Manufacturing in Manitoba

WINNIPEG FREE PRESS - THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 2017 7 ENGINEERED COMPOSITES ARE CHANGING THE FUTURE OF MANUFACTURING CANADA 692 Mission Street Winnipeg, MB R2J 0A3 USA-St. CLoud 4751 Heatherwood Road St. Cloud, MN 56301 USA-Anniston 1861 Electronics Drive Anniston, AL 36207 BUILDING SUSTAINABLE PARTNERSHIPS TO PROVIDE ADVANCED COMPOSITE SOLUTIONS www.carlsoncomposites.com HIGHER STANDARDS ONLY PERFECTION WILL DO AT CORMER GROUP INDUSTRIES By Bob Armstrong for the Free Press When the product you're building parts for is going to be used in the most hostile environments in the world, you'd better make sure you build them right. That sentiment is a central part of the workplace culture at Cormer Group Industries, which does business with some of the world's leading companies in the aerospace and defence sectors. Two major achievements in the last year have Cormer's people particularly excited about the future. One was winning a contract with Stelia Aerospace, one of the world's largest aerospace companies, to build parts for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, a long-haul wide-body jet designed to be the most fuel efficient in the industry. The other was winning a contract with Boeing St. Louis to build parts for the F-18 fighter plane – the twin-engine supersonic fighter flown by the Royal Canadian Air Force, the U.S. Air Force and many other allied forces. The key to winning contracts like those, say Cormer Executives, is a commitment across the company to getting things right. "There's no room for mistakes. It's not 'plus or minus a quarter inch.' If it's not perfect, it can't go out." That commitment makes sense when you consider where Cormer Group's products end up. The structural components – including components for framing, doors and exhaust systems – built for the Dreamliner will be part of a passenger aircraft flying a dozen kilometres above the Pacific Ocean. Components the company builds for military vehicles, such as the Canadian LAV or the American Stryker, may end up in battle zones, where lives could literally depend on their reliability. Along with the equipment and expertise to manufacture a wide range of metal components, the company has the right staff and facilities to provide the specialized protective coatings and paint that some of those components require. That means a customer can work with Cormer Group for a job that might otherwise require two different companies. Quality control and product testing are major strengths as well. Named a Canadian Top 50 Defence Contractor in 2016, the company is certified through NADCAP (formerly the National Aerospace and Defence Contractors Accreditation Program). It's Controlled Goods Registered, ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations) compliant and has AS9100 certification – a high-level aerospace industry quality-control standard that's been described as "ISO 9001 on steroids." The two new contracts are added to existing relationships that Cormer Group has with major customers like Boeing Canada and General Dynamics, the manufacturer of the Stryker and LAV. With both the civilian aviation side and the defence side of the company running on all cylinders, Cormer is in growth mode. Cormer Executive Sandra Unik says the last six months have seen steady recruitment of a wide variety of highly skilled staff to work at its facilities on Church Avenue, where the land-based products are built, or Bentall Street, home of the machining and aerospace operations. Combined, the company has some 200,000 square feet of manufacturing, processing and warehouse space. It all began in 1988, when founder Andrew Corner started a machine shop focusing on urgent needs in the marketplace. The company won a contract to do some work for a supplier to General Dynamics and then began a relationship with the defence contractor. When General Dynamics won major contracts to provide vehicles to the Canadian Armed Forces and needed a Western Canadian supplier, Cormer Group was able to step up to take on a key role. On the aerospace side, Cormer Group has built a strong relationship with Boeing Canada in Winnipeg. In fact, Cormer Group was honoured by Boeing Canada for its work on a 2015 Dreamliner contract, completing in three months a job that would normally take five — an achievement that brought thanks from a customer that itself moves near the speed of sound. ❙ Cormer Leaders (from left) Ljuba Milandinovic, Sandra Unik, Romulo Alarcio and Brian Vilanueva. "THERE'S NO ROOM FOR MISTAKES. IT'S NOT 'PLUS OR MINUS A QUARTER INCH.' IF IT'S NOT PERFECT, IT CAN'T GO OUT."

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