Australia’s First I-Manufacturing Hub Set To Increase Global Competitiveness Of Manufacturers

META, a collaborative network of high potential manufacturing businesses and researchers, has teamed up with CSIRO to launch Australia’s first internet-enabled manufacturing hub (i-Manufacturing) set to connect manufacturers to their customers and suppliers more seamlessly and to provide them with a significant boost to their efficiency.

The i-Manufacturing concept integrates information communication technology (ICT) into the manufacturing process through innovative tools that allow manufacturers to link upstream and downstream data for supply chain efficiency and new business opportunities.

“The i-Manufacturing hub will assist manufacturers to increase their efficiency and capitalise on the pace and speed of international markets. The introduction of the hub will assist in closing the gaps within the value-chain – allowing them to produce and distribute high quality products that can compete with the rest of the world” said Zoran Angelkovski, Managing Director of META.

“The unique part of this hub is the close collaboration we have generated between manufacturing companies and CSIRO who have been researching the digital productivity for several years and can pinpoint exactly the pain-points and gaps that exist in the manufacturing process” adds Mr Angelkovski.

CSIRO has spearheaded the digital revolution in many industries throughout the world and is working directly with manufacturers through the META network to accelerate the ICT revolution within Australian manufacturing.

“Our research harnesses the potential of the internet and other digitally enabled technologies to provide manufacturers with a competitive advantage over their competitors – up until now this gap has been a significant barrier for Australian companies to increase their market footprint,” said Dr Nico Adams, Senior Research Scientist at CSIRO.

“META and CSIRO have identified ICT as a major opportunity for increasing the global competitiveness and building a stronger more technically-savvy industry” added Dr Adams.

Sutton Tools, a custom tooling, cutting tool manufacturer and surface coating supplier is one of the first Australian SMEs to participate in the i-Manufacturing hub and is eager to gain benefits for their value- chain efficiency.

“As a premium commercial and custom supplier of drilling and cutting tools, we see i-Manufacturing as a critical enabler for our business to succeed,” said Peter Sutton, owner of Sutton Tools.

“The i-Manufacturing tool is a major accelerator for reaching our customers faster. Our team of sales representatives around the world can access manufacturing data instantaneously which means the customer gets a very high value-add product – engineered specifically for them,” added Mr Sutton.

Together with a number of innovative SMEs involved in the i-Manufacturing hub, META and CSIRO aim to open up new business opportunities and to increase productivity for Australian manufacturing.

To join or find out more about the i-Manufacturing hub visit the META website:
http://meta.org.au/hub/i-manufacturing/

To learn more about i-Manufacturing, CSIRO have released a white paper that provides further background on the topic:
http://www.csiro.au/Organisation- Structure/Flagships/Manufacturing/iManufacturingDiscussionPaper.aspx

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About META

META is a collaborative network of engaged manufacturers and researchers working together to advance manufacturing. META members will accelerate growth and increase the efficiency and competitiveness of Australia’s manufacturing industry globally.

META has built a nation-wide network of committed manufacturing businesses and world-class researchers to transform Australia’s manufacturing sector into a globally integrated and competitive industry. META connects these companies with the expertise, knowledge and ideas to assist them to grow and be more globally competitive. META is proudly supported by the Australian Government.