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Boeing Defence Australia (BDA) has continued to expand its Indigenous supply chain partners, with a 380 per cent growth in Indigenous-owned small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in just over 12 months.
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Globally, the Boeing Company spends approximately $1 billion annually with minority suppliers.
BDA vice president and managing director Darren Edwards said the growth was due to a deliberate focus from the company to strengthen Indigenous partnerships in line with the signed memorandum of understanding with the Indigenous Defence & Infrastructure Consortium (iDiC).
"Our partnership with iDiC has seen Boeing’s investment in Indigenous suppliers more than triple to over $1 million in 2018. Diversity in our supply chain is an enormous strength of the Boeing Company and is a key driver behind our ability to provide innovative solutions to our customers," Edwards said.
IDiC, which acts as a single point of contact for over 90 Indigenous businesses nationally, has worked hand-in-hand with Boeing since 2017 to strengthen the Indigenous supply chain as well as Boeing’s local supplier base.
Adam Goodes, CEO of iDiC, welcomed the efforts of Boeing, saying, "Boeing has worked extremely hard with iDiC in the last two years to create opportunities for Indigenous businesses to infiltrate Boeing supply chain."
Boeing’s commitment to investing in Indigenous suppliers continues to grow, with the company’s commercial representation, Boeing Aerostructures Australia in Victoria, recently engaging with iDiC with the view to develop an ongoing partnership.
IDiC is a single point deployment project and account manager, providing a diverse range of services via its consortium partners, all of whom are Indigenous-owned businesses.
"We worked with Boeing for over 18 months to be awarded the contract for several BDA sites. This is the true nature of our partnership to find solutions that benefit everyone," Goodes added.
With a national footprint, iDiC has proven capability in a range of direct and indirect procurement services to support large defence and infrastructure projects. These services include:
- Facility services and construction;
- Professional services and administration;
- Engineering services;
- Consumables;
- PPE, workwear and apparel;
- Gifts;
- Logistics and warehousing;
- Graphics, photography; and
- IT and telephony.
IDiC was established because of Indigenous-owned and controlled businesses seeking to participate in the delivery of long-term nation building projects. Projects that build sovereign capability and infrastructure, offering longer-term contracts and relationships with clients and meaningful participation of the Indigenous business sector.
Energised and enthused by the National Innovation and Science Agenda, Indigenous entrepreneurs have rallied together to become a key cog in the supply chain of prime contractors in the defence industry.
As a supply chain aggregator, iDiC focuses on identifying business opportunities for its Indigenous business consortium partners. It then presents turnkey solutions providing a de-risked integrated offering to its clients.
IDiC is able to navigate the supply chain requirements of large companies, which are somewhat daunting for small to medium enterprises, and prequalify as an approved supplier. By taking this approach, Indigenous businesses are getting access to contracts that they normally would not have been able to as a stand-alone business.
Stephen Kuper
Steve has an extensive career across government, defence industry and advocacy, having previously worked for cabinet ministers at both Federal and State levels.
