Industry Capability Development Accelerating supply chain development

Through its Industry Capability Development (ICD) Program, DMTC is engaged in technology transfer for the benefit of Australian industry.

The ICD Program works alongside Australian companies, mostly small businesses, to address capability and capacity gaps and open doors to Defence opportunities. In 2022 the focus of the ICD Program has been the deployment of the Smart Enough Factory to showcase the adoption of Industry 4.0 fundamentals through simple, cost-effective technology.

Supported by Defence and State Governments alike, and with industrial context provided by Defence primes, the objective of the Smart Enough Factory program is to support Australian small businesses to become more resilient, diversified and competitive across domestic and international markets and supply chains. This is achieved by providing participants with a digitisation solution that is ‘smart enough’ – a practical, low-cost and low-code means to understand the value of data capture and analysis; quantify the benefits of factory connectivity; and optimise the performance of existing equipment.

Spurred on by their involvement in the Program, companies like Victorian-based Parish Engineering (see Page 7) have successfully embraced the digitalisation of their manufacturing processes as well as developing their defence-readiness and making aligned improvements to cybersecurity capabilities and digital literacy.

The Smart Enough Factory Program recognises that data-driven approaches are one of the keys to productivity improvements in modern manufacturing, and can help participating companies to realise points of difference and competitive advantage in bidding for work in the supply chains of prime contractors. https://dmtc.com.au/icd/

Experts engaged by DMTC provide mentoring and evidence-based feedback, both during workshops and in post-activity reports, highlighting improvement opportunities for each company. DMTC has also continued to work with Indigenous-owned cyber security company, Willyama. Together, the expertise provided by the delivery partners reflects the importance to the primes of technical excellence, objective quality data and cyber hygiene throughout their supply chains.

Program activities are also supported by a talented team of interns from several universities, delivered through a scheme supported by the Defence Science Institute (DSI). Contributions from interns are becoming an increasingly important part of the ICD Program delivery model, and highlight the benefits of joint investment in Australia’s future sovereign industrial workforce and capability. Internships provide mutual benefits to students, who gain valuable work experience from the factory floor, and to industry partners, who receive hands-on assistance in their digital transformation journey.

Welding of High Strength Steels

Next Generation Manufacturing & Benchmarking

Smart Enough Factory

Opportunities in 2023

ADELAIDE

MURRAY/ RIVERINA

BALLARAT

GEELONG

BRISBANE

LITHGOW

SYDNEY

ILLAWARRA/SHOALHAVEN

BENDIGO