The Australian Government's Global Innovation Linkages Program announced funding for a joint project with Plataine, led by Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia, to research techniques for manufacturing high volume, lightweight composites. Plataine is one of four international partners collaborating with Swinburne on the project, which will use a world-first process for 3D printing of industrial scale composites in Swinburne's Industry 4.0 Testlab.

The research project, led by Swinburne's Professor Bronwyn Fox, will develop products for the Aerospace and Automotive sectors, where there is a growing requirement for high volume composites with digital ID. As a growing industry in Australia, carbon fiber composite manufacturing is opening up new export markets. To compete globally, Australian manufacturers must get production rates up and costs down with new manufacturing automation and digitization technologies.

Swinburne has established a global partnership network for Industry 4.0 research including Australian, German, Israeli and Austrian companies. The support from Global Innovation Linkages will expand the program's scope, using IIoT technologies to push back the boundaries of automated carbon fiber parts production.

Plataine was chosen considering its proven experience in Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and AI-based optimization solutions for advanced manufacturing and its strong track record of successful deployments in the aerospace, automotive and composites sectors. Plataine's Digital manufacturing solutions revolutionize production facilities by integrating with local systems and collecting real-time data from factory sensors, analyzed by AI-based Digital Assistants, to offer predictive alerts, actionable insights and optimized real-time recommendations to factory floor staff.

Professor Aleksandar Subic, Swinburne Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Development), says: "We, along with our partners Plataine, FILL, Quickstep, and Arena2036 are very pleased to have received the Global Innovation Linkages grant. The grant recognizes our leadership in Industry 4.0 transformation of the advanced manufacturing sector. Our international network of partners will enable us to create new business opportunities for Australian advanced manufacturers."

Avner Ben-Bassat, President and CEO of Plataine, says: "The advanced composites manufacturing industry is fast moving, and the pressures to get production rates up and costs down are always increasing. For manufacturers to keep up, they need the latest technologies. Swinburne's research into 3D printing processes for industrial scale composites is incredibly exciting, and Plataine is thrilled to be a part of it."