Is medical manufacturing a future growth market in Canada?

As manufacturers continue to search for new markets to grow their business, some industry experts think they should focus on the $7.1 billion medical device industry in Canada.The Society of Manufacturing Engineers thinks there’s opportunity and is launching an event to highlight those opportunities to Canadian manufacturers. “Manufacturing Innovations-Medical Canada” will be held November 3-4 at the International Centre in Toronto.According to SME, the medical device manufacturing industry is North America’s fourth-largest medical community and billing its new event as “the nation’s first event that will connect medical and dental device manufacturers with companies that supply the technology and equipment they need to improve quality, innovation and speed to market all under one roof.”SME event manager Janine Saperson says that the new event will offer manufacturers the opportunities to see technologies “from orthopedics to surgical simulation and beyond.”Mark Tomlinson, SME executive director and general manager says that the event was also created to meet the needs of manufacturers looking for suppliers who can help them meet Health Canada/FDA requirements. Indeed, the new event has the support of Canada’s Medical Technologies Companies (MEDEC) organization, as well as the National Research Council Canada (NIRC), the Regional Municipality of the York-Economic Development Sector, the Canadian Technology Triangle, and the Health Technology Exchange.Mark C. Tomlinson, SME executive director & general manager adds that MEDEC’s endorsement has been crucial to building SME’s credibility not only in Ontario, but across the Canadian medical technology community.MEDEC CEO Stephen Dibert says that “as the national association created by and for the Canadian medical technology industry, we chose to promote Manufacturing Innovations-Medical Canada to support the transfer of knowledge this event will bring to Ontario. It fits MEDEC’s mission to ensure safe access to medical technology developed by our member companies and our members will benefit from the opportunity to network for their business.” Tomlinson adds that the new event will create opportunities for manufacturers seeking to diversify into new markets.“SME recently conducted a survey of more than 550 Canadian manufacturers. Seventy percent of them said they see growth in the next 12 to 18 months. Fourteen percent say they could spend a minimum of $1 million on manufacturing equipment and manufacturing orders are often a key indicator of an improving economy.”www.sme.org