Manitoba Aerospace Week

Where vision takes flight Cormer's expansion customerdriven C By Holli Moncrieff For the Free Press ormer Aerospace (a division of Cormer Group Industries) is a great example of the strength of the local aerospace industry. The company is currently in the midst of opening two new locations – one in New Brunswick and another in Mexico. Cormer currently has two locations in Winnipeg, along with a warehouse. Leo Sousa, President of Cormer Aerospace, says that an aggressive strategic plan was key to Cormer's continued success. One of the key strategies was adding additional facilities with similar capabilities to ensure customers were confident in their ability to support growth and minimize risk. The second portion of the same strategy was to locate themselves in regions with a growing cluster of complementary companies. "Cormer had humble beginnings, but its shareholder had the vision of developing it into a world-class organization," said Leo Sousa. "We were fortunate enough to align ourselves with some key customers, and we have continued to evolve into what we are today." Another focus was for Cormer to incorporate the Competitive Edge Supplier Development Program (a program presented by the Manitoba Aerospace Human Resources Council), which helps companies align their processes with worldclass performers in the industry. In addition, one of the company's current goals is to have composites grow to 20-30 per cent of their aerospace business, further adding to their ability to vertically integrate their customer's requests. "The industry has evolved. What was acceptable 10 to 15 years ago is not what customers are looking for today," said Sousa. "Customers are looking for partners and do not want to maintain hundreds if not thousands of small suppliers. We are strategically tailoring our growth to support these expectations." Cormer's property holdings and contracts have continued to grow. They have recently renewed or landed contracts with Boeing 767 and 747, Magellan Wire Strike Program, Boeing F18, FACC, several Bombardier programs, Latecoere – 787 Door Program, and Airbus – Toulouse A350 Program. "We have reinvented ourselves to ensure we stay efficient, lean and focussed on growth," Sousa said. "The most important aspect to all of these plans is ensuring we continue to attract the right people in the right areas for our expansion since these plans will always be led by the people we have here in Winnipeg. We're always searching for top performers to join our team." From left, Leo Sousa, President of Cormer Aerospace, Sandra Unik, Senior Manager, Human Resources and Donnie Miousse, Programming/Fixture and Tool Design Supervisor. Photo by Darcy Finley for the Winnipeg Free Press "We are still growing in Winnipeg. Several departments are aggressively expanding – particularly our engineering and project management areas and we are currently interviewing for additional team members " said Sandra Unik, Senior Manager, Human Resources and Corporate Affairs. The company originally started small in 1988, leasing 3,000 square-feet of factory space on Keewatin Street with customers in agriculture and bus manufacturing. By 2000, Cormer had transitioned completely to defense and aerospace. It now has 200 employees and over 250,000 square-feet globally. Manitoba Aerospace Week September 9 - 13, 2013 11

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