MAIN ROADS Western Australia has deployed a new mobile application from Motorola Solutions to increase safety and productivity for its heavy vehicle inspectors.

The transport agency has equipped its frontline workers with a localised version of the Regulatory Compliance Mobility Solution (RCMS) used by Australia's National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR). The agency is responsible for maintaining safety and reliability for WA’s road network. 

The solution provides Western Australia’s transport inspectors with real-time access to heavy vehicle driver and transport company information, enabling them to issue digital notices during heavy vehicle intercepts.

“We know the majority of operators in the heavy vehicle industry are safe and compliant and that it’s only a small cohort of high-risk companies and drivers that put themselves and the community at risk,” Minister for Transport and Deputy Premier of Western Australia, Rita Saffioti said.

“By leveraging heavy vehicle compliance and enforcement data, Main Roads WA can keep all road users safe while preventing damage to the state’s road infrastructure.”

Since its launch in 2019, RCMS has helped to improve roadside operations for NHVR compliance officers across Australia, reducing the time taken for roadside intercepts from around 35 minutes to 10 minutes.

Reducing ‘paperwork’ time

The introduction of RCMS in Western Australia has removed the need for safety inspectors to complete many paper-based forms while consolidating the data needed to strengthen road safety for all drivers travelling between Western Australia and Australia’s eastern states. 

Motorola Solutions’ RCMS mobile solution is built on the same public safety mobility platform that enables Western Australia Police officers to work safely and efficiently when responding to 000 emergency calls from the public.

“Our innovative mobile solutions simplify business processes and workflows for public safety agencies and other organisations, helping frontline responders to work with greater focus, accuracy and speed,” Motorola Solutions managing director for Australia and New Zealand, Con Balaskas said.

“These solutions give workers more time to focus on what matters most, supporting them to manage everyday tasks and helping them to resolve more complex events,” he said.

www.motorolasolutions.com

www.nhvr.gov.au/rcms

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A FURORE has erupted in Western Australia over the perceived poor performance of the state’s Construction Visa Subsidy Program – a program that was only launched by the Western Australian Government in July last year.

In July 2023 the WA State Government launched a targeted program to support WA employers who were interested in attracting migrants with construction skills to Australia.

The WA Government took this step as a result of the Federal Government slashing State Nominated Migration Visas from 8140 to 2350 in the middle of a housing and a skills crisis.

Housing Industry Association (HIA) WA executive director Michael McGowan said HIA supports the program as one of several initiatives to help build more homes.

“This is a long-term investment to build more homes in WA,” Mr McGowan said. 

“Skilled migration has not been something that WA building companies have traditionally engaged in, but for those that have, the feedback has been extremely positive.

“Money is only one part of the migration solution, you have to find a suitable candidate and navigate a complex Federal migration system before that person can travel and start work in Australia.

“What we have seen is WA employers dipping their toes in the water to see how it works. It has worked, and we now expect most of the 1100 spots to be taken up and workers arriving in Australia over the next 12 months,” Mr McGowan said.

“Our industry has been built on a foundation of migrants moving to Australia looking for a new life and this program continues the tradition.

“Our housing challenges aren't going away anytime soon, so investing in a steady flow of skilled migrants while also funding 450 apprentices into the residential building industry is a responsible long-term approach,” he said.

“Of course we would like these people here sooner, but for those navigating it for the first time there are some unknowns that need to be worked through.

“The Federal Government also needs to speed up their processes and increase transparency with our builders and contractors who have people around the world waiting to come to WA.

“HIA held a construction visa information session at the beginning of May that was attended by more than 60 employers, and as success stories continue to filter through the industry the interest levels continue to increase,” Mr McGowan said.

www.hia.com.au

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GOOD EARTH DAIRY, An innovative Australian commercial camel milk producer, has been awarded a US$2.8 million grant by the Western Australian Government to help construct the first powdered camel milk processing facility in Perth.

The US$12.7 million project will allow the brand to increase production of new products for international distribution. In order to complete this project, Good Earth Dairy is looking to conduct an initial public offering (IPO) on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) in 2024 and is currently conducting a crowd-funding campaign.

Good Earth Dairy wants to position for success in the global infant formula market which is set to grow by more than 30 percent to US$66.4 billion in the next five years, according to Good Earth Dairy founder and CEO, Marcel Steingiesser.

Mr Steingiesser said camel milk was a premium alternative to cow’s milk, retailing in Australia at US$8-$13 per litre, with low allergens and high nutritional value. According to Good Earth Dairy’s research, camel’s milk is globally regarded as the closest substitute for human milk. 

“Australia is in a unique position to be a global leader in camel milk production,” Mr Steingiesser said. “If we were to rely on breeding we would be very limited but we have access to a huge supply of camels in outback WA.

“We have the livestock, the technology, the climate and the opportunity; now we have the government backing to move to the next level and begin growing on an international scale.”

The company sees camel milk as poised to become a disruptor in the alternative milk space, particularly in the infant formula industry as it is the only animal milk to not hard coagulate in the gut, making it arguably the best milk for infants to digest.

A tech-first company, Good Earth Dairy has invested more than US$5m in its intellectual property (IP) to be a price leader in this future commodity, sourced from the world’s largest feral camel population in the Australian outback.

Set to be completed for operation in 2026, Good Earth Dairy’s purpose-built facility will allow the company to increase production capacity to 60,000 litres per day (60kL/day equates to about 21.9 million litres a year), and enter the infant formula market.

The grant includes increasing the farm capability and primary production, which will create more than 90 new jobs once the assets are fully utilised. Already an established operation, Good Earth Dairy operates on a 800-hectare property with a herd of 160 camels with 200 on order, and distributes a range of products through leading and independent stores across Western Australia.

Launched in 2016, Good Earth Dairy is one of Australia’s leading camel milk producers and is set to capitalise on the US$944 billion dairy market, "particularly as more people seek out dairy alternatives" according to Mr Steingiesser. The company has turned over US$1.5m in revenue since distribution began, growing 200 percent over the last year.

Ahead of the planned IPO in 2024, Good Earth Dairy is launching a bridging round through an equity crowdfunding campaign via OnMarket. The capital will enable the company to increase current capabilities while the new facility remains under construction.

Good Earth Dairy’s equity crowdfunding campaign is now live via OnMarket.

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THE ROLE of the chief financial officer (CFO) in today’s challenging and fast-changing business environment cannot be understated or underestimated.

The CFO has transitioned rapidly from a person who ‘kept tabs on the money’ to someone who constantly analyses a business to put finance and assets to best use in order to both secure and grow a business.

It was this realisation, after many years of working in a wide variety of companies as CFO, that spurred Rupen Kotecha to co-found the CFO Centre network in Australia over a decade ago.  

Ever since, he has been on a mission to introduce the value of a modern CFO to as many businesses as possible, “to spread our vision that one day every small and mid-tier business will have a part time CFO”.

“I co-founded this business in Australia based on my desire to have freedom from corporate life and a work-life balance, having spent many years as a corporate CFO,” said Mr Kotecha, whose main role today is as the CEO of CFO Centre WA.

“The original concept for the CFO Centre was to provide the skill sets of experienced chief financial officers of large corporations to the small and medium sized enterprise (SME) sector, allowing smaller organisations to benefit from the expertise of a highly experienced chief financial officer without incurring the expense of hiring someone full-time.”

Mr Kotecha said the concept was launched in the UK in 2001 through a venture named the FD Centre, referring to the more common title in Britain at the time of Finance Director.

“Colin Mills, founder of the company, is a former chief financial officer of large multinationals and Plc companies,” he said. “His was the first business to provide part-time CFO services in the UK.

“The part-time CFO concept caught on quickly and the business has grown rapidly on a national scale. Over the last 15 years the CFO Centre Group has become the largest and most respected provider of part-time chief financial officer services in the world.

“The CFO Centre is now the global number one provider of part-time FD and CFO services.”

RAPID AUSTRALIAN GROWTH

The CFO Centre has grown rapidly across Australia and the group is a major supporter of networks that help businesses and their leaders to grow and develop – especially through WA Leaders where Rupen Kotecha is also the organisation’s CEO. 

The CFO Centre continues to innovate in WA and has introduced new services that have taken a lead in assisting clients in ways that other CFO Centres are also adopting.

“As well as offering the Part-Time CFO model we have expanded into providing Interim CFOs, either to fulfil the role until a full-time CFO is employed or assist the current CFO to provide more firepower,” Mr Kotecha said. “This has worked very well.”

The CFO Centre has also developed a new free workshop series as a catalyst for business improvement across the state.

“We are running free workshops for our clients and prospects as part of our business improvement series, focusing on Value Proposition and Strategy,” Mr Kotecha said.

The CFO Centre has also stepped into the world of online learning for a very specific market.

“We have developed our new online learning platform for our new joiners – to accelerate their knowledge about our values and framework and help them settle in quickly,” Mr Kotecha said. “It is working very well in that context.”

The CFO Centre globally uses a business analysis system it calls 12 Box Architecture.

“We use our unique 12 Box Architecture to review every area of your current company finance function to include your current and future requirements,” a CFO Centre spokesperson said. “This approach means that we dig deep at the start of any new client relationship with the aim of identifying every problem area and getting everything out on the table. 

“This is a highly therapeutic approach for the business owner – and senior team – because it means you can declutter your head of issues which may have been circulating for months or even years and emerge with a clear roadmap and a top quality part-time CFO to manage the implementation of the plan.”

CFO Centre’s own progress is solid and matches the impressive growth of the companies they assist.

“We have taken on 15 new CFOs in the last year, growing the team to over 50 across Australia,” Mr Kotecha said.

“As our client businesses grow in size, our growth rates tend to settle. We are seeing growth rates for the group at 30 percent-plus.

“Given we are not capped by our market opportunity – there are millions of SME businesses globally for us to partner with – and this movement of team-based portfolio working is gaining momentum as more and more individuals seek freedom from corporate life, we certainly have the opportunity to sustain and increase these growth rates well into the future.  In a way we are only just beginning,” he said.

FOUNDATION ETHOS

While growth and development are integral to the CFO Centre’s DNA, it is more the organisation’s foundation ethos for helping business and business leaders that underpins its long-term success.

Mr Kotecha said what drove the centre’s CFOs was “the sense of achievement we get from seeing the genuine difference we make for our clients”.

“We continue to focus on building relationships with our clients that can last a lifetime – essentially a ‘Client for Life’.

“Every engagement is similar but different. You’re dealing with individuals and personalities and that, therefore, has its challenges.”

Mr Kotecha said helping clients navigate an unstable business environment — in which the impact of events such as the Royal Commission into Australia’s banking, finance and insurance sectors has sown mistrust throughout the market – has become part of a good CFO’s daily focus.

“In an age of mistrust, we have to ensure our approach stands unique with each client,” Mr Kotecha said. “We deliver our best to ensure the owners have trust in the whole process and they can get the freedom to do other pieces, which accelerates their growth.”

To achieve that, Mr Kotecha said his teams at CFO Centre WA also had to focus closely on their own fundamentals and motivations.

“We constantly attract, select, energise and retain the very best CFOs,” Mr Kotecha said. “We also strive to keep identifying and developing great aligned leaders.

“At the CFO Centre we stick to our values – of being Open, Progressive and Passionate. And with those values behind us, we continue to build a fantastic sales and marketing machine that is centred around finding, winning and keeping clients.

“We drive our team ethos continually: Together We Win. It’s what makes us special.”

About the CFO Centre

CFO Centre operates across all industries and provides part-time, interim and specialist CFOs to companies of all sizes. 

CFO Centre leaders are Western Australia CEO Rupen Kotecha and Eastern Australia CEO David King.

Contact: www.cfocentre.com.au. Ph: 1300 447 740