Evart’s message about recognizing, honouring, and celebrating the special bond between siblings rings especially true in the world of family-led manufacturing. Despite what we might think about many manufacturers being multinational corporations with thousands of employees, over 60 percent of Canada’s small and medium-sized (SMEs) manufacturers are family-owned. These range from small mom-and-pop operations with a handful of workers to large operations with hundreds of staff across multiple locations. No matter the size, all have one thing in common: their invaluable contribution to the nation.

According to Family Enterprise Canada, which supports and provides a voice to this important sector, family-owned businesses are not only important but “a critical component of the Canadian economy.” Family-owned businesses account for 63.1 percent of all Canadian private sector firms. Responsible for generating almost half (48.9 percent) of the country’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP), totalling $574.6 billion, family firms are also responsible for 6.9 million jobs Canada-wide—equivalent to 46.9 percent of private sector employment.

Economic backbone
In the United States, family businesses also play an essential role in the economy, accounting for 54 percent of the country’s GDP. Responsible for 83.3 million jobs, family-owned companies generate 59 percent of U.S. employment.

Even when faced with economic challenges like inflation, labour shortages, and taxes, family-led businesses keep growing across the United States. In mid-2024, Family Enterprise USA’s Annual Family Business Survey—the largest to date, with 789 respondents spanning 40 states—revealed that America’s family businesses remain the country’s greatest private employer. In fact, the survey revealed 61 percent of family businesses grew in 2023. Many of these companies are engaged in the manufacturing sector.

“Despite the many challenges facing family businesses, this year’s survey shows family businesses continue to grow, add jobs, and pay more than non-family enterprises,” stated Pat Soldano, President of Family Enterprise USA and the Policy and Taxation Group, in a media release. “This year’s survey was our largest to date and the information in it we use to help educate our legislators on Capitol Hill so they understand the importance and size of family businesses in our economy.”

Sweat, tears and missed holidays
From cogs to car parts, North America’s SME manufacturers invest a great deal in their businesses. More than a nine-to-five job with weekends off and paid vacations, owners of family-run manufacturing businesses make countless sacrifices, especially in the early years. This includes everything from missing their children’s school performances to working long into the night—sometimes every night for weeks or months—skipping family functions, and even deferring their own salaries so staff and suppliers are paid.

Even decades later, many owners say it was worth it because they created a family legacy positioned to last for generations.

Then there is the cost of the business itself. Even small manufacturing facilities need all the basics of any office, plus a suitable location and the necessary machinery. Depending on the products being made, this can include drilling and grinding machines, lathes, CNC machines, extruders, mixers, laser cutters and waterjet cutting machines, forklifts, cranes, conveyors—the list is practically endless. And to keep up with the competition, merely investing in equipment isn’t enough. Many of today’s manufacturers need to invest in Artificial Intelligence, expensive software like AutoCAD and SolidWorks, automated assembly machines, 3D printers, and even industrial robots to remain competitive.

Manufacturing is unlike many other sectors because of the amount of capital involved, especially in fields such as automotive, which requires massive amounts of investment in training, tools, technology, and machinery.

Changing gears
Well-structured family-run companies often have a board and governance structure that has a say in the business, including decisions about spending thousands or even millions of dollars on automation, robotics, and other expensive technology. While these investments can be instrumental to a company’s long-term success, the outlay can also leave a manufacturer vulnerable to unexpected changes in the market. The same thing applies to expanding facilities. Many Canadian companies have put building bigger facilities on hold, something they wouldn’t have considered before U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order levying tariffs on Canadian exports to the U.S. in February 2025.

In his book Succession for Change: Strategic transitions in family and founder-led businesses, author Harry Korine underscores how there is an overrepresentation of large family businesses in manufacturing, retail, mining, and finance, sometimes exceeding 50 percent. “These are capital-intensive sectors, where the patient capital provided by families has played an important role in supporting long-term investment,” states Korine. “Traditionally, capital intensity has also served as a barrier to entry, protecting these sectors and their firms from the threat of radical change from the outside.”

Korine goes on to state that four of the world’s largest eight family-controlled businesses are automobile manufacturers, namely Volkswagen, FCA, Ford, and BMW. And no matter how big or how small, family-owned manufacturers must reinvent themselves through technology, something sometimes overlooked by founders set in their ways.

“Reinvention is hard enough when attempted by the existing leadership of a family business, or the founder of a business,” writes Korine. “So many questions have to be answered: does the firm have the necessary capabilities? If not, should these be bought in, or is this the time to sell out to a more capable rival? Will there be resistance to a change of strategy, and how might that resistance be overcome? Bringing succession into the picture complicates matters considerably.”

Yet for all family-run businesses, there needs to be a successor. Sometimes the successor is not obvious. It is surprising how many manufacturers don’t have a successor, let alone a succession plan, in place. In these cases, or when there is disagreement among family stakeholders, it is best to work with financial planners, tax attorneys, and other experts to ensure a smooth transition.

According to a 2023 report from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), the country’s largest association of small and medium-sized businesses, “76 percent of business owners plan to exit their business within the next decade, a process that could involve the transfer of over $2 trillion worth of business assets.” This is compounded by Canada’s aging population and waves of retires in the wings. Exit strategies vary, including selling to non-relatives, selling to other families, selling to employees, transferring to existing family members (through inheritance), closing the business completely, or selling to international buyers. In all cases, there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution to business success.

What remains consistent, however, is the importance of thoughtful planning and open communication, particularly in family enterprises where business decisions are deeply intertwined with personal relationships. As one generation prepares to step back and another considers stepping forward, the same bonds that National Siblings Day seeks to celebrate can become a source of strength, continuity, and resilience. Ultimately, the future of family-led manufacturing will depend not only on market conditions and technological adoption, but on the ability of families to navigate change together while preserving the legacy that made their businesses possible in the first place.

The post All in the Family<p class="company">The Power of Family-Owned Manufacturing</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

Currently based in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Kemflo Canada is in the process of relocating to its new multi-million-dollar facility in Bradford West Gwillimbury. The move represents “a significant milestone in our growth strategy for 2026,” according to company President John Kehren. “This new location will allow us to upgrade our production layout, optimizing workflow efficiency and improving storage management.”

Certified ISO 9001:2015 for the manufacture and assembly of plastic injection molded products, Kemflo Canada’s wide-ranging capabilities include engineered solutions for custom assembly, product design, prototyping and 3D printing, mold design and making, quality control and product verification, and more.

With an array of equipment at its existing location, the company is continuing to make strategic capital investments in injection molding machines, press robotics, and centralized bulk storage and material handling systems. “These investments will increase production capacity, enhance product quality, and support long-term operational efficiency,” says John Kehren. “In addition, we will be expanding automation within the assembly department by incorporating semi-automated solutions, reducing manual handling and enabling higher-volume production.”

The move to the new facility will be completed in phases, according to Operations Manager Christopher Kehren. This will see the company begin by relocating its office, warehouse, and larger-tonnage machines (1100 and 1200). The scheduled relocation will then see Kemflo Canada move its injection molding machines, followed by other equipment. This well-timed operation will allow production to continue at both the existing and new facilities during the transition, so there is no work stoppage.

“In the medium term, once the facility is fully operational, we plan to resume expanding our services on both sides of the border,” states Christopher Kehren. “Our goal is to complete the move by June 2026.”

In recent years, the company has invested well over $10 million back into the business, with one of its many recent investments being a shredder grinder, a piece of equipment that will enable materials to be reused when appropriate. Benefits including reducing raw material waste, promoting more sustainable manufacturing practices, and improving control over material costs.

Realizing the importance of embracing emerging technology to meet the needs of its many customers, other recent purchases have seen Kemflo Canada increasingly move toward more robotic automation. This will improve process consistency by minimizing defects and reducing cycle times. These efficiencies, and others, will continue to lower manufacturing costs while allowing the company to scale production and reduce its overhead.

The company’s use of tech extends to software from SOLIDWORKS®, a leader specializing in 3D CAD and cloud software development products and solutions. “SOLIDWORKS software helps our engineering team design and simulate complex projects, reducing errors and shortening the product development cycle,” says Nicole Kehren, Business Development/Manager), “while 3D printing enables rapid prototyping and efficient design validation. In the molding process, robotic arms ensure consistent, repeatable operations that minimize human errors.”

“Kemflo Canada’s investment in advanced machinery enables us to offer competitive pricing and faster delivery times to our customers while significantly enhancing overall production capacity,” explains Nicole Kehren.

Some of Kemflo Canada’s many high-quality injection molding products include Tank Accessories for roto-molded/blow molded tanks used in the industrial and agricultural markets and Plastic Random Filtration Media used in chemical processes to scrub caustic fumes and other contaminants. This product is also used in wastewater management filtration systems. New product developments include a line Kemflo has invested in and designed new tooling for, Septic Lids and Risers, with other accessory parts used for the Concrete and Plastic Septic Tank Market.

Also in its Tank Accessory line, Kemflo has introduced its newest combination vent, the Maximus II vent, the latest development providing maximum pressure/vacuum venting for IBCs (Intermediate Bulk Containers) at a competitive cost. This has been added to the company’s pressure/vacuum vents for IBCs used for transporting and storing hazardous chemicals.

Constantly innovating to meet changing industry standards and the needs of its clients, Kemflo Canada looks forward to more positive developments in the months to come. “This year, Kemflo’s primary goal is to relocate our base of operations,” says Nicole Kehren. “Our team is excited to settle into our new home!”

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Starting off as a local supplier of crane parts, the company today is a respected manufacturer of overhead cranes and crane hoists. Along with offering crane parts, G.W. Becker is also known for its crane services and maintenance, including Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspections, training, preventative maintenance, field repairs, and engineering.

“Our core business is in heavy manufacturing, steel processing and steel manufacturing, fabrication, aeronautical, and warehousing, just to name a few,” says the company’s Sales Manager, Ron Piso.

Cranes for every need
No two sectors are the same, which is why G.W. Becker sells and services industry-specific crane solutions ranging from 1/8 ton jib cranes—ideal for local lifting—to massive, 110-ton overhead ladle cranes used in steel mills to transport and pour molten metal. From the smallest overhead cranes to the largest, all are designed, engineered, and manufactured in-house and tailor-made for specific applications and workflow requirements.

“We can build up to a 150-foot span,” comments Piso, “and are only limited to what we can lift in our shop and what we can get out the overhead doors. If there is value to us or the customer with, we can figure out if there is a way to do it.”

To meet customer demands, G.W. Becker offers overhead lifting solutions for all needs and budgets. Some, like single girder cranes, are ideal for light to moderate use. Able to handle 1 to 15 tons, these cranes are suitable for spans up to 70 feet and lifts of 15 to 50 feet. Others, such as hazardous duty cranes, are ideal for overhead material handing in explosive environments. Often used by customers in the oil & gas sector, these cranes typically have manual hoists and trolleys and spark-resistant components. For all applications, cranes meet specific safety standards.

Much more than an overhead crane manufacturer, G.W. Becker works with customers at every step of the way, from initial design to turnkey installation, all managed with the utmost professionalism. Taking on single-source responsibility means clients will see their cranes manufactured, delivered, installed, and operational on time and on budget.

“We are a soup-to-nuts company in the crane industry,” explains Piso of the company. Its fully staffed engineering department handles design while an experienced service department has technicians available to install, repair, inspect “and upgrade any crane that’s out there now,” Piso explains. “I like to say we are as vertically integrated as we can be short of owning a steel mill to have access to our raw materials. We install 98 to 99 percent of our own product, the cranes that we build. We are a manufacturer and an OEM distributor of all crane parts.”

To date, the company’s cranes can be found across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. According to Piso, G.W. Becker is not limited to geography. “North America is our limitation,” he says. “Other than that, we will go anywhere, literally from Maine to California to Washington to Florida. We have cranes, not in every state, but we are trying to get there.” Alabama and South Carolina have hundreds of G.W. Becker cranes in operation.

Family values and industry engagement
Decades after it was established by founder George Becker, the company remains family-owned and operated, which is a point of pride for both staff members and customers. Celebrating its 45^th anniversary in March 2025, the business remains focused on growing to meet demand. Unlike some larger manufacturers, family ownership helps G.W. Becker remain far more agile, able to provide fast, personalized service where clients get answers in hours, not days.

Today, George remains founder and CEO, while his son Chris, representing G.W. Becker’s second generation, serves as President. “It’s not just family ownership that’s a benefit to our customers,” says Piso. “Chris, our President, is a leader on different industry boards,” including the Lawrence Mercer Manufacturers Coalition (LMMC). Based in Youngstown, Ohio, the LMMC is described as “an industry-led organization determined to attract, retain, and upskill the manufacturing workforce our members collectively need to thrive and grow.”

Along with the LMMC, G.W. Becker’s industry memberships and affiliations include the Material Handling Industry of America (MHI), the Association for Iron & Steel Technology (AIST), executive membership in the Crane Manufacturers Association of America, Inc. (CMAA), and the Penn-Northwest Development Corporation.

In addition, the company has forged many long-term relationships with suppliers of everything from advanced wireless control solutions to electrification systems, load-handling attachments, controls, hoists, lifting mechanisms, and other parts. These include Columbus McKinnon, ACCO® – WRIGHT® LOUDEN®, Bushman Equipment, Caldwell Lifting Solutions, Control Chief Wireless Solutions, and R&M Materials Handling, to name just a few.

At G.W. Becker, the company’s many successful years in business and long-held partnerships with customers speak for themselves. “George Becker, Chris’s father and our owner, has been in business 46 years,” comments Piso. “He has a great reputation around the country, and Chris has only enhanced that with his leadership and visibility within the industry and affiliated organizations. Relationships have been built, held, and initiated by George when the company was founded, and Chris even more so, and it all trickles down through me, our Regional Sales Managers, Service Techs, and our engineers. So our reputation is very solid. We are not top-heavy, so we are able to be out in the field and communicating more than corporations.”

Investing in people and machinery
In just the past few years, G.W. Becker has made significant investments in the business, including a complete upgrade of its machine shop and new machine tools. This remains a source of pride for the company’s owners since it allows the business to serve its many customers to the best of its abilities. “We have equipped ourselves to be pretty efficient in our production and fabrication, and will continue doing so,” says Piso. “We continue to invest in the company to make ourselves more efficient in our production and our fabrication.” Now, along with machinery, the company has expanded its engineering department to its largest headcount to date.

G.W. Becker’s information-rich website features products, detailed descriptions, and a list of services, as well as a comprehensive Resource Center featuring completed products, brochures, a blog, and more. In May, the company will have a booth at AISTech 2026. Held in Pittsburgh, AISTech remains the premier event for the world’s steel industry and a venue in which professionals can meet, learn about industry developments, and network with experts.

Now in its 46^th year, G.W. Becker continues to expand, adding to the team as needed. “Our future sales plan is to continue growing at the pace we’ve been growing for the last eight years, which has been substantial,” Piso says. “We are certainly in growth mode, trying to close every order that’s out there on the street and bring new business in every day. We have a bright forecast for the future, and it’s supported by all of the industry information available in manufacturing and the steel industry. Manufacturing in the United States is going to continue growing; we are along for the ride and expect growth in the same fashion.”

The post Built to Lift. Made to Last.<p class="company">G.W. Becker, Inc.</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

“We focus on philosophy in design first, so we can then enhance products in the very dynamic office world that we’ve lived in since immediately pre-and post-COVID,” explains President and CEO, Bill Melnik. “Our goal has always been to build safe, sustainable, healthy, and productive environmental products.”

Tayco is upfront about promoting its key values, including inclusivity, sustainability, and fostering a strong employee culture. For three years in a row, Tayco has been certified by the Great Place to Work® Institute Canada and remains widely admired for its levels of inclusivity, equity, personal satisfaction, and employee engagement.

Strong leadership
In October 2022, Bill Melnik became Tayco’s CEO, succeeding Kevin Philips. Originally founded in 1976 by Kevin’s father, Phil, the company started producing value-conscious, space-dividing office furniture panels. A recent immigrant at the time, Phil brought the concept of local-supply, Canadian-made craftsmanship to the market.

“Their early success was based on building strong customer relationships, almost direct to customers and resellers,” says Melnik. “That culture still exists and is defining for Tayco today. We produce locally made Canadian products and ship them around the world. We value our strong customer relationships, which are a core element of our success. And of course, our craftsmanship helps keep that legacy alive.”

Adapting to market needs
The office environment has transformed over the decades, and Tayco continues to create and modify products to meet evolving needs. In the ’70s and ’80s, office panels were heavy and featured wood trim, but as time went on, Tayco introduced more value-added products to the market. Hiring additional workers with new skill sets, the company created office panels using materials like aluminum and steel. These changes saw the development of Tayco’s modernized Cosmo Integrated Panel System, which is customizable, features a highly functional tilt-and-frame design, and utilizes modern finishes such as glass, acrylic, metal, fabric, and laminate.

“Now that same panel—with a different kind of engineering structure and a different design—can have a wood bottom,” says Melnik. “It can have two kinds of different fabric on the top, and on the other side, it can have a completely different mix of fabric and/or other materials as well. So that’s where the advances have taken us.” Today’s panels are highly design-focused, suit a range of price points, and are customizable.

The company’s original panelling line was one of the pillars of its success and remained in production until around 2011. Tayco continued to build robust lines from 1976 to 2012, including Metro, previously known as Metropolis. The private Metro line is sleek and elegant, and includes storage, desking, and Tayco’s Volley Height Adjustable Tables casegoods furniture.

Recent years have seen the company greatly enhance its product lines to meet today’s office and home office demands, calling for features like ergonomic and height-adjustable solutions, provisions for power and communication, enhancements to original panelling products for privacy, and noise reduction.

Tayco continues to work closely with customers to create flexible, modular, long-life products with clean aesthetics that are highly adaptable and prioritize functionality. But Melnik observes that the sector is far from static. “I think it’s accurate to say that, since the COVID years, the office environment has been a truly dynamic market, particularly in furnishings,” he shares.

The office environment is indeed constantly changing, with younger people entering the market who may work solely in offices, solely at home, or a combination of both. “Our products focus on solutions for all those kinds of markets,” says Melnik.

A great place to work
Along with its superior office products, one of the first things Melnik noticed when he became Tayco’s CEO was the company’s outstanding workplace culture. As he said in 2022, “The entire team champions the brand and is passionate about providing the ultimate products and services to our customers. The Tayco culture truly demonstrates how a positive workforce directly correlates to employee engagement. I am proud to represent an organization with such a strong culture and enjoyable atmosphere, and look forward to watching it continue to blossom.”

The many skill sets of Tayco workers include welding, steel working, upholstery, fabric assembly, and applications to produce custom and semi-custom products. Some staff have been a part of Tayco since the ’70s and can share their wealth of knowledge with younger employees, a dedication that is a testament to the company’s culture. “That word’s really thrown around these days, but there is a culture of respect for our employees and customers, and respect for all aspects of doing business. Employees are valued for their input, feel comfortable, and are part of a long-term, safe culture,” Melnik says.

Indeed, Tayco regularly reaffirms its core values to its team and others: ownership, progressive [mindset], enjoyable experiences, and efficiency. These values have led to Tayco’s consistently being named to the Best Workplaces™ in Manufacturing list, based on direct employee feedback and an independent analysis by Great Place to Work®.

Along with its employees and customers, Tayco is also proud of its robust dealer partner network and independent representatives across North America. In the past few years, the company has stepped up efforts to sell products to clients not just in Canada and the United States but also in Mexico, the Caribbean, emerging markets in the Middle East, and key countries in South America.

“Our clients are the Who’s Who of the business clientele of any city and any country,” says Melnik. “But ultimately, they are our partners. They include corporate and commercial office spaces, from banks to legal firms and insurance companies. This broadly includes education, financial sectors, automotive sectors, and any and all levels of government,” he explains.

Ethical and sustainable
In today’s world, sourcing and buying Canadian-made products is more important than ever, and Tayco buys local materials to use in production whenever possible.

“Canada can be very proud of itself,” comments Melnik. “We are leaders in wood and panel products, bar none.” Purchasing most of its steel products locally, the company processes them internally in its own steel facilities, resulting in added value directly from Tayco and good, solid jobs for employees. “It is a strong selling point that we are a North American-based company,” says Melnik. “Our Canadian customers appreciate that we are Canadian and a Canadian-focused manufacturer.”

In January 2024, Tayco released a document on Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains detailing the company’s commitment to ridding its supply chains of every incidence of forced labour and child labour. Such vigilance means continually monitoring its supply chain, structure, and activities for any occurrence, or even the slightest warning signal, of these activities.

Melnik notes that sometimes there is a “wilful blindness” about the purchases we make—including a shallow view of the cost: if something doesn’t cost much, it can be replaced in the future, and it doesn’t really matter where it comes from. “This flies in the face of the value statement Tayco has, as well as its core values,” he stresses. Tayco expects its suppliers and others to be consistent with their reporting and to adhere to guidelines against forced labour. “It is tragic to think that, in the world we live in today, children would have to be exploited for the benefit of some cost-savings in North America,” he says. “For me, it would be a personal slight to think we are selling something because a child made it, that they could be exploited because it is made in another country. And if we brought it into our own country and profited on it, this goes against us as a company, as Canadians, and against me personally, to think that is something we would tolerate. I say no.”

50 years of success
To succeed in business for half a century is a major milestone. This year, Tayco will celebrate its dedicated employees with a focus on the generations of families who have worked there, along with acknowledging customers and representatives who have been with the company for decades. This will see different marketing campaigns with a focus on voices that have made the company the success it is today.

“Our employees do truly live and breathe our core values every single day,” says Emily Boland-Slinn, Director of Marketing and Communications. “In turn, that helps our dealer partners—the people we sell to, our resellers—live and breathe those core values as well, and have trust in us. So we will be acknowledging that through social media, different marketing initiatives, and events throughout the entire year.” And to acknowledge its milestone, Tayco will release a special new 50^th anniversary logo.

Today, the Tayco team includes about 240 staff members and around 30 reselling and independent agents. And while roles vary widely from the factory floor to the office, they all have one thing in common: continually striving to produce the best, sustainably made, ethically produced office furniture on the market.

“When you think about 50 years, it’s not just a corporation that has survived over 50 years; it’s a corporation that has significantly grown, changed, and is continuing to do exactly that after 50 years,” says Melnik. “It represents 50 years of substantially 100 percent Canadian jobs. Although some of our selling partners and agents are elsewhere in the world, there is a substantial Canadian job component. There are 50 years of trust, and I don’t think you stay in business that long without developing trust,” he says.

“If we were not consistent and trustworthy and did not have a progressive mindset, we wouldn’t be selling to customers after 50 years, nor to people who buy our products and resell them. They would just move elsewhere. It’s 50 years of showing up—consistently coming back and being there for all of our customers, all our resellers. So here we are. We are not looking back on 50 years, but focusing on setting the stage for the next 50 years. We are proud of that, we are thankful, and we congratulate the whole team for the momentum we’ve created.”

The post Quality People and Products Make Quality Years—50 of Them<p class="company">Tayco</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

Except for food and medicine, then-President John. F. Kennedy banned trade with Cuba in February 1962. By March, the U.S. was preparing “a new intervention against Cuba,” with additional bans put in place on all Cuban-made goods. Tensions increased, ultimately culminating in October’s Cuban Missile Crisis.

It was against this backdrop of global uncertainty that German businessman and entrepreneur Ortwin Stieber decided to diversify. Founder of the Munich-based transmission company Heynau Antriebtechnik, Stieber began investigating other countries in which to do business, including Canada. Invited by the Kitchener Chamber of Commerce to visit the Ontario city, Stieber soon purchased an industrial property and founded a gear manufacturing business, calling it Ontario Drive & Gear Limited (ODG).

“The reason he called it Ontario Drive & Gear was so that he knew where it was and what they did,” says ODG’s Director of Program Management, Stephen Brown.

ARGO
In 1967, the year of Canada’s centennial, the company moved to New Hamburg, Ontario. ODG was manufacturing steering transmissions for an amphibious all-terrain vehicle company when that business failed. ODG was left with a number of transmissions and no customer. This led to Stieber’s building his own amphibious all-terrain vehicle named ARGO.

Continuously refined over the decades, ARGO remains, according to the company, “the world’s most successful amphibious vehicle” in terms of units produced. Other models were introduced, including Centaur (known as ARGO’s big brother), the three-wheel ATV Taurus, and Artemis, a robotic concept rover for exploring the Moon and Mars.

For a time, Ontario Drive & Gear and ARGO were under one roof. The ARGO business was cyclical, explains Brown—busy in spring and fall with hunting and fishing, but slowing down over the winter months. Not wanting to lose skilled labour, the company began looking for outside customers. “Over the years, the machine shop side of the business started to grow and grow,” says Brown. “In 2000, we built the gear division building, because we grew both the ARGO side and the gear side of the business beyond the walls of the one building. Today, ARGO makes up about 15 percent of our manufacturing capacity; 85 percent of what we do is work other than ARGO.”

In the gear division, the company builds transmissions and some mechanical components for ARGO, while the rest of the vehicle is made and assembled in another building. While some materials, like tires and engines, are purchased, ODG does everything else, including vacuum forming of the upper and lower vehicle bodies, welding the frame, powder coating and painting, final assembly, and shipping directly to dealers from the factory.

A different breed of machinist
Family-run for many years and under the long-time leadership of Ortwin’s son, Joerg Stieber, ODG is today under its second private equity ownership. With a dedicated team of about 200 staff members between its two facilities, ODG’s work demands a different breed of machinist. “Although it’s manufacturing gears, the type of machining is different,” says Brown. “Knowledge requirements for gear manufacturing is specialized, and the equipment itself is highly specialized as well.”

Like many other companies employing highly skilled professionals, Ontario Drive & Gear is facing challenges arising from retiring workers. To address this, the company is striving “to bring knowledge to the next generation,” says Brown. “It’s not something where you can sit in a boardroom and come out being a gear expert, but developed over a long period. It’s a learning exercise—hands-on, working on machines—and requires a lot of investment in people. Since few educational institutes teach gear manufacturing, a lot of what we do is develop good machinists into good gear manufacturers. There’s a lot of in-house training, and we rely on some of our machine manufacturers to provide some training.”

The recently renamed Motion and Power Manufacturers Alliance (MPMA)—formerly the American Gear Manufacturers Association (AGMA)—provides some training as well. “We have to grow our own talent in many respects,” says Brown.

Local business, worldwide reach
Through its global dealer network, the company ships to customers across North America, South America, and Europe. Customers choose to work with ODG for many reasons, including the company’s outstanding work, customer service, and reduced lead and travel time. “We are a very high-quality, high-skilled manufacturing facility, where the product we put out the door is the best quality,” Brown says. “If there is a problem, we are very responsive. If there is a design change requirement, we are very responsive. And if there is a demand change—whether they need to expedite or draw back—we are very responsive. We can be on site with most of our customers within 24 hours if need be.”

Sometime, customers come to ODG with finished drawings; other times, they arrive with just an idea. In either case, the professionals at ODG can help. “We manufacture to print or help develop a concept,” says Brown of the company and its in-house design capabilities. “It just depends on the scope and size of the project. We like to call it design, manufacture, assemble, and test. We are a custom gear shop, small to medium production volume. We are niche, and we do very high-precision work and lower volume than most gear manufacturers do.”

Decades of gear knowledge, a high level of service, in-house engineering and design, and the ability to pinpoint potential issues puts ODG at an advantage. Sometimes customers come to the company with an existing design that just doesn’t work. Other times, the design works, but not as efficiently or quietly as it could. In those cases, ODG’s talented engineers can take a client’s existing design, perform a gear analysis or assembly analysis, and suggest small changes to the gear geometry could take the decibels down to an acceptable level.

“It really depends on what the customer needs,” Brown explains. “Is it weight savings? Is it cost savings? Is it noise concerns? And that’s where we lean on our design expertise, our capabilities, our talented team members, over 60 years of manufacturing experience, and some of the latest equipment to develop a better product for an existing customer.”

As a production facility, ODG typically pursues production volumes, or projects that will have a future in production. This can range from as few as one or two pieces in the prototyping and pre-production phases up to about 100,000 pieces a year, depending on the product, market, and customer needs. “Much of what we do today is lot sizes from 50 pieces up to 3,500 pieces a lot, and annual volumes ranging up to 35,000 is fairly common,” says Brown.

Gears range in size from 6mm to 500mm in diameter. Although most are made from ferrous or non-ferrous alloys which are case-hardened, ODG will also handle plastics, bronze, and brass. “Gearing is about carrying torque and power, so really soft materials are rare in the gear industry—it would be niche applications for actuators. The vast majority, probably 98 percent of what we do, is ferrous metals that can be case-hardened,” explains Brendan Purcell, Business Development Manager.

The solutions customers are seeking
Ontario Drive & Gear considers itself a ‘Customer first’ business, Brown tells us. “We like to be a solutions provider, and realistically, if it’s outside of our scope of internal expertise, we can help you source whatever you need.”

The gear industry is complex, and investments can be significant for companies seeking to be a jack of all trades of gear manufacturing. In approaching its customers to determine their needs, the ODG team—who refer to themselves as “a bunch of gear geeks”—listens to their customers, their requirements, and any existing or potential design issues.

“We aren’t just a machine shop; we are much more than that,” says Purcell. “We have a design, manufacture, and assemble philosophy here. So we can help with everything from black box design, where the requirements of the mechanical system itself are unknown, all the way through to production, or anything in between. And for the size of our company, we are a large supply chain both domestically and internationally.”

Gearing up for the future
In business for 64 years, Ontario Drive & Gear continues to grow mindfully. Many times, the runway for projects is very long—sometimes six months to a year or longer from the quoting stage to production. And continuing to invest in equipment means the team looks not only for replacements, but for the next advanced technology. “Parts are getting more complex,” says Brown. “That’s the niche environment we live in, and we have to have specialty equipment to do it. It’s about investing in the people as well.”

Owing to the company’s location, ODG is able to draw on the next generation of talent from institutions such as the University of Waterloo and Conestoga College. At any one time, the company has several co-op students from the University in various departments including manufacturing, engineering, and quality engineering. “We are also going further, planting some seeds with the local school board here, to see if we can get some interest at the high school level as well,” says Purcell.

Although the company advertises through its website and LinkedIn page, ODG finds word-of-mouth is still its best promotion. “We attend trade shows, but we don’t necessarily show at them,” says Brown. “Having these connections—and with our sister company in the off-road recreational space—we often say, ‘Come to our factory, see what we do and how we manage our processes.’ We’re not just gear manufacturers; we are also gear users. We put these products into our own vehicles, and we know how they work, and we know the legacy of them in the field,” he says.

“Once we have someone interested in engaging with us on a project, we like to get them into a plant, introduce them to our processes and our people, and I think that’s what really draws people to continue to work with us. Our best marketing tools are our factory and our people.”

The post Proven Products, Superior Service<p class="company">Ontario Drive & Gear (ODG)</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

The company, which works with about 75 suppliers around the world, previously operated primarily as a sourcing partner to their global OEM customers, and now with their vertically integrated manufacturing capabilities, operates as a true manufacturing partner, often providing customers with value adding engineering services as well.

A growing global footprint
Founded in 1985, Brukar has become a well-known contract manufacturer of metal components including precision castings, prototypes, machined parts, weldments, forgings, assemblies, and stamped/formed sheet metal components. Along with comprehensive contract manufacturing and supply chain services for North American OEM customers, Brukar offers procurement consolidation, design and engineering, quality assurance, and inventory solutions. These services are used by clients spanning a wide variety of industries to purchase custom metal components manufactured at low costs overseas without the headaches associated with managing overseas suppliers and supply chains. The company’s Oakville, Ontario warehouse provides a local inventory solution to customers, allowing them to keep product off their balance sheets until needed, freeing up valuable cash flow to allocate to their own strategic operations.

“Through communication with some of our larger multinational customers, it has become clear that there is a need for a service offering like Brukar’s in the European market,” says Gagnon. Because of this, the company is excited to be in the planning stages of opening a European office and warehouse from whence they will support new and existing European customers in the same way they have their North American customers for the past 40 years.

Like many other Canadian-based companies, Brukar is also faced with what Gagnon calls “Policy by Tweet.” In 2025 alone, the company navigated through 55 changes to tariff policies affecting their components. With the recent news of trade deals being reached between India and the European Union as well as India and the United States, the company is well positioned to continue increasing their market share for overseas contract manufacturing of metal components.

Family-owned and female-founded
Last March, Brukar Inc. proudly celebrated its 40^th anniversary. The timing saw Gagnon take over from his mother, company founder Carolyn Cross. An experienced global businesswoman, Cross had been conducting business between Asia and Canada for years when she realized that there was a void between world class manufacturers of metal components and the North American OEMs looking for lower cost components.

For the first 25 years, Brukar didn’t warehouse any product and was strictly a sourcing agent, with Cross connecting customers to suppliers capable of making the components. Eventually, the company started offering warehousing and managing the complete supply chain of goods. This allowed customers to significantly reduce the minimum order quantities typically associated with buying overseas, and take components as needed from their Canadian warehouse where they can deliver goods by truck anywhere in Canada or the contiguous United States in five to seven days.

As a child, Charles Gagnon spent a lot of time in the office. Over time, he started assembling valves and learning more about the business, and a dozen years ago, he began his career at Brukar working in the warehouse doing order fulfilment.

“It was great, and really taught me to be familiar with the products and part numbers, and familiarize myself with that end of the business,” he says. This soon led to travel opportunities, meeting suppliers in China, Taiwan, and India and getting to know them. Touring foundries and looking at parts and how they were made helped deepen his knowledge. He dedicated much of the last decade to account management and sales before Carolyn retired, taking over as President last March.

Unlike many other companies providing products for OEM clients, Brukar handles the entire supply chain, from freight to importing details and on-time delivery. Being family-owned makes Brukar agile and highly accountable. “When we see an opportunity to do something, we run our analysis and do it; we have no corporate red tape to work through,” says Gagnon. “This includes opening a European office in 2026. With it just being my mother and I—the two owners of the business—we can quickly say, ‘This is something we want to do, and this is what the cost will be; let’s do it.’” Larger companies need layers of approval from boards and shareholders before making a big move, which takes time and money.

In today’s fast-paced world, Brukar’s clients are looking to make their businesses easier, not more complex. Simplifying supply chains is one way the company takes stress away from its customers. “We bill ourselves as your one-stop shop for metal components,” says Gagnon of Brukar’s 40-plus years of industry experience.

Adding value
“There are various ways of making metal components,” says Gagnon. “You can machine them from a bar or stock. You can cast them by pouring molten metal into a mold. You can bend or stamp sheet metal. There are many manufacturing methods and materials to choose from.” Typically, a company will specialize in one manufacturing method, and often only one material; they may make aluminum die castings but won’t also do stainless steel investment castings. Then there are those who do stainless, but not iron, or castings, but not sheet metal fabrications. “We do it all. That’s why we have 75 suppliers, and each of them has its own specialties. And because we are that one-stop shop, we have in our warehouse dozens of materials made through a wide variety of manufacturing methods. So our customers can come to us for any metal components.”

For Brukar, the company’s soon-to-be-expanded warehouse is its biggest value-added service. Although the company doesn’t currently offer design services, Brukar’s engineering services group helps customers design parts to add value—to be more cost-effective, easier to manufacture, or lighter weight. Sometimes client engineers may not be familiar with new ways of designing metal casting, while Brukar’s engineers are experts in all fields.

“Everything is manufactured custom to our customers’ drawings,” Gagnon explains. “We don’t sell anything off the shelf. Our customers bring their designs, and we manufacture the components exactly to their specifications. Our customers own all designs and, in most cases, the tooling we produce to make their components.”

Brukar continues to enjoy growing demand from all sectors, and the company’s new Vice President of Sales hails from an agricultural-centred company, which will see Brukar diversify further still. Combined with its larger Canadian warehouse, expansion into India, and a new European office, Brukar is well-positioned to serve existing and new customers long into the future.

The post Your Trusted Manufacturing Partner<p class="company">Brukar Inc.</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

Being smaller than many others in the industry puts QCC at a distinct advantage. Many of the dozen staff members at the company’s Mentor, Ohio, location are cross-trained, experts in essentially everything there is to know about the torch industry.

In 2024, the company welcomed new staff, which underscored the importance of workers learning as much about the sector as possible. “It’s really about making sure we are cross-trained,” says General Manager Josh Flagner. “Small companies tend to have one person who can do one thing and others who can do something else. As you get ready to skill for growth, increase revenue, and put together contracts for pieces of business, it becomes harmful to have person-specific jobs or tasks. So we are working very hard on cross-training.”

Within the industry, Flagner and Sales Engineering Manager Franklin Mayse often encounter representatives and salespeople from other, larger companies. These are friendly relationships but serve to remind Flagner and Mayse of the importance of knowing everything about torches, from what gloves to wear to the best torch for a specific task, as part of the team’s expertise is being able to work with local gas reps to solve customer problems.

Smart growth
Growing at a measured pace, QCC acquired assets from a small machining company last fall, which were moved to its Mentor facility. This included a new CNC mill, measurement equipment, quality control inspection equipment, and some manual machines. This year, the company will invest in outside training at a machine shop to create in-house experts for its CNC machines, and it is currently upgrading its part cleaning line and procedure. The team will be able to offer Cleaned for Oxygen Service certification to customers.

Prioritizing environmental responsibility, QCC also recently purchased water tanks for its treatment system and is actively working on chemical mitigation with an outside firm to ensure nothing harmful goes down the drain. “We are having a company come and mitigate the chemicals once we are done, take it away, and make sure we are doing our part to conserve the local environment,” Flagner shares. QCC’s membership in ReMA, the Recycled Materials Association, and AIST, the Association for Iron & Steel Technology, speak to the company’s enduring focus on quality and sustainability.

Made in America
Unlike many of its competitors, Quality Components Company manufactures its products in America. Designed and built to last, the company’s products are widely used in scrap yards, foundries, steel mills, shipyards, railroads, and other industries for scrap cutting, fabrication, steel conditioning, and emergency purposes where quality, reliability, and durability are essential.

For the past several years, the team at QCC has been part of many conversations about offshoring, reshoring, and tariffs, with customers caring about “Made in America” more than ever. Although some competitors like to promote domestic manufacturing, the reality is that some of them offshore their manufacturing to Poland, Brazil, and other countries, or are owned by foreign multinationals.

When discussing QCC’s gas apparatus torch niche, Flagner says many others in the sector are sourcing foreign product and performing assembly work in the U.S. (or doing all of it overseas or in Mexico and importing and selling in the States). At present, there are only two domestically owned and domestically manufactured and sourced companies, with the majority doing their work overseas. QCC, conversely, is committed to making every effort to source as much of its material in America as possible. “For a small company like ours, a lot of the reason we do that is that it’s easier to communicate and control things with our vendors if they’re domestic.”

“There’s lots of lip service paid to domestic sourcing in our niche industry, but not a lot of action,” Flagner tells us. “What we’ve seen is a lot of talk about how much domestic sourcing matters and obviously, we’ve got DOD manufacturing that heavily wants to be domestic. There are all sorts of big contract and projects where it’s really important to be a domestic company.” Although QCC doesn’t sell directly to the Department of Defense (DOD), it has a series of products specifically designed for applications relevant to DOD activities, as DOD contractors come to QCC for products.

Continuous improvement
Ever since QCC was founded in 1975 as Quality Repair Company—a torch and repair shop for local steel mills—the company has dedicated itself to high-quality, timely customer service. Continuing to build on its expertise, the company began manufacturing its first torches in 1985 after identifying the best features and components in existence. And in 1999, after adding engineering and manufacturing to its roster, the business changed its name to Quality Components Company.

The years that followed saw QCC continue to develop, engineer, and build additional torch offerings, and simultaneously build its reputation. “In 2017, we designed our patented flowmeter and QC-series torch tips, and to this day, QCC is the only oxy-fuel equipment manufacturer capable of producing a torch that can cut non-ferrous material up to 60” thick,” states the company.

Today, QCC counts many scrap providers and scrap contractors among its customers. All of them provide steel to local mills, where the product goes straight out and comes right back so it can be remelted. Many mills have bought scrap companies to shorten the supply chain and are now vertically integrated.

At present, QCC has an approximate 40/60 split between direct customers and distributors, and about the same split between scrap yards and steel mills. “We have a heavy presence in a lot of mills in the Midwest, the East Coast, the South, and even Canada,” says Flagner. Although all areas of the business are growing, the company is seeing increased activity from scrap yards, many of them located nearby. The reasons are both environmental and cost-related; recycling is a multi-billion-dollar industry, and it makes sense for companies to keep it in-house.

“There is a huge push for saving money and saving energy because of the steel manufacturing process,” Flagner explains. “Old-fashioned blast furnaces use a ton of energy and make a lot of pollution. Recycling—if you can do electric arc furnace and melt the scrap down—saves a lot of energy.”

Looking ahead
By the end of 2026, Quality Components Company aims to expand the team with additional full-time staff, and Flagner and Mayse say there are plans in the works to increase the company’s volume, enabling the company to continue investing in equipment, developing its cleaning line, and expanding its offerings.

“We talk a lot about making torches, and we’re really great at that,” says Flagner. “However, we’re also great at making flowmeters, regulators, and gas apparatuses. We have gone into steel mills and created custom station drops, where we are regulating and metering oxygen and natural gas for their furnaces or their torch stations, or anything they need in those facilities.”

A hands-on company, QCC will create custom gas apparatus for efficiently moving gas around, ensuring the pressure, filtration, and regulation are all correct at torching stations. “We are going to provide you the knowledge, the expertise, and the service that goes along with making the best torch. We make a torch that’s durable, has the highest quality, and breaks less than other torches,” says Mayse.

“Everybody else is about customer service and salespeople, but not everybody else can get Frank on a plane to Alabama to figure out why you are having an issue in your melt shop and fix that issue,” says Flagner. “Our goal in 2026 is to make sure that when and where we go to market, we are not just a torch or regulator company, we are a problem solver. We are going to come out and help.”

The post Solving Customer Challenges with the Best Torches in the Business<p class="company">Quality Components Company</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

When he decided to go his own way in his own company in 2013, Applegate researched everything from available web addresses to search terms and marketing. Although undecided on a company name, he knew he didn’t want ‘plastic’ to feature because it was too generic. “But if somebody understands the term ‘injection molding,’ they know what they’re buying,” he says.

For his Texas-based, regional service business and contract molder, Applegate acquired several URLs with ‘Texas’ in the name before selecting the one that fit his vision and mission: Texas Injection Molding. A plus was that the name would suit a company that was to be marketed through the internet rather than a sales force, a decision of his that would prove extremely successful.

“We have had more inquiries than capacity, and that’s how we’ve continued to grow: build more buildings, buy more machines, and expand more than 10 times in the first decade,” says Applegate. “That strategy has been great, and not having outside sales resources is a unique aspect of the business.”

Although CEO from the start, Applegate’s recent transition to “Chief Encouragement Officer” came after Texas Injection Molding received investment from private equity firm Blackford Capital last November. The influx of capital will enable the company to expand further and access Blackford’s wealth of experience “in identifying and integrating acquisitions,” the company says.

Says Blackford CEO Martin Stein, “We have been impressed with Texas Injection Molding’s engineering capabilities, tooling, and resources, and are excited to partner with the team as they take advantage of the many opportunities available in Texas today. We will look to support the business growth across Texas and other high-growth regions across the country by leveraging our industry and regional experience with Lubbock, Texas-based Industrial Molding Corporation. We’re thrilled to have another investment in Texas, and we’re excited to grow this fantastic business and team.”

Texas Injection Molding’s current management team will remain in their roles, and Applegate is eager to embrace his new position. When he originally purchased the company, Applegate’s dad, Steve, was his greatest champion. Confident in his son’s abilities, Steve not only supported his son morally but also financially, offering to invest 10 percent in the business. Jeff was initially reluctant to accept because of the possible risk, but Steve insisted. “It was wonderful, because not only was it a good financial investment for him, but it gave us something to share and talk about,” says Jeff. “He was my chief encourager.”

Although retired, Steve dedicated his time to helping his son, researching information about injection molding, markets, potential customers, suppliers, and more. “Anybody who knew him knew he was a chief encourager, building other people up. My job description is to help customers and employees prosper personally and professionally. I moved from a coach to a cheerleader, and that’s where Chief Encourager comes through.”

As a sign of his appreciation, Jeff bought business cards for his dad, planning to give them to him for Christmas 2020. Sadly, he never got the chance, with Steve passing away during the pandemic just two weeks before Christmas. The cards bore the title he awarded his father: “Chief Encourager.”

A few years later, when Applegate invited Blackford Capital to come and help grow the business, Jeff took over his dad’s title and became Chief Encourager to the company himself.

Rooted in quality
ISO 9001:2015 certified, Texas Injection Molding currently operates 33 plastic injection molding machines from 55 to 1,350 tons. Serving a range of sectors including recreation and outdoors, food and beverage, medical and pharmaceutical, business electronics, energy, industrial, and safety, the company operates three shifts, five to seven days a week. Energy, construction, commercial and home components, and components for the air conditioning industry account for a considerable part of the business, and the company has also seen some re-shoring, with manufacturers bringing components back to America—and Applegate expects to see more.

“I feel that now is the most optimistic I have been about manufacturing returning to the United States,” he says. “You are seeing it in the news, the commitments to invest in the U.S.”

Along with some foreign companies in automotive moving manufacturing to America—especially in the economically inviting southern states with their available labor, lower taxes, and other incentives—Applegate has seen investment in data centers, solar power manufacturing, and other industries. “That’s where we see the opportunities for us to expand beyond Texas and do what we do in areas where there is growth,” he says.

Building a reputation for quality products and timely, professional services, Texas Injection Molding primarily serves industrial OEMs and suppliers of components to other manufacturing companies. On the smaller side of things, the company’s components include grommets or bushings of just a few grams in weight, while larger products include lane delineator curbs bolted to the ground weighing 10 to 15 pounds, large caps covering underground storage tanks holding natural gas or propane, and restaurant grease traps.

Other products include airflow regulators for the air conditioning sector, small valves for soda dispensers, nozzles used on pump ends to thicken food for patients, blow molding of sharps containers for used needles, water meter covers, and even decorative nameplates for companies like Amana and Goodman.

Points of difference
What differentiates Texas Injection Molding from its competitors is that this is much more than just a molding business. Many molding outfits offer nothing more than just ‘shoot and ship’ (which is what it sounds like). In contrast, more than 80 percent of Texas Injection Molding’s products undergo additional operations like assembly, printing, welding, and machining, Applegate estimates. The company even performs contract manufacturing, combining other components, such as springs and screws, with their own molded parts to provide customers with fully manufactured products, including combined subcomponents, which are assembled and packaged in customer boxes. “Contract manufacturing is a differentiator for us,” says Applegate.

And, in addition to injection molding, the company provides a number of value-added services. One example is weighted exercise vests; the company manufactures small plastic containers, fills them with measured lead shot to add weight, and welds on the top.

“We’re pretty entrepreneurial—looking at opportunities, figuring out how much value we can add, and asking how we can be more than just a plastics supplier,” Applegate shares. “‘Can we be a strategic partner in manufacturing your product? How much can we do to support you?’ We find places where we can create additional value and be more than a supplier of single products.”

Indeed, customers often approach the team with designs, and the company will offer design for manufacturing services. These include suggesting ways to save money, the most suitable materials—whether nylon, ABS, or polycarbonate—and suggesting a radius instead of sharp corners, where suitable, to make products stronger. The company also works with recommended expert designers in injection molding.

The place for people
The company has a staff of about 200, many of whom are long-timers. And while skills are certainly important, Applegate says that in an intensive operation like this, respect for one another is paramount. Manufacturing around 450 different parts using approximately 120 different materials, and running about 30 different products every day, Texas Injection Molding is a fast-moving operation responsible for millions of parts every month.

“If I can get my employees and team to respect and care for each other, they will care for everything else, including the building and the products they’re producing,” says Applegate. “Dedicated people stay because they feel they are cared for, part of a team. When things get tough, they will stick around. The difference between a good company and a great company is the culture.”

This dedication saw the company win Plastic News’ Best Places to Work 2025 award. For the award, employees were surveyed through an independent company and discussed everything from work environment to opportunities for advancement, compensation, benefits, culture, and how they compare to industry peers.

Building for the future
Operating from a 90,000-square-foot location, Texas Injection Molding continues to grow and plans to add three more machines in 2026. With the help of Blackford Capital, the company intends to expand in the southwest and southeast, essentially building a regionally positioned injection molding resource to cover the entire southern half of the United States.

“Our strategy is people, process, and technology: have great manufacturing processes; give them the technology to do their jobs,” Applegate says.

“But the differentiator is when you can wrap people, process, and technology in culture, where people genuinely respect and care for one another. Then you’ve got something special.”

The post Made in America With a Big Helping of Encouragement<p class="company">Texas Injection Molding</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

In an executive order signed on February 1, President Trump levied 25 percent tariffs on all products save for critical minerals, potash, and energy, at 10 percent. The justification at the time was national U.S. security and—according to the White House—“to address the flow of illicit drugs across our northern border.” The White House did not mince words about guns, gangs, and cartels, challenging Canada’s decades of friendly relations with the U.S.

Since February, Trump’s position on tariffs has changed almost daily. Following threats of a 25 percent tariff on non-American automobiles and auto parts, his stance softened slightly at the end of April, applying only to parts not compliant with CUSMA (Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement) and non-U.S. portions of assembled vehicles. In another bombshell, Trump doubled tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from all countries, to 50 percent. With Canada the top supplier of aluminum and steel to America, this perturbed and confused many in the Canadian industry, including Neil Rasmussen, president of Bri-Steel Manufacturing.

Navigating highs and lows
Company President Rasmussen has experienced many highs and lows in the steel industry over the past three decades. During that time, the world saw a downturn in the early 2000s following the burst of the dot-com bubble and COVID-19-related chaos, including supply chain disruptions and work stoppages. As challenging as these issues were, the present tariff situation more closely resembles a game of speed chess, except the rules are constantly changing.

However, instead of sitting and awaiting President Trump’s next move, Rasmussen is out there advocating for the industry online and in person. He has been to Washington, D.C. at least six times in the last three months, meeting with senators and congressional representatives, the Department of Commerce, and the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR).

For Rasmussen, championing the steel sector is not new—having made appearances on BNN Bloomberg and other programs to discuss tariffs in the past—but this time, things are different. For all his efforts, he says there is no real mechanism to help, because even if his advocacy becomes part of a bill, it still has to go to Trump for sign-off.

“I just need an audience with him [President Trump], because I think he’d understand. It takes time to build factories, and we want more new factories here,” says Rasmussen, who also actively posts on LinkedIn about tariffs, clean energy, oil and gas, and steel exports. “We want more new production here; we don’t want less production, or no production. We are good at making raw steel, but not good at making products—not as good as the Chinese, anyhow. We should be taking advantage of them and their technologies, buy it all up, and set up all sorts of factories around here right now.”

Calling the present tariff situation unpredictable is an understatement, with wild drops in the markets, and Rasmussen believes actual discussions with steel industry experts are the way forward. “It damages the markets too much, and the whole perception out there is [one of instability]; it makes you feel unstable. And when you are investing billions of dollars in these new refineries and petrochemical plants and power plants, you want stability when you’re costing.”

Facilities in Canada, U.S.
Bri-Steel is North America’s top manufacturer and distributor of large diameter steel pipes, used by customers in oil and gas, energy, resources, construction, civil engineering, and architecture. Long-established in Edmonton, Alberta, the company opened a second North American Thermal Pipe Expansion (TPE) mill in Enid, Oklahoma a few years ago.

Unlike some steel mills negatively affected in recent years, Bri-Steel slowed its production but kept going during the pandemic. Realizing the company needed more capacity led to Rasmussen’s investing in the creation of a second plant in America. In searching out different locations, Enid was at the top of the list. Representing millions of dollars in investment, the Enid location has the latest manufacturing equipment and technology, says Rasmussen. This will see Bri-Steel continue improving its industry-leading line of products, including seamless carbon steel and alloy steel pipe 12” to 36” in diameter, with a wall thickness of up to 3”.

Up and running since January 2025, the new facility is massive—about 330,000 square feet on 46 acres. Fully renovated, the second location has room to grow. “This facility has enough infrastructure for future expansion and provides the company with multiple options to produce a hyper-efficient factory that can survive even the worst of times,” according to a January 2023 media release.

The new location will continue producing to meet all major industry standards, will continue with its API Q1 (American Petroleum Institute) quality system, and will expand on the Monogram program. The new site is near colleges and an Air Force Base, making it easier to hire its team of 76. “There are lots of quality people to choose from,” says Rasmussen. “It’s been a great experience coming down here; they are very business-friendly.”

The location essentially duplicates the company’s original Alberta site and includes two lines of thermal pipe expanders that can handle 12” to 36” diameter seamless pipe, new blasting machines, ultrasonic and hydrostatic testing equipment, full labs, and more. “Everything to make the pipe and finish the pipe, it’s all here,” Rasmussen says. “It’s a nice-looking operation.”

By comparison, the cost of getting more power into Canada was greater than the entire U.S. facility. Best of all, there is room for more staff, machinery, and production. “We have had such positive feedback from the people in Enid, and the State officials have been excellent to deal with,” said Rasmussen in a press release. “We are excited to bring back 12” and larger seamless pipe manufacturing to the USA and to fill the void left behind by US Steel. This is a true Southern Expansion!”

The need for stability
Along with tariff chaos, Rasmussen says Canada’s federal government needs to shape up. Another issue is the TRQ, tariff-rate quota, an often-confusing, two-tiered tariff system. Some issues encountered by Bri-Steel include incorrectly entered tariff codes. Rasmussen has tried to give officials a system, but they don’t have the people or resources to understand it well enough, another source of frustration.

“From 2024 to 2025, the amount they are allowing in on their quota system is around 50 percent of what the market needs to consume,” he explains. The company needs steel tubes to make its pipes, and the tubes have to be imported. Bri-Steel is lumped into the TRQ, and there is only one seamless pipe mill in Canada—Algoma Tubes in Ontario, which makes 2”, 3”, 4”, and 6” diameter products. “They can’t supply the market with what it needs, and when you completely block out 50 percent of the supply, what’s going to happen to the country?”

Owing to constantly changing tariffs and the TRQ, it can be hard to even generate quotes. Some clients are holding off on projects and just maintaining their systems. “It is stalling and stagnating growth in Canada,” Rasmussen tells us from his Oklahoma office. “We are at a point now where we are looking at investing another $30 million down here to build our own raw materials, to be able to supply ourselves with tubes out of the domestic steel—because with our product, it comes from a billet that goes to a mill, then its heated and there’s a hole through it, a hollow, then we take those hollows and expand them into pipe dimensions. There’s no mill here that does that middle section in Canada or the U.S.”

Paying between $900,000 and $1 million every month in tariffs alone may prompt Bri-Steel to invest even further in its American operations, which recently achieved API certification.

Pipe Tools app
Along with regularly updating its website, blog, YouTube, and other social media, Rasmussen regularly posts on LinkedIn. Another tool is the company’s free Pipe Tools app, available at https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pipe-tools/id372454624.

In the process of being updated, the app is ideal for salespeople, engineers, oilfield workers, pipe purchasers and others to create accurate estimates. The idea was born when Rasmussen had a conversation with a customer in Tennessee who was confused by price per meter, per foot, and by ton conversions. “There was nothing like that on the market at the time,” says Rasmussen of the app, which will also see a new release on Google. “We were the first ones out of the gate with such an app, and a lot of others are trying to duplicate it in different ways. We’re going to put some AI components in the updated version, and it’s going to be terrific.”

Although the present tariff situation is certainly challenging, Rasmussen looks forward to growing Bri-Steel, adding more production and further product offerings. “A year from now, I plan to be in full construction at the new facility,” he says. As the industry navigates ever-changing waters, we look forward to seeing what else Neil Rasmussen and Bri-Steel have up their sleeves in the years to come.

The post Standing Up for Steel in Stormy Weather<p class="company">Bri-Steel Manufacturing</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

“We offer the most comprehensive array of cryogenic services for the manufacturing industry under one roof in all of North America,” says Assistant General Manager Ryan M. Taylor. This is a bold statement, but the truth is, no other supplier even comes close to Nitrofreeze.

Some solely do cryogenic treatment, cryogenic deflashing, or cryogenic deburring. Others handle just deflashing and deburring, and some focus only on cryogenic treatment, thermal cycling, or shrink fitting. By providing all these services and more, such as thermal cycling, helium processing, dry ice blasting, other cryogenic part-enhancement processes, and equipment rentals, Nitrofreeze Cryogenic Solutions truly functions as a one-stop shop.

“That’s how we set ourselves apart,” Taylor says, although he notes that the company also performs process development work and qualification runs for some customers, including performance and operational qualification.

Strong core values
The respected Cryogenic Institute of New England, Inc. stands in the City of Worcester, Massachusetts. Operating under the brand name Nitrofreeze Cryogenic Solutions, it’s referred to by many simply as Nitrofreeze. Certified to both ISO 9001:2015 and International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) standards, Nitrofreeze is the kind of company that clients of all kinds trust completely to get the job done quickly and professionally.

With the well-defined mission, “Serving, enabling, and empowering others is our greatest opportunity to make a difference!” Nitrofreeze’s strength comes from sturdy values such as integrity, exceeding customer expectations, and being a respected part of the Worcester community.

Internally, these values extend to the whole team, with the company creating a culture that welcomes opportunities for advancement, supports respect, dignity, and diversity, and operates with the utmost respect for safety and the environment. This spirit exemplifies Nitrofreeze’s commitment to provide customers with a competitive advantage through the use of cryogenic technologies while adhering to core values of integrity and strict workmanship standards.

Quality and service
The company’s story began around 2001, when Robin Rhodes purchased a Connecticut company called Nitrofreeze, which specialized in cryogenic treatment. As the new owner and president, Rhodes soon moved the business to Massachusetts.

Realizing cryogenic treatment alone wasn’t enough to expand the business, he set up additional services to enable growth and brought in deflashing machines from California. To ease the handling and delivery of the nitrogen tanks, Rhodes moved the company from an upper-level old mill space to a ground-level location.

“Rhodes started deflashing as a service, and realized there was growth there,” Taylor explains. “And that side of the business has been our main driver for nearly 20 years.”

Taylor himself, who had been with Nitrofreeze Cryogenic Solutions from 2007 to 2014, brought his extensive background in sales, marketing, and business development back to the company about three and a half years ago. He realized during his first tenure that although the company had a website, it wasn’t actively marketing its deflashing and deburring capabilities. It wasn’t long before these services were being extensively advertised, setting off “astronomical growth.”

In 2010, the company purchased its own 5,000-square-foot building and, prompted by the growing demand, went from one deflashing machine to four in a matter of just a few years.

Today, Nitrofreeze provides cryogenic services and equipment to clients in numerous industries. Key sectors in recent years have been medical and automotive, as well-known car manufacturers are opening or expanding plants across the United States.

The bulk of Nitrofreeze’s work deals in small, intricate parts, ranging from parts like Teflon and silicone gaskets—half the size of a pinky nail—to surgical caddies at the larger end. Used in operating rooms, these medical-grade caddies are usually made of polypropylene and hold surgical instruments. “We run one at a time, and they’re flawless when they come out,” Taylor tells us.

On the automotive side, Nitrofreeze recently did some work on molded parts used inside Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi headlight enclosures. “If you’ve got something that’s a [quantity of a] million or less, that’s the sweet spot for us,” says Taylor, although the company has processed upwards of 10 million parts per year depending on the part’s respective geometry.

Saving time and money
Removing unnecessary bits known as burrs from parts by hand is expensive, tedious, and slow. Taylor has been in factories where employees at conference-sized tables were using microscopes to perform deburring. And of course, parts can’t be deburred by hand anywhere near as quickly as they can using Nitrofreeze’s services, to say nothing of the risk of contracting carpal tunnel syndrome over time.

“[Our advantage] is multifaceted,” says Taylor. “The first aspect is time, and time is money. Instead of paying employees, we can run hundreds or even more than a thousand parts per hour, and turn parts around in two business days.” Usually, lead times are between two and five business days, with same-day and next-day services available at an additional cost.

“Most of what we do is thousands of parts at a time,” Taylor says, as he describes the risks of deburring by hand. “If you take off too much material, you’ve got a scrap part. But our process is largely non-abrasive. We’re not freezing the part all the way through; because the flash and the burrs are so much thinner, that’s what freezes. And when they start ‘tumbling,’ that’s what removes some of it, and then blasting does 80 percent of the work.”

Deflashing is for molded parts made from silicone, urethane, rubber, or plastic. For proper function, extraneous material must be removed. These parts are chilled with gaseous nitrogen, tumbled, and blasted with fine polycarbonate media that’s almost sand-like. Once this is done, the parts are cleaned and dried. If a customer requests additional cleaning, this can be done in an isopropyl bath or a wash. The same process applies to deburring.

“Predominantly, we are working with four forms of material,” Taylor explains. “We are doing plastics, rubbers, some aluminum, and some forms of stainless steel.”

As Assistant General Manager, he is optimistic about the future of Nitrofreeze. This year, the company is on track to see eight to ten percent growth, and one of his goals is to enhance Nitrofreeze’s partnerships with manufacturers of the equipment the company is currently using and selling to customers.

“On the service side, the three drivers are deflashing and deburring, which I group together; dry ice blasting, which is an opportunity; and then cryogenic treatment,” he says. “I’d like to see us do more deflashing and deburring, that being the main driver, but also see the other two lines pick up. It would be nice to get more machine cutting tool customers and a more regular cryogenic treatment line. We continue to push the deflashing, deburring, and dry ice side of the business—I think that’s the opportunity to grow for us.”

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