Page 10 - Packaging New magazine Jan-Feb 2023

INDUSTRY INSIGHT
2023: Challenges and opportunities
Industry bodies play a vital role in championing industry issues, educating, informing, influencing policy setting and regulation, recognising industry achievements through awards programs, and developing communities of like-minded professionals working to the betterment of industry at large. PKN spoke to the leaders of four influential organisations about the challenges and opportunities ahead for 2023.
MARK DINGLEY,
10 ❙ JANUARY – FEBRUARY 2023
WWW.PACKAGINGNEWS.COM.AU
CHAIR, AUSTRALIAN PACKAGING AND PROCESSING MACHINERY ASSOCIATION (APPMA)
I think the big- gest challenge and the biggest opportunity for Australian man- ufacturing businesses in
2023 are intrinsically linked. Technology and automation bring large opportunities, but with those comes the challenge of ongoing resources, and top of that list is ‘people’. But it’s not just getting good talent into your workforce, it’s getting the right people with the right skills.
Covid-19 has changed the land- scape regarding people’s work expectations. We’ve already seen, and I think we’re going to see more in 2023, the challenges that manu- facturers have in finding the right people with the right skillsets, and then increasing skillsets that lead into the opportunity of automa- tion and technology – for example, remote diagnostics.
I also see as an opportunity addressing the challenges of what we’ve been through with the pan- demic, and will continue to face, such as the dearth of talent in spe- cific trades and industries – and even more so in manufacturing.
Manufacturing in Australia is not a destination for a lot of kids coming out of school; unfortu- nately, education streams are not set up well enough for people to come into this pathway. I think in 2023 there are the opportunities to do more with educational insti- tutes. It has to be a priority. That education stream is critical from APPMA’s perspective; for us to get more engaged and start to have an influence there.
Looking at our members in man- ufacturing and supply businesses in the processing and packag- ing industries, we can see which skillsets are going to be needed in the future. It’s important to then develop those within businesses at the grassroots level, and then also from an industry and an associa- tion point of view, to draw graduates into manufacturing. APPMA rec- ognises that’s our opportunity to expand in that remit as well.