National Manufacturing Week (NMW) closed the doors on one of its largest conference and exhibition programs to date last week, with early reports recording more than 10,000 attendees at the event.
Exhibition director Robby Clark said the team had already received positive feedback, which paired with the strong 2017 results, and signalled an optimistic outlook for visiting industry, business owners and investors.
“We are thrilled with the 2017 results, which have certainly been one of the biggest years on record for National Manufacturing Week in Australia,” Clark said.
“It is encouraging to hear many of our visitors, exhibitors and speakers view NMW as an event to mark in the calendar, with some already signed on for 2018 and beyond.”
More than 230 exhibiting companies showcased the latest technologies, developments and programs over the four days, including Bosch Australia, BOC, Supagas, Central Innovation (Intercad), 3M, Lincoln Electric, ATOM, HIWIN, Impact Robotics, KOBOT, SIKA Australia, Universal Robots and WAGO.
Live demonstrations ran over the four days, including a smart washing system from CRC Industries Australia, a family of UR3, UR5 and UR10 robot arms from Universal Robots and a session from BOC Limited on the effects that shielding gases have on the welding arcs through the Kawasaki welding robot.
As part of his keynote presentation, Australian Advanced Manufacturing Council’s John Pollaers noted that: “there has been a major shift in understanding about what is possible – that Australia can compete – in high value products and using innovative processes … and we can win.”
This sentiment was echoed by leading industry speakers, who included the Australian Manufacturing Growth Centre’s Dr Jens Goennemann, CSIRO Manufacturing’s Dr Keith Mclean, Tinyme’s Nick McLennan, Universal Robots’ Andrew Pether, Sustainable Manufacturing Futures’ John Lawrence and BOC’s Peter Kuebler.
NMW ended on May 12, 2017 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. To learn about NMW 2018 visit www.nationalmanufacturingweek.com.au.