Hey, Canada: It’s time to innovate, educate, automate

In May Montreal hosted the Montreal Manufacturing Technology Show (MMTS), a biennial event held at the city’s Place Bonaventure.

This show is placed in one of the country’s booming manufacturing regions and attracts a who’s who from the local aerospace industry. In fact, it’s a popular anecdote that enough parts can be sourced within a 50-km radius of Montreal to build an entire aircraft.

Aerospace, a sector of the Canadian manufacturing economy that seems to have its act together, has never shied away from new technology, processes, or procedures. It’s a lesson that can be applied across all industries. If you innovate, you will thrive ... if you don’t, you won’t.

Two key stats from the industry stand out.

First, R&D investment in the aerospace industry is five times higher than in other manufacturing sectors. Second, productivity growth, a term used to describe growth driven by the implementation of new technology and efficiency improvement, is more than double the national average.

It’s a parable that all manufacturers can learn from, no matter what industry or industries you serve.

Status quo manufacturing is no longer an option for most Canadian shops. While tried-and-true processes are comfortable and create stability on the shop floor through repetition, they also need a sprinkling of modernization over time. This modernization is achieved by the adoption of new technology, automation, and a plan of continual improvement.

A new way of thinking is needed to keep work, jobs, and profits in Canada. Many pathways exist to meet the challenges of 21st century manufacturing, and taking lessons from the aerospace sector is only one.

Someone who has always had a keen eye on the sky – and the things that fly around in it – is Associate Editor Sue Roberts.

Over the course of the past several years, readers of this magazine have been informed and advised on a monthly basis, in part, by Sue. She has made the magazine, and those of us who work on it, better because of her time here. Unfortunately, this is the last time we get the privilege of reading a Sue Roberts byline because she is retiring.

I cannot thank her enough for her contributions. Enjoy your next chapter, Sue.