The Swinburne University of Technology will be leading a research project that will develop new technology, which will get milk from farm to fridge more quickly.
The project, which is valued at over AU$ 2 million, will enhance the productivity and competitiveness of Australia’s AU$ 13.7 billion dairy industry.
According to a recent press release, the ‘Live Inbound Milk Supply Chain Monitoring and Logistics for Productivity and Competitiveness’ project (Milk Supply Chain Project) has just received AU$ 600,000 under round 7 of the Federal Government’s Cooperative Research Centres Projects (CRC-P).
The CRC-P is designed to improve the effectiveness of Australian research by bringing researchers and industry together to solve real-world problems and deliver tangible outcomes.
The Milk Supply Chain Project
The University’s two-and-a-half-year project will develop an Internet of Things (IOT)-based system that links dairy farms, milk carriers and a milk processor.
In addition, it will allow live monitoring of milk supply chains. The data collected will enable highly accurate milk supply forecasting.
The Milk Supply Chain Project will be conducted in collaboration with an Australian dairy company, and Australian telecommunications company, and three Australian milk suppliers.
The Director of the University’s Internet of Things Lab and project researcher, Professor Dimitrios Georgakopoulos, explained that the project will improve operational efficiencies and create opportunities to generate revenue.
They will be using cutting-edge technology, which will include over 700 sensors, in order to measure specific aspects of the supply chain.
Moreover, the project will be using the newly-deployed Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) network of the telecommunications company.
This network is considered as the country’s largest IoT network as well as one of the largest in the world.
According to the Professor, the data that will be collected by the IoT sensors will find trends to make production schedules more efficient and enable highly accurate milk supply forecasting.
These collectively enhance the chain’s productivity and competitiveness.
Swinburne continues to celebrate industry research success
This Milk Supply Chain Project is the fourth project of the University to receive funding under the CRC-P grant scheme since it was introduced in 2016.
Separate rounds have allocated funding to:
- Develop a new and unique biodegradable and renewable bio-based oil
- Introduce an Australian graphene characterisation and certification capability
- Investigate high-performance energy storage alternatives to lithium-ion batteries.
Swinburne 4.0
The Milk Chain Supply Project is a part of the University’s Industry 4.0 Initiative.
This initiative helps global industry solve challenges and create opportunities from the profound changes wrought by the industrial revolution.
Swinburne is the only university in Australia with a holistic Industry 4.0 strategy and recently won the Australian Business Award for Business Innovation.