Swinburne's Factory of the Future funded by Siemens

Siemens will provide a $135 million industrial digitalisation software grant to the Swinburne University of Technology ‘Factory of the Future’.

The Siemens software will be rolled out to fully digitalise the work lifecycle, from apprenticeships to PhDs, preparing students to participate in the opportunities provided by digitalisation.

The software grant provides a suite of advanced PLM (product lifecycle management) software and the new-generation, cloud-based Internet of Things (IoT) platform ‘Mindsphere’, which will allow students and researchers to have access to the same apparatus being used by leading industries on the most advanced projects.

The grant also includes a co-contribution by Swinburne for initialisation and ongoing interaction with and global support by Siemens expert software engineers.

“This is about jobs of the future today,” said Jeff Connolly, chairman and CEO of Siemens Australia.

“Our country’s future relies on companies working with key educational and research institutions to get our workforce ready for the fourth industrial revolution.”

According to Professor Aleksandar Subic, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Development) and chair of Industry 4.0 Testlabs on the Prime Minister’s Industry 4.0 Taskforce, digitalisation of manufacturing is critical to help Australian industry transition to the future.

“We’re immersed in the fourth industrial revolution and we want to make sure that students and researchers are equipped with the required advanced capabilities and technologies to help Australia access global value chains,” said Subic.

“The international competition will be fierce in the manufacturing domain, which is why this development is so timely and critical.

“I have experienced the Siemens automation technology and digitalisation software and hardware firsthand in Germany and the US, and can see how this approach will help transform our manufacturing sector and develop future workforce to participate and compete globally.”

The fully digitalised Swinburne Factory of the Future will set an Industry 4.0 benchmark and provide an environment for workforce transformation that is in line with the most advanced economies in the world.

The announcement coincides with the 145th anniversary of Siemens commissioning the Darwin to Adelaide telegraph.

Photo caption: Jeff Connolly, CEO of Siemens Australia and New Zealand and Professor Aleksandar Subic, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Development), Swinburne University.

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