Page 56 - Food&Drink Business magazine September 2022

MACHINERY MATTERS SEPTEMBER – OCTOBER 2022 ■ 4
QUT and ARM Hub, who has
a background in academia,
but has also worked a lot with industry. His doctorate was with British Steel in Wales, and today he is at the cutting edge of where AI is being used in non-traditional settings. Prof Browne gave an impassioned presentation on the benefits
of robots and AI, saying that while they were often perceived as a threat to livelihoods,
the opposite was actually
the case. He pointed to the disappearance of the typing pool as a premier example, saying those typists are not on the dole, but have moved into other careers and jobs, often far more rewarding.
He said, “Technology does not take jobs, it makes them better for humans.” Browne said companies are realising that the digital technology that exists
is “a heck of an opportunity”.
He said it is a widespread opportunity, and it isn’t just
in the digitising of existing issues. It lies also in the ability to look at process control and optimisation and bringing in AI.
“We need to think about how we get that commercial imperative dealt with, so that we can then go on
an innovation journey.”
James Windsor, CEO at
Fibre King, spoke next on attracting young people into manufacturing, particularly tradespeople. He said there was a great pool of talent at the high end of university graduates, but said it is increasingly hard to find the trade skills; the electricians, the fitters and turners, “the people that actually make this stuff work”.
He said, “I think in terms of the future of manufacturing
in Australia, that’s something that’s critical. We need people that can actually make things do what they’re supposed to do. And that for me is an area where I think the government might have lost a bit of focus, by driving a lot of young people to go to university.
“We really need to be working on that next generation, identifying where the people are who wants to make stuff and to work with their hands. And then they can work with those engineers, scientists and professors, in terms of what can be next. But always, at
the baseline, is the need for
Left: (l-r) Roseanna Jessop, Pilz; with Rym Kachouri, FoodMach; and Mark Hollingsworth, Rhima
Below: (l-r) Greg, Christine and James Windsor, Fibre King; Patrick Sharp, Help Enterprises
somebody to be able to build it.” Windsor said it is incumbent on everyone in manufacturing
to identify the kids fixing their own pushbikes and customising their cars, and highlighting
the benefits of a career in manufacturing for them.
The final member of the panel to speak was Associate Professor Dr Cori Stewart,
CEO of ARM Hub, who said manufacturing may need its own social media influencers to connect with youth.
She said it was important to tell the manufacturing story, and to get people into manufacturing sites, which usually operate behind closed doors. She gave the example of a video gaming company that moved overseas, with many of the staff left behind, before being picked up
by a Queensland robotics manufacturer, who then leveraged their skills into AR and VR. She said, “It was a team that could already use a lot of this technology, and next thing they are saying, ‘it is really cool to be wearing a yellow vest
and be making something on a manufacturing floor’.”
Although based in the university, the ARM Hub is eschewing the traditional model of working with the huge corporates, with Stewart saying, “In manufacturing,
we recognise, along with our government colleagues, that it’s predominantly a small-to- medium enterprise endeavour. So, 93 per cent actually are under-20 employees. This
is not a typical structure of
an organisation that’s likely
to go knocking on the doors
of universities and plucking
out graduates. We need to think about how we get that commercial imperative dealt with, so that we can then go on an innovation journey. So, the ARM Hub really is structured
to be that agile place for those small-sized enterprises.”
A lively debate followed the four presentations,
with questions from the
floor focusing on attracting youngsters, and on collaboration, which both Prof Green and Prof Stewart had highlighted in their remarks.
The W Hotel setting, which
as Prof Browne pointed out, was created with AI, proved the perfect platform for packaging professionals to reconnect, and to engage with industry thought leaders, whose overall effect was to leave one confident
that manufacturing clearly understood its challenges,
and hopeful that the message would be communicated and understood by policymakers. ■
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