Manufacturing growth

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This article was published 25/10/2014 (4185 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg security-glass firm is in the midst of a multi-year, multimillion-dollar expansion that should enable it to more than double its revenues during the next year and create an additional 30 to 35 manufacturing jobs in the next two to three years.

Security Glass Products, which is the manufacturing arm of Security Glass Ltd., is spending between $6 million and $7 million on the first phase of its expansion, which is nearing completion and involved buying a bigger production plant and installing $3 million to $4 million worth of new equipment so it can begin manufacturing tempered security glass.

And the second phase, which will unfold over the next three to four years, will see it invest in another $3.5 million to $4.5 million worth of equipment and add three more products lines.

“Expansion is our key goal at the end of the day,” owner Lee Sanders explained Thursday during a tour of the company’s 47,000-square-foot production plant in the Inkster Industrial Park.

Sanders said the plan is to sell its tempered-glass products to security-glass installers here and in elsewhere in Canada.

If all goes well, he’d like to eventually export them to the United States, as well.

“We aren’t looking at starting this (manufacturing) company and growing it slowly,” he said. “We want to be a game-changer… “

This week is Small Business Week in Canada, and to mark the occasion the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) released a new report titled: the Five Do’s and Five Don’ts of Successful Businesses. The bank cites Security Glass Products as a good example of a local business that’s already doing many of the things recommended in the report.

“As we celebrate BDC Small Business Week, we can’t emphasize enough that there are simple, easy strategies that are within reach of all entrepreneurs,” said BDC president and CEO Jean-René Halde.

“Entrepreneurs can and should be thinking about these factors if they want to create winning conditions for their businesses.”

BDC chief economist Pierre Cléroux said one common thread in the report is the importance of establishing and maintaining strong relationships.

“Whether it is about the importance of seeking outside advice, hiring and maintaining good employees, or building a solid rapport with your suppliers, never underestimate the value of relationships,” he added.

The BDC said the report’s recommendations echo research published 20 years ago by Statistics Canada, which identified innovation as the single most important factor in business success.

“The fact is that we’ve heard the same song for years: for Canadian businesses to remain competitive, they need to improve,” Cléroux said.

“Well, it was true 20 years ago, and it remains true today — innovation matters and entrepreneurs need to do more of it. What businesses need to do today is focus on continuous improvements and not the next big invention.”

 

Sanders and his wife, Helen, who is Security Glass’s chief financial officer, are both big believers in innovation and planning for the future.

‘The fact is that we’ve heard the same song for years: for Canadian businesses to remain competitive, they need to improve… innovation matters and entrepreneurs need to do more of it.’

— BDC president and CEO Jean-René Halde

They’ve also had no qualms about seeking outside advice and help with the project, which is also recommended in the report. For example, they turned to the BDC, the Metis Economic Development Fund and Louis Riel Capital Support for financing and advice on how to go about expanding. And Red Leaf capital helped them with their business plan.

They also spent a year touring successful plants in the U.S. that make tempered security glass to see how they produce it and what type of equipment they use.

“We tried to learn from their mistakes,” Helen explained.

They’ve surrounded themselves with a dedicated and talented group of employees — 26 and counting — who are playing a major role in helping them achieve their goals.

Sanders said Security Glass Products is already manufacturing sealed window units and aluminum window and door frames for their parent company and other local installation firms. But it’s the pending expansion into producing tempered glass that’s going to take their venture to a new level.

“That’s the one (product) that’s going to really take off,” Helen predicted.

Sanders, who took over Security Glass Ltd. from his parents in 2003, said there is a growing demand for tempered security glass.

But there’s only one other Winnipeg company manufacturing it here — Anatoli Glass & Mirror. So there’s plenty of room in the market for another one, he added.

He said one of his goals is to establish their factory as a one-stop shop for tempered glass, sealed window units, aluminum window and door frames and back-painted glass.

 

murray.mcneill@freepress.mb.ca