Page 48 - Australian Defence Magazine July 2019
P. 48

FROM THE SOURCE
CHRIS DIXON
“We have been very fortunate
that Diggerworks’ development priorities have aligned with us on so many projects.”
Continued from page 46
DIXON: We have as broad a reach domes- tically as we do internationally with regards to the supply of both raw materials and garments. We have Australia’s largest local manufacturing base, and we have a chain of backup subcontracting manufacturers behind this.
Some of our Defence programs require us to locally purchase their raw materials from domestic fabric manufacturers, domestic accessories and raw materials suppliers. Lo- cally, we are very strong I would say; where we can keep it in-house, we keep it in-house, where we can keep it local, we keep it local.
We also have access to a range of offshore manufacturers where our client requires it. In addition, where we can achieve the appropriate demand for a specific technol- ogy that is only available overseas, we will whenever possible develop locally or bring onshore new technologies to enhance our Australian operations.
ADM: How does that affect your price point or value for money proposition?
DIXON: It depends on how you determine value; in our opinion, it’s not always the cheapest price. At ADA, our value for money proposition is
a dynamic balance of capability, cost effec- tiveness and Australian industry content.
We will not compromise on the capabil- ity of the product, when looking for the optimal balance of performance, comfort, durability, ergonomics and overall design, noting that often these attributes conflict with each other. We’re looking for a range of things that ultimately get us to our goal or our required item.
Value can be derived in several different ways. Certainly, some of the items that we’re providing are simple by nature, but some of them are incredibly complex; some of them are designed to protect a life and often for us performance in high risk environments will outweigh the cost in regard to perceived value for money.
ADM: What is your relationship with Diggerworks and Soldier Combat En- semble development? How does that work in a practical sense? What’s the R&D focus at the moment?
ADA’s Bendigo facility is the largest clothing manufacturing site in Australia.
DIXON: We work very closely with Dig- gerworks, through a range of touch points: our tech team deals directly with their tech, design with design contract with contract. As our relationship has continued to build, we’ve opened up more of our business.
It is important to note that Diggerworks is firewalled from the procurement side of CASG, and open to work with industry to meet new or emerging technological needs of the ADF combatant. We have been very fortunate that Diggerworks’ de- velopment priorities have aligned with us on so many projects.
This collaborative approach to making a system or platform for a soldier is a key dif- ferentiator in the way that (and the speed at which) we design and deliver product that is ‘operations ready’.
What we see as the final product is often the fifth, sixth or even tenth iteration of a design. One could argue that all those de- signs along the way are commercially ready, but we’re constantly refining and revising until we end up with a product that the sol- dier is happy to use on operations.
ADM: When we think of a soldier com- bat ensemble in terms of the webbing and the packs and the uniforms, the boots, the socks, everything; how much of that is from ADA?
DIXON: The majority. At the moment we’re doing everything from base layers
48 | July 2019 | www.australiandefence.com.au
ADA


































































































   46   47   48   49   50