Stelpro Invests $750,000 to Automate Baseboard Production
Jan 31 2016
Stelpro, a Quebec manufacturer of integrated heating solutions, is investing $750,000 to automate and increase the productivity of its baseboard manufacturing at its plant in Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville. The investment will also reduce production costs and increase the company’s competitiveness.
“Of all the methods we have used to remain competitive, the robotization and automation of our manufacturing processes have taken on greater and greater importance in our business strategy,” says François Séguin, Vice-President of Operations. “Our plant is operating at full capacity, we are manufacturing over 800,000 units annually in St-Bruno and improving productivity is not just an option, it’s a must. The falling Canadian dollar is yet another reason for us to react quickly in order to remain competitive and maintain acceptable margins.”
After enhancing employee expertise through training programs for both employees and managers, and investing in continuous improvement, the time had come for Stelpro to equip itself with more efficient machinery that uses the latest technology and creates a safer work environment by automating hazardous tasks.
“Our employees are the key to our success and for us, automating manufacturing procedures is not synonymous with cutting jobs. Quite the opposite,” says Séguin. “Thanks to the savings resulting from increased productivity, we’ll be able to keep current jobs, as certain employees will be reassigned to other duties within the plant. In the medium-term, robotization may even create more specialized jobs, such as programmer, automation engineer, etc.).”
With this investment, Stelpro will be able to increase its productivity even more, which has risen by an average of 5% per year since 2010, thanks to an increase in production volume employee for employee. The new equipment is already functional and installation will be completed by the end of January.
