Automotive News Canada - June 2024 - 18

18
* JUNE 2024
AI meets 3D printing meets Martinrea
A new partnership
aims to build
intricate auto parts
at reduced cost and
higher speed using a
breakthrough powder
By STEVE MERTL
VANCOUVER CORRESPONDENT
HOW DID ONE OF CANADA'S
largest auto suppliers end up
investing in a startup that
3D-prints parts out of aluminum?
Look no further than the
high-tech practices adopted
during the COVID-19 pandemic,
said Martinrea Inc. Executive
Chairman Rob Wildeboer.
Like the rest of the auto sector,
Martinrea shut down production
as pandemic lockdowns
took hold. It soon reopened some
facilities to make medical-grade
masks and stands for ventilator
machines,
" things we never
made before. "
The supplier's
embrace of
Industry 4.0 -
the merger of
digital technologies including
robotics, machine learning, 3D
printing and artificial intelligence
- gave it the agility to
pivot quickly.
" Once we got the prototypes,
we were producing them in
two days, " Wildeboer said of
the stands made for ventilators
being produced at a General
Motors plant in the United
States.
That mindset is also behind
Martinrea's recent investment
in Equispheres, an Ottawa startup
specializing in production of
aluminum powder used to print
parts for automotive, aerospace
and defence applications.
MARTINREA LOOKS TO HIGH-TECH
Martinrea announced in
March it was lead investor in a
$20-million financing round for
Equispheres, acquiring US $6
million in convertible preferred
shares, following up on a $1-million
investment in April 2023.
The company has also investA
part made by Aconity3D,
a manufacturer of additive
manufacturing printers,
which used Equispheres'
powder.
PHOTO: EQUISPHERES
Equispheres, founded in 2015,
employs about 60 people and
plans to stay in Ottawa's suburban
Kanata high-tech hub.
" I probably get three or four
emails a month from different
states or countries that have
programs, " Nicholds said. " I
don't think that they're that
tempting but they're real. "
It might have been different
without the Martinrea partnership.
COMPANIES
START, THEN LEAVE
" We feel pretty fortunate that
there's an alignment of their
interests and our needs, " said
Nicholds. " Without that, we
have a lot of different offers for
greener pastures. "
Wildeboer: Martinrea
is " always looking at
technologies that complement
our products and looking at
companies where our field of
expertise and operations can
assist them. " PHOTO: MARTINREA
INDUSTRY 4.0
SPOTLIGHT
ed in other hightech
startups:
NanoXplore,
which makes
graphene powder
used to make auto
parts, and AlumaPower, which
uses recycled aluminum in battery
technology.
" In each of those cases we've
brought operational expertise
and we are looking to use the
product in future development, "
said Wildeboer.
Equispheres was a natural fit,
said Wildeboer, who co-founded
Martinrea in 2001. The company
has $5 billion in annual revenue
with plants in 56 locations
in Canada and internationally,
employing about 19,000 people.
" We're always looking at technologies
that complement our
products and looking at companies
where our field of expertise
and operations can assist them
also, " he told Automotive News
Canada. " We're not a pure passive
investor and we're looking
for things that relate to what we
do. "
Equispheres co-founder and
CEO Kevin Nicholds said the
Martinrea partnership is a good
match.
" We've worked with companies
all over the world and
it's one of the most innovative
companies we've ever dealt
with, " he told Automotive News
Canada.
Nicholds: With AI-enhanced 3D
printing, " if you can design it,
you can print it. "
PHOTO: EQUISPHERES
Both companies see the potential
of 3D printing, also known
as additive manufacturing,
to reduce the weight and cost
of auto parts. Martinrea does
more than $1 billion in business
in aluminum castings, but the
metal is a challenge for 3D printing,
said Wildeboer.
" Aluminum has typically
been very difficult to use in
additive manufacturing, at least
in certain applications, because
[it's] lumpy, " he said.
Equispheres' powder can
solve that problem, he said. The
result is components that are
lighter than cast counterparts
and cost up to
80 per cent less
to produce.
It also allows
printers to operate
at higher
speeds.
" We think
[Equispheres
has] the best
product on the
market and we
believe there
will be applications
in a number
of industries,
including
automotive and
industrial applications,
which
is our home
ballpark, " said
Wildeboer.
Nicholds
said 3D printing
enables new
ways of making
parts and AI
helps optimize
A comparison of the uniform
Equispheres powder, top, to a
competitor's.
PHOTO: EQUISPHERES
design to improve performance
and reduce cost.
" Typically when you manufacture
things, you're limited by
traditional industrial methods, "
he said, but with AI-enhanced
3D printing " if you can design it,
you can print it. "
Canada has a good ecosystem
to support startups like
Equispheres, including government
loan and grant programs,
but once the technology is proven,
it's harder to fund expansion,
he said.
" Canada has
a void there, "
Nicholds said.
" So many companies,
just as
they're taking
off, end up leaving.
It's a big, big
problem. "
But Wildeboer,
whose company
was a startup
itself two
decades ago,
said he believes
Canada's auto
parts sector is
well positioned
to attract funding,
whether
domestic or
international,
to invest in new
technologies.
There's a high
degree of confidence
within
the industry to
compete globally,
he said, akin to what he experienced
as securities lawyer for
BlackBerry-maker Research In
Motion.
" There was an example
of a Canadian company that
said we're going to take on the
world, " he said. - ANC
Performance catches the attention of younger buyers
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 16
500e also gives buyers an entry point
into EVs, as more electric options
arrive from Ram and Dodge, he said.
Otherwise, the least expensive nondiscounted
Stellantis vehicle is the Jeep
Compass compact utility vehicle at
$38,090 including destination charges,
according to the website.
Appealing to performance is another
method through which automakers are
finding success.
Acura draws young buyers through
this approach, with sporty models at
the entry level for the luxury market,
said James Marchand, assistant
vice-president of sales and marketing
for Acura Canada.
Many buyers of the Acura Integra
compact - which starts at $42,601,
including $2,595 delivery - are under
35, though the average age for the
model creeps into the 40s, Marchand
said.
GOING FOR GEN Z BUYERS
While Gen X and millennials - individuals
considered to be between 28 and
58 - are the focus of most of Acura's
marketing efforts today, he said, the
brand has begun looking at broadening
its approach to include those in Gen Z,
who are up to 27 years old. Vehicle driving
dynamics, styling and technology
will remain key selling points.
As with Nissan, Acura has been
experimenting with influencers.
Marchand said the company recently
signed Canadian decathlete Pierce
LePage as a brand advocate, turning
what has been a " one-and-done " influencer
strategy into a long-term partnership.
Toyota
is taking a similar performance-driven
approach with the GR
subbrand. About two-thirds of buyers
of the sporty Toyota GR86 are under 35,
Dimitris said, which starts at $35,340,
including delivery.
The same young-buyer appeal applies
to the GR Corolla. About 40 per cent
of buyers for the model - starting at
$49,740, including delivery - are under
35. By contrast, young consumers make
up about 20 per cent of buyers purchasing
the Corolla sedan or hatchback,
which have lower price points.
While high interest rates and vehicle
prices and payments are keeping an
increasing number of young buyers out
of the new-car market, automakers are
confident that won't last forever.
" It's where individuals are in their
life cycle that will determine that need
for a vehicle, " said Nissan's Hearn. " I
think we do compete for mobility, but I
think it's still a good market. "
Toyota sees the same trend.
While young, single city dwellers can
go without a vehicle, family life typically
changes that, Dimitris said. Taking a
long-term outlook, he said, short-term
rentals " plant the seeds of exposure " for
prospective customers who will come
back to Toyota later. - ANC
Automotive News Canada - June 2024

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