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Cetec delivered the Industrial Diagnostic and Rehabilitation Program on the behalf of the Cities of Kingston and Monash with funding from the Victorian Government. The aim of the program was to understand the "state of health" of the manufacturing industry in the council precincts.

Both Cities have a high proportion of manufacturing industry. The influence of factors such as globalisation, free trade and the rise of the Asian region as a source of low cost manufacturing have provided impetus for the relocation or closure of manufacturing businesses. To remain competitive local manufacturers must rely upon a high standard of quality, innovation and niche markets. Much of these goals involve rapid technical solutions often comprising research & development. However, SMEs can find it difficult to find the appropriate organisation that can assist them for research & development within the suitable financial constraints and timeframes.

Consultations with SMEs manufacturers were undertaken to obtain an analysis and propose a solution for the technical issues impeding business growth. In a few cases the program selected some businesses to show the potential benefit of linking SMEs to publicly funded Research Organisations.

The outcomes of the program included:

• Gathered an inventory of technical barriers to business growth and categorised as product development, productivity improvement, training/skills and quality;

• Linkage of SMEs to publicly funded Research Organisations was weak. Different values between SMEs and publicly funded Research Organisations create a disconnection;

• SMEs had a limited outlook on technology options;

• SMEs were unaware of the variety of potential funding opportunities offered by State and Commonwealth Government;

• Many SMEs had disdain for involvement with industry associations;

• Businesses in which the owner was approaching retirement and/or the succession plan was undefined had a lower incentive to resolve technical issues and were risk averse; and

• Collaborative business relationships to enhance long-term business sustainability were revealed. All levels of Government should encourage the collaborative relationships.

The Cities of Kingston and Monash are addressing the above issues through their Industrial Strategy plans.

For more information on the program you can contact us here.