[Music plays and the Australian Coat of Arms Australian Government logo appears on screen with
text, Department of Industry, Innovation and Science. Business Entrepreneurs’ Programme]
[New text appears on screen: SuperCool Asia Pacific Pty Ltd, A Customer Story]
[Image changes to show a map of Australia with red dots marking out the capital cities. Image
zooms in on a marker and text appears: Ormeau, QLD]
Mark Mitchell: SuperCool is a group of companies that focuses on the manufacturing and
distribution of air-conditioning and refrigeration parts for basically anything on wheels.
[Image changes to show Mark and a colleague walking and talking together through a warehouse]
One of the big issues in the cold food supply chain in Australia,
[Image changes to show Mark Mitchell, Managing Director, SuperCool Asia Pacific Pty Ltd, standing
and talking to the camera]
is keeping food at the right temperature,
[Image changes to show Mark, David and another colleague
and then proving that you’re able to keep that food at the right temperature, that’s the big issue.
[Image changes to show David Martin, Innovation Facilitator, Entrepreneurs’ Programme, seated
and talking to the camera]
David Martin: There is a huge amount of waste; literally, there are hundreds of thousands of dollars’
worth of food thrown out every week because of inefficient processes with regards to the
transportation of food across Australia.
[Image changes to show Mark, David and another male colleague seated at a table together and
talking]
Innovation Connections is an element of the Entrepreneurs’ Programme; it assists industry to
access the technical and research expertise of our public sector research organisations across
Australia.
[Image changes back to show David, seated and talking to the camera]
So in the case of SuperCool, we actually identified the issue that Mark was having in-house and the
expertise we required. I then went to six different research organisations and asked them to send
me a clever researcher to meet with Mark.
[Image changes back to show Mark, David and the other male colleague seated at a table together
and talking]
Mark then went through each of the respective responses and decided that Griffith University was
the one that he wanted to work with.
Mark Mitchell: The main thing Griffith bring to the table, for us, is some of that more mathematical
and scientific knowledge for the product,
[Image changes to show Hanan seated at a desk and working on a computer]
which we don’t have and in fact, they supplied us a person who’s here three days a week, she’s just
been a wonderful contributor to the project.
[Image changes to show David Thiel, Deputy Head of School Research, Griffith University]
David Thiel: So the challenge was to build a temperature sensor, which was suitable for the cold
transport of food in trucks. And so Hanan has made a cheese probe.
[Image changes back to show Hanan seated and working on a computer and camera zooms in on
her screen to show the cheese probe]
[Image has changed back to Mark, talking to the camera]
Mark Mitchell: Which sits delicately within the food packaging and sends the temperature data to a
temperature recorder,
[Image changes to show Mark, David and the other male colleague looking at this data on a
computer screen]
which then can be sent to a mobile phone or a website interface to continually ensure the food is at
the right temperature.
[Image changes to show Hanan Hamid, Research Fellow, Griffith University, seated and talking to
the camera]
Hanan Hamid: The final product will be introduced in the near future. So we are working with the
industrial design people to develop the last version of the product,
[Image changes to show a member of the industrial design team working on the probe]
which will be used for yoghurt, milk, chicken and maybe vegetables.
[Image changes to show Mark, David and the other male colleague walking through a door]
Mark Mitchell: Having the capability to underpin some of the decisions that we’ve logically, or most
likely, going to make in our planning with broader industry knowledge,
[Image changes back to show Mark talking to the camera]
and, I think, that’s probably one of the big things that was brought to the table by the Department in
that early stage,
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[Camera pans over a warning sign: Entry to this point by permission only. Test in progress when
red tag is attached to door handle]
that allowed us to look from the inside out because we’re so busy doing what we do,
[Image changes to show Mark and David standing together and reviewing information that’s
written on a whiteboard]
we’re very focused and, you know, that’s one of our key stones of success. I think having that broad
capability is pretty good.
[Image changes back to show David, seated and talking to the camera]
David Martin: I think SuperCool is a fantastic example of why the Entrepreneurs’ Programme is so
successful.
[Camera pans around the inside of the warehouse and zooms in on a male unpacking components
on a bench]
They have utilised nearly every element of the programme. So they’ve had a business evaluation
with Mark Goldsmith, they used the Innovations Connections with me and Growth Services.
[Image changes back to show David, seated and talking to the camera]
And this is a classic example of a company that has cleverly used a number of different elements at
different parts of the Entrepreneurs’ Programme to do amazing things.
[Image changes back to show the camera panning over a ware house with a worker packing boxes]
Mark Mitchell: I’d recommend the Innovation Connections to any small business; it’s a simple
process to enter. The staff involved in the Programme are second to none, the advice we’ve got has
just been absolutely fantastic.
David Martin: Businesses seeking to utilise the Entrepreneurs’ Programme can find information on
the Programme at business.gov.au.
[Image fades out to show text: Entrepreneurs’ Programme, SuperCool Asia Pacific Pty Ltd, A
Customer Story]
[Music plays and the Australian Coat of Arms Australian Government and the National Innovation &
Science Agenda logos appear on screen with text, Department of Industry, Innovation and Science –
business.gov.au 13 28 46 Delivered by Ausindustry™]
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