BAE Systems Australia will release a new handbook at Avalon Air Show. The new Navigating Defence Industry Handbook will focus on providing Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) with the knowledge they will need to either start or grow their business within the defence industry.
“For those entering the market or seeking to grow, we've sought to aggregate key topics in a handy guide that should allow them to increase their efficiency of executing their strategic growth plan, being able to readily refer to key resources or contacts or use as a reference to educate themselves to go alongside their strategic plan. What's in: references to key organisations such as Defence, ODIS, export controls, industry associations, government agencies,” Head of Industry Capability at BAE Systems Australia, Jeremy Satchell stated.
The new handbook pairs with the Prime’s training and industry development activities. BAE Systems is a part of the Global Supply Chain (GSC) Program, which involves the Commonwealth paying participating companies, usually Primes, to aid the increase of Australian suppliers and export opportunities within their global supply chains.
The handbook is not BAE Systems’ intellectual property but rather “readily available knowledge” that the Prime has “aggregated together in a leadership role to make it accessible.” BAE Systems has positioned itself as a leader in developing Australian SMEs. When asked about the release of the handbook at Avalon Air Show, Satchell emphasised the importance of the timing and how this will ensure SMEs know it exists. The company wishes for other Primes to use it within their own supply chains as the handbook is “industry IP”.
“And being able to lean on an organisation like BAE Systems Australia to tick off certain actions or items within those strategic plans is a great opportunity for them. Many of the activities that we do and are listed within the handbook – such as estimating and pricing, training, or export control support – being able to get access to our professionals who do export control for BAE Systems Australia or do the estimating pricing that we submit to our customer, that's something that you can't buy out there in the market. It's essential that we continue to work with SMEs to ensure a strong and resilient supplier base, not only for our programmes, but for the wider customer demands that exist in the Department of Defence,” Satchell explained.
BAE Systems’ handbook is a manual that lists widely available resources for SMEs to use. The handbook does not include an index of SMEs nor a guide to the defence industry. It is solely for SMEs to possess a compendium that has some of the resources they require to get started in the business of defence.
Aside from the handbook, BAE Systems Australia has two programs, Partnering4Success and the Global Access program, which seek to aid SMEs with succeeding in Defence. Partnering4Success is the Prime’s “premier supplier relationship management program”, which was launched in 2024 and has 40 companies currently involved in it. The Global Access program on the other hand, has been in operation for approximately 13 years. This program is how BAE Systems upholds its commitment to the GSC program.
“I really hope small businesses or those seeking to get into defence or uplift their current defence footprint are just able to create some efficiency within their market work, within their defence industry work,” Satchell remarked. “Being able to streamline or create efficiencies for them in their day-to-day business is immensely powerful. And for us, we're already delivering the training and the education to the market. Being able to couple this with a guide that people can refer to now seem like a no-brainer for us.”
The handbook will be available at the 2025 Avalon Air Show in both hard and digital copy.