Over 100 of Queensland’s manufacturers attended an industry showcase event at Parliament House last night, as the state government promoted its plans to bring the region into the fourth industrial revolution.
Exhibitors at the Invested in Queensland Manufacturing showcase event included Ballistic Beer Co, Evolve Group, HeliMods, Packer Leather, Pixie Ice Cream, RF Technologies, Urban Arts Projects, Urban Turf Solutions and Watkins Steel.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and state development and manufacturing minister Cameron Dick in visiting the display of products.
“Queensland is a state of innovators and creators, and this event has been designed to showcase the wonderful diversity of products manufactured right here in Queensland,” the premier said.
“And a state of innovators deserves a government which supports them to grow their enterprises and reach their export goals, and that’s exactly what my government is doing.”
The government used the event to promote the release of its revised Advanced Manufacturing Roadmap, a 10-year plan to transition the state’s manufacturing sector to more high-paid, knowledge-based advanced manufacturing jobs.
The Roadmap is investing up to $7.6 million over three years to speed up the state’s transition from traditional to advanced manufacturing.
Manufacturing is the state’s sixth-largest industry in terms of employment numbers, with more than 170,000 people in the year to June 2018, and is the third-largest employer of full-time workers.
“Queensland’s almost $20 billion manufacturing sector already employs more than 170,000 people, and we want to see this number continue to grow,” Dick said.
“We will continue to engage with industry to ensure we are doing everything we can to create the conditions that will enable this vital sector to thrive, and to roll out funding programs and initiatives to assist with this growth.”
As part of the project, the state government has held seminars for manufacturing businesses on the transition to high-value, knowledge-based advanced manufacturing.
“Industry 4.0 is a term used to describe the fourth revolution in manufacturing and my Government’s Industry 4.0 – Future of Manufacturing initiative is all about raising awareness of the opportunities which exist for Queensland manufacturers in this exciting digital era,” Palaszczuk said.
“Throughout September and November, we’ve held a number of seminars and masterclasses centred around the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies and have welcomed the guidance of Dr Frank Wagner from Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute – a global expert on adaptation and innovation in manufacturing.”