Responding to growth in our industries, results in growth for our company
With rapid market changes, industry growth and factors driven by new government policies being implemented, the industry is constantly forced to re-evaluate the ways in which we can add value to our clients. Systematiq has kept up with growth both for its business and its clients by pushing the boundaries and doing business differently.
Ex-Minister for Defence Industry the Hon Melissa Price reflected on her commitment to small business in regional Australia and said that in the year 2020, Defence engaged 75 businesses in regional Australia through Base Services Contracts, providing a wide range of services across Defence estate, delivering nearly $11.5m in works.
With grant programs like the Sovereign Industrial Capability Priority (SICP) having awarded more than $47m to small Australian businesses, and the Defence Innovation Hub having invested more than $38m with regional Australian businesses and universities to mature innovative technologies to feed into future Defence capability, there is no denying how important regional Australia is becoming to the industry.
“The Defence Innovation Hub’s investment strategy has played a transformative role for Australia’s small-to-medium businesses and the way in which they innovate and support defence requirements. It is rewarding to have Australian businesses continue their partnership with the hub and mature their innovations towards delivering the future capabilities that defence needs mentioned ex-Minister for Defence Industry the Hon Melissa Price.
The rail industry, working on a similar vision is ensuring that regional Australia benefits from new rail projects. An example of this is the construction of the Inland Rail that has benefitted regional Australia, with more than 656 local residents having worked on the project in the Parkes region alone, and more than $75 million being spent with local businesses.
Narrowing geographical barriers offers better client experience and builds trust
As a consulting firm that is people-driven, the way we build trust with our clients is by being responsive and accessible. Our quest to grow within these industries and add value to vital projects, has led us to expand into new regions where we can be closer to our clients and tap into the growing opportunities becoming available.
“With our growing presence in Qld, Regional Victoria, NSW, and ACT, we have seen an increase in opportunities for our clients within the Defence and Rail industries. Our expansion has allowed our consultants to spend more face time with our clients, provide better support and build trust. Expanding our physical footprint has allowed us to better understand the capability gaps leading to more opportunities.” said Greig Hutton, Systematiq’s Business Development Manager for Defence.
Andrew Harvey is building Systematiq’s presence in Canberra/ACT owing to its strategic importance to the defence industry, in the capacity of a Regional Manager. With a vision to bring together a strong team of consultants who can build relationships with clients and tap into key opportunities and projects, Andrew is looking to offer better services that will meet the needs of both our government and industry clients in ACT.
“As part of my new role as Systematiq’s Regional Manager for Canberra my focus is on building a team of experts who can add value to each of our clients. Starting in July, we will have a team of six full time consultants working out of our office in Canberra.
Through our physical presence in the region, I am hoping to engage with our existing clients while tapping into new opportunities and fostering relationships with our new clients.”
Expansion attracts new talent and offers flexibility
Chris Cyc, Systematiq’s Regional Manager of Victoria/NSW, and ILS Group Lead, continues to build trusting and effective partnerships with our clients through the work he and his team does. Clients seek Chris’ expertise on projects even as he continues to work remotely from Albury. Chris attributes this to the trust he has built with our clients over time, and the value he can provide to clients through his work.
“I pride myself on being able to not only ‘answer the mail’ but to think of alternatives that best describe what is being asked. I also like to think I deliver a good quality service or product to the specified requirements in the shortest possible time. This means being able to provide value for money service.”
Aside from the great service delivery that we can provide our clients with, Chris points out that the benefit of building a team in regional Victoria/NSW has been the ability to attract great talent from areas outside of major cities.
“There is great talent in the regional areas, take my ‘neck of the woods’ Albury/Wodonga for example. We have a highly populated community of ex-Defence talent, with our Northeast Team is rapidly growing from word of mouth via our Technical Support Network. In most cases when I reach-out the initial response is ‘I thought you could only do this in a capital city!!
An additional benefit I see is that the regions are better located to service multiple capital cities. For example, I’m located much closer to Canberra and Sydney than my Melbourne colleagues, and realistically on the occasions where I need to travel into Melbourne the travel time does not greatly vary from those who live in the outer suburbs of the city.”
Leveraging local supply chains
Paul Gibbs, Systematiq’s QLD Regional Manager, mentioned that as part of Systematiq’s expansion in the Queensland region, his focus is to support the strategic intent of Systematiq by establishing a strong local presence quickly.
“Systematiq’s expansion has enabled the organisation to have a national focus. We will be growing our Queensland resources to provide all of our capabilities locally while also looking for ways to focus our marketing, business development and key engagement activities through more targeted strategies that leverage our regional presence.”
With an increased focus from our clients on sourcing support from local suppliers- an important requirement for all major State & Federal contracts, Systematiq can now cater to our client’s need to demonstrate local supply chain spend. This is an important factor when claiming expenditure as a part of their Australian Industry Capability Plan (AICP) or Local Industry Development Plan (LIDP).
“The regional expansion allows us to leverage existing client relationships to provide support to their regional offices and access opportunities that would have been outside our scope/capabilities when only locked to a single Victorian location.”
The expansion has provided Systematiq with exposure to local SMEs and regional offices of Primes and given the organisation immediate growth opportunities. We have already seen the benefit of having ‘boots on the ground’ in Southeast Queensland through the provision of Prime contract support which we wouldn’t have been able to do without a physical presence in the region.
Providing better support to clients on key projects
“Our regional expansion has enabled us to strengthen relationships and ties with our clients through our involvement in major projects,” reflected Brydon Johnson, Systematiq’s Strategy and Project Director on Systematiq’s expansion.
“For instance, we are already seeing the benefit Systematiq has been able to provide to Sunshine Coast-based generator manufacturing company Eniquest on the LAND8140 program, owing to the support provided by our Queensland team.
Through our national expansion, we can now better support our clients locally whilst tapping into our national resources. Our regional teams make it easier for us to collaborate and share information. It reduces the need for our Melbourne based team to travel and eliminates the challenges that comes with meeting clients remotely.
We can now call upon our local team members to help with aspects such as data gathering, deliverable reviews and expectation setting, thereby fostering stronger client relationships,” said Brydon.
Systematiq’s NSW team is currently providing Integrated Logistics Support, guidance on compliance with ASDEFCON CDRLs and Specialty Engineering support Services to Thomas Global Systems (TGS) for The ADF’s M1A2 Immersive Tactical Trainers LAND907-2 program.
“Through the work done on the project so far and by working on-site as required to simplify the data assimilation process for the development of CDRLs, Systematiq has allowed TGS to focus on the design and management aspects of the program,” reflects Antony Sloss, Systematiq’s Program Director.
Similarly, by providing on-site support to G H Varley on the Deployable Force Infrastructure Tranche 1 -Catering, High Mobility Hygiene and Kennel shelters (Land 8140) project, Systematiq has been able to work directly with the Varley team, offering ILS expertise and guidance on the ASDEFCON Contracting environment and drive effective ILS data gathering and analysis.
“Both these projects have benefited from dedicated resources being allocated to them through the high paced activities since work commenced. We have been able to add value not just through the work done, but by ensuring our local resources can support client projects in-person, and if required supplement the team with personnel from interstate as well,” mentions Antony.
Sascha Sinclair, Systematiq’s Brand and Marketing manager commented on the benefits of regional expansion on our brand:
“By having a brand presence in regions where projects and opportunities are developing, means we can be responsive and agile to businesses’ needs. While we can respond locally, we can also tap into our national team of consultants and subject matter experts to deliver on a complex range of skills and capabilities.
We can also attend local area networking events and activities, bring people together to share experiences and expertise, and understand the nuances of local industries.”
I for one benefit from Systematiq’s regional expansion, as I live on the Sunshine Coast and travel regularly as needed. I also have the opportunity to mix with my Queensland colleagues frequently as the business regularly sponsors and encourages face to face catch ups with those who are in the region.”
We are looking to work with small and medium businesses wanting to make a transition into the defence and rail industries as well as with primes to add value on projects of strategic importance. Reach out to us to see how our team of consultants can add value to a project you are involved in.
