New horizons in sight for advanced manufacturing firm Mincham
As a business at the forefront of new technologies, South Australian SME, Mincham have a bright future ahead and have their sights firmly fixed on the horizon. This year the company has experienced unprecedented growth, seen the development of a new facility, and is partnering with Australian Defence industry to further develop its advanced manufacturing capability, in order to contribute to Defence’s strategic programs.
Accelerating the development of a sovereign Guided Weapon and Explosive Ordnance (GWEO) Enterprise in Australia is critical to the ADF’s long range strike and deterrent objectives, as per the 2020 Defence Strategic Update.
The Defence Science Technology Group (DST) Advanced Rocket Motor Technology Demonstrator (ARMTD) Program, with phase 1 underway with Thales as the Industry lead, is helping to grow a genuine partnership between the Australian Defence Force and Industry. The program plans to build an Australian industry network to support sovereign advanced rocket motor capability and the growth of Australian industry and local jobs.
Working with Australian SMEs, Thales will deliver the first phase of the transition to industry military-relevant rocket motor systems. This plans to be a demonstration of an advanced military-relevant rocket motor capable of hypersonic flight, manufactured locally.
The catalyst for this program was the push by the Federal Government to invest in local supply chains and create local jobs within the industry.
Thales, a trusted partner of the ADF, has long worked with SMEs to support more than 2,000 jobs within the supply chain. Utilising the local capabilities for the ARMTD program has given Thales the opportunity to make a strong contribution to Australian sovereign capability.
“We are proud to support the expertise and impressive capabilities of the Australian Defence industry. Having partnered with various SMEs for decades, we hope to continue the growth of local manufacturers and suppliers.” Said Duncan Watt, General Manager of Guided Weapon Systems at Thales Australia.
Mincham has been a leader in the development and production of advanced light-weight solutions for the defence, aerospace and high-tech industries. With over 25 years of experience, Mincham has been a core supplier and partner of upgrades and developments of Australian military platforms and systems. At the cutting edge of new technologies, Mincham produces products and services such as autonomous aerial delivery systems, aeromedical, composite radomes and suppressor systems.
With advanced engineering design capabilities, experience with composites, specialised and bespoke machining solutions, and painting and finishing services, Mincham is a competitive end-to-end supplier.
“I come from a structural aerospace background in the Australian Airforce and I really enjoy the challenges of contributing to cutting edge science as well as watching young engineers harness opportunities in this industry,” said Darryl Mincham, Managing Director of Mincham.
With a current team of 25 and a brand-new purpose-built facility, Mincham is expecting to grow 50% within the next six to twelve months due to the opportunities in Defence and Aerospace, including the ARMTD program, which will provide a residual industry capability able to produce intermediate scale rocket motors suitable for high performance Defence missions across all domains. This will ultimately lead to a growth in specialised skills and Australian jobs.
Offering a veteran hiring program which enables ex Defence personnel to re-skill, Mincham has made growing their workforce a priority. There has also been significant investment in developing their Research and Development (R&D) and specialised Defence industry production experience .
This investment has centred around unmanned systems, rocket technologies, aerial delivery systems and high-end specialised technologies. To support this strategy, Mincham has invested millions in expanding their manufacturing and maintenance footprint as well as making an investment in new computer numerical control (CNC) machines and large composite equipment. These large-scale investments and the building of a strong and agile workforce is positioning Mincham to pursue similar programs to the ARMTD in the near future.
“Through this alliance, the Defence minister asked us to condense a 10-year development cycle down to 2 years,” said Darryl.
“Small, agile SMEs in Australia are well placed to respond to this, and we’re excited to be able to contribute to building an advanced manufacturing industry that is supporting Defence here in Australia.”
Contact Thales to find out how you can partner with us to deliver Australia’s Sovereign Guided Weapons Enterprise program and contribute to local job creation and industry growth.
Find out more about Mincham: mincham.com.au