Our Solution: Capability-Focused Offerings
The new system shifts the focus to capabilities. This means that products, services and facilities (now called 'offerings') can be better aligned across industries and locations. This change will simplify searches and navigation, making it easier for project owners to access all relevant suppliers who are able to deliver. These changes will not show immediately in your profile but are part of a wider update we are rolling out through the year.
Getting Started
Step 1: Explore the New Offerings Page.
Visit the offerings page on your dashboard to see how the new system works and how your capabilities could be better represented.
Step 2: Watch Our Guide Video below
The video walks you through the process of adding your offerings to your profile and help you understand the new structure.
Step 3: Prepare for the Transition
Start thinking about how your current products and services align with the new capability-focused approach. Consider
- The products, services and facilities that encompass your business (Offerings)
- How these offerings are grouped to show what your company actually delivers (your Capabilities)
- Where you can do it (location-specific links)
Step 4: Start to Input your Offerings
Remember
- Offerings are usually nouns or names of individual parts of your business
- Capabilities are how you deliver so usually are verbs or action words
- Ensure all your locations are included and correctly linked
How to Update your Offerings
See the video on Youtube here
Key Features of the New System:
AI-Powered Suggestions
- When adding capabilities or offerings, the system uses AI to suggest the most applicable terms
- No more guessing or struggling to find the right category
Reduced Duplication
- By de-coupling industries, you won't need to duplicate your capabilities across multiple industry categories
- Enter your information once and it works across all relevant sectors
Location-Linked Capabilities
- Tie specific products or services directly to the locations where you can deliver them
- Provide more accurate insights about your geographic capabilities
Better Search and Navigation
- Clearer identification of products and services from supplier capabilities
- Simplified navigation with better alignment across industries
- Identify adjacent suppliers across industries, local content, and location-based capabilities more effectively
Improved Project Matching
- Once fully operational, the system will dramatically improve how project notifications are matched to your actual capabilities
- Better visibility for projects where you can add real value
What This Means for You
Immediate Changes
- The offerings page is now live on our website for you to view and adjust
- You can see how your capabilities will be more effectively represented
- Start familiarising yourself with the new interface and terminology
During the Transition
- You'll have until the end of 2025 to review and update your existing products and services to the new data model
- Project notifications and project offerings will continue using the existing taxonomy structure until we have enough data to fully integrate the new system
Full Implementation
- The system will be fully operational and used in projects and searches in 2026
- Enhanced matching between your capabilities and relevant opportunities
- Streamlined profile management with less duplication
Why We Made This Change
Our previous system was heavily industry-focused, leading to several significant limitations that hindered your ability to showcase your true capabilities:
- Duplicated taxonomies across industries - forcing you to enter the same information multiple times
- Product-focused rather than capability-focused - making it difficult to demonstrate what you can actually do (manufacture, design, construction)
- Free text format for products, services and facilities - creating inconsistent data that was hard to search
- Mixed products and services - causing confusion in searches and project matching
- Disconnected imports/exports - these weren't properly linked to your actual product capabilities
- Overly specific categories - with no ability to add new items when your offerings didn't fit existing boxes
- Location data not tied to capabilities - making it unclear where you could actually deliver specific services
This resulted in frustrating search experiences where project owners couldn't find relevant suppliers, and you couldn't be found for projects you were perfectly qualified to deliver.
Support and Resources
We're committed to making this transition as smooth as possible. You can find our FAQ's here
Need Help?
Within Australia: 1300 961 139
Outside Australia: +61 2 6285 2033
Email: helpdesk@icn.org.au
What's Next?
This capability-focused approach represents a major step forward in how we connect suppliers with opportunities. By better representing what you can actually deliver and where you can deliver it, we're creating a more efficient, accurate, and valuable network for everyone.
