Even before the doors opened at 10am officially, visitors were packed and stacked in large numbers outside the halls of the Melbourne Convention Centre.
With a big focus this year on the next industrial revolution and artificial intelligence in manufacturing, there were a large number of visitors from learning institutes that are interested to find out where the industry is at in terms of advanced manufacturing techniques and the tools/equipment that will support it.
NMW’s conference program opened with a welcome from Dr Jens Goennemann, managing director of AMGC, and the Minister for Jobs, Innovation and Trade, Martin Pakula in the Industry 4.0 Theatre.
The keynote delivered by Australia’s Chief Scientist, Dr Alan Finkel AO, “Reversing the flow – what manufacturing can teach AI”, focussed on the challenge of responsibly deploying AI in manufacturing, what AI developers need to learn from previous industrial revolutions, and how to integrate with manufacturers evolving systems.
These were followed by numerous insights focused sessions across the two conference theatres of Industry 4.0 and Connected Manufacturing, including the AiGroup’s director, Mark Goodsell, on “Australian Manufacturing 2019 and beyond”.
On the WorldSkills Australia stand, welding and mechatronics skills were on display with Victoria’s best and brightest participating in the first day of welding and mechatronics regional competitions.
There was a lot of visitors at the Advanced Welder Training Hub, on Weld Australia’s stand. Over there, they were able to try out their “VR skills” in welding with Soldamatic Augmented Training.
“National Manufacturing Week 2019 opened with a fantastic first day. It was great to see the eagerness and excitement of visitors lining up ready to enter this year’s exhibition and conference,” said Robby Clark, exhibition director, National Manufacturing Week
“There were numerous highlights throughout Day 1, with extensive industry expertise and insights delivered throughout the conference program, including the opening by Dr Jens Goennmann, from the AMGC, to The Hon. Martin Pakula, Minister for Jobs, Innovation and Trade, and of course, the first keynote delivered by Australia’s Chief Scientist, Dr Alan Finkel AO. The dynamic and interactive product demonstrations on the exhibition floor, across the all technology zones from Automation & Robotics to Welding Technology, generates inspired interactions between exhibitors and visitors.”