Business Chief - ANZ, February 2018

CITY FOCUS

CANBERRA

February 2018

ANZ EDITION

TOP 10

Australian IPOs of 2017

ORDER-IN

and the rise of corporate catering

THE ROAD TO

DIGITAL BANKING

The source of value

Procurement executives across the globe continue to see the potential they can unlock throughout the supply chain. They understand that business today is about engaging, collaborating, adapting instantly to evolving needs, and finding new sources of value. Getting that value, however, can prove a challenge.

FOREWORD HELLO AND WELCOME to the February’s ANZ edition of Business Chief magazine.

First up this month is an exclusive interview with Order-In Managing Director Jonathan Rowley, who reveals how the corporate catering firm has made its way in the industry and what its plans are for the years ahead.

“The reality is that every business, no matter where they are, has some form of food or catering coming to their office, whether companies use it to entertain clients, put on a morning tea for 10 staff members or want fruit boxes,” he tells Niki Waldegrave.

“Most businesses everywhere

www.anz.businesschief.com

in Australia have some form of catering need. Our plan is to be the household name for that solution.”

Our City Focus feature takes a look at the Australian capital Canberra, while this edition’s top 10 charts the most significant IPOs to have taken place in recent times.

Also featured is an interview with Daimler’s Conrad Fritzsch about the company’s digital transformation efforts, a compilation of comments from CEOs about retaining top talent, and an analysis of how new tech can help to mitigate operational risks.

Enjoy the issue!

www.bizclikmedia.com

3

F E AT U R E S

L E A D E R S H I P & S T R AT E G Y

08

Order-In and the rise of corporate catering TECHNOLOGY

16

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION: CHANGE FOR THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE

24 PEOPLE

What’s the key to keeping your best talent?

S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y

34

Why operational risk management is vital – and where it’s headed

44

CITY FOCUS

CANBERRA

TOP 10

TOP 10 AUSTRALIAN IPOS OF 2017

52

60

Heritage Bank

72

Schneider Electric

Technology

Mining

84

Roy Hill Holdings Pty Ltd

Mining

94

Enervest Energy

106 Prysmian Energy

118 Civmec Energy

THE WORKING LUNCH

Order-In and the rise of corporate catering Corporate catering company OrderIn turns 18 this year. Managing Director Jonathan Rowley reveals its successes and forecasts for the future Wr it te n by N I K I WA LD EG R AV E

L E A D E R S H I P & S T R AT E G Y

L E A D E R S H I P & S T R AT E G Y CORPORATE CATERING IN Australia is approximately a $2.5bn market – and Order-In (established in 2000) is taking advantage of it, with 5,000 clients, 750 suppliers and an annual revenue of $16mn.

Order-In has catered for 17mn people via more than 970,000 order deliveries since its conception.

An average order with the company costs around $400 and its service levels exceed 98.8% for being on-time.

Most of Order-Ins clients reside in Australia’s major cities, and Managing Director Jonathan Rowley reveals that the company’s focus for the next few years is aggressive national growth.

Order-In is targeting Victoria and Queensland in the next 12 months, Canberra, Perth and Adelaide over 18 months, and regional areas – such as the Gold Coast and Newcastle – over the next two years.

“We organically grew across the Eastern seaboard,” explains Rowley. “I was always of the opinion that the business was only coming from the CBDs; if they can afford a sign on the top of a building, they can afford catering.

“But the reality is that every business, no matter where they are, 10

February 2018

has some form of food or catering coming to their office, whether companies use it to entertain clients, put on a morning tea for 10 staff members or want fruit boxes.

“Most businesses everywhere in Australia have some form of catering need. Our plan is to be the household name for that solution.”

Order-In services a mix of blue chip companies, including Commonwealth Bank, QBE, Cisco, Zurich, Main Lease, CBP contractors, Energex and Origin Energy, along with the likes of Red Bull, eBay and Gumtree.

“We’ve had to organically fund all of our growth, and initially targeted big blue-chip companies because they have a lot of staff, hold a lot of meetings and are profitable businesses, so catering is something they can afford to do,” Rowley explains.

“Startup IT companies in the early days, like Twitter and Facebook, were on a shoe-string budget so they weren’t really companies that we targeted. But these days, they’ve got a lot of funding behind them and have all these cool people working for them.

“Companies use tasty food to keep employees happy, and we’re

‘(Rowley) WAS the business – he was the sales person, the bookkeeper, the customer service person, “the really bad marketing person”, and worked with a support team of five’

starting to get a lot more of that business now. If you look at what Menulog did to home take-away food, that’s what we’re doing to business catering because, ironically, the market size is not dissimilar.”

In the last 12 months, Order-In’s website has witnessed a 98% increase in traffic, with 25,400 user reviews, and has doubled its supplier base, both nationally and locally, in the last year.

“It’s a huge success,” adds Rowley, crediting his employees. “We’re extremely happy with where we’re

at, and are really excited about the future – and it comes down to the team. There are 35 of us, and despite being so much larger nowadays, our service levels have never been higher.

“We track all our orders for on-time delivery and customer satisfaction, and the statistic is 98.8%. One of our big successes is that 84% of all orders are now placed online, which means customers are capable and feel comfortable to jump online and order a cocktail party for 50 or however many people.”

11

But it wasn’t always so. Rowley launched Order-In in 2000 during the MySpace heyday, and the innovative online catering platform was a worldfirst for Australian businesses to easily order food online – ranging from canapes to sandwiches, morning tea and pastries to gourmet cocktail parties – and have it delivered.

At this time, the internet was still relatively new. Tweeting was for birds, Google and Facebook were unknown, and everyone was emailing via Hotmail. Although Amazon was starting to gain momentum, people were still mistrustful of the web, and certainly uneasy about making financial transactions on it.

“We started Order-In as a platform, a marketplace for caterers, and were the first in the world to do it at that B2B level of food,” he says. “But when we started the business, it failed because not many people trusted the internet at first, let alone spent through it.

“What we’ve found over time is that customers buy on trust and relationships. The objective of the business hasn’t changed since the original business plan, but the customers’ expectations have, which is good, because otherwise 12

February 2018

‘Order-In’s model changed from a technology business, with support when needed, to a customer service business supported by technology’

?

we wouldn’t have lasted.”

One of the initial hurdles was that customers wanted to browse a menu and talk to someone – which goes against a technology platform. As a result, Order-In’s model changed from a technology business, with support when needed, to a customer service

?

L E A D E R S H I P & S T R AT E G Y

?

business supported by technology.

“We did that for the first five years,” Rowley explains, “and at the same time discovered that trust and referral is really important at the B2B level, so we had to go out to the customers to earn their trust before then they would transact

?

through the business platform.”

That slowed growth because it required a sales force, and at that time, Rowley, who lived in Canada and South Africa before coming to Australia 18 years ago, WAS the business – he was the sales person, the bookkeeper, the customer 13

THE ORDER-IN STORY • 5,000 clients • 750 suppliers • Catered for 17mn. people via more than 970,000 order deliveries since conception • Has had a 98 percent increase in traffic to the website in the last 12 months • Has more than 25,400 user reviews online • Doubled its supplier base, both national and local suppliers, in the last year • It caters for parties of five upwards • Its biggest order was for 16,000 people • An average order costs around $400 • Customer satisfaction levels for being on-time is 98.8% • Its service levels exceed 98.8% for being on-time • Order-In is targeting Victoria and Queensland in the next 12 months, Canberra, Perth and Adelaide over 18 months, and regional areas – such as the Gold Coast and Newcastle – over 24 months

14

February 2018

L E A D E R S H I P & S T R AT E G Y service person, “the really bad marketing person”, and worked with a support team of five.

“One of the reasons we started to grow really rapidly was due to something we hadn’t even considered – that big businesses like to order in,” he adds. “Not because of the platform that we gave, or even the clients so much, but because we give them a single source supplier.

“So, they get all these soft cost savings as it’s all on one invoice, no matter who they use. And they love it.”

With a strong sense of corporate social responsibility, the company urges clients with excess or unneeded corporate catering to donate it to OzHarvest, which then distributes it to those in need.

Because Order-In doesn’t actually own any kitchens due to it being “a logistical nightmare”, the suppliers themselves deal directly with the produce and delivery.

Doubling the supplier platform over the last 12 months has seen an influx of international cuisine, such as Thai, Lebanese, Mexican, Korean, Italian and Vietnamese caterers. Some trends are seasonal – in winter the focus can be on hearty food, while

in summer, popular orders include rice paper rolls, salads, wraps, fruit platters and healthy sandwiches.

Order-In caters for as few as five people in one sitting, up to 16,000 – its largest order yet, which was held in December when it provided food and drinks for a celebratory morning tea across four offices of one company.

Rowley claims the corporate environment around catering has changed. Whereas ‘a lovely spread’ used to be all boring white platters with neat, triangle sandwiches lined up, now it’s acceptable for food to be displayed rustic-style, or arrive in disposable, recyclable boxes.

“Office catering used to be stiff and boring, but it doesn’t have to be,” Rowley says. “People eat with their eyes and as a result colour and texture have a huge impact on the guests’ perception of the meal, so have lots of variety of food, flavours and colours on display. Catering is a visual feast.”

So, to settle a debate: do triangle sandwiches with the crusts cut off REALLY taste better, or is it a placebo? “200% it’s true that they taste better,” Rowley laughs.

“Why? Less bread, more filling!”

15

TECHNOLOGY

CHANGE FOR THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE Writ ten by BEN MOUNCER

Digital transformations are now seen as mission critical to businesses large and small, yet Conrad Fritzsch, Mercedes-Benz’s Director of Digitalisation, Marketing & Sales, explains why people as much as technologies are the true drivers of change

TECHNOLOGY

SPEAK TO THE leader of any ambitious business in any region of the world, and it won’t be long before you arrive at one particular topic in the conversation.

‘Digital transformation’ may well rank as the buzziest of buzz phrases from 2017, a year that also made convincing commentators ‘influencers’, heralded any progress points as ‘nextgen’ and redefined an employee’s (human, not robot) working capacity as ‘bandwidth’.

While quirks in language come and 18

February 2018

go, however, the plans and processes that define a ‘digital transformation’ are here to stay. This is no fad. Like the office chairs you sit in and the screens you’re reading on, technology as the vertebrae of a business – and installing it quickly - is becoming less desirable and more just plainly essential.

Yet a recent study, conducted by Vanson Bourne, reported that nine out of every 10 digital transformation projects fail. The research called on input from 450 CIOs, CTOs and

The parent company, Daimler, knows the pairing of its mobility platforms with the trends and futuristic technologies of tomorrow is the answer to the individual needs of its customers

Chief Digital Officers at sizeable companies in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and France. This startling rate of derailed disruption is consensus, not just a manufactured statistic.

Why does the embedding of digital in businesses prove so problematic, when the very people charged with managing that business have, more often than not, made it their priority? Are they trying too hard, losing sight of its true purpose?

“When you have true customerobsession, then this is what will drive your transformation because you see what’s important and what’s not so important” CONRAD FRITZSCH Director of Digitalisation Marketing & Sales at Mercedes-Benz 19

Video: An insight into the experience and shape of digital transformation at Daimler with the Digital Life Day 2017

CONRAD FRITZSCH Director of Digitalisation Marketing & Sales at Mercedes-Benz

Conrad Fritzsch, born in Berlin in 1969 joined Daimler AG in August 2017. He is the Director of Digitalization Marketing & Sales Mercedes-Benz. He is the driver of the digital transformation.

In order to promote entrepreneurial creativity and cooperation, Fritzsch brought digital marketing and IT together within a swarm organization. In his function, he leads the digital transformation and Mercedes me, which offers a digital, personalized ecosystem and is all about to satisfy customer demands.

Besides, he promotes a seamless customer journey, which is ensured through the new website in frontend and backend “OneWeb�. Further he is responsible for eCommerce. With the creation of new international delivery hubs, Fritzsch is also very active in worldwide recruitment of digital high potential employees.

20

February 2018

TECHNOLOGY Conrad Fritzsch is Director of Digitalisation, Marketing & Sales, at Mercedes-Benz. As the overseer of a digital transformation in a worldfamous company steeped in tradition, he is keenly aware of the challenges.

For him, the focus shouldn’t be on technology itself, but on people.

“Customer-obsession is the starting point for any transformation,” he tells Business Chief from the automaker’s headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany.

“In the past (at Mercedes-Benz), often we built things because we can. Technical things, more driven by innovation, more driven by what us as engineers can build. Now we’re trying to find out what our customers want today and tomorrow.

“What is important for our customers? When you have true customer-obsession, then this is what will drive your transformation because you see what’s important and what’s not so important.”

Fritzsch joined Mercedes-Benz’s parent group, Daimler AG, in August 2016. In the short period since he has started the long journey to change, trying to impart his expertise on a company boasting 280,000 employees; a weight of work he

admits being surprised by initially.

“Coming from start-ups, I really underestimated how huge and complex the company is,” he remarks.

The 48-year-old’s primary role is to weave innovative digital products into modern working models, all with the customer’s requirements as the motivation. For example, Fritzsch lead on ‘Mercedes me’, the manufacturer’s range of mobile services and apps that come together to deliver a best-inclass digital service to its customers.

His most notable change so far, though, has been to merge MercedesBenz’s marketing and IT provisions, creating a swarm mentality that has hastened the pace of change from both a technical and personnel perspective.

He claims its most crucial aspect has been the buy-in of the employees.

“The first point that you have to really solve is, does the company want to change or not? Not only the Board, not only the top management, everyone. We have to create a working and culture model that works for all of us.” explains Fritzsch.

“Digital transformation in big companies is more a transformation of the people, from A to B. It’s not too much about digital only; you have to 21

TECHNOLOGY understand that the people are the core in this changing process. Daimler is a fantastic company and it knows that we have to change because the world is changing, the customer is changing.

“In our department, there were around 250 people from IT and the business unit together. We said, ‘Okay, these are our problems we have to solve and these are the people we have’. Then you see white spots because there are new roles we didn’t make! When you build digital products like apps, you need all kinds of experts – so we built a team from both outside experts and inside experts.”

A vital part of the process was establishing the new working models, with the scale of change broken down into step-by-step parts – an approach

“Digital transformation in big companies is more a transformation of the people, from A to B” CONRAD FRITZSCH Director of Digitalisation Marketing & Sales at Mercedes-Benz 22

February 2018

to transformation that Fritzsch likens to developing a key piece of software.

“When you build software, you go out with beta, the version one, version two etc. This is the same method. With the people, we said ‘let’s change in this direction’. We built a Daimler blueprint which combines the strengths of start-ups and global company,” he adds.

“Everybody was on the boat, they had the right mindset. They didn’t say ‘so we made something wrong and now some guy’s come here and has some big answer?’. We built a solution together and everyone could see that solution. That is super important when you want to change.”

Fritzsch’s energy for his mission is career, and it’s a passion that powered a unique career ahead of him taking up the role at MercedesBenz one and a half years ago.

Back in 1993, he co-founded the advertising agency Fritzsch & Mackat, where he served as Creative Director, leading on all creation and consulting. His innovative spark saw him launch tape.tv in 2008, an online music video streaming service that, at its peak, serves 3.9mn unique users, hosting videos from high-profile

DigitalLife Days is a method for the Group to keep staff informed of technological developments and show digital transformation in action artists from around the world.

Fritzsch left the company in 2016, with Daimler picking up the phone.

“I have never worked on this scale. And I thought, ‘okay, the transformation of the car industry is a fantastic challenge’,” he reveals.

“In my life, I had built my own companies but I had never had one of these corporate challenges, as they described; when a corporate company really wants to change. I thought, with all the skills and experiences I gathered in the past, that I can do it.”

Is he content with how it has gone since he picked up the baton in August?

“Am I happy how it goes? 100% yes.

Are we done? 100% no. It’s a really tough journey for us,” he summarises.

“In my world, when I made it my plan in August, September 2016, I thought it will be much quicker.

We’ve decided that we need more people, to move forward and to change more dramatically.

“With digital transformations, don’t make a plan and think it will just work. There is always a change, there is always a new idea from outside, there is always a distraction.

But you have to take everyone on this journey with you.”

23

PEOPLE

What’s the key to keeping your best talent?

Stuart Hodge looks at the main challenges companies face in terms of staff retention and some of the novel approaches big companies are taking to create a positive culture Writ ten by STUART HODGE

PEOPLE FOR ANY BUSINESS, ensuring that you keep hold of your most talented members of staff in an often increasingly competitive job market can be the difference between sustained success and the possibility of stagnating or going backwards.

Indeed, a recent Willis Towers Watson study showed that more than half of all organizations globally have difficulty retaining some of their most valued employee groups and that more than a quarter of employees are considered ‘high-risk’ for turnover.

Most scholars would agree that motivation is at the heart of keeping a workforce happy and, according to a recent report by Forbes, establishing an emotional connection with staff is the key to ensuring a cohesive and inclusive culture around the company.

The Forbes study asked HR professionals what their biggest challenges are related to corporate culture and they said overwhelmingly that creating a cohesive culture (55%) and retaining talent (41%) gave them the most concern.

Lola Gershfeld, Psy.D, Board Dynamics Specialist and CEO at Level Five Executive, says creating 26

February 2018

52% of executives feel culture is primarily set by the current CEO that emotional connection can be done using a three-stage plan called Board/Team Dynamics Process.

“When everyone is familiar with and understands one streamlined process the culture becomes much more cohesive,” she says.

“Team members start speaking the same language and using

W H AT ’ S T H E K E Y T O K E E P I N G Y O U R B E S T TA L E N T ?

the same tools to work through conflict. This is where you start to see some really positive changes.

“In our work, we’ve found that culture has to start from the top.

Everyone tends to look up to learn behavior. This is backed up by a recent study from Duke University that says 52% of executives feel

culture is primarily set by the current CEO. And, while boards of directors do not directly choose the firm’s culture, they influence the choice of culture by picking the CEO. “Boards also modify the eventual success of the culture by reinforcing or undermining it through their approach in addressing challenges 27

PEOPLE

“Addressing emotional connection is the way to arrive at a cohesive culture that retains and attracts talent” - Lola Gershfeld, CEO, Level Five Executive together and making that emotional connection with the executive team.

“So, to have a long-term effect on culture, you have to start with the board and the executive team.

This might seem overwhelming, but in that same study, 91% of executives said culture is important at their firm and 78% view culture as one of the top three or top five factors that affect their firm’s value.

28

February 2018

Executives and boards understand the value of culture and they are looking for long-term solutions.

“Improving culture is within arm’s reach. We know how to fix culture for the long haul; it’s just a matter of committing to it. Addressing emotional connection is the way to arrive at a cohesive culture that retains and attracts talent.”

But this is just one approach to

creating a positive culture within a company. For some companies, such as the Star Entertainment Group in Australia, it’s more about creating an operational identity and sense of belonging for employees.

“With over 4,500 staff, the real trick is to ensure that everyone is willing to act autonomously,” says Dino Mezzatesta, COO. “It’s important to have confidence and faith in your

employees and support them to give their best. There are four things we ask our employees to do: live it, bring it, own it and deliver it.

“By ‘live it’ we mean that people need to understand guests and their expectations to ensure that what they provide is in keeping with what a customer wants. When we talk about ‘bringing it’, we want our people to always give of their best and to bring everything that they can to offer to our customers. ‘Own it’ means step up, don’t be afraid to take ownership of situations, to be brave and not to be scared to do things differently. And ‘deliver it’ is basically the final step, because if you do the top three then you should be able to be the perfect host.”

Given the Star Entertainment Group’s award-winning hospitality offering, there can be no doubt that this approach is working, but another important factor for businesses is ensuring that they are helping to develop the leaders of tomorrow as well.

Figures in the TalentKeepers Workplace America report show that a disappointing 36% of organizations are taking steps to 29

PEOPLE

A US study shows 36% of organisations are taking steps to develop leaders to drive engagement

develop leaders to drive engagement.

“Leaders need to be trained in employee engagement skills and must understand their role in retaining and motivating people,” says Christopher Mulligan, TalentKeepers CEO and author of the report.

“The first step in leveraging leaders is determining how well they are currently doing and understanding specifically what training they need to become successful. Every leader should have engagement and retention goals, 30

February 2018

incentives to meet those goals, and consequences for failing to do so.”

Clearly the pressure to keep your best staff has never been greater and the lengths companies will go to in creating a positive working culture and environment are more creative than ever.

For Paul Alexander, Head of Indirect Procurement for EMEA with BP, the best way to ensure staff loyalty and to keep them happy in their work is by engaging employees on an intellectual level

W H AT ’ S T H E K E Y T O K E E P I N G Y O U R B E S T TA L E N T ?

to stimulate and challenge them.

“My view is that inspiration and learning is really what people are turned on by these days and that’s what creates a successful team,” says Alexander, who is a bonafide leadership expert and speaker with a passion for the subject.

“Something that compounded my thinking was research by Zenger and Folkman. They’ve written a couple of books, the first of which is called ‘The Extraordinary Leader’ and their research is absolutely fascinating.

“They’ve found many things in their studies and they’ve used

“Inspiration and learning is really what people are turned on by these days and that’s what creates a successful team” - Paul Alexander, Head of Indirect Procurement for EMEA, BP

very, very large sample groups to test their assumptions. They have found very clearly that the ability for leaders to inspire interest and the resource and sincerity you put into development and learning are the things that will drive success.

“I do believe in a knowledgebased economy and a productive economy: you need to have people who want to work for you and are motivated and want to succeed.

“The research on the millennial generation really underlines all of this, I think what they’re asking for which is to be treated with respect, not to be hugely well rewarded but to be sensibly and adequately rewarded but to be treated well and given the opportunity to learn and fulfill themselves.

“I think that’s what we all want; the difference now is that a lot of work has gone into listening to millennials who have a loud voice and I think and hope our workplace is evolving the way it needs to do for the benefit of us all.

“Another thing I would point to is the work of Dan Pink. What he says is three things really turn people on: autonomy, the freedom to do the job 31

PEOPLE Employees who are “engaged and thriving� are 59% less likely to look for a job elsewhere

32

February 2018

W H AT ’ S T H E K E Y T O K E E P I N G Y O U R B E S T TA L E N T ?

the way they want to do it; mastery, giving them the support to excel at what they do; and purpose, helping them find a reason to do what they do.

“If I could crystallize everything that I’m saying about leadership into one word it would be: inspiration. Within procurement, they can be the kind of people who turn up, place orders and do a commodity task, or they can be the people who save the company.

“My very strong belief is that when people come to work they should be able to have a good time and I don’t know why so many organizations struggle with that.”

Indeed, when Alexander breaks it down like that it is hard to fathom why so many companies find it difficult to create such a positive environment for staff to work in, and no doubt this issue is becoming increasingly important.

Research from Gallup shows that employees who are “engaged and thriving” are 59% less likely to look for a job with a different organization in the next 12 months.

Companies like German online clothing retailer Spreadshirt have an even more novel approach to creating that positive culture and

ensuring that work is a fun place for employees to come into, as Philip Rooke, CEO, explains.

“We have a Feel Good Manager whose job it is to make Spreadshirt a great environment to work in and a big part of this job is organizing the company events. We always have a big summer party where family and friends, but also former Spreadsters, come together. Now we also have a “Spreadster exclusive” event, called Wandertag, like a summer outing.

“Talent retention isn’t a big problem for us. We have a great product and a great company, but we do not take that for granted. Like any company we have our bad days. Our culture and talent retention is led by our Head of Recruiting and Feel Good Manager.

“She’s responsible for the onboarding process for each new Spreadster, and improving workplace culture. In particular she has brought in programs on management communication to improve the way we work with talent. If you respect and empower talent, it wants to stay.”

Words which should perhaps be borne in mind by companies who are worried about competitors poaching their most talented employees.

33

S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y

Why operational risk management is vital – and where it’s headed

Writ ten by STUART HODGE

Business Chief looks at how operational risk management has developed in recent years and what we can expect in years to come...

S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y MITIGATING RISK. IT’S a challenge that every company faces but it’s sometimes a difficult thing to confront or to feel that you’re maximizing the potential from.

It can mean anything from having more money set aside for workers’ compensation to an awareness of transaction risk in crossborder deals – that’s why there can often be a reticence in certain sectors to properly address it.

Michael Rosenberg is from WPV Corp, a company which claims to have developed technology that almost completely mitigates the risk of harassment/sexual harassment and workplace violence, using a validated risk assessment and an incident reporting system that is held outside the organization.

“Managing risk can literally mean the difference between a company being profitable and being bankrupt,” he says assertively.

“Reactive cultures that ignore risk waste millions of dollars literally having to deal with emergencies. It’s like a car: if you don’t do the maintenance and ignore the risk, it will break down at the worst possible time and cost you a lot of money to fix and replace.

36

Feburary 2018

Many organisations still use spreads

“Ignoring operational risk leads to significantly higher insurance rates, turnover, lost time and most importantly brand degradation.

“Identifying and preventing operational risk before it becomes a crisis literally is the single largest factor in ensuring a company’s survival.”

But what exactly is operational risk and how do you manage it?

“Typically, operational risk is a highly-siloed discipline in

sheets to manage risk

organizations,” explains Val Jonas, CEO of British consultancy company Risk Decisions.

“Good risk management may be carried out locally, but this doesn’t necessarily meet the organization’s need to achieve a connected view of risk. It also doesn’t encourage creativity in thinking about both up-side and down-side scenarios. This is exacerbated by the fact that most organizations still use spreadsheets

to manage risk in each silo.

“Those organizations most effective at risk management embed a culture of risk awareness and management as a top-down imperative. This encourages more informed risk taking, drives creativity and increases business performance.

“Key strategies include establishing a consistent approach to give panorganization visibility of risk, while allowing different operational areas to 37

We asked

Tim Ng…

Operations is an oft used word in the business world, but what does it really mean?

“As a Chief Operating Officer, my challenge is multifaceted. It is not a role that is well defined. It is a role that is integral to the company but is also unique to the sector I am in. The role of a Chief Operating Officer for a financial services firm is very different from one in manufacturing, technology or health.

“The maturity of the business impacts greatly on the skills necessary to ensure that the company operates in a manner that allows it to react to internal and external pressures.

“With market uncertainty and volatility caused by Brexit and the pressure on the currency markets, companies have required a sustained pursuit of greater efficiencies and major business transformations.

“The nature of the position is diverse with a wide variation in operational roles from one sector to another, but the core lies in supporting the CEO and determining the optimal strategy for the future and then help implement it.

“As a CTO, it made sense to move into a broader role within the company which is primarily a technologyenabled business. The ability to marry technology and development skillsets to operations gives us the capability to take our operational agility to another level. We are not wedded and reliant on third parties, we can develop and create our own solutions to operational challenges.

“The challenges facing operations are varied and can be likened to guerilla warfare – you just don’t know where you will have to be next.”

38

Feburary 2018

S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y

manage risk as appropriate. This will increase and improve collaboration which can lead to valuable insights e.g. supply risks impacting multiple areas of the business. Another strategy is to implement regular audits of key suppliers’ risk policies and processes to ensure they deliver. For example, pharmaceutical companies ensuring that the third-party companies running their clinical trials will do so ethically and in the required time-frames.

“Finally, all business cases should include an assessment of risks, with clear explanations of how they will be managed.”

One of the key facets of operational risk management companies have to address in this day and age is the prospect of cybercrime.

Figures in last year’s Accenture Cost of Cyber Crime study showed that the average annual cost of cybercrime is $11.7mn, increasing annually by 22.7%, with the number of breaches increasing by 27.4% to an average of 130 each year.

“Operational risk management is getting more important in recent years due to the new and more stringent regulatory requirement while organizations are keen to embrace the digital transformation which essentially increases the risk exposure as a result,” says William Tam, Director of Sales Engineering, APAC, for global cybersecurity expert Forcepoint.

“The continuously shifting ‘threat landscape’ requires an equally transformative view on behaviorcentric security. To manage cybersecurity risk, companies need to include measures that understand the nature of human intent and the ability to dynamically adapt security response. That’s the path forward to stop cyberattacks dead in their tracks.

“Cloud computing has been 39

S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y a key disruptor to operational risk management. As business critical data continues to move to the cloud, and be made available to anyone anywhere, traditional perimeter-based security and riskmodelling are becoming obsolete.

“Organizations need to concentrate on when and why people interact with critical data. Additionally, as malware continues to evolve, the risks will multiply, leaving traditional security controls ineffective.”

It’s an ever-evolving space, and requires companies to be clear in their thought process and implementation.

Jeff Skipper, an expert in organizational psychology who runs his own consulting firm, Jeff Skipper Consulting, believes it is an area which companies often fail to address.

When asked how important operational risk management is in the business world, he responded assertively.

“Very,” says Skipper. “And it’s too often overlooked because risk management doesn’t seem like ‘productive’ work. You only feel the gap when something goes off the rails.

However, the impact of that can be measured in revenue hits, reputational 40

Feburary 2018

damage, and employee exits.

“In my work with leading organizations in both the public and non-profit sectors, risk management is most commonly only given lip service.

The leaders whom I advise are the ones who continually surface risk as a lever to remove obstacles and act.

“Combining high risk awareness with the strategic use of what I call ‘leadership capital’ is a critical combination for successful initiatives.

It has made the difference between 10% and 100% cost overruns.”

Skipper believes that poorlymanaged strategic projects are often at the root of organizational failings with regards to risk management.

“It’s very common for the best people to try and avoid key projects because they are very demanding,” he says. “But having the best people with strong skills and leadership is key in these situations.

“Secondarily, there are major gaps in future anticipation. We don’t give people time to think about the ‘what ifs’, which can be the greatest source of risk avoidance as well as innovation.”

One of the key areas where innovation is expected in the ORM

“Managing risk can literally mean the difference between a company being profitable and being bankrupt” - Michael Rosenberg, WPV Corp space, as it is in so many others, is by embracing cognitive technology.

David Cahn is the Director of Product Marketing for Elemica, a leading business network for supply chains of process businesses, discussed how that might, and might not, change things.

“Cognitive risk management involves the decision by a human to follow the risk mitigation procedures, but knowing the risk of something doesn’t prevent us from taking a chance anyway,” says Cahn.

“However, cognitive science is being incorporated into technology to create powerful tools that tackle complete problems. Advanced analytics and automation will increasingly play bigger roles as tactical solutions to drive efficiency or to help executives solve complex problems.

“The real opportunities lie in re-imaging the enterprise as an intelligent organization – one designed to create situational awareness with tools capable of analyzing disparate data in real or near-real time.

41

“Organisations need to concentrate on when and why people interact with critical data” - William Tam, Director of Sales Engineering, APAC, Forcepoint “The goal of cognitive governance, as the name implies, is to facilitate the design of intelligent automation to create actionable business intelligence, improve decision-making, and reduce manual processes that lead to poor or uncertain outcomes.

In other words, cognitive governance systematically identifies ‘blind spots’ across the firm then directs intelligent automation to reduce or eliminate the blind spots.”

42

Feburary 2018

Tim Ng, COO of Europe’s leading digital health business Now Healthcare, casts an eye even further forward.

“A key challenge in the future will be the necessary integration of new and future technologies into core processes, world-changing technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning,” says Ng. “Data is at the heart of operations, and those who can harness it will be more

S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y successful than those who can’t.

“The greatest impact and trend will be the use of artificial intelligence.

This is a logical next step from business intelligence – systems that can consume data from multiple data streams and provide actionable intel in a format that is easily digestible to the management.

Say goodbye to huge teams of analysts: AI will be the new norm.

“Technology in general will drive greater change, so operations people will need to thrive on the adrenaline of complexity and change. The operational canvas will be changed forever and this needs to be embraced.

“The world economy has faced and is still facing large structural changes on the way to bringing business to the international stage. Technology has impacted hugely with the world becoming a much smaller place – globalization of businesses has significantly accelerated with small companies able to enter the global markets through the use of technology.

It is no longer an honor reserved for large companies and SMEs. “Because of this, agility is required.

Agile operations allow the companies

to react to market conditions and plot routes through the minefield of consumer demand. I expect operational processes to be more agile with changes made almost instantaneously, as technology allows access to real time KPI (key performance indicator) management to an unprecedented level.

“Deeper integration of systems and data will be necessary with mobilization and real time access a key enabler. With executives able to access data anytime and anywhere, leading to strategic and tactical decision making many factors quicker than previously possible.

Micro services will be the new fabric for operations with the reliance on the large monolithic enterprise systems no longer necessary.

Imagine if you could piece together the services you needed like a jigsaw.

Able to add, update and discard as necessary when new technologies or better AI became available.

“These are just the beginnings – it is no longer enough to be a safe pair of hands. It is now necessary to have the mindset of an innovator and creator to ensure that operations are able to support the needs of the business.”

43

AUSTRALIA’S CAPITAL IS MOVING AWAY FROM ITS FEDERAL TRADITION TO BECOME ONE OF ANZ’S MOST INNOVATIVE CITIES FOR BUSINESS Writ ten by BEN MOUNCER

Headline Seque rest volorum aute velestio intem illibus es qui ut alit et, sita iuntur?

Writ ten by AUTHOR

CITY FOCUS

CANB

BERRA

CITY FOCUS

46

February 2018

THE CAPITAL OF Australia, Canberra, is the country’s largest inland city while also being the site of numerous institutions of cultural and social importance, such as the National Museum, Australian Institute of Sport, Australian National University and the National Gallery.

Home to a significant number of public servants, the Commonwealth Government employs a large number of Canberra’s residents. The Parliament House, the residence of the Governor-General and location of numerous governmental agencies and departments, as well as the High Court, is located in the city.

INNOVATION Though Canberra has long been known for its expansive public servant sector, the city is increasingly making its mark as a hub of innovation as well. And it’s no wonder that the city is bustling with entrepreneurship and breakthroughs.

Canberra, when compared to the national averages, has a younger

population with higher education levels and a firm focus on forwardthinking research. The average income in the city is higher while unemployment is lower. Due to its strong foundation on territory and federal government, Canberra boasts an extensive infrastructure that lends itself to innovation.

According to the Australian Financial Review’s 2016 list of the country’s 50 most innovative companies, three Canberra companies made the list: My Health Test’s parent company placed 16th, Thinkplace ranked in 19th place and Seeing Machines was in 27th.

My Health Test provides a method for people to take control of their own health in the comfort of their home, office or wherever they’re most comfortable. A simple fingerprick test that they can perform at home provides individuals with information about their diabetes, thyroid, cholesterol and more. www.myhealthtest.com www.soundcloud.com/0261452147

47

CITY FOCUS

Thinkplace is a company of global strategic design consultants.

With a belief in a team effort that benefits both the collective and the individual, Thinkplace uses a keen understanding to fuel innovations and transformations of all sizes and scales. www.thinkplaceglobal.com

Seeing Machines is a pioneering force in intelligent sensing algorithms. In order to facilitate increased performance, exceptional safety and an unparalleled user experience, Seeing Machines uses advanced technology to help machines understand people. www.seeingmachines.com ECONOMY In Canberra, the information and communications technology (ICT) sector continues to see unprecedented growth. Currently employing approximately 8,000 individuals, there are more than 1,000 businesses populating this business segment, with these 48

February 2018

THE UNIVERSITY OF CANBERRA (UC) IS RANKED AMONG THE WORLD’S TOP 100 UNIVERSITIES

companies range from global entities to micro businesses. Much of this growth is driven by the government’s tendency to outsource many elements of its ICT functions.

The private sector in Canberra is thriving with more than 25,000 businesses. The ACT government maintains an extensive number of

resources and support programmes that entrepreneurs can utilise to help them establish their own business.

According to CBR, Canberra’s burgeoning economy and low unemployment make the city a hot destination for those looking to invest or start a business. As a magnet of innovation, Canberra is also attractive 49

to people who want to increase their talents. With the University of Canberra, the Canberra Institute of Technology and the Australian National University -- as well as their cutting-edge research institutions located in the city, Canberra saw its economy grow 7.3%. This is over three times more than the national average.

These three educational icons are also among the top employers in Canberra.

The University of Canberra (UC) is ranked among the world’s top 100 universities. The university established a comprehensive plan to develop and graduate skilled individuals with the right combinations of skills, knowledge and abilities. www.canberra.edu.au

50

February 2018

CITY FOCUS C A N B E R R A’ S I C T S E C T O R C U R R E N T LY E M P L O Y S 8 , 0 0 0 WORKERS

Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT) trains about 20,000 students per year and has touched the lives of people in the ACT and nearby regions for the past 90 years. With apprenticeships, diplomas, bachelor degrees and graduate certificates in a variety of disciplines, CIT helps prepare Canberra residents for the future. www.cit.edu.au

Australian National University (ANU) is a top-ranked university that consistently delivers graduates who are deemed the most employable and the most sought after in Australia.

In 2017, for the fifth straight year, ANU was ranked as the number one university in Australia in the Global University Employability. www.anu.edu.au

51

TOP 10

TOP 10 AUSTRALIAN IPOS OF 2017 Writ ten by DAN BRIGHTMORE

The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) ranked fifth for the largest number of deals with 105 offerings accounting for 6.2% of global IPOs. Asia-Pacific was the world’s standout region for IPOs in 2017 taking the top three spots and filling five of the top ten. Region-wide, Asia-Pacific saw rapid growth in IPO numbers in 2017 and cemented its position as the world’s most active for new listings, powered by exchanges in Greater China which saw 582 new listings in 2017.

We look back at 2017 as we rank the top 10 Australian IPOs by market cap…

10 WATTLE HEALTH LTD $176MN

09 BUBS AUSTRALIA $267MN

Wattle Health aims to provide 100% Australian-made health and wellness products sourced from the highest quality, locally-grown ingredients.

Creating formulations with leading scientific and nutritional benefits that comply with strict international standards, its products are marketed to consumers at all stages of life. The IPO floated in March 2017 and has since charted a return of 855%.

The infant food and formula company Bubs Australia is continuing to grow.

It recently announced a deal valued at around $84mn guaranteeing exclusive supply from Australia’s biggest goat milking herd. Bubs will expand with its 100% acquisition of NuLac Foods, which produces a range of goat milk products under the CapriLac brand including fresh milk, yoghurts and goat milk powder. Headquartered in Sydney, the company’s shares have performed strongly surging more than six-fold following its IPO listing in January last year.

www.wattlehealth.com.au

www.bubsaustralia.com

TOP 10

08 JOHNS LYNG GROUP LTD $293MN www.johnslyng.com.au

JLG is a market leading integrated building services group delivering building and restoration services across Australia. JLG’s core business is built on its ability to rebuild and restore a variety of properties and contents after damage by insurable events such as impact, weather and fire. Founded in 1953 as Johns & Lyng Builders, the company initially serviced Melbourne and its surrounding areas, before growing into JLG, a diversified national business with approximately 500 employees across Australia. The group has a diversified client base comprising: major insurance companies, commercial enterprises, local and state governments along with retail customers. Listed in October 2017 its IPO has already delivered a 33% return.

07 CANN GROUP $342MN

www.canngrouplimited.com Cann was the first Australian company to secure licence to undertake research and cultivate cannabis for human medicinal and research purposes under the Australian Government’s new medicinal cannabis regulatory system. Cann aims to extend its operational activities towards the manufacturing of medicinal cannabis products such as oils for aromatherapy and creams for arthritic pain relief. Cann’s aim is to become a leading developer and supplier in the Australian market and branch out to supply overseas. Following an IPO listing in May last year its share price has delivered a tenfold return.

55

TOP 10

06 NEW ENERGY SOLAR $485MN

www.newenergysolar.com.au New Energy Solar is dedicated to building a portfolio of large scale solar PV plants to generate and sell carbonfree electricity to major energy buyers through long-term power purchase agreements. By participating in the global switch to renewable fuels, it aims to generate positive social impact alongside attractive financial returns. Last October, New Energy Solar announced a binding agreement to acquire a majority interest in a portfolio of 14 solar power plant projects from Cypress Creek Renewables in Oregon and North Carolina, USA. Its IPO was listed in December 2017.

05 OCEANIA HEALTHCARE $660MN

www.oceaniahealthcare.co.nz Formed in 2005, Oceania Healthcare is now New Zealand’s third largest residential aged care provider and sixth largest retirement village owner and operator. With a recognised focus on excellence it has twice been recognised by the New Zealand Aged Care Association winning the “Overall Excellence in Care Award” in 2015 and 2016. Employing over 3,000 staff and providing accommodation to approximately 4,000 residents across 48 facilities, which are primarily located in metropolitan areas, Oceania’s existing nationwide portfolio of facilities includes substantial brownfield development potential at prime urban sites across New Zealand. Its IPO was listed last May and currently boasts a 32% return.

‘Formed in 2005, Oceania Healthcare is now New Zealand’s third largest residential aged care provider and sixth largest retirement village owner and operator’

04 MOELIS AUSTRALIA $977MN

03 BINGO INDUSTRIES LTD $1.030BN

Moelis Australia is a financial services group operating via three business segments: Corporate Advisory, Equities and Asset Management. It also offers advice on SIVs (Significant Investor Visas) introduced by the Australian government in 2012 to provide a boost to the country’s economy and to compete effectively for high net worth individuals seeking investment migration. The company’s philosophy is to offer unbiased high-quality advice advice to clients fostered through an exclusive global alliance with New York Stock Exchange listed global investment bank Moelis & Company. The company’s IPO listing was made in April 2017 and currently shows a 170% return.

Bingo Industries provides endto-end environmental and waste management solutions across the waste management supply chain.

Bingo aims to innovate and develop new technology, services and practices as part of its commitment to developing leading environmental solutions and helping business and the community to achieve their sustainability goals. Bingo employs over 700 staff who manage and operate over 200 modern collections and operations vehicles carrying out thousands of services a day. The company’s operation includes the largest network of strategically located resource recovery and recycling facilities around New South Wales and Victoria. Its IPO listing went live on ASX last May and has delivered a 38% return to date.

www.moelisaustralia.com

www.bingoindustries.com.au

57

TOP 10

02 NETWEALTH $1.464BN www.netwealth.com.au

Netwealth was created with an entrepreneurial spirit to challenge the conventions of Australia’s financial services. It operates as a technology company, a superannuation fund and an administration business to inspire people to see wealth differently. Founded in 1999, Netwealth is one of the fastest growing wealth management businesses in Australia and highly rated both by its customers for providing exceptional customer service and analysts who consistently rate its tech as best in class. It recently announced a rise in the funds it manages to the tune of $14bn.

58

February 2018

‘Credible has carved out a potentially lucrative niche in the US market, where students have typically paid significantly higher rates for their loans’

01 CREDIBLE LABS $8.35BN www.credible.com

Australian tech entrepreneur Stephen Dash left the country for Silicon Valley five years ago, but returned home to ring the bell at ASX in December 2017 as his fintech company scored Australia’s largest IPO for 2017 already showing a 10% return. Credible has carved out a potentially lucrative niche in the US market, where students have typically paid significantly higher rates for their loans. It has created an online marketplace where borrowers can seek out offers from numerous vetted lenders, and has also recently expanded into personal loans and a credit card marketplace.

59

THE ROAD TO DIGITAL BANKING Heritage Bank is Australia’s largest mutual bank. Wedded to ethical practices often thought of as highly traditional, it is looking to maintain its values as it embraces the newest technologies

Written by John O’Hanlon Produced by Glen White

H E R I TA G E B A N K LT D

B

anking has not had a good press since the global financial crisis kicked in around 2008.

Australia may have weathered the storm better than Europe and the USA, but it has faced similar issues. In some ways this has been of advantage to the largest customer-owned bank and one of the longest-running financial institutions in the country. Founded in 1874 as the Toowoomba Permanent Building Society, the organisation has evolved through Heritage Building Society (1981) until it became Heritage Bank in 2011. At every step it retained its customer-owned structure.

Today it has assets in excess of $8bn, and remains headquartered at Toowoomba, Queensland.

The evolution described above was predominantly structural. Technology, even in the last decade, took a back seat to tradition. However, in 2016 the bank developed a strategic plan to transform the organisation, making it more member centric and providing a solid growth path forward.

A key requirement to improving member services was a material improvement in the ICT function, and

62

February 2018

agreement to a technology roadmap.

It engaged Queensland-based partner 451 Consulting to undertake an ICT review and to develop a roadmap for the IT department going forward. At the same time, it gained the services of a key member

TECHNOLOGY

WAYNE MARCHANT

CIO, Heritage Bank

Wayne Marchant was appointed Chief Information Officer of Heritage Bank in December 2016 after initially joining the Bank as Interim CIO, consulting to Heritage through 451 Consulting.

Marchant has more than 26 years in IT management across large and medium businesses in a diverse range of industry sectors. Before joining Heritage, Marchant was responsible for leading significant transformational change as the Regional CIO for Billabong and at Department of Main Roads through 451 Consulting.

He has also held Senior IT roles at Flight Centre and Woolworths

of the 451 team, Wayne Marchant, who moved to Heritage as CIO. Marchant, though no banker, has vast experience in retail. Bringing him in to transform Heritage from a physical bank with a digital presence to a digital bank with

a physical presence made a lot of sense. “Banking today has everything to do with retail,” he says.

“It is all about customer service – I believe I am able to be more radical than someone from the banking industry would have been.”

w w w. a n z . b u s i n e s s c h i e f . c o m

63

H E R I TA G E B A N K LT D

The organisation he found in 2016 was inward looking and innovationaverse following a decade of head-in-the-sand stagnation. The IT team that he had to shape to deliver a transformation was operating in a bubble, not bringing in outside vendors, and reluctant to invest in new technology. There was actually some advantage in this, though.

In the 10 years of slow progress at Heritage, though much progress had been made in banking, many people

64

February 2018

invested in expensive technologies that have been superseded. He’s glad, in a way, that Heritage didn’t do that because it leaves the way clear for him to turn the bank on its head in such a manner that would never have happened under the old order.

The direction Marchant has chosen is not to splash out on big box systems that would lock the bank in for decades. He wants to be able to embrace future innovations rapidly, so has chosen to base his IT on

TECHNOLOGY

“BANKING TODAY HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH RETAIL: IT IS ALL ABOUT CUSTOMER SERVICE” –Wayne Marchant, CIO, Heritage Bank

microservices stored in containers and linked by open banking APIs (application programming interfaces).

“I am setting the bank up to be flexible and agile, and if something new comes along we can change direction in any part of our architecture very quickly.”

For the time being the core banking system, which manages all customer and inter-bank transactions, will be stripped down, removing functions that have accrued to it over the 32 years it has been operating. “It

was utilised for every purpose right down to the car booking system for our pool cars,” Marchant explains.

“It does not make sense to use the core banking system for that so we are slowly getting it back to its core purpose of running the branch network and customer transactions.

The old system works well enough for now, he adds, but it is difficult to integrate with new software and hardware upgrades. It will have to be replaced once it has been

w w w. a n z . b u s i n e s s c h i e f . c o m

65

H E R I TA G E B A N K LT D

“WE ARE ABOUT TO COMPLETE THE CHANGE TO NPP, WHICH WE ARE PROGRAMMING WITH OPEN BANKING APIS” –Wayne Marchant, CIO, Heritage Bank

trimmed back to its core purpose.

“We think that will happen in five years’ time and it will be the last thing we do,” Marchant adds. “Creating open banking APIs to replace a cumbersome core banking system will not be easy, but the members should be unaware of anything other than the improvements they will start to see in their interactions with the bank.

The last year has been taken up with preparing the foundations for a digital transformation. 2018 will see the development of core applications, customer applications and loan origination applications, which account for 80% of the bank’s activities. “It’s tricky, because when it comes to putting development into containers and using a microservices

66

February 2018

architecture, there aren’t really any core banking vendors developing in this way yet,” Marchant says. “Our preference would be to have a new, digitally designed core banking system. The way we develop these days is in small packages. For a specific task I might get the team to develop three different pieces of code, or microservices, which are stored in containers and very easy to access.

The code is reusable: the smaller the chunks of code the more times you can reuse it in other applications.

This approach makes our lives easier because it is easier to update – and it improves the speed with which we can deliver services to the members.”

This flexible approach will simplify one of the bank’s main goals for

TECHNOLOGY

2018 – the development of a new integrated banking system to replace the separate mobile and internet systems currently used. A vendor will be selected in the coming months to deliver this change together with branch systems, integrated with the core system using APIs. Heritage Bank does not try to outstrip the big four incumbent banks

in Australia, but it does aim to be a ‘fast follower’. To do that effectively it needs to be able to adapt quickly.

For example, Australian financial institutions are in the throes of changing over to the New Payments Platform (NPP), which allows money transfers to be made instantly rather than delayed or batched payments as previously. “We are about to complete

700

Number of Employees at Heritage Bank Ltd

w w w. a n z . b u s i n e s s c h i e f . c o m

67

H E R I TA G E B A N K LT D

“IT IS OUR CUSTOMERS’ MONEY: I HAVE TO JUSTIFY TO THEM WHY I SPEND EVERY DOLLAR” –Wayne Marchant, CIO, Heritage Bank

the change to NPP, which we are programming with open banking APIs that we would attach to our new mobile and internet banking system when it goes live later this year,” says Marchant. “At present if someone

68

February 2018

makes a transfer on Saturday it doesn’t go through till Monday. With the new system the recipient account will be credited within 15 seconds.”

Part of Marchant’s strategy has been to retrain sections of his team

TECHNOLOGY

in ‘devops’, an amalgam of software development and operations, and move them out into the different business units within the bank.

To facilitate training he formed a partnership with the American open-source software company Red Hat. “I am looking at the IT operating model and adjusting it to a bimodal model where the support teams are operating one way and everyone else will be devops. We are currently re-engineering IT to work in a very different way. It is as much about the productivity of the IT department as about working with vendors. We have rolled out Cobit 5 processes to make sure that the right IT governance and IT assurance processes are being applied.”

It’s becoming axiomatic that no business can realise its full potential until it has taken a grasp on the data it holds. Heritage now has a business information (BI) system managed by the analytics company SAS, enhanced by software from the customer experience management specialist Sitecore. Because of the under-resourced and highly

1874

Year founded

manual systems the bank had for communicating with its members, it was losing many opportunities to keep in touch. The bank can now run a large number of highly targeted customer campaigns a week, rather than just several mass mailouts a year says Wayne Marchant: it’s a really good system. We need to do more with the analytics data that we have so we are enhancing our reporting this year through changing the BI team and adding more resources.”

Marchant is always on the lookout for technology solutions that enhance customers’ financial wellbeing, the underlying principle at Heritage. Not many banks would even consider closing down a customer’s loan even in the event of hardship through force majeure, but

w w w. a n z . b u s i n e s s c h i e f . c o m

69

People. Projects. Technology.

Providing great people, delivering successful projects and shaping enterprise technology solutions.

contact us

Level 22, 324 Queen St Brisbane QLD 4000

1300 112 100 sales@4impact.com.au

4impact has 12 years, and more than

AUD $300M of complex IT systems delivery experience focussing on Agile methods, DevOps delivery practices, Test automation and business transparency. We provide specialist IT resource augmentation, enterprise system integration, digital experience and enterprise application support services, across Australia, New Zealand and The Philippines. Learn More.

www.4impact.com.au

TECHNOLOGY

if their financial wellbeing is at stake Heritage would even do that. “For us, being customer owned is not about sales but about delivering the best possible result for the customer,” says Marchant. “We are always looking into ways to improve their experience.” He has a keen interest in innovative technology being developed by ‘fintechs’, innovative startups in the sector among whom he likes to network at conferences and the meetups organised by the incubator hub Stone & Chalk.

Heritage is in a good position to leverage its customer-owned status.

Public disquiet over large salaries and bonuses at the large banks could

move customers in the direction of the mutuals. “It is our customers’ money. I have to justify to them why I spend every dollar,” says Marchant, or as CEO Peter Lock puts it: “We recognise that not everything has to be digital and we have many customers who choose us because of our more traditional approach … we’re not a Bank that’s fascinated by shiny new things at the expense of our existing clients.” That said, they both agree that without its digital transformation the bank will not reach its ‘Destination Best Bank’.

w w w. a n z . b u s i n e s s c h i e f . c o m

71

HOW SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC’S DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY

IS POWERING THE MINES OF THE FUTURE Rob Moffitt, Schneider Electric’s President – Mining, Minerals & Metals Segment – reveals how the business is leading the digital transformation of energy management and automation Written by Niki Waldegrave Produced by Bryan Giles

S

tudies indicate that the world needs to cut CO2 emissions by 50% by 2050 to avoid drastic consequences from climate change.

However, due to population growth and increased urbanisation, at the same time, the world will require twice the amount of energy as today.

To meet that challenge, Schneider Electric is developing intelligent energy management solutions to help businesses and consumers monitor and control energy usage efficiently.

The global energy management, automation and industrial software specialist has 144,000 employees in

more than 100 countries and creates products and solutions to ensure ‘Life is On’ by helping its customers manage their energy and processes in ways that are safe, connected, reliable, efficient and sustainable.

Its integrated solutions combine energy management, automation and software through EcoStruxure™, its Internet of Things (IoT) enabled, open and interoperable architecture.

EcoStruxure™ leverages the latest advancements in digital technologies, such as cyber security, analytics, cloud, and mobility to deliver real-time control and operational efficiency, and

Alliance Partner Sydney 2017

Schneider Electric’s Mining, Minerals & Metals Segment President, Rob Moffitt, reveals how the company is leveraging solutions from its primary domains of expertise – IT, buildings, industry and infrastructure, and utilities – to help companies in the mining sector achieve new levels of efficiency and productivity.

“We see enormous potential in terms of plans for the year ahead and growth,” he says. “From a product and solution perspective, we are a leader in industrial software, power management,

74

February 2018

which includes medium voltage, low voltage and secure power, and in industrial automation and control.

“In 2018, we see a return to favourable conditions, in which we expect to see a cyclical upturn and continuing recovery in mature economies, plus accelerated momentum in developing economies that will allow for growth in the segment.

“Our focus is around two main areas – customers and technology.

On the customer side, we want to expand our presence in certain

geographies and increase our partnerships with strategic customers. For technology, our focus will be to support and develop solutions based on digitalisation.”

Enter EcoStruxure™ Schneider’s competitive advantage is its open EcoStruxure™ architecture, underpinned by an enviable combination of people and technology, and the segment team within the organisation dedicated to partnering with strategic customers to harness its potential.

Moffitt explains how EcoStruxure™ is redefining automation and power connectivity, and adds an unprecedented layer of software applications and services to help companies improve shareholder value by increasing productivity, reducing costs and improving safety.

And by bridging IT and OT, EcoStruxure™ lets customers maximise the value of data, which translates into actionable intelligence for better business decisions.

“EcoStruxure™ is an open, interoperable, digital, and IoT-enabled

Rob Moffitt President – Mining, Minerals & Metals Segment

Rob Moffitt, who joined Schneider Electric in 2016 as President of the Global Mining, Minerals & Metals segment, has had a career spanning 32 years in the global mining industry. He started his career in deep level gold mining before working with various multi-national organisations supplying a range of innovative products, technologies, services and solutions into the industry.

Moffitt has formal qualifications in Metalliferous Mining and a MBA from Henley Business College in the UK. He is a Fellow at the Institute of Quarrying, Australia and was previously Chairman of the Institute of Quarrying South Africa, and has served on the boards of several companies.

SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC

Schneider Electric Global Family Leave

“We see enormous potential in terms of plans for the year ahead and growth” –Rob Moffitt, President – Mining, Minerals & Metals Segment system architecture that combines our broad range of solutions across connected products and edge control, and leverages them through our industry leading suite of industrial software, apps and analytics,” Moffitt says.

“Few other companies in the world have such a complete portfolio of integrated products, and our main differentiation is to bring an open

76

February 2018

and integrated architecture from sensors to business applications that addresses the multitude of challenges our customers face each day. We go beyond applications focused solely on just process or asset performance.”

Master of mining Another competitive advantage is Schneider’s dedicated segment approach, having built an entire

ENERGY

organisation dedicated to mining, and investing significantly over the years to increase its competence in the industry from an application standpoint, helping it to solve its customers’ challenges. In fact, to that end it has developed specific expertise around process control, mineral processing, energy optimisation, and supply chain efficiency.

Mining is facing significant challenges but the fundamentals are sound, and Moffitt says Schneider expects increased demand for mined raw materials will be driven by population growth as well as rapid and increasing urbanisation.

“The resources industry is constantly challenged by market volatility, grade decline, regulations,

social license, skills gaps and workforce demographics,” he says. “This puts a premium on operational and business efficiency – something we’re well-positioned to help our customers with.

“Of all the trends impacting the industry, none will be as critical as digitalisation. It will impact every aspect of the industry operation and provide the greatest potential for improving business and operational efficiency.”

He points out one of the main challenges has always been to make real-time decisions based on information that is spread across various databases and applications.

With that in mind, the company, which devotes 5% of sales to

w w w. a n z . b u s i n e s s c h i e f . c o m

77

SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC

‘SCHNEIDER WAS RANKED AS ONE OF THE GLOBAL 100 MOST SUSTAINABLE CORPORATIONS IN THE WORLD FOR 2016, COMING 12TH OVERALL AND FIRST IN ITS GLOBAL INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION STANDARD INDUSTRY’ 78

February 2018

ENERGY

research and development, believes the technology that has provided the most value to its customers has been around the integration of mining operations from ‘resource to market’ or as it is sometimes expressed, from ‘pit to port’.

“It’s one of the industry’s most challenging problems,” explains Moffitt, “and AMPLA, our integrated mining operations software, has become somewhat of the de facto standard for this type of integrated solution.

“It’s a modular software suite with specific mining functionality that supports mine operations from extraction and processing, to blending and storage, all the way through to shipping logistics.”

The software enables value chain visibility and optimisation by collecting data automatically from multiple plant and business systems or through manual data entry, and establishing a single trusted source of information which can be collaboratively used to drive efficiency, reduce cost and make better business decisions.

“A case in point would be a recent

Jean-Pascal Tricoire CEO of Schneider Electric

implementation of Ampla across five mine sites at a major metal mining company. The system was used to monitor and capture real-time asset performance and condition data and to provide root-cause analysis when assets were being underutilised.

Globally across all five mines they improved capacity by over 10%.”

w w w. a n z . b u s i n e s s c h i e f . c o m

79

SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC

“We go beyond applications focused solely on just process or asset performance” –Rob Moffitt, President – Mining, Minerals & Metals Segment “Our resource to market integrated solution consolidates and manages data from multiple mine, plant and business systems,” he adds. “This enables customers to identify production issues, manage inventory and quality, track and management production and asset performance, understand costs, and analyse business KPIs. “As another example, one of the biggest iron ore miners in

80

February 2018

Australia uses it to optimise their port logistics by predicting how each entity in the supply chain will operate – from mine to plant to rail and port – and has improved supply chain efficiency by 20%.”

Futureproof Remaining ahead of the curve is tough when it comes to market changes and advances in technology, especially in mining where change is constant, but

ENERGY

Access to Energy: Our Ambition for Tomorrow

Moffitt cites open platforms, the IoT and digitalisation as good examples.

“We also see significant turnover at the engineering and technical levels in the industry,” he explains, “meaning we sometimes need to fill that void with our own project engineering or remote asset monitoring services, for example. It also means we need to partner with our customers over the medium to long term and not simply just sell them things.

“Now that the outlook has improved and mining operations are starting to make CAPEX investments again, they also need a workforce that can ramp up and become productive quickly, and much of our software and workforce enablement

solutions help them do that.”

Training solutions made possible by virtual reality or maintenance troubleshooting tools that utilise augmented reality are examples of the industry looking for new technologies to transform the way it operates in the future.

“To give another example, one of our customers in Canada has deployed our training and simulation solution at a groundwater treatment plant that had to meet critical environmental requirements, and was used to train new operators on how to prevent above-limit groundwater from being dumped into their outflow.”

Moffitt says the only way to achieve this ‘future state’ is to develop them

w w w. a n z . b u s i n e s s c h i e f . c o m

81

SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC

Schneider Electric Company Story: Our technology is everywhere

Unearth hidden value without spending capital Interlate is transforming the mining sector, our results speak for themselves. See a 10-15% increase in economic benefit and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of your mine.

Transform your data. Unlock your potential

Level 1, 143 Coronation Dr Milton, QLD 4064

82

February 2018

info@interlate.com Tel: +61 7 3220 3684

www.interlate.com

ENERGY

jointly with Schneider’s strategic customers and partners and work closely to understand their challenges and find new ways to solve them.

There are going to be 50bn connected devices in 2020, and Schneider wants to help its customers succeed in their digital transformation and reap the rewards it can deliver in terms of energy, process, and business efficiency.

“The rewards are significant for those willing to try,” he adds. “It’s been estimated that in the next five years, mining industry leaders will achieve their most significant improvements by embracing digital technologies like the IoT and advanced analytics that

can harness the power of big data.”

Some reports indicate that digitisation could bring more than AU$470bn by 2025 in additional value to the mining, minerals and metals industries by means of productivity gains, cost reductions, and fuel and energy savings – but only if they are able to overcome some of the challenges.

“One of the challenges is in making technologies available in ways that are easy to implement and leverage,” Moffitt adds, “and that brings us back to EcoStruxure™ once again, because it provides that common open architecture on which everything can be connected.

MAINTAINING AGILITY IN MINING Written by Fran Roberts Produced by Josef Smith

With integrated mine, rail and port facilities, which have the capacity to deliver 55Mtpa, Roy Hill is one of the world’s major resource based operations, which will deliver enormous benefits to the broader community for years to come. Barry Fitzgerald, Chief Executive Officer, explains more

ROY HILL HOLDINGS

A Day in the Life of a Truckie

“R

oy Hill is a US$10bn mega iron ore mining and infrastructure operation and Australia’s single largest iron ore mine capable of producing 55mn tonnes of ore per year. Headquartered in Western Australia, we are the only independent iron ore operation with significant local ownership,” advises Barry Fitzgerald, Chief Executive

86

February 2018

Officer of Roy Hill Holdings.

The industry has suffered a difficult time of late, and one set to continue according to HSBC, which predicts that prices will likely correct further in the current quarter, seeing the benchmark price for 62% fines fall below US$60 a tonne over the first half of next year.

As the single biggest player within

MINING

“Our unique and best-inclass integrated demand to supply chain operating, reporting and monitoring system ensures a holistic view across the entire organisation from mine to port” – Barry Fitzgerald, Chief Executive Officer Australia’s iron sector, Roy Hill has understandably taken measures to protect against the negative effects of any market volatility.

“When we set up our business four years ago, market conditions were very different. At Roy Hill, we regularly review our business strategy and work within the parameters of the changed market environment. We act,

refocus and maintain our agility so we can adapt and respond to market changes,” Fitzgerald comments.

“Our unique and best-in-class integrated demand to supply chain operating, reporting and monitoring systems ensures a holistic view across the entire organisation from mine to port. We maintain constant contact with our customers on

w w w. a n z . b u s i n e s s c h i e f . c o m

87

The perfect partner; Knowledge, responsiveness, innovation & complete solutions

Schenck Process Australia Pty Ltd Ground Floor, 65 Epping Road, North Ryde NSW 2113, Australia T+ 61(0)2 98 86 6800 Australia Wide: 1300 724 362 sales@schenckprocess.com.au www.schenckprocess.com.au www

It is the many years of experience supporting the mining industry, especially in the Pilbara region, that positions Schenck Process to be supplier of choice; proudly delivering vibrating equipment, including integrated gates, hoppers and feeders to the Roy Hill Mine and Port.

The complete performance solution included our Screenex panels to work in harmony on every Schenck Process vibrating screen.

A highpoint was the Roy Hill Train Load Out. Schenck Process adopted an innovative hybrid technology for this system. The silo and structure were manufactured and delivered to site in large modules to minimise site resources and installation time.

Schenck Process is extremely proud to be part of the Roy Hill project and safeguarding the future success of this operation through our continued service and support.

MINING

Roy Hill is a US$10bn mega iron ore mining and infrastructure operation and Australia’s single largest iron ore mine capable of producing 55mn tonnes of ore per year

matters of product quality.

“As a margin driven business, we focus on innovation and business improvement methodology to foster efficiency, effectiveness and engagement regardless of price. This discipline and drive to recruit people who understand our values of Lead, Care, Think, and Perform positions us well to weather an uncertain market.”

Embracing change Western Australia accounts for about 98% of Australia’s Economic Demonstrated Resources (EDR) of iron ore, which is around 28bn tonnes.

As such, the state government plays an important role in the operations at Roy Hill. “In addition to continuing to drive our costs lower, it is imperative that both the state and commonwealth

w w w. a n z . b u s i n e s s c h i e f . c o m

89

ROY HILL HOLDINGS

Roy Hill Launches Second Wave of Pink Trucks in Support of Breast Cancer Research and Awareness

Downer Proud Partner to Roy Hill Downer Mining has been supporting the Roy Hill Project since the commencement of mining on site and is proud to be continuing that successful relationship into the future.

With a broad range of services from mining consultancy through to specialised blasting and tyre management, Downer provides a full and comprehensive service offering in-house.

Focused on delivery of high performance and cost efficiency, Downer is able to deliver consistent results in close collaboration with our customers.

For more information go to downergroup.com

Address: Level 6, 130 Stirling Street, Perth WA 6000 Phone: 08 6212 9500

MINING

governments continue to work with also limited by the capacity of its the industry to reduce compliance leadership to thrive in a world that is costs and the regulatory burden that increasingly volatile and complex. is imposed on the sector,” Fitzgerald It is imperative that organisations continues. “Collaboration with prioritise vertical leadership other companies and engaging with development over horizontal skills government to ensure that policy development,” observes Fitzgerald. shifts occur to support future growth, expansion and investment is key.”

The digital economy The compliance costs and Australia has the world’s largest regulatory burden – Western estimated reserves of iron ore with Australia has enacted 54bn tonnes, 28% of health and safety regimes the world’s estimated that apply specifically 190bn tonnes. As such, to mining workplaces, the country’s majors can which impose strict rules benefit from effectively aimed at establishing a supporting METS high level of safety and (mining equipment, carry significant penalties technology and Number of for non-compliance – services). “Increasingly, Employees at often impact the viability Roy Hill Holdings METS are seeking to of mining projects. adapt and position “The willingness to themselves as relevant embrace change, consider innovation in the digital economy. This is in design and identify modern creating opportunities for them technologies must be improved. to play a more substantive role This approach to improvement and within the value, or supply chains, innovation should be integrated into of majors,” states Fitzgerald. organisational culture. The ability “Investments by METS into research for organisations to transform is and development and data analytics

1,700

w w w. a n z . b u s i n e s s c h i e f . c o m

91

ROY HILL HOLDINGS

has the potential to unlock value in the supply chain.” Indeed, supply chain development is seen by many to be key to the future of the mining industry.

“Our integrated operating model has redefined how Roy Hill works day to day. Our unique approach breaks down traditional barriers by realigning everything we do according to five interdependent and interconnected systems (supply, demand, people, improvement governance), allowing us to take a holistic view of our operations,” Fitzgerald elaborates.

“Supply places our maintenance teams as core business and optimises the flow of parts, contractors and Building the Roy Hill Project Time Lapse

92

February 2018

equipment to maximise availability and reliability. We recognise that the digital economy is offering greater opportunity to change the world of work and this has led to improvements in supply chain capability.”

Driving innovation Not content to follow the crowd, Roy Hill has pioneered the use of new practices within its operations. “In a shift from standard industry practice, we have decided to ‘in-source’ our supply system – centralising our maintenance planning and engineering services then housing all supply system functions together to increase collaboration. This is a critical step in

MINING

improving the throughput relationships between our suppliers and our customers,” reveals Fitzgerald.

“At Roy Hill, we have been futureproofing from the start with significant investments in technology and attracting and developing our people.

With technology as a foundation of our business, we have been driving key innovations by collaborating with suppliers to stretch software and services beyond the limit of current thinking, thus providing bestpractice across the business.”

Fe iron ore of which 1.2bt is +55% Fe, enough to sustain a mine life of more than 17 years. With this in mind, Roy Hill is already looking to the future. “We are focused on reaching sustainable 55Mtpa production, and continuing to get the best results from our people and our assets every single day,” enthuses Fitzgerald. “Over the next 12 months, we will bring on another 300 employees, taking our total to around 2,000 employees.”

Sustainable production Roy Hill has a defined mineralisation of more than 2.2bt of +50%

w w w. a n z . b u s i n e s s c h i e f . c o m

93

MAKING SOLAR MAKE SENSE

If a new business is in the right place at the right time, with the right people and in favourable market conditions, it should surely succeed – these criteria aptly apply to Enervest and its energetic Founder and MD Ross Warby Written by John O’Hanlon Produced by Bryan Giles

T

he case for renewable energy in Australia would seem to be a nobrainer. It’s a country baked in sun, with a 14,500km coastline and plenty of space in its open, windswept interior. What could possibly prevent it leading the world in generating electricity from these superabundant solar, tidal and geothermal resources?

A boom in installations of solar systems on domestic roofs became the victim of its own success. Early investors saw good returns: customers in Queensland who applied for the state’s Solar Bonus Scheme before 10 July 2012 continue to receive a feed-in tariff of 44 cents per kilowatt-hour for excess electricity exported to the grid. But maintaining eligibility can mean sticking with the same energy provider and not moving house.

Feed-in tariffs started as high as 56 cents per kilowatt-hour but had been cut to as low as five cents

w w w. a n z . b u s i n e s s c h i e f . c o m

95

ENERVEST

Ross Warby Managing Director, Enervest

Ross Warby’s specialties in Electrical Photovoltaic Systems coupled with his consumer facing, hands on experience sets him apart from others in the energy sector. As the Founder and Managing Director of Enervest, Warby’s core focus is on managing the growth and diversification for the organisation through Business Development and Efficiency Optimisation strategies.

He believes that delivering strong economical outcomes for Enervest’s clients is directly associated with key environmental and social benefits. He takes pride in ensuring Enervest deliver this value to its clients, the broader community and collectively our planet - whilst helping evolve one of the industries most critical to our future; energy supply.

Beginning his career in the field of Photovoltaics in 2008, Warby’s grounding was in contracting solar installations for retail businesses. He not only witnessed the many potential pitfalls, but also the enormous opportunities that existed in the renewable energy sector. This lead to the inception of Enervest in 2012 and its continual growth to a successful national operation determined by his values of frugality and his attention to detail.

96

February 2018

ENERGY

by the beginning of 2017. At that level, when it is considered that most domestic electricity is consumed at night when panels are not generating power and you’re buying it in at 30 cents, it is hardly worth selling the excess. Also, the solar industry’s name began to be tainted when the market woke up to the poor service and warranties that were a characteristic of the rash of under-capitalised installers.

Over 570 of these companies went bust over the last decade, a higher rate than in any other sector.

Government policy changes and a failure to get fully behind renewables have also contributed to the problem. “Education and the private sector, including Catholic schools, are ahead of the policy makers,” says Ross Warby, Founder and Managing Director of Enervest.

“They (the Government) had two big issues to face last year – same-sex marriage and energy. With the first finally resolved, let’s hope they now get to grips with the second.” The public is catching on because to them it makes financial sense. With ROI between 20% and 30%, solar

energy is a spectacular and very safe investment. There’s also a new and compelling opportunity presented by the growth of battery technology.

By storing night time generation, users can cut the amount they take from the grid to as low as 3% of their total requirement. Typically, a battery provides six to 20 kilowatt hours of usable stored power, giving virtually 24-hour renewable power.

Ross Warby kicked off 7 Star Solar in 2011, moved to the present office at Cremorne, Victoria, in 2016 and had installed 1,000 solar systems totalling over a megawatt of installed power by 2014, when the name of the company changed to Enervest. A key achievement at that time was accreditation with the Clean Energy Council, the Housing Industries Association and the Master Electricians Association. That year also saw the completion of its first really large project. Mazenod College decided to commit to solar for a number of reasons. As a large Catholic school, it wanted to do the right thing.

As its principal Fr Michael Twigg said: “Mazenod College has made an

w w w. a n z . b u s i n e s s c h i e f . c o m

97

ENERVEST

“The government had two big issues to face last year – same-sex marriage and energy. With the first finally resolved let’s hope they now get to grips with the second” – Ross Warby, Managing Director, Enervest

investment in solar power because we have a responsibility to reduce our carbon footprint for the benefit of future generations.” Like many other schools, it saw the opportunity to use the move as a teaching aid, encouraging greater awareness of alternative energies, respect for the planet and alternatives to an excessive lifestyle through more sustainable

98

February 2018

living. Cost saving and a $50,000 grant from Sustainability Victoria would have been important too.

This was by far the largest solar installation at any school in Australia at the time. It’s still the hardest job he has undertaken, reflects Warby.

“The school had grown piecemeal over 50 years. It has eight buildings sharing five different addresses, varied

ENERGY

construction and odd roof designs.

We needed a lot of engineering approvals from the power company before they’d allow it to go onto the network, and where normally you’d have a central switchboard, we were required to put switchboards in at each building at a cost to us of about $10,000 apiece.” Because of the scale and uniqueness of the project, the

power company demanded higher levels of protection than normal, but it was a great learning opportunity and testbed for the education sector, Enervest and the utility company alike. Schools have the potential to export substantial power back into the grid during weekends and school holidays, creating a regular source of income from the electricity provider.

w w w. a n z . b u s i n e s s c h i e f . c o m

99

ENERVEST

Fully off-grid home in Victoria for Coldon Homes - an enviro-conscious area in South Gippsland Victoria

“Any business staying in its own premises for two or three years is foolish if it is not tackling its energy outgoings” – Ross Warby, Managing Director, Enervest The 269-kilowatt project involved installing over a thousand Virtus II solar panels supplied by the Chinese manufacturer ReneSola. The system delivers an average of more than 1,000 kilowatt hours of power daily. In terms of carbon footprint, approximately 350 tonnes will be saved annually,

100

February 2018

reducing the impact on climate change. Enervest has installed many other school systems since this one, and has just signed with another six Catholic schools in the Melbourne area that collectively amount to about six times the size of Mazenod.

Enervest has no sales team as such.

ENERGY

2011

It is, says Warby, in December 2017, heavily partnership the best deal it could Year Founded and referral focused find came in at $78,000 in its key markets. It has each month. “That’s why focused on the education and high energy use companies are agriculture sectors till now, though in turning to renewables: they can more the coming year it plans to return to than halve the cost of grid power. Any the domestic market and establish business staying in its own premises itself as a leader in solar and battery for two or three years is foolish if it is combined systems. The cost of not tackling its energy outgoings.� energy in Australia is fast becoming With solar panels now a commodity, unsustainable, he explains, giving battery technology is growing more the example of a large Victoria food than any other part of the industry. company with a monthly energy spend The biggest name in that industry is of $44,000. When its contract expired undoubtedly Tesla. These days Ross

w w w. a n z . b u s i n e s s c h i e f . c o m

101

ENERVEST

Enervest Solar Battery Installation!

102

February 2018

ENERGY

“Education and the private sector, including Catholic schools, are ahead of the policy makers” – Ross Warby, Managing Director, Enervest

Warby is to be seen driving around Melbourne in the company’s new Tesla car, one way, he says, to show the way to a sustainable future. Tesla is not the only battery on the market but its second-generation Powerwall is probably one of the best value and the best marketed, he says.

The image of these products has been given a major boost since the commissioning in December 2017 at a wind farm at Hornsdale, South Australia, of the world’s largest lithium-ion backup battery. Already it has far exceeded expectations, smoothing out at least two major energy outages faster than the coalfired backups that were supposed to provide emergency power. This month the Loy Yang coal fired power station in Victoria suffered a sudden,

unexplained drop in output prompting the Hornsdale battery to respond in under four seconds. “That’s great for the industry,” says Warby, “at a time when the government is touting the unreliability of renewables.”

From here on in, Enervest is looking at diversification and geographic expansion. It has invested in two acquisitions that give it capability in the fields of operational maintenance and photovoltaic construction. Warby sees this as a chance to leverage the growth of utility-scale solar and pick up maintenance contracts. A

w w w. a n z . b u s i n e s s c h i e f . c o m

103

ENERVEST

ENERGY EQUIPMENT PAYMENT PLANS

FIX CUSTOMERS’ ENERGY COSTS FOR UP TO 10 YEARS

No upfront payment

Up to $150K approved in 5 mins*

Pay in instalments

CALL NOW

1300 795 695 enquiries@energyease.com.au | www.energyease.com.au *Subject to credit approval and criteria.

104

February 2018

standalone subsidiary that can provide labourers and electricians to carry out its own and other contractors’ construction and installation projects will position Enervest advantageously in this burgeoning market.

But a project with even greater potential saw Warby in USA recently.

The sheer volume of the American market – 330mn population compared with Australia’s 25m – is the main attraction, but he points out the need to understand that market. Regulations and standards vary considerably, as does the

ENERGY

technology. Inverters are the key to a modern solar system: Enervest’s main inverter partner, the Austrian manufacturer Fronius, commands 50% of the Australian market but only manages 8% in America. This is a technical issue that he thinks can be overcome, creating a real opportunity for his company, which is able to service Fronius products in the field. To gain a foothold he thinks northern California or New England will prove the most receptive in what is, compared to Australia, an immature domestic solar market.

w w w. a n z . b u s i n e s s c h i e f . c o m

105

P RYS M I A N G R O U P :

Co n n e c t i n g A u s t ra l i a

Written by: Catherine Sturman Produced by: Josef Smith

P RY S M I A N G R O U P - A U S T R A L I A A N D N E W Z E A L A N D

Chief Executive Officer Frederick Persson discusses how Prysmian Group’s manufacturing capabilities continue to support the growing number of infrastructure projects across Australia

F

rom Brazil and Turkey, to Germany and China, Prysmian Group has become a leader provider of energy and telecoms cables, serving customers all over the world. With sales reaching over €7.5bn in 2016 alone, the Group continues to develop its existing products to support new and emerging markets. Its exponential

108

February 2018

growth, reflected in the high volume of infrastructure projects within Australia at present, has seen Prysmian Group house two factories within Sydney – one for its telecommunication cables, the other for its energy division.

“We are in a great location, and are a short distance from Sydney CBD, so this makes a big difference for customers who

ENERGY

want to ensure that their cables are produced and delivered on time, sometimes at extra cost – I think that’s a big selling point,” explains Frederick Persson, the company’s Chief Executive Officer.

Significant investment has been placed in the development of the two factories within the last five years, with a long-term goal to deliver a personalised touch whilst providing a global presence.

Such is the Group’s success, it has been the sole supplier of not only Telstra’s telecommunication cables for the last 15 years, but it

is also the major cable supplier of the National Broadband Network’s (NBN) government-funded, fibre network project across Australia.

Set to complete in 2020, the Group is continually manufacturing all the required cables for successful deployment of the NBN rollout.

One stop shop Striving for customer satisfaction has seen Prysmian Group become well respected throughout Australia, something which Persson notes with pride.

Proactively responding to any

1st underwater optical fibre cable laid in Sydney Harbour 2015

w w w. a n z . b u s i n e s s c h i e f . c o m

109

How do you help to reliably connect people?

You start with two industry leaders. Dow and Prysmian cables. We have been working together for over 15 years designing and delivering cables for power and telecommunications infrastructure that last for decades.

Our strategic collaboration and technology enable us to widely support Australia’s National Broadband Network (nbn). Approximately 70 percent of the cables that connect homes and businesses to high speed broadband are supplied by Prysmian Australia, using DOW AXELERON™ polyethylene compounds.

So, the next time you connect with your loved ones through the internet, you know your broadband connection and speed is of high quality because of the high-performance materials used.

Dow and Prysmian … Together, the elements of science and the human element can solve anything.

Read more about our solutions at:

dow.com/electrical prysmiancable.com.au

™®Trademark of The Dow Chemical Company (“Dow”) or an affiliated company of Dow

ENERGY

spikes in demand, he explains that this has granted the Group an award at the NBN Supplier Summit for three consecutive years. “This is on the back of our very high ability to predict possible changes and flexibility to produce any cable at short notice,” he says.

The Group therefore embeds a high level of quality control, guaranteeing high standards across the board. “With some production lines, we have speeds of up to 900 meters per minute and these are monitored automatically,” comments Persson. “If we encounter any problems with the cables, we are immediately alerted and work to make sure that this doesn’t impact the customer in any way.

“We’re a global company, so I think our name carries some weight. We support customers on the cable management side, so we take care of the delivery and also give a lot of technical support when clients define their projects. I feel that we are quite competitive overall.”

• Sales reached over €7.5bn in 2016 • Two factories within Sydney – one for its telecommunication cables, the other for its energy division.

• The major supplier of cables to the National Broadband Network’s (NBN) government funded, fibre network project across Australia.

• Some production lines run at speeds of up to 900 meters per minute and these are monitored automatically

Increased competition The Group’s ongoing work has seen it garner positive relationships with suppliers – but even a good reputation has not removed it from common challenges within the Australian market. Utilising local suppliers has enabled reduction in any bottlenecks within its supply chain.

Proximity is a significant driver, delivering potential cost savings.

Consequently, the company

w w w. a n z . b u s i n e s s c h i e f . c o m

111

P RY S M I A N G R O U P - A U S T R A L I A A N D N E W Z E A L A N D

$35 Million

Prysmian Group - Australia and New Zealand Annual Revenue

has strong local relationships with Dow Chemical and Metrod Holdings, amongst many others in the delivery of its cables.

“We have been able to position ourselves as a quality product manufacturer and I think we have very few problems with regards to the quality of the cables we are putting on the Australian market,” adds Persson. “Do people prefer to pay for this? Not always, but to a larger extent we are able to support those customers that can see the value on the products we are making.”

Additionally, despite ongoing growth potential, the Group also continues to tackle ongoing international challenges, especially with regards to importing products with varying levels of quality, and even compliance.

“Often we find we are competing against suppliers with a very different set of standards and we have had a couple of very high issues here in Australia. We are sometimes competing with products made under fewer regulations or fewer standards which we are obliged to apply under Australian laws.

Being a local manufacturer sometimes makes

112

February 2018

ENERGY

Copper wire bins in the stranding machine

“If we encounter any problems with the cables, we are immediately alerted and work to make sure that this doesn’t impact the customer in any way” – Frederick Persson, Chief Executive Officer

w w w. a n z . b u s i n e s s c h i e f . c o m

113

Delivering values beyond copper LEADING COPPER PRODUCER FROM MALAYSIA SERVICING OVER 15 COUNTRIES ACROSS ASIA PACIFIC.

MAGNET WIRE

CABLES

AUTOMOTIVE

TRANSFORMERS

Metrod’s high quality copper has wide range of use in magnetic coils inside motors, generators, alternators, transformers, ballast and automotive applications.

Metrod’s copper is extensively used for production of high, medium, low voltage cables, wire harnesses and solar wires.

Metrod’s oxygen free copper is being supplied in cutting edge technology – Electric Vehicles & Hybrid Electric Vehicles.

With Metrod’s extensive knowledge and experience, its insulated conductors are a preferred choice of large power and distribution transformer manufacturers.

Casting technology: DIPFORM, UPCAST® & SCR®

RECTANGULAR WIRE • COPPER ROD • COPPER WIRE • EARTHING STRIP • INSULATED STRIP

Metrod Holdings Berhad No. 3, Lengkuk Keluli 2, Bukit Raja Prime Industrial Park, 41720 Klang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.

Tel.: +603-3361 3422 Fax.: +603-3341 5318 Email: marketing@metrod.com www.metrod.com

ENERGY

Frederick Persson Chief Executive Officer

Frederick Persson was appointed, CEO of Prysmian Australia & New Zealand on 1st March 2014. He commenced employment with Prysmian Group, as CEO to Sweden in 2010.

Frederick has a degree in Bachelor of Science in Logistics, studied in Vaxjoe Sweden, in 1996.

He started his career with a Swedish steel manufacturer, SSAB. Persson held various positions mainly in sales and progressed to CEO of SSAB, Canada.

He moved to the stainless steel industry becoming the MD of the French wholesaler company, IMS in Sweden.

this hard,” Persson says.

Wishing for a level playing field, Persson adds: “We work to make sure that we are efficient, and whatever we lose in terms of having a more expensive workforce here in Australia, we will therefore compensate by creating smarter solutions or advanced machines – in the end we have to be able to compete in a global arena.”

Future developments The use and subsequent loss of energy is something which Prysmian Group is working on reducing throughout the development of its cables in a bid to better serve its customers.

Increased energy prices in Australia and the need to become more sustainable are two key areas where the Group is allocating resources in order to provide efficient solutions and the design of cables efficiencies to the whole network.

Additionally, not content to just better its existing technologies, the Group is working at supplying connectorised cables, which will support the delivery of a complete system, rather than sole parts, in order to further extend its services.

“Our new invention, Prycam, is where customers will be able to monitor the cable whilst it is live and be alerted if there is a fault,”

w w w. a n z . b u s i n e s s c h i e f . c o m

115

P RY S M I A N G R O U P - A U S T R A L I A A N D N E W Z E A L A N D

“We are a global supplier with the ability to supply high quality cables worldwide” – Frederick Persson, Chief Executive Officer

116

February 2018

Persson says. “This is something that people are asking for – to predict potential black outs.”

“We are slowly moving towards a smart grid, where energy is injected into the grid depending on peak usage times. It is becoming more intellectual. We are trying to move from just a transactional cable supplier to offering the complete solution.”

Delving into the renewable energy market will also open up further doors for Prysmian Group.

ENERGY

Extruder machine A steady demand for wind and solar farms is emerging within Australia, where the Group aims to deliver the cables for such projects.

Adopting a proactive approach and responding to customer needs has enabled Prysmian Group to continue developing its services across Australia, whilst maintaining the focus on a personalised touch.

“We are a global supplier with the ability to supply high quality cables worldwide,” concludes Persson.

“Although being a corporate

organisation can sometimes be very hard for the customer to get through, I can confidently say that our customers can trust our ability to combine local capabilities and industry expertise with a global ability to source cables and solutions from any part of the world. All of it with one goal: maintaining our position as a supplier of choice.”

w w w. a n z . b u s i n e s s c h i e f . c o m

117

DIVERSIFICATION

and EXPANSION

at CIVMEC Written by: John O’Hanlon Produced by: Josef Smith

The Australian multi-disciplinary contractor is scaling up at an impressive rate to consolidate its position as the go-to provider of all types of infrastructure, at the same time targeting new markets

CIVMEC

S

ince early 2016 when we last spoke to Pat Tallon, the energetic CEO of Civmec, the company seems to have grown almost as much as in the whole of the seven years since it came into existence. Well, not quite, but if the plans he is pursuing come to full fruition, that really could be the case at least in another year as far as the order book is concerned.

It hasn’t been an easy year. Over the last 12 to 18 months the market appeared to be slowing down as investment declined and the Australian resources industries in particular suffered a number of knocks.

Over that time Civmec has been doing the usual

120

February 2018

ENERGY

prudent things, like casting around for the contracts that were still being put out for tender and doing what it could to develop its market. One thing it did not do was to retrench.

As Tallon explains: “We took a calculated risk and retained much of our overhead, in particular our people. We didn’t want to lose the skills and qualities of our experienced teams, so we retained those people and set them to work on estimating and project winning, targeting four or

five jobs that we liked the look of.”

If Civmec didn’t win the work, perhaps that decision might have been a set back, but they did secure the projects, and now has the healthiest order book in its history, with jobs totalling around $580mn secured. The sweet thing, he adds, is that having refused to mothball any of its capacity or lay off staff, it has all the resources needed to meet its contractual commitments and can even add to the order book as opportunities arise

w w w. a n z . b u s i n e s s c h i e f . c o m

121

EcoFilter® by

The New Standard in Odour & Emissions Control The EcoFilter Advantage: •

Biotrickling filter that provides biological, environmentally-friendly treatment

•

Removes organic and inorganic odours

•

No secondary odour removal polishing step required; EcoFilter does it all

•

Sustainable technology, using no hazardous chemicals

•

Consistent, reliable performance

•

Very low operating costs

bioairsolutions.com

ADV

When Civmec and Black & Veatch needed odour control to meet the stringent requirements for Woodman Point, they turned to EcoFilter® by BioAir. For a project as large as the expansion of Woodman Point WWTP, Civmec and Black & Veatch couldn’t take any risks with odour control. They chose a company focused on process design, a company experienced with large-scale installations, a company with hundreds of successful installations in countries all over the world.

They chose BioAir Solutions.

VERT

BioAir’s EcoFilter® biotrickling filters have set new standards for the removal of inorganic and organic odours, allowing for complete odour control with a single biological reactor.

EcoFilter’s proven odour and emissions treatment capabilities consistently exceed expectations in Australia at waste-to-energy facilities, breweries, and municipalities across the country. And because every BioAir system is supported by a local team, our customers can always rely on the high degree of care for which BioAir is known.

250+

12

100%

Installations Worldwide

Countries

Performance Success

With a focus on science and research, BioAir continuously develops and improves its growing roster of odour and air emission control technologies, allowing BioAir to support municipalities and industry by solving the most challenging odour and emission control problems. BioAir’s diverse treatment technologies allow for the best available solution for each unique application, assuring performance success and guaranteeing customer satisfaction.

bioairsolutions.com

CIVMEC

The Forgacs facilities in Newcastle are quite close to Sydney, with about 24 hectares of waterfront land, and there is a lot of infrastructuretype work in Sydney at the moment

124

February 2018

ENERGY

without increasing its overhead at all.

All that could translate into a significant upside in the current financial year.

With between 2,500 and 3,000 jobs in Western Australia supported by its activities, Civmec is bound to be well regarded by the state administration, particularly its new Premier, Mark McGowan, appointed in March this year – he won with a 10% swing in votes, with employment a key target.

Last year we were talking about the steelwork Civmec was installing at Perth’s stunning new stadium.

Civmec’s scope was completed on time to an extremely high quality, though a lot remains to be done before the facility is ready to open.

New pipeline Let’s have a look at some of the projects that are now current – they all have a story to tell. Foremost is probably the award in November last year to Civmec in a 50/50 joint venture with Black & Veatch (B&V, one of the leading wastewater treatment engineers in the world) to design and construct a major

Pat Tallon CEO Patrick John Tallon was appointed to our Board on 27 March 2012. He is responsible for the development and performance of the Group, including building culture and leadership. Over the past 28 years, Tallon has accumulated significant knowledge and experience in all aspects of the construction industry and has been involved in many major oil and gas, mining and infrastructure projects.

w w w. a n z . b u s i n e s s c h i e f . c o m

125

CIVMEC

1,600 upgrade to the Water Corporation of Western Australia’s Woodman Point Wastewater Treatment Plant. This job ticks a lot of boxes. It is the first time Civmec has taken on a job for this client – it is a local project and this is critical infrastructure for the region, treating wastewater for about 680,000 people living south of the Swan River.

The upgrade will see its capacity increased to 180mn litres a day.

There’s a lot of water infrastructure investment needed in Australia, so this could lead to a major new segment for the company, as Tallon adds: “It is also an EPC alliance project which is somewhat different from our standard contractual model: herein this situation there’s a target price put on the job and the joint venture partners are very focused on bringing in the project under that budget.”

126

February 2018

Number of employees at Civmec

Many of Civmec’s long standing clients are in mining, and currently some 60% of the current order book stems from this sector. “We are doing a large job for Rio Tinto in Queensland,” Tallon says. “Rio Tinto is expanding output from one of the world’s premier bauxite deposits following approval of the $1.9bn Amrun project.”

It involves a full package of work, including civil engineering, fabrication, electrical work and the like. The steelwork will be fabricated at Civmec’s Henderson facility on Australian Marine Complex – the largest undercover fabrication facility in Western Australia – and shipped to Queensland from there.

More recently the company was awarded an expansion project at Alcoa’s Pinjarra Alumina Refinery,

ENERGY

just 80 kilometres south of Perth.

It’s another EPC contract, involving the engineering, procurement, delivery, construction, integration, commissioning and performance testing of a filter facility, materials handling system and associated supporting infrastructure at the site.

Over the next 18 months Civmec will be integrating the world’s largest plate and frame filters at Pinjarra with the rock conveyor system.

Another ground-breaking project in more ways than one is at Altura’s

James Fitzgerald Executive Chairman

w w w. a n z . b u s i n e s s c h i e f . c o m

127

Civil and Engineering Structural Mechanical

Mining and Res

Mappi DPH Surveys is ‘ahead of the mark’ after a growth filled year.

sources

ing and Design

www.dphsurveys.net.au

Ahead of the mark DPH Surveys are specialists in providing end to end mine site and civil infrastructure solutions. The privately-owned company, head quartered in Perth WA, secured the Woodman Point WWTP contract, a joint venture between Civmec, Black & Veatch and the Water Corp, marking an exciting period of growth within the company. g

‘It has been a tremendous 12 months for the company. We’ve got a talented team who have all played instrumental roles in our continued growth,’ David, the Managing Director and founder of DPH Surveys said, ‘it has been truly awing to set some pretty heavy p goals and achieve them.’

DPH Surveys employees also worked closely with Civmec on other projects including the South Hedland Power Station and Brockman Fuel Hub, delivering the civil and structural mechanical packages.

‘We make sure that we do the job right, play to each team member’s strengths and keep to the client’s schedule. That’s why clients like working with us,’ David said when speaking of past projects, mainly in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.

Their portfolio of projects in the region port include the Roy Hill Terminal Yards, Newman Orebody 24, Cape Lambert Stock Yards and Port Hedland Inner Harbour projects.

As DPH Surveys reaches completion of the previous 12 months’ milestones, David and his team are looking ahead to new goals. Which he says include developments in UAV and other technologies that can be utilised for providing a better survey service, renewable energy projects and increasing the civil and mine site inc infrastructure portfolios.

www.dphsurveys.net.au

CIVMEC

Rod Bowes

Justine Campbell

Kevin Deery

Charles Sweeney

132

Terry Hemsworth

February 2018

Damian Kelliher

ENERGY

We have already built a precast concrete workshop which allows us to do prestressed items like bridge beams so we can target major infrastructure project in New South Wales and Queensland – Pat Tallon, CEO Pilgangoora opencast lithium mine in the Pilbara. Civmec has secured a package of civil works there, and Tallon is hopeful that more packages will follow. Lithium, he says, is an up and coming mineral much in demand from the technology industries, especially for use in batteries.

All in all, Australian mining is looking up at last, with newer minerals like lithium coming along, and traditional gold mining coming back as world gold prices rise – in June, a joint venture with Amec Foster Wheeler and Civmec won a $298mn contract to build out the Gruyere Gold Project 200km east of Laverton in Western Australia.

The scope of work includes the engineering, procurement and construction of the process plant and associated infrastructure. “All of

these contracts,” says Tallon, “apart from Amrun which is on a prime subcontract basis, are EPC jobs, and that alone puts us in a different space from where we were last time we talked.” Lithium, gold, even iron ore, is making a comeback, he adds. “Our regular clients in the iron ore space, like BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, are doing feasibility studies and looking at large packages of work that will come on in the outlook period. We have a strong relationship with both clients so are hopeful we will be in the running for some of those packages.”

Setting sail As we reported last year, Civmec acquired the Forgacs property and facilities at Tomago, Newcastle and the name of Forgacs, Australia’s largest privately owned shipbuilder.

w w w. a n z . b u s i n e s s c h i e f . c o m

133

CIVMEC

We don’t want to be a company that talks a lot: we prefer to let the market judge us by what we are delivering – Pat Tallon, CEO The successes we have been talking about above might look like plenty to be getting on with, but the potential for Civmec’s new subsidiary Forgacs Marine and Defence are huge as the Australian Defence Department pushes forward a series of new ship acquisition and maintenance programs.

“Our motivation for the acquisition was actually twofold,” explains Tallon.

“The Forgacs facilities in Newcastle are quite close to Sydney, with about 24 hectares of waterfront land, and there is a lot of infrastructure type work in Sydney at the moment. We’re going to use these facilities to develop on the east coast and we are currently expanding them. We have already built a precast concrete workshop which allows us to do prestressed items like bridge beams so we can target major infrastructure projects in

134

February 2018

New South Wales and Queensland.”

The fabrication facility is being expanded too, new equipment is being brought in and the aim is to create a similar site to the Henderson yard.

The other motivation behind the acquisition is to be able to bid for some of the upcoming work announced by the Navy in an $89 billion programme. Tallon continues: “The government is committed to several defence shipbuilding programmes, one being Pacific patrol vessels, one offshore patrol vessels (OPVs), and they also intend to order nine new frigates and 12 submarines.”

The first package off the blocks is the OPV contract and if Tallon can’t secure that it will not be for want of capability or effort. Three ship design firms were shortlisted by the government to deliver 12 vessels ‘to undertake constabulary

ENERGY

missions and the OPV will be the primary ADF asset for maritime patrol and response duties’.

In April 2016, the three contenders for the $3bn OPV project were named, Damen of the Netherlands, Fassmer of Germany and Lürssen of Germany. Civmec/Forgacs had discussions with all three. Forgacs ended up singing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with ASC, the government owned shipbuilder, to bid in partnership for two of the three designers, Damen and Lürssen. The winner will start construction in 2018 with the first vessel delivered in 2021

– and as long as the design of either of those companies wins out, Forgacs, in partnership with ASC will be involved in constructing them, initially in South Australia and transitioning to their facilities at Henderson in Western Australia. This would take Civmec into a new league, though one for which it is thoroughly prepared. And as the government’s wish is for a continuous build and maintenance deal, it could bring in work for decades to come.

Staying on track Both client and partner will be able to check daily progress of

w w w. a n z . b u s i n e s s c h i e f . c o m

135

CIVMEC

136

February 2018

ENERGY

their project and track every component in the process while the project management team will be able to track every man-hour spent via its proprietary Civtrac platform. “We can find out straight away if we are on schedule or behind and control our costs that way,” explains Tallon.

“Nothing on the market was robust enough for us so we developed our own. It was a big factor in winning the confidence of the ship designers we are now working with. It does not guarantee that everything on your project goes well all the time but it gives you the power to know as soon as it does not and address it. If you can spot something slipping when you are at the early stages, you can generally catch it before it goes too far The government has also announced that all future shipbuilding for defence will either be completed around Adelaide, or at Henderson as the second major shipbuilding precinct. The entire Australian submarine fleet and half its surface ships are based at the Royal Australian Navy’s largest fleet base, Fleet Base West, also called HMAS Stirling, on the shores of Careening Bay on Garden Island, close to Perth, so the Henderson facility is perfectly situated to serve it being only 10km away. Accordingly, Civmec is going to invest $80mn in building a second facility alongside its existing Henderson yard that will allow it to build ships and carry out maintenance, under cover, 24/7, 365 days a year.

“It’s state of the art, as good as any in the world,”

w w w. a n z . b u s i n e s s c h i e f . c o m

137

CIVMEC

Tallon declares, on the authority of the top global consultants. “The building will be around 205m long by 130m wide. That’s a similar area to the existing facilities but it will have significant height, up to 60m, so you will be able to get a ship and all its superstructure in there

138

February 2018

for repair and maintenance.”

The land has already been secured and work started. A large sandblasting and painting facility is being added, but for many purposes the existing yard can support the shipbuilder with steelwork, plate cutting and the like – there

ENERGY

will be no capacity tight spots.

A compact summary is difficult – Pat Tallon is a hands-on leader and he expects his team to be the same way. “I ask God for a few extra hours each day,” he quips when asked how that is possible given the way the business has grown.

“We don’t want to be a company that talks a lot: we prefer to let the market judge us by what we are delivering.”

w w w. a n z . b u s i n e s s c h i e f . c o m

139

How do you help to reliably connect people?

You start with two industry leaders. Dow and Prysmian cables. We have been working together for over 15 years designing and delivering cables for power and telecommunications infrastructure that last for decades.

Our strategic collaboration and technology enable us to widely support Australia’s National Broadband Network (nbn). Approximately 70 percent of the cables that connect homes and businesses to high speed broadband are supplied by Prysmian Australia, using DOW AXELERON™ polyethylene compounds.

So, the next time you connect with your loved ones through the internet, you know your broadband connection and speed is of high quality because of the high-performance materials used.

Dow and Prysmian … Together, the elements of science and the human element can solve anything.

Read more about our solutions at:

dow.com/electrical prysmiancable.com.au

™®Trademark of The Dow Chemical Company (“Dow”) or an affiliated company of Dow