National Manufacturing Week (9-12 May, 2017) has today closed the doors on one of its largest conference and exhibition programs to date, with early reports recording more than 10,000 attendees for the event.
Exhibition Director Robby Clark said the team had already received positive feedback, which paired with the strong 2017 results, signalled an optimistic outlook for visiting industry, business owners and investors.
“We are thrilled with the 2017 results, which have certainly been one of the biggest years on record for National Manufacturing Week in Australia,” said Mr Clark.
“It is encouraging to hear many of our visitors, exhibitors and speakers view National Manufacturing Week as an event to mark in the calendar, with some already signed on for 2018 and beyond.”
More than 230 exhibiting companies showcased the latest technologies, developments and programs over
the four days, including Bosch Australia, BOC, Supagas, Central Innovation (Intercad), 3M, Lincoln Electric, ATOM, HIWIN, Impact Robotics, KOBOT, SIKA Australia, Universal Robots and WAGO.
Live demonstrations ran over the four days, including a smart washing system from CRC Industries Australia, a family of UR3, UR5 and UR10 robot arms from Universal Robots and a session from BOC Limited on the effects that shielding gases have on the welding arcs through the Kawasaki welding robot.
As part of his keynote presentation, Australian Advanced Manufacturing Council’s John Pollaers noted that “there has been a major shift in understanding about what is possible – that Australia can compete – in high value products and using innovative processes … and we can win.”
This sentiment was echoed by leading industry speakers, who included the Australian Manufacturing Growth Centre’s Dr Jens Goennemann, CSIRO Manufacturing’s Dr Keith Mclean, Tinyme’s Nick McLennan, Universal Robots’ Andrew Pether, Sustainable Manufacturing Futures’ John Lawrence and BOC’s Peter Kuebler.
As part of the DATTA Victoria pre-season robotics tournament, eleven student teams from four Victorian secondary schools competing in a competitive robotics competition on the NMW exhibition floor.
Recipients of the Victorian Government’s 2017 Victorian Manufacturing Hall of Fame and Manufacturers Monthly’s Endeavour Awards were both announced during the event, each celebrating excellence and outstanding achievements of Australia’s manufacturing movers and shakers.
Major partners included the Victorian Government, Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre, Australian Advanced Manufacturing Council, CSIRO, Innovative Manufacturing CRC, Supply Chain and Logistics Association of Australia, Welding Technology Institute of Australia and the Institute of Instrumentation Control and Automation.