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TAFE Manufacturing Centre of Excellence announced

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The Albanese and Minns Labor Governments have announced joint funding of $53.95 million to establish the TAFE NSW Advanced Manufacturing Centre of Excellence – Western Sydney. The centre, to be located at TAFE NSW’s Wetherill Park Campus, will deliver advanced education and training in manufacturing across the engineering, pipe fabrication Australia, and renewable energy sectors, boosting Western Sydney’s competitiveness as a place for global manufacturers to do business. As the first of three TAFE Centres of Excellence in NSW, the Centre is a key part of the Minns Labor Government’s commitment to provide fully subsidised training to an additional 1,000 apprenticeships a year in advanced manufacturing and related industries.

“This government is investing in the future of manufacturing in line with the Future Made in Australia Act, so workers have the latest skills and businesses have access to talent right here in Western Sydney,” says NSW Premier Chris Minns “This will create a pipeline of skilled workers, so we have the fitters, machine operators and welders needed to support a thriving domestic advanced manufacturing industry in NSW.” The Centre will strengthen the Vocational Education and Training (VET) system by delivering high- quality and responsive skills training to 10,000 learners over four years, tailored to the rapidly digitising manufacturing sector. “We’re putting TAFE at the heart of the vocational education and training sector, to the benefit of Australian businesses and workers,” says Minister for Skills and Training, Andrew Giles. “The Centre of Excellence in Advanced Manufacturing will lead to the delivery of high-quality and responsive skills training in a sector critical to our economy.”

The Centre of Excellence will:

  • enable apprentices to access degree-level learning while retaining a focus on existing hands-on skills.
  • support the development of microskills and microcredentials, allowing TAFE NSW to rapidly respond to emerging skills needs in evolving high-technology industries.
  • give apprentices access to cutting edge equipment and smart technologies for upskilling, including smart factories, industrial 3D printing, and robotic and automated manufacturing.
  • establish arrangements with university partners to share knowledge and collaborate on course design and delivery, bringing Vocational and Higher education closer together.
  • develop partnerships with local industry to inform course design, provide access to mining plant and equipment Australia, and host apprentices and trainees, providing benefits to both employers and learners.

“This Centre will shape workforces that can thrive in the modern manufacturing landscape. The TAFE NSW Advanced Manufacturing Centre of Excellence – Western Sydney will be a game-changer for both local students and industries,” says NSW Minister for Skills, TAFE and Tertiary Education Steve Whan. “Our landmark investment in this Centre will ensure graduates will receive cutting-edge qualifications co-developed by TAFE NSW, industry, and universities, at no cost.”

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$5.06 million To Advance Queensland manufacturing

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Manufacturing Skills Queensland (MSQ) has created a first-of-its-kind training plan. The $5.06 million Annual Training Plan outlines 19 programs rolled out from July 1, 2024. It will be delivered across four investment priority areas — attraction and engagement ($1,255,000); impact to trade and industry, transformation, and leadership ($950,000); training and skills ($1,360,000); and diversity in manufacturing ($1,500,000). The initiative was developed in consultation with industry, including more than 300 employers, leaders, professionals, and experts throughout the state. The 2024/2025 Plan aims to support employers with embracing transformation, sustainability practices, and strategic workforce planning to ensure a thriving future for the industry, including for mining plant and equipment Australia.

Queensland Minister for Employment and Small Business and Minister for Training and Skills Development, Lance McCallum said this is a great opportunity for Queenslanders. “This new funding is about creating more secure, well-paying jobs and driving our mighty manufacturing industry forward,” he said. “We proudly created MSQ to future-proof the state’s manufacturing industry, and now with a golden decade of opportunity ahead of us, there has never been a more important time to invest in workforce planning and programs. The Miles Labor Government is committed to building a resilient and diverse workforce for our future and this first-of-its-kind investment is crucial for local workers to skill up for good, secure jobs, which will further enhance advanced manufacturing excellence in Queensland.” Queensland Minister for Regional Development and Manufacturing, Glenn Butcher believes the investment will allow the state’s pipe fabrication Australia sector to innovate and grow.

MSQ CEO Rebecca Andrews is proud of the initiative. “The Plan has been a collaborative effort with industry to guide MSQ and Queensland Government investment in training, skills, and workforce planning and we’re grateful for the insights hundreds of steel fabrication leaders and stakeholders have shared with us over the recent Months,” she said. “Our Annual Training Plan highlights 19 important programs across our priority investment areas: attracting and engaging with new cohort; the future of trades, transformation, and leadership; training and skills (which is a 2023 Australian manufacturing trend); and diversity in manufacturing. Together, these programs aim to address some of the key issues industry has shared with us including promotion of manufacturing as an industry; job pathways challenges; current training and accreditation pathways; and suitability of talent. Industry is benefitting from this plan straight away with three new programs ready to start in July 2024, including our Women in Trades Mentoring; the Mental Health and Resilience Training for leaders and employees; and Leadership Excellence.”

Some of the key MSQ’s Annual Training Plan 2024/2025 programs include:

  • Women in Trades Mentoring program $1,350,000 — providing intensive support to 100 female apprentices in their first or second year of their manufacturing apprenticeship.
  • Higher level learning subsidy $500,000 — investing in higher-level skills of leaders by facilitating access to advanced training, fostering deeper expertise, and paving the way for career progression.
  • Manufacturing General Induction programs $130,000 — co-designed with industry to help new starters improve industry knowledge gaps, and safety concerns such as work health and safety, workplace expectations.
  • Pathways to a Trade program $250,000 providing a curriculum-based opportunity for year 11 and 12 students to experience the steel fabrication Australia industry.
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Hexagon HxGN Machine Trainer CNC/CMM simulator offers training flexibility

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Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence division has introduced the HxGN Machine Trainer, a multi-axis CNC and CMM simulator. Taking the initiative from the training of professionals in other critical occupations, such as commercial pilots, Hexagon has created a ‘hands-on’ professional training solution for 3 and 5 axis machines, Mill-Turn and Coordinate Measuring Machines that is ‘hands-off’ the expensive physical equipment. Manufacturers, heavy steel fabrication companies, educators, and students can use the operator-programmer trainer within a minimal physical footprint on the factory floor or in the classroom.

Hexagon’s Manufacturing

The HxGN Machine Trainer offers a new and unique operator programmer training method imagined and developed by Hexagon. Thought of like a flight simulator and certification tool, dedicated to CNC machining and CMM machines, the program is based on the new generation of NCSIMUL intelligent simulation software, which is a perfect combination of software and hardware, efficient, practical, and easy to learn. The HxGN Machine Trainer is positioned between classroom computer training used to teach theory and the real machine environment. Fabrication skills such as steel fabrication, pipe fabrication etc. can also be learnt on the HxGN Machine Trainer.

The business motivation behind the HxGN Machine Trainer was to provide real-world training for the next generation of operators and programmers. The Machine Trainer can significantly benefit colleges and industrial training centers. In the post-pandemic world, where multiple challenges are being faced by the fabrication industry and skilled personnel are increasingly difficult to recruit, training is now critical to ensuring a supply of qualified manufacturing resources. The HxGN Machine Trainer eliminates the risks of training on a physical machine, ensuring machines remains in production, while also reducing the risks of machine crashes as a result of inexperience. The HxGN Machine Trainer will allow a faster progression for newly qualified talent in the manufacturing job market.

HxGN Machine Trainer provides the perfect illustration of Industry 4.0 digital thread application to the shop floor operation. As a standard, it includes machining instruction documents and G-code machining programs transfer, in order to define tool set-ups directly on the control panel and prepare for machining. After virtually machining various practical work scenarios and knowing about heavy and light metal fabrication, the student will control the part with the Metrology option. Machining and inspection reports, automatically generated, as well as OEE rates will be available for analysis as a part of the continuous improvement process. The HxGN Machine Trainer offers a compact footprint and is scalable to allow training on a variety of machines. Supported CNC include HEIDENHAIN and SIEMENS control & panel emulator with simulation driven through the physical user interface. The Machine Trainer provides a real machine user experience with handwheel, control panels, tower indicator, coolant animation and machine acoustics.

Through the I++ Simulator software, the HxGN Machine Trainer hosts a wide selection of CMM digital twins, of different sizes and brands, to simulate their mechanical design. I++ Simulator, like a real CMM, will receive operating instructions from a 3D Metrology software, such as PCDMIS or QUINDOS. Through its communication protocol, respecting to the I++DME standard, I++ Simulator can also collaborate with other solutions available on the market.

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