It was no surprise that the Rheinmetall $5.2 billion Land 400 Phase 2 program was the hot topic of conversation at the recent Australian Defence Industry Network (AIDN) meeting in Brisbane, with member organisations set to benefit, but work may be required to address a looming skills shortage.
Outsource Institute of Technology Managing Director Carl Spruce has been reviewing recent skill shortage reports published by the Department of Jobs and Small Business. According to Spruce, the height of the skills shortage is expected to be 2022, which is roughly when manufacturing is scheduled to kick-off for 211 Boxer Combat Reconnaissance Vehicles (CRV).
“The country has four years to start to plan by training entry level trades people and up-skilling existing trades people to be more productive and capable,” Spruce said.
AIDN Queensland chapter president Carl Quarterman said some suppliers have experienced difficulties in finding qualified skilled workers in certain sectors. “There is a need for suppliers to understand their current and future capabilities, and develop strategies to bridge the skills shortage gap,” Quarterman said.
Rheinmetall managing director Gary Stewart has reinforced that the company was comfortable with recruiting and attracting a credible workforce in Queensland. “We are able to draw on the extensive aerospace and heavy vehicle engineering workforce successfully delivering programs in the Brisbane-Ipswich industrial corridor,” he said.
Stewart said that the company was moving towards establishing strategic partnerships in Australia and New Zealand by transferring technology from Germany, so that Australia could lead the development of new intellectual property and defence capabilities for the local and export markets.
“This will help shift the Australian defence sector from being reliant on technology imports to one that develops its own solutions, and exports them,” he said. “Rheinmetall’s engagement with Australian industry over the past three years has proven that Australian companies can produce to the same quality, cost and performance of any product from Germany. This is actually a point of difference of the Australian industrial sector on the global stage. We are actually globally competitive at manufacturing low-volume, high value products.”
One of the links in the program supply chain is Queensland-based IntelliDesign. The company is no stranger to defence, working with Northrop Grumman on the SCS-200 and the Boeing Defence Australia LAND 2072 programs.
The work packages the company will be working on are related to printed circuit card assembly with varying levels of complexity for different systems throughout the Boxer CRVs.
IntelliDesign hosting the AIDN event last Thursday and took the opportunity to showcase its facility. According to company sales and marketing Manager Frank Harrington, its design and manufacturing capability, with a paperless production facility that uses real-time tracking of testing and assembly during the manufacturing process, is what sets the company apart and minimises the risk to the client.
“Our core business is design and manufacturing, but we will also be looking for opportunities to add value in areas of engineering and design should it be required,” he explained. “Again this draws back to being a valued partner by looking for areas that we can potentially make a positive impact beyond the initial scope.”
“It has been very evident in our communication from day one of our engagement with Rheinmetall that they were looking for organisations that had the capability and strategy for long-term partnerships, not just purchase orders.”
Meanwhile, Quarterman expects more AIDN members will have the opportunity to add value to the Rheinmetall supply chain as the program starts to mobilise.
The next AIDN Queensland meeting will be held on April 26.