Manufacturing in Manitoba

4 WINNIPEG FREE PRESS - THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 2017 NIAGARA ENGINEERING WORKS INC. P: 204-779-6224 F: 204-779-6225 760 ERIN STREET, WINNIPEG, MB, R3G 2W4, CANADA CUSTOM CIRCUIT BOARD DESIGN CONTRACT CIRCUIT BOARD ASSEMBLY FROM PROTOTYPE TO MEDIUM SIZE PRODUCTION RUN INFO@NIAGARAENGINEERINGWORKS.CA The wheels of change turn slowly, but battery-electric buses manufactured at New Flyer Industries (NFI) are making inroads in the public transit market. Since November 2014, four NFI Xcelsior battery-electric buses have been serving Winnipeg Transit's Route 20 as part of a demonstration project. Now, two battery-electric buses are operating in Chicago, there's one in Washington, D.C., and 25 more will be delivered to NFI customers over the next 18 months, says director of New Product Development Thomas Small. Instigated by the Province of Manitoba's Energy Division, project partners since 2010 have included RRC, Manitoba Hydro, Winnipeg Transit and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which provided lithium-ion rechargeable batteries for two of the buses operating in Winnipeg. A prototype battery- electric bus developed in 2011 was tested as a shuttle to carry employees from Hydro's former head office on Taylor Avenue to Manitoba Hydro Place on Portage Avenue. Sustainable Development Technology Canada kicked in $3.4 million in funding, and Manitoba's Vehicle Technology Centre provided $94,000 before the Winnipeg Transit demonstration project was announced on Nov. 27, 2014, on Route 20 — the Watt-Academy loop — a little electrical pun that was not intended. "It's a funny thing. During all the discussions with Winnipeg Transit it was always Route 20," Small says. "None of us realized until we saw the decal on the bus stop sign, which was put up the day before the announcement — Route 20 Watt." There were a few bumps in the road in the early days. The project stalled for a month in the spring of 2015, when hiccups related to charge communications needed some tweaking, but Small says it's been smooth sailing ever since. The 40-kilometre route runs on a two-hour loop from Winnipeg Richardson International Airport to Polo Park, Academy Road, downtown and East Kildonan. While the buses can run for about five hours without recharging, they spend about 10 minutes connected to an overhead charging station at the airport at the end of each loop. The largest transit bus manufacturer in North America, NFI also makes zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell electric and trolley-electric buses. So far, it has delivered some 6,400 zero-emission transit buses to transit authorities over the past 20 years. Battery-electric buses are expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 160 tonnes per bus each year, and Small says the company is actively pursuing new contracts. "We definitely want to see more growth in this industry and, personally, in Winnipeg alone I think this is a great opportunity, especially where we have more than 98 per cent of the electricity from renewable resources," he says. "It's just been a great experience and the cooperation from the partners has been excellent." NFI is the parent company of Motor Coach Industries (MCI), which is North America's largest manufacturer of motor coaches. MCI recently announced that it is developing its own fully electric bus. While motor coaches typically travel longer distances, with few stops, the electric option would be a good fit for commuter buses, particularly in the San Francisco Bay area and Silicon Valley. Both companies were founded in Winnipeg in the 1930s. New Flyer bought MCI in late 2015 and posted revenues of $2.3 billion in 2016. ❙ THE CIRCUIT ROUTE NEW FLYER LEADS THE CHARGE IN BATTERY-ELECTRIC BUSES Manitoba farmers need seeds, sunshine and just the right amount of rain to grow their crops. And they need some mighty big tools to get the job done, including tractors, cultivators and combines. Small wonder the province has proven to be fertile ground for inventors and innovators in the farm equipment field — people like Abraham Plett, who built a better grain auger and founded a company to build it in 1951. That company, Westfield Industries, was bought by Ag Growth International (AGI) in 2000 and it continues to operate today. In fact, it's the largest employer in the manufacturing hotbed of Rosenort, which is also home to K-Tec Earthmovers, a company founded in 2000 when entrepreneur Ken Rempel designed a scraper that could stand up to the challenges presented by Manitoba gumbo. Manitoba is also home to Canada's only manufacturer of agricultural tractors — Versatile, which is owned by Buhler Industries Inc. Founded in 1966, Versatile underwent a handful of ownership changes before Buhler bought the company in 2000, and it resumed the venerable Versatile name in 2008. To celebrate its 50th year of continuous four- wheel drive tractor production in 2016, Versatile restored the Manitoba Agricultural Museum's famous Big Roy. An eight-wheel drive tractor, originally built in 1977, Big Roy is a popular attraction at the annual Manitoba Threshermen's Reunion & Stampede, hosted by the museum based in Austin. During Manitoba Ag Days in Brandon this January, Versatile continued the celebration by unveiling a retro colour scheme, bringing back the red, yellow and black paint colours that adorned its tractors from 1966-1986. The tractors are manufactured at Buhler Industries' headquarters on Clarence Avenue in Winnipeg, where Versatile employs about 400 office and factory staff at a 700,000-square-foot facility. The 100,000th tractor rolled off the production line in 2011. While the company doesn't disclose specific details of annual production, there are more than 200 Versatile dealers in Canada and the U.S., and its farm equipment is exported to global markets including Russia, Europe and Australia. Buhler Industries, established in 1932 and bought by John Buhler in 1969, manufacturers Farm King equipment and other brands at factories in Winnipeg, Morden and in the U.S. The company posted revenues of $274 million in 2016. ❙ GROWING MACHINES WHERE THERE ARE FIELDS, THERE'S FARM EQUIPMENT

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