A quick look at the points discussed on the Defence Industry Day conducted at Playford Stretton Centre

• Critical success factors – Strategically know what you want to be within the Defence
• It’s not a cash grab. It’s a long-term investment
• Requires diverse markets, don’t put all your eggs into one basket
• Leverage support, ODIS, ADIN, ICN etc.
• Consider partnerships (complementary skills and technologies)
• Keep databases up to date. Defence look at these sources of information regularly!
• Buff up on contractual requirements and AIC
• Quality, cyber, and security requirements will only increase.

The brief from the speakers at the event

Paul Levett “Defence involvement is like a glacier. It’ll take a long time to come to fruition, but once it gets going, there’s a lot of force behind it”. For me, having the right personnel and premises always seemed to be on a 5-year cycle.

David Heaslip from Century Engineering “Submarine builders particularly need to trust their suppliers. Working out how to provide solutions that lead to the first opportunity. Talking to customers for 5-6years before we got the job. They need to know you, and they need to trust you. Demonstrate to them that you know what you are doing.

Operating in parallel markets can really assist towards honing your skills in preparedness for the defence industry. What capability do you have, and how do you demonstrate this capability? Upfront investment in the cause shows commitment. Staff from your customer are taking a risk to their career by choosing your company, and you can’t let them down”.