The Commercialisation Skills Australia Needs Already Exist
In a Newcastle workshop, 3ME Technology electrified underground mining equipment before expanding into marine and defence applications. This isn’t a story about startup funding or university spin-offs. It’s about commercial maturity developed through serving customers across sectors; local companies systematically translating innovations into commercial products and market success.
Australian innovation policy obsesses over advancing Technology Readiness Levels (TRL), and remains oblivious to the need for commercial maturity to translate technical achievements into market reality.
The question is not whether commercial maturity exists in Australian companies, the question is whether those investing public funds are able to recognise it. If not, how can we expand and develop this systematic capability already demonstrated across Australian companies serving global industries?
Commercial maturity starts small and grows systematically
3ME Technology demonstrates that commercial maturity doesn’t require massive scale from inception. The company began electrifying equipment for underground mining operations, solving technical challenges through direct customer engagement and market-driven iteration. This customer-focused development built capabilities in technical integration, understanding mining operational environments and constraints, regulatory compliance navigation, and systematic problem-solving with commercial accountability.
These capabilities provided the foundation for cross-sector expansion. The same commercial expertise developed in underground mining translated into marine applications, then defence systems. Commercial maturity multiplies innovation potential – entry to each new sector building on capabilities developed through previous commercial relationships, creating compounding advantages that pure technical development cannot replicate.
What 3ME achieved wasn’t dependent on government coordination mechanisms or institutional partnerships. The company developed commercial maturity through sustained customer service, building market relationships through trial and error, that created opportunities for technology translation across multiple sectors. The international market access followed naturally – customers operating globally sought 3ME’s proven capabilities for applications beyond Australian operations.
This progression from Newcastle workshop to defence contractor demonstrates the multiplication principle operating at SME scale. 3ME’s technical innovations succeed commercially because the company systematically developed the organisational capabilities required to translate technology into market value – understanding customer needs, integrating solutions into existing operations, navigating regulatory requirements, and sustaining development through revenue generation rather than grant dependency.
Pattern demonstrates systematic capability across scales
IMDEX operates at different scale but demonstrates similar commercial maturity characteristics enabling systematic technology translation. The company serves global mining operations with subsurface imaging and analysis technologies, requiring deep technical integration with customer operations and sustained relationships built over decades of commercial performance.
IMDEX’s market access spans international mining operations across six continents. This geographic presence didn’t emerge through institutional coordination – it developed through systematic capability building, solving technical challenges for mining customers, and maintaining commercial relationships through multiple commodity price cycles. The company’s commercial maturity manifests in understanding diverse regulatory environments, technical integration with varied mining operations, and financial resilience enabling sustained R&D investment during market downturns.
Ampcontrol follows comparable patterns in electrical systems for mining and industrial applications. The company possesses commercial maturity in technical integration with hazardous environment operations, understanding safety compliance requirements, and maintaining customer relationships over decades. These capabilities enable systematic technology translation – when electrical systems innovations emerge from research or internal development, Ampcontrol possesses the organisational capabilities to assess market fit, integrate with customer operations, and commercialise across multiple industrial sectors.
Both companies demonstrate that commercial maturity enables cross-sector technology translation. IMDEX’s subsurface imaging expertise developed for mining informs applications in civil engineering and environmental monitoring. Ampcontrol’s hazardous environment electrical systems translate from mining into oil and gas, industrial processing, and infrastructure operations. This multiplication of innovation opportunities occurs because high commercial maturity provides the organisational capabilities to recognise and execute market applications beyond initial development contexts.
Scale validates systematic capability
James Hardie demonstrates that commercial maturity principles operate at global corporate scale. The company translates building materials innovations into commercial products serving construction industries across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. With over $4 billion annual revenue generated through sustained market performance, James Hardie validates that commercial maturity systematically multiplies innovation success regardless of company size.
The company’s market access capabilities span diverse regulatory environments and construction industry practices across three continents. Technical integration expertise encompasses understanding builder requirements, contractor preferences, and building code compliance variations across jurisdictions. Brand positioning built over decades creates market credibility enabling new product launches and technology adoption by risk-averse construction customers.
James Hardie’s commercial maturity manifests through systematic capability rather than isolated strengths. Financial infrastructure sustains multi-year product development cycles. Organisational DNA aligns with construction industry timelines and decision-making patterns. International market presence enables technology translation across markets with different building practices and material preferences. These capabilities developed through sustained commercial performance over decades, demonstrating that commercial maturity emerges from serving customers rather than institutional coordination.
The pattern across 3ME Technology, IMDEX, Ampcontrol, and James Hardie reveals systematic Australian capability. Commercial maturity exists across sectors (mining technology, electrical systems, building materials), scales (SME to global corporate), and decades of sustained performance. These aren’t isolated success stories – they systematically demonstrate capability.
What this means for Australian innovation policy
The multiplication framework shows innovation success requires both technological readiness and commercial maturity. Australian research institutions excel at advancing TRL – this strength is undisputed and should be preserved. The systematic gap is commercial maturity, which current policy makers assume to be a linear progression, created through institutional coordination, applied research institutes, or university partnership mechanisms.
Australian companies systematically demonstrate the commercial maturity that policy seeks to create. The evidence spans sectors, scales, and decades of sustained commercial performance. 3ME Technology proves commercial maturity can start small and grow through customer service. IMDEX and Ampcontrol demonstrate systematic capability at mid-scale serving global industries. James Hardie validates principles operating at corporate scale across continents. They all demonstrate commercial maturity operates independent of TRL.
These companies possess the organisational capabilities required to multiply Australian research excellence into market success – understanding customer needs, integrating technologies into commercial operations, navigating regulatory requirements, sustaining development through revenue generation, and accessing international markets. This isn’t theoretical capability requiring development through institutional programs. This is demonstrated capability requiring policy support.
The question facing innovation policy isn’t whether Australia needs better research or more institutional coordination. The question is whether policy makers can recognise commercial maturity already exists across Australian companies.
Commercial maturity multiplies innovation success. Australian companies systematically possess this capability. Supporting proven capability delivers outcomes that research institutions cannot produce through coordination mechanisms, regardless of funding levels or mandate changes.
Australian Innovation Exchange – Building the bridge from research to market