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Babcock Australasia has announced it has joined the Commonwealth’s Global Supply Chain Program to expand local industry engagement and opportunities with its international supply chains.
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As part of its commitment to putting Australian suppliers front and centre on the global stage, Babcock has established a dedicated global supply chain (GSC) delivery team to identify, assess and qualify national suppliers with capability solutions across all technology readiness levels.
Babcock’s team will then work with these suppliers to embed, develop, and scale their solutions within Babcock’s international programs to create export opportunities for Australian businesses.
Andrew Cridland, Babcock Australasia chief executive officer, welcomed the company’s commitment to the Global Supply Chain Program, saying, “Australia’s global supply chains are under increasing tension from traditional and geopolitical competition so boosting the number of Australian suppliers supporting defence endeavours and investing in their resilience is critical.”
The team has been strategically recruited in both Australia and the UK to provide continual advocacy at a global level and identify gaps in requirements across international operations that have the potential to be filled by Australian supplier capability, including R&D work, current program enhancement, and bidding activities.
Industry collaboration is also key to the program’s success. In order to deliver this, Babcock is committed to building and nurturing constructive relationships with new and existing GSC Program participants to help ensure cross-pollination and increase the number of touchpoints suppliers have with prime contractors.
This sharing of information will boost exports and reduce duplication of effort.
“Babcock’s global supply chain currently reaches more than 10 countries across marine, aviation, mission systems, nuclear and land domains and through the GSC Program, we will build further depth into the nation’s industrial base creating increased sovereign capability” Cridland said.
Since the program was first trialled, participating primes have delivered thousands of contracts to more than 240 Australian suppliers worth over approximately $1.7 billion.
The export initiative is a continuum of the Australian Industry Capability (AIC) Program whereby AIC builds capability in Australian industry and the GSC Program exports that capability into new markets.
Cridland added, “We look forward to working proactively and cooperatively with Defence, state governments, industry leaders and the other GSC primes to share best practice, supplier contacts and capabilities, and contributing to improved outcomes for the entire industry.”
Babcock’s first official engagement under the GSC Program will be a symposium held in Canberra from 23 to 25 July 2024, where its GSC delivery team will meet with other program participants to gain a greater understanding of the expectations and opportunities that exist.
This will be followed by a defence industry engagement event later this month to build connections with industry representatives and further refine outcomes.
