Manufacturer

Redarc Electronics chief executive Anthony Kittel. Picture: Kelly Barnes Source: The Australian

AT Redarc Electronics in Adelaide's south, software engineers peer over computer chipboards as they search for the next breakthrough in battery management technology.

Laboratory coats and glass walls define this factory. It is clean, bright and modern.

"It is the factory of the future," Redarc chief executive Anthony Kittel says. "We reinvest in new equipment every three to five years and throw out the old equipment because the technology is moving so quickly."

During the past decade, manufacturing across Australia has taken a battering. Its share of gross domestic product has slumped from 14 per cent to 8 per cent. One in every 10 manufacturing jobs has disappeared in the past five years.