A smart manufacturing show held this week is encouraging more manufacturing in Australia
Melbourne’s South East could be on the verge of becoming Australia’s largest manufacturing centre, despite recent setbacks to the automotive industry and other manufacturing sectors.
Smart Manufacturing ’16 – Dandenong and South East Melbourne on Show was held this week, to showcase the area’s potential for manufacturing.
The show included a display of a 25 metre VLocity train, along with caravans, trams, buses, and trucks.
Committee for Dandenong chair Gary Castricum says the biggest threat to manufacturing in Australia is a ‘crisis of confidence’ which, if remained unchecked, will curtail investment, destroy jobs and hinder ambition.
“We have to be ambitious when it comes to manufacturing. We have to champion people and growth,” he says.
“The reality is that Australian manufacturing is in many instances a success story of leadership, innovation, commercialisation and local and global expansion. As a nation, we should be encouraging, celebrating and investing in this story to help the sector truly fulfil its potential and the benefits it brings to people’s lives.
“Smart Manufacturing ’16 shines a defying light on the status of Australian manufacture by presenting some of the region’s leading innovators such as Jayco, Bombardier, CSIRO, and Chisholm, as well as nearly 60 exhibitors lining the streets around the Dandenong Civic Centre.”
Castricum explained the vision of the committee and its alliance members is to ensure the region becomes a magnet for investment into the Victorian economy, the centre for smart manufacturing in Australia, and a renowned centre for manufacturing excellence on an international level.
Dandenong and Melbourne’s South East is home to over 5,000 enterprises, over 90,000 manufacturing jobs and is responsible for 30 per cent of Australia’s export.
It produces over half of Victoria’s manufactured product and supports one of Australia’s largest supply chains.