Regional collaboration turbocharged: The Manufacturing Toolbox and future applications

Regions need to collaborate. Few have the resources to go it alone.

This simple fact led to the Brisbane-developed Manufacturing Toolbox, a digital platform to help Australian manufacturers find the right help and support, improve profitability and productivity, and build relationships with other manufacturers, clients and customers.

The developer Digital Business insights Pty Ltd worked with its founding partners – CSIRO, Australian Computer Society, Queensland Manufacturing Industry (QMI) Solutions, Queensland State Library, Trade and Investment Queensland, Outsource Institute and others – to engage with the manufacturing industry, and the Manufacturing Toolbox was created as a national resource focusing on the main issues that manufacturers face: export, management and workforce skills, R&D and collaboration.

RDA Brisbane secured a Queensland Government grant to seed fund the project and provided a preview of works-in-progress at its 2015 CLICK! Digital Expo.

The Manufacturing Toolbox went live in 2016. It enables manufacturers to showcase their businesses locally, regionally or globally, engage with others, access capability building programs and find help and advice.

Queensland manufacturers are invited to sign up free to the Manufacturing Toolbox and showcase their businesses nationally and to the world at manufacturing.digitaltoolbox.org

The Manufacturing Toolbox can be cloned and configured for regions and sectors alike, including Agriculture and Mining & Energy, with all versions able to join up - such is its agility.

2017 will see the development of the Regional Economic Development Toolbox to support smart and sustainable regional development. It will use the resources developed for the Manufacturing Toolbox and focus on key regional themes: future of jobs and work, adding value to regional goods and services, regional export, regional collaboration and sharing, regions - 2020 and beyond.

Partnership options will be offered to all RDAs, Councils and regional economic development organisations in Australia.

For further information please contact RDA Brisbane CEO Margaret Blade on 0419 751 846 or