CSIRO proposes ‘new era’ for Australian businesses
AirCargo archive stories issue 233
Tuesday, 18 November 2014
AUSTRALIA needs to play to its strengths and transition from traditional manufacturing into new areas of competitive advantage according to the CSIRO, which proposes the new direction in its discussion paper Equipping Australian Manufacturing for the Information Age: iManufacturing - Is Australia Ready?
The paper asks Australian industry to prepare for the move away from 20th Century modes of production and compete on the world market.
The CSIRO says opportunities exist both domestically and internationally in the market for high valued, niche manufactured goods and associated services if Australian industry were to adopt and utilise modern information technology and develop the associated skills to make best use of it.
Recognising the worldwide trend towards smaller batches of production, customised products, rapid prototyping, agile manufacturing processes and an emphasis on increased ‘servitisation’, the report’s authors warn that Australian manufacturers must develop appropriate business models and prepare themselves for increasingly innovative and competitive offerings in terms of price and flexibility in their domestic and international market niches.
The discussion paper talks about businesses growing and evolving from the use of traditional IT-based technologies and into eManufacturing (dependent on cloud-based services) or progress further into iManufacturing (or informatics-linked manufacturing).
To compete globally, the report says, enterprises need to have the right skills and tools to do business and adapt to the future, including:
Develop workers who combine not only eSkills (general computer/internet abilities) but also iSkills (understanding data, connectedness, the Internet of Things, servitisation) and manufacturing expertise;
Encourage and develop Materialisation technologies that more rapidly turn digital, customised data into physical outputs;
Develop collaborations and networks at local and global scales that are not only engaged at the human communications level but are sharers of data, resources, and processes;
Improve supply chain interoperability and material flow efficiencies; move manufacturing industries increasingly into the service spaces; develop appropriate business models that maximise the potential that these new technologies provide.
CSIRO proposes ‘new era’ for Australian businesses
AirCargo archive stories issue 233
Tuesday, 18 November 2014
AUSTRALIA needs to play to its strengths and transition from traditional manufacturing into new areas of competitive advantage according to the CSIRO, which proposes the new direction in its discussion paper Equipping Australian Manufacturing for the Information Age: iManufacturing - Is Australia Ready?
The paper asks Australian industry to prepare for the move away from 20th Century modes of production and compete on the world market.
The CSIRO says opportunities exist both domestically and internationally in the market for high valued, niche manufactured goods and associated services if Australian industry were to adopt and utilise modern information technology and develop the associated skills to make best use of it.
Recognising the worldwide trend towards smaller batches of production, customised products, rapid prototyping, agile manufacturing processes and an emphasis on increased ‘servitisation’, the report’s authors warn that Australian manufacturers must develop appropriate business models and prepare themselves for increasingly innovative and competitive offerings in terms of price and flexibility in their domestic and international market niches.
The discussion paper talks about businesses growing and evolving from the use of traditional IT-based technologies and into eManufacturing (dependent on cloud-based services) or progress further into iManufacturing (or informatics-linked manufacturing).
To compete globally, the report says, enterprises need to have the right skills and tools to do business and adapt to the future, including:
Develop workers who combine not only eSkills (general computer/internet abilities) but also iSkills (understanding data, connectedness, the Internet of Things, servitisation) and manufacturing expertise;
Encourage and develop Materialisation technologies that more rapidly turn digital, customised data into physical outputs;
Develop collaborations and networks at local and global scales that are not only engaged at the human communications level but are sharers of data, resources, and processes;
Improve supply chain interoperability and material flow efficiencies; move manufacturing industries increasingly into the service spaces; develop appropriate business models that maximise the potential that these new technologies provide.
