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INDUSTRY NEWS
AMTIL announces changes to Australian Manufacturing Week 2022 exhibition AMTIL on 10 September announced changes to the schedule for next year’s Australian Manufacturing Week (AMW) exhibition, relocating and rescheduling the event from Melbourne in March to Sydney in June. Amid uncertainty over the latest COVID-19 outbreak, the AMTIL Board decided in early September not to proceed with the AMW 2022 exhibition that had been scheduled to take place at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre (MCEC) from 8-11 March. With the Melbourne event not going ahead, AMTIL has instead confirmed that AMW 2022 will take place at the International Convention Centre Sydney (ICC Sydney), running from 7-10 June 2022. AMW 2022 in Sydney has drawn an encouraging show of support from the industry. Bookings for the show have been very strong, with 85% of the floorspace already sold. The decision not to proceed with the AMW exhibition in Melbourne in March was taken in response to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak in Victoria and the resultant uncertainty over the viability of large public events so early in 2022. “The AMTIL Board made the very difficult decision not to proceed with the show in its current March 2022 timeslot,” said Shane Infanti, Chief Executive Officer of AMTIL. “Despite the great support we have for the exhibition from all our exhibitors, recent developments relating to the COVID-19 Delta strain have created an unpredictable environment that we felt had the potential to seriously jeopardise the event given that it is so early in the New Year.” Following the decision, AMTIL began moving forward in exploring plans for a rescheduled event to take place later in the year in a different location. The ICC Sydney was secured as a venue for AMW from 7-10 June. AMTIL is confident that by June the current
COVID-19 outbreak will have been contained, and high vaccination levels will allow the staging of large public events. Infanti explained: “The AMTIL Board felt that the return of exhibitions is an important step in our COVID recovery plan and that there remains a very strong appetite for a show at some stage in 2022. We explored a number of options in regard to shows over the coming two years. “Running AMW in June at the ICC Darling Harbour would represent a return to Sydney since we last ran Austech there in 2012, and reflects strong local demand for a significant manufacturing event. We are confident that the COVID-19 implications for an event mid next year will be minimal.” Looking further ahead, AMW 2023 will also take place in its usual May timeslot in Melbourne, running from 9-12 May 2023 at the MCEC. Infanti added: “This is planned to be one of the largest exhibitions of its type in the Southern Hemisphere. We are truly excited to be bringing this to the Australian manufacturing sector. For both of these events, the industry can be confident of receiving the same great support and service that manufacturers have come to expect from AMTIL over 20-plus years of running trade shows.” Owned and operated by AMTIL, AMW is Australia’s premier manufacturing solutions event, an industry exhibition encompassing all aspects of manufacturing in Australia. Since 2000, AMTIL has operated Austech, Australia’s premier advanced manufacturing and machine tool exhibition, which going forward has now been incorporated into the AMW exhibition. www.australianmanufacturingweek.com.au
Boeing, RMIT partner on space manufacturing capability RMIT University and Boeing have entered a partnership at developing and growing Australia’s space manufacturing. The partnership announced on 15 September involves projects on product design strategy, materials research and process innovation. These collaborations will harness global networks and expertise to develop local solutions for the manufacturing of space equipment. RMIT’s Advanced Manufacturing Precinct is a leader in the advanced manufacturing techniques required. RMIT Deputy Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation, Professor Calum Drummond AO, said the research & development will be undertaken at RMIT’s Space Industry Hub. Launched this year, the Hub is a launch pad and industrial solutions incubator dedicated to growing Australia’s space sector. “Our ultimate goal is to maximise opportunities for commercialisation of the products that we co-develop with Boeing,” Drummond said. “This is a pioneering project which provides a tangible pathway for Australian businesses to upskill, innovate and export globally as manufacturers of products for
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space applications. Leveraging Boeing and RMIT’s joint expertise and facilities, we believe we can unlock boundless future opportunities for Australian industry.” Paul Watson, Director of Aerospace Engineering and Production at Boeing Defence Australia, said Australia’s burgeoning space sector required the production of complex, low volume, bespoke components not suited to conventional manufacturing techniques. “This partnership will develop new knowledge in advanced manufacturing technologies which will not only stimulate the development of a local fabrication capability but will also expose Australian industry to space export markets as part of Boeing’s global supply chain,” he said. Boeing’s longstanding relationship with RMIT has contributed significantly to Australia’s aerospace manufacturing capability through innovation in undergraduate education, postgraduate research and collaborative research projects.
