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Research & Development plays a major role in the business of AWTA Ltd. The R & D Division is based in Sydney and is the largest privately operated group of its kind in the wool industry. Its work falls into four main areas:
- development and enhancement of Test Methods and Regulations;
- participation in industry trials designed to evaluate the role of Raw Wool measurements in the prediction of processing performance;
- developing a fundamental understanding of the physics of specific measurement systems where required, in order to better enable the Company to improve existing Test Methods and to develop new Test Methods; and
- development, design and construction of testing equipment for in-house use and for sale. Most testing equipment at AWTA Ltd has been built and/or designed by AWTA Ltd staff.
Research is often conducted in conjunction with other research organisations such as CSIRO, commercial processors, industry bodies and non-competing laboratories such as New Zealand Wool Testing Authority Ltd (NZWTA Ltd) and the Wool Testing Bureau South Africa (WTB SA).
AWTA Ltd played a major role in the Australian Objective Measurement Project (AOMP), which led to the introduction of Sale By Sample and Presale Testing in 1972, the Trials Evaluating Additional Measurement (TEAM) and the Australian Staple Measurement Adoption Programme (ASMAP).
Results of our research are normally reported at the twice-yearly International Wool Textile Organisation (IWTO) meetings and in appropriate journals.
The Development or Engineering Group is responsible for manufacturing equipment for use by the company’s own laboratories as well as for sale to others. Although the group does manufacture the full range of AWTA Ltd’s equipment, its principal activity over recent years has been the manufacturing and sale of the LASERSCAN instrument.
Testing equipment built by AWTA Ltd has been exported to Argentina, Belgium, China, New Zealand and South Africa. |