Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

The Canadian Tooling & Machining Association (CTMA) is dedicated to supporting the interests and promotion of the trades and industries of its namesake affiliations. It began operations in 1963 by uniting various trade associations into one organization, with the lasting goal of better representing the tooling industry in Canada. This includes businesses and service providers within the precision metalworking industry, including those that design, manufacture, repair, or assemble tools, dies, moulds, models, patterns, jigs, fixtures, gauges, machinery, machining systems, robotics, automation equipment, machine shop products, and cutting tools.

Elliott Matsuura Canada Inc., a branch of the global machine tool supplier Matsuura Machinery Corporation, is based in Oakville, Ontario. Its rich history began in 1905 with founder Hugo Frye, a German engineer, who opened his first manufacturing company upon moving to the United Kingdom. He later married Beatrice Elliott, and together the two founded the B. Elliott Group, from which the Elliott group of companies would spring.

With roots going back a century, the Max Die Group designs and builds automotive stamping tools, prototype parts, and low volume production parts, and runs a training centre for young apprentices. The group consists of three locations—Manor Tool and Die Ltd. (Manor) and its Sigma Division, which are based in Oldcastle, Ontario; and Lakeshore Stamping, Inc., based in Tecumseh, Ontario. This powerhouse trio, each with its specialties, is strategically located near the North American automotive epicentre of Detroit, Michigan.

The world of tooling and molding has, up until comparatively recently, been a world known for being set in its ways—which is, when systems all work along the same lines, not necessarily a bad thing.

In under a decade, Nominal Machine Tool has earned praise from customers that’s usually afforded only to companies that have been in business far longer. Why? “Uncompromising precision, unrivalled commitment, unmatched quality,” as Nominal likes to say.

Rapid Gear is a custom gear manufacturer that has led the industry in designing and building individual gears, gear boxes, and special purpose machinery since 1976. Operating from a world-class, 42,500-suare-foot facility in Southern Ontario, the company has the capability to produce virtually any number of gears in sizes ranging from two inches to 200 inches.