AMT DEC/JAN 2021

Page 12

010

FROM THE CEO SHANE INFANTI – Chief Executive Officer AMTIL

Let’s take the initiative on initiatives Boy oh boy it is hard to get a good handle on the Federal Government’s $1.5bn manufacturing assistance package announced in September! The objective to position Australia as a modern manufacturing leader, to energise the sector, build scale and lead us through a post-COVID recovery is indeed admirable and the sort of foresight, to be frank, our manufacturing industry has been looking for. The issue now is in the detail. The $1.3bn Modern Manufacturing Initiative is the centrepiece of the strategy, promising to enable businesses to access funds in order to transform ideas into commercial reality. I’ll come back to this later, but at present full details of the Modern Manufacturing Initiative are yet to be announced. Let’s change the subject back to some of the other aspects of the Government’s proposed funding. The Manufacturing Modernisation Fund (MMF) has $52.8m that is targeted at supporting roughly 150 companies that have a solid business plan to invest in new technology, upskill workers and create new jobs. Great idea. Great initiative. This is the second round of this Program and the early indications from the first round is that the majority of recipients have achieved revenue growth and job creation. So let’s get on with it. We are still waiting for this second round of the MMF to open. This is what I mean by getting a handle on the overall package. We are in unprecedented times, lots of post-COVID talk, great opportunities and strong verbal commitment from our leaders. These promises need to be delivered on as soon as possible. As welcome and needed as these funding grants are for the businesses that are lucky enough to get them, the ones that allocate time and resources to put proposals in and miss out have in a lot of cases put off investment decisions in the hope of securing funds. So the timing of the grant program and funding allocations is critical. I like the Supply Chain Resilience Initiative. Identifying existing capability, mapping that to future COVID-19 requirements and building these supply chains has a great deal of merit. COVID-19 has no doubt had an incredible impact on businesses. On a positive note, many have identified their ability to provide critical products and have taken advantage of this potential. Government support to help companies identify these opportunities, build scale and access global supply chains is welcome. We are far from resolving this pandemic and the early indication is that Australian companies have the intellect and ability to provide these critical goods and service. Why then, are we waiting until the middle of next year to get details of the funding available? As I have said, it’s hard to get a handle on the initiatives due to the lack of detail and timeliness of actions. Now I need to come back to the Manufacturing Modernisation Initiative, because as it has been promoted, it is the Morrison Government’s solution to unlocking the potential to deliver growth for our industry for decades to come. There is an indication that a road map needs to be completed for each of the six targeted sectors (Resources Technology & Critical Minerals Processing, Food & Beverage, Medical Products, Recycling & Clean Energy, Defence and Space). I’m sceptical about

“We are far from resolving this pandemic and the early indication is that Australian companies have the intellect and ability to provide these critical goods and service. Why then, are we waiting until the middle of next year to get details of the funding available?” roadmaps. Not because they are not important – more so because they inevitably have a use-by date depending on who has written them and who they have been commissioned by. We have Industry Growth Centres, funded by the Commonwealth, that have a mandate to advise Government on what is required to help transition Australia’s highly skilled manufacturers into global leaders. Surely they have most of the answers already. I hate the idea that roadmaps, commissioned reports and more industry consultation are going to hold up the details and rollout of this initiative. If that is the case, we will constantly be on this merrygo-round of industry-led, government-funded policy development that doesn’t produce the desired result. The Morrison Government and Industry Minister Karen Andrews have given us the shot in the arm. The adrenalin is pumping and we are ready for activity. Manufacturing, for a while, was front page news, and rightfully so given how important it is to our nation. We can’t let it disappear back to the middle pages by taking too long to put these initiatives in place.

AMTIL DIGITAL BANNERS 60,000

ONLINE AD IMPRESSIONS

7,000

VISITORS

Figures quoted are average monthly statistics. Package dependent

25,000

PAGE VIEWS

Call Anne Samuelsson for your FREE 2021 AMTIL Digital Media Kit on 0400 115 525 or email asamuelsson@amtil.com.au

AMT DEC/JAN 2021

1510AMTIL/V3

www.amtil.com.au


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook

Articles inside

A new approach to making aircraft parts

7min
pages 104-105

AMTIL FORUMS

18min
pages 108-111

MANUFACTURING HISTORY – A look back in time

5min
pages 120-122

WELDING

8min
pages 102-103

SENSORS & PROCESS CONTROL

3min
page 107

maxon motors heading to Mars

3min
page 101

Motoring a revival for the food & beverage industry

3min
page 100

CSIRO and partners take aim at ending plastic waste

6min
pages 96-97

Variable speed drives: the dark side

4min
page 99

Additive manfuacturing lights the way for Burn Brite

4min
page 98

ONE ON ONE

15min
pages 90-93

Melvelle’s rail maintenance on track with Mazak

8min
pages 88-89

SHOC: 3D printing the perfect fit for visor upgrade

4min
page 94

Raymax Applications – 25 years of laser solutions

5min
pages 86-87

Mazak unveils next-gen compact five-axis VMC

3min
page 75

Sustainability woven into the fabric

5min
pages 84-85

New fibre laser gives JC Butko total quality control

6min
pages 78-79

Leussink Engineering – ever-growing capabilities

5min
pages 82-83

COMPANY FOCUS

7min
pages 70-71

Hypertherm’s XPR300 - Raising productivity, quality

6min
pages 80-81

Bremont luxury watchmaker doubles capacity

3min
page 74

New MultiSwiss helps SPM progress medical turning

5min
pages 76-77

Deep hole drilling with high pressure MQL

6min
pages 68-69

Overcoming process uncertainty to reduce scrap/rework

7min
pages 66-67

Iscar – Stainless competence

11min
pages 62-65

3D printing electric vehicles: The future of automotive?

4min
pages 54-55

Jayco Australia – Safe working with Smart Badge

8min
pages 60-61

ViscoTec revolutionises dispensing applications in e-mobility

4min
pages 58-59

HSP 4x4 Accessories: Australian-made, competing globally

5min
pages 52-53

Bentley Group invests in versatility from MaxiTRANS

6min
pages 50-51

VOICEBOX Opinions from across the manufacturing industry

25min
pages 30-35

Set to charge – Australia and the EV revolution

18min
pages 44-49

INDUSTRY NEWS Current news from the Industry

22min
pages 20-29

From the Ministry

4min
pages 14-15

From The Union

4min
pages 18-19

From the Industry

4min
pages 16-17

From the CEO

4min
pages 12-13
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.