The news this week that Holden was leaving Australia was shocking, but should it have been expected? When the last Nissan rolled off the line in 1992, when Mitsubishi left in 2008 and when Ford announced their departure recently, was the writing on the wall and why is it so difficult for us to deal with?
When any major change comes our way our response is tempered by our hope and options for the future, if there are many the response can be more pragmatic, but if there are none then the response is one of loss and despair for what the future will hold.
This is why it is so important to innovate. Innovation creates options – even as you are extracting value from your current idea, if you are developing your next one, then you are less vulnerable to surprises or market changes.
I remember when we spoke about being “the clever country”, our ability to come up with amazing ideas (all needing to be commercialized) should not be underestimated.
Had we spent more time developing the next big idea for manufacturing rather than just letting it die, the shock and horror felt around Australia this week may have been tempered by hope for the future.
If we think big enough we could create new industries and maybe even create the 21st century version of leading edge manufacturing.
dave isles
as an early babyboomer, i sense i have seen Aus transition from the lucky country to the lazy country… we can probably still claim to be a clever country, but national growth requires more perspiration than inspiration.. maybe it is time for a national swot analysis and a committment to action the outcome of that?
Lisa
Bring on the SWOT analysis, an informed intelligent conversation across states, across industries which may create sustainable industries which exploit all our talents!
Joseph
The business of building cars is more than just being innovative. China is a country that manufactures cars of its own and has every other car maker on its shore building cars. They produce more motor vehicles than anywhere in the world, bar none. They have the population to create and absorb what they are making. We need to export to survive. Why would anyone buy our cars when they can be bought more cheaply elsewhere. I drive an Australian made Toyota because I trust Toyota. Toyota know that they have a name that is trusted. If they can produce that trust at a lower price on the same product then it will be purchased. There has to be some sort of protection for the remaining car company Toyota because if that company close their doors we will have hundreds of thousands of people not working, not just in the production of cars but all the ancillary industries that go along with the car supply chain. That will not happen. Australia have signed a free trade deal with Korea. That will see Korean products come into Australia at lower prices. The Koreans make great products. They even make the screens for the iPad for Apple. It is not just about being innovative in product development, it also is about cost of producing and getting it to the market. We have to change, but others are also thinking the same way. One answer may be ” What do we have here that cannot be duplicated by others?” There are many things. But are these “things” in the fields of manufacturing?
Now when you have come up with a bright solution to this problem, pop down to Broadmeadows, Geelong, Victoria and South Australia and sell your idea idea of innovation to the people. At the moment they are feeling the claws of desperation slowing crushing the hopes and dreams of both family and friends.
Lisa
Thanks for your response. I agree we are working in a complex global environment which makes competing with others when there is clearly not a level playing field frustrating, as the child of dairy farmers this is a conversation that has happened frequently in my home over the years. I do believe that innovation is critical to our country finding new industries which may well be prove opportunities in the manufacturing sector. I feel for everyone affected by the closure of our car manufacturers but think that had we shown real leadership as a country 15 years ago we may have been able to transition our workers to new opportunities in new industries. We seem to spend an awful lot of our time reacting to situations we could have responded to differently had we opened our eyes much earlier.