Manufacturing in Australia: critical, not terminal

Opportunities for challenge, learning and development are further attractions for young workers.

Investing in providing challenging job roles and using traineeships, apprenticeships and other skills development programs will provide benefits on many fronts. This can include addressing skills gaps so the right skills are available where and when they are needed. It can also assist in establishing a workforce which is skilled in identifying opportunities for innovation, more satisfied with their work experience and who consistently achieve targets in productivity, safety and quality.

Training and skills development

Skills development can and will play a part in the survival of manufacturing in Australia. For those companies who adopt the adaptation-innovation strategy there are several areas in which skills development of employees will play a key role:

• innovation - product and process design and process improvements, value adding by improving product performance (light weight materials, fireproofing, weatherproofing, improving environment performance);
• business skills - business planning, innovative business models, managing change;
• computer skills - increasingly technology will be used at all levels in the organisation so skills ranging from basic computer navigation and communications (email, Word, Excel, intranet) through to operating sophisticated process control panels (which require, for example, the ability to understand complex processes and conceptualise between actual production and computer interface) will be required by many workers;
• continuous improvement - to assist companies to become more responsive to demand and to achieve better productivity with existing resources; it also relies on technical and supervisory skills; lean or competitive manufacturing provides a system for improved efficiency;
• technical skills - such as advanced operator skills, tool and die making, machine set up and change over, planned maintenance to meet requirements for specialist and or complex products and to maintain currency with technological advances; and
• supervisory skills - including planning, monitoring, managing change, managing resources and people, technical and process skills which are needed to achieve innovations, improvements in processes, streamlining of work systems.

Government support

Governments can pay a role here as well and several state governments have established a manufacturing strategy to promote the growth and quality of manufacturing. A similar approach could be taken federally. The current focus on skills shortages and responses such as the drive for apprenticeships is commendable but does not cover the breadth of needs for manufacturing.

Additional support should take the form of:

• investment in promoting an updated image of manufacturing, showing the leading edge companies which are clean, lean and hi-tech. This will help to attract young people to take on traineeships and apprenticeships in the industry;
• ensuring adequate labour in the face of significant population change;
• financial support to industry for innovative and flexible skills programs (in addition to traineeships and apprenticeships);
• increased support for research and development (across the spectrum, not just technical);
• support for investment in innovation - by industry, by government and by investment companies;
• support for lean manufacturing overhauls and other restructuring; and
• support for industry networks to promote collaboration.