IICA and the future of manufacturing

In recent times there have been many challenges to our industry - the merging of trades through multiskilling, the emergence of the internet and the reduction in jobs as companies have sought to become more competitive in a shrinking world market.

You would expect all this to spell trouble for all industry associations like the IICA (Institute of Instrumentation, Control & Automation); however, I believe the biggest loser for industry associations - and Australia as a whole - is the decline in manufacturing and the slowdown in mining investment.

Statistics from the ABS show a decline from over 1,150,000 jobs in 1989 to less than 950,000 at the end of 2013; however, these statistics refer to people rather than jobs. ABS Labour Force Survey Manager Richard Arnett says, “The difference is that there are a lot more jobs than people employed, because people can have more than one job; however, the Labour Force Survey is the best available data, and there would be a close correlation between the two.”

In short, people are now doing more than one job due to job convergence and company rationalisation.

Associate Professor John Spoehr, executive director of the Australian Workplace Innovation and Social Research Centre at the University of Adelaide, supports this when he says, “There have been considerable manufacturing job loss announcements in Australia within a relatively small timeframe.” He expects future ABS data to show an accelerated decline as the manufacturing closures such as Holden, Ford and Toyota bite in the future.

When you add to this the mining slowdown caused by fluctuating resource prices and the fact that capital expenditure is expected to dip by two-thirds over the next five years, it is not hard to see that employment levels in the industry are likely to further diminish, and that means worrying times ahead for our members.

What the job losses mean to the association is the loss of opportunity for our members and the challenge for us is how we as an association can assist by addressing the issues.

Our membership consists of both individuals and corporates, all with a vested interest in the Australian economy. We are offering training for the members, and the opportunity for remote companies to see the latest technology through low-cost exhibitions. While the visitors are low, we see this as very important to both our corporate members and the manufacturing industries in remote Australia, together with an opportunity for members to network and discuss the trends across many business segments. What we are seeking in return from the manufacturing industries is for their companies to recognise the unique skills our members can provide and to consider joining the association - to make us stronger by providing us with better insight into their concerns. In our supplier members we have the technology, know-how and a desire to help Australian manufacturing survive and grow.

I see a bright future for the association with our venture into safety training, by facilitating a meeting place for the future by putting suppliers and manufacturers together, and by having influence with the regulatory bodies in determining the best direction for Australian industry. Through technology and partnership, we are working hard to provide all our members with more reasons to join a proactive organisation that has an eye on the future.

*Alan Nichols, General Manager of the IICA, began his career in the mid-1960s in the telecommunications industry and has a Certificate in Electrical Engineering. Alan moved to sales and marketing in the late-1970s with Square D and in 1982 joined Honeywell, working with instrumentation. He ran his own distribution business from 1995 to 2007 and now works in business development.