MAGAZINE The official magazine of Automate Canada. Premiere Issue, Fall 2022 Leading & Leading & Advocating Advocating for the for the Canadian Canadian Automation Automation IndustryIndustry Canada Post Publications Agreement Number: 40609661 Automation, Industry 4.0, and IoT Page 13 Bridging the Skills Gap Page 17 Smart Automation is Here Page 20The official publication of Automate Canada | www.automatecanada.ca 5 Fall 2022 Published For: Automate Canada Institute for Border Logistics and Security 5844 Malden Road, Unit #140, Mailbox #302 Windsor, Ontario N9J 1S4 Email: info@automatecanada.ca Tel: (519) 818-8866 Published By: Matrix Group Publishing Inc. Return all undeliverable addresses to: 309 Youville Street Winnipeg, MB R2H 2S9 Toll-Free: (866) 999-1299 Toll-Free Fax: (866) 244-2544 sales@matrixgroupinc.net www.matrixgroupinc.net President & CEO Jack Andress Operations Manager Shoshana Weinberg sweinberg@matrixgroupinc.net Senior Publisher Jessica Potter jpotter@matrixgroupinc.net Editor-in-Chief Shannon Savory ssavory@matrixgroupinc.net Senior Editor Alexandra Kozub akozub@matrixgroupinc.net Editor / Social Media Manager Jenna Collignon Finance / Administration Lloyd Weinberg, Nathan Redekop accounting@matrixgroupinc.net Director of Circulation & Distribution Lloyd Weinberg distribution@matrixgroupinc.net Sales Manager - Winnipeg Neil Gottfred Sales Manager - Hamilton Jeff Cash Matrix Group Publishing Inc. Account Executives Colleen Bell, Rob Gibson, Jim Hamilton, Frank Kenyeres, Sandra Kirby, Cheryl Klassen, Charlie Langsford, Andrew Lee, Brian MacIntyre, Jaime Schroeder Layout & Design Kayti McDonald Advertising Design James Robinson © 2022 Matrix Group Publishing Inc. All rights reserved. Contents may not be reproduced by any means, in whole or in part, without the prior written permission of the publisher. To advertise in the next edition of Automate Canada, please e-mail sales@matrixgroupinc.net or call (866) 999-1299. contents 13 A Whole New World: Automation, Industry 4.0, and IoT accelerate success for manufacturing sector. 17 Bridging the Skills Gap: Showcasing manufacturing to the next generation of workers, while ensuring continuous learning opportunities for those already hired, are key components to embracing automation and addressing labour shortages. 20 Smart Automation: The future is already here! up front 7 Greetings from President Jeanine Lassaline-Berglund 9 Greetings from Chair Shelley Fellows 10 Automate Canada Board of Directors 10 Why Should You Join Automate Canada? 11 All About Automate Canada 26 Index to Advertisers features Member Showcases 23 CenterLine: On Opportunities, Mentorship, and the Bigger Picture 25 AIS Technologies Group: Bringing Intelligence to AutomationThe official publication of Automate Canada | www.automatecanada.ca 7 Hello and welcome! I thought this would be the perfect time to formally say ‘thank you’ and take the time to summarize what we have been up to at Automate Canada, which continues to grow both in members and in determining the value in organizing an association for this sector. On the next page, our current Board Chair and Founding Member, Shelley Fellows, provides our association’s history and journey so far. For those who may not be familiar, Automate Canada is a national association representing companies involved in the industrial automation industry, as well as service and supplier companies that provide specialized technologies to our industry. Automate Canada leads and advocates for the Canadian automation industry, assisting and promoting our members. Engagement in activities supporting the business success and innovation expertise of the member companies in our association is our mission. Since being chosen as President in May 2021, there has been a lot of activity! Leading through this point in history is certainly unique and challenging. Times of challenge and adversity can also lead to innovation and growth. This is a perspective that we are taking to expand our reach, create tools for our members, and ultimately deliver value to the industrial automation and advanced manufacturing sector at large. But our work doesn’t stop there. We are continually listening to what is important to our members, the wider industrial automation sector in Canada, and beyond. For those of us who have some history with industry, there are several factors that will continue to affect business: economic uncertainty, competing political priorities, export and trade pressures, lack of materials or inflated costs, lack of talent and available skills, the cost of innovation and commercialization, and the list goes on. We are making it our mission to listen and work collaboratively to prioritize initiatives and actions that will have lasting impact. Although Automate Canada has been operating as a sector group of volunteers for more than three years, it has really been the actions of the last year and a half that have led to the creation of a formal association, including our incorporation and the development of Strategic Initiatives. We formalized volunteer committees in strategic areas and have begun to put actions behind our work. But we can’t do it alone. Between these pages you will be introduced to our members, who will showcase their expertise. But please do not think it stops there. We want you to think about what could be, and while you are looking at these pages, think about engaging with our members to talk about innovating your operations and how to adopt Industry 4.0 in a way that meets your needs, but is also within your budget and resource levels. Or consider joining us to help further our efforts. If you are as passionate as we are about this growing and important sector, then consider getting involved. Of course, in everything we do, it takes a team of advisors and support. This publication is an example of the way that we give our member companies an opportunity to shine and has been a huge undertaking on the part of our staff along with the publishing team at Matrix Group Publishing Inc. I am extremely proud of the result. Greetings from the President of Automate Canada Jeanine Lassaline - Berglund President Automate Canada Times of challenge and adversity can also lead to innovation and growth. This is a perspective that we are taking to expand our reach, create tools for our members, and ultimately deliver value. Up FrontThe official publication of Automate Canada | www.automatecanada.ca 9 Providing strategic advocacy and targeted actions for a remarkable sector, the Automate Canada industry association was founded to foster a thriving and sustainable Canadian industrial automation sector. What’s the role of the Automate Canada publication, you ask? The answer is simple – to shine a spotlight on our innovative, agile, and forward-thinking industrial automation enterprises of course. In typical Canadian fashion, our industry tends to lead with a modest and understated presentation of our capabilities. Automate Canada – both the industry association and the magazine – aims to change that. We’re firmly convinced that we need to promote the tremendous achievements and advanced technologies developed right here in Canada to the world. Among other ways we employ to communicate and promote our industry, we are proudly launching this first ever issue of the Automate Canada magazine. Saying I’m simply proud of what our industry association has accomplished since it was founded in 2019 is actually an understatement. I’m bursting with pride! In 2019, a group of visionary business leaders from a diverse range of companies, including AIS Technologies Group, Brave Controls, CenterLine, DataRealm, Onyx, Reko Automation, Ro-Matt, Siemens, and Vista Solutions gathered around a meeting table, and with the support of the Canadian Association of Mold Makers, the University of Windsor, St. Clair College, Invest Windsor-Essex, and NRC-IRAP, agreed to foster a first for Canada – an industry association representing the Canadian industrial automation sector. That group has grown since our early days, representing an industry that contributes an estimated $7.2 billion in gross domestic product (GDP) to Canada’s economy and employing approximately 58,000 highly skilled specialists. Over half of the firms in this sector are located in Ontario, with a Canadian customer base including the automotive, food, pharmaceutical, and aerospace sectors. Our global customer base is exceptionally diversified, allowing us to contribute to efficient and advanced production of goods worldwide. Of course, we weren’t able to predict the onset of a global pandemic. The challenges presented to global manufacturing by the COVID-19 crisis have been unparalleled and significant. Our Canadian industrial automation sector has thrived on these challenges and developed unique and innovative solutions, which we are delighted to showcase in this Automate Canada publication. As an industry, we did not falter in the face of COVID-19. We dug in, focused on our customers, fostered talent within our companies, and diversified and improved on our innovative products and processes. I am certain we will look back in this period in our history with pride, and as a time of productivity and accelerated innovation. As an industry association, we also didn’t falter when presented with the challenges of advocacy and promotion during COVID-19. We fostered a strong connection with our members, industry, and stakeholders, and we shared practices, industry leading information, and advocacy on behalf of our sector. Best practices for health and safety? Advocacy around export market expansion, supply chain, and border crossing issues? Innovative marketing for market expansion? Skill development? We focused on all these and more. Our Canadian industrial automation companies significantly advance how manufacturing works and Automate Canada is actively engaged in supporting those companies. With expertise from robotics to advanced controls, emerging vision, and virtual reality applications to digital technologies designed specifically for manufacturing, the Canadian industrial automation industry is smart, advanced, and capable. Automate Canada is the first association established in Canada specifically for the industrial automation sector, however our members have a significant and long-standing presence in the industry. Thank you for investing your time in learning more about our resilient, innovative Canadian industrial automation experts. Shelley Fellows Chair, Board of Directors Automate Canada Up Front Greetings from the Chair of Automate Canada Saying I’m simply proud of what our industry association has accomplished since it was founded in 2019 is actually an understatement. I’m bursting with pride!Next >