A simulation hub to help Asia-Pacific businesses break into the global supply chain has launched in South Australia.

In a partnership between global advanced manufacturing giant Siemens, the South Australian government, and Simulation Australasia, the hub will deliver advanced system simulation software training to companies and universities.

“There is an understanding that industry, particularly manufacturing, require assistance to transition from traditional to advanced,” Simulation Australasia chief executive John Stewart said. “The problem has been that there was no training to assist in this transformation. The solution was to develop a training package that is tailored to assist manufacturing in understanding what they are actually capable of and linking them into the global supply chain.”

Stewart said the training would initially target companies struggling to coming out of the defunct car manufacturing business but was available to anyone in the Asia Pacific region as long as the training was delivered in South Australia.

He said virtual and constructive simulations could be used to create prototypes quickly and cheaply and help realize savings.

“We’re using simulation as a productivity tool for economic development,” Stewart said. “In manufacturing, a prototype might cost you $500,000. The simulation tool can let you rapidly prototype something for a fraction of the cost. You can test, retest and get it ready for market without any of the expense you would have previously had and that’s part of the advanced manufacturing process.”

The three-day training course educates companies about the possibilities of the Siemens simulation software to create prototypes, quickly and cheaply, and use modelling to make efficiency savings.

“We might say to a mining company ‘we can load your ships faster’ and we’ll prove it to them that by using the simulation software they can load that ship so much faster,” Stewart said. “By making tiny tweaks they can increase their productivity by massive amounts.”

The South Australian Government contributed $250,000 to help establish the hub. The approximate value of the 10 Siemens LMS technology licenses and support is in excess of $2.7 million.

“It’s the only training package in Australia designed to give them a rapid hand up into the global supply chain,” Stewart said. “We want to bring organizations in from overseas and train them here. We can bring people in from anywhere around the world.”

Siemens Limited chief executive officer Jeff Connolly said the partnership would prepare industry to participate in global supply chains. “Access to advanced system simulation software,” he said, “means that South Australian companies can now apply their ingenuity and knowhow using globally recognized tools to bring their ideas to life and fully simulate and test them in a virtual world.”