Five things that excited us in 2019
THINGS seemed grim when the last engine came off the production line at Ford in September of 2016.
As we all know, the unfortunate end to production at Ford and the shutting down of Alcoa’s Pt Henry smelter cast a shadow over Geelong’s long-held reputation as a manufacturing city.
But time moves on quickly, and 2019 has offered many reasons to feel buoyant about the future of manufacturing.
Geelong Manufacturing Council boss David Peart said the region’s manufacturers were adapting to the major challenges and opportunities in a changing manufacturing environment where the price of labour is becoming less important in determining competitiveness.
“There has been a strong focus on Industry 4.0 and automation as many companies strive to establish or maintain a competitive edge,” Mr Peart said.
“The loss of automotive manufacturing in Australia has sent a strong message pressing the importance of positioning businesses to not only compete in today’s market but to innovate to build competitive advantage for tomorrow.”
Geelong has seen positive changes in industry and academia collaboration and the importance of research in driving business innovation.
“This together with the success of ManuFutures as a manufacturing business accelerator has represented a significant shift in our local industry dynamic,” Mr Peart said.
“Now people are looking at start-ups as part of an ongoing entrepreneurial ecosystem, and that’s fantastic.“
Mr Peart said as sustainability became a key driver of business growth, Geelong had an opportunity to be an early adopter of initiatives in the circular economy on which Deakin University was helping to set the agenda.
The cleantech impetus established over the past few years has positioned the city to evolve into a circular economy centre of excellence, he says.
Projects such as the “100 year maintenance-free bridge“in Geelong have brought together a business need with high regional capability in carbon fibre and composites.
“Over the past 10-15 years through research activities we have developed an incredible asset in our specialisation in materials, composites and particularly in carbon fibre based at Deakin University,” Mr Peart said.
We now present five reasons we got excited about manufacturing in 2019.