Canadian Manufacturing Learning and Canadian Manufacturers

Canadian manufacturers: Some Canadian manufacturers have been competing and winning in global markets. What can we learn from these leading firms? Working with industry and government partners, Ivey researchers asked that question of nine Canadian manufacturing leaders. The results are found in our latest study: The Future of Canadian Manufacturing Learning from Leading Firms , according to The Star. Many of the firms we studied used decentralized management structures where individual plant managers had responsibility for revenues as well as costs. Thus, plant managers were constantly on the lookout for opportunities to increase sales and use their resources to maximum efficiency. Without exception, firms focused firmly on the customer, aiming to respond quickly and fully to customers changing needs. Quality was also an imperative. Executives argued that to win business they needed best-in-class quality. Driving down production costs followed once quality was achieved and new business was won and There is no question that the picture for Canadian manufacturing has been pretty gloomy over the past decade. Buffeted by a strong dollar, a deep and prolonged recession in the U.S. and the rise of manufacturing in emerging economies, the sector has been declining in both output and employment. But a closer look at the picture reveals some bright spots. The nine firms we studied were industry leaders with at least 30 per cent of their sales outside of Canada. They came from the agri-food and auto-parts sectors and a third group of companies chosen for their product and geographical diversity. The structured interviews we conducted with senior executives focused on two questions. First, what was your strategy to become a successful global competitor? Second, looking across the jurisdictions in which you operate, what are the best-in-class public policies that support manufacturing? We found a good deal of commonality in executives responses. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.