Australia’s unique manufacturing DNA - comprised of tens of thousands of small-to-medium enterprises - means that we must forge our own path to innovation.
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As the manufacturing landscape shifts in response to new economic and social pressures, Australia is looking for an answer to the question: What does the future look like for Australian manufacturing…
Australia shouldn’t have a motor car industry – well not an industry dependent on corporate welfare. Many Australians struggle with that idea – after all shouldn’t we be “making stuff”? When former prime…
Ford Australia has announced it will cut 440 Victorian jobs by November this year.
AAP
Ford’s announcement on Tuesday of 440 job cuts is the culmination of almost 40 years of automotive industry policy failure. Ford will slash 15% of its workforce and cut production by 29%, as the industry…
Embracing an Australia that makes things doesn’t mean taking backwards steps.
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WHAT IS AUSTRALIA FOR? Australia is no longer small, remote or isolated. It’s time to ask What Is Australia For?, and to acknowledge the wealth of resources we have beyond mining. Over the next two weeks…
Associated with sexy, outdoor aesthetic, Australia’s surfboard culture defines a way of life. But it is in danger of disappearing?
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Last October surfboard company BASE abruptly closed its factory on the Gold Coast, with the direct loss of 30 jobs. Since then, nearby D’Arcy Surfboards has announced it is shedding workers and downsizing…
Toyota has culled 350 workers from its Altona plant, based on an assessment system that rated individuals’ performance.
AAP
As if losing their jobs wasn’t bad enough in a contracting local economy, the 350 laid-off workers from the Toyota plant in Altona, also leave with the stigma of being a “low-productivity” worker or, colloquially…
Australia can learn from US companies such as Mattell about keeping brands Australian, while manufacturing products in China.
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AUSTRALIA IN THE ASIAN CENTURY – A series examining Australia’s role in the rapidly transforming Asian region. Delivered in partnership with the Australian government. In this instalment, Dr Richard Pomfret…
The future health of Australian manufacturing depends on bridging the gap between research organisations and business.
AAP
As we are only too aware, manufacturing in Australia is currently under a great deal of pressure, operating in a relatively high cost environment, facing significant international competition and taking…
Driving technology: Prime Minister Julia Gillard has outlined a $275 million package to keep Holden in Australia.
AAP
Carmaker Holden will receive a $275 million government package, in return for committing to stay in Australia until 2022 and promising it will invest $1 billion. Phillip Toner, senior research fellow…
Unveiled: from the fanfare of the new Camry model last year, Toyota has axed 350 jobs this week.
AAP
A week after Toyota announced redundancies at its Altona plant in Melbourne, Holden confirmed the loss of 100 casual jobs at its manufacturing plant in Adelaide. Holden chief Mike Devereux said the cuts…
Times have changed; the car industry needs to catch up.
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The Australian Government has been bailing out automotive manufacturers since 1985. Both that year’s Button Plan and the 2008 Bracks Report recommended restructure and additional funding. But unless the…
The automotive industry is bearing the brunt of a strong Australian dollar.
AAP
Toyota’s announcement yesterday that it will shed 350 jobs at its plant in Altona has been blamed on the strength of the Australian dollar, which some commentators say is having a significant impact on…
Australia’s economy has outgrown car manufacturing, so industry subsidies are pointless.
AAP
It is no coincidence the federal government is increasing its existing multi-billion dollar subsidies to the car industry at the same time it is increasing the tax burden on the mining sector. Price signals…
Would Australia’s automotive industry survive without government assistance?
The Federal Government will contribute millions of dollars to Australian car manufacturers Holden and Ford in an effort to keep Australia’s automotive sector afloat. The government will add $34 million…
Australia needs to have a serious and healthy debate on what the “Australian made” brand represents.
iStockphoto/Hamza Bendemra
Reports suggesting Holden is considering phasing out major parts of the manufacturing chain for the iconic Commodore points to a worrying trend of off-shoring the very skills manufacturing needs in order…
The future of Australia’s manufacturing sector will be the focus of today’s Jobs Summit.
AAP
Hot on the heels of the Tax Forum in Canberra is today’s Jobs Summit, which is expected to concentrate on the pressing issues facing manufacturing. Dean of UTS Business School Professor Roy Green, who…
Apple’s has concentrated on two aspects of the value chain - design and service - to take command of its manufacturing chain.
AAP
Despite the rhetoric that Australian manufacturing is in crisis, is it really time to write it off? In this Q&A, Professor Sir Mike Gregory, Head of the Manufacturing and Management Division at the…
Record terms of trade have masked dropping productivity growth - until now.
AAP
What is to be done about Australia’s deteriorating productivity performance? It’s by no means inconceivable that the answer to this question could be “nothing”. Historical precedent strongly suggests Australians…
Don Argus’s focus on industrial relations overlooks the real issues behind slowing productivity growth.
AAP
Former BHP Billiton Chairman Don Argus has blamed inflexible industrial relations laws for Australia’s lagging productivity, describing the Gillard Government’s economic reform agenda as “lazy”. Argus…
Incoming Director of the Australian Institute of Business and Economics at UQ, and Professor of Management, Faculty of Business and Economics, Macquarie University