Page 54 - Food&Drink Business magazine September 2022

MACHINERY MATTERS SEPTEMBER – OCTOBER 2022 ■ 2
Engaging to support and drive industry growth
Welcome to our fifth and expanded edition of Machinery Matters for 2022, brought to you by the APPMA in an exclusive partnership with PKN Packaging News and Food & Drink Business.
APPMA is committed to engaging, servicing, and supporting all members and the industry via the
ongoing development and implementation of networking events, exhibitions, activities and educational programs
with the aim of uniting the whole processing and packaging industry. The recent APPMA partnership announced with the Modern Manufacturing Expo (see page 5), which aims to help modernise and digitise Australia’s manufacturing capabilities and competitiveness, represents one such strategy with
the show providing a great fit for APPMA members and the segments of the industry they service.
The challenges associated with securing skilled
resources, materials availability and supply chain delays
are affecting a number of industries with the processing
and packaging sector not immune. While there is no silver bullet, discussions and feedback programs with state and federal governments continue with a focus on ways to address these challenges. Innovation centres providing collaboration between industry, government and educational resources represents one initiative that is delivering inroads in the areas of robotics, AI and transformation training to accelerate technology development and adoption. The recent APPMA members dinner (see facing page) provided some great insights into how the ARM Hub in Brisbane is providing these services.
APPEX 2024
The development and promotion of APPEX 2024 has progressed significantly since our last update, with extremely high levels of support and interest from all sectors of the industry keen to be part of the largest, most consolidated, ‘all of industry’ processing and packaging exhibition. Securing the full MCEC venue is proving to
be timely, with the EOI’s received to date exceeding the AUSPACK 2022 space allocation. With the show opening to the market in October, the inclusion of on-floor networking hubs and dining, and the return of international exhibitors, the potential of an early sell-out is a real possibility.
APPEX 2024, run by the industry, for the industry, will deliver a comprehensive range of all processing and packaging equipment and services under one roof. For those companies who have not yet submitted an EOI, I encourage you to do so today.
Mark Dingley, Chairman
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CONNECT WITH APPMA
There are various ways to stay in touch with APPMA, including our website appma.com.au and social media.
@appmaau
Packaging and processing professionals had a treat at Brisbane’s
glamorous W Hotel, with an expert panel shedding clear light on the pressing issues for manufacturing at the APPMA member dinner.
As the first APPMA Queensland event since the end of Covid restrictions, the well-attended evening saw some 70 industry people come together to engage in face- to-face networking, renew friendships, enjoy a delicious meal, and be given an insight into the dynamics impacting the potential for manufacturing post-Covid.
Rather than invite a single speaker, APPMA this time elected to have a panel, which
led discussion on a wide range of topics, all under the umbrella of major industry issues –
and with three professors included in the discussion, it was a high-level debate. At
the forefront of the topics on the agenda was government policy for manufacturing, which, according to the panel, when compared to competitive economies around the world
is sadly lacking. Attracting young talent to industry and
to manufacturing is a key
area of concern, and one that occupied both the panel and the audience. Growing knowledge through collaboration, cross pollination and clusters was explored as a major opportunity.
Hosting the evening was Emeritus Professor Roy
Manufacturing at
The APPMA dinner evening in Brisbane in early August had a high-powered panel discussing the big issues impacting packaging and processing. Under the spotlight was government policy gone awry, the shortage of young talent, and the pressing need for cross-industry collaboration. Wayne Robinson reports.
FROM THE CHAIR