Mathematics' Contribution to Industrial Development

Australian industry needs to be organised, efficient and technologically-based, in order to become more competitive and meet world-wide best-practice standards. Mathematics makes a fundamental contribution to such industrial development.

It is used to describe and then analyse complicated processes. It clarifies features of a process, highlights key quantities that need to be measured experimentally and can supplement the construction of expensive prototypes in product design.

The mathematical theory of optimisation is indispensable for efficiently managing the distribution of goods or gathering raw materials, and for planning the utilisation of resources ranging from manpower to coal-mines.

The benefits of mathematical techniques to industry and business include ...

• saving time,
• saving money,
• coming up with a better design,
• improving a process or making it more efficient.

``I estimate that several man months of my company's time could have been saved if a mathematical approach had been taken earlier'', was the response from one industrial manager.