East West Manufacturing shows its wares

Quebec-based contract electronics manufacturer East West Manufacturing hosted an open house last month to showcase and demonstrate the capabilities of the Longueuil facility, as the firm aims to become a juggernaut for the region.

Attended by key customers, dignitaries and supply chain partners, the event brought together personnel from across North America including media such as Canadian Manufacturing of Annex Business Media, which were invited to tour the new plant that highlighted its electronics manufacturing services (EMS) capabilities.

(Credit: East West Manufacturing Limited)

East West Manufacturing currently has two facilities in Quebec, with a 25,000 sq. ft. rapid prototyping centre in Mirabel and a 51,000 sq. ft. low-volume high-mix facility in Longueuil meant for advanced manufacturing production. When asked about why East West was inviting key clients and media members for an open house now, the leadership team was clear.

“The timing reflects our focus on strengthening client relationships, highlighting the investments we’ve made in advanced electronics manufacturing, including high-complexity PCBAs and electromechanical assemblies, and demonstrating how we can support them from rapid prototyping and new product introduction through to full-scale production,” said Eric Laroche, senior director of operations at East West Manufacturing.

Acquired Varitron in 2021

Operating the global design, manufacturing and distribution services business from its headquarters in Atlanta, GA, East West Manufacturing, LLC, acquired Varitron Inc. in March of 2021.

“With the Canadian manufacturing sector evolving so quickly, we saw this as the right moment to show how our multi-facility model can help customers go from prototype to mass production, emphasizing speed-to-market and flexibility,” he added.

Key customers also attending the facility tour, including CEO and co-founder Louis Brun of Sollum Technologies, a manufacturer of dynamic LED lighting solutions for agricultural settings.

The tour highlighted that technicians and engineers were being hired from across the Greater Montreal Area, including through internship programs with partnered institutions such as the Université de Sherbrooke and École de technologie supérieure – ÉTS Montréal.

Laroche stated that they welcome roughly 10 interns per year to their Saint Hubert facility, with many students going on to work there full-time.

Grow production staff into leadership

East West’s leadership was asked about their approach to securing and retaining talent amid widespread labour shortages across advanced manufacturing.

“At the professional level, it is harder to find talent these days”, admitted Laroche. “However, at East West Quebec, we try to nurture and put a lot of focus on retaining our workforce and continuously training them. We like to take our production staff and grow them into leadership or more technical roles, with many employees here with us for more than 30 years.”

The East West leadership team was also asked about the evolving trade landscape in the era of tariffs.

“We’re following the tariffs situation very closely,” said Laroche. “The tariffs have impacted us more due to uncertainty and partners wanting to wait on making decisions. Although in the last few months, there is more movement now and the uncertainty is starting to dissipate a little.”

Laroche was also asked about a tariff mitigation strategy in the context of being in Canada and having a global supply chain.
“Being on the Canadian side of the border is an advantageous position to be in. If you’re an American customer doing business with the East West Canadian plant, we don’t have the same tariff impact, especially from Asia. Buying material, we transform it and it becomes USMCA-compliant, helping our clients to avoid tariffs when we export to the U.S.”

Gaining US attention

“Our American customers are definitely giving us more attention,” he added.

The East West leadership group was also asked how close to 100 per cent full production the plant was, and how much more business they could take on in the region.

“We have a lot of capacity left,” said Laroche. “We want to grow, we have over thirty customers now and we want to continue that trend. We’re in the high sixties in terms of per cent right now regarding manufacturing capacity.”

When asked about the company’s growth strategy, Kathleen Dixon, Director of Business Solutions at East West mentioned a core focus on serving the company’s Que. client base, with an eye to expanding across the nation through responding to client needs.

“We’re looking to see how the market grows and which customers we can engage with more on,” said Dixon. “We want to put an emphasis on our Quebec partners and growing based on our customers’ reactions and responses.”

Positioned to support defense-related projects

Finally, the East West leadership team was asked about the federal government’s recent commitment to more defense spending, and how this might affect the electronics manufacturer.

“We do expect to see an increase in business as a result of the federal government’s defense spending commitments. East West is well positioned to contribute, given our background in military and aerospace electronics, high-density PCBA, and system-level assemblies. Our location in Québec allows us to directly support defense-related projects that are aligned with Canada’s strategic priorities,” said Laroche.

According to the company, East West currently employs over 175 people in Québec, with customers that include Sollum Technologies, Huxley Medical, Trilliant Networks, Eaton and Thales.

The electronics manufacturer is poised for growth, focused on servicing evolving Canadian business needs across the region and beyond.