i-Manufacturing hub to increase global competitiveness

Australia’s first internet-enabled manufacturing hub designed to connect manufacturers to their customers and suppliers more efficiently has been launched.

The i-Manufacturing hub is a joint project by CSIRO and META, a collaborative network of manufacturing businesses and researchers.

The hub integrates information communication technology (ICT) into the manufacturing process, allowing 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.

“META and CSIRO have identified ICT as a major opportunity for increasing the global competitiveness and building a stronger more technically savvy industry,” said Dr Nico Adams, Senior Research Scientist at CSIRO.

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 its value-chain efficiency.

“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,” said Peter Sutton, owner of Sutton Tools.

CSIRO has also released a white paper on i-Manufacturing.