2010 brisbane innovation scorecard

brisbane I N N O V A T I O N S C O R E C A R D 2 0 1 0

Measuring, nurturing and profi ling innovation within Australia’s new world city

Foreward from Campbell Newman, Lord Mayor of Brisbane

Brisbane, Australia’s new world city

Partner Messages

Scorecard Methodology

Scorecard Key Findings

Case Study – Teys Bros

Case Study – GHD

Case Study – Aluminium Boats Australia

Case Study – Kaon Consulting

Case Study – Centor Architectural

Case Study – Scott Wilson Consulting

Case Study – R.F. Technologies Aust Pty Ltd

Case Study – Prowler Proof

Case Study – Eastall Precision Engineering Pty Ltd

Case Study – Aquarius Technologies Pty Ltd

Acknowledgements

table of C O N T E N T S

03

04050809151719

2021232526272930

An initiative of In collaboration with

It is certainly an exciting time for Brisbane, Australia’s new world city.

Our reputation as a centre of world-class innovation is growing from strength to strength, and we are rapidly emerging as a leading international force for developing solutions to complex issues.

From medical research to biotechnology; infrastructure development to digital industries; clean technologies to mining technologies; Brisbane’s creative ideas are leading the way across a range of emerging industries.

Our commercial ties to lucrative global markets, particularly in the Asia Pacifi c region, continue to fl ourish and are pivotal in helping Brisbane City Council achieve our vision for a world-class, prosperous and smart-thinking city.

With a comprehensive education system and burgeoning population growth, Brisbane is benefi ting from the arrival of new skills, cultures, investment capital, and technologies.

The Brisbane Innovation Scorecard is an important measure of Brisbane’s innovation footprint, nurturing and highlighting our city’s achievements in innovation and assisting in promoting Brisbane as an enabler of innovation both at home and internationally.

Innovation is a process not a goal. By continuing to embrace innovation as a journey, we will ensure that Brisbane remains at the forefront of innovation - reaping the social and economic benefi ts this brings.

Campbell Newman, Lord Mayor of Brisbane

The inaugural Brisbane Innovation Scorecard is an important measure of Brisbane’s innovation footprint.

foreword

03 Brisbane Innovation Scorecard 2010

Brisbane’s vision as Australia’s new world city is of a city of prosperity and opportunity - dynamic, effi cient and fi ercely competitive while delivering quality, culture and lifestyle. Its businesses maintain their competitive edge by improving the goods and services that they sell to the world through a continuous cycle of innovation.

The capacity to generate knowledge-based growth is a major distinguishing factor of a new world city. Such growth is as much about making manufactured products super-effi cient and customer- centric as it is about delivering customised knowledge-intensive services that cement long term business-to-business relationships.

For most of the past decade, Brisbane has been Australia’s fastest growing capital city economy. Historically a city of businesses providing mainly

locally sold goods and services, modern Brisbane has a diverse, rapidly growing economy of versatile exporting businesses, competing in highly customer-centric niche markets. From manufacturing to infrastructure development, engineering to information technology applications, Brisbane businesses have confi rmed their strong commitment to innovation as a keystone in their success.

An initial study commissioned and conducted by Brisbane City Council in 2009 confi rmed that over 80 per cent of Brisbane businesses surveyed made signifi cant investments in innovation over the past three years, many of which were either ‘new to the world’ or ‘new to their industry’. Despite the recent global economic downturn, businesses were optimistic, expecting strong growth in the next three years.

This year’s Innovation Scorecard confi rms the high commitment to innovation previously reported and brings additional insights into the innovative strategies being employed by Brisbane businesses. The Scorecard reveals that: exporting fi rms are more likely to invest in innovation; fi rms apply many different forms of innovation to improve their business performance; fi nance is currently the largest obstacle to further innovation; and smaller businesses take more risk in bringing entirely new ideas to new markets and industries.

The challenge for Brisbane is to celebrate the strengths of its talented and innovative businesses. The Innovation Scorecard presents an important step in establishing the importance of innovation to long term success and in spreading the word about Brisbane as Australia’s new world city.

brisbane A U S T R A L I A ’ S N E W W O R L D C I T Y

The Brisbane Innovation Scorecard is an important step in establishing Brisbane as Australia’s new world city.

Brisbane Innovation Scorecard 2010 04

We anticipated that an innovation scorecard would identify and celebrate the innovative businesses of Brisbane, and that it would tease out the key characteristics of innovation that would continue to drive growth for the business community.

As the results from the interviews and survey of almost 100 Brisbane businesses for the Innovation Scorecard came in, it was pleasing to discover that 91 of the 100 respondents reported some kind of innovation. Almost 30 per cent of these fi rms had innovations in all fi ve categories of product, service, process, systems and distribution.

So as we assisted our colleagues in the Business School of the University of Queensland, in Brisbane City Council and DEEDI, analyse the key characteristics of the city’s innovative businesses, we could see the links between innovation and the penetration of international markets, the benefi ts of open sourcing, the wisdom of being focused on the customer, and the fi nancial sense of scalability and return on investment.

We ask our own people in Deloitte to generate ideas, to develop new skills and apply their talent to create new offerings and continuously ask: ‘Is there a better way to do this?’. This way we have developed new channels, new services and new business models for clients. Innovation is the oxygen that makes that happen.

The Brisbane Innovation Scorecard 2010 establishes a measure for Brisbane businesses to better embrace innovation. It will provide the benchmark for all of us to become better learning organisations, putting more investment into knowledge; to grow the virtuous cycle of innovation with customers and suppliers; and to strengthen our policies to foster growth and new markets.

Innovation changed our capacity to act. We trust it will change yours.

Tim Biggs, Managing Partner, DeloitteDeloitte is committed to innovation - using it to help its people, its clients and its networks change their capacity to act. So when we fi rst discussed the opportunity to collaborate on an Innovation Scorecard for Brisbane, we needed no persuasion.

Since 2008 at least half of the world’s population has lived in urban areas, increasing the imperative for all organisations that can infl uence the direction of cities to ‘get it right’.

Meeting this challenge will require strategic innovation at all levels, so the fi rst Brisbane Innovation Scorecard is a timely initiative. It will be the platform for considered debate about policies and practices to frame the future of our rapidly developing city.

The Scorecard is based on a global best-practice model, the European Union’s Community Innovation Survey.

The University of Queensland Business School supplied technical advice and analytical expertise to the project, which has proven to be a signifi cant exercise for UQ in strengthening its relations with the Brisbane business community. As a collaboration with businesses and the State and Local Government, this has also been an opportunity for the

University to demonstrate its capacity to contribute to private sector innovation.

The research has shown that in relation to Brisbane enterprises:

• Smaller fi rms are more likely to innovate in ways that are new to their industry or their market;

• ‘Open innovation’ is demonstrated by borrowing ideas learnt through contact with (for example) buyers, suppliers, trade fairs and governments;

• ‘Open’ enterprises are more likely to export and to be innovative in a range of areas (such as products, services and processes);

• Exporters used patents and trademarks but overall these formal intellectual property protection mechanisms were less popular than more fl exible methods, such as secrecy agreements – particularly for process and service innovations.

Paul Greenfi eld, Vice Chancellor, University of Queensland‘Open innovation’ has merit as a business growth strategy in Brisbane


Innovation is key to business success and the Scorecard’s fi nding that when businesses innovate, they continue to innovate, is extremely heartening. The fact is that when innovation becomes embedded culturally within a business, it leads to greater effi ciency, increased cost-effectiveness, greater competitiveness and more profi tability - with the development and adoption of new products, services, processes and business practices.

The Queensland Government sees innovation as fundamental to sustaining and strengthening the resilience of the State’s economy and assuring future prosperity in an increasingly competitive, global business environment.

This is primarily the vision behind Q2: Towards Tomorrow’s Queensland, with its goal - a 50 per cent increase in the proportion of Queensland businesses that undertake innovation and research and development by 2020.

The Innovation Scorecard is a welcome acknowledgement that the Queensland Government’s Q2 target on developing Queensland into an innovative, knowledge economy is well on track. In particular it highlights that our businesses are increasingly becoming more innovative and competitive, and that Brisbane is a growing hub of innovation, well positioned to tap into the markets of South-East and North Asia.

This is consistent with other recent reports on innovation in Brisbane, such as the Harvard Business School and New York University: McKinsey analysis which classifi es Brisbane as a signifi cant ‘hot spring of innovation’, and a ‘fast-growing hub on track’ to become a world player in innovation.

The Queensland Government has laid the platform to strengthen Brisbane and Queensland’s economic performance and the State Government is committed to building on the impressive advances of recent years.

Ian Fletcher, Director-General,Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation (DEEDI)I am delighted that the Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation collaborated with Brisbane Marketing, the Brisbane City Council, the University of Queensland and Deloitte to develop Brisbane’s fi rst Innovation Scorecard.


One message from the survey is that ‘open innovation’ has merit as a business growth strategy in Brisbane. Another is that innovation thrives across the board, not only in burgeoning new sectors such as biotechnology and software development, but also in more traditional areas such as mining, agriculture, utilities, infrastructure, manufacturing, and food processing.

Importantly, international research shows talented graduate employees, collaborative research, peer-reviewed publications and informal connections are valued highly by successful business innovators. All of these are strengths within the domain of The University of Queensland, which intends to continue making sustainable enhancements to this city - for residents and business.

Brisbane’s reputation as a progressive and globally competitive destination has steadily developed and there is growing recognition in the Brisbane business environment that a spirit of collaboration, open innovation, knowledge sharing and a global outlook are critical to business success.

As the city’s economic development agency, Brisbane Marketing seeks to foster a culture of innovation within the Brisbane business community and to highlight the essential role of innovation as a key driver of sustainable growth, productivity and the region’s economic prosperity.

The catalyst to the development of the Brisbane Innovation Scorecard, initiated by Brisbane Marketing, in collaboration with Deloitte, UQ Business School, Brisbane City Council and Queensland Government, is the need for Brisbane

to have a formal measurement tool to capture the signifi cant amount of innovation occurring in Brisbane and to use its fi ndings and case studies as proof points of our global competitiveness.

This pilot initiative allows the city to capture the essence of Brisbane, Australia’s new world city and to begin the journey of credibly positioning itself as to be the enabler of innovation within its own time zone.

Coupled with the Enable2010 forums, the Brisbane Innovation Scorecard is designed to nurture and showcase the innovation and creativity that is commercially viable in the Brisbane economy.

A key fi nding of the survey was that an increasing number of globally competitive Brisbane companies take an ‘open’approach to innovation whether by innovating for their clients or by gaining

inspiration from external infl uences including suppliers, trade shows and industry best practice. Such enterprises are more likely to have developed a range of innovations and to enjoy international recognition and success.

This fi nding refl ects the outstanding business environment that our city offers and enjoys, an open-hearted collaboration, encouraging creative thinking as part of the DNA of how we think and operate, and an appetite for seeking global solutions.

An energised, enterprising and self-assured city, Brisbane’s youthful energy is proving to be a magnet for talent attracted by its progressive business environment and vibrant economy, ensuring sustained growth and its place on the global stage.

John Aitken, Chief Executive Offi cer,Brisbane MarketingBrisbane has the opportunity to be the enabler of innovation within its own time zone.


A recent reference to Brisbane as a ‘hot spring of innovation’ (Harvard Business School and New York University: McKinsey analysis) confi rms a growing global recognition of Brisbane as a place where things are happening. However, it is much easier to make assertions than to prove them. Hence in 2010 a collaboration between government, business and education established the inaugural Brisbane Innovation Scorecard, an innovation benchmarking initiative that would develop an understanding of Brisbane’s innovation, inform its global competitiveness, and capture the essence of Brisbane as Australia’s new world city.

This initiative of Brisbane Marketing in collaboration with Deloitte, The University of Queensland Business School, Brisbane City Council and the Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation (DEEDI) will collect data

longitudinally, to measure and benchmark innovation in businesses throughout the city of Brisbane annually.

The initial objective of the Innovation Scorecard is to measure innovation within the city’s businesses and its effect on their growth, productivity and the region’s economic prosperity.

As this was a pilot Scorecard it was agreed to illustrate the level and types of innovation within three specifi c industry sectors regarded as the engine room of the economy - manufacturing (including food processing), mining services, and infrastructure and utilities.

One hundred fi rms in the Greater Brisbane region responded to the survey which was sent to more than 600 businesses. Future studies will involve additional sampling methods to control for any bias.

Believed to be the fi rst of its kind in Australia at a city level, the Scorecard applies selected questions from the European Union’s (EU) ‘Community Innovation Survey’ (the international benchmark for innovation surveys at the business level

used by EU members since 1991) as well as the Oslo Manual, to focus on both range and sources of innovation. The instrument gives a comprehensive insight into a fi rm’s view of innovation, from organisational and marketing innovations, through system innovation, to product and process.

The agreed defi nition of innovation used in this survey, is that accepted by the OECD, ‘A new idea that creates value’. This includes the concept of new as ‘new to the world’ and ‘new to industry’.

The innovation activity surveyed for the Brisbane Innovation Scorecard 2010 included:

• Type of innovation activity undertaken by each business over the past three years

• Size of the business (turnover by range)

• Export profi le of each business (state and overseas)

• Barriers and incentives to innovation

• Funding sources for innovation

• Revenue growth and

• Job creation.

A complete version of the survey questions is available at enablebrisbane.com.au

The online survey platform was delivered using Deloitte DTermineTM and conducted over a three week period in April and May 2010. Thirty-fi ve of the 100 companies that responded to the survey provided a case study about their innovation story. The 10 case studies published in this document were selected by the Management Group on the basis that they refl ected the fi ve types of innovation and the three sectors covered by this Scorecard.

The Scorecard builds on the extensive program of work already undertaken by Brisbane City Council in developing a better understanding of the Brisbane economy. A business survey commissioned and conducted by Council in 2009 revealed that Brisbane’s businesses are innovative, dynamic, growing and expanding, foreshadowing the city’s status as a new world city.

scorecard M E T H O D O L O G Y


9

14

2118

29

The Brisbane Innovation Scorecard 2010 targeted manufacturing, infrastructure and utilities companies within Brisbane. Refl ecting the structure of the Brisbane economy, the majority of businesses targeted by the survey are classifi ed as small and medium-sized businesses, i.e. employing fewer than 100 people.

Brisbane businesses report a strong commitment to innovation. Of the 100 businesses that responded to the survey, 91 businesses reported undertaking at least one type of innovation during the past three years.

This result is consistent with research commissioned in 2009 by Brisbane City Council into Brisbane businesses. In this previous study, 84 per cent of 450 surveyed companies reported having invested in innovation during the previous three years. The higher result reported in the Innovation Scorecard may refl ect the investigation of different types of innovation undertaken for the Innovation Scorecard.

The Innovation Scorecard requested companies to report any involvement in the following fi ve types of innovation.

Types of innovation

1. Product/goods innovation.

2. Service innovation (i.e. innovation in the services which are sold to customers).

3. Process innovation - methods of manufacturing or production of goods or services.

4. Logistics or distribution innovation.

5. Systems innovation - such as maintenance systems or operations for purchasing.

Innovation is routinely applied to the creation of improved products and services as well as to improved business effi ciency through better manufacturing processes, distribution systems and business operations (e.g. streamlining maintenance and ordering systems).

Sixty-eight per cent of all fi rms surveyed reported innovations in three or more of the fi ve categories listed above, indicating that improvements in operational effi ciency can be as important for success as ensuring that products and services remain competitive.

T ypes of innovation reported by businesses

The response to the Scorecard indicates that fi rms are innovating in many different aspects of their business; changing products, services and processes. Some of the innovations reported are new to the industry (i.e. transposed from an application in another industry) and others are new to the market.

The highest incidence of innovation, reported by 75 per cent of all fi rms surveyed, was in the category of process innovation. Process innovation is often seen as a low risk innovation strategy to reduce costs, increase effi ciency and

Of the 100 businesses that responded to the survey, 91 businesses reported undertaking at least one type of innovation during the past three years.

scorecard K E Y F I N D I N G S

Figure 1: Number of different types of innovation reported by businesses

■ 9 None■ 9 One type■ 14 Two types■ 21 Three types■ 18 Four types■ 29 Five types

9


improve business performance and/or service delivery. Process innovation often involves greater automation or standardisation in production methods.

Roughly two-thirds of businesses reported having undertaken investments in developing new or signifi cantly improved goods or services during the past three years. This is particularly encouraging given that economic activity slowed considerably as a result of the global fi nancial crisis.

Summary of fi ndings on types of innovation

• Two-thirds of fi rms that responded had invested in new or signifi cantly improved goods or services within the past three years

• Some 75 per cent of the respondents had undertaken process innovation, producing new or signifi cantly improved methods of manufacturing

• Logistics and distribution methods were the least likely to have been innovated in the last three years. Approximately two in fi ve fi rms (38 per cent) had introduced new or signifi cantly improved logistics or distribution processes

• Sixty-seven per cent of respondents reported new or signifi cantly improved supporting activities for processes such as maintenance systems or operations for purchasing, accounting or computing

Figure 2: Proportion of businesses reporting investment in different types of innovation.

100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%

68 66

75

38

67

New or signifi cantly improved

goods

Sha

re o

f sur

veye

d fi r

ms

New or signifi cantly improved services

New or signifi cantly improved processes

New or signifi cantly improved

logistics and distribution methods

New or signifi cantly improved corporate systems


Product innovators:

Sixty-eight per cent of respondents reported developing new or signifi cantly improved products. These innovators support their product innovations with new processes and services creating a more whole-of-business support to innovation that is most likely to be sustained. Businesses that responded indicate that they are strongly committed to innovation.

The results also demonstrate that Brisbane’s product innovators get ideas from customers and have a clear idea of where innovation is required and what it will do for their business.

Characteristics of product innovators

• Establish new logistics and support processes as well as product and goods innovation

• Source ideas from customers, conferences and trade fairs

• Rely on secrecy agreements to protect intellectual property (IP)

• Uncertain demand is not a barrier - they know their market

• Innovation is a strategic commitment.

Services innovators:

Sixty-six per cent of respondents reported new or signifi cantly improved innovation in services they sell to the market. These service innovators were also committed to innovating, unhampered by cost, lack of funds, uncertain demand or prior innovations. They were likely to have a succession of innovations linked to their knowledge of the market, with customers providing a rich source of ideas.

There is a strong link between services innovators and customers as a key

source of innovation. Service innovators tend to generate a greater number of innovations than product innovators. This may be a refl ection of the intrinsic customisation opportunities that are available in the supply of services to clients. In comparison, changes to physical goods are less likely to deliver a series of customised products and alterations tend to incur large up-front investment costs.

Characteristics of services innovators

• Source ideas from customers and industry associations

• Use industrial designs to protect IP

• Costs or lack of funds not seen as an obstacle

• Lack of information on technology not seen as a problem

• Larger fi rms not seen as a threat

• Uncertain demand and prior innovations were not seen as a reason to stop innovating.

Internationalisation and innovation

Roughly 15 per cent of respondents generated more than 25 per cent of sales from international exports. International sales correlated highly with new and improved goods that were new to the industry, or new to the particular market. This result confi rms the fi ndings of research commissioned by Brisbane City Council in 2009 on Brisbane businesses, which indicated that exporting fi rms were more likely to be engaged in signifi cant innovation activity.

Firms operating internationally are also more likely to use legal forms of IP protection, with larger fi rms also relying on informal processes. Big innovators look to global markets and are more likely to be ‘big step’ innovators.



• Larger fi rms tended to have larger proportions of sales from international markets

• International sales correlated highly with new and improved goods that were new to the industry, or new to the particular market

• The larger fi rms with international sales would be expected to have more complex processes and are more likely to introduce new processes and fi nd more opportunities for innovation

• Firms operating internationally are more likely to utilise legal forms of IP protection although larger fi rms tended to use informal IP protection methods such as secrecy

• These tendencies, and the others noted above, suggest that larger fi rms operating internationally are

not those developing ‘new to world’ innovations, but rather those with the resources to apply new to world innovations to new markets and industries effectively.

Business size and innovation

• Larger fi rms (measured by turnover) tend to be incremental innovators. They recognise the need for systematic and continuous innovation, with more innovations in products, services and processes

• Larger fi rms report more innovation derived from other fi rms and make greater use of suppliers and customers as key sources of innovation than smaller fi rms

• Larger fi rms did not highlight a lack of funds as an impediment. They saw a need to continue to innovate despite prior innovation failures

• Smaller fi rms tend to bring new ideas to new markets and industries.

Sources of innovation

In line with international data, most sources of innovation are from within the organisation (79 per cent). However the Brisbane sample also displays ‘open innovation’ with many respondents collaborating with customers (48 per cent), suppliers (36 per cent) and others to obtain ideas. Figure 3 over page indicates the share of respondents that attached a high level of importance to different sources of innovation.

Open innovators, those using external sources of innovation, were a lot more likely to have combinations of innovations in goods, services, manufacturing processes, and logistics and distribution methods (50 per cent). ‘Open innovation’ is also associated with innovation across many parts of the business.

Firms that are open in this way were also more likely to be selling into international markets (17.4 per cent). The responses indicate that ‘open innovation’ is a good strategy for growth and echoes international fi ndings (e.g. OECD Innovation Strategy, 2010).

As customers and suppliers play a growing role with fi rms to satisfy their needs, they help to create what is known as a ‘virtuous cycle’ of innovation.

The Scorecard results reveal a clear linkage between the range of innovations undertaken and the source of innovation used. The Scorecard differentiates between the performance of ‘open innovators’ (i.e. fi rms using one or more external sources for their innovation ideas) and ‘closed innovators’ (i.e. fi rms sourcing innovation ideas within the business). Open innovators tended to have a higher dollar turnover and higher levels of international sales.


Seventeen per cent of the respondents’ international sales can be explained by ‘open innovation’. The largest contribution to ‘open innovation’ is made by customers. Other sources of innovation linked to international sales include universities and published materials (six per cent improvement each). These results indicate that larger more internationalised fi rms tend to look to many different sources for their innovation.

Though only 13 per cent of fi rms reported that collaboration with government agencies was an important source of innovation, these fi rms also reported on average, involvement in three different types of innovation.

Collaboration with customers adds, on average, one type of innovation to a fi rm’s innovation activity.

In contrast to the results on ‘open innovators’, closed innovators tend to be linked with incremental innovation e.g. introducing marginal improvements

to goods and services. Closed innovators also tend to be incremental innovators, undertaking smaller, cheaper, gradual improvements rather than step-level changes to business methods or products.

Intellectual property (IP) protection

Although 30 per cent of innovators thought patents were important for IP protection, most innovators do not use formal methods of IP protection. Secrecy agreements are reported to be by far the most common method to protect innovations.

In order of popularity, businesses nominated the following IP protection strategies:

• Secrecy agreements

• Copyright

• Trademarks

• Patents

• Industrial design1.


Figure 3: Sources of innovation with a high degree of importance

Businesses open to external sources of innovation tend to innovate across the whole range of business operations.

Within the business 79%

48%

36%

21%

19%

19%

19%

13%

11%

11%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Customers

Suppliers

Consultants

Professionals and industry associations

Competitors and simliar businesses

Conferences, trade fairs and exhibitions

Government agencies

Universities

Scientifi c journals and technical publications


Barriers to innovation

The top three barriers to innovation reported by businesses were: lack of internal fi nance (43 per cent); innovation costs (34 per cent) and lack of fi nance from external sources (33 per cent). This largely accords with the results from a survey undertaken by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2008 where fi rms cited internal and external fi nance as the top two barriers to innovation. It is likely that the global fi nancial crisis has intensifi ed access to fi nance as a signifi cant barrier to innovation.

The eight habits of highly successful innovators

The combined results of the Innovation Scorecard survey, innovation examples provided by businesses and follow-up in-depth interviews, revealed eight ways in which businesses nurture innovation to deliver success. These are as follows:

1. Provide shared spaces and innovative cultures that support experimentation.

2. Use networked business models to foster interactivity between customers, suppliers and your business.

3. Link geographies - international, national and local – and exploit fully the value offered by your Brisbane location in relation to: costs, markets, raw material, deep port and other local advantages.

4. Draw on a wide range of skilled and innovative people and encourage

them to generate ideas and apply or develop new skills and talent.

5. Commit to co-created value with a fi tness for purpose, driven by what customers adopt.

6. Scale-up a product, process or service to ensure sustainable value creation and return on investment.

7. Use online and other innovative delivery channels.

8. Leverage innovative technologies to continuously improve productivity and value.

The elements of successful innovation cited by Brisbane businesses are consistent with internationally accepted best practice on how businesses nurture innovation for long term success.

1 Industrial designs refer to distinctive visual features or shapes in a product, refl ecting the IP in engineered products and structures of shape, confi guration, pattern and ornamentation (IP Australia). For more information, see: http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/designs/what_index.shtml.


15 Brisbane Innovation Scorecard 201015 Brisbane Innovation Scorecard 2010

case study T E Y S B R O S

Queensland’s largest private company, now Australia’s second largest beef processing company, has turned its strategy from one of a lucky company based primarily on geography and hard work, into a smart company that looks to a future supported by organisational learning and innovations to multi-skill.

It’s a remarkable journey that started 64 years ago when the four Teys brothers returned from the war and set up a family beef processing business. Today it is the largest Australian-owned and second-largest beef processing company in Australia. Processing one million cattle and turning over more than $1.2 billion p.a., Teys Bros comprises four modern beef processing facilities, a 30,000-head feedlot, a tannery, wholesaling divisions, and a value-added facility with 2800 full time and 300 part time employees.

“More than half of Australia’s cattle are reared in Queensland, so given we export 85 per cent of our processed beef, we couldn’t be better positioned than in Brisbane, with its world class port facilities. There are some real advantages here for us,” said Tom Maguire, Teys Bros General Manager - Corporate Affairs and Innovation.

A scientifi c approach to innovation

By participating in a collaborative innovation program with the industry’s pre-eminent association, Meat and Livestock Australia, Teys has developed a clear strategy to develop a portfolio of innovation projects to align with its business plan.

“It’s certainly working,” said Maguire who outlined how this leading edge model balances government R&D expenditure and private investment to leverage private, industry and community benefi ts. In Teys’ case, it is making a positive contribution to business profi tability and sustainability.

“Over the last two years we have developed a comprehensive innovation strategy to help achieve our targets in productivity, market access and sustainability,” Maguire explained. Together with the CEO, an ‘innovative pragmatist’ who understands the importance of embedding innovation into the systems of his company, Maguire says Teys’ business plan is about creating sustainability over the long term.

Investing for the future

Understanding the differences between how the business does what it does today and how it might achieve its aims in the future, has been a clear roadmap for Teys. Maguire explains: “The key to building innovation in our company has been looking at each unit separately. We have built capability within each business unit in an almost incremental way, rather than at an enterprise level. By dissecting each business unit and identifying the

investments we need to make, we have built capabilities for today.

“This was Phase One of our innovation play. We pulled together all the pockets of innovation in the business and have started to incorporate that into our strategy. Stage Two in my mind is to grow and consolidate that strategy, which is where we are now.

“When we look to the future we realise that the people we have today won’t be capable of operating the business in 10 or 20 years’ time. Our business is going to need a whole new set of skills. So a big part of our innovation strategy is to invest in our capability for the future - to integrate innovation into the business plan so it becomes a part of doing business, or, our culture.”

“ If you can lock in a strategy and build a program to harvest the good ideas in the business, it sustains the organisation going forward.”

*The views expressed in the case studies are those of the individual companies which completed the Scorecard survey and do not necessarily refl ect the views of Brisbane Marketing or the collaborating parties.

Brisbane Innovation Scorecard 2010 16Brisbane Innovation Scorecard 2010 16

Culture is a driver

The challenge for Teys and other businesses is to continually demonstrate that innovation contributes to the bottom line. Maguire said: “As we have seen since GFC, when business gets tough, innovation can suffer. The challenge is to be able to measure innovation and show whether it’s contributing to the business. It’s hard, but we are still learning how to do that.”

An innovation portfolio

Teys has a number of projects in its innovation portfolio contributing to particular innovation outcomes designated for key functions in the business. Two examples are:

Co-Biotics: Teys invested in technology in its meat processing plants to reduce its manual work load. Through its integrated innovation strategy, an idea

for a manual assist aid to take the force out of a very physical job in the plant was identifi ed, worked up and developed.

“Now those pieces of equipment are in all our factories,” said Maguire. Called Co-Biotics, the equipment has had a very substantial dollar return to the company.

In 2008 Teys’ Co-Biotic equipment won the 2008 Meat Industry awards. Maguire said: “In fact we have given the idea to the industry. We didn’t see any need to keep that inside our business only.”

So the innovation shifted from an individual business unit-developed solution, supported through the company’s integrated innovation strategy, into an industry-wide innovation. Co-Biotics has a range of impacts including improving occupational health and safety and as Maguire explains, “it also helped us improve retention of staff in key positions.

These were very physical jobs people could only do for a short time previously. By redesigning the job we now have more people able to do it which is very important with the labour market as tight as it is now. Just about anyone can do this job now.”

Graduate training program: Teys’ innovation strategy also helped Maguire develop a graduate training program in the business. For the fi rst time in the company’s history, the fi rm was hiring university graduates into different parts of the business. “We see these tertiary graduates as keys to helping us build capabilities for future innovations. The graduate training program is just about fi lling up the capability gap,” said Maguire.

Organisational learning will sustain the company

When Teys Bros develops an innovation,

it is embedded into the organisation. “It becomes part of the way we do things - a part of our organisational learning. So innovation not only becomes an essential part of the way we do business, but hopefully will generate the next series of innovations. The great part of these innovation projects isn’t just the outcome, it’s the learning that everyone is involved in.

“If I can involve 10 to 20 people in a project, they learn a whole lot and can bring that to the business and perhaps begin to see the next great innovation that none of us see right now. That’s a real benefi t,” said Maguire.

“If you can lock in a strategy and build a program to harvest the good ideas in the business, it sustains the organisation going forward. So that’s what we are really trying to do here now,” he said.

17 Brisbane Innovation Scorecard 201011177 BriBrisbasbane n Innnovaovatioon Sn corcorecaecard rd 20120100

Successful innovation is essential to survival. Organisations must keep learning, growing, and collaborating with their stakeholders, particularly when faced with strong competition and challenges such as climate change and the Global Financial Crisis. That is the raison d’être for the innovation program at Australian-based global technical professional services company GHD.

Brendan Coram, GHD Brisbane’s Innovation Champion and Senior Consultant, Asset Management said: “Innovation at GHD is about acting on the great ideas of our people, clients and business partners. We harness our market sector knowledge with our global network of technical talent, to identify solutions to opportunities and challenges in the world. We do this through the global innovations program which we researched, designed, built and now manage.”

Background

GHD employs over 6000 people serving clients in the global markets of water, energy and resources, environment, property and buildings, and transportation. Established in Australia in 1928, GHD now operates across 16 countries and fi ve continents, with the Brisbane offi ce acting as an important gateway to the Queensland market.

The GHD innovation program encourages its people to take an innovative approach in their day-to-day work by giving them skills, support and an online platform to submit, collaborate and vote on ideas.

The program supports GHD’s people to develop their skills in creative problem solving in technical and commercialisation areas, as well as building awareness of market trends and drivers.

It also enables them to develop networks and share knowledge across geographies and industries, leveraging GHD’s global network.

Over 1500 ideas have been submitted, with more than 30 progressed to funding stage since the program was launched in early 2008. Four provisional patents have been secured for innovations in oil refi ning, marine and mining.

Examples of Brisbane innovation

One of those patented ideas came from GHD Brisbane’s Kostas Athanasiadis, who was determined to fi nd a way to reduce dissolved heavy metals and nutrients from stormwater before discharge into the environment. Kostas developed a fi lter, using natural materials, which targets discharge levels and has the fl exibility to meet a range of permit licence conditions through varying the lifecycle of consumable materials. This idea is now being taken further

through a teaming arrangement with the manufacturing industry.

Scalability: For GHD the potential to share the benefi ts of innovations from one project to the next improves GHD’s ability to deliver value to clients. Coram said, “This innovation’s ability to adapt to different environments, where the base concept could be reused across different industry sectors meant we could accelerate its development.”

For industry, collaborating with GHD to further develop innovations like the fi lter deepen the value such ideas can bring to an industry, to Queensland, to Australia and in the case of a fi rm with the international spread of a GHD, to the world.

case study G H D

“Innovation at GHD is about acting on the great ideas of our people, clients and business partners.”

Brisbane Innovation Scorecard 2010 18BriBrisbasbane ne InnInnovaovatiotion Sn Scorcorecaecard rd 20120100 1188

Brisbane innovators take leading roles

Another example of a Brisbane-led innovation was the development of a safety conveyor frame that can be mounted to existing conveyors to primarily protect workers from the dangers of becoming entangled. Developed by Brisbane local, David Sheehy, the cost-effective frame avoids the need for extensive guards or fences.

Another Brisbane boy, Chris Hertle, now GHD global market leader for water, is passionate about delivering innovative, sustainable solutions to clients and leveraging these outcomes to add value. Chris played a key role in establishing GHD’s Innovation program in 2008 and was involved in the introduction of membrane bioreactors to Australia.

Using innovation to create value

GHD’s Group Manager Innovation Jeremy Stone said: “We know that our people are clever and creative. Our innovation program offers a platform for people to collaborate on ideas, and provides a transparent, formal process through which their innovation can be recognised”.

The importance of collaboration, and an open approach to innovation was confi rmed by Coram who pointed to the success of GHD alliances in Brisbane and their ability to deliver on key ‘value for money’ drivers. With a number of internal initiatives, GHD’s alliance teams access existing ideas, draw out new solutions, and track the potential for innovation to add value to client needs. In his view and that of Global Innovation chief Jeremy Stone, having a formal innovation program helps to encourage and facilitate sharing ideas within the same space.

Bringing theory into practice

Coram explained how a recent collaboration with the University of Queensland is exploring the use of social network analysis to improve collaboration and innovation on GHD projects.

Innovation theory has proven that shared space is critical to developing sustainable and successful innovation. And that partnering across industries, with government and academia spurs on the development of ideas that create value. In this way GHD and other innovative fi rms are able to ensure a robust and vibrant innovation program aimed not so much at what innovators offer but at what customers adopt.

19 Brisbane Innovation Scorecard 20101199 BriB sbasbane ne Innnnovaovatiotion Sn Scorc ecaard rd 20100

Aluminium Boats Australia, founded in 1999, is in the business of building aluminium and composite high performance light craft; specialising in ferries and leisure craft. Queensland’s Transit Systems approached the company in hope they could solve their problem.

The problem was that Transit Systems boats were killing mammals, dugongs and turtles in the southern shallows of Moreton Bay. The Environmental Protection Agency, residents and fi shermen demanded a solution.

Within eight months, Aluminium Boats had designed and built a ferry that would minimise marine mammal injury in the case of a strike. It would also completely negate any water-born emissions from the vessel.

General Manager Stuart Pascoe explained: “Instead of building boats that kill animals, we now build boats that protect them. It is a massive design change; a complete move away from the standard sharp bowed design.”

The vessels are environmentally friendly, able to operate at full capacity in very shallow waters and have been in service now for 18 months.

The concept and delivery was so successful that Aluminium Boats is marketing both internationally and as a benchmark in Queensland East Coast Marine operations for future projects to be carried out in environmentally sensitive areas.

“We set out to be different from the beginning. Most boat builders in our class tend to work on one-off projects,” Director, Roy Whitewood said. “Four years ago we chose a different direction for Aluminium Boats. We selected big clients and work with them to solve problems. We innovate openly with our clients in design and process. In this way we also manage all aspects of our boat building with the highest quality materials and latest construction techniques.

“We have to compete and be cost-effective,” he said. “The idea for Aluminium Boats Australia is to be in front. There is no point in being second. Innovation is the only thing we have against cheaper Chinese boats,” Pascoe said.

ABA provides tailored solutions to both commercial and private owners. With turnover of approximately $16 million and more than 70 employees, the company has experienced signifi cant growth in the last four years as a result of innovation.

Aluminium Boats also innovates by being a boat builder with very few subcontractors. Ninety per cent of its staff members are permanent. “We get better results that way and the guys are proud of their place,” said Pascoe. “We use everything available to us to fi nd new and different ways of staying competitive, being in the market place, producing better products, and working with the customer to solve the problem. It’s part of the culture. We don’t bash the problem over the head with a hammer. We go out, meet the agencies and fi nd a way around it,” he said.

case study A L U M I N I U M B O A T S A U S T R A L I A

Innovation through collaborative problem solving, process and systems design is boosting growth for Queensland’s Aluminium Boats Australia.

*The views expressed in the case studies are those of the individual companies who completed the Scorecard survey and do not necessarily refl ect the views of Brisbane Marketing or the collaborating parties.

The innovative new product with the potential to save the electricity industry millions of dollars in the event of a power outage, is the brainchild of Kaon Consulting. Kaon’s crack team of engineers, employing a ‘surgeon’ team approach, created the FuseSaver, a cost-effective technological solution, that will reduce the impact of transient faults on spur lines.

Globally and particularly in Australia, utilities have regulatory requirements to ensure supply reliability. In a power outage, they get penalised millions of dollars for lost minutes. Kaon recognised the opportunity in the overhead market space in 2006 and has now developed a cost-effective technology that reduces outages and which will retail at half the price of the existing solution.

Kaon’s management team believe its FuseSaver will generate tens of millions of dollars when it goes to market this year at a competitive $850 per device. “Our competitors have been marketing their product for the last two years, in the process creating market awareness. So it is pleasing that we have been able to develop a technically superior product at a lower price that I believe meets global needs,” said Brett Watson, Kaon’s Director.

But the development journey was not easy. “There were signifi cant technical challenges to resolve before we could show FuseSaver to the market. We fi nally got around the technical issues last September and presented at a major Australian trade show.

“It was really exciting. The utility people said it was the best new product on display,” Watson said.

“Our ‘surgeon’ team has a good balance between very creative, big picture people, and deep technical engineering expertise, and a few dreamers,” he said.

Kaon estimates the world market at two million devices and hopes to secure a small segment of it.

Kaon Consulting also acknowledged the support of the Queensland Government through its ‘Proof of Concept Fund’ and the Federal Government through its COMET program.

case study K A O N C O N S U L T I N G

Combining product innovation with an open approach to trade fair feedback is helping this South East Queensland fi rm position to go global.



Creating new and innovative products at Centor Architectural is driven by customer appetite. Innovation at Centor is what the customer gets value from using. When you put this customer-focused mindset (or open innovation) together with innovative ideas, innovative employees and an international supply chain, you get an award-winning Brisbane Eagle Farm folding door manufacturer, Centor Architectural.

Since 1998 the company states it has shipped hardware systems for almost a million folding doors and created a niche for the now popular doors seen throughout Brisbane’s cafés and homes. However by opening a factory in China in 2007, Centor Architectural was able to automate its 211 day supply chain to become a global leader in folding door hardware systems manufacture.

Today the company designs, engineers and manages in Brisbane, manufactures in China, and sells internationally. Its international sales operations are coordinated from its headquarters in Brisbane (Australia), Birmingham (UK), and Chicago (USA).

This global mindset and strategically sustainable model enables Centor to compete successfully against cheap replications and it frees itself up to design innovative new products. With 160 employees, Centor has 19 in its research and development (R&D) team.

Centor’s Brisbane HQ base also enables it to specialise in products to suit the subtropical and outdoor lifestyle of its customers. Its latest innovation is a fl yscreen and blind for wide doors. It spent almost 40,000 hours creating this world-fi rst product and won the Telstra National Innovation Award.

Innovation embedded in the process

Nigel Spork, Managing Director of this family company said: “Every Centor employee is asked to deliver innovation. They have to, because when we develop a new product, and there is nothing else like it in the world, organisation-wide innovation is essential - from R&D, through to manufacturing and sales.

“If any part of the company isn’t innovative the process would fall over. It’s really easy to invent a cool little product. But unless you get a method of getting it to market in an effective way, it isn’t going anywhere,” he said. “Good ideas are cheap. Good implementations aren’t.”

case study C E N T O R A R C H I T E C T U R A L

“Every Centor employee is asked to deliver innovation. If any part of the company isn’t innovative the process would fall over.”

Brisbane Innovation Scorecard 2010 22BBrisbanee InInnovatiotion Sn Scorecard 2010 2222

Innovation is not easy

Some of the lessons for Centor were hard won when people resigned following 12 consecutive failures. Fortunately enough of the team believed in the innovative fl y screen bi-fold doors to stick the course and crack the problem.

Background

Founded in 1951 by German-born engineer, Frank Spork, Centor Architectural now specialises in hardware for folding and sliding doors, insect screens and locking systems suitable for internal and external applications in commercial and residential environments.

General innovation

Innovation is responsible for around 15 per cent of the company’s turnover today, according to Spork, creating a much larger market than the original screen and blind system products. The new innovation can also drive the supply of locks, the tracking hardware, sills and heads. “This means customers who use our systems are less likely to turn to our competitors,” said Spork.

“We want to make quality products that customers really enjoy. Stuff they want in their homes and that ‘wows’ them,” said Glen Pacholke, Group Manager for Products & Engineering. “Our R&D team spend time exploring how to improve people’s lifestyle and living habits in an environmentally friendly way.”


International design and engineering consultancy Scott Wilson established an offi ce in Brisbane in September, 2007 attracted by the less prohibitive barriers to market entry and the opportunity to work with substantial clients in the rail sector.

This multi-disciplinary consultancy, with around 6000 employees globally, provides sustainable, integrated solutions to plan, engineer and manage the environmental needs of clients across the transportation, property, environment and natural resources sectors. In Australia engineering solutions are offered in the rail and maritime sectors.

With innovative railway trackbed technology from its Nottingham department, achieved through innovating with the Universities of Nottingham and Birmingham, Scott Wilson has a niche offering. It combines ground scanning technology with a detailed knowledge

of how the trackbed works to produce “innovative solutions to improve railway strategies and railway maintenance,” explained Ben Fenton, Scott Wilson’s Trackbed Technology engineer.

Regional Director, Mark Roome said, “Although there are many companies offering ground scanning technology in Australia, the value-add is in our collaborative way of combining our operational and technical understanding of the client’s railway and then focusing on options as to how best to maintain it and to reduce ongoing costs.”

Internationally known end-user clients such as Queensland Rail, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton as well as government departments and contractors have enabled Scott Wilson to clock up $6 million in annual turnover in Australia in less than three years from start-up.

Service innovation delivers for Scott Wilson.

The fi rm’s ability to combine process and service innovation with the innovative technical problem solving skills of its people is helping carve a growing Australian market for this international fi rm.

Starting with niche specialist skills in the highly competitive railway services industry, Scott Wilson recognised it “needed to offer the client something innovative and special and in a very responsive manner”.

Its ability to do this was tested by a client in the remote Pilbara region of Western Australia. Facing a steep construction timetable that kept the railway in constant use, Scott Wilson had to adapt its existing equipment and techniques to carry out faster on-track work in between trains.

case study S C O T T W I L S O N C O N S U L T I N G

Without different options and a fresh collaborative approach, they “are not going to get picked out to do the work”.


Brisbane Innovation Scorecard 2010 24Brisbane Innovation Scorecard 2010 24

Scott Wilson’s Ben Fenton explained, “As the rail market is being pushed to accommodate more freight and more passengers, our trackbed investigation techniques are an essential way for clients to maximise their trackbed asset life and performance.”

The technology is also applicable to other sectors. In the UK and South East Asia, Scott Wilson has broad expertise in pavement protection where the same technology and processes support better asset design and maintenance management of pavements for roads, multi-modal and shipping terminals and airport runways.

By using an innovative and collaborative international network, Scott Wilson has established a successful interactive business model.

This innovative networked model links long established heavy engineering and academic faculties, in what was the heartland of world manufacturing, with the continuous demand for sustainable solutions with improved performance in increasingly diffi cult environments.

Market competition has driven Scott Wilson to spot innovation opportunities and then offer something different to clients. Without different options and a fresh collaborative approach, they “are not going to get picked out to do the work”.


Tinkering with the future is what CEO Max Rose likes to do best. It is a successful formula for this CEO of R.F. Technologies Aust Pty Ltd (RFTech).

The company’s latest innovative product, a Software Defi ned Radio (SDR), which combines VHF and UHF bands into a single unit transceiver, is catching the attention of one of the world’s aviation heavyweights.

“Generally, most of the recent technological advances have been in the mobile phone area, the higher frequency end of the spectrum. We work in the lower frequency end of the spectrum, where very little innovative work has

been done in the last 20 years,” said Rose. “We have been able to come up with a new technique which lets us cover VHF and UHF and other bands in a single device, where traditionally they were always separate products.

“This is the future. SDR gives you far great fl exibility, similar to what you are now seeing with multi-band mobile phone applications.”

RFTech designed, developed and patented its multi-band miniature voice and data core product in its high technology electronics Product Development Centre (PDC). Under development since late 2004 and utilising the RFTech patented core technology, the MicroTrack II, SDR product is now

in its fi eld trials stages in a number of industry sectors.

With a lot of military applications, it will also advantage a wide range of airborne as well as commercial applications in agricultural, mining, environmental and other general industry.

Rose credits the innovative company’s forward-thinking engineers with their understanding of how to combine breakthrough technologies with commercial applications for the team’s success. “We are not looking for another ‘me too’ product because we know that’s not going to make it,” said Rose.

case study R . F . T E C H N O L O G I E S A U S T P T Y L T D

“We are not looking for another ‘me too’ product because we know that’s not going to make it.”


A successful small business now in its 26th year of operation, Director Michael Henry traces Prowler Proof’s journey from retailer manufacturer to wholesaler manufacturer; from large innovator to customer-driven continuous improvement innovations; and from face-to-face delivery to 90 per cent online. A journey that has reduced error rates from industry standard levels of 10 - 25 per cent, to below one per cent, and one where the security screens and software developer has signifi cantly grown productivity.

Prowler Proof “had to develop the software and equipment for reducing errors,” Henry recounts. In doing so, it needed to establish a separate R&D company, Gershwin, for funding purposes. Twelve years after the fi rm was established in 1984, Gershwin developed the software and technology that led to a production capacity greater than its retail appetite. Gershwin (now trading as Prowler Proof) started to wholesale. By 2000, the retail business closed to focus on the successful B2B business.

Today, Prowler Proof has an innovative process dictated almost entirely by customers’ specifi cations. “There has been a move from revolution to evolution,” said Henry. Major innovation shifted to incremental changes, driven by a process called “Improvement Opportunity”, where mistakes or issues with orders are recorded and initiate a process of identifying the cause.

“This places the customer as the main driver of innovation,” said Henry. “Prowler Proof has to do things cheaper, smarter, and more effectively than the rest of the industry, and this is the way we have been successful.”

Prowler Proof manufactures a full range of security doors and window screens to suit a variety of window and door styles and applications. It has 35 employees in Brisbane, with an annual turnover of $9.1 million.

case study P R O W L E R P R O O F

“Prowler Proof has to do things cheaper, smarter, and more effectively than the rest of the industry, and this is the way we have been successful.”


Innovation at Eastall Precision Engineering Pty Ltd is driven from the top. Managing Director Jonathan Eastall is a member of the innovation design team along with projects and design consultant, Russell Perkins. The highly motivated leaders operate as team members in a shared space where the ideas from the fl oor are challenged by innovative product design and development.

Starting 15 years ago as a small general engineering business, Eastall Precision Engineering soon incorporated as a company, moving from Salisbury to much larger premises at Coopers Plains and subsequently to its own purpose-built building.

Realising a niche in the marketplace, Eastall along with Operations Manager, Gary Willis developed the business to provide a wide variety of services

in-house. They offered customers a one-stop shop service that would eliminate the need for them to manage and co-ordinate multiple suppliers to manufacture their products.

By streamlining processes in this way Eastall has developed a service innovation to deliver customers effective management incorporating cost-controlled production. This triggered the company’s growth setting it on a path to its current turnover of $3.8 million, with 20 full-time and one part-time employee.

Why Brisbane?

Other than the fact that Johnathan Eastall is a Brisbane boy, Willis says it is the fact that Brisbane is suffi ciently close knit to be able to build a successful business through referrals yet big enough to take on challenges that are scalable to meet global demands.

“For us innovation is the only way forward and being situated in Brisbane, we are at the centre of both the vibrant energy and resources, infrastructure and manufacturing sectors of Queensland and increasingly, international markets,” said Willis.

A signifi cant innovation undertaken in the past three years

Eastall’s design team developed a gold separation machine for use in a small scale remote location overseas. The product was both robust and light enough for transport by helicopter to site. It also needed to be secure from pilfering. The second machine developed from the fi rst was approximately half the size and both were signifi cant improvements on the rudimentary units others had in use.

“By using simple technology, clever design, and readily available replacement parts we were able to offer the client a

case study EASTALL PRECISION ENGINEERING PTY LTD


product that gave them maximum ongoing benefi ts for their dollar. This is our culture – one of designing and developing innovative products that solve customers’ problems,” explained Willis.

The Innovation team consult with customers to understand their business needs, create ideas and solutions to improve safety and productivity. Solution development is supported by the latest 3D modelling software, and the internal operating system of the business has undergone a radical innovative change with the introduction of a manufacturing software program. The development and production of many innovative products has led to the company developing a brand to further market these items. This has led to changes for the business, with an emerging focus on brand marketing.

What differentiates you from other businesses?

“We do a listening campaign before we start talking. Through a mix of surveys, we fi rst want to understand what the companies are actually doing. We are programming ourselves to be a solution provider,” said Willis.

C-Hook – a materials handling innovation

The parameters of combining strength and reducing weight are becoming hallmarks of Eastall’s business. A recent innovation, the EEP self-levelling C-Hook is a materials-handling lifting attachment originally designed for handling steel coils for roofi ng and roll forming. It is now used in other industries such as paper coil and roll handing, and wire rope coil handling, where material handling is part of the manufacturing process.

The C- Hook is beginning to attract the attention of Australia’s national construction businesses.

“It takes the place of a traditional C-Hook with a very large weight, but it is about one fi fth of the weight,” Willis explained. “The result is a safer lighter weight on the crane, making it easier to handle the coil and reducing the maintenance costs on the crane. It’s a win: win,” he said.

The combination of Eastall being both in the marketplace and working in an integrated way with the design team, using RD-CAD drawings projected through the 3D software program, enables this precision engineering outfi t to develop products that are more innovative than existing solutions.

It is stimulating market awareness and market appetite.

“At the same time we are continuously improving our own operations. Developing an interactive Web 2.0 site, so customers can interrogate all the information on, for example, the EEP self-levelling C-Hook, and download all the information they need to present to the Board or senior management,” Willis explained.

“As an engineering business we are continuously looking at what’s happening and what people need. We don’t narrow ourselves down to the material-handling business, and are always on the lookout for what we can manufacture.”


“For us innovation is the only way forward and being situated in Brisbane, we are at the centre of both the vibrant energy and resources, infrastructure and manufacturing sectors of Queensland and increasingly, international markets,”

29 Brisbane Innovation Scorecard 2010299 BriBrisbas ne Innovation Scorecaardrd 20120100

case study A Q U A R I U S T E C H N O L O G I E S P T Y L T D

A small Queensland company owes its survival and success to staying that bit in front of its competitors over the years. “Our culture is about process innovation - progressing as fast as we can with limited resources,” said Bert Topping, Managing Director of Aquarius Technologies Pty Ltd.

This wholly Australian-owned company designs and manufactures a comprehensive range of water quality control and dosing equipment for the water treatment industry. It has 14 employees and a turnover of around $2.5 million.

Aquarius Technologies recognised that owners of major assets with cooling tower equipment are usually faced with maintaining the confl icting demands of high performance and low cost.

It was an integrated system innovation that set this pragmatic Queensland fi rm on its road to success. It developed a new cooling water treatment controller device to automatically monitor and control the dosage of relevant chemicals to prevent:

• scale and corrosion

• bacterial growth or

• disinfectant effi ciency.

Aquarius has integrated this technology into a web, email or SMS interface so worrying data will trigger alarms and send them as an SMS or email and with a check list of likely problems to be rectifi ed.

“ Innovating has assured our growth over the years.”

There are a number of people who deserve special thanks for their formative role in this Scorecard. They include Deloitte’s Corporate Finance partner Robin Polson and David Redhill Chief Marketing Offi cer for their ongoing support; David Jackson, Brisbane City Council, Tim Brailsford, UQ Business School and Phil Green from the Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation (DEEDI) for believing in the project. Assistance was gratefully received from the Australian Institute of Commercialisation, Enterprise Connect and CEDA.

We would also like to acknowledge and make special mention to the following for their valuable contributions to this project.

Brisbane Innovation Scorecard 2010 Management Group:

Gerald Marion, DeloitteDr John Steen, UQ Business SchoolDr Mishka Foster, Brisbane City CouncilJon Norris and Andrew Rose, DEEDI, Queensland Government

Technical advice and analysis:

Dr John Steen and Dr Martie-Louise Verreynne, UQ Business School and Dr Mishka Foster and Rhys Paxton, Brisbane City Council

Interviews and case studies:

Lucie Novakova, UQ Business School and Deloitte’s Luke Baxby, Benjamin Hensman, Jesse Lindemann, Matt McIntyre, (Innovation Director) and Louise Denver, Deloitte.

Brisbane Marketing, a wholly owned subsidiary of Brisbane City Council, is the city’s economic development agency. Powered by innovation, collaboration and opportunity we promote Brisbane nationally and internationally as Australia’s new world city and drive social and economic benefi ts to residents and business.

About Brisbane Marketing

acknowledgements

Copyright: This document and its attachments may be privileged or subject to copyright. Any use of this document or any of its contents should have the prior and express authorisation in writing from Brisbane Marketing. Disclaimer: Brisbane Marketing believes that the information contained in this document is accurate at the time of publication. Neither Brisbane Marketing nor any collaborating party undertakes responsibility in any way whatsoever to any person or body for any errors or omissions in this document however they may have been caused. The views expressed in the case studies are those of the individual companies which completed the Scorecard survey and do not necessarily refl ect the views of Brisbane Marketing or the collaborating parties.

Level 12, 15 Adelaide Street, Brisbane, Queensland Australia 4000 PO Box 12260, George Street, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 4003Phone: +61 7 3006 6200 Fax: +61 7 3006 6250

www.enablebrisbane.com.au

An initiative of In collaboration with

2010 brisbane innovation scorecard

Documents