About Us

SIRF (Strategic Industry Research Foundation) was originally developed by the Australian State Government of Victoria in 1988 in conjunction with the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and the CSIRO.

The initial long-term goals for SIRF was to bridge the gap between the private sector and publicly-funded research organisations, through initiating and managing industry-led R&D and innovation projects. For the short-term innovation goals, SIRF set up industry lead, collaborative network called Roundtables which began in 1993.

By the year 2000, it was found that the Roundtable approach provided a powerful opportunity for members to explore important business issues to common problems. Therefore, in July 2000, the development of a new organisation ‘SIRF Roundtables’ begun to provide focused support for learning networks.

Today, SIRF Roundtables supports industry by providing opportunities to bring companies together across Australia and New Zealand, to share knowledge, expertise and training. SIRF Rt does this through several events including Roundtable meetings (Rts), Common Interest Work Groups (CIWGs), Lean and Root Cause Analysis Training, National Forums and International Guest Speakers.

FACTS AND FIGURES

We are Australia's oldest and largest peer-to-peer membership organisation with over 20 years of business experience.
12 Roundtables across Australasia and still growing.
300+ events run annually across all Roundtables.
The majority of Australia's largest publicly traded companies have benefited from SIRF membership.

OUR MEMBERS

Our members come from a wide range of industries and occupations: mining, ore processing, energy production, manufacturing, food industry, ‘hard hats’, ‘soft hats’, health industries, national defences, government, financial industries, communications, offices, science, education.

Some of our member companies have been with us for over 10 years and still gain value from the benefits SIRF brings them.

BENEFITS

Network with a community of members of Australia's premier organisations.
Belong to a trusted circle that supports and inspires you and your team.
Access to an extensive database of industry best-practice case studies, presentations, articles and reports.
Significantly discounted member rates for training workshops and software.

Our site has been a member of SIRF Operational Excellence Roundtable for many years. Our employees, front-line leaders, and functional staff have benefited by actively participating in Roundtables and CIWG events over this time. What I have seen is the interaction and engagement with other companies and their employees have allowed our people to further develop their leadership capability particularly in CI processes. I personally have been made more aware of how similar our challenges are as leaders across a diverse range of companies with a common thread being people. The SIRF events allow me to connect, learn, and steal with pride what others are doing in an open and interactive forum. For me, my leadership capability has benefited from supporting, hosting and participating in SIRF events.

Trevor Campbell; Arnotts

I've been involved with the IMRt since its inception in Qld and have enjoyed the strong benefits delivered by a coalition of like-minded practicing maintenance professionals and managers. With the broad range of knowledge gaining and sharing opportunities, from the Roundtable meetings, to Common Interest Workgroups on specific topics, to a great range of relevant forums and practitioner training programs, we have been able to spread the knowledge to many areas of our organisation and improve our methods. And of course, formed many worthwhile relationships and friendships.

Dave Cullen; Australia Post

Amcor Beverage Cans have been involved in the NSW SIRF OpEx Roundtable and Common Interest Work Groups (CIWG) since 2007. The Roundtable events have been a great way to meet like-minded professionals in a relaxed environment, discuss best practice manufacturing and share solutions to problems that we face in our industry. The past 2 years we have specifically used the CIWG's to increase front-line leadership capability which has assisted our drive to improve manufacturing efficiency. As part of the CIWG's our front-line leaders, continuous improvement and safety professionals have visited other manufacturing sites and spent quality time with people from other companies in similar roles which have helped their development and their ability to improve business performance.

Chris Sprotte; Amcor Beverage Cans

Wrigley has had a great relationship with SIRF for over ten years now and I have found this to be a great organisation to assist in networking with other manufacturing companies and developing our up and coming leaders. SIRF run many Roundtables for a variety of specialised manufacturing areas which allows for broad participation from our company. SIRF also run an emerging leaders program, that allows people with limited first line management experience to share with others and to tour other factories to see best practices in action. SIRF also hold senior managers dinners, which I attend and it is also good to keep up with the progress of similarly sized manufacturing companies.

sirf roundtables

About Us

Testimonials

Trevor Campbell; Arnotts

Dave Cullen; Australia Post

Chris Sprotte; Amcor Beverage Cans

George Munro; Wrigley