Despite disappointments, this founder is still adamant about high-tech gear made here

Appreciation has grown in the last decade or so for a modern, holistic view of manufacturing. It’s “more than just production”, you will have heard countless times, and production is the lowest point in the “smiley curve” model of where value is added.  The National Reconstruction Fund Corporation, for example, chose to open its inaugural…

A frank discussion on grants, government’s role and getting our self-belief back

Panels don’t always cover topics such as unforeseen disasters attached to winning a grant or the untapped potential of propaganda, but the final discussion at the recent Spotlight on Scaling Up seminar did. Simon Crane, CEO and majority shareholder of 95-year-old industrial and automotive supplier Lovells Group, shared that his company had only once applied…

Victoria decimates local steel sector – Weld Australia

Welding sector peak body Weld Australia has called for immediate action against the offshoring of Victorian government infrastructure projects in favour of ‘cheap, unsafe imported steel’. Weld Australia, which represents thousands of local welders and fabricators, said Victoria’s actions had already decimated the local steel manufacturing industry, costing jobs, investment, and threatening the sovereign capability…