Leading gas and engineering company BOC, a Linde company, today officially opened a new Application Technology Centre in South-West Sydney to drive innovation and productivity improvements across the Australian manufacturing industry.

Officially opened by Senator the Hon Tim Ayres, Assistant Minister for Trade and Manufacturing, the new world-class facility will showcase state-of-the-art welding processes and equipment to customers, industry and educators, with a focus on industry 4.0 technologies that make customers more productive.   

Smart welding equipment and BOC’s high-performance gases are used to help Australian manufacturers remain competitive by improving welding speeds, producing high-quality welds, reducing manual handling and improving safety. The facility demonstrates the benefits of welding cobots to semi-automate welding processes to help solve skilled welder shortage challenges and improve welding productivity.   

With livestream capabilities, BOC gas and metal fabrication specialists will be able to give face-to-face or virtual demonstrations to any customer location in Australia. Assistant Minister Ayres said the brand-new facility shows BOC’s commitment to helping Australian manufacturing and supporting jobs in Western Sydney. 

“It is great to see companies, just like BOC, investing in new innovative facilities and developing cutting-edge technologies,” he said. 

“It is critical that businesses continue to invest in research and development to ensure they can remain globally competitive and create the high-value, high-wage and high-tech jobs of the future. 

“Our government is determined to see the Australian industry thrive with a future made in Australia, that’s why we created the largest industry policy in Australia history – a $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund.”   

John Evans, Managing Director, BOC South Pacific, said the new facility would allow BOC to practically demonstrate productivity improvements and share innovation from its global research and development centres in Munich, Shanghai and New York.     

“BOC is committed to sharing our local and global technical expertise to ensure Australian manufacturers remain competitive into the future. We have partnered with leading manufacturing OEMs to take our automation and industry 4.0 solutions to the next level,” he said.  

“The Application Technology Centre provides an interactive, technology-ready space for customers and industry to solve challenges and learn how smart welding processes and equipment can improve quality, productivity and safety. Education is vital to help businesses plan and invest for the future.

“Our gas and metal fabrication specialists can use the facility to replicate key challenges in Australian factories, and recommend solutions that can achieve productivity improvements. In some cases, this can be a simple welding gas or wire change, or automating parts of a welding process to solve labour challenges or using data to make more informed business choices."

Mr Evans said BOC has been proudly doing business in Western Sydney for more than 30 years and is committed to continuous investment in the region.

“We have invested more than $130 million in many facilities, including our Sydney Operations Centre, BOC’s busiest production site processing in excess of 1.3 million cylinders each year,” he said.   Guests at the opening were taken on a tour of the facility including live demonstrations of a welding co-bot, arc projectors and shielding gas performance line demonstration.  

The facility is the second Application Technology Centre for BOC in Australia, which includes another Application Technology Centre in Rocklea, Queensland.