22 May 2017
6
A Star News Group Publication
Pollie mobbing - it could be the next big thing!
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Riley kicking goals towards his AFL dream
Setting the stage for diversity Fusion Theatre will explore time and depression and question stereotypes in A Place Called Maze. The Dandenong-based inclusive theatre company is celebrating its 20th year. ■ See page 10 for the full story.
Dandenong’s Vicki Robbins, and Keysborough’s Andy McKinnon during rehearsal. Picture: Casey Neill
■ Manufacturing drain in reverse as China loses jobs to Dandenong…
Jobs from China By Casey Neill A golf buggy builder is bailing on China and Sydney and swinging into Dandenong, bringing almost 200 jobs with it. Concourse Golf is relocating its manufacturing from China and its head office from Sydney. Founder and managing director David MacKay said the dollars savings from manufacturing overseas were “a bit of a myth”. “I’ve got to physically go over there regularly
to make sure things are done the way that I want to do it,” he said. “You’ve got to employ a separate firm outside of the factory to make sure the quality is there. “To get real value you’ve got to have really big numbers and starting out, we don’t want to make 5000 units in our first run.” Mr MacKay also said manufacturing in Australia made a lot of sense. He wanted to have his research and development team as close as possible to the manufacturing process.
“You’ve got to have those teams working really closely together,” he said. “Another reason is protection of our intellectual property. “We’ve really spent a lot of time and money putting this together. “Having that off-shore out of our hands, that’s a concern for us.” Mr MacKay said “quality is king”. “We’ve made enough product overseas to realise that when you have small assembly and
manufacturing errors, they cost you dearly,” he said. “If we’ve got them here, we’re a lot better chance of having them done properly and any errors, we can fix them straight away.” He wanted to create Australian jobs and use ex-auto industry workers. “That tag of having it Australian made rather than made in China has got some benefit as well,” he said. Continued on page 2
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