‘Industry 4.0 and Disruptive Technologies’ was the theme for the keynote address at Engineers Australia Innovation Thought Leaders Series: Disruptive Technologies in Hobart earlier this month.
Siemens’ Head of Market Development Pacific, Juergen Schneider, said the world was in a race to Industry 4.0.
“Success relies on continuous investment in technology,” he said. “Industry 4.0 is a project in the high-tech strategy of the German government, which promotes the computerisation of traditional industries such as manufacturing. The goal is the intelligent factory (Smart Factory), which is characterized by adaptability, resource efficiency as well as the integration of customers and business partners in business and value processes.”
Mr Schneider said Industry 4.0 was not just the domain of large business. “Indeed, it is likely that smart small and medium-sized enterprises will be more innovative and faster than larger, established players,” he said.
“Small teams of engineers and IT specialists are already coming up with plans to create Industry 4.0. The opportunity is there; the demand is there.
“But rather than retreating from the challenge of tighter supply chains and changing commercial environment, Australia needs people prepared to take some risks, accept a challenge and come up with some answers.”
Engineers Australia Tasmania Division General Manager, Dr Vicki Gardiner, said innovation is at the heart of economic growth and maintaining a high standard of living.
“Engineers play a critical role in building and maintaining the productivity of the Australian economy. Almost all facets of modern life include components that rely on engineers to build, maintain and operate them. This is particularly the case in respect to infrastructure.”
She explained how modern infrastructure with smart ICT technology could lead to large improvements in existing infrastructure asset productivity – and even greater gains when new infrastructure is designed from the outset.
“These new technologies will not just operate individual or single site assets but can also operate and coordinate whole, multi-site systems.”
Dr Gardiner said the recent announcement by the Tasmanian Government to embrace the sharing economy is welcomed and has been identified as an opportunity for the state. The government is developing a policy approach to the sharing economy and a package of legislation in relation to transport services within it to table in Parliament in 2016.
“So, is Tasmania ready for this new industrial revolution? Maybe yes, maybe no,” Dr Gardiner said.
“Tasmania has world leading edge companies and engineers who bring services and expertise to the world. But our profession’s workforce is aging and the level of literacy and numeracy in the State is quite low.
Engineers Australia is working closely with the University of Tasmania, through the School of Engineering and ICT and the Australian Maritime College, to ensure engineering courses are contemporary and relevant, and meet the needs of Tasmania’s engineering profession.
According to Dr Gardiner, “The creative and innovative mindset common amongst engineers is an important trait for transitioning Tasmania into a high-tech, high value economy.”
Engineers Australia Tasmania Division thanks its Event Partner Davies Collison Cave and its Associate, Michael Cooper, for helping bring Mr Schneider to Tasmania.