In the 18 months since re-establishing an ICN office in Tasmania, Industry Adviser Bruno Ferreira and his small team have listed more than $1.3 billion worth of Tasmanian project opportunities on Gateway.
They have also presented more than 1,600 local businesses to project owners and have seen the active number of Tasmanian Gateway subscribers double.
While the current major project in the state is the North West Transmission Development, ICN Tasmania has been working hard on setting up local supply chains for a range of smaller Tasmanian manufacturers and suppliers.
One such company is Plastic Fabrications Group (PFG), which was looking for an effective national supply chain for a tender submission to the Australian Defence Force. PFG’s flagship offering is its high-performance tactical watercraft, the Sentinel 1100,
“We ran a 30-day listing for them on our gateway and identified 106 suppliers,” Bruno said.
“Essentially, what they were looking to do was identify suppliers that could give them more customisability of their Sentinel platform, but also identify sustainment partners nationally.”
In the past, Tasmanian business were serviced through ICN Victoria. With its re-introduction into the ICN network, as part of the Advanced Manufacturing and Defence Industries team in the State Government Department of State Growth, local businesses get the advantage of ICN being subsidised by the government.
For PFG, this meant there was no cost for them to identify suppliers as part of their tender preparation.
“The other advantage is that being in state government, we don’t just function as ICN, we’re also client managers for anything related to advanced manufacturing and Defence industries,” Bruno said. “So we can talk to them about grants and funding, a more holistic approach.”
“Having local people that understand the business and the landscape, and that are a regular touch point and resource makes a big difference.”
The majority of Tasmanian businesses are on the small side of small-to-medium enterprise.
“A lot of the big projects that get listed on Gateway – national level projects – some of the smaller Tasmanian businesses are going to look at that and go, well that’s beyond my scope,” Bruno said.
“We understand that, but we can help you link with other businesses that are tendering opportunities on individual work packages, or if there’s joint venture opportunities that can be explored.
“We can address a lot of those initial reservations and help to facilitate what those Tasmanian businesses can help with.”
Since ICN Tasmania sits within the Advanced Manufacturing and Defence Industries team, Bruno and his colleagues already have a relationship with Defence primes and major buyers.
“This gives us additional opportunities to introduce them to these Tasmanian businesses and their capabilities. Which increases awareness for the buyer of what can be done in Tasmania and increases confidence for the suppliers.”
Before joining ICN, Bruno worked in the Tasmanian Department of Premier and Cabinet in a traditional project management role.
He’s keen to apply his skills and knowledge to identifying local supply chains, and helping buyers engage with Tasmanian businesses in preparing their plans for larger projects.
His first goal is to refine the messaging around ICN’s value to Tasmanian businesses, that it is more than a procurement platform.
“Given that most of the engagement that happens via ICN, in whatever format it takes, happens before a request for tender or request for quote, it’s more accurate to explain ICN as a supply chain identification platform.
“One of the key misunderstandings that people have, especially in the context of a smaller state is that one of the strongest value propositions isn’t so much the activity through Gateway or capability services, it’s the fact that the more businesses register, the more complete a map we have of exactly what can be made or provided by businesses in a particular state or region.”
To learn more about how Bruno and his team can help your business, contact the Tasmanian office on 1800 440 026, or email info@icntas.org.au