Linamar Centre of Excellence to focus on innovation in manufacturing
By QC Staff | October 01, 2009
Linamar Corp., Guelph, ON, has opened a Centre of Excellence in Manufacturing. Named after Linamar’s founder, the Frank Hasenfratz Centre of Excellence in Manufacturing will be dedicated to innovation in the engineering and processing of Linamar’s products and the development of people critical to the company’s success.
“This Centre is a testament to who we are as a company, but it is also a tribute to where we came from. It is a company founded by an inspirational man with a vision to build a business, Frank Hasenfratz,” said Linda Hasenfratz, CEO of Linamar.
“He once quite famously said when he started Linamar he had a vision of having a business employing 20 or 30 people, a vision that clearly did not come true considering the 9,000 people we employ globally at Linamar. This Centre is a testament not only to our history, but to the man who inspired it all and remains a driving force behind our prosperity and success.”
The establishment of the Centre was enabled by funding provided by the provincial government of Ontario through its OAIS automotive investment fund.
“The OAIS program has been a huge success for us in helping us make necessary investments around innovation and training and allowing us to be in the relatively strong position we are in today”, said Hasenfratz, “Our province’s investment in Linamar to fund our internal R&D, process improvement and training work has proven invaluable to us over the past three years.”
