MTAQ: Monthly News April 2017
For years we have talked about the impact of change in the automotive industry and the eminent flow on to the Automotive Recycling industry. Recently (07/03/2107) MTAQ conducted a look into the future through Carmageddon - Innovate or Detonate; a one day symposium which brought together industry, government and academia. Both I and your new Secretary in the APRD - Tracy Randall from Anzac Avenue Wreckers in Toowoomba attended. It was a good event and very incite full in that it reminded us we really need to be active within our industry and be willing to adapt and change to the technologies and the future if we want to stay and be profitable in business.
“There is significant disruptions on the horizon” Paul Martyn from Advancing Queensland told us. He then went on to say “75% of one manufacturers car model is 3D printed, 40% of jobs in Australia could be replaced by computers in the next decade or two, 22% of all vehicle sales will be electric by 2030, 60% of Australia’s productivity growth over the long term will come from innovation”
Maurice Donovan once a recycler but now heads a mechanical workshop in Brisbane posted, “We should be embracing and preparing for change, and it brings to me great confidence that we have a leading association that is willing to prepare us and this demonstrates to me that they do understand we do have a threat. But instead of us looking at it as a threat we need to be looking at innovating ideas on how we can evolve and use technology to create new business that will see us into the future...My brain is still buzzing with information from yesterday. I have to say I was very impressed with the whole day. I was even more taken back by how well Brett Dale communicated and informed us of the changes ahead. After hearing Brett and seeing the passion he has for our industry, I would say undoubtedly the MTAQ is in very good hands.”
Whole heartedly I endorse Maurice’s comments.
Australia’s domestic manufacturing of motor vehicles will cease; we are witnessing this right at the moment. The transition to automated vehicles has begun with a pilot programme of vehicles in the Ipswich and I believe Adelaide areas which will inevitably involve a transition to hybrid and plug-in electric motor vehicles. Even my small town of Hervey Bay already has 2 charging stations. The change from fossil fuels as the main energy source for transportation and the progressive displacement of the internal combustion engine (Germany has a mandate that by 2030 all vehicles will be electric) means that the world’s and Australia’s society and the economy will undergo fundamental transformations. Remain an active member of your Association and listen, absorb and be prepared to innovate and stay ahead of the pack.
Lawrie Beacham, Jeeepart Recyclers,
APRD Chairman MTAQ