New weld centre for Ontario, Quebec industries
by CanadianManufacturing.com Staff
Facility to increase staff, production
MISSISSAUGA, ONT: Lenox, a producer of manufacturing tools, has opened a new weld centre in Mississauga, Ont.
The company, a division of NewellRubbermaid, spent $500,000 on the new facility. It opened earlier this month and is serving industrial band saw blade users in Ontario and Quebec.
At the centre, Lenox is using flash-butt welding, a type of resistance welding that butts, heats and pushes parts together.
Mike Mendrala, senior manager of global welding operations, says the investment has created three new jobs.
Right now the centre performs between 200 to 300 welds per day, with plans to double staff and increase output.
Mendrala says they chose to locate the facility in Mississauga to reach industrial band saw customers more quickly.
“This was always a busy area for us. Even though 2008 was a bad year for manufacturing, we’re coming back,” he says.
Les Payne, executive director for the Canadian Tooling & Machining Association, agrees.
“There has been increased confidence in the industry, although I don’t like to use the term ‘coming out of the recession’ because that implies we’re going back to where we were before it,” he says.
Payne adds investments in areas like technology and skills training will also be important to keep the industry continuously improving.
