The future of the Townsville manufacturing sector has been boosted with the announcement of permanent funding for the Townsville Manufacturing Hub by the Queensland Government.
“The work done at these hubs is vital to building and strengthening Queensland’s booming manufacturing sector,” said Minister for Regional Development and Manufacturing and Minister for Water, Glenn Butcher.
Minister Butcher made the announcement at Beehive Vinyl Products, which has been awarded a Made in Queensland (MiQ) grant.
Beehive Vinyl makes durable vinyl tool bags, which are exported worldwide and to many interstate clients, including in the resources sector.
“That’s $270,000 to go towards new equipment that will help Beehive increase their output and meet the growing demand for more of their products,” Mr Butcher said.
Resources Minister and Member for Townsville, Scott Stewart congratulated Beehive Vinyl on its proactive approach to business.
“The Made in Queensland grant means up to nine new jobs will be created in this workshop, which is so important,” he said.
“It’s great to see a local company working with the resources sector too which is an important part of Townsville’s economy.”
Beehive Vinyl Manager, Sean Kerlin said the MiQ grant would help the business adopt LEAN manufacturing principles, introduce new machinery and processes that would automate sections and ease production bottleneck issues.
“We have strong and growing demand for our products but we are faced with labour shortages in those parts of the factory process that require repetitive, monotonous welding work to be done.
“The grant will help with new machinery and staff skills, so that we can increase output and grow our business,” he said.
“Our products are growing in demand, partly due to the fact that being made in Queensland means they are a high-quality product and also because there is a reluctance to buy from overseas for a range of reasons, including longer lead times,” he said.
