A new survey of Australian manufacturing says the value of the local printing industry fell by 12 percent in the four years to 2016.
The latest report from the industry-led, not-for-profit group Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre (AMCG) – titled Building Resilience in Australian Manufacturing - also found that one in 10 manufacturing businesses say they would be in danger of closing their doors with the loss of a single major customer.
The AMCG report outlines the necessary steps for Australian businesses to become more resilient against economic upheaval.
The report says that Australia’s manufacturing industry is one of the most volatile in the world. It found that over recent decades, average output across Australian manufacturing industries swelled to 20 percent above trend during economic upswings, while contracting to 20 percent below this level during downturns.
AMGC MD Dr Jens Goennemann said the report outlined three business factors driving resilience, including technical superiority, product diversity and flexibility that would allow manufacturers to manage fluctuations in input costs in the event of a downturn.
The report found that in the years 2012-2016, Beverage and tobacco was the best performing sector, jumping 33 percent in ‘industry value added.’
Printing fell by 12 percent during the same period, while Pulp, Paper and Converted paper was down by 10 percent.
The full AMCG report is available here: www.amgc.org.au.