Industry profiles
The industries of transport, storage, warehousing, distribution and logistics form a group or cluster of geographically co-located business in Blacktown City. While it is difficult to provide ready estimates of the economic significance of the cluster it has been long recognised as an industry strength of the City. As many as 17 of Sydney’s top 25 transport companies either have their corporate headquarters or main facility located in the City.
The City is also a popular location for the Distribution Centres (DCs) of many manufacturing based companies who use Blacktown City as a venue to store and distribute product both nationally and internationally. Many of the DCs are used as central locations for offshore manufacturing, or alternatively for the handling, warehousing and coordination of product entering the Australian market. As a result many DCs operate as advanced logistic centres or ‘fast moving’ storage facilities.
The industrial parks of Arndell Park, Huntingwood and Glendenning have emerged as the City’s, and indeed some of the world’s most notable transport and logistics centres. Strong supply chain linkages have also been identified within the sector.
Corporate citizens that are specialist transport, storage, warehousing or logistics companies, or have the logistics element of their business located in the City include:
ALDI (DC), ACCO (DC), Allied Pickfords, Coles Myer Logistics, Coventry, Camsons, Chartered Refrigerated Transport, CHUBB, Fujitsu (DC), Exel Logistics, IGA (DC), Independent Liquor Group (DC), Jim Pearson Transport, Just Jeans (DC), Lindsay Bros., Mayne Logistics, Nestle (DC), P&O Cold Logistics, Refrigerated Roadways, Sharp (DC), Sony (DC), Star Track Express, TollAust, Transconnect Logistics, Trans International Moving & Shipping, Westgate logistics, Woolworths (DC) and Patricks Logistics
Blacktown City has approximately 1,800 manufacturers operating in the City. Of these, iron and steel manufacturing & fabrication, industrial machinery and equipment manufacturing, prefabricated building material and non-metallic product manufacturing (including rubber, plastic, glass and ceramic products) have the largest concentrations within the City. Food & beverage manufacturers are also highly significant in the City.
In terms of value, the manufacturing sector directly contributed almost $2 billion to economic activity to the City during 2002 / 2003. It is estimated that for each dollar of value-added created in local manufacturing approximately $5 to $7 dollars is spent in industries that directly support manufacturing (Agrawal, 2000). Additionally, for every 1 million dollars of manufacturing activity retained in a region approximately 18 jobs are created (ISO 2001).
A brief list of significant corporate citizens belonging to each of the City’s key manufacturing sub-industries includes:
Iron & steel manufacturing and fabrication: Altank Sheet Metal, Boral, Dork Clark, Intercast & Forge, John Danks, Luxfer Gas, One Steel (formerly BHP), Rondalee, Van Leer and Wire Industries.
Industrial machinery and equipment manufacturing: Air International Transit, Austral Refrigeration, Bosch, Cuno Pacific, DBT Australia, Freshline Machines, Fridgerite Refrigeration, Kelair Pumps, Prime Pumps, Red Australia, Tyco/ Unistrut, Wartsila and Weidmuller.
Prefabricated building material: Ardex Building Products, George Norman and Co., Howard and Sons, NESS Security, OBS Equipment, Sydney Blinds and Screens, Symonite and Tasman Insulations.
Non-metallic product manufacturing: ACI Plastics, APS Chemicals, Cartigny, Espak, GNS Ceramics, Humes, MBT Australia, Multifill, Plaspak, Spies Hecker, Wattyl, Zodiac.
Food manufacturing: Arnotts, Bells Pure Ice, Cadbury-Schweppes, Cerebos Foods, General Mills, Greens, OSI International Foods, PFD Foods, Produce One, The Real Mc Coy Snack Foods.
Construction services represent the largest number of businesses operating from the City, however rank only 7th (out of 16) in terms of industry by value-added creation (GRP). This is due to the dominance of the City’s construction trade services as smaller trade services. The industry has the potential to grow in the context of increasing local demand for trade services, particularly in the construction and maintenance of new urban release areas and an expanding residential population.
Examples of the City’s major construction companies include: Austress Freyssinet, Preformed Line Products, Reid Construction, Western Earth Moving, W.J. Friend.
As with the face of industry in most metropolitan contexts, Blacktown City’s industry mix is characterised by continual change. These changes include both the types and size of industry present in the City, and the ways in which they operate, adapt, learn, grow and change. In the past three decades widespread improvements in technology, the rate of innovation and the exploitation of knowledge have been the central features driving this change.
As a result of this change, Blacktown City has several emerging industries that have been identified in the region. While the City’s niche industries have been implied by the aforementioned profiles currently ‘emerging’ industries include; knowledge-based consultancy (such as IT services), emerging chemical/pharmaceutical research businesses and an emerging smart environmental services sector. Other specialities include niche business service businesses.