A message from Jens Goennemann

A very early piece of research in the life of AMGC was our Sector Competitiveness Plan, published in 2017. In it, we examined evidence from 3,000 global manufacturers on the source of their competitiveness and made the case that Australian manufacturers must compete on value rather than cost.

This foundational work allowed us to build a richer picture through further studies on topics such as the definition of manufacturing, how it can be made more resilient, and much more. The original Plan has been an influential document in how Australia understands and appreciates its manufacturers and their criticality to an advanced economy.

Recently we updated the Plan. An obvious and very important update is in the title: Manufacturing Competitiveness Plan 2022.

Those who read this newsletter will be familiar with the reason for the re-titling. Manufacturing is not a sector, of course, but a capability. It cuts across every vertical industrial sector where a thing is made. (You can download the new plan here.)

To focus on one of the six verticals within manufacturing, each singled out by the Commonwealth Government’s Modern Manufacturing Strategy, we had the pleasure of sitting in for a presentation by a team operating in space last month.

Off-Earth edge computing company Spiral Blue heads Project Rainbow Python, joined by Esper Satellite Imagery, reusable passive descent vehicle maker Dandelions, and the University of NSW. AMGC is backing the Rainbow Python team with $578,000 in co-funding.

Together they will fly on a mission combining Esper’s hyperspectral imaging with Spiral Blue’s computational innovations in a major step towards sovereign capability in Earth Observation, something Australia currently lacks.

We visited the Wolfpack Space incubator at its new Waterloo offices to hear about the Rainbow Python team’s vision, as well as from robotics company Sperospace, mission control specialist Saber Astronautics and The Hon. Gabrielle Upton, Member for Vaucluse.

We have to say that Wolfpack’s mission resonated with us. Their companies must work in upstream situations, building tech for use in space flight. They must also chase commercial opportunities together and must collaborate on solutions. To that we howl in approval.

Separately, we are delighted that expos are back, and to be the sponsors of the Australian Manufacturers Pavilion at Australian Manufacturing Week, which will run June 7 – 10 at the Darling Harbour’s International Convention Centre.

As I mentioned in our last newsletter, we will be able to share some very important news about our future at the event. We are also looking forward to the opportunity to meet our members face-to-face.

See you at the show – with some fresh insights for you from Hannover Messe and how the clever Austrians use hydrogen to process iron ore.

Jens