Pilot project targets defence contract tracking

As Manitoba businesses cast eyes on national defence contracts, a local firm is piloting technology to ease regulatory headaches.

Mode40 announced its project — and a $2.6 million injection from the feds — earlier this month.

Defence contracts require stringent tracking of parts manufacturing and data may come from hundreds of different systems, said Cameron Bergen, Mode40’s chief executive.

There are raw material conversions, inspections and standards to track. Parts might go to several plants before landing in a finished product.

Mode40 is unrolling a “single source of record” — called AeroTrace — through its two-year-long pilot, Bergen said.

The initiative builds on a tracking program Mode40 already sells. Currently, the Steinbach-based company is signing up 40 companies for its pilot, which begins early next year.

Most of the participating businesses build parts for defence and commercial planes, Bergen said.

“It’s very onerous — the whole system of tracking traceability,” said Beverlie Stuart, chief executive of Manitoba Aerospace. “A lot of the companies that are looking to now do business in the defence sector, this is new. This wasn’t part of their practices.”

Manitoba Aerospace counts around 37 members. Some of the larger ones — such as Magellan Aerospace — already have defence sector work.

But many of the small- and medium-sized businesses want in, Stuart said.

Ottawa’s recent $6.6 billion defence industrial strategy includes a promise to focus on building required materials in Canada.

Companies sometimes track their manufacturing processes using spreadsheets. Manual tracking can prevent small businesses from adding large clients, Bergen said.

“If we bear all the burden and we put more administration work on our people that could be spent on efficiencies, then we fall behind,” he said. “We need to close the gap digitally across the entire industry, because as a country, we are behind.”

Mode40 won a contract through National Research Council Canada’s defence industry assist initiative.

The Canadian defence industry resilience program launched in February, with the stated aim of improving supply chain strength.

Mode40’s pilot is contained to Canada. Companies track data on materials coming from outside the country; that information will be added to AeroTrace, Bergen said.

He’s hoping to expand AeroTrace within Canada and to nations that supply defence goods to Canada after the pilot project’s end in March 2029.

AeroTrace’s artificial-intelligence roots should allow companies to more easily see when manufacturing issues arise, said Philip Ferguson, president of the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute.

“(It’s) bringing in all of this data from a wide variety of sources and being able to correlate that with each other, to find out where these problems might be starting to happen,” the University of Manitoba aerospace engineering professor said.

Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters is partnering with Mode40 on the pilot and on research of manufacturers’ AI integration.

Members producing all manners of goods appear interested in defence contracts, said Brittany Scarrow, CME’s Prairies vice-president.

“For our manufacturers to enter in that defence space and be successful, they have to have very strong operating systems,” Scarrow said. “You have to be a very reliable partner and quality systems are a big part on ensuring you’re reliable.”

Both Manitoba Aerospace and CME have launched defence-focused initiatives to bolster sector procurement among their members.

Mode40 won’t share data with the federal government, Bergen said. The funding from Ottawa subsidizes pilot participation, he said, calling companies’ spend “negligible.”

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com