When organizations grow quickly, new challenges arise every day. With the right information, these challenges can be turned into opportunities; however, in normal business conditions, such opportunities may be hidden due to a lack of visibility or transparency in business processes. This is where enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems play a key role. ERPs can…
Nestlé Canada is a food and beverage processor that manufactures and sells a variety of products from coffee to frozen meals to pet foods. Headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, Nestlé is a highly-respected brand and a global market leader that achieves consistent growth both in Canada and across the world. Nestlé Canada’s business expansion project recently…
Ontario is one of the most ideal provinces in Canada to grow small and medium-sized businesses. The diverse and well-established economic landscape enables companies to scale quickly, and government incentives such as the Southwestern Ontario Development Fund (SWODF) can offset a portion of expenses for strategic growth projects. The Southwestern Ontario Development Fund was created…
Update: The Food and Beverage Ontario’s Co-Packer program is now closed. Please refer to the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs’ Co-packers page for co-packer resources. Early-stage food and beverage companies typically lack the resources needed to purchase production space. If this is the case for your Ontario-based startup or SME, consider using a co-packer…
Canada is a nation well-positioned to capitalize on the market for greenhouse-grown fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers. Each year there are more greenhouses operating, more greenhouse space available, and as result, greater output of greenhouse-produced products. Ontario leads all provinces in this area and generated over $1.6 billion in sales in 2016; during the same…
The Government of Ontario recently awarded over $3 million in business expansion grants to support 10 growth and development projects within the Windsor-Essex region. The investment will help 10 local manufacturers offset large-scale capital investments that will allow the companies to increase capacity, improve productivity, and boost competitiveness. The contribution be provided through the Southwestern…
The Government of Canada recently expanded the scope of several of its most popular innovation funds and combined them into one broader program to help fuel this potential for innovation within Canadian businesses and organizations. The new Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) will provide up to $1.26 billion in funding over the next five years to…
Canadian manufacturers have reached a critical point where continuous improvements aren’t just an asset; they’re necessary for survival. Failure to improve a business’ value-adding processes will almost always result in competitiveness issues; however, many organizations don’t have a system to measure and improve value-added processes. Without these activities, it’s impossible to understand where value is…
Eagle Graphite Inc. is a producer and processor of high-carbon flake graphite. The company’s graphite mine, located in British Columbia, provides high-quality flake graphite, which is commonly used to create advanced composite materials. Graphite has uses such as aerospace and automotive parts, sports equipment, and alternative-energy fuel cells. The ability to manipulate this material in…
I have worked for businesses of varying sizes in numerous industries, and have often found myself wondering how innovators generate breakthrough ideas. For example, how did Kiichiro Toyoda come up with the Toyota Production System? How do innovators discover great new opportunities that others fail to see? How did the greatest innovators in the world…