April 10th 2014 – Special Event Thursday – Professor Goran Roos

goranroos

Goran Roos provides much food for thought!

Vernier’s special April meeting at Kooyong Tennis Centre lived up to expectation with guests outnumbering members to listen to an enthralling talk by Professor Goran Roos, who was recently named one of the 13 most influential people in Australia.  Some of the many insights given by Goran were:

  • The loss of the automotive industry is worrying in itself but what Australia should be more concerned about is the further loss of what Goran called the “Industrial Commons”.  The technologies and skills that support a country in achieving a high economic complexity, so essential for long term economic success.  This is already an area that Australia scores poorly in against the rest of the world’s leading manufacturing countries.
  • China is no longer a low cost manufacturing country and soon east coast China will be as high cost as the US.  Companies like IKEA who are leaders in this sector are now looking at countries like Bangladesh and even Botswana for their manufacturing sites.
  • Countries that lead in manufacturing excellence have a long term policy approach that is consistent even if there are political changes.  This allows countries like Germany and Switzerland to offer long term stability for investment; unfortunately Australia at Federal level currently offers divergent policies.

There was much to digest in the thought provoking and in many aspects, worrying depiction for the future of manufacturing in Australia.  It stimulated the appetite for the passionate and prolonged networking session that followed.  The many that stayed were not just nourished by the conversation but also by the usual high quality canapés and excellent service from the Kooyong staff.

Roos, G. & Kennedy, N. (eds.). (2014). Succeeding in a High Cost Operating Environment, IGI Global. Hershey. PA. In Press.

Roos, G. (2014). The constantly changing manufacturing context. Chapter 1 in Advanced Manufacturing – Beyond The Production Line. Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA). April, pp. 31-56.

To be launched in Melbourne on 30th April.

Roos, G. (2013). The innovation ecosystem. Section 3.2 in Australia Adjusting: Optimising national prosperity. Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA). November, pp. 107-122.

The full CEDA report can be accessed at this link: http://www.ceda.com.au/media/338287/cedaaustadjusting_web.pdf

To view the entire presentation follow the link below

[promobox type=”style3″] Click here to watch Professor Göran Roos speech [/promobox]