Juliet Westcott / Chief Strategy Officer
Perspectives from a life in leadership.
The latest essay
Australia's goal of 1.2 million new homes has encouraged building-products makers to add capacity for the volumes it implies. Every kiln, line and plant should instead be approved on what it earns in a downturn, and the cheapest capacity for a boom is capacity a company can restart.
Read the essayAustralia's goal of 1.2 million new homes has encouraged building-products makers to add capacity for the volumes it implies. Every kiln, line and plant should instead be approved on what it earns in a downturn, and the cheapest capacity for a boom is capacity a company can restart.
Debate about Australian manufacturing swings between calls to make everything here and spreadsheets that would import anything cheaper landed. A narrower test works better: make onshore what is heavy for its value, needed at short notice or made to a customer's measurements, and buy the rest without apology.
Energy-intensive manufacturers still treat gas and electricity contracts as procurement and kilns as capital. The energy contract now decides how long a kiln or dryer lives and which decarbonisation options stay open, so boards should approve the two together and buy grid connections as options.