ManufactureLink, a new online sourcing system for custom manufacturing, conducted their official launch during Australian Manufacturing week at the end of June.
ManufactureLink is a strategic partner of the Australian Manufacturing Technology Institute Limited (AMTIL). The company showcased its services to the manufacturing industry at the show, and was overwhelmed with the interest generated, and with the overall success of their exhibition at Austech. In addition to a large number of new supplier registrations on the system, an exciting outcome was the immediate placement of several major projects onto the system, with the potential to be worth as much as $50million over several years to the Australian manufacturing industry – projects which were at risk of heading offshore due to difficulties in finding suitable Australian manufacturers.
“We spoke to many buyers who expressed their frustration at not being able to find the manufacturers they needed using phone books, internet directories and search engines,” said George Pofandt, Managing Director of ManufactureLink. “Some even said they had resorted to looking offshore purely because they felt it was easier to find overseas suppliers, than to locate suitable Australian manufacturers.”
ManufactureLink is Australian owned and operated, and boasts one of the largest databases of registered Australian suppliers in the country. By facilitating the entire Request for Quote process online, and making it easy for buyers to locate suppliers quickly, efficiently and free of charge, ManufactureLink aims to help buyers source their manufacturing from qualified Australian manufacturers. “Almost all buyers we spoke to thought this initiative was a fantastic idea and felt it was desperately needed,” said George. “Right there at the show we secured several major projects for Australian manufacturers, some of which were about to be taken offshore. The interest in our services was outstanding and we received nothing but positive feedback on what we are doing.”
Austech was an incredible success for ManufactureLink, as well as a fantastic opportunity to talk to buyers to gauge their perception of ManufactureLink’s objectives, and to learn of other features they would like to see. “We spoke to several buyers who were seeking help in finding the Australian manufacturer they needed. Many told us that our services were exactly what they had been looking for,” said George. “When we explained to the buyers how our system works, and that they can use it completely free of charge to source their custom manufacturing needs, many said they felt no need to look elsewhere in future. They see us as their ‘one stop shop’ after only one quick demo.”
The response at Austech indicates that ManufactureLink has struck a chord with the manufacturing industry here in Australia. ManufactureLink has taken on board the feedback received from both buyers and suppliers, and will be implementing many functionality improvements to their system and business models to cater for the needs of the industry. Over the next couple of months ManufactureLink will be working with the buyers who contacted them at Austech with major projects for which they are seeking manufacturers. Using the knowledge, resources and online systems they provide, ManufactureLink will work to ensure that these opportunities stay in Australia, taking advantage of the broad, world-class expertise to be found within the Australian manufacturing industry.
