A message from Jens Goennemann

​Imagine the task at hand to manufacture a certified invasive ventilator within an extremely compressed timeframe. Not just to talk about it – but to deliver. Starting from scratch during a global pandemic; where to begin? How to secure design approval? How to source materials? How to build a reliable, local supply chain when most of us were working from home?

You call on the Australian manufacturing community – united by a common objective and a truly collaborative spirit.

This is what the notus Emergency Invasive Ventilator Program (profiled in this month’s Better Together column) did in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. A consortium of Australian manufacturing companies worked together to make invasive ventilators with approximately 600 already delivered.

The notus Program has demonstrated that Australian manufacturers can not only make amazingly high-quality products but within an incredibly compressed timeframe. In close consultation with the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), the notus Program under the lead of Grey Innovation overcame every challenge it encountered, whether related to design, timeframe, or material.

Australian manufacturers have proven to be highly collaborative and capable. The public’s appreciation of Australian manufacturing capability is at an unprecedented high. This is in large part due to its unwavering support during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Collaboration for a Successful Commercial Outcome

AMGC has witnessed, repeatedly, the benefits that collaboration delivers in the 70+ projects that we have funded to date.

Featured in this month’s AMGC News, one only has to look as far as the work undertaken by the Centre for Sustainable Materials Research and Technology (SMaRT) at the University of New South Wales to gain an understanding of the power of collaboration.

With support from AMGC, SMaRT has partnered with various manufacturers over the years, including several SMEs in regional areas. The objective of these partnerships has been to translate SMaRT’s research into a commercialised industrial setting. All its projects have enhanced local manufacturing capability and supply chains in the process.

Brighter, Stronger and More Resilient

When put to the test during the COVID-19 crisis, Australia’s manufacturing industry has not disappointed. The dedication and enthusiasm of manufacturers across the nation in reacting to the crisis has underlined precisely the strength, agility and collaborative nature of our manufacturing industry.

With investment from the Australian Government to help capitalise on this much-desired manufacturing capability, Australia’s manufacturing industry will be brighter, stronger and more resilient than ever. Manufacturing is a capability that every country must have—both in times of crisis, and otherwise for a more capable economy.

While we have no way of knowing what the next crisis might look like, it is clear that a collaborative, capable manufacturing industry will always play a vital role in both: the nation’s response and the nation’s recovery.