Canadian Finishing & Coatings Manufacturing - Sept/Oct '23 - 10

NEWS
Canadian Manufacturing at
Risk of Falling Behind
A shortage of skilled workers is threatening Canadian
manufacturers' ability to adopt necessary technologies to scale
and compete globally, according to a new national survey by
Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME).
As the business landscape becomes more complex and
competitive, manufacturers are looking to technology to
improve profits, but are thwarted by ongoing skills shortages,
high purchase costs, and the ability to finance these new
innovations.
One-third of manufacturers identified a shortage of skilled
workers as one of their biggest barriers to technology adoption,
as they cannot find enough workers with the appropriate skills
to take advantage of the technologies.
Conducted between March 15 and April 17, 2023, the survey
also shows that two out of five companies have not started or
are in the early stages of digital transformation. If Canada's
manufacturing sector is to remain globally competitive, more
manufacturers will need to embrace digital transformation at
a faster pace.
At the same time, the survey reveals that one out of
four companies are not currently using any of nine digital
transformation software solutions available on the market, like
enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, and that 10 per
cent have yet to adopt any of the nine advanced manufacturing
technologies frequently associated with Industry 4.0, including
cloud computing, robotics, and cybersecurity.
It also found that small manufacturers face greater barriers
to technology adoption than their larger counterparts.
Compared to medium-sized and large enterprises, companies
with fewer than 100 employees reported lower confidence
in their knowledge of advanced technologies and greater
difficulty in obtaining financing for digital transformation.
" More than 90 per cent of Canadian manufacturers are
small businesses and play a crucial role in the supply chain
of larger companies, " says Dennis Darby, CME president and
CEO. " We need more targeted government support for these
companies to help accelerate technology adoption in our
manufacturing sector or risk our economic competitiveness
and standard of living. "
CME is calling on governments to act on three specific
fronts to speed up technology adoption:
* Introduce a national 10 per cent investment tax credit that
is matched by all provinces to help reduce costs and de-risk
investments.
* Support employer-led training through a 50 per cent tax
credit to offset half of the costs of employee training.
* Fund technology demonstration tours and site visits to
help companies understand the opportunities with the new
technologies.
Darby added, " There's no question that technology
adoption is critical to meeting the challenges of intensifying
global competition and an aging population, but Canadian
manufacturers face many barriers that prevent them from
taking full advantage of these solutions. This needs to change
or Canada risks falling further behind on the world stage. "
Visit cme-mec.ca to find the survey results under the
Advocacy and Research tab.
10
www.cfcm.ca
AkzoNobel Launches Open
Powder Calculator
AkzoNobel has launched a new system for powder
coatings customers to instantly calculate the energy
and carbon reduction they could achieve with the
company's Interpon products and related services.
It is part of how the company is continuing to work
towards its ambition of reducing carbon emissions
across the full value chain by 50 per cent by 2030.
" Sustainability is critical for all of us and helping
customers to reduce energy is one of the many ways
we can work with them in order to meet our shared
ambitions, " says Jeff Jirak, director of AkzoNobel's
Powder Coatings business. " We're proud to be the
first in the industry to introduce this kind of openly
available online resource, " he continues. " It will
enable us to create better awareness and enable
customers to really get to grips with the potential
energy and carbon reductions that can be achieved
with low cure powder coatings. "
Jirak says that in order to explain the full range of
possible benefits for individual users, further details
of customer-specific situations would be required.
To make using the tool as easy as possible, the
calculator is supported by a detailed guide, which
helps customers better understand how even making
small changes in the powder coating process can
have a big impact in terms of becoming more energy
efficient. These include checking for leakages in
compressed air systems, improving insulation and
ensuring all process equipment is regularly serviced
and maintained. Customers also receive expert
support from Interpon's technical service team.
" We're fully committed to reducing the
environmental impact of our products and processes
while creating opportunities to make improvements
across the value chain, " says Remco Maassen van
den Brink, marketing director for the company's
Powder Coatings business. " The energy savings
calculator and guide are just the latest example of
how we continue to help customers make informed
decisions that can help them run a more sustainable
business. "
The energy savings calculator can be found in
the True Sustainability section of the company's
website: https://powder.interpon.com
http://www.cme-mec.ca https://powder.interpon.com http://www.cfcm.ca
Canadian Finishing & Coatings Manufacturing - Sept/Oct '23

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