Professor Spoehr has been researching industrial transformation strategies for more than three decades and says it now requires a range of disciplines to come together for required solutions to be developed. 

“So many of the barriers that we face are human and organisational, but we can overcome them if we assemble new teams from very different backgrounds. We need to bring together engineers and social scientists, computer technicians, psychologists and business experts to work in collaborative teams. It’s something quite unique that we are doing at Flinders, and it puts us at the cutting edge of industrial transformation efforts intenationally. It’s what we need to do more in Australia.”

Aware that industrial transformation is a fundamental challenge facing Australia’s economy and society, Flinders’ research expertise is providing substantial benefits for companies embracing industrial transformation. To ensure Australia rides at the cutting edge of advancement, Flinders is working with best-of-breed research and development facilities including the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre in Sheffield, UK – the world’s leading advanced manufacturing accelerator funded by the UK Government’s Industry Catapult Program – and the University of Strathclyde’s Advanced Forming Research Centre to support the application of new manufacturing technologies for shipbuilding. These collaborations with world-leaders are now of the greatest importance.

“No country without a strong manufacturing sector will enjoy high standards of living in the 21st century,” says Professor Spoehr, “but if we do this well, it will help to underpin high living standards in Australia for decades to come.”