Building Business and Keeping it Onshore

19 Jul 07

Building Business and Keeping it Onshore – a Buyer’s Perspective

Australian Manufacturing Technology Magazine - July 2007

Australia’s National Manufacturing Week initiates new business endeavours, builds relationships, and facilitates the growth and development of Australia’s manufacturing sector. What it also provides is a venue in which buyers and manufacturers exchange words – not always with each other – but which promoted in the right forum, could aid manufacturers in doing business better, even in today’s increasingly global and competitive marketplace.

ManufactureLink, an online network and supplier directory for the custom manufacturing industry, exhibited at Austech, and spoke to hundreds of attendees throughout the course of the show. The message from those sourcing from Australian manufacturers was two-fold – firstly, finding a supplier with the capabilities required presents a time-consuming, costly and difficult challenge, with phone books and search engines doing little to facilitate the sourcing of a supplier to manufacture components. Too often a buyer looks off-shore simply because he or she cannot find a suitable Australian supplier.

The second most common theme discussed was the move to source high volume components from Asian sources. The good news for Australian manufacturers was that all the larger companies ManufactureLink with whom ManufactureLink spoke intend to keep sourcing components from Australia, but the shift is definitely towards short run, fast turn-around components and components with a high level of complexity. Most of the large buyers speaking with ManufactureLink emphasised the need for Australian manufacturers to do more to accept this reality as the future market for manufacturing in Australia, and to improve their on-time delivery, quality, responsiveness and ability to work ‘outside of the square’. They all expressed their need to locate manufacturers who could consistently deliver on time, and were willing to develop innovative solutions to their manufacturing challenges, rather than rely on receiving work that fits within their stated capability.

Attempts are being made to address both of these issues; by making it easier for buyers to locate manufacturing expertise, and to research and contact potential suppliers, and by providing a forum in which manufacturers can display their capabilities as well as their reputation for quality, on-time delivery and other key attributes, ManufactureLink is helping to bridge this communication divide. Austech 2007 signalled the release of version 1.0 of ManufactureLink’s intelligent online sourcing system, with major improvements including detailed directory search tools, and Supplier Showrooms, which allow buyers to search for the supplier having the exact expertise they need, view their full capability and reputation before contacting them directly. These new features add to the already powerful and efficient sourcing functions which facilitate the entire request For Quote (RFQ) process online.

ManufactureLink offered buyers a fast, efficient alternative to the traditional methods, and buyers were quick to recognise the value of both the RFQ system, and the searchable online directory of Australian custom manufacturers. In the week following Austech, ManufactureLink has seen the interest generated during the show manifest itself in a trebling of system use and a 15% increase in registered buyers.

Following on from National Manufacturing Week, Sydney played host to the Western Sydney Manufacturing Week. The week began with the Manufacturing Leaders Forum, the highlight of which was an informative and humorous speech given by Mr Masaaki Imai, the founder of the Kaizan Institute, and sometimes referred to as the ‘lean guru’ or founder of the global continuous improvement movement within the manufacturing industry. It was clear that Mr Imai wanted to impress on the audience the notion that global competitiveness must start with ‘lean’ improvements to a company’s business and manufacturing practices, before more drastic cost-cutting measures are considered. Mr. Imai also urged the audience to tap into the collective pool of innovative thinking available from their own staff, by cultivating a culture of continuous improvement. Many of us know and understand this thinking, but it is always inspirational to hear it spoken by someone with the renown of Mr Imai.

From those immersed in the manufacturing sector in Australia, including sourcing professionals from some of Australia’s most influential and successful companies, there has emerged a clearer picture of where Australian manufacturing is heading. The strongest message circulating has been that Australian manufacturers can no longer take the easy path and expect the work to come to them. In the global economy, it is easy for a buyer to seek manufacturing expertise from around the globe, so it is no longer enough to purchase the latest machine tools, create a website and expect the work to come. The manufacturers most likely to succeed are those most prepared to do the hard yards. This entails a number of steps, including making your operations lean to improve price competitiveness, bench-marking your company against those already competing and winning globally, understanding the changed nature of the Australian manufacturing industry as it shifts towards shorter run, fast turn-around work, and most importantly of all, being prepared to develop innovative solutions to your customers’ needs and venturing outside of your comfort zone.

About ManufactureLink

An Australian initiative, ManufactureLink provides the technology to connect buyers with suppliers of custom manufacturing and engineering services. Our fully-automated technology facilitates supplier searches and the complete Request For Quote (RFQ) process, while requiring no special software or training. Our buyers are engineers, purchasing officers and managers who need to source custom manufacturing, engineering or maintenance services. Our suppliers are machine shops, jobbing shops, casting foundries, fabricators, toolmakers, moulders, design engineers, industrial designers, maintenance engineers, reclamation service providers and any Australian manufacturer who provides manufacturing services on a job-by-job basis.

As well as performing advanced searches for suitable suppliers, buyers can quickly submit RFQs by completing an online quote submission form, uploading drawings and specifications, selecting the required manufacturing processes and submitting the RFQ to the system. Suppliers having the required manufacturing services are notified by email of an opportunity to quote. Buyers receive competitive quotes from multiple manufacturers and are provided with tools to make informed decisions in choosing a supplier with the right experience, capabilities, accreditations and reputation. By compressing the entire RFQ process from weeks to just days, ManufactureLink provides a ‘win-win’ solution for both buyers and suppliers, and improves their bottom line. ManufactureLink’s mission is to provide world-class online services to fill real needs of the Australian manufacturing industry.

About Australian Manufacturing Technology Magazine

Australian Manufacturing Technology magazine is published by AMTIL, the Australian Manufacturing Technology Institute Limited. It is a monthly publication and has a distribution of over 11,000 nationally. It is a magazine by the industry and for the industry with a special focus on metal machining/cutting and fabrication.

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