manufacture. If we want to talk about Green Electronics, then this has to include not just the product we use and the Electronics Waste and Recycling / WEEE, but we also have to get to the point where the Production Emissions, the energy to produce a product, is way less than the energy to use the product. This is a huge issue for Battery Operated Products, such as the emerging Electric Vehicle market, where the Production Emissions for just the battery can be close to half of all the Production Emissions.

Enjoy the infographic from the dailyinfographic Keeping it Green.

How Green is the iPhone 4

Ray Keefe has been developing high quality and market leading electronics products in Australia for nearly 30 years.  For more information go to his LinkedIn profile at Ray Keefe. This post is Copyright © 2011  Successful Endeavours Pty Ltd

Casey Business Awards

In 2010 the City Of Casey had their inaugural Casey Business Awards. They awarded us Casey Business of the Year and also gave us the award for Business and Professional Services which we shared with A Better Dental Care. As part of the awards ceremony they had 10 second videos prepared for each finalist and a 15 second video prepared for each category winner.  So we have 3 videos to show covering our awards as finalist for Casey Manufacturer Of The Year, as finalist and winners of the Casey Business and Professional Services Award and our award as Casey Business Of The Year for 2010.

Although we went to some length to describe what we do, which is Electronics Design and Embedded Software Development for Australian Electronics Manufacturers who still make their products in Australia, some of the voiceover comments didn’t quite come out right. It makes it all the more obvious how clear and consistent you have to be in explaining what you do.

So if you need an Electronics Product then we can do way more than is articulated in these videos but you do get a chance to see us in action.

This first video covers our finalist selection for Casey Manufacturer Of The Year 2010.

This second video includes both the finalist and winner videos for the Casey Business and Professional Services Award 2010.

This third video was prepared to cover our win as Casey Business Of The Year for 2010.

We have found the City Of Casey to be a very supportive environment for local businesses and are pleased to be working with them now as a member of the Casey Economic Development Partnership.

Ray Keefe has been developing high quality and market leading electronics products in Australia for nearly 30 years.  For more information go to his LinkedIn profile at Ray Keefe. This post is Copyright © 2011  Successful Endeavours Pty Ltd.

Electronics Design

Electronics Design is a very challenging area where reducing Time to Market, increasing Engineering Effort, constantly improving technology, tooling lead time and Agile Software Development methodologies all lead to rapidly changing requirements while the project delivery time frame remains immutable. Fortunately Electronics Engineers are up for a challenge.

At Successful Endeavours we use Altium Designer for our Printed Circuit Board Schematic Capture and PCB Layout.  So I was amused to see this video clip of some of the typical things that you have to overcome when doing an Electronics Design project.  Enjoy.

Ray Keefe has been developing high quality and market leading electronics products in Australia for nearly 30 years.  For more information go to his LinkedIn profile. This post is Copyright © 2010  Successful Endeavours Pty Ltd.

Today I was at Casey Radio, a community radio station catering to the south eastern suburban area of Melbourne, being interviewed for the Casey Business Hour which runs live to air on Fridays from 2pm to 3pm on 3SER 97.7FM. It was the first time I had been to the station so it was an interesting experience. With me were David Wilkinson and Tom Zsolt from the City of Casey Economic Development Department and Michelle Anderson from VECCI with radio announcer, Jamie.

Here are some pictures from the show:

The guest panel: Ray Keefe, Michelle Anderson and Tom Zsolt

David Wilkinson, head of City of Casey Economic Development Department

Radio announcer extraordinaire, Jamie

Ray Keefe at the microphone

The podcast is an interview which covered the history of Successful Endeavours, our move from a home based business to commercial premises, what we have done to grow our Electronics Design and Embedded Software Development business, how winning Casey Business of the Year has changed us and opportunities for Australian Electronics Manufacturers in the current economic climate.

Click on the image on the left to download or listen to the Casey Radio Interview with Ray Keefe

Michelle Anderson from VECCI (Victorian Employers Chamber of Commerce and Industry) was also interviewed and explained VECCI’s history as well as the benefits and services they offer to members and some of the programs they have initiated. Their tag line is “Invigorating Business” and I like what I heard. If you are a business in Victoria then you should check them out.

Ray Keefe has been developing high quality and market leading electronics products in Australia for nearly 30 years.  For more information go to his LinkedIn profile. This post is Copyright © Successful Endeavours Pty Ltd.

AMTIL, Australian Manufacturing Technology Institute Limited, have included an article on Successful Endeavours win as Casey Business Of The Year in the October edition of their Australian Manufacturing Technology Magazine distributed to manufacturing businesses throughout Australia.

AMTIL Australian Manufacturing Technology Magazine October 2010 page 16

Successful Endeavours is proud to be a member of AMTIL and encourages other manufacturing sector businesses in Australia to consider membership as well.  We support Australian Electronics Manufacturers through our technology service offerings of Electronics Design and Embedded Software Development coupled with Contract Electronics Manufacturing Services for those clients who want to outsource some of that process but still Made In Australia.

Ray Keefe has been developing high quality and market leading electronics and embedded software products in Australia for nearly 30 years.  For more information go to his LinkedIn profile. This post is Copyright © Successful Endeavours Pty Ltd.

Casey Business Of The Year 2010

Manufacture Link has recognised Successful Endeavours win as Casey Business Of The Year 2010 in their website news article Successful Endeavours wins 2010 Casey Business of the Year .

Manufacture Link is an initiative aimed at increasing the opportunity for local manufacture by allowing members to create company profiles that reflect their capabilities and to also post requests for quotation so that other members can bid on work they might not have found out about any other way.

We are very committed to manufacture in Australia and in particular we provide Electronics Design and Embedded Software Development for Australian Electronics Manufacturers.

Ray Keefe has been developing high quality and market leading electronics products in Australia for nearly 30 years.  For more information go to his LinkedIn profile. This post is Copyright © Successful Endeavours Pty Ltd.

Casey Business Awards

We already let you know that we are finalists in 2 of the 9 categories for the City Of Casey inaugural Casey Business Awards in our post about being Casey Business Awards Finalists. The Casey Business Awards categories we are finalists in are:

• Manufacturer Of The Year
• Business and Professional Services

The news has been picked up by one of our local Newspapers, The Greater Dandenong Weekly, who ran the following article about us and the other finalists.  It is good to see so many strong contenders and our economy certainly needs strong businesses to continue to give both the employment and prosperity we have come to enjoy.

The Journal - Successful Endeavours

Our congratulations go out to the other finalists and we will find out who the winners are on Friday 27th August at the Casey Business Awards gala dinner.

It is good to see the Electronics Design, Embedded Software Development and Low Cost Electronics Manufacture featuring so strongly in the local Australian economy.  We especially note that Australian Solar Manufacturing is also a finalist in the Manufacturer of the Year category and we wish Jain and Janice Lal all the best with their nomination.

Ray Keefe has been developing high quality and market leading electronics products in Australia for nearly 30 years.  For more information go to his LinkedIn profile. This post is Copyright  Successful Endeavours Pty Ltd.