Boeing-Swinburne Venture Puts Wind Beneath Industry Wings
By David Horwood
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Just as British companies have been benefiting from work spinning off from a research relationship between Boeing and the University of Sheffield, Australian aircraft component manufacturers are anticipating similar gains from Boeing's recent decision to increase its Australian research collaborations.
Boeing has teamed up with Swinburne University of Technology to establish the Australian Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AusAMRC). AusAMRC's mission is to investigate improved manufacturing techniques, particularly for components containing titanium, aluminium or magnesium, in support of the companies forming Boeing's Australian supply chains, and other companies eager to supply the global aircraft and aerospace manufacturer.
Al Bryant, Boeing Research and Technology Australia general manager, says Australia already hosts Boeing's largest operation outside of America, so it made sense to create a similar research partnership here. "Swinburne was our choice because of its world-class capability in metals research".
Swinburne's Vice-Chancellor Professor Ian Young says Swinburne has the highest proportion of engineering, science and technology students of any Australian university - approaching 50 per cent. He is enthusiastic about the new partnership and the opportunity to improve the technologies used by Boeing's Australian suppliers.
Professor Young says the university has committed to recruit staff for the centre and has appointed Professor John Beynon, Swinburne's Dean of Engineering and Industrial Sciences, to lead the new centre. Because both federal and state governments are vigorously promoting innovation in the manufacturing sector, he is confident AusAMRC will get strong government backing and research funding.
Boeing has a significant presence in Australia, particularly in Victoria, where a third of Australia's aerospace manufacturing is located. Boeing's Australian workforce is its largest outside the US and the Australian operations cover the entire Boeing company; its commercial, defence and R&D units.
Boeing has invested more than A$800 million in its Australian activities, which produce annual sales of about A$900 million. The company has operations in every mainland state and territory, employing more than 3300 staff. Added to this is a large number of Australian suppliers. In 2008, for example, 3620 suppliers provided more than A$300 million worth of goods and services to Boeing operations. The new research centre is intended to keep Boeing's Australian supply chain globally competitive.
Boeing also generates about A$400 million in export revenue by producing components for various commercial and military aircraft, software products and services, defence-related equipment and services, and specialist consulting services.
Boeing Aerostructures Australia at Fishermans Bend in Melbourne (formerly Hawker de Havilland) is well regarded for its expertise with advanced composite carbon fibre technology for commercial aircraft. This world-class capability allowed the company to become the sole manufacturer of the wholly composite rudder for the Boeing 777. Moreover, the company designed and is now building the moveable trailing edges for the wings of one of the world's most advanced new aircraft, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Mr Bryant says AusAMRC will allow Boeing to improve the capability of its suppliers to deliver higher-quality, lower-cost components. "Associated with the advanced composite components made by Boeing Aerostructures Australia are a number of metal sub-components, such as titanium fittings, and also the metal tooling for manufacture of the composite structures. Separately, we are also looking at the next generation of resins to allow us to build more complex parts than we do today, using resin-infusion technology".
The centre's inaugural head, Professor Beynon, says it is modelled on Boeing's productive collaboration with the University of Sheffield, where he was involved as Sheffield's Head of Mechanical Engineering. However, he says most of the effort of getting the Sheffield centre up and running fell to his former colleague Professor Keith Ridgway.
Professor Beynon says the centre at Sheffield has flourished and is now larger than the department that spawned it. One of the keys to this success, to be repeated at AusAMRC, is that the centre works with the entire supply chain, upstream and downstream, of a target process.
"By involving a line of companies at the beginning of a project, the technology developed is optimised for application along the whole supply chain. This speeds up adoption. Industry knows the technology is coming and can more easily adapt and prepare. Unfortunately, it's not uncommon in research to produce a technology that the industry is not ready for, does not know how to handle, and may cause problems downstream."
Professor Beynon's confidence in rapid adoption of AusAMRC technologies also rests on Swinburne's dual-sector structure, which includes a TAFE division. "As our technologies go commercial, we will train manufacturing staff on the shop floor. Some of the centre’s equipment is housed at Swinburne TAFE for this purpose", he says.
Company participation in AusAMRC occurs at two levels, depending on the level of financial support. Level one partners have a representative on the board and can influence the direction of the centre's research. Level two partners have immediate access to the R&D benefits. Membership is not restricted to Boeing's suppliers. Professor Beynon says participation is intended to assist companies preparing to join Boeing's supply chain.
AusAMRC researchers are studying metal tooling used in manufacturing advanced composite parts, which will contribute to the 787 program at Fishermans Bend. They are also exploring the use of metals in hybrid composites to create strong, load-bearing surfaces, capable of connecting to another part - such as a hinge.
The centre will be located in Swinburne's new Advanced Technology Centre, which is presently under construction with a budget of A$120 million. Professor Beynon sees Swinburne's Hawthorn campus, in inner Melbourne, as another advantage for the AusAMRC. "We are just 20 minutes drive from Boeing Aerostructures Australia at Fishermans Bend, where some of our technologies will be introduced."