Associate Professor Cori Stewart is the Chief Executive Officer of the ARM (Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing) Hub in Queensland. She spoke to William Poole.
AMT: Firstly, what is the ARM Hub and why was it established?
Cori Stewart: The ARM Hub is now a year and a half old, and it was established around a couple of drivers. Firstly, to see Australia drive the commercial value of robotics and come out big in the way robotics are applied to industry. One of our founding partners, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), is the nation’s leading robotics centre, and they got behind it. Along with its national partner network, QUT has been conducting amazing fundamental research in robotics. That technology is now coming down and being used on the factory floor – things like computer vision, AI, machine learning … all the things that make robots smart and integrate into wider manufacturing capability. So, ARM Hub came about to offer this agile translation capability, and also knowhow, for new technology.
The other part was as the country drives towards a manufacturing future – and this was happening before COVID – we had major manufacturing strategies in place across the country, knowing manufacturing will be the future of high-value jobs, regional development, of Australia keeping its living standards. When COVID hit, it really brought to bear exactly why it’s essential to have manufacturing, and also the challenges facing manufacturing. The ARM Hub opened the day the first COVID lockdown was announced, and our journey has been a COVID response journey. The ARM Hub was always there to drive advanced manufacturing capability in collaboration with industry, but COVID-19 escalated the urgency for this type of support.
For the ARM Hub, manufacturing companies, particularly SMEs, are our focus. They can come to us and we’ll work with them on the technology roadmap in their companies, we figure out what Industry 4.0 or Industry 5.0 capabilities they need, and then build the expert teams around those needs. We solve the adoption and implementation problems that are essential to future growth. We draw on researchers; we have partnerships with over 12 research institutions, and we draw down that capability. We also partner with smart tech companies, and we also have our own in-house mechatronics and data science team that move around on projects and augment what needs to be done. So in a nutshell, we have an agile teambuilding capability that fills the skills gap that industry has around Industry 4.0 and Industry 5.0.
AMT: Can you give examples of the projects you’re working on?
CS: We do two kinds of projects: We do projects that are about modernising manufacturing capability, moving companies that aren’t advanced manufacturers into advanced capability. And we work with deep-tech companies where our technology development and capability goes into industry and making that technology commercially available.
As a leading example of modernising manufacturing, we co-located with a company called UAP – in their niche production of high-end public art – they’re the biggest in the world. They were a manual foundry and steel production house; they brought in robotics and AR/VR (augmented reality/virtual reality); and we ran an $8m program to modernise them. That really catalysed a lot of our collaboration, because if a company steeped in tradition, that’s not a tech or science company can undergo dramatic digital transformation, almost any company can. We also work with companies like Sun Metals and other large resource companies that are innovating and modernising their manufacturing processes – these are established facilities that are modernising to maintain their competitive position.
The other kind of project, probably the more common case, is tech companies trying either to make something or to disrupt the manufacturing sector and provide new solutions. We find ourselves doing AI with these companies, building smarts into their products. An example is Verton Technologies Australia. They came to us with a new product for the heavy-lifting industry, eliminating the need for taglines. Their innovative system is now being used with cranes on large-scale wind turbine installation and maintenance in Europe. Being able to adjust, through applied physics and AI, how to get those blades on and off was a gamechanger. Verton’s product makes cranes themselves work like robots, and keeps humans safe on risky jobs.
They put a lot of data science into the system that tells them all sorts of things – project timing, workers’ capability, and even risk factors – so they actually become a data supplier to other industries. Sectors from the shipping industry to the construction industry can use the data. What the ARM Hub is finding is we’re working with companies who are making a new product that they’re going to sell, but they can also sell a data service, and become a platform company.
Verton is a great example because they were a start-up, then they got major joint ventures in Europe that set them off, and they’ve just moved out after being co-located with us for a year because they’ve expanded to have their own very large warehouse. And off they go. There’s a few companies like that – really small SMEs or start-ups that are going to scale up, and they use our technical capability to get to certain Technical Readiness Levels (TRLs), or for proof of concept, or to get their product to a certain standard so it can get the market interest it needs. We don’t do accelerator programs, but we definitely provide the capability to make sure they’re getting their product developed.
AMT: And what is the Maker Space?
CS: The Maker Space is a physical area here in the Hub filled with collaborative robotics, which means we can use our own engineers and researchers, and work with industry partners who want to come in and trial how something’s going to work with a robot. Find out if it requires a robotics solution or other tech. It’s essentially a safe space in which to experiment with robotics, AR/VR technology and IoT (Internet of Things) integration tools. People can come and work with our expertise to trial and solve problems. We find that’s really important for companies who have their own technical team but want to collaborate with our technical team, and need a space in which they can basically bring their minds together and try to solve challenges. It’s really a practical space.
AMT: Tell us about your professional background and your role here.
CS: I’ve got a background as an innovation policy expert. I worked in an urban and regional development context, then I was in and out of universities as a researcher in innovation policy, and in government. Before starting the ARM Hub, I was actually doing business development in the design school at QUT, because I have a history of using design for product improvement and high-value asset management through policy. And then I brought together the robotics and the design capability to roll out the ARM Hub.
We’ve got a small team here; there’s 10 of us that do the bulk of the day-to-day activity, and then about 35 researchers and key leaders that come in on projects. The everyday job for me is really building the ecosystem and making sure that all the policies and stakeholders are connected, and the ARM Hub is working well with all our peers. We have this complex networked environment, where we work in collaborations with universities, industry, CRCs and so on. So I’m always trying to make sure those relationships are exactly as they need to be.
AMT: What’s the most satisfying part of the job?
CS: What’s most exciting, because we’re out in a physical industrial facility co-located with companies inventing and innovating, is when they have great successes. When a company you’re working with has actually solved a technical challenge or brought a new product to market and they are thriving – they go from having an embryonic idea into a successful high-value product or service, taking their start-up or scale-up to the world. That’s why we’re here.
AMT: What would your advice be for manufacturing SMEs about how to engage with the ARM Hub and benefit from what it can offer?
CS: The ARM Hub is supported by many levels of government and industry, and we’re here to support SMEs. We are that trusted independent advisor that will give you information and work with you on projects, in a timeline and at a cost point matched to your business. We are totally independent, so we’re not selling anything. We also have independent experts that can work with you on your projects: aerospace engineers, mechatronics engineers, data scientists.
The whole point is to accelerate your ability to take your business forward. The ARM Hub has that expertise, but we also help with you with the direction: finding resources, leveraging money, connecting you to the wider ecosystem and supply chain opportunities. We’re here to make that network accessible to companies as well.
AMT: We often hear about the need for collaboration in Australian manufacturing. How important is it that manufacturers find ways to work with each other and with organisations such as yours?
CS: Yeah, it always seems like old news, but it’s the most important news: everyone says collaborate. The way I like to describe it is, the ARM Hub has been able to bring some of the best robotics and data science people in the world, to be available on your projects as advisors as required. If you collaborate, you can get access to those people – you can’t buy those people in each and every organisation. So there are resources out there to help you accelerate your innovation; it’s de-risked financially; there is huge backing from government to make sure companies get the success they’re looking for. So use it. That’s what we’re here for.
If you have a skills gap or a knowledge gap, or you need to innovate in your supply chain, come and talk to us, and we’ll meet your problem, or we’ll connect you to the wider ecosystem if needed. So collaboration is important. You cannot build diverse technical capabilities in every single business to be successful. To go faster, you have to collaborate.
AMT: We have a special feature on Queensland in this issue. What are some of the most exciting things going on in Queensland manufacturing right now?
CS: Queensland is interesting because it doesn’t have that traditional process manufacturing depth in its industry compared to other states. What we have is smart tech manufacturing built off resource industry capability. We have a prominent METS (mining equipment, technology and services) industry, which allows us to manufacture equipment that’s deeply smart and integrated into large production capability. Mackay, one of our most remote regional cities, is one of the highest patent areas in the country, because they’re continually innovating to drive capability for the resources industry. We have a very important industry built off our natural advantages, and it has this regional flavour because of the prominence of mining and resource production.
That’s important also with global supply chains around critical minerals now. Queensland is a big provider of critical minerals, and that global supply chain is getting smart. That emergent industry tends to be small companies at this stage, but Queensland’s featuring quite highly in that just because of our natural competitive advantage.
The other area that Queensland has always excelled in is robotics. And that’s doubled down in things like large-scale industrial manufacturing, where we’re supplying things to the mining sector, and also field robotics – whether that’s asset inspection, drones or autonomous vehicles that go underground, and similarly for defence. Our robotics capability is incredibly strong; we provide robotics across the country and we export to the world. What we’ve got is high-end research & develeopment (R&D) that’s putting the smarts onto our natural advantages.
AMT: More broadly, what are the key trends for manufacturing over the coming years?
CS: I think we’re going to experience supply chain innovation. There is already an intense global race to be part of the advanced manufacturing network of the future. Companies are positioning themselves, and we want to make sure Australia is taking advantage, so we are able to be part of the positive disruption of those supply chains for the benefit of Australian companies. We’re definitely seeing a race to be part of what is a reordering of supply chains across our industry sectors. I think that’s a great opportunity for us.
There’s a lot of companies looking to onshore or set up new establishments, including here in Queensland. We are seeing a lot more interest in Australia as being the home for manufacturing. We’re benefiting from that investment attraction trend, and that goes across all industries.
The other trend is that manufacturing really is the next big tech industry. It’s getting smarter, and it’s going to have AI really unleash its potential, and we’ve got to keep up with that. We’ve got to be at the front of it. Certainly in Queensland, because we’re not a traditional manufacturing base, we need to do the really smart things, that we can compete on globally. It’s about using AI to expose the potential of existing assets and capabilities. It really is the service where most manufacturing companies are looking for ARM Hub support, to understand how to use data, machine learning, computer vision, asset management. That’s a big trend.
AMT: And what are the big challenges and opportunities for Australian manufacturing?
CS: I think the big opportunity is to use the smarts Australia has. We are 13th in the world in our R&D, but we fall short on commercialisation. We’re 31st in the world, among other countries that you would probably assume don’t have as big an industry capability as we do. We create the IP, we drive the innovation, but we don’t commercialise our talents, our R&D or our IP anywhere near the rate of the success we have in terms of R&D and innovation capability. There’s a whole range of reasons for that; partly it’s that there’s been a hollowing out of our middle-tier companies. We’ve either got small companies or very large companies. We need to grow our SMEs into larger, stronger companies, and be able to commercialise and realise the value in our own industry.
Australia has a big skills challenge. We’re really bright, we’ve got a lot of talent in this country. What currently happens is our talent goes overseas. Australians working in manufacturing innovating overseas are doing incredibly well. We need to bring that talent home, we need to hold onto our talent, rather than people seeing it as ‘if you want to work in high-end manufacturing, the only thing to do is go elsewhere’. We need to figure out how to keep our talent, and of course we’re up against the race of STEM skills, and keeping up those skill sets for the future.
There’s been a lot of discussion about how Australia’s industrial transformation needs to go forward. We need to look at models like the UK Catapult Centres or the Manufacturing USA institutes, where there is a higher level of investment co-ordinated across the country to build deep capability. We’re trying to create that now; it’s part of our model going forward, to build this network. Across Queensland we have deep AI and robotics capability. Swinburne’s got digital production, digital factory capability. Tonsley is really driving materials and space. And UTS is doing a lot of the start-up, scale-up business innovation capability. We need this connected ecosystem of capability where we’re not trying to just recreate small-scale operations at a level which is debilitating for the country. We need consistent strong investment.
And when it comes to innovating in manufacturing, there’s no second-mover advantage. You can’t wait for someone else to do it and ride their coattails. You’ve got to build skillsets in your company; you’ve got to build and be integrated into supply chains; and you’ve got to be doing all of that now. So my message to businesses is: you’ve got to start now, start with a problem and look to solve it. Get a plan for growth, get a technology roadmap, and start that journey. Don’t delay. Because every delay you have, you’re deskilling your workforce, you’re moving further away from digital supply chains, you’re making the challenge more and more difficult for your company.
There’s never been a time like now for Australia to do something significant in manufacturing. And the risk if we don’t is that we won’t be able to drive high-value jobs, we won’t be able to replace a regional economy with high-value jobs. It’s very tangible in Queensland, and probably elsewhere as well, but if mining is on the downturn, which it is, who’s going to employ those people, those families in the regions, at a wage and at a skill level where they’re going to be able to thrive. The only strategy is advancing manufacturing.