Manufacturing business leaders will gather at a University of Western Sydney forum to collaborate and develop strategies to secure the industry's future.
The UWS Ideas Lab: Organisational Capability in Advanced Manufacturing is being held in partnership with Bankstown City Council and Western Sydney Future Advanced Manufacturing, a WSBC and UWS initiative, at the Bankstown City Library on March 24.
The UWS Ideas Lab series is designed to bridge the gap between university, community, industry and government by bringing major stakeholders together in a forum to genuinely discuss topical issues, to forge a way forward.
Western Sydney is the third largest economic region in Australia behind Sydney and Melbourne, and produces 38% of the Sydney's GRP annually. Yet recent UWS research highlighted the contrasting outlooks of the regions' 8,500 manufacturing businesses.
The Making Western Sydney Greater report, conducted by UWS with William Buck, St George and Western Sydney Business Connection, found Small and Medium Enterprise manufacturing businesses are the engine room of growth in Greater Western Sydney, with expectations for revenue and profit 6% ahead of budget. In comparison, the GWS region's manufacturing businesses have 0.0% anticipated growth for full time employment, with Large Businesses anticipating a reduction in full time employment of 1.7%.
In order to help grow the advanced manufacturing industry and drive a renewed focus on the business skillset of advanced manufacturing management – such as marketing and promotion – the Ideas Lab will discuss new business models adopted by similar high cost environments, including the UK and the USA.
According to Professor Scott Holmes, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice President (Research and Development), changing the profile of manufacturing is crucial to Western Sydney, and UWS is committed to helping the industry grow.
"Much research into the sustainability of manufacturing favors the adoption of advanced manufacturing models, changing the required skillset of management. says Professor Holmes.
"By bringing together the region's small, medium and large manufacturers into a collaborative and constructive forum, we can work together to address any gaps in management practice - working together to adopt international best practice strategies to overcome it."
The forum will be chaired by Chair Anthony Moss, CEO of Lead Your Industry Pty Ltd, and will feature:
- Jason Furness, CEO of Manufacturship
- Stuart Ayres MP, Member for Penrith, Minister for Police, Emergency Services & Sport
- Tania Mihailuk, Member for Bankstown, Shadow Minister for Fair Trading
- Sharon Austin, Board member of Southern Strength Agile Manufacturing Network
- Tony Broughton, Managing Director of Supply Chain Squared
- Steve Facer, General Manager of Chess Engineering
- Dr Premaratne Samaranayake, Senior Lecturer UWS School of Business
