Page 46 - Australian Defence Magazine July 2019

FROM THE SOURCE
CHRIS DIXON
“Through our Bendigo factory and our other Defence-approved subcontractors, we’ve produced over 600,000 garments on shore over the past year.”
“Everything that’s textile based is coming from ADA and our network of subcontracting suppliers,” according to Dixon when looking at what
a soldier wears in the course of their job.
Continued from page 50
The ADF remains around 70 per cent of our business, by far the most significant portion, which forms our primary focus. Outside of that, we now have a heavy focus on law enforcement and the first responder emergency network – ambulance, fire, po- lice. Also, we’re producing integrated asset solutions for the health, utilities and logis- tics sectors.
We specialise in targeting complex re- quirements; complex in terms of style, fabric, garment performance, entitlement program and inventory management. From each of these new sectors we have identified new technologies, products or services that can improve our support to Defence as well.
ADM: Is that hybrid solution of online/ outsourced management something that you’re looking to provide to De- fence as well?
DIXON: No, not so much for Defence; we deliver in bulk to them and they manage their own internal inventory management, storage and distribution.
ADM: Is there any appetite from De- fence to adopt a similar system, particu- larly in the wake of the First Principals Review (FPR)?
DIXON: Possibly; it is becoming more popular with similar organisations. Gov- ernment entities are consolidating and then outsourcing their procurement function, and they’re looking for more than ‘just clothing’ or ‘just equipment’; they’re look- ingfortraining,entitlementmanagement, inventory management, an integrated logis- tics and supply chain function.
There is significant demand in adjacent markets for real-time analytics to enable data driven decision making in regards to trends and forecasting so that organisations canultimatelyreturnvalue.Inthecurrent Industry 4.0 digital supply chain environ- ment, the cost savings from reduced stock
holdings, logistics and transport costs when moving to a business to consumer (B2C) model are astronomical.
These changes could even enable key Defence logistics assets to be released from looking after warehousing and transport of uniforms and equipment domestically and reallocated back to the more forward logistics echelons. This move lets an organ- isation focus on its core business, which is warfighting in the case of Defence.
ADM: As you mentioned, the company has gone through a massive evolution over its 100-year history, with the cloth- ing, textiles and footwear industry in Australia a shadow of its peak. What does that mean for your supply chain? DIXON: You’re right, that is how the general textile industry has moved. ADA offers far more than just textiles and is at its all-time peak of local manufacturing. Through our Bendigo factory and our other Defence-approved subcontractors, we’ve produced over 600,000 garments on shore over the past year.
ADM: There have been issues surround- ing the sourcing and manufacturing of ADF uniforms as to the ‘Australian Made’taginrecenthistory.Inessence, what does your supply chain look like to support that Australian Made claim?
46 | July 2019 | www.australiandefence.com.au
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