About Us

Flinders Factory of the Future and its staff can be an extension of the equipment and capabilities of every individual Australian manufacturer.

It is a facility first and foremost for leaders of manufacturing businesses to talk with researchers and professionals from Flinders University to solve problems and reveal opportunities. This is practical and applied problem solving to achieve genuine commercial outcomes for the business.

Located in the globally recognised Tonsley Innovation District, Flinders Factory of the Future is already working with a range of forward-thinking local and national and international businesses such as Siemens, Sage Automation, ZEISS, Micro X or Tesla.

Currently operational at Line Zero in Tonsley’s Main Assembly Building (MAB), the facility is expanding, with new spaces scheduled for completion in mid-2025.

Our Expertise

Flinders Factory of the Future is led by a core team with significant research expertise. Working with us, you tap into a vast range of highly skilled professionals, including psychologists, human factors and ergonomics specialists, engineers, scientists, economists, and social scientists, all with extensive experience in industry collaboration. We are ready to support you to realise your businesses full potential.

Our Facilities and Equipment

Flinders Factory of the Future is strategically located at Line Zero in the Tonsley Innovation District, South Australia. In collaboration with the Department of Education’s Tonsley Technical College, we are expanding our facilities with a new building, also situated within the Tonsley Innovation District.

Our facility is equipped with a range of advanced technologies, including augmented reality and virtual reality headsets, a range of cobot welding and assembly work cells, vision systems, various sensors, precision laser scanning, upper body exoskeletons and metal 3D printing. Other larger pieces of equipment include an electromagnetic testing chamber and an industrial robot. Across the Tonsley district and at the main Flinders campus there is a range of other labs and equipment that can be accessed for specific projects.

The range of equipment available will be constantly reviewed and influenced by the emerging needs of the businesses we are working with. We are also interested in partnering with equipment and technology companies to demonstrate, test, develop use cases and collaborate to improve performance. If you are a technology provider, contact us below.

Collaborative Networks

Flinders Factory of the Future team is locally focused but globally connected. The Factory of the Future is supported by a local and international collaborative network of advanced manufacturing facilities including:

ARMHub and the Australian Manufacturing Capability Network (AMCN) in Australia
The Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) in Sheffield, UK
The University of Strathclyde’s Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC) and the National Manufacturing Institute of Scotland (NMIS) in the UK.

These collaborations strengthen the manufacturing sector by exchanging experiences and sharing knowledge with technology leaders, and by learning from joint-research programmes.

To build on these partnerships, scholars are travelling from South Australia to the UK through the Advanced Manufacturing Research Exchange (AMREx).