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Quebec aerospace activity sends MMTS to new heights |
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by Jerry Cook
Driven by the continuing strength of the Quebec aerospace sector, this year’s Montreal Manufacturing Technology Show (MMTS) proved to be a highly successful event.
The show, which was held at Place Bonaventure in Montreal, QC, was busy and upbeat reflecting the current high level of activity in Quebec’s aerospace sector. “This year has been excellent for us,” says Daniel Poirier, manager, Quebec region, marketing and technical support, with Seco Tools Canada Inc., Milton, ON. “The aerospace market is really our bread and butter. The rest of the markets are up and down and feeling the heat of such things as the high value of the dollar but aerospace is strong.”
However, at the same time, Poirier notes that the market is changing. “Previously, it was more of a centralized market. Now, companies have to look at the market globally. You can’t just look at your market as just being Quebec you have to look at it worldwide.”
Les Barsony, president of Single Source Technologies Canada (SST Canada), also feels that the aerospace sector will be an important driver for sales this year. “This year looks very good. With the aerospace sector in the Quebec market, our business looks very good.” SST Canada, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Makino, provides sales, service, and applications engineering support for Makino in the Canadian market.
Barsony points out that the aerospace sector in Quebec will be particularly important to SST and Makino. “I would say that between 40% to 50% of our sales this year will be from Quebec.”
One area of focus at SST Canada’s booth was on showcasing the Muratec line of equipment which SST recently began distributing. “We needed a turning line and after meeting with Muratec’s management they are very much like Makino’s management. Their mindset and the way they work is very much like Makino.”
SST Canada displayed the Muratec MW 120 twin spindle turning machine which features a footprint of 2850 mm x 1865 mm. The MW 120’s three-axis gantry loader offers versatile automation and flexible machine utilization for two identical processes or turnaround applications. The high speed gantry loader and turret axes reduce cycle time significantly.
Not surprisingly, given the importance of the aerospace sector within the Quebec market, many of the products on display at the show were geared to the aerospace industry.
For instance, at Sandvik Coromant’s booth, the company had dedicated an entire corner of its exhibit to aerospace-related products including a display of a landing gear component.
“One area of focus of our booth is the aerospace corner including a landing gear component. The aerospace sector is important in Quebec and we are using the landing gear component display as a draw here at the show,” says Randy Bossie, marketing manager with Sandvik.
A highlight at Sandvik’s booth was the CoroMill 490, a new generation of shoulder mills that have been designed to reflect current trends in machining such as near net shape precision forgings and castings. The CoroMill 490 can produce a finished product in one pass.
At Haco Canada Inc.’s booth, the firm was highlighting the new ATS 580 entry level angle bending control. “Customers are requesting more often for a CNC entry level control on their machines,” says Boudewijn Six, the recently appointed general manager of Haco Canada.
“Previously, many customers would look at a machine without CNC (because an entry level control wasn’t available). However if they have an entry-level control option available they will take it,” says Six.
Exhibitors at this year’s MMTS used the venue to highlight various new developments in their activities. For example, at Hurco Canada Ltd.’s booth, Robert Renaud, president of H.T. Technologies Inc., Brossard, QC, says that his company recently began distributing the Hurco line of machine tools in Quebec and the Maritimes. “H.T. Technologies has been in the market since 1992, however I bought the company last year and we are starting to resurrect H.T. Technologies and it is in a growth pattern.”
According to Renaud, in addition to Hurco, other product lines that H.T. distributes include Sandvik and Duramill. “We are going into this field because the customers that we are seeing now are small- to medium-sized firms that need technical support. If we can supply these customers with the machine and the tooling on a turnkey basis and support them, they will rely on us in the future.” MMTS 2008 was sponsored by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers.
www.sme.org
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