- Recipient: Molded Precision Components
- Region: Oro-Medonte
- Funding allocated: $2.9 million
We could not have navigated this journey on our own in such a short space of time. The collaboration to coordinate expertise, knowledge and the networks of multiple suppliers, departments and teams cannot be understated. Likewise, the quick response of FedDev Ontario and other provincial and federal bodies was unprecedented.
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Not all heroes wear capes; Canada's heroic frontline workers wear face shields—tens of millions of which are made by advanced manufacturer Molded Precision Components (MPC) in rural southern Ontario.
In late March 2020, when COVID-19 hit, orders to MPC from its traditional automotive sector clients froze. This presented a unique opportunity for the 15-year-old company to leverage its expertise, its vertically integrated business model, and its advanced manufacturing systems to develop a face shield. Without hesitation, MPC President David Yeaman partnered with established medical equipment manufacturer Sterling Industries in Toronto to shift operations to produce Shield-U, a Health Canada-compliant protective face shield—and at the pace of 450,000 units per day to be precise.
Thanks to the support of FedDev Ontario's $2.9 million-investment, MPC quickly expanded its production footprint in Oro-Medonte by 45,000 sq. ft., implemented a new, transformative Cube Injection Molding System (CIMS) to produce complex molded parts at double the rate of traditional methods, and pivoted operations to manufacture face shields. At the same time, MPC grew its production team from 55 to 185 employees, including 115 students, and filled three critical face shield orders (totalling 27 million units) from the governments of Canada, Ontario and Alberta.
Parallel to this significant venture, MPC has developed a first-in-the-world advanced manufacturing system for the automated volume production of hand sanitizer. Its system uses one continuous flow, from plastic pellet, through liquid filling, to finished product ready for shipment. Once it is fully operational by mid-year 2021, the cell will have the capability to supply 100,000 litres of hand sanitizer per day—all produced in less than 8,000 sq. ft. of facility space.
And it doesn't stop there. Over the next five years, David Yeaman and the MPC team plan to develop Canada's first advanced manufacturing medical innovation park in Oro-Medonte (MediCA Park), housing 1 million sq. ft. of facility space across 83 acres. The cutting-edge campus expects to lodge leading companies that can work collaboratively to meet Canada's healthcare security needs by way of innovative manufacturing.
MPC is a true trailblazer in the application of big picture thinking and advanced manufacturing technologies to protect front line workers in Canada and abroad. No capes required!