NGen and industry partners invest $28.8M in new manufacturing technologies

Next Generation Manufacturing Canada (NGen) announced a collaborative funding effort last week worth $28.8 million to support nine new projects across Canada.

NGen, which facilitates Canada’s Advanced Manufacturing Supercluster, is contributing $11.3 million alongside an additional $17.5 million in investments from 27 industry partners.

The projects, which combine Canada’s manufacturing strengths with new and emerging technologies, were selected for NGen funding by a panel of independent experts. Twenty-four of the industry partners are small and medium-sized companies.

“The advanced manufacturing projects we support combine some of the best in knowledge, technologies and production capability that Canada has to offer,” said Jayson Myers, CEO, NGen. “Collaboration allows Canadian companies to create leading-edge solutions for Canada that can then be leveraged to capture new market opportunities around the world.”

Each of the nine projects approved for NGen co-investment will result in unique manufacturing capabilities in Canada. The projects include:

• The digitization of a hot-ladle steel production process to minimize manual intervention, reduce process variation and improve final metal properties. Project lead: ArcelorMittal Dofasco (Hamilton, ON). Partners: IBM Canada Ltd. (Markham, ON), Tenova Goodfellow Inc. (Mississauga, ON), and i5O Canada (Windsor, ON).
• The creation of the world’s most sophisticated steel forming press to support domestic shipbuilding on Canada’s East and West coasts. Project lead: Conrex Steel Ltd. (Etobicoke, ON). Partners: Macrodyne Technologies Inc. (Concord, ON), Source Industrial Services Inc. (Brampton, ON).
• The integration of medical science and precise imaging and measurements with industrial 3D printing to revolutionize the manufacturing of orthopedic implants. Project lead: Orthopedic Innovation Centre (Winnipeg, MB). Project partners: Pega Medical Inc. (Laval, QC), Spinologics (Montreal, QC), Conceptualiz (Halifax, NS), Precision ADM Inc (Winnipeg, MB).
• New technologies designed to reduce the environmental impact of oil sands production. Project lead: Exergy Solutions (Calgary, AB). Partners: Suncor Energy (Calgary, AB), Precision ADM Inc. (Winnipeg, MB).
• The development of a system to manufacture flexible, transparent electrodes and heaters with clean technology applications such as batteries, electronics and solar cells. Project lead: NanoCnet (Waterloo, ON). Partner: Evercloak (Kitchener, ON).
• Development of a process for production of graphene and thin-film membranes to be applied primarily in the cleantech sector. Project lead: Evercloak (Kitchener, ON). Partner: ZEN Graphene (Thunder Bay, ON).
• A new manufacturing process designed to transform the way automotive components are made, allowing cycle times to be cut in half, increasing productivity, and decreasing costs. Project lead: MPC (Oro-Medonte, ON). Partner: Niigon Machines Ltd. (Vaughan, ON).
• A solution to improve tool life and lower costs by reducing the amount of lubricant required in manufacturing processes. Project lead: KSL (Burlington, ON). Partner: Wolfedale Tool & Stamping (Mississauga, ON).
• A Microsoft Azure software platform to enable real-time monitoring of production assets to help manufacturers identify inefficiencies, boost productivity and reduce waste. Project lead: Panevo (Vancouver, BC). Partner: Accuenergy (Toronto, ON).