Business Profile: MacGregors Industrial Group

It was in 1976 that Hugh and Margaret MacGregor started the family business, a custom machine shop out in the outskirts of New Glasgow, Nova Scotia.

Today, Hugh and Margaret are no longer active in the business but have the pleasure of watching their shop grow into a multi-faceted business from their house across the street.

“It truly is a family business,” explains Nick MacGregor, business development manager and grandson of Hugh and Margaret. “I’ve been with the company full time since 2011, and part time since as far back as I can remember.”

His father, Andy, and uncle, Glen, are now the co-owners of the company and each operate their own respective divisions.

Andy oversees the fabrication and modular building divisions, whereas Glen oversees the financial operations and machine shop.

“It’s a good mix,” explains MacGregor.

When Hugh and Margaret first started the shop, it was a machining only shop, called MacGregors Custom Machining. Since 1976, the company has grown and expanded its capabilities to include not only machine shop services.

In the early 90s the company added industrial sales to service the local market offering industrial products. In the late 90s, they got heavily into the fabrication business, going after more of the steel structures business, expanding above just equipment repair, which is something they’ve always historically done.

This is why, three years ago, the company underwent rebranding and is now known as MacGregors Industrial Group.

“We came to the point that, although our service offerings were well known to the local market, as we were expanding into Atlantic Canada, U.S., and the Caribbean, we had a lot of barriers to marketing ourselves as a fabrication shop, pre-fab building supplier, with the name as it was,” says MacGregor.

“It’s been a really positive change for us. It’s helped us build a stronger brand as a result.”

Their shop sits on about 20 acres of land, and they have about 35,000 square feet of shop floor space. However, everything is separated to better manage the growing business.

“We separate things. The fabrication division is under one roof, and then we have the machine shop and another area for industrial sales—which also acts as shipping and receiving,” says MacGregor.

“We do our modular buildings through the fabrication shop as well.”

Over the last year, the fabrication shop has expanded to meet ever-changing demands. The facility increased by over 4,000 square feet. However, MacGregor notes that there is always more room to grow.

Having such a wide ranging business has been key for the MacGregor family. With approximately 60 employees spanning the different divisions, MacGregors has found a way to keep constantly busy—balance.

“It balances really well,” says MacGregor. “And it works because if one division is quiet, the other is typically busy. A lot of the projects we do involve all of the divisions. They are all complementary services, and we are adding new things all of the time, like logistics management. We’ve moved all of our drafting and detailing services in-house. We get into some electrical automation services as well.”

However, one thing MacGregor stresses is the company’s commitment to customer service, boasting that they have customers that were on the ledger in the 70s that still come through the door today.

“We never forget about the customers that got us started,” he says. “But we also aren’t afraid to jump into new markets.”

The company services a wide range of industries but is heavily tied power generation, including hydro projects. The company is doing more and more in the renewable energy sector, building components for wind farms, as well as involving itself more in the tidal energy sector that is growing in the province.

Historically, the main customer base was pulp and paper—forestry industry. “We are fortunate that the industry is fairly strong in Nova Scotia compared to other areas. We have one of the two large mills left in the province, here in town, Northern Pulp. We still service those customers.”

However, general manufacturing has also helped deal with the ebbs and flows of industry. Whether it is tire equipment manufacturing, whole assemblies, to part replacement, MacGregors is up for the job.

For the most part, the shop focuses on small to medium size parts in both the machining and fabricating divisions.

In the machine shop, there is a diverse range of conventional and CNC machines. As of now, it is approximately 50/50, but they are growing more towards CNC.

“CNC machining is a hyper-competitive market,” says MacGregor. “We have about 25 to 30 pieces of machine shop equipment right now. We usually replace or add one or two new pieces of equipment yearly to stay current.”

The fabricating shop offers a larger floor space to accommodate some larger parts, and the company tends to focus on structural steel, custom manufacturing and material handling equipment.

MacGregor Industrial Group is focused on being a competitive manufacturer, adding a wide range of certifications including ISO 9001:2008, for which Nick MacGregor is an internal auditor. This certification was important for their international customers. They are also CWB certified for carbon and stainless steel, and recently added aluminum welding certification.

“We are one of very few companies in Atlantic Canada that has certification for structural aluminum,” boasts MacGregor. “That’s a nice touch for us.”

In the last few years, the company has added WCB safety certification and controlled goods certification so they are able to meet more customer needs. There is a cost to doing all these things, but MacGregor believes that the benefits outweigh the cost, explaining that it really opens more doors and improves the company as a whole.

“We have such diverse operations going on right now,” he adds. “It’s very diverse and we are very lucky we have such a talented crew to adapt to the changing requirements.”

It hasn’t been easy finding machinists and skilled workers, though. One thing that has really been an asset to the company is their close connection with the local community college, which is one of two in the province that still maintains a machining program and is just a short distance from the shop.

“My grandfather retired from the community college, which at that time was called the vocational school,” recalls MacGregor. “He taught machining and took an early retirement to start the business here. We take apprentices in from [the college] every year; it’s a very important relationship to maintain.”

MacGregor believes that the company’s success is a combination of a family-operated environment, a commitment to customer service and being in the right spot at the right time.

“For a small area, we are lucky we have a lot of industries around. We are in a great position here,” he says.

It is evident from the business’s growing capabilities and expansion of the shop floor, that MacGregors Industrial Group has positioned itself as a competitive manufacturer and strong community presence.