NSW government to open $260 million shared use manufacturing centre at Bradfield in 2026

The NSW government has announced a $260 million investment in what it calls “a national-first shared-use research facility” at the new Bradfield City Centre, modelled on the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre at Sheffield in England.

According to a statement on Wednesday, the 15,000 square metre Advanced Manufacturing Research Facility (AMRF) would be the focal point of the new suburb’s city centre, near the new Western Sydney International Airport.

The facility is scheduled to be operational in 2026.

“The AMRF will create new high-paying jobs of the future in Western Sydney by making Bradfield City Centre the national capital of advanced manufacturing bringing industry and universities together,” said premier Dominic Perrottet.

The AMRF would have “a manufacturing hall and collaborative workspaces” and link business and researchers “to prove out new technologies, scale up and commercialise.”

The statement added that the centre was modelled on “examples of successful precincts overseas” such Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, which is part of the UK’s public-private Catapult centres network. 

The region had one of the nation’s highest densities of manufacturing businesses, said minister for Western Sydney Stuart Ayres, and the upcoming facility would “support to transition to new ways of doing business, creating the high value components for the next generation of space, aerospace, defence and medical technologies.”

A $23 million tender was also opened on Wednesday by the Western Parkland City Authority for the first collection of equipment for the AMRF. This comprises an industrial and a lab-scale laser powder bed fusion 3D printer, plus powder handling equipment, plus powder handling equipment and consumables.

Picture: www.ge.com

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