The Tonsley precinct has the potential to lead the world in advanced manufacturing over the next 20 years, according to Kyam Maher.
The Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation said the Tonsley hub was one of the initiatives that had impressed him most in his first four months in the role.
Maher is particularly encouraged by the fact that so many people overseas have commented favourably about the design and aspirations of Tonsley, the development of which is ongoing on the site of the old Mitsubishi car manufacturing plant.
He sees it as a signpost to an innovative future as South Australia prepares itself for the departure of Holden in 2017 and a vastly changed industrial and economic landscape.
“Tonsley impresses me greatly when I hear from some of the tenants and those who are considering moving to Tonsley,” Maher told The Vanguard.
“There is not really anything quite like it, not only in Australia but anywhere around the world, which has been designed so specifically for innovation and advanced manufacturing.
“I was out at Tonsley and someone based overseas talked about Australia gaining a reputation as the ‘Germany of the Asia region’ in terms of quality and reliability, and that was fantastic.
“That is exactly where we want to be, and where we need to be – to be known for the quality and reliability of innovative services but particularly in terms of our manufacturing products.”
Asked where he sees Tonsley in 20 years, Maher replied: “I see Tonsley being a world centre for new ideas and new processes, having not just prototype but small-scale manufacturing of very advanced products.
“And I can see, in 20 years’ time, that when new ways of doing things or new products are launched, right around the world, people are talking about the Tonsley incubator, saying: ‘This idea, that is where it came from’.”
The Tonsley development took a significant step forward earlier this year with the official opening of Flinders University’s $120 million building, which not only hosts the university’s School of Computer Science, Engineering and Mathematics, the Medical Device Research Institute and the Centre for Nanoscale Science and Technology, but also Hills. Other Tonsley tenants or pending tenants include TAFE, Siemens, Signostics, Zen Energy, Tier 5 and Innovyz.
Maher said several State Government programs – including the Medical Device Partnering Program and NanoConnect at Flinders University, and the Photonics Catalyst Program at Adelaide University – fostered collaboration between industry and the tertiary sector.
However, he thinks more can be done to utilise the knowledge and experience among university researchers to solve industry problems.
“We absolutely need to do more – other places in the world have much more developed relationships, particularly between the university research sector and industry.
“I think in two areas we need to do better. Industry does not take advantage as much as they might of what we’ve got in our universities. In other places around the world, businesses go directly to universities to solve problems.
“And from the other side, universities have an enormous wealth of intellectual property and ideas but not a speciality in commercialising them.”
Kyam Maher is optimistic about the outlook for advanced manufacturing
Maher is optimistic for the state and is encouraged by the G20 Youth Entrepreneurs Alliance summit in 2014 identifying Adelaide “as the benchmark for entrepreneurism”.
He describes himself as a “big fan” of Hegs – the local company that added a hook to the traditional clothes peg and created a world-wide phenomenon, and plans to lift production from 2 million units a year to more than 50 million units annually.
“The idea was created in South Australia, industrially designed here in Adelaide, and was originally manufactured in China,” Maher said.
“But Hegs have just brought every part of the manufacturing back to Adelaide – the injection moulding for the plastic, the metal spring, the plastic bags they put them in, the boxes, the assembly at Orana, everything is now done in Adelaide.
“And (Hegs inventor and developer) Scott Boocock is now giving advice to other small South Australian manufacturers about how you can bring manufacturing back here.
“It’s a terrific story – reinventing the peg.”
And Kyam Maher clearly believes there are more such success stories to come.
On Friday, Kyam Maher announced that four South Australian companies would share $150,000 in State Government funding to develop innovative new products through photonics research. The Government’s Photonics Catalyst Program will support research and development by minerals measurement company Scantech, eye laser surgery company Ellex, Coopers Brewery, and laser company Lastek.
