With the world in the midst of a fourth industrial revolution, local manufacturers must adapt to a rapid pace of technological change, an increasingly international global value chain, and the changing nature of manufactured product and service opportunities.

Co-located with Austech at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre from 9-12 May, National Manufacturing Week will feature a series of sessions looking at the future of advanced manufacturing in Australia and around the world. Held at the Industry 4.0 Theatre within the main exhibition space, sessions will include:

Australian Advanced Manufacturing Council SME Showcase

10 May, 11.30-1.00pm

Hosted by the Australian Advanced Manufacturing Council and moderated by Northrop Grumman’s Ian Irving, this fast-paced showcase session will profile a range of Australia’s best performing small to medium manufacturing enterprises. Presentations will highlight some of the characteristics and strategies that are helping these growing leaders to excel in an increasingly challenging local and global manufacturing marketplace. Secrets to building scale, finding cutting edge niches, accessing global supply chains, R&D partnerships and more will be explored as experts from Anatomics Pty Ltd, TomCar Australia, Textor Technologies, the Anca Group and Quickstep Technologies share their experiences and stories.

Keynote address: Advanced Manufacturing – A road map for unlocking future growth opportunities for Australia

9 May, 12.00-12.35pm

CSIRO Futures and CSIRO Manufacturing have collaborated to develop a comprehensive road map for the future development of Australia’s manufacturing sector over the next 20 years. Led by CSIRO Manufacturing Director Keith McLean, this session will explore the CSIRO’s road map for transforming Australia’s manufacturing industries into a highly integrated, collaborative and export-focussed ecosystem that provides high-value customised solutions within global value chains.

Why are small and medium sized businesses investing – or not – in advanced manufacturing technologies?

12 May, 10.00-11.30am

When is the right time for small to medium businesses (SMEs) to invest? As part of National Manufacturing Week (9 – 12 May 2017), a panel of manufacturing CEOs and consultants from the Australian Manufacturing Forum, Transitions Group, MTM, ANCA and Redarc will discuss investment trends for SMEs. This roundtable discussion will explore the uptake of advanced manufacturing technologies by Australian SMEs, including the factors driving investment as well as when and why companies hold back.

National Manufacturing Week is co-located with Austech, the ISSA Cleaning & Hygiene Expo and the Safety First Conference & Expo, a dedicated exhibition and conference showcasing the latest technologies, products and services to improve safety standards and compliance and reduce safety expenditure. More than 230 exhibitors will also be presenting, grouped into eleven Specialist Zones, which are Advanced Materials, Air Technology, Automation and Robotics, Digital Manufacturing, Electrical, Engineering, Process Control and Instrumentation, Research and Development, Safety, Supply Chain Logistics and Welding Technology. For more information about the National Manufacturing Conference and Exhibition, please visit: www.nationalmanufacturingweek.com.au