Western Sydney Advanced LED lighting manufacturer, Novon, is well-placed to take advantage of growing opportunities in the sector, thanks to the proactive engagement with ICN NSW.
Novon Head of Strategy and Planning, Maurice Moloney, shared how ICN consultant Raquel Bloom, has identified several significant opportunities, including with Westmead Hospital, Penrith Stadium and Transport for New South Wales among others.
“These are really exciting opportunities, which Raquel in her development role at ICN is actively involved in assisting us with” he said, adding that Raquel herself was a “lightning rod of activity”.
“Raquel is very much across her brief and she is very proactive in the way she is engaging with and encouraging Prime Contractors to consider actively supporting companies like Novon, who are an Australian owned manufacturing specialist in their field. We have great confidence that there’s going to be significant opportunities, which, because of ICN’s proactive engagement efforts, we will be well placed to win.”
Maurice said ICN was working hard to realise the NSW Treasurer’s goal of increasing opportunities for Australian manufacturers, and ensuring contracts filter down to local businesses. This, in turn, will create more transparency in government-funded projects.
“ICN created Gateway, which companies like Novon, who are very busy in their own right, would access the portal, review those opportunities and engage ICN to seek an introduction,”
“What’s happened with the appointment of Raquel, certainly in the Western Sydney context, is it’s bringing a layer of proactivity. She’s out there actively looking at the entire pipeline, engaging with those primes and connecting them with local Australian owned manufacturers”.
He said that in the past, when the NSW Government agreed to fund a project, whether that’s transport, infrastructure, hospitals, aged care or education etc, there was no way of tracking the downward flow to local investment.
“There’s a Prime and then you get subcontractors being engaged and so on. The problem previously was there’s no real visibility on how this filtered down to the local economy,”
He referred to the NSW Treasurers presentation at the recent ICN 40-year event who shared, ‘that the Procurement department of NSW Gov want to put a weighting for, Australian owned-manufactured goods and services, and to ensure that some of that filters down to local enterprises in the local economy’.
“For the Novons of this world, which are providing Australian made end products such as high end commercial LED lighting, the contract may be in the tens or hundreds of millions of dollars but the component for essential services and products such as lighting is a small percentage of the overall contract value and can be lost in the mix of how this filters down in a meaningful way to Australian locally owned enterprises. There’s no real visibility nor accountability to ensure that money is filtering into the local economy.
Maurice said ICN provides that transparency so the NSW Government can now realise its mandate for greater visibility and accountability. 
“With regard to how this money gets distributed, it is enormously important and impactful for us as an Australian owned manufacturer that this is given the weighting it deserves and there is proactive transparency in all of this, so local Western Sydney enterprises benefit. ICN’s proactive engagement in the whole process from awarding of contract to engagement with Prime’s and subcontractors gives us greater confidence as an SME,” he said.
“Raquel is circling with us on a regular basis, talking to us about these various opportunities and proactively going to these companies to tell them that Novon, out at Western Sydney is a remarkable success story in the space of commercial LED Lighting, advanced robotics, at a highly competitive price.
The key focus is creating a more transparent, accessible procurement process that gives Australian-owned businesses like Novon better chances to compete for government and infrastructure projects.
Novon is an advanced manufacturer of precision cut sheet metal products whose core product line is high quality Commercial LED lighting.
It supports its clients’ Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) and net zero objectives through its commitment to a sustainable whole of manufacturing process.
Established 17 years ago as a small LED lighting company, a $40 million contract with NSW Government schools just before COVID-19 allowed the company to invest and grow.
Novon now boasts a state-of-the art facility with advanced manufacturing practices including automation, robotics and high-precision sheet metal manufacturing.
It recognises the importance of a sovereign supply chain and invests in dedicated, experienced industry professionals and expertise.
To learn more, go to Novon’s website.
