Sam Matandos is the thoughtful and forthright CEO of Sydney-based precision engineering company Moxon Industries. Under Sam’s guidance during challenging time, Moxon Industries has continued to expand in the rail, civil and defence supply chains.

Sam and Moxon are experienced and successful suppliers to demanding structured supply chains.  Sam says the growth and the success is due to its hard-fought reputation for delivering as promised.

In this episode, James and Sam discuss the challenges of the Australian business sector, of being a small manufacturer in Australia, and of ways to address these challenges to achieve continued business growth. Sam challenges some of the assumptions and the reporting on small business in Australia and provides thought-providing responses to James’ questions.

Well worth a listen.

Find out more about Sam’s opinions and views here.

Find out more about Moxon Industries here

In this episode we talk Operational Excellence. Our host , James Scotland says: “What if I told you there are ways to improve your operational performance, reduce your costs, improve your quality and increase your bottom line while also improving your major buyer relationships? Impossible?

Today’s guest - Tim McLean, the founder of TXM Lean Solutions- knows how. In just 20 years Tim and his partners have built a global business by assisting businesses all over the world to do just that.

James and Tim talk Lean, Total Quality Management, the Toyota Way, the Supply Chain Bullwhip Effect and much more. They also talk about trade show and how to ensure attendance converts to invoice.

This episode is a practical conversation on business and supply chain improvement. It’s a great addition to the knowledge bank being created by this podcast series.

About Tim McLean

In 2004, Tim McLean left a successful Operations Leadership career to form TXM with the aim of helping manufacturing and supply chain companies transform their operations. Tim was joined by leading Lean coach Anthony Clyne in 2008 and experienced operations and business leader, Ron Spiteri in 2012.

Since 2004, TXM has grown to become a leading international Operational Excellence and Lean consulting company with offices in Australia, China, Europe, the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada and projects in more than 25 countries globally.

In just a few short years, Nicola Lane has built an impressive reputation as a supply chain manager, leader, and advocate for sustainable supply chains. 

In this episode of Supply Circles,  Host James Scotland chats with Nicola to learn of her short and impressive career to date and her views of the future.

• Her urban, regional, overseas and now national roles and what she learnt.
• The lessons for Supply Chain management during Covid especially Working from Home, the impact on communities  and the challenge of being a young parent woth a demanding work role
• Her thoughts on sustainable supply chains from her roles in the LNG, heavy infrastructure and other industries
• The role of emerging leaders in supply chain management today
• The lessons from her recent post-grad engagement with Cambridge University where she engaged with supply chain sustainability specialists from around the world and in multiple different industries
• Her views on the importance of sustainability in supply chains going forward and
• Her experience and insights as a young female supply chain leader.

Nicola is an insightful, emerging Supply Chain senior leader and this episode is thought-provoking and inspiring. Well work a listen.

Nicola Lane bio:

Nicola Lane is an Associate Director within Aurecon's advisory business, specialising in climate transition risk and supply chain sustainability.

Nicola holds Bachelors degrees in Business Management and Law, and recently completed a Sustainable Supply Chain Management certification with the Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership. 

Having worked both client and contractor side, Nicola brings 13 years supply chain management experience within the Oil and Gas, Mining, Power Generation, Defence and Telecommunications industries to define and support clients on their supply chain sustainability journeys.  Particular focus areas include emissions and waste reduction, local and Indigenous procurement, modern slavery, supply resilience and associated governance and technological enablement.

In conversation with host James Scotland, Sarah provides a clear-eyed and clearly-explained  analysis of the opportunities, challenges and imperatives for Australian businesses  in accessing the roll out of the newly announced AUKUS submarine deal.

Among a myriad of gold nuggets of insights in an hour-long conversation, Sarah and James discuss this week’s AUKUS deal from the perspective of business. Their conversation covers:

• Technology transfer across nations and across Defence and Industry- and what it means for business.
• The role of Industry 4 and digitalisation in accessing the opportunities in the new agreement
• The importance of clear strategy and how to achieve
• The challenges of the Defence Industry supply chain and how to be successful in accessing Defence work
• The upcoming Defence Strategic Review
• And so much more.

This is another great conversation with an industry expert in a complex industry. This podcast is perfect for every businessperson wanting to understand the business impacts and opportunities of AUKUS

Today’s guest:

Sarah Pavillard is the CEO of ADROITA, a fast-growing and forward-looking consultancy delivering specialist maritime, weapons, and integration engineering and other professional services to Defence and Defence Primes, and advisory services to Australian and international firms that want to grow their defence business. Sarah is also the Board Secretary and non -executive director of Australian Industry Defence Network (AIDN), she was awarded 2021 Consultant of the Year in the Australian Defence Industry Awards, and was a finalist in the Engineer of the Year category of the Women in Defence Awards.

Nestle has set ambitious targets for decarbonising its entire global supply chain. It’s a tough challenge – The supply chain is long  and complex and includes everything from agriculture to manufacturing to warehousing to distribution to the end-user and much more.

And its not just the supply chain: Nestle itself is enormous with over 339,00 employees, 442 factories in 86 countries and a world-wide distribution networks providing over $130b in sales. Decarbonising is no easy task.

In this podcast, James chats with Margaret Stuart to find out how the Nestle supply chain is being redesigned and improved. And how Nestle Oceania is achieving its targets, ahead of time.

In a fascinating conversation, Margaret and James discuss:

• The complexity of the challenge of decarbonising and how there is no ‘one’ answer.
• Regenerative agriculture and how farmers are accepting the Nestle challenge.
• The redesigning of packaging, and the many options available
• The role of consumers and others in changing behaviour
• New energy sources and the role of creative thinking in identifying renewable energy sources
• And much more.

James and Margaret then have a quick chat about ESG and Modern Day Slavery and what it means for small business suppliers.

Then James finds out why it’s a  good idea to keep eating Kit Kats.

Don’t miss this episode: hear first-hand the story of the decarbonising of the supply chain- direct from a current global supply chain implementor. A fascinating conversation.

In this episode I chat with Tim Walmsley to find out how to use Industry trade shows to build successful sales pipelines. Tim shares insights on how to prepare for trade shows and how to convert interest into sales. Tim also shares his thoughts on the opportunities that are created by meeting like-minded businesses and making alliances that build competencies and capabilities.

In a couple of weeks Tim and I will be in Avalon, Victoria for the annual Defence Industry expo ‘Avalon ‘23’ …. so the chat is timely.

Tim is the perfect person to ask about making business connections at trade shows: He is the CEO of forward-thinking  business matching service ‘BenchOn’, a ‘business platform designed for enterprises and governments to more effectively engage businesses and independent contractors’. At Avalon, he will be connecting Prime Contractors/ buyers to potential suppliers through his innovative ‘Meet the Primes’ program.

Michael Sharpe is a passionate advocate of the opportunities for Australian business in the Advanced Manufacturing sector, Defence Industry, Nuclear Industry and the emerging Space sector.  He also has positive things to say about the emerging green economy and green industry.  Listen in and be swept up in is enthusiasm and infectious positive.

In the episode, Host James Scotland speaks with Michael about the power of the Australian family businesses and the amazing leaps forward being taken by the manufacturing sector in Australia. Michael explains the importance of collaboration especially with research institutions and the opportunities available when you digitalise your operations. And Michael provides real examples: examples of successful Australian businesses doing great things.

In the second half, James and Michael examine the multiple opportunities emerging within the Defence Industry, with the new AUKUS deal with the United States and the United Kingdom, and with the emerging space sector.

For more about the business opportunities in the AUKUS contact, click here

To follow Michael, his Linked In profile is here.

Entrepreneurs, supply chains and the transition to Net Zero, with Paul Hodgson by Ai Group

In this episode Ian Rogers Director of Supply Chain Finance at Westpac Institutional Bank explains the many areas of risks in supply chains and how to use your ‘financial supply chain’ to identify and manage the risks.

Ian and James also discuss a bankers view of the disruptions that may come to your business in the time ahead: inflations, natural disasters, energy crises, the transition to Net Zero.

Ian also provided good insights into the increasingly-urgent need for every company to actively manage ESG, modern day slavery and the transition to Net Zero carbon emissions. And the current state of trade docs, blockchain and other digital processes.

A rare insight into the mind of a senior banker with a lifetime of experience in Supply Chain Finance.

James and Angeline discuss a wide range of issues, including the global food industry, the process of innovation, supply chain issues, females & leadership and much much more.

Angeline is the Executive Director Innovation and Growth for Simplot Australia and an informed and fascinating conversationalist.

In the usual relaxed and engaging conversation style of the podcast, the two discuss the fundamentals of innovation and business growth. They also unpack some of the lessons of innovation that have emerged in managing the supply chains from the industry that is always bringing new products to the market: such as the industry’s response to Celiac, Nut Allergies, Paleo, vegetarian, gluten-free, Ready-to-Eat, Ready-to-Cook and much more. 

James and Angeline discuss inspiring women leaders and the G100 Mission Million, a global group of 100 Women leaders looking to create an equal, progressive and inclusive environment for women worldwide.

We’re honoured to have Angeline as a guest on the show: She is a successful innovation practitioner renowned for her strong business acumen. She has more than 20 years’ diverse international innovation and leadership experience in blue chip multinationals such as Mondelez International, Yum Brands (KFC), Fonterra, and MARS and has led teams in innovation, strategy development and market expansion. Angelina has guided the launch of more than 1000 innovations across the Australian and Pacific  markets. A true industry leader in Australia.

She is an inspiring and insightful guest, and the conversation is engaging and wide-ranging. Enjoy 😊

For more on Angeline Achariya, her Linked In is here

For more on Simplot Australia, click here

For more on G100 Mission Million, click here