{"id":620751,"date":"2026-04-21T05:46:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T05:46:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/620751\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T05:46:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T05:46:10","slug":"industrial-transformation-australia-2026-to-tackle-manufacturings-toughest-investment-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/620751\/","title":{"rendered":"Industrial Transformation Australia 2026 to tackle manufacturing\u2019s toughest investment question"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australia is recording its slowest decade of productivity growth in 60 years, and the businesses behind that economy are being pushed to invest in automation, AI and digital transformation to remain competitive. Yet those who have invested are not always seeing the payoff.<\/p>\n

Only 32 per cent of industrial organisations say their operations technology investments have delivered expected results, according to PwC\u2019s Digital Trends in Operations survey, while 56 per cent of CEOs report AI investments have generated no significant cost or revenue improvements.<\/p>\n

So, with pressure mounting from every direction, the question for manufacturers becomes simple: to spend or not to spend? And if the answer is yes, where should that investment be placed to ensure the business remains competitive five years from now?<\/p>\n

Industrial Transformation Australia 2026 aims to help answer that question, with its 2026 agenda now announced and available at industrialtransformation.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n

Taking place as part of the broader Industrial Transformation Australia (ITA) exhibition at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, and co-located with CeMAT Australia and the Processing & Packaging Pavilion powered by APPMA, this year\u2019s conference agenda has been curated to help manufacturers better understand where the industry stands today, what technologies are delivering genuine value, and which emerging trends may still be more hype than reality. The co-location gives attendees access to a wider cross-section of the industrial supply chain, from advanced manufacturing and automation through to logistics, warehousing, processing and packaging.<\/p>\n

Among the agenda highlights is David Martin, Director of Emerging Industries and Innovation at the Australian Industry Group, who will present Taking Stock: Where Australian Manufacturing Stands Today. His session will provide attendees with a critical market reset, grounding transformation discussions in the current realities facing Australian industry before looking ahead to what comes next.<\/p>\n

From there, the agenda explores the technologies shaping manufacturing\u2019s future, including Professor Jared Cole, Professor of Physics at RMIT, who will tackle one of the sector\u2019s most debated frontier technologies in Quantum Computing: The Future of Computing, Vapourware, or Somewhere in Between?<\/p>\n

The practical realities of implementation will also be explored, with sessions including Democratising Industry 4.0: Practical Digital Transformation for Australian Manufacturers, addressing how businesses can move beyond theory and begin implementing scalable transformation strategies, and Bridging the Gap Between AI Intent and Execution, focused on turning AI ambition into operational outcomes.<\/p>\n

Commercial reality remains front and centre throughout the program, with sessions such as Smart Factories or Smart Spending? Justifying ROI examining how manufacturers can build the business case for transformation before committing capital.<\/p>\n

Together, the agenda positions Industrial Transformation Australia 2026 not as a showcase of technology for technology\u2019s sake, but as a strategic platform for manufacturers seeking clarity on where to invest, what to avoid, and how to navigate transformation with confidence.<\/p>\n

Industrial Transformation Australia 2026 will take place from 23 to 25 June 2026 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, co-located with CeMAT Australia and the APPMA Processing & Packaging Pavilion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australia is recording its slowest decade of productivity growth in 60 years, and the businesses behind that economy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":620752,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-620751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=620751"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620751\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/620752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=620751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=620751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=620751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}