• Introduction:
  • Introduction to MIA Podcast's new format and hosts, John Hill from Ucidity and Steve Bambury from Growth Partners.
  • Focus on assisting manufacturers in Australia and New Zealand to tap into new markets and dominate traditionally owned spaces.
  • Discussion to cover solutions for businesses experiencing decreased phone activity and sales team performance.
• Introduction of Guest:
  • Greg Gladman, founder and CEO of Sales and Leadership Performance.
  • Greg's extensive experience in assisting manufacturers across Australasia to achieve significant growth.
  • The unique approach to Sales and Leadership Performance, including custom development plans and a partnership for growth.
  • Highlight of a three times return on investment guarantee as a unique point of difference.
• Challenges in Manufacturing:
  • Shift in consumer behaviour and perception towards "Made in Australia" products.
  • Manufacturers faced supply chain issues during COVID-19, leading to a focus on local production.
  • Importance of leveraging local production as a unique selling proposition rather than just labeling products as "Made in Australia".
• Solutions to Growth Roadblocks:
  • Importance of refining digital presence to resonate with the target audience.
  • Need for professional assistance in strategically positioning products and services online.
  • Adaptation to changes in buyer behaviour, particularly increased reliance on online research.
  • Emphasis on continuous adjustment of digital strategies to align with evolving algorithms and buyer preferences.
• Importance of Unique Value Propositions:
  • Utilizing distinctive capabilities to differentiate from competitors and avoid price-based conversations.
  • Challenging assumptions about customer preferences and actively engaging in dialogue to understand true needs.
  • Shift towards a proactive approach to lead generation rather than relying solely on traditional methods.
• Personal Experience:
  •  Greg Ladman shares personal experience of transforming his business's digital presence.
  • Initial challenges in visibility and lead generation despite investing in a website.
  • Success is achieved through strategic content creation aligned with customer needs and search behavior.
  • Importance of a comprehensive approach combining digital marketing efforts with unique value proposition development.
• Conclusion:
  • Acknowledgment of the importance of collaboration between digital marketing experts and sales consultants.
  • Need for a holistic approach addressing both digital visibility and sales effectiveness.
  • Continued adaptation to changing market dynamics and consumer behaviours for sustained growth.

Sean McHugh at McHugh’s Financial Services is a commercial finance specialist that has worked in the finance industry for over 15 years, helping business owners when they need to get finance.

His team helps business owners obtain finance to grow their business, where they focus on your business and take time to understand your objectives, identify the business's strengths, and then develop a strategy to secure funding on your behalf.

Sean also specialises in a wide range of financial products for business owners and has no bias about how we address a challenge or opportunity. 

McHugh’s Financial Services aims to help you borrow money with terms that make sense and suit your cash flow. 

Here’s what John and Sean talk about in this episode:

• How Sean’s team help business owners grow their business through financing
• John’s and Sean’s dad’s involvement in manufacturing
• The standard that has been passed on from generation to generation by doing the task
• The possible challenge of knowledge handover
  • The talent pool?
• How Sean started working with IT Fortune 500 companies at the onset of his career
• The risks of importing products from overseas
• Companies who come back for refinancing
• The sustainability of businesses 
  • How do you make sure you have a great product?
• Taking ownership of the products that you sell in the market
• One of Sean’s biggest manufacturing clients
• When is the right time to finance?
• What business owners are doing wrong that affects their borrowing capacity

And many more, including Sean’s thoughts on our main topic: “Will Australian Manufacturing ever return to the glory days of the '60s?”

Connect with Sean McHugh or McHugs Financial Services on Linkedin or visit their website for more information on how Sean and his team can help your business get a positive cash flow at all times!

MIA Podcast Episode 23: Jack Lee from Forward Business Sales and Acquisitions

Jack Lee has over 20 years of diverse experiences in working for corporations and owning small businesses, with his Asian born background, the understanding of Asian and Western cultures through living in multiple Asian countries and 16 years in Australia, Jack is confident that he can help you and your business navigate cross-cultural transactions.

Jack’s enlightenment in life and career success come from his ability to connect and match the right people. That is, realising the goals of both parties, qualify them and make it happen. Not just once-off, it is ongoing and sustainable.sonalized consultation.

Today’s episode talks about:

• How his Asian background helped him bridge cultural differences between businesses
• He helpes those businesses owners who wish to “exit” their business
• Malaysia mostly manufacture -Electronic goods
• Australia mostly manufacture -Mostly food and beverages (wine etc)
• Quality and food safety is top priority in Australia compared to other countries
• There are lots of manufacturing opportunities in Australia
• China is a strong exporter

And many more, including Jack’s thoughts on our main topic: “Will Australian Manufacturing ever return to the glory days of the '60s?”

Connect with Jack Lee of Forward Business Sales and Acquisition on Linkedin or visit their website for a better understanding of safety and how you can ensure that your business and its reputation are safeguarded from all the risk factors surrounding it.

MIA Podcast Episode 22: Rob McDonald from GSD Safety (Getting Stuff Done)

Rob McDonald and GSD Safety’s main scope of work is all about helping Manufacturing, Transport, and Construction Businesses Safeguard their Businesses from Staggering Fines and Penalties.

Rob’s Team at GSD Safety ensures protection for the people, the business and the reputation. They ultimately aim to minimise risk, asses safety and ensure best practices are followed. GSD Safet develops its safety culture roadmap to implement continuous improvements across all elements of the business by meeting obligations under the WHS Act and providing evidence of monitoring, measuring and reporting.

In this extensive discussion, Rob and John talk about:

• What is the real meaning of safety?
  • What it encompasses
  • How a lot of people misunderstand it
• Safety isn’t limited to having documentation in place
  • Look at external pressures too
• Reduce cost with better safety
  • Reduce costs of people
  • Reduce costs of the business
  • Ensure that your business’s reputation is safe
• Contractors are more likely to be injured because they don’t know your processes
• Harassment is a common safety issue but not a lot voices it out
  • Sexual Harassment is a heavy and impeding issue
• There is a crossover between HR, Quality and Safety
  • Safety crosses all departments
    • Financial, HR, etc.

And many more, including Rob’s thoughts on our main topic: “Will Australian Manufacturing ever return to the glory days of the '60s?”

Connect with Rob McDonald of GSD Safety on Linkedin or visit their website for a better understanding of safety and how you can ensure that your business and its reputation are safeguarded from all the risk factors surrounding it.

Smart Commercial Solar is committed to leading solar power and energy intelligence in Australia.

Their vision sees solar power as a financial product able to stand on its own two feet in a competitive marketplace. 

They encourage only those solar installations that will deliver both immediate and long-term business value and community benefit. By doing so, they help to ensure the industry's viability and health – health built on a history of customers for whom solar has delivered robust benefits.

In this episode, John and Max talk about:

• Being the largest commercial solar power
• How they reduce electricity consumption through:
  • Battery
  • Generators
• Their main goal is to help their clients achieve 100% renewable energy
• Who their clients are
  • Biggest names in the retail industry
  • Beverage industry
  • Manufacturing business
  • Anyone who has a large energy consumption
  • Plastic, Glass, Aluminum
  • Hospital/Medical
• They help those businesses who want to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels and those who want to reduce their carbon footprint.
• Energy can be reduced by 20-40% at least by using solar
  • Energy on the regular grid is constantly fluctuating
• The adoption of renewables in Au has caused a reduction in the energy prices in the Market\
• Manufacturing in Australia has a good future if we continue to think of ways to consume less energy
  • Rely on renewable energy
• How they are currently studying the effectiveness of hydrogen power
• Max's advice to manufacturing businesses
  • Re-consider solar power because it's not as expensive as it used to be, and returns don’t take too long
  • There are smart financing solutions like pBA that businesses can look into, so they need to spend their core business capital.
  • Adapt a cheaper solar price.
  • Reduce grid electricity usage.

And many more, including Max’s thoughts on our main topic: “Will Australian Manufacturing ever return to the glory days of the '60s?”

Connect with Maximillian Stenning or Smart Commercial Solar on Linkedin or visit their website for more information on how your business can reduce energy costs.

MIA Podcast - Episode 20: Corey White and Phil Scardigno - The Hygiene Co

The Hygiene Co, Co-Founded by Corey White and Phil Scardigno, is a specialist Australian manufacturer of hygiene and disinfection products, specialising in wet wipe products for multiple industry needs, offering soft pack, canister packaging and bulk form grades.

The Hygiene Co. offers clients private label manufacturing services for their own branded wet wipe products across various market segments, including Cleaning; Personal Care; Healthcare; Industrial, and FMCG.  As supporters of the Australian Made campaign, clients serviced by The Hygiene Co. can brand their products under this banner to reinforce Australian-manufactured quality packaging and bulk form grades.

Tune in to find out how they founded Hygiene Co. and what pushed them to be a part of the manufacturing business in Australia.

Here are some more of what’s in the episode:

• The business was born at the height of COVID when Phil realised that there were no locally manufactured wet wipes in Australia
• The range of products like
  • Baby Wipes
  • Wipes for hospital use
  • Grease removal
  • Home cleaning use
  • Etc
• Finding out that the products were using plastics, they thought of a way to make it more sustainable and eco-friendly
• How they have become “waste: experts learning what can be recycled and what can’t.
• The different kinds of wipes
  • Plastic-based ones do not break through time
  • Plant-based ones that are not flushable
  • Plant-based ones that are flushable and don’t contribute to the landfills
• Why not ALL kinds of wipes can be flushed down the drain
• Babies use up to about 5 Billion wipes each year in Australia alone
• 96% of wipes from grocery stores in Australia are imported, and only the rest are locally manufactured

And many more, including Corey’s and Phil’s  thoughts on our main topic: “Will Australian Manufacturing ever return to the glory days of the '60s?”

Connect with Corey and Phil on Linkedin or hop on to Hygiene Co.’s and CleanLife’s website for more information o the products!

MIA Podcast - Episode 19: Jackson Millan of Aureus Financial

Jackson Millan and Aureus Financial help ambitious Australians create financial freedom faster. We do this by leveraging our proprietary 'Wealth Mastery Machine' framework responsible for building in excess of $2 billion in wealth for our clients.

Aureus Financial has spent the last 15 years crafting an easy-to-implement system they call ‘The Wealth Mastery Machine™’ that they have used with over 1,000 clients to help them build over $2 billion in combined wealth.

Jackson Millan’smission is to help you navigate the four core stages of your financial life.

In this episode, Jason talks about 

• What inspired him to start his business
• Some realisations he had in his youth
• Why working hard is not enough (no matter how you’re good at what you do!)
• Small businesses are the biggest wealth vehicles.
• The need to have the right financial model in order to achieve the desired financial results.
• The “implementation of the operating rule.”
• What is the “punch that knocked you out?”
• Determining where your business is at?
• The three fundamental rules to operate a business
  • Maintain an operating profile of 30% or more
  • Set a target for cash to operating expenses
  • Recurring revenue to expenses
• The biggest complaint he gets from clients
• Why your P&: and your bank account don’t match
• The three main factors of your business
  • Assets
  • Liabilities
  • Current ratio

And many more, including Jack’s  thoughts on our main topic: “Will Australian Manufacturing ever return to the glory days of the '60s?”

Do you want to get to know more about Jack Millan and Aureus Financial to straighten your finances out?

Dearin & Associates helps companies access opportunities and capital in fast-growing international markets and understands that small companies deserve the opportunity to succeed internationally. They help businesses create a strategy that will surely set them up for success.

Dearin & Associate's special focus is to speed up and de-risk the international expansion process for micro-to-medium-sized companies and to help them get their products and services to the world.

Cynthia Dearin, their Founder and International Business Strategist, joins us in today’s episode of the Manufacturing In Australia Podcast.

John and Cynthia talk about:

• How Cynthia likes to structure any business strategy using data
• How her business helps people find out 
  • How are they going to sell?
  • To whom will they sell?
  • How are they going to make their GTM
• Her first crack at a business when she was a lot younger
• Cynthia’s experiences in the Middle East and Europe
• John and Bernard’s Saudi business venture
• Cynthia’s book “Business Beyond Borders” and why she decided to write it
• How you can benefit from global supply chains while running your business locally
• You could have some of your manufacturing designed in Australia and some components offshore, and it still works
• Are there businesses that make it better overseas?
• How a business can survive if you have a unique proposition
• A business that wants to scale needs to have its processes and finances in place.

And many more, including Cynthia’s  thoughts on our main topic: “Will Australian Manufacturing ever return to the glory days of the '60s?”

Do you want to get to know more about Cynthia Dearin or Dearin & Associates? Visit their website and connect with Cynthia on Linkedin!

MIA Podcast - Episode 17: Dario Valenza of Carbonix

Carbonix advances the horizons of aerial data solutions to give customers a competitive edge. They are specialists in long-range and large-area aerial surveillance and precision data capture.

From national park conservation to detailed agriculture mapping and aerial auditing of a 270,000km power network, Carbonix RPAS deliver mission success across diverse industries with unrivalled stability, precision, and accuracy.

Dario Valenza, it's CTO and Founder, joins today’s episode of the MIA Podcastand talks about:

-What Carbonix is
--Provider of aerial data insights
--They use drones to fly and do surveillance
--They use smaller and much cheaper solutions that can be scaled
-Developed the carbon fibre and the design processes
-How Carbonix helps their customers make decisions on ground operations through the aerial data they provide
-How their “models” are carefully picked depending on the customer’s needs
-Its uniqueness lies in their lightweight and long-range aircraft
-How you need to be in the know to know
-What Dario was into before he started Carbonix
-Part of the CArbonix solution uses the materials that they have manufactured
-How they are with R&D
-Their internship program
-How investing means wanting to take risks
-The right attitude to support what you’re doing
-How do we need AU manufacturing
-Eventually, someone will look at your digital and PR presence too

And many more, including Dario’s thoughts on our main topic: “Will Australian Manufacturing ever return to the glory days of the '60s?”

Do you want to know about Carbonix and how they could potentially help you? Visit their website or connect with Dario Valenza on Linkedin!

Nukon takes a data-driven approach to operational technology transformation.


Nukon unlocks your data and enables informed decisions & a whole-of-business view, guiding your business towards greater performance visualisation & digital operations. The industries they support are:

• Manufacturing
• Oil & gas
• Infrastructure & Utilities
• Resources

In this episode, Alec talks about:

• Nukon is part of  a larger group-The SAGE Group
• Their primary focus is to make a business as efficient as it can be
• Their work mainly lies in food and beverage
• Most of their customers are in the meat and dairy industry
• Using a simulation tool to implement processes
• How they dealt with disruptions such as COVID, Floods, etc
• How the supply chain affects everyone’s lives during the disruptions
• The ball-whip effect
• Lots of misused estimates and algorithm
• What is the magical global supply chain
• Manufacturing in Australia could possibly be done onshore
• Growing manufacturing for Nukon
• How you need to have a unique product to make it to the market
• Sustainability
• A huge manufacturing centre in the Philippines

And many more, including Alec’s thoughts on our main topic: “Will Australian Manufacturing ever return to the glory days of the '60s?”

Do you want to know about Nukon and how they could potentially help you? Visit their website or connect with Alec Konynenberg on Linkedin!

LUSTEC is a leader in the design and production of heavy haulage trailers designed to sustain your business for the long term. Founded by Chris Lusty, the company has a long-standing commitment to its staff and clients to suit the requirements of the most demanding sectors.

Australia-based LUSTEC is a family-owned company with a long history in the trailer industry. The Lusty name is widely known throughout the country's trailer sector for designing and constructing the best quality products. 

In this episode, we will talk about:

• Custom trailers available for their customers
• Their founder’s experience and background in trailers
• One of their best-loved products by their products, the Mag Flag
• They are out-of-the-box thinkers
• Their main clients are most people from the
  • Agricultural sector
  • General Transport sector (Tow truck, etc.)
• How they deal with the supply chain issues
  • 100% trailers are made inhouse
  • Only outsourced is when it’s too big (Still locally)
• How they’re planning to double in number next month
• Operational challenges
• Skills are generational
  • Some employee skills vary depending on the era/generation they are born
• Why they aren’t involved in grants
• What they do to stay afloat
• The rising cost of energy 
  • The rise in their energy cost, even w/o added staff
  • How do they deal with the rise in the cost
• Are they looking at exporting in the future?

And many more, including his thoughts on our main topic: “Will Australian Manufacturing ever return to the glory days of the '60s?”

Do you want to know about Lustec and how they could potentially help you with your trailer needs in the future? Visit their website or connect with Ben Keeley on Linkedin!

Nuflow’s pipe relining technology repairs your cracked or broken pipes without needing to dig up yards or excavate surfaces. 

Nuflow has the tools and experience to repair home pipes and unblock stormwater drainage pipes, blocked drains, sewage pipes and leaking pipes without digging up gardens or surfaces. They help residents repair or strengthen their pipes affordably and easily, with minimal damage to their property. Nuflow also provides innovative, reliable and cost-effective solutions to commercial, civil and government pipe relining projects. 

In this episode, we will talk about:

• Their 45 franchise partners, where they’re based and where they supply
• How could they fix your pipes without disrupting the stricture and creating noise
• They’ve been in business for 20 years in Australia
• How even pipe relining requires passion
• How Nuflow does pipeline differently
• The materials they use that’s lightweight and dry in half the time, something they leverage on
• Nuflow is launching a new product
• The use of “masterclasses.”
• Loans and grants
• R&D
• Investing heavily in training
• Having site-specific manufacturing 
• The boost in manufacturing since COVID
• Using case studies and promoting that in their local network
• Making use of their website to market Nuflow even further
• You need passion to sustain a business
• Collaboration is key!

And many more, including his thoughts on our main topic: “Will Australian Manufacturing ever return to the glory days of the '60s?”

Do you want to know about Nuflow and how they could potentially help you with your piping needs? Visit their website or connect with Jeff Hilditch on Linkedin!

Safetyline Jalousie louvre windows are the most versatile, highest performing and best value for money single-glazed louvre windows on the market. 

Safetyline Jalousie louvre windows are ideal for Multi-Res high rise towers, hospitals, schools, fully ventilated & operable facades, RACFs, smoke/fire applications, hospitality projects, shopping centres, social housing, the university builds and just about anything else you can think of.

In  this episode, we will talk about:

• How he started his business through his father’s business of roofing, etc
  • He wanted something to call “his” business and not someone else’s
  • This opened doors for his jalousie business
• How Safetyline Jalousie Louvre Windows has won several vetted awards in Australia
• Some of the challenges of the business are the rising labour cost
  • Capacity is one of the struggles
  • Relying on Asia heavily
  • People and material resources are a challenge
• Need to bring back their capability to Australia
• Suppliers, are they local or offshore?
  • Shipping delays
  • Cost demands
• The COVID lockdowns put massive delays in the projects
  • Material, steel, etc
  • Missing labour force
• His business can see the labour force is getting stronger
• From a tender perspective, locals and onshore have the advantage instead of offshore suppliers
  • Some businesses or insurance will not approve if the manufacturers are from overseas
• Suppliers Declare
  • Manufacturers in the local industry talking about it can be sustainable
  • Hoping to get more traction
  • Suppliersdeclare.com.au
  • Sustainability manufacturing
• Does a small amount of export
  • Based in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane
  • Will venture into Asia and New Zealand

And many more, including Leigh’s  thoughts on our main topic: “Will Australian Manufacturing ever return to the glory days of the '60s?”

Want to learn more about Leigh Rust? Visit the Safetyline Jalousie Louvre Windows Website!

Yellowpanda’s mission is to create a wave of inspiring authorities in their fields to encourage the next generation of business leaders. Their unique service stems from founder Amanda William’s previous life managing the public images of politicians.  Yellowpanda is a boutique agency offering traditional PR and digital maintenance. 

The Yellowpanda team specialises in building authentic public profiles for trailblazing entrepreneurs the P.A.N.D.A way. We make sure their real-world achievements match their online footprint, and our products are designed to help cut through the noise with very minimal effort on their part.

In this episode, we will talk about:

• What Yellowpanda does
• How they work with high-profile to help them build their reputation
• Helps Au manufacturing businesses get out there to build their name and brand
  • Raise awareness and create some noise for the brand
  • Attracting good candidates for the business
  • Build a customer strategy
  • Identify who the brand needs to be in front of
• How the work of their client and their internal team can be tied together to achieve their goal
• How to deal with businesses owner who is “shy” about using themselves to promote their business
  • What feels comfortable for the business owners
  • What her teams to bring out the business owner and being in the spotlight
• Uncovering the business owner's passion and leveraging that
  • Story-telling
  • Passionate speaker vs someone very scripted and put together
• “Don’t make it about you; make it about the people around you.”
  • “You’ve got a great product, and you’ve got a great opportunity to help.”
• How a partnership between a PR agency and a business could work
• How we naturally gravitate towards people with a bigger movement
• How hiring is becoming a challenge nowadays
  • What can be done to attract candidates

And many more, including Amanda’s  thoughts on our main topic: "Will Australian Manufacturing ever return to the glory days of the '60s?"

Want to learn more about Amanda Williams? Visit the Yellowpanda Website

Business Growth Finance is a Vendor Equipment and Asset Finance specialist that works with vendors and direct clients to ensure they get a tailored finance solution.  

We assist our vendors to sell more equipment by offering a Sales Aid Finance Solution. We pride ourselves on developing lasting relationships with our vendors and aim to take the stress out of the equation by assisting them to convert more sales through finance. From pre-approval through to settlement and delivery of the equipment

In this episode, we will talk about:

• Drawing inspiration from the different finance brokers and funding institutions he has worked with
• What the reason was for building his business
• The main reasons and backgrounds why people come to his business for help
• What cross-collateral is and what it’s for
• Some of the businesses that may progress faster post-COVID and what businesses may be holding back post-COVID
  • Food
  • Manufacturing
  • Technology
• How Australia may be the only country in the world that could be self-sufficient in terms of manufacturing
• How business owners have become smarter in reducing labour cost
• Manufacturing businesses he has helped
• How he works with R&D and the process by which he follows in helping every business
• Their top services
• How manufacturing is tied to an education layer
• Automation Manufacturing
  • Agri-business
  • Food manufacturing
• How different food manufacturing was in the past
  • The manner by which it was manufactured, etc

And many more, including Adrian’s thoughts on our main topic: “Will Australian Manufacturing ever return to the glory days of the '60s?”

Want to learn more about Adrian Cuda? Visit his website!

MIA Podcast - Episode 10: Cherie Lyden from Wholegreen Bakery

Cherie Lyden owns and leads Wholegreen Bakery, and is an Australian manufacturer of gluten-free and additive-free food. She is a nutritionist and was diagnosed with coeliac, a disorder that leaves the body intolerant to gluten.

Because of her love for food and her condition, she was able to develop recipes that were gluten-free but delicious and healthy. Cherie’s passion has put Wholegreen in the limelight of producing delicious and additive-free food using fresh produce. 

In this episode, we will talk about:

• Ingredients in bread that you can’t pronounce are not good for you
• How she started selling her bread at a friend’s cake shop and markets
• The bread and goods she makes are 100% gluten free which does not contain gluten and are made in a gluten-free environment
• Started the business with one store only in Waverly then opened another one in CBD
• How her business survived the on-again and off-again lockdowns
• The supply chain challenges that push her to import some items for her business
• How you should be completely “on it” in your business and know everything from the suppliers, etc
• How Wholgreen can keep up with the cost of electricity and how it’s been impacting her business
• How a small manufacturing business can work with the government through the R&D Grant
• Tech Abstract has been helpful in getting approved for the grant
• A business consultant can keep you going and keep you at parallel with where you want your business to be in
• A bit of advice to businesses who are just starting their manufacturing journey at this time
• Manufacturing is a wait-and-see kind of set-up, and setting up a business at this time can be tricky
• Get a business adviser on a retainer to help you think outside of the box and give you fresh ideas.

 And so much more including how she went past all the challenges when she was setting up her business, Cherie’s experience in the manufacturing industry, and of course her answer to our main topic: “Will Australian Manufacturing ever return to the glory days of the '60s?”

If you want to more about Wholegreen's products, please check out their website right here!

Storco started operations in 1980 and is a market-leading manufacturing company based in New South Wales specialising in the design and construction of self-storage fit-out systems, facilities, and fencing solutions. 

They mostly create interior fit-outs, but they also do slab-out constructions. Storco is one of the two companies specialising in this field in Australia and most likely the only company catering to the New Zealand market. 

In this episode, we will talk about:

• How he started in the Marketing side of things even when he was in Uni
• The different Marketing tasks he did such as copywriting, and media production.
• Where he graduated and where he worked for a manufacturing firm outside of Orange, NSW for four years.
• Marketing is seen as a cost centre, not as a revenue centre like the Sales department.
• Manufacturing space needs to have marketers who understand not only traditional above-the-line media but also below-the-line stuff (these refer to the side of Makreint that not a lot of people may want to do, including automation, etc)
• In B2B and manufacturing, relationships are the core of their sales experience.
• You need relationship managers and salespeople to foster those relationships.
• It is important for the salespeople to have the tools and resources to foster those relationships
• Shortening the traditional purchase process through automation 
• How automation can be extremely helpful in enhancing your customer's experience.  
• Some Marketing skills like media production and designing are easily attainable because of the internet but acquiring soft skills, and marketing skills are not achievable in the same way.
• How can you categorise a library of products that will make sense to your buying public?
• Storco has the largest automatic panel vendor in Australia, rearranging the entire business structure. 
• Have a good website that shows that you researched what your customers need.
• Providing a website to your customers with the information they need is essential to making your business work. 
• Invest in your staff. If you have people in your team who understand what they are doing, you have the right people to help your business. 

Including his success stories, how he relied on himself to learn different marketing things and his experience in the manufacturing industry, and of course, his answer to our main topic: Will Australian Manufacturing ever return to the glory days of the '60s?

If you want to know more about Timothy Hanlon and Storco, please visit their website!

The MIA Podcast 8 Episode with Graham Hill retired manufacturing CFO

In this episode, we are very lucky to be graced with the presence of Graham Hill, who was a part of the glory days of Australian Manufacturing. He’s seen it all, how the industry started and rose from the rocks and how Australia was heavily involved in manufacturing in the ‘60s.

Here are some of the things that we talked about:

• Graham started in 1958 and retired in 2006 as a trainee accountant then worked his way up to being a CFO 
• Au manufacturing was very manual compared to today
• How impulse testing used to be done all the time in Five Dock
• How the gov’t often gave testing grants in the past
• How Drummoyne was filled with manufacturing factories in the past
• Au manufacturing was successful in the ‘60s because there were no goods coming in from other countries
• And because everything was locally made, the demand was very high
• The factories were just growing and growing from the 50s to the 60s
• What could help accelerate the manufacturing in Australia today?
• Labour costs in the ‘60s were not so much a big player in the industry
• China’s labour cost is rising 
• How Australia’s products have always been known for quality
• Featuring Graham’s 52 year old power drill

And his success stories, experience in the manufacturing industry, and of course his answer to our main topic: Will Australian Manufacturing ever return to the glory days of the '60s?

The MIA Podcast Episode 7 with Craig Rochat, CEO of Land of Plenty Food Co.

Land of Plenty Food Co. is an Australian-owned food company producing premium hand-crafted and high-volume products for the food service, retail and bespoke markets. Land of Plenty Food Co. manufactures 100% of our range in Australia. We are your destination for beautiful, innovative, premium foods manufactured in Australia. 

In this episode, we will talk about:

• How his wife was the one who started the business
• Craig was training to be a professional chef in South Africa and came back to Australia
• Land of Plenty Food Co. used to be the only operation in Sydney, but they are a national business.
• His wife comes from a family of clothing manufacturers
• Their post-covid and mid-covid struggles
• Considering nuclear power as a resource
• Problems that are on a national level are challenging to solve
• How there isn't much of the government involved in neutral carbon power
• How the government can change the wattage rate of the power at any time they want
• Power is an issue where the government needs to step in and provide solutions
• How they were able to find the balance in running the business as husband and wife
• On the brighter side of things, considering the good that came out of covid, humanity’s resilience
• If you have anything you call ‘your own” don’t leave it!
• How you need a “real” motivation so you don’t walk away

For more details, please jump to Land of Plenty Food Co's website at https://www.landofplentyfood.co/about-us

So much inspiration and motivation in this podcast especially for a start-up businesses. We also talk about Craig’s answer to our main topic: Will Australian Manufacturing ever return to the glory days of the '60s?

#australianmanufacturing #miapodcast #manufacturinginaustralia

The MIA Podcast 5 Episode with Cristina Lee, General Manager of TechAbstract

TechAbstract is an Australian advisory firm that helps companies access the government’s tax incentive program. With their R&D being set up in 1996, it began with their founder, who was then working for an Aussie auditing company, realising that the R&D applications were so poorly made. He then wanted to help the companies write better applications, thus starting his business 11 years ago.

Let’s talk about:

• How the R&D tax incentive program works
• How that’s tied to manufacturing and what types of businesses are eligible for those incentives. 
• Some companies do R&D in their daily lives without even realising it!
• The R&D program is an entitlement program and NOT a grant.
• A company’s eligibility for the program
• Engineers write the applications, so they have a thorough understanding of what needs to be done.
• The program is built with 8 or 9 pieces of legislation
• TechAbstract’s core strength of making processes for their clients
• Lack of Timber in Australia and how TechAbstract bridges the gap on that need
• How the tax incentive varies per company’s contracts

TechAbstract’s success stories, experience in the R&D industry, and of course Cristina’s answer to our main topic: Will Australian Manufacturing ever return to the glory days of the '60s?

#australianmanufacturing #miapodcast #manufacturinginaustralia

Brian Lim heads Dandelions, a three-year-old company that specialises in space manufacturing on Earth. (Intriguing, right?). His team has found a way to drop cell phone signals from the sky to deploy them in disaster-struck areas. Ultimately, Brian’s goal is to be the first and only “overnight” shipping from space to the earth. 

In this episode, we talk about:

• Brian’s  coming to Australia 20 years ago to study and how his BVA (Bridging Visa A) and one day at a pub started his vision
• Having raised over $5,000,000 in Silicon Valley to work on a project for a space company
• The Australian Government has poured more funds into the space sector
• How the cost to go/send something to space is crazy expensive at $5,000 (USD) But now has been reduced to $25 USD by Elon Musk 
• Dandelion’s goal and role to manufacture space crafts  that can be used to bring things back to the earth in high volume
• Winning the NSW Small Business and Innovation Grant for Connectivity
• Whom to approach or how to get approved on a grant
• How Dandelions is currently in the works towards working on export discussions and partnering with the USA 
• The long-term economic opportunity of Australia is in the exporting of high end manufactured goods.
• The massive supply chain issues and massive re-organisations being moved around due to the pandemic
• Minimising supply-chain risks by keeping the manufacturing within the country

And his success stories, experience in the manufacturing industry, and of course his answer to our main topic: Will Australian Manufacturing ever return to the glory days of the '60s?

Watch out for more of our episodes!

#australianmanufacturing #miapodcast #manufacturinginaustralia

The MIA Podcast 4 Episode with Keiran Brown, Managing Director of Ananda Food

In this episode, We will pick Keiran’s brain with his experience in the Food Manufacturing Industry, especially in the Food-Grade Hemp Product Industry and get his perspective on:

• The Agriculture and Food Manufacturing Industry is a significant market trade in Australia
• How did the food-grade  Hemp production and manufacturing Industry do under the circumstances of COVID?
• The hype of the industry during its launch in 2017 and how quickly it dropped due to misconceptions
• How the company adapted to a hybrid work environment during the onset of COVID 
• How did Ananda Food kick off on exporting
• How quality and safety is the top priority in manufacturing
• Grants in the food-grade hemp production and manufacturing industry
• How joining the local groups to be able to learn and grab knowledge from these groups and be able to connect with people who have been in your industry long enough to give you some tips
• How long does the Grant process usually take
• How exporting in different countries are run differently in the Hemp Manufacturing industry due to different factors within the countries being exported too
• What are Ananda Food’s challenges when dealing with the exporting process
• How Hemp is playing a bigger part in the diet of people, especially for people looking for plant-based protein
• The Journey through starting up in the Food-Grade Hemp Production and Manufacturing Industry
• Understanding the growth of food manufacturing and being able to use technology, especially in Quality Assurance

And his success stories, experience in the food manufacturing industry, and of course his answer to our main topic: Will Australian Manufacturing ever return to the glory days of the '60s?

#australianmanufacturing #miapodcast #manufacturinginaustralia

The MIA Podcast 3 Episode with Shane Bautista

A little bit about our Guest, Shane is the Founder and Director of Award-Winning Business Impact Candles. Impact Candles has envisioned to change peoples lives by providing beautiful smelling wood-wick candles in their homes as well as giving back to people in need by allocating funds from every sale to organisations they support.

In this episode, We get to deep dive into Shane’s wide experience in business and Manufacturing and get his perspective on:

• Where he sits in the whole manufacturing world in Australia
• How he was able to move from a small kitchen space business and moving towards his garage to Headhunting for commercial real estate or Warehousing for his business
• Where he sees the business going in about 10 years
• What is his perspective on hiring Virtual Assistants and how they help small upcoming businesses with the day-to-day time-consuming tasks
• What types of equipment he is currently using and what he is looking into to scale up his operations
• How he wants to keep that human touch into his business by focusing more on getting more team members on the production team rather than having to automate the production process
• Exporting his products into the international sector and how he will tackle packing, shipping
• How the use of Local and International Business Networks have helped him market his business
• Where he sits with Grants

And his success stories, experience in the manufacturing industry, and of course his answer to our main topic: Will Australian Manufacturing ever return to the glory days of the '60s?

Watch out for more of our episodes!
#australianmanufacturing #miapodcast #manufacturinginaustralia

Full details of the Podcast are available online at: https://lp.ucidity.com.au/mia-podcast.

The MIA Podcast Second Episode with IT Consultant Bardia Khalilifar

In this episode, We will pick Bardia's brain with his experience as a  Technology Consultant in the Industrial, Manufacturing, Enterprise and a lot more and get his perspective on:

• How technology has pushed the boundaries of the manufacturing industry to keep up with the international competition
• Why the manufacturing industry avoided technology for a long time
• How the Generation 4  of Manufacturing Technology evolving in this day and age
• Where manufacturer should focus their time and energy to scale up
• How technology integrates with scaling up the workforce
• What other technologies he would recommend for the manufacturing industry 

And his success stories, experience in the manufacturing industry, and of course his answer to our main topic:Will Australian Manufacturing ever return to the glory days of the '60s?

Watch out for more of our episodes!

Full details of the Podcast are available online at: https://lp.ucidity.com.au/mia-podcast.

The MIA Podcast First Episode with RMA Sport's Roger Macann.

In this episode, We will explore a little bit about RMA Sport and their contribution to the manufacturing of premium sports infrastructure all over Australia, including:

• Where does Roger Macann see the Manufacturing Industry in Australia right now?
• Where do RMA Sports sit in the manufacturing Industry in Australia?
• Where would RMA Sport fit it in manufacturing in Australia in the next 8-12 months from now?
• Talking about the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Iron Resources
• Talking about Marketing Grants 
• Talking about how automation and technology have helped the industry scale-up

Watch out for more of our episodes!

Full details of the Podcast are available online at: https://lp.ucidity.com.au/mia-podcast.