K-TIG to build new welding R&D facility at BAE’s Factory of the Future

K-TIG has announced that it will build an R&D facility at BAE Systems Australia’s Line Zero – Factory of the Future, located within Tonsley Innovation District, aiming to demonstrate the usefulness of its automated welding technology for shipbuilding and other industrial sectors.

K-TIG said the new R&D centre would “demonstrate and further evolve” its robotic welding methods.

“We can capture and push data out across every single weld creating a digital footprint across a ship,” said Managing Director Adrian Smith in a statement.

“This makes for high level repeatability and consistency which means ships are built faster and cheaper.”

The ASX-listed K-TIG has developed a single-pass keyhole welding method, originating from the CSIRO, with up to 100 times speed improvement versus traditional TIG welding. It recently reported record revenues for the December quarter, up 157 per cent versus that period a year earlier.

Line Zero is a collaboration between the SA government, Flinders University’s Australian Industrial Transformation Institute, and BAE, and is developing digital technologies to the delivery of Australia’s Hunter Class Frigate Program.  

“Line Zero underpins the philosophy of the Factory of the Future which focuses on industry collaboration and diffusion of Australian innovation in Industry 4.0 technologies, said BAE Systems Australia Continuous Naval Shipbuilding Director Sharon Wilson.

According to the statement, it is currently the “eve of construction beginning on a permanent Factory of the Future” which will be complete by November.

Picture: K-TIG

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