Austech 2008 Review

10 Jun 08

Austech at this years National Manufacturing Week (NMW) was a feast for the eyes in terms of the state-of-the-art manufacturing technology on display. The show again featured the latest and greatest in machine tool technology and all manner of other manufacturing equipment.

The official figures showed there were just under 12,500 visitors (plus NMW attendees) which is a rise on last years attendance. But the show felt a lot busier!

We at ManufactureLink exhibited our online services and promoted the capabilities of our network of custom manufacturers to Austech and National Manufacturing Week attendees. Normally the first day is reasonably quiet and over the four days there are usually some lulls or patches where visitor numbers are lower.

But this years Austech seemed to hit the ground running and the ManufactureLink booth was flat out right from the word go. With only one slight lull for about an hour on day one, our booth stayed busy right across the four days. And ManufactureLink weren't the only ones.

At the exhibitors function we had the opportunity to find out how others were faring. The exhibitors were abuzz with excitement at the number and quality of visitors to the 2008 show. Many were saying they have had the best sales and strongest leads of any Austech they have exhibited at. Nobody we spoke to said anything other than how busy the show was and how so many attendees were intending to make investments in new machine tool technology, some on-the-spot at Austech.

At the ManufactureLink stand the feeling was similar. We were constantly busy talking to both buyers and suppliers alike. One distinct difference we noticed between this years Austech and the previous two we exhibited at was that we had less people stopping in to ask "what does manufacturing link do?" and more people saying "I've heard of you guys, what can you do for me?".

Another big difference at this years Austech was the sheer number of buyers we spoke to and the quality of the manufacturing opportunities we gained for the ManufactureLink network. We spoke to dozens of people seeking manufacturing services. Many had experienced difficulties in locating the right manufacturer. Most of these we were able to assist on the spot. Others had products that were just about to go to manufacture and we were able to show them first hand how quickly and efficiently it would be to source their manufactured components by simply submiting their drawings and specifications to our network using our online sourcing software.
Some buyers presented us with significant challenges in locating niche manufacturing capability or unique combinations of skills or geographic location. We were able to assist all of these sorts of enquiries and find them a ManufactureLink supplier who can deliver what they needed.

But perhaps most satisfying of all is we spoke to several buyers who had high volume manufacturing needs and were seriously considering outsourcing to China. We had the opportunity to discuss the types of manufacturing they would be outsourcing and convince them they would get a competitive price, but better quality and better supplier relationships by sourcing locally. Some of these high volume opportunities were lodged on ManufactureLink's online sourcing system shortly after Austech concluded, and there are more to come.

All-up it would be fair to say that ManufactureLink was able to talk to buyers who literally had several millions of dollars in total, of manufactured, precision components to source and were impressed by the speed and efficiency of using the ManufactureLink network and online sourcing system.

Our initiative we call the 'supplier showcase' again proved popular. This is a stand we set up in our booth that displays brochures from some of the ManufactureLink suppliers. Many buyers at Austech like to take the opportunity to take away information about suppliers who have capability that they need. A few of our suppliers who had their brochures on display were fortunate enough to be spotted by buyers with large opportunities for which they had the exact expertise the buyer was seeking. In future Austechs we hope to expand this showcase intiative to represent more of our valued suppliers.

We also spoke to many new suppliers at Austech. As with past shows, the custom manufacturers we spoke to lamented that they were getting no value what-so-ever from the usual advertising channels such as phone books and were pleased to see a service that specifically focussed on promoting what they do with real, measurable results. ManufactureLink is confident the network will grow in size rapidly following on from Austech which is good news for those seeking to source custom manufacturing services.

We also had many approaches from various government departments and economic development organisations during Austech seeking ways to partner with ManufactureLink to benefit the nation as a whole or specific regions. We saw this as an excellent endorsement of the results we have achieved thus far without any government assistance.  We hope to build on these achievements in the future and we are happy to work with the government to ensure maximum benefit is gained for the Australian manufacturing industry from what we do.

So to conclude and sumamrize, Austech was by far the best show we have attended or exhibited at as part of any National Manufacturing Week activities. The show received excellent attendance and ManufactureLink's exhibit looks set to benefit both buyers and suppliers within the local Australian manufacturing industry. We look forward to the next Austech to be held in Melbourne in late May 2009. See you all there!