Page 4 - Australian Defence Magazine April 2020
P. 4

    4 EDITORIAL
APRIL 2020 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
   COVID-19 CRISIS
KATHERINE ZIESING | CANBERRA
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    AT THE time of writing, many parts of the nation are in lockdown or heading towards it in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping the world. So many people and businesses have been thrown into chaos as measures to prevent the spread or flatten the curve are put in place. The situation is so fast moving at this point, government and authorities are updating the public multiple times a day on various mediums; TV, radio, social media and advertising across all these formats.
Every company I have ever given my email address to is contacting me about their pan- demic plans; thanks Menulog and random online store I don’t remember visiting.
The whole situation is bringing out the best in people (people sewing clinical masks, caring for the vulnerable in our community)
portion of the Australian market – about 2 million units a year – a fraction of current consumption,” Csiszar said to ADM’s Rob Napier.
To address concerns about supply short- ages, the Department of Industry, Science and Technology approached Med-Con offering to assist with ramping up produc- tion. At the time, only two of their three machines were operational.
“The challenge was threefold: insufficient machinery, raw material and trained opera- tors. My Department sought assistance under the Defence Assistance to the Civil Commu- nity (DACC) arrangements,” Minister of De- partment of Industry, Science and Technol- ogy, Karen Andrews said.
“The team, which is comprised of highly qualified engineering maintenance spe- cialists from the Army Logistic Training Centre and the Joint Logistics Unit – Vic- toria, is supporting the request,” Minister for Defence, Senator Linda Reynolds said.
LTCOL Nathan Crowley from the Di- rectorate of Logistics Plans at Army Head- quarters was appointed to arrange engi- neering support and short-term skilled labour on the production line.
“We had a ready workforce who could do repair and fabrication work needed to get their third machine operational. We had some of the best and brightest indus- try partners and tradesmen working on this task,” LTCOL Crowley said to ADM.
Soldiers of the Royal Australian Elec- trical and Mechanical Engineers from Bandiana and Puckapunyal completed refurbishment and commissioning of the unserviceable machine and are working around the clock with Med-Con as opera- tors until extra civilian staff can be re- cruited and trained.
There will be many stories of businesses in trouble over the coming months, with more than a few most likely not making it through till the end of this year. The knock- on effects of international supply chains in trouble will also hit capability and sched- ules. But there will be bright points where businesses and their people step up. ADM will continue to report on both. ■
 and worst (TP hoarding and ignoring social dis- tancing guidance).
The Defence com- munity is no different in this regard. Com- munications started slowly and ramped up over March from the Government/Depart- ment side of the house. Initial communications were around what to do if you had the virus or suspected you did. They moved onto what
Australia
New Zealand Asia
Rest Of World
Via air mail 1 Year
1 Year
1 Year
1 Year
$A165.00 $A185.00 $A220.00 $A280.00
        “THESE INITIATIVES HAVE ACHIEVED
A 12-FOLD INCREASE IN THE COMPANY’S CAPACITY TO 2 MILLION UNITS A MONTH.”
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All material appearing in ADM is copyright. Reproduction in whole or in part is not permitted without permission in writing from the publisher. The publishers accept sole responsibility for the contents of this publication, which may in no way be taken to represent the views of the Department of Defence, the Australian Defence Force or any other agency of the Commonwealth of Australia.
 Defence was doing in response to the pan- demic; contact tracing, logistic support to state governments and now enforcing bor- der entrants to make sure people do self- isolate for 14 days.
The biggest industry story has been that of SME Med-Con, Australia’s only pro- ducer of surgical masks in Shepparton, Victoria. Med-Con’s CEO Steve Csiszar outlined his company’s manufacturing ca- pacity before COVID-19.
“We’ve always produced a superior prod- uct; but like many local companies, we’ve lost market share to cheap Chinese im- ports. Because of our high design and pro- duction standards, we’ve retained a pro-
                       












































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