SPEE3D launches first phase of planned 50-factory metal AM network
SPEE3D, headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, has launched Phase One of NodeZERO in Darwin, the first of fifty rapidly deployable advanced manufacturing factories planned across the Asia Pacific region as part of its CriticalSPEE3D network. The initiative aims to enable the production of critical metal parts close to where they are needed.
The network is intended to support facilities such as gas plants, mines, ports and defence bases, where a single missing or failed component can halt operations. Replacement parts sourced from overseas can take months to arrive.
“Our plan is simple: factories everywhere,” stated Steven Camilleri, SPEE3D co-founder and Chief Technology Officer. “Small, easily reached factories, the size of a basketball court, close to every base, mine and port. Fifty factories to start, and the first one is right here in Northern Australia. This is where it begins.”
NodeZERO is planned to serve as the training and qualification hub for the CriticalSPEE3D network. The initiative is expected to create technical roles across Northern Australia and the wider region, including advanced manufacturing operators, trainees, CNC machining specialists, quality assurance personnel and application engineers.
SPEE3D plans to recruit locally in the Northern Territory and provide on-site training, with pathways supported by organisations including Charles Darwin University and TAFE NT. The initiative also includes Indigenous recruitment and training.
“There’s a dire need to increase Australia’s advanced manufacturing capabilities, particularly in remote places like the Northern Territory. A facility like NodeZERO will become critical for our workforce and strategic future, and at Charles Darwin University, we look forward to the local research and training opportunities,” said Professor Steve Rogers, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research and Community Connection at Charles Darwin University.
“We have had a long-term, fruitful research and training partnership with SPEE3D through the joint initiative ‘the Advanced Manufacturing Alliance’, and these future collaborations are the natural progression of this relationship.”
At the launch, representatives from industry, defence and government watched a metal part being produced using SPEE3D’s Cold Spray Additive Manufacturing process. The technology propels metal powder at up to three times the speed of sound to produce parts without melting, moulds or lasers.
According to SPEE3D, its technology has been used in seventy deployments worldwide, including in combat and maritime, desert and Arctic environments. The company states that the process can produce military-grade metal parts in hours rather than days or weeks.
“Every commander and every operations manager knows what it’s like to wait on one part,” said Bryan O’Connor, SPEE3D’s Global CEO. “Our technology has already shown it can end that wait in the field, with soldiers, in hours. CriticalSPEE3D puts that capability where the Asia Pacific region needs it, close to the bases, ports and industry that keep it running. Your critical parts, now made here.”
NodeZERO Phase One is now open to founding members, including organisations requiring critical metal parts in Northern Australia and beyond.
