 Based in Aurora, Ontario, MegaLab Group Inc. is the only one stop shop for certification and compliance product testing in Canada. Megalab Group offers ISO 17025 A2LA Accredited, EMC, Product Safety, Mechanical & Laboratory Testing Services. Megalab Group's services include: EMC/EMI Testing Services
Product Safety & Compliance Services
Environmental Testing Services
Global Market Access Services
Megalab Group Inc. and its team are committed to meet and exceed customers’ expectations as an industry leader in environmental and related regulatory testing services, through constant business improvement while upholding the highest integrity and quality in standards of all services they provide.   Based in Kitchener, Ontario, MSD Machine Tool Inc. serves the Power Generation, Medical, Telecommunications, Automotive, and Industrial Automation industries. MSD Machine Tool utilizes the latest in CNC and CAD technology to manufacture precision automation components and they offer a wide range of manufacturing services to their customers across North America.   The Magna Centre for Supply Chain Excellence (MCSCE), addresses the problems facing today's value chains with the application of Integrative Supply Chain Systems Thinking and Intradisciplinary Collaborations. Located within the Toronto-Waterloo Innovation Corridor, the MCSCE can be found in Conestoga @ The Foundry Gaslight District. MCSCE supports the supply chain ecosystems through initiatives such as:
MCSCE connects industry to leading researchers and provides access to a range of talent to fill the needs of today’s diverse supply chains. From September 2017 - May 2021, 61 Conestoga’s Supply Chain and Operations Management program facilitated 61 industry value stream mapping projects, totaling a financial impact of over $178 million! MCSCE serves a diverse range of clients including:
Some of the specific industry partners who MCSCE has collaborated with include:
The MCSCE is pleased to collaborate with industry, professional associations, government, and other centres of excellence to develop solutions to improve performance using an intradisciplinary approach to solve complex problems.   Based in Cambridge, The SMART Centre supports both funded and fee-for-service collaborative applied research in manufacturing and recycling. The SMART Centre helps to develop high-performance manufacturing/recycling solutions (robotics, automation) as well as design, prototyping and testing of new mechanical, electronic and software products. The SMART Centre works with small to medium sized companies who require assistance to solve advanced manufacturing or recycling problems through applied research. Driving innovation, commercialization, productivity improvement and competitiveness for Ontario's manufacturing sector, the SMART Centre serves the following industries:
The SMART Centre works as an extension of a company's R&D team.   Challenge the expected, Dream the unexpected: A mantra Chrima Metal Fabrication has adopted to describe their approach to offering manufacturing as a service. Since 1960, Chrima has been providing custom steel components for various industrial applications in Southern, Ontario. In the early days, founder, Bill Christian, and his son, Dan Christian, brought craftmanship and high-quality components to manufacturers in the local area. Over the years, however, the business expanded rapidly by leveraging new technology throughout the business to offer better quality, faster turnaround, and exceptional customer service.  Today, Chrima utilizes a one-stop-shop approach to custom manufacturing and has found success in offering a large suite of capabilities to serve a diverse customer base. In their 65,000 square-foot facility, they offer sheet and tube processing, manual and robotic welding, precision machining, painting, and more. Their ability to serve many industries while still offering competitive lead times at competitive prices has been a critical element of their recipe for success. Chrima defines their business not as a component manufacturer, but rather a manufacturing service provider. Over the past year, they have found ways to further support their customers with robust quality documentation and engineering design and support. By seeking to improve their services they are constantly searching for ways to challenge what’s expected of a contract manufacturer and seek to deliver value in unexpected ways.   Iron Embers is a manufacturer of premium outdoor fire pits and accessories for a variety of outdoor spaces ranging from domestic residences to commercial settings. Constructed with high end materials including the signature use of ¼ inch carbon steel, Iron Embers is highly capable of creating long lasting outdoor products that will outlive the competition.  Originally a summer project for the Tamminga brothers, Iron Embers has since developed into a competitive manufacturing company with ambitious growth plans. Since 2019, the company has been continually scaling to meet the increased demands of the at-home leisure market and providing a unique fireside experience to thousands of families across North America each year. Our growing leadership team is committed to building a community centric company culture where individuals aspire to raise each other up in a communal effort to achieve continuous improvement.  2G Robotics has made a significant impact across the ocean sector over the last 10+ years by commercializing the first subsea laser scanner and deploying products across the globe on a wide range of subsea projects. We have laser scanned and imaged well over 10,000kms of seabed and modelled countless subsea assets and shipwrecks. We are extremely proud of what we have accomplished so far, but there is so much more we want to do. As we embark on the next phase of our journey, we feel that our identity isn’t truly capturing who we are and what we do in this innovative industry. Our team has been planning a rebrand for some time now as we look to redefine ourselves with a brand that better represents our mission, values, and passion. The last year has been filled with significant change, including our joining Sonardyne Group, and this time has provided us the perfect opportunity to showcase who we really are.  We made sure to involve our team of passionate problem solvers in the process and we certainly received some interesting feedback! We realized that a simple update to our existing branding wasn’t enough. We needed a new name and a fresh new look to bring us together while also setting us apart in a stronger way.  Our team is incredibly excited to reintroduce ourselves to you as Voyis. Our new name was inspired by the essence of what we do in this industry. Voyis stems from the word voyage and embodies exploration and discovery. After all, the ocean is truly the world’s last frontier and we work on incredible projects that help our customers explore further than before. We are now more focused than ever on our mission: to push the limits of what’s possible subsea, and Illuminate the Unknown. The rebrand has also brought new names to core product lines that better align with our vision of enabling every subsea vehicle to see the depths like we see the surface. Our well-known ULS line of underwater laser scanners are now named the Insight Laser Scanners, and a new line of Perception ROV skids was introduced. Voyis continues to proudly operate in Waterloo, Ontario.   Aly Rahemtulla, CEO and Co-Founder of Sphere Manufacturing Group, invests in and owns highly successful companies in a variety of sectors, including manufacturing. Launched in 2019, Sphere has united two local manufacturing firms and one metal finishing service under one strong brand which is committed to, “Manufacturing what’s next.” Based in Kitchener, Ontario, Sphere Manufacturing Group has brought together Eldorado Tool and Manufacturing, RJB Machining and KW Anodizing. Building upon an 80+ year combined legacy, Sphere is a high-growth, customer-focused organization offering design and manufacturing services across North America. By applying the latest in technology, Sphere provides a diversified and innovative approach to precision machining. Sphere offers our clients:
With ISO 9001 and Controlled Goods Program (CGP / ITAR) certifications, Sphere meets the most exacting demands in the Industrial, Electronic, Medical, Construction Equipment and Defence markets.   Located in Waterloo, Ontario, Septimatech has been accelerating packaging line and machine productivity worldwide for a quarter of a century. Their innovative, precision-engineered solutions provide repeatable and accurate changeover for intuitive setup, operating performance, and low maintenance. The video below shows their product in action.   Prototype seems to be one of the most misused words in manufacturing. An early working example of a concept is often referred to as a prototype; however, a prototype is actually the final design on which the manufacturing is patterned, the last design before you start to manufacture in volume. From Webster’s dictionary “a first full-scale and usually functional form of a new type or design of a construction”.
This early conceptual design is a proof of concept and is a totally necessary step to show that an idea is valid, determine if there is sales interest, and to test engineering ideas. Too often though, we see companies come up with a conceptual design, build a proof of concept and believe that the design is done and that they are ready to take the idea to production. Conceptual design is very much a creative activity and creativity cannot always be rushed. However, if the requirements of the product are well understood, knowing who the stakeholders are and what constraints must be met, conceptual design can avoid many issues. Creativity, however, does not negate good planning. Lean principles can still be used to plan and efficiently execute conceptual design. A good proof of concept needs to test if the potential product merits development. It will likely help determine how the final product will look, what features are required, and how they all fit together. It’s a learning step to help specify the product. There could many iterations, and it will focus on defining and confirming the requirements, but not on how it will be built. The final proof of concept should define the product requirements. The next step is to understand how to turn it into a product, something that can be built in volume repeatedly. Prototype design will take that conceptual design and figure out: how best to fabricate custom parts; what purchased components are suitable, available and at what cost; and how to assemble, package, ship and service the product. The necessities of cost and schedule will often dictate how much of the proof of concept design has to be modified. The final product will likely be a set of compromises from what was envisioned to what is practical. Both steps are essential. Both steps require different skill sets and input from different stakeholders. They both take time to do properly. So, it’s natural to want to skip some or all of the process, especially in a young company where budgets are tight. Every idea needs to be fully defined and vetted to ensure it meets the business needs. It’s the prototype that defines the final configuration and how that idea can be built and sold - and how profitable it will be. |
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