Stelpro, a leading Canadian company in North America in home and commercial heating systems, radiators and convectors, invested nearly $1 million during 2016 to modernize its Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville facility.
The choice of the Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville facility, which consists of about 500 employees and houses the company's headquarters, was aimed at giving further impetus to the aggressive strategy of expansion into international markets initiated by Stelpro's managent about seven years ago and focused on the efficiency of manufacturing processes, the acquisition of cutting-edge technologies and increased automation.
According to François Séguin, Vice-President Operations, the investment in automation and innovative technologies has enabled Stelpro to optimize and make production more flexible. The plant now operates on a continuous cycle, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, with two weekly breaks of 12 hours each, and produces a wide range of products for both the commercial and retail market segments.
In 2010, Stelpro had expanded the Montreal factory's production superfice to 216,000 square feet by purchasing equipment and machinery, including some Italian presses and punching machines.
These were later joined by two Salvagnini P4 and S4 stations that doubled the punching capacity and tripled the bending capacity of the plant compared to the old Japanese Amada-branded units.
Two Prima Power digital presses (Shear Genius) were brought online in 2014 and 2015 and increased productivity and output, radically reducing production costs.
Also in 2010, Stelpro acquired Synapse, a Quebecois manufacturer of electronic components, vertically integrating its production chain. In the same year it obtained CSA C828-06 certification for high R&D standards and later, in 2015, ISO 9001 certification for high quality management and production levels. In 2014, Stelpro was awarded the title of Canada's Best Managed Company.
In addition to innovation, research and development, another important axiom of Stelpro management is environmental sustainability, and on this front, too, the company has won major awards: in 2015, Stelpro received the Level 3 Certificate of Performance from Recyc-Québec's Ici for its internal recycling program and waste management.
Stelpro's next challenge for 2020, is smart manufacturing and Industry 4.0
Stelpro's case study is available in The Industrial Edge Showcase online, a Machines Italia Canada initiative in collaboration with Canadianmanufacturing.com. The full collection of 12 success stories of Made in Italy technology in Canada are available at Canadianmanufacturing.com.