Last year Frucor Suntory (Oceania) announced a $400 million (AUD) investment into a new state-of-the-art manufacturing and distribution facility in Swanbank, Queensland.
The new facility will be a game changer for the Oceania region, enabling Frucor Suntory to meet growing customer demand, strengthen in-house capability, and create a platform for further innovation as a future-focused business.
Swanbank will be an entirely net-zero operation and have the immediate capacity to deliver 20 million cases per annum, with the opportunity to scale in the coming years.
Construction has commenced, and the facility is set to come online in mid-2024.
This week Frucor Suntory teamed up with the Queensland Government's Advance Queensland initiative to deliver a pitch challenge for virtual and extended reality experts to pitch innovative training and safety solutions in a manufacturing environment.
Following pitches from four shortlisted companies, tech start-up, Nexefy emerged victorious! The company's pitch earned them $80,000 (AUD) and the incredible opportunity to collaborate with Frucor Suntory in shaping the future of the Queensland facility.
Nexefy is known for creating immersive training experiences, using extended reality to create transformational learning programs. This approach will be a game changer in a manufacturing environment as training can be delivered in a truly immersive way with zero safety risk for participants.
The team will continue working closely with Frucor Suntory to develop virtual training and safety programs further.
Innovation Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said collaboration with industry, local start-ups and entrepreneurs was essential for building Queensland jobs and manufacturing. "The Advance Queensland initiative is about turning great Queensland ideas into the job-creating Queensland industries of the future in a competitive global environment," Mr Hinchliffe said.
"Pitch challenges backed by Advance Queensland have a great track record for connecting the Queensland know-how of home-grown start-ups like Nexefy with Australian and international investors."
Mark Toomey, Program Transformation Director at Frucor Suntory, shared his enthusiasm for the collaboration and stated that seeing the creativity and talent the local business community offers was fantastic.
"Our site will be world-class, and it's incredible to be able to source the technology and expertise we need as we build our new facility. The site will be online mid-2024, and we're incredibly excited about our future."
Nexefy will embark on a partnership pilot program with Frucor Suntory to expand and refine the solution for implementation at the new facility.
