NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR
MANUFACTURING MANAGEMENT
About us
On this page...
On related pages...
Smartlink’s aims
Smartlink's aims are to enhance the capability of the Australian manufacturing sector by:
- improving management skills through the diffusion of best practice in manufacturing management and by encouraging Innovation and Intrapreneurial skills for sustainability.
- supporting the managers of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to aspire to levels of management competency consistent with international best practice in comparable firms.
- presenting the trends in global manufacturing, working with industry and researchers to adapt the best management techniques for Australian SMEs and making them accessible.
SMARTLINK works with-in UniSA's CDE or Centre for Development of Entrepreneurs,
Smartlink’s activities
In today’s global environment the skills which managers need are changing; thus Smartlink seminars, workshops and courses are designed to provide up to date capabilities for managers in the Australian manufacturing sector, especially in small and medium enterprises.
Smartlink programs for Australian managers will be:
- encouraging intrapreneurship
- innovative
- accessible
- export oriented
- relevant
- closely linked to industry.
They will look to the future as well as meeting current needs, and they will recognise the special features of manufacturing environments.
The focus of the Smartlink program is on:
- lean and agile manufacturing
- people management
- supply chain management
- innovation and intrapreneurship
- management of networks and collaboration.
Smartlink's location
Smartlink has offices at Mawson Lakes and City West campuses of the University of South Australia. We are in the Elton Mayo Building room EM3-20 at City West and room GP1-15 in the General Purpose Building at Mawson Lakes.
Distinctive features of Smartlink
Three features distinguish Smartlink from other programs to improve the management capability of Australia’s smaller manufacturers.
- Programs will be delivered through existing networks. This makes programs more accessible, enhances the uptake by providing peer support, and helps to maintain the network itself. Our experience involving FAPM (Federation of Automotive Products Manufacturers) in the development of the graduate program in manufacturing management and our recent Murray Bridge experience support this.
- It is truly a smart link, adding value to what goes through it with our acknowledged skills in the development and delivery of educational programs for manufacturers, patterned on the ‘learning organisation’ paradigm, by passing information about needs to providers so that it is industry driven, and by a commitment to lifelong learning.
- It brings together practice, research and education, linking industry and government with the University of SA. It integrates management and technology and is open to other industry, regional, research and educational organisations.
The National Institute for Manufacturing Management / Smartlink is a unique partnership, bringing together education and research resources, industry and regional associations, and modern diffusion techniques. Supporting partners include Australian Business Ltd, University of South Australia, SA Centre for Manufacturing, Business SA, Northern Adelaide Development Board, Redcentre, Advanced Manufacturing Centre, City of Playford. We believe that this group will grow, and the design of Smartlink allows for that.
The Smartlink network
Smartlink is a network of a number of different stakeholders:
Resource partners: These partners provide resources for learning. They include academic and industry research groups, centres for manufacturing, and other groups with advanced knowledge and skills in manufacturing management.
Network partners: the network partners are existing groups, such as regional and professional associations, industry groups, clusters and state government bodies.
Participants: Smartlink's participants are the SMEs and their staff.
In summary: information flows from the resource-provider partners, through Smartlink , to the course-delivery partners, then to the participants. Thus it is truly a smart link.
An open, collaborative network
Networks are the key to Smartlink . The SME program is delivered through networks, and enquiries from networks, groups or clusters who are interested in becoming part of Smartlink are welcome. So are inquiries from organisations who believe they have programs, courses or activities which are relevant to the needs of Australia’s SME manufacturers. Collaboration is important in today’s global economy and rapidly changing market place, and this is reflected in the way Smartlink is managed and in our open approach to wider participation.
When Smartlink was being established, commitments of support were received from Australian Business Ltd, Industrial Research Institute Swinburne, QMI, South Australian Centre For Manufacturing, Northern Adelaide Regional Development Board, City of Playford, the Institution of Engineers, Australia, Murray Lands Regional Development Board, and Redcentre.
The Australian Commonwealth Government, through its Technology Diffusion Program, provided support for establishing the National Institute for Manufacturing Management and Smartlink.
Management alert service
A feature of Smartlink is its internet-based Management Alert Service. This will be a newsletter, with links to our web site. New developments in manufacturing management will be notified to participants as soon as we hear about them. The brief newsletter items will be backed up by more detailed articles on our web site.
Our evaluation is driven by industry needs
Industry input is important to Smartlink - the programs are needs-driven. Built in to the program are:
- regular evaluation of every Smartlink activity,
- an innovative Smartlink workshop which brings together managers, participating organisations and education providers in a virtual team to review the programs and plan for the future, and
- research to evaluate the effectiveness of different ways of learning within SMEs.
More about Smartlink
This Powerpoint presentation (18 slides) will serve as an introduction to the Smartlink project.
And here's a PDF version of our one-page flyer, suitable for high-quality printing. You need Acrobat Reader installed for this. It's free, and can be downloaded from www.adobe.com
The Smartlink program was officially launched on Monday 6 November 2001, at the Mawson Lakes campus of the University of South Australia. Some photos...
The Annual Report for our first year of operation, 2000-01.