A message from Kelly Godeau
Industrial AI at scale in Australia is underway yet further support is needed for it to become the next industrial revolution.
Australian manufacturers have always embraced technology to make amazing products and to increase efficiencies across the business. It makes sense to find ways to do things better and more affordably.
With AI, that approach is becoming easier and the results are impressive. Here, we share a few stories of local manufacturers harnessing AI to create solutions that are pioneering and in many cases life changing for customers.
Consider these use cases of how AI can step through your business to accelerate growth and enhance your manufacturing competitiveness.
Queensland-based Laronix gives voice to patients who have lost the ability to verbally communicate. Patients who have undergone a laryngectomy or suffered damage to the larynx, lose their ability to speak. Laronix is changing this misfortune by giving patients back their own voice through a device made in Australia. Incorporating AI, the technology can replicate the user’s real voice with speech, diction, and clarity that has patients, families, and friends reconnecting once again in conversation. This is truly transformative and Google agrees, backing Laronix through its AI First program.
Victoria-based Sleeptite provides reassurance to those who are less mobile particularly at night and getting out of bed. Sleeptite designs and manufactures intelligent and technology-assisted bed and mattress solutions that monitors how someone sleeps and moves, sending alerts should there be any distress. The materials science involved is incredibly advanced to produce soft, stretchable, and highly sensitive sensors that are seamlessly integrated into fabric. This non-invasive monitoring gives peace of mind to hospital staff, aged care workers, and those who are at home but need an extra hand, and who wouldn’t want a better night’s sleep!
Western Australia-based Zella DC manufactures micro data centres that are modular, compact, smart, and built for harsh environments. What makes Zella DC a unique business in the sea of the AI data centre boom is its cybersecurity and edge computing available on-site, meaning it is less of a target in any defence situation. Your data is held close at hand rather than transmitted to a distant cloud-based datacentre. Zella DC is the critical infrastructure required for sovereign Industrial AI adoption.
AMGC has many more examples of Australian manufacturers using AI to increase business opportunities and uplift capabilities.
Yet, due to our industrial structure with 90 per cent of companies being the size of small business, employing fewer than 20 employees, the spread and adoption of AI remains patchwork and a genuine challenge to deploying AI at scale. For many, the cost, skills, and resources are the barrier.
Countries such as Germany, the United States, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and India are investing heavily in Industrial AI directly targeting manufacturers with digital infrastructure support and training through a combination of coordinated investment and programs.
We could, and should, do this in Australia, and AMGC with its 4,500-member network is ready and can be of service.
The intersection where industry and technology meet remains one of Australia’s greatest opportunities to improve productivity.
Realising this potential demands bold investment and a shared commitment from industry and government to create the conditions in which AI can deliver meaningful economic and industrial benefits. Only then can the Industrial AI revolution truly become a reality.