Manufacturing news briefs — stories you might have missed

Rockwell survey finds ANZ manufacturers affected by “technology paralysis”, life sciences benefiting from AI  The 2025 State of Smart Manufacturing (SoSM) Report from Rockwell Automation, released last week, surveyed 1,560 manufacturers from 17 countries (including 85 organisations in Australia and New Zealand) and has found the local health and life sciences sector leading AI adoption.…

The AI hype is just like the blockchain frenzy – here’s what happens when the hype dies

By Gediminas Lipnickas, University of South Australia In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) has taken centre stage across various industries. From AI-generated art to chatbots in customer service, every sector is seemingly poised for disruption. It’s not just in your news feed every day – venture capital is pouring in, while CEOs are eager to…

Update: June 25 event gains guests from Quickstep, Harvest B for an important “missing middle” conversation

New guests have been added to @AuManufacturing‘s upcoming Spotlight on Scaling Up event, with Quickstep Acting CEO Demi Stefanova and Harvest B Co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer Alfred Lo announced as panellists. Stefanova and Lo, leaders from a composites specialist and food technology startup respectively, will appear in conversation with Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre Chair Paul…

First national food system stocktake reveals $274b hidden costs

CSIRO has released Australia’s first comprehensive stocktake of the nation’s $800 billion food system, revealing hidden costs of up to $274 billion annually and calling for a coordinated approach to managing complex challenges across the sector. The report, released on Monday through the Food System Horizons initiative, examined Australia’s food system which feeds approximately 100…

Mining innovation born from sabotaged research transforms tailings management

A vindictive equipment operator’s act of sabotage in 1989 led to an internationally significant breakthrough in mining waste management. Simran Gill speaks to David Smirk, the founder of Phibion, a Top 10 Gold Award winner at @AuManufacturing’s recent Australia’s 50 Most Innovative Manufacturers awards. David Smirk, founder and non-executive director of Phibion, tells the @AuManufacturing…

More than just a stamp

In the final day of our Celebrating Australian Made editorial series, sponsored by Australian Made, we hear from Western Metalworx. It’s been said that it takes an Australian made design to stand up to Australian conditions. Especially when it comes to the mining industry. For West Australian, Malaga, West Australian-based steel fabricator Western Metalworx, it’s…

From farm to fashion: Deakin and Country Road spin gold from wool scraps

In a project that sounds like textile alchemy, Deakin University has partnered with Full Circle Fibres and Loomtex to transform Australia’s unwanted wool scraps into premium yarn—proving that one farmer’s trash really can become a fashionista’s treasure. The cleverly named “Mud to Marle” project has successfully demonstrated how low-grade Merino wool fibres, typically destined for chunky homeware,…