Kawartha Controls receives $1M from feds toward smart factory

An Ontario manufacturer is receiving $1.13 million from the federal government to implement a new machining cell and create new jobs.

Kawartha Controls (owned by Bélair Mechatronics), located in Omemee, Ont., designs and manufactures hydraulic manifolds used in areas such as construction, farm equipment and power generation.

With this repayable contribution from FedDev Ontario, along with $2.1 million in additional investment, the company will set up a new machining cell and refine its “smart factory,” which is driven by artificial intelligence processes. This will increase production capacity and create six jobs.

“As we have been growing, we have been successful in creating high-value jobs for our local community,” says Robert F. Bélair, founder, chief technology and executive officer for Kawartha Controls.

“We have heavily invested in developing our ‘smart factory’ and the demand for our product is 300 per cent greater than we can currently produce. With support from FedDev Ontario, scaling our smart factory will allow us to fill that demand and continue to create additional high-value advanced manufacturing jobs.”

Kawartha Controls uses its smart factory processes to reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions created by its operations.