Busting the myths around Australian manufacturing

WELCOME TO

- Richard McIndoe

High labour costs make Australian manufacturing

uncompetitive

MYTH #1

It’s not all about labour costs…

• Chinese labour costs are rising… so is political risk…

• Scalability, flexibility and product quality are as

important

• Australia competes well in automation and

engineering

REALITY #1

Australia doesn’t have the

hi-tech experience to be

globally competitive

MYTH #2

Australia has the talent…

• Australia has globally competitive technology manufacturers eg CSL

• Australian universities attract top global talent in STEM courses

REALITY #2

The Australian market is

too small to justify a local

manufacturing presence

MYTH #3

Niche market with global visibility…

• Australia leads the world in residential solar installation

• The world is watching how Australia manages the clean energy transition

REALITY #3

• Too much hand wringing about protecting existing manufacturing

• Not enough support for building new, hi technology manufacturing

• Not enough belief that we can compete on a global stage

• Let’s talk about energy...

THE PROBLEM

ENERGY EFFICIENCY TECHNOLOGY:

LOCAL PROBLEMS, GLOBAL OPPORTUNITIES

HOME UTILITIES CONSUMPTION IN JULY 2020WORKINGFROM HOMESTATISTICS 46% of Australians are working from home

Electricity usage +27%

Day time home internet usage +15% to +23%

Evening consumption +23%

Gas consumption +7%

Water consumption, no change

WFH increases utility costs by $1,400 a year

Consumers want to do something about their utility costs and carbon footprint

BUT

Consumers lack a trusted source of information on their energy usage.

CUSTOMERFEEDBACK

edgeConX ENERGY MONITORING SOLUTIONS

SIMPLE, USEFUL ENERGY INFORMATION

• Easy to follow tracking of main energy usage in the home

• Allows you to control your electricity budget

• Delivers energy and CO2 savings of 20%+

• Advice on right sized solar, lowest cost tariff

• Gives power back to the customer

SMART BRAINFOR THE HOME

Philippines

Pros• Labour – 90% lower wage costs• Established electronics experience• Tax free economic zone

Cons• Minimal smart manufacturing or value added• Language and cultural issues• Covid issues - lockdown and delivery problems

CURRENTMANUFACTURING

ONSHORE MANUFACTURINGOPTION

Victoria, South Australia

Opportunity

• 5-year manufacturing contract for over $100 million

• 120 full time technology manufacturing roles

• 500+ full time installation roles

• Significant export opportunity

What we found…

Pros• Strong quality control

• Innovative, agile approach to design and development

• Design for scalability to reduce labour costs

• Lower failure rates due to higher automation

• Lower supply chain risk

• Zero language issues

Cons•Labour rates – net 20% price increase

AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING

How can the government help?

Customer incentives“Lily, it’s not just about solar and wind!”

Financing Low-cost equipment and working capital loans

TaxationSimple taxation for small businesses

TrainingJob assistance for apprentice trainingCoordination of universities and business needs

PRLet’s Buy and Export Australian!

MANUFACTURINGOPTIONS

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THANK YOU

Contact Us

0478 332 298

Richard.McIndoe@edgeelectrons.com