CSIRO and Swinburne advance manufacturing sector with Industry 4.0 Testlab

CSIRO and Swinburne University of Technology have announced the showcasing of a world-first fully automated industrial-scale production facility using a 3D-printing approach to composite component creation.

The Swinburne-CSIRO National Industry 4.0 Testlab includes a world-first process for the additive manufacturing of carbon fibre composite materials. The showcase was attended by Member for Chisholm Dr Carina Garland MP, one year on from the federal government announcing their Rebuilding Australian manufacturing agenda to revitalise Australia’s industrial capability and manufacturing.

Swinburne Chief Scientist Professor Virginia Kilborn said the university is proud to be one of Australia’s leading partners in the research and development of advanced manufacturing.

“Swinburne continues to deliver groundbreaking digital techniques to push Australia to the forefront of manufacturing carbon fibre composite components,” she said. “Our tech-led approach promotes widespread adoption of Industry 4.0 standards and digital twins, to help secure Australia’s manufacturing future.”

Based at CSIRO’s Clayton facility, the Swinburne-CSIRO National Industry 4.0 Testlab supports innovative research and development for Swinburne’s Aerostructures Innovation Research (AIR) Hub, Victorian Hydrogen Hub, ARC Research Hub for Future Digital Manufacturing, and collaborations with CSIRO’s Data61 arm.

Industry 4.0 Testlab Research Director Professor Boris Eisenbart is thrilled to share the incredible work of Swinburne and CSIRO through the National Industry 4.0 Testlab.

“Testlab is already supporting groundbreaking projects in areas like aerospace, automotive, 3D printing and digital twinning. This is only the start for this world-leading facility, and I am excited for what we can do next to continue to build our partnership with CSIRO and our industry network.”

The Global Innovation Linkages program project is another key initiative of the facility. Developing a highly automated, flexible approach to the manufacturing process, the project integrates world-first 3D fibre printing technology with a unique composite curing process and digitisation technologies. This will achieve a leap forward in increasing the production rates and quality of composite part manufacture, while significantly lowering the cost of production.

CSIRO’s Chief Scientist Professor Bronwyn Fox is an integral part of the Swinburne and CSIRO community. Since holding previous positions as Swinburne’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research and Enterprise and Director of Swinburne’s Factory of the Future, she is now also supervising PhD students undertaking projects with the Testlab.

“Australia’s future depends on having a world-class advanced manufacturing capability, and Testlab has been purpose-built on the cutting edge of what we need to succeed in the era of Industry 4.0,” she said. “It is a facility that gives us the ability to generate, translate and accelerate research, training and technology into opportunities and competitive advantage for Australia.

“Testlab’s real power is collaboration — it brings together the people, the capabilities and the intention to deliver benefits for the nation through generous collaboration between Swinburne, CSIRO and other key players in Australia’s research and innovation system.”