C2MI and Varitron inaugurate Canada’s first advanced manufacturing centre

C2MI and Varitron has officially opened the first Advanced Manufacturing Centre in Canada dedicated to electronic card assembly and printed electronics. Set in the C2MI research centre facility in Bromont Quebec, the facility offers state-of-the-art equipment in the printed electronics, circuit assembly, nano protection and advanced cooling fields, as well as an integrated supply chain leading to high-volume production. 

The announcement was made during CPES2019, the largest Canadian conference on printable, flexible and hybrid electronics (FHE), hosted in Bromont this week by intelliFLEX.

A unique facility to accelerate the development of emerging technologies

The goal of this new facility is to ensure that companies in every market segment remain primary suppliers, offering new products, new possibilities and new applications so that they stay at the forefront of the supply-and-demand process. Highly skilled teams from both industry and academia will assist companies with their product development and process design while staying focused on high-volume production targets in the different solutions they advance.

Companies can have access to à la carte services or bring to the table an idea that has yet to be tested and developed, using the full array of services from conception to commercialization. A strong incentive for foreign companies to use the Advanced Manufacturing Centre’s services is the Industrial and Technological Benefits (ITB) Policy that requires companies awarded defence contracts to do business in Canada.

Total investment of $6.5-million

The Advanced Manufacturing Centre project, a total investment of $6.5-million, was made possible with the collaboration of the Université de Sherbrooke and Varitron for scientific contribution and is financed by the Ministère de l’Économie et de l’Innovation du Québec ($3M) and C2MI ($2.1M) while equipment suppliers contributed up to $1.4-million in added-value capabilities.

“The Advanced Manufacturing Centre will be key to keeping Canadian companies a step ahead of the competition by accelerating the development of innovative solutions and products in order for them to reach the market faster. As a research and development Centre, one of our main roles are to make sure we have the equipment in our facility that ensure the competitiveness of our clients and members, no matter what their industrial sector is,” says Normand Bourbonnais, C2MI’s CEO.

“This centre is a stepping stone toward ensuring that the innovation ecosystem has access to cutting-edge facilities, state-of-the-art equipment and the latest scientific expertise to accelerate its technological development,” adds Michel Farley, Varitron president and CEO. “Varitron is proud to see this project come to life after more than four years of planning and fine-tuning.”