MAY BULLETIN

Steel has always been a common theme in Chris Hartwig’s career, from crunching numbers with Tubemakers/BHP to his ensuing 15 years of business management in the industry.

CEO's Report

As this is my final report as CEO, I want to take this opportunity first and foremost to thank all Scholars for your contribution to the ILF’s highly-respected reputation through the success of your businesses, and through your willingness to assist me when called upon. Thanks are also due to honorary board members for their untiring efforts to guide me to be better and, on occasion, avoid taking the wrong path. The success of the ILF is also due to Suzi’s untiring efforts to keep me on the straight and narrow. It is not time to say farewell just yet and I hope to be given the opportunity to express my gratitude personally over coming weeks.

In terms of ILF activities during the past month, we:

• conducted an offsite ILF board meeting and members function at Sage Automation, hosted by Andrew Downs (ILF2013). The member function included a tour of the Sage manufacturing facility which is clearly bursting at the seams. We saw automatic luggage checking machines for airports, EV charging stations, industrial-scale switchboards and many other products under construction, not to mention numerous other parts of the Sage operation we didn't have time to explore. What Andrew has achieved is incredible. Sage is clearly a standout location for a future ILF Showcase.
• held the successful Showcase event at Lumination (full report below). Special thanks to Edward Carlson (ILF2020) and the Lumination team for providing a spectacular venue, and to Jamie McKeough and Grant Martinella of William Buck for sponsoring it.
• sent invitations to tonight's information evening. This event supports applicants to make the all-important choice of course, and Scholar support of applicants is an important aspect of this.
• sent invitations to the Göran Roos briefing on 10 May. The preview I attended in February provided a leading-edge update on environmental legislation and the latest developments in Europe that will affect manufacturers in Australia.
• made the final transition to the Zoho CRM system, which should have gone live this morning (unless there's been an unexpected hiccup). Invitations for the information night were circulated through the system as a test. It was a useful education process for Suzi.
• welcomed Richard Barrett as CEO yesterday (stay tuned for his first Bulletin next month). I will remain on deck for the next three months as Richard transitions into the role. I have known Richard for a number of years and he has always been highly supportive of the ILF’s work. As I said at the showcase, I was not involved in the Board decision to appoint Richard but am delighted he accepted. I hope he gets as much satisfaction out of it as I have, and I look forward to watching the ILF progress under his guardianship.

Out and about

Aside from the showcase and ILF member event, April was a quiet month for outings. The only event of note I attended was a metaverse lunch briefing at KPMG. I was already aware of the potential of Virtual Reality (VR) for education from discussions and events at Lumination, and it's clear that Lumination are truly leaders in the field. Different applications include kindergarten to tertiary education, induction and on the job training, and sales and marketing. Starbucks has created a game that promotes their brand and rewards players with tokens that can be used to get free coffee, while Nike has created a VR game where players can pay to design virtual runners. Apparently having a great set of virtual sneakers is a real status symbol! I'm not sure where virtual stuff fits in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs but to make it real, you can actually buy a real pair of Nikes based on your virtual design. This seems to be the future of sales and marketing, at least in the B2C environment. My recommendation for Scholars is to be aware of it, or risk being bypassed by competitors.

Beyond business

April was a holiday shorts month for Lisa and I.

• Over Easter, we stayed at the Playford using a two-night credit from a pre-Covid booking for our anniversary back in 2020. Dining at iTL Italian Kitchen at the Casino, my pizza came with almost no topping and it was a challenge to find the sauce on Lisa’s pasta! Breakfast the next day at Hey Jupiter in Ebenezer Place was thankfully better, with Lisa loving it that much we went back for lunch.  
• Courtesy of Bronte Eckermann (ILF2019) I had the opportunity to attend the Saturday night Gather Round double-header at MTX Club. My preferred side is the Crows but as a passionate South Australian, Port are next and it was great to see them achieve a hard-fought win. I am very grateful to Bronte for allowing me to be part of history.     
• We were visited by a good friend from England whose husband, Tim Anderson, had been sent by BAE from Bristol to shutdown the loss-making Australian subsidiary in the early 1980s. Within three years BAE Australia become the most profitable operation in the BAE universe and, as they say, the rest is history.
• For the ANZAC weekend we travelled to Sydney to stay with Lisa's niece who settled there from Peru about seven years ago, married a great bloke, now has two children and lives in Wollongong. They took us north to a headland where paragliders and hang gliders are very active, with up to 15 in the air at any one time. We went to a couple of beachside cafes, one of which was high on a cliff and reminded us of Bali, and walked along the spectacular Sea Cliff Bridge, which often features in car advertisements (pictures above). Later in the trip we visited our youngest daughter, Melissa, who is completing a PhD at UNSW and teaching environmentally-responsible architecture. As we left Adelaide we saw Mark Nykiel (ILF2016) departing the very late plane we were about to board. Mark told us the plane was 2.5 hours late leaving Sydney due to mechanical troubles. Once underway the pilot told us the plane was late due to the fuel strike in Melbourne. Another example of Qantas innovation?

My life in the Army

Last month I described my Pay Corps era until I was asked to return to the Infantry as Officer Commanding Support Company at 10/27 Battalion. I was based at the Torrens Training Depot along with the mortar platoon (mortars, as pictured above, are heavy indirect fire weapons that shoot largish 82mm projectiles over ranges of up to about 3km and can be man-packed), signals platoon (providing long-range communications), reconnaissance platoon (expert in remote operations) and a machine gun platoon (providing direct fire support; remember the balloons in frames showing the cones of fire). The assault pioneers were based in Broken Hill. Assault pioneers are soldiers who are highly trained to defeat enemy defence barriers such as barbed wire entanglements, minefields and bunkers, and demolish roads that might be useful to the enemy plus build defences and repair transport routes. I was also responsible for depots in Kadina, Clare and Berri. Each of the platoons was commanded by an outstanding young Lieutenant, including one who became a Scholar in 2011.

Scholar in the Spotlight

Chris Hartwig
Managing Director, Korvest Ltd
Strategy: Building & Sustaining Competitive Advantage
Harvard Business School, 2015

Steel has always been a common theme in Chris Hartwig’s career, from crunching numbers with Tubemakers/BHP to the ensuing 15 years of business management in the industry.

From accounting to management

Following in his father’s footsteps, Chris finished high school and went straight to university to study accounting. Starting with what was then Tubemakers/BHP (that morphed into OneSteel), he says it quickly became obvious that he preferred the "cut and thrust" of running the business rather than counting the numbers. He undertook a number of management roles in the 15 years that ensued, but the biggest career change occurred when he was headhunted by Korvest to run the galvanising division. Korvest is ASX listed, employing close to 300 staff across Australia, the majority of which are based in Adelaide. After a couple of years, Chris was promoted to run the largest Korvest business, EzyStrut, a proud Australian manufacturer of cable and pipe supports, and eventually became Managing Director in 2018.

A source of inspiration and learning

Running a business that competes heavily against cheap imports has required Korvest to embrace a number of strategies to remain competitive. Chris says his ILF-supported, two-week Harvard Business School course has been a valuable source of inspiration and learning.

"Pivoting the business to focus on key industry segments that play to Korvest’s strengths, a focus on continual product cost design, cost reduction and automation have allowed the business to flourish in recent years."

Thanks for a truly luminous night!

The ILF community gathered at the Thebarton Learning Lab of immersive tech giant Lumination for the Scholars' Network second annual showcase on 5 April. Sponsored by William Buck, the event lived up to lofty expectations on the back of last year’s inaugural showcase – providing a stellar night of networking, fine food and fabulous drinks. Mitsubishi Motors Australia President and CEO and ILF Scholars Committee Chair Shaun Westcott (ILF2018) kicked off proceedings, welcoming both Scholars and prospective Scholars and reflecting on the role of the ILF in supporting the state’s leaders to remain at the top of their game. Lumination Founder and CEO Ed Carlson (ILF2020) explained the Lumination business philosophy and his reasons for supporting the ILF’s Lumination State Innovator Award with donations of $20,000 pa. William Buck SA Managing Director Jamie McKeough followed, explaining that the firm is proud to support the ILF Scholars Network as its role in fostering business leader success and supporting the state’s economic base through employment growth, creating wealth and establishing a strong head office mentality in SA aligns perfectly with the objectives of William Buck. CEO Geoff Vogt then took to the stage, thanking all those who contributed to the night, including event sponsor William Buck, host Lumination and the ILF Scholars Network Committee, who made it happen. He also took the moment to formally introduce his successor Richard Barrett, who commenced as CEO this week. A short speed dating exercise helped new guests become familiar faces by the end of the icebreaker, setting the scene for a night of fruitful conversations and new connections.

The lively auction, delivered by TOOP+TOOP Sales Partner and Corporate Auctioneer Vincent Doran was a highlight of the evening, with Scholars splashing their cash on a fantastic selection of prizes – including fast laps in a GT Mustang at The Bend Motorsport Park thanks to Andrew Downs (ILF2013) and SAGE Automation, a Minelab metal detector thanks to Peter Charlesworth (ILF2013), a $1500 Heatlie Barbeques voucher thanks to Andrea Mead (ILF2014), a $1000 Country Blinds voucher thanks to Rhett Payne (ILF2014) and a luxurious woollen quilt donated by Darren Turner (ILF2015) of MiniJumbuk. Thanks also to the bidders; we understand Eddie Lane (ILF2012) has a legion of new petrolhead followers keen to share his fast laps, Shahin Saya Dashti (ILF2020) may be preparing a trip to the Gawler Craton to hunt the next lithium mine, David Evans (ILF2017) is hopefully designing the invites for us all to attend the grand barbeque christening, Eric van Ryswyk (ILF2021) may be consulting his wife about blinds or curtains, while Peter Piliouras (ILF2014) and Evelyn are looking years younger thanks to a good rest each night! Other lucky punters went home with door prizes from North Adelaide Dental Care, MiniJumbuk, Leader Computers and Kay Brothers.

Beyond the fabulous catering and beverage choices, guests were treated to decadent gelato supplied by Peter Cox (ILF2013) of Gelista Premium Gelati. Thanks to everyone who attended or supported the event in some way – we are thrilled it has firmly cemented its place on the annual ILF event’s calendar.

Upcoming Events

ILF Applicant Info Night - Tonight

Interested in applying for an ILF grant or know someone who might? If the answer's yes, please join us for the ILF Applicant Info Night, on tonight! Past ILF recipients will be on hand to allow you to speak one-on-one with Scholars from a similar industry. ILF CEO Richard Barrett, honorary board members and Geoff Vogt will also be available to answer any questions. Our guest speakers (detailed below) are Stephen Moss (ILF2022) and Edward Carlson (ILF2020), while the MC for the evening is Michaela Webster (ILF2021), Transformation and ESG Projects, G’Day Group.

When: Tonight (Tuesday, 2 May) 6pm-8pm
Where: Lumination, 35-37 Stirling Street, Thebarton

ILF Breakfast Training With Professor Göran Roos

ILF Scholars are invited to join internationally-renowned innovator and strategist Professor Göran Roos to learn more about how to adapt their business model to meet the demands of the Green Economy. The new standards being set by the European Union will have to be met by exporters to Europe and, in turn, by suppliers of inputs to those exporters. Your customer may not be in Europe but if they export a portion of the output there they will need to comply, which means you'll need to comply. The EU is a first adopter, but others will likely follow. Professor Roos will explain why SA manufacturers must act now to ensure they comply with changing requirements of national and global supply chains. Thanks to generous sponsors William Buck, the event is free for Scholars. 

When: Wednesday 10 May, 7.30am-9am (breakfast at 7am)
Where: William Buck, 6/211 Victoria Square, Adelaide

Business Value Maximisation 

One of the key measures of success in any business is growth in its value; this growth is rarely in a straight line. At our Business Value Maximisation half-day training on 16 June you'll hear from business leaders who've overcome fluctuating fortunes and met the challenges that were thrown at them in the process of building great businesses.

Our facilitator is Chantale Millard (ILF2017), who was appointed CEO of Longtable Group at a time when the share price had fallen from $1.65 to about 15c in two years. She stabilised the group, oversaw its name change to Maggie Beer Holdings, built an online presence and overcame all the challenges that Covid threw at the business, propelling performance to support a share price of over 60c by February 2022.

The keynote speech will be delivered by Jim Whalley, Deputy Chair and joint Founder of Nova Systems and former Chief Entrepreneur in SA. Jim became CEO of Nova in March 2000 and the business has grown from two people in Adelaide to an international operation with more than 850 employees.   

Following the keynote speech, the six panels listed below will shine a light on different aspects of wealth creation:

1. Build a growth-oriented leadership team
2. Build the market
3. Understanding what you have and its value
4. What can go wrong?  
5. Board-advisory vs full – does a board add value?
6. Case study – Kelly Tillage.

The speakers are too numerous to list in full but include Andrew Downs (ILF2013), Alf Ianiello (ILF2011), Claude Cicchiello (ILF2014), Shane Kelly (ILF2013), Calvin Stead (ILF2018), Alexei Fey (ILF2020), Michaela Webster (ILF2021), Penni Donato (ILF2019) and Theo Kristoris (ILF2021).

There are many aspects to being successful in business and this training session will see top-performing Scholars and business leaders outline their experience in many of the dimensions of industrial-scale growth. On top of this there will be networking opportunities at lunch, afternoon tea and post-event drinks. The event is free of charge thanks to generous sponsorship by Grant Thornton. 

When: Friday 16 June, 12.30pm-6.30pm
Where: Grant Thornton, Level 3, 170 Frome Street, Adelaide

Save the Dates*

• 18 August: How businesses succeed in difficult, uncertain times
• 25 September, 5.30pm to 8.30pm: ILF Awards Ceremony
• 23 October: Investing in uncertain times
• 20 November, 5.30pm: Mentoring launch
• 11 December, 6pm to 8pm: ILFSN Christmas party

*All dates listed above are to be confirmed.

William Buck 2023 CFO Summit

As a major sponsor of the ILF Scholars Network, William Buck has extended an invitation to ILF Scholars for the William Buck Adelaide 2023 CFO Summit, to be held on Wednesday, 17 May, at Adelaide Oval.

This year's summit features a range of well-known and respected speakers including the Hon. Stephen Mullighan MP, Treasurer of South Australia, Alan Oster, NAB Group Chief Economist, and Donald McGurk, Former CEO of Codan. It will be hosted by award-winning journalist Jess Adamson.

The annual event has a great reputation and is a great way to ensure your CFO and/or finance leader is up to date. With an outstanding line-up of speakers covering key topics relevant for CEOs and key decision-makers, you and/or other C-suite executives will find the Summit highly beneficial.

Business in Brief

DEDA in the Western world 

Renowned for their manufacturing prowess and pragmatic approach to innovation, the Chinese are now reinventing the role of management. This article in The Australian describes China's new decentralised management approach called 'digitally enhanced directed autonomy', or DEDA, which uses digital platforms to give frontline employees direct access to shared corporate resources and capabilities. The article also presents useful advice for Western businesses looking to adopt the DEDA approach.

Read The Australian article.

Why the ESG backlash?

In recent years, ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) has become a top priority for organisations worldwide as ESG risks have become some of the largest threats to businesses, affecting their long-term performance and profitability. Despite this, the ESG movement has encountered a political roadblock in the US. Could it reach Australia? This article from the Governance Institute of Australia might help you decide.

Read the Governance Institute of Australia article.

Scholars in the Media