This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
CASE STUDY DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, VICTORIA


“We see a great opportunity for government supporting more start-ups like Tomcar and creating a thriving industry here. Australia can produce vehicles successfully with niche manufacturers like us”


cent of our componentry is made in Australia, and 90 per cent of that is from Victoria. “We see a great opportunity for government supporting


more start-ups like Tomcar and creating a thriving industry here. Australia can produce vehicles successfully with niche manufacturers like us.’’


around the world. The ecosystem we are building from Mel- bourne is a network of global vendors – we import and export with many countries.’’ Mascitti says Commtel is attending ITS both to get visibility


of the latest trends in the sector and an opportunity to under- stand what is happening over their networks so they can bet- ter optimise their products to meet clients’ needs.


DRIVEN TO SUCCEED Another company that has found Melbourne to be a manu- facturer-friendly environment is startup Tomcar. The company produces the toughest all-terrain vehicle of its type in the world, designed and built to be parachuted out of a plane and survive. “We started manufacturing in Melbourne in 2012,’’ says CEO


and co-founder David Brim. “Our core market is military special forces around the world,


but our main markets by size and volume are now agriculture and mining.’’ Currently developing the first electric car to be fully pro-


duced in Australia, Tomcar is dreaming big – and succeeding. “We are using a locally built electric power train,’’ says Brim.


“It has been developed especially for us to handle corrosive environments found in mines.’’ Being based in Melbourne has helped put Tomcar on track


for success. “Australia’s manufacturing industry is based in Melbourne,’’ says Brim. “There is an incredible supply chain here – 80 per


CONNECTED AUSTRALIA SUPPLEMENT


WORKERS ON THE MOVE Victorian Government support has been instrumental in help- ing Melbourne app developer Gridstone progress over the last six years from a raw startup to a mature company on a rapid growth trajectory. The company focuses on organisational mobility in indus-


tries including transport, logistics and warehousing and is expanding fast, with headcount growing from 28 to 52 in the past year. “We conducted in-depth research around the challenges of


the modern, mobile workforce to develop our products,’’ says Julian Cross, Gridstone’s senior business consultant. “We have many transport and logistics companies using our


apps. We are also Apple partners and Telstra partners.’’ Gridstone has not seen the need to outsource or offshore


any development, finding all the human resources they need in Melbourne despite their swift growth. “We’ve has so much encouragement and support from the


Victorian government,’’ says Cross. “We were proud to be part of their stand at the ITS World


Congress and to showcase and share our success story. The Congress was also a great opportunity for businesses to meet new partners and customers.’’


l


 Dave Sheridan is a writer at the Strategic Communications Branch of Victoria’s Department of Business and Innovation dave.sheridan@diird.vic.gov.au


48 www.thinkinghighways.com


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52