Dr Catriona Nguyen-Robertson MRSV
Senior Editor, Science Victoria

How do we create a world-leading manufacturing sector in Victoria? Building on a long tradition in automotive, aerospace, defence, metal, food, chemical, and general manufacturing, Victoria is the epicentre of Australian manufacturing. Combined with a highly skilled workforce, infrastructure, education, and research, we have the potential to be a global hub for science infrastructure and research & development (R&D).

Fourth time around

Industry 4.0 – also called the Fourth Industrial Revolution – will help get us there.

There have been four industrial revolutions over the past four centuries. Mechanisation came first in the 18th century, led by steam power. Next was electricity and oil-based power, which supported mass production. A new era of computers and electronics then drove automation in the third revolution. Now, new technologies are emerging for “digitisation” of the sector, such as the rise of data and connectivity, human-machine interactions, and improvements in robots, that provide the capacity for smarter, self-correcting manufacturing processes.

“Industry 4.0 offers enormous opportunities for Australian manufacturers,” says Professor Bronwyn Fox, Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE). “We can re-shore manufacturing in a highly competitive way, especially by translating learnings from our world-leading mining sector into other manufacturing processes.” 

“We will be able to produce high value, low-cost components here in Australia.”¹

This wave of change in the manufacturing sector began in the mid-2010s and holds significant potential for operations and the future of production.

Building with carbon

When considering materials made of carbon, the arrangement and bonding between individual carbon atoms can lead to very different properties. The graphite form of carbon in pencil lead is quite different to carbon in diamonds, the hardest known material – which is different again to the carbon that you scrape off burnt toast.

You might be familiar with the term ‘carbon fibre’ in products like prosthetics, golf clubs, car parts, suitcases, and more. Carbon fibre composites have been around since the 1970s, and are becoming increasingly adopted by different industries.² They are materials made from spinning carbon fibres and a resin into long, tightly interlocked chains of carbon atoms (with a few non-carbon in the mix) that are then packed into the desired shapes.

Carbon fibre composites have so far been used in aerospace and automotive applications to produce strong, lightweight structures that reduce environmental emissions and improve fuel efficiency as the load is lighter. For example, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner is composed of 50% composite material, saving around 20% in fuel due to the reduced weight, and BMW is using carbon fibre composites to produce lightweight electric cars so that the battery can take the car further.^3,4

By splitting the layers of graphite into single layers of latticed carbon atoms, a new material, graphene, was discovered. Graphene could radically change the manufacturing and infrastructure industries, especially once it becomes price competitive. Current research is exploring its use in enabling 6G communications, solar cells, energy storage, and creating smart sensing materials (e.g., detecting leaks of hazardous materials in the environment).¹

But we are only at the beginning of its industrial applications. 

Building with carbon fibre in Victoria

Bronwyn knew that there was a demand for carbon fibre production here in Australia, but no mechanism with which to supply that demand. She therefore co-founded an Australian research facility focused on the manufacture of the raw materials that comprise carbon fibre composites: the Carbon Nexus facility at Deakin University.

This innovation hub created a “composites manufacturing ecosystem” that brings together multidisciplinary teams and industry-research partnerships, contributes to national manufacturing capability, supplies products and services globally, and provides around 1,400 jobs in the Geelong region, employing skilled workers who had been displaced by the closure of local manufacturers between 2014-16.⁵

A decade in, Carbon Nexus houses a 100-tonne pilot-scale production line and continues to investigate ways of further improving the manufacturing process.⁶ For example, a high-quality carbon fibre requires a high-quality precursor polymer building block, and researchers at Deakin are researching the chemistry of the carbon fibre composites. In addition, while traditionally made from crude oil, renewable carbon fibres are also coming onto the scene (e.g., bio-based acrylonitrile made from sugars – most commonly polyacrylonitrile or PAN).

In 2021, CSIRO and Swinburne University of Technology combined forces to establish the National Industry 4.0 Testlab, the world’s first industrial scale 3D printing approach to making carbon fibre composites.⁷ By building materials made of carbon fibre composites from the bottom up, layer by layer, only the required material was used to create the final produce (i.e., materials are not cut out or shaved off). It became possible to create smarter, lighter materials with increased strength and reduced manufacturing cost and waste generation. 

In addition, integrating sensors that collect data into the materials as they are being built means that we can create cars, and other products can tell us when they need repair. We could also integrate sensors into the design process to make it automated and self-correcting, and therefore more efficient. It won’t only be our phones and watches that are “smart” – many things could be.

Building with data

One of the megatrends shaping the future of the manufacturing sector is the Internet of Things (IoT). Put simply, the IoT encompasses a range of electronic devices and sensors that can communicate and exchange data with each other over a network, which may or may not be connected to the public internet.

The IoT allowed for the emergence of ‘digital twins’ that simulate manufacturing processes. This means that people can now use data from multiple sources to virtually test machines and accurately predict what maintenance needs to be done. In addition, test products can be commercialised in the digital space before people invest in physical resources.

There has also been a shift in mindset within the sector due to IoT. Data is becoming more decentralised, and more widely shared so that manufacturing processes can be replicated around the world. Furthermore, sustainability has become a large focus in supply chains. Larger companies have started selecting partners based on real-time data of which companies are working sustainably. Australia risks exclusion from supply chains if we cannot provide evidence of reducing carbon emissions.

We can learn from the successes of the mining sector’s use of digitisation and automation to implement in the manufacturing industry. For example, CSIRO developed artificial intelligence to help drones navigate mines and a technology that can generate a virtual mine to simulate its operation. Together, these technologies make the mining process more streamlined and sustainable.⁸

Building tomorrow’s workforce

The manufacturing sector is evolving, and we are producing world-class infrastructure here in Victoria, but do we have a workforce that can keep up with its evolution? With all the elements that we mine and use in products, the most important element of all is the people.

We need to nurture the next generation of leaders in STEM. There has been a dive in numbers of secondary and tertiary students taking advanced mathematics and science subjects,⁹ when the skills gained in those subjects are highly valuable – whether students become pure mathematicians or scientists or not. We need multiple points of intervention as people diverge from the path of STEM throughout school and their careers.

Not only do we need more young people pursuing STEM, but we also need to create a supportive environment for those who do. While things are improving, there remains relatively little culture of crosstalk between academia and industry. Victoria’s Lead Scientist Dr Amanda Caples makes an analogy to biochemistry: Research and Development needs to be more of a dynamic equilibrium between industry and academia, with ideas and support going both ways.¹

CSIRO’s ‘On Innovation’ programs are one such example of ways to connect research organisations with commercialisation pathways. They help Australia’s publicly funded researchers and small and medium enterprises develop the skills needed to fast-track their technology and ideas into the market.

Our state is home to many success stories in advanced manufacturing, and it will only grow from here. To sustain momentum, a skilled workforce and robust multi-disciplinary collaboration between academia and industry are essential. By fostering STEM education and strengthening innovation ecosystems, we can unlock the sector’s full potential. Together, these efforts will position Victoria as a leader in sustainable, high-tech manufacturing.

References:

1. The Royal Society of Victoria. (2020, December 19). Scaling Australian Manufacturing Through Digital Platforms. YouTube. www.youtube.com/watch?v=wr20BBFiz24
   
2. Zhang, J., et al. (2023). Past, present and future prospective of global carbon fibre composite developments and applications. Composites Part B: Engineering, 250(110463), 110463. doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesb.2022.110463
   
3. Pal, G., & Kumar, S. (2016). Modeling of carbon nanotubes and carbon nanotube–polymer composites. Progress in Aerospace Sciences, 80, 33–58. doi.org/10.1016/j.paerosci.2015.12.001
   
4. Jacob, A. (2010). BMW counts on carbon fibre for its Megacity Vehicle. Reinforced Plastics, 54(5), 38–41. doi.org/10.1016/s0034-3617(10)70173-9
   
5. Snanshall Woodhams, E. (2024, May 15). Deakin research facility celebrates a decade of carbon manufacturing. Carbon Nexus. carbonnexus.com.au/2024/05/deakin-research-facility-celebrates-a-decade-of-carbon-manufacturing/
   
6. Deakin University. (2024). Carbon Nexus. carbonnexus.com.au/
   
7. CSIRO. (2020). CSIRO and Swinburne Testlab. www.csiro.au/en/work-with-us/services/research-and-development/prototyping/testlab
   
8. The Royal Society of Victoria. (2022, July 7). Creating a World Leading Manufacturing Sector in Victoria. YouTube. youtu.be/mqwElMfyUG4
   
9. Department of Education. (2022). Why is STEM important? education.gov.au/australian-curriculum/national-stem-education-resources-toolkit/introductory-material-what-stem/why-stem-important