White Paper: Capability drivers for Queensland manufacturing

While the impact of the GFC for Australia manufacturers was less severe than first thought, the industry experienced an overall decline as a contribution to Australia’s GDP between 2005-06 and 2009-10 was 0.8%, falling from 9.5% to 8.7%.

The issue of manufacturing competitiveness has reached a seminal turning point for the industry in terms of its ability to remain competitive. Professor Goran Roos, former Thinker in Residence for the South Australian Government and current Chairman of the Advanced Manufacturing Council in Adelaide, in his 2011 Manufacturing into the Future Report, asserts the GFC changed the competitive environment for Australian manufacturing from a low-cost competitive environment to a high-cost one.

As a result, manufacturers need to realign themselves with some of key sources for competitive advantage in this new environment. Roos contends that these come from:

• innovation which is not limited to technology but also includes design and organisational innovation
• repositioning to leverage opportunities in renewable and alternative energy technologies
• unique opportunities to access resource projects and the global supply chain

This White Paper focuses on the third opportunity proposed by Roos – the ability of manufacturers (suppliers) to increase their capability so they are able to better compete for access to resource-related projects. The suppliers examined for this paper are based in Queensland, Australia.

Click here to access the White Paper.

ICN helps IDEC win $4.2 million contract

An online database that links suppliers with projects helped steel fabricator IDEC Solutions win a $4.2 million contract on the Gold Coast University Hospital.

Industry Capability Network (ICN) in Queensland recommend businesses registered on ICN Gateway for projects such as Gold Coast University Hospital based on the suppliers' capacity and capability.

Idec Solutions Senior Projects Manager Ian Glover registered the company on ICN Gateway in early 2010 after investigating information on its services.

“I was doing my own research when I heard about ICN and the assistance it provides. Through registering with ICN, we have had a lot of exposure and been able to tender for more projects.”

ICN also helped Idec win a tender to supply 120 tonnes of steel to the $408 million redevelopment of the Mackay Base Hospital, which is scheduled for completion in 2013.

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