Cluster initiatives in Australia's tooling industry

Clustering as a form of collaboration has received increased attention in the past decade in academic and business circles. An increasing number of academic disciplines have offered their perspective on clustering and it has also featured more in policy discussion. This paper offers an initial analysis of interview-based cluster research seeking to identify the key drivers and barriers to clustering in Australian manufacturing, in particular in the tooling industry. An outline of the definitions for “cluster” and “network” used in this research is provided along with an overview of the related cluster and collaborations literature. An outline of the industry-based RELINK project from which this research was generated is also provided. Finally an initial thematic analysis from the research is presented with some interesting results being uncovered, in particular, the impact of China and its low cost manufacturing exports was highlighted. Overall, clustering was seen as a concept with a number of advantages, but not necessarily sufficient advantages to overcome the causes of the industry’s widely accepted decline.