Defence Business Issue 52 OCT-DEC 2020

Oct - Dec 2020 Defence Business
DTC SUMMIT
7
National Summit Examines Key Defence Issues
Three key themes emerged from a national summit designed to help companies
improve their chances of winning defence contracts.
The two-day Defence Industry Virtual Summit was organised by the DTC and delivered
remotely to a national and global audience.
The first main theme was the importance of sovereign industrial capability and what
that currently means for both Defence and industry.
“There was a lot of discussion about how the definition and importance of sovereignty
has evolved significantly since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said DTC CEO,
Audra McCarthy. (Jump to page 18 for more reading on sovereign industrial capability.)
“The second thing was the importance of policy to industry. We heard the message a
number of times that whilst policy might appear dry and boring, it's really important to
understand and read that policy because it shapes decisions and it shapes action.
“For businesses wanting to get into our sector, if you read the defence industry policy
you can better understand the target market more clearly, making it easier to enter.
“A third key theme was around value and in all three areas our speakers provided real,
tangible advice and information to better help delegates conduct business.”
The array of guest speakers from Defence and SMEs from around Australia
attracted nearly 350 delegates covering Australia, the US, UK, Japan and New Zealand.
Price And Value
Audra said the objective was to bring new speakers with fresh perspectives. This
included information on how to handle a price war, how companies can clearly
articulate their value proposition and how they manage risk.
This was echoed in the discussion panel by Diane Edgerton, the CEO of Tasmania’s
Direct Edge Manufacturing, who said she refuses to get into a price war. That was
new. We don't hear that very often and to have it reinforced subsequently was really
powerful.
We then had Sam Willis talking about Checkside’s story. His advice was on growing a
business, and that if you're wanting to team and have an external investor join your
business, you need to do the groundwork beforehand. You need to invest in your
systems and processes beforehand, so that you can actually embrace that opportunity
instead of fire-fighting.
He also spoke about the lessons learned from their experience, where they suddenly
went from about 10 staff to 50 and the huge stress this imposes on a small business.”
Audra said it was not uncommon for small businesses to win major defence contracts
and have to implement a rapid, large scale ramp up process, which had not been
anticipated.
“Sometimes they don't know what systems they need in place to accommodate that,
making it difficult to know how to be prepared,” she said.
Another key message was that Defence, from the highest levels down, is keen to
engage with industry.
“We haven't seen that level of collective engagement previously. As an industry, we
need to do more to embrace that. We need to do more to connect the Defence end
user with industry so that we can get better, targeted innovation to the end user,”
said Audra.
The presentation by Kate Carnell, the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise
Ombudsman, was particularly well received. She talked about the frustrations and
complications of panels, payment terms and contractual terms that are open ended
and unlimited.
“There's a lot of work to do there,” said Audra. “Obviously, Kate is the right person to
help us improve that.”
It Takes Time
The event highlighted the DTC’s ability to provide services to industry across Australia,
through the use of professional digital tools and technology that supported knowledge
sharing and collaboration.
One message the DTC continually emphasises with new entrants is how long it takes to
get into the defence supply chain - and this was reiterated by a range of speakers.
“Many people just don't understand that it can take 3-5 years and they expect action
straight away,” said Audra. “And I know that's not new but I found it reassuring to
hear the same message delivered by others in the community..”
You can still access recordings of the Summit via the DTC's Events website page