Carbonfibre attracts overseas investment

VCAMM is not your run-of-the-mill firm. In fact, it couldn't be further removed from that industrial revolution phrase, being funded by research institutions and putting SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) in touch with those research institutions and government departments for funding.

As a business entity, VCAMM (Victorian Centre for Advanced Materials Manufacturing) produces nothing -- concrete or abstract -- but it is an agent of change and provides project management expertise to small companies with a good idea but no wherewithal to make something of that idea.

Headed by CEO Brad Dunstan, VCAMM is already a successful money-spinner for materials-reliant manufacturing in this country. Dunstan, a former engineer at HSV with an interest in aviation from his time serving with the RAAF, is optimistic that Australia can be at the very leading edge of materials technology.

"For the last three years I've been banging on the doors of federal and state government [concerning] carbonfibre," says Dunstan.

"My premise is that in 1900, if you wanted to be an advanced economy you had to have an iron foundry; you had to be able to cast iron and be able to make steel. In 1950, you had to make aluminium. The government at that time set up things like Comalco, etc. They funded it [but] they don't do that sort of thing now. To be an advanced economy now, you've got to make carbonfibre.

"We don't do it at all. We're less than 1 per cent of the world's usage of carbonfibre -- and the majority of that's with Boeing...

"So over that three years I've now convinced government that they need to focus on it and in the last six months we've got $47 million worth of funding to set up a carbonfibre research furnace down at Deakin. Now, we've done that not just to do research because it's fun, but to put a pin in the map for Australia, so that when they look around the world they see Australia's doing stuff in carbon. Since we've had that announcement, the emails and the phones have been running hot with everybody around the world: 'What are you doing, how can we work with you?'

"Boeing: 'you're doing fundamental research, we need to support, we need to be involved with you...'

"We're getting the interest [from abroad] because we've now made a significant investment in carbonfibre. The industry, the manufacturers overseas, are looking for an excuse to be here. There hasn't been one because there are not enough users. What they see as the advantage -- now that we've got them to focus on what we're doing -- is a stable economy, stable power supply, stable investment, very good intellectual property protection -- and they've got a number of free trade agreements, which enable them to export to Asia, the US, etc, without going through high taxation.

"We want to secure the supply chain, we want to set up a manufacturer here, then... we could educate the manufacturers here [in] how to make the carbonfibre."

Dunstan applies a floor tile analogy to explain where he sees VCAMM fitting into the manufacturing R&D context.

"Industry's got a very nice tile -- they're profitable -- research is doing a great job here, government's doing a great job here, but nobody connects. We're the grout that connects the complete tile floor."

So VCAMM is a privately funded body that encourages research in a country that arguably boasts a respectable track record at developing and inventing, only to see the fruits of our labour sold off overseas when companies here have failed to invest in local efforts. According to Dunstan, VCAMM, which has flown under the radar of public profile to an extent, is already producing results in the opposite direction.

"We just had an independent audit done on what VCAMM's [achieved] in the last seven years -- from the Victorian government... Created a billion dollars worth of economic activity in the state, created over a hundred new jobs, created $50 million worth of small to medium businesses by getting intellectual property [and] incubating it -- some in auto, some in ballistic protection, some in bio-[technology], etc. So it's been a real challenge.

"It's been a real learning experience going from concept cars, putting them on the front cover and standing at motor shows to working with the minister [Jacinta Allan, Victoria's Minister for Industry and Trade], working with governments -- state and federal (I'm on a number of advisory panels) -- and helping guys with ideas get them into the marketplace.

So where did VCAMM come from? For Dunstan, it's one of those inspired-idea-meets-midlife-crisis fairytales. The story begins during his final years at HSV.

"You may remember the HRT 427, the Monaro? That was the last car that I did and it had carbonfibre bonnet, magnesium diff housings and aluminium componentry -- taking the weight out...

"I was working in the field of taking the weight out at that time, to improve performance times -- but I realised there was a problem getting the information out of the research community and getting it into the automotive industry. The opportunity came up to work with the research providers.

"It wasn't likely at the time with Crenno [former HSV boss John Crennan] at the helm that I was going to become the MD, so it was an opportunity to step out, work in this technology field, see if I could create a business, make it viable... Seven years down, I haven't looked back."

VCAMM is funded by the Victorian state government, the CSIRO and Victorian universities: Deakin, Monash, Latrobe and Swinburne. The principal aim of the company is to encourage businesses at the leading edge of materials technology (and not just carbonfibre necessarily), to "develop intellectual property that makes them globally competitive."

A recent agreement between BMW and American company SGL for the supply of 4000 tonnes a year of carbonfibre, for use in the production of the Megacity electric vehicle "put the whole carbonfibre world on its ear," says Dunstan.

According to the VCAMM exec, by 2018 companies around the world will need "in excess of 120,000 tonnes per annum of carbonfibre." Total global production of the material currently doesn't approach that amount and the few manufacturers of the product are not geared up for this kind of demand.

"So there's this huge wave looming, and for once, we've got the opportunity to set Australia up to surf the wave, rather than trying to speed-boat behind it. That's our vision: let's secure this... let's start educating the suppliers.

"Let's start educating people who are stamping metal brackets for Holden, Ford and Toyota, so that they can manufacturer carbon. In a few years, when that wave hits, they're there and they can say: 'Here [are] components that we've already made."

For the moment, there's one stumbling block: the cost of working in the composite material. Dunstan admits that it's a major hurdle to overcome, but improving manufacturing processes can overcome the cost and the time, which is currently manifested in the cost of goods sold.

"An engine hood for Holden, for example, out of steel is in the order of $20 to $50; it'll be in the order of $500 in the current process with carbonfibre. It sort of doesn't make sense, but the cost of making carbonfibre is coming down. The other challenge is to be able to bang it out for a hundred thousand cars a day...

"If we use the autoclave to do it... you've got to put it in the mould, vacuum-bag it down, put it inside the thing, close the door, push the button, the gas pressurises up inside and the heat comes on, it cures -- might take 15 minutes to cure, but it takes you half an hour to get there... The challenge there is to get that faster and faster."

Dunstan argues that carbonfibre is better for the environment, because of its "infinite fatigue life," and is safer than steel in a crash. He admits to foreseeing a time in the future when carbonfibre could be as common in vehicle construction as steel is currently.

As for VCAMM, the scope of its work broadens with each passing year, Dunstan says. He cited ballistic protection work for the Australian Army and biotech that increases stem cell yield for bone-marrow transplant by as much as 20 times the yield available through current practices.

"Anything to do with advanced manufacturing processes, we help with [that]... My day is a lot different from when I was at HSV."

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