Portal for manufacturers a new answer to machinery access, sunk cost problems
12 June – The Australian Composites Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre (ACM CRC) has supported a newly-developed digital platform, delivering cash-strapped smaller manufacturers, startups and others access to vital but often-unaffordable machinery, while also helping unlock new value from idle assets.
The Machine Sharing Portal is designed to be a nationally-relevant model. It matches those needing capital-intensive equipment with those who have it. Portal users are able to browse, access and book what they need from their peers and others. The solution was developed by Advanced Fibre Cluster (AFC) with support from the ACM CRC.
“As someone who has worked at advanced composites manufacturers in the region, I know that what’s often needed is what's often unused and sitting in universities, TAFEs, other companies and elsewhere,” said Mr Luke Preston, CEO, ACM CRC (pictured right.)
“The Machine Sharing Portal will create very useful, win-win-based, commercial outcomes. It can save companies the often eye-watering capital costs attached to production, scientific and other equipment, see machine owners get paid instead of clocking up downtime, as well as create new relationships between companies.”
The portal facilitates conversations, booking times, and access, though the commercial specifics are handled by the machine owner and renter.
It was developed via a $79,800 project, assisted by $50,000 in co-funding from ACM CRC. “There's a lot of sunk capital, even just within the small region of Geelong, where assets are really not fully utilised,” explained Mr David Buchanan, CEO, AFC.
“That goes from everything from small CNC lathes through to autoclaves and large 3D printing machines. Some of the equipment at the Gordon TAFE, for example, is just not utilised other than for students, though is very advanced and very expensive.”
Buchanan believes that a wide range of organisations will benefit from the portal, from startups going through prototyping, to established companies performing R&D, to university researchers.
The concept was inspired by the AFC’s Maxime Maghe and his time as a university researcher, and has received input from the Australian National Fabrication Facility, developer and science communications consultancy Miscible, as well as the AFC’s members.
There are over 120 assets available from six organisations at the time of writing, including Sykes Racing, Carbon Revolution and RPC.
The portal officially launches on 1 July, and will be self-sufficient through subscription fees.
“We would be happy to see this copied in other parts of Australia, which has its fair share of industrial clusters, fragmented manufacturing capabilities, and issues around visibility on who can do what for whom,” said Preston.
Buchanan concluded: “We are a small, collaboration-based, not-for-profit organisation, with 20-odd businesses – mostly on the small side – making up our membership. This project wouldn't have happened without the CRC’s support, which has been pivotal as well as rapid, helping us launch a great idea on a small budget within a year of it first being proposed.”
Main picture: credit Advanced Fibre Cluster
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