David Bernhardt is used to producing scaled down and full-sized versions of pre-production parts made on a 3D printer.
So, last Wednesday (Oct. 8), when he saw how the “big boys” operate at a number of Richmond-based manufacturing businesses during a day-long tour celebrating October as Manufacturing Month, he was keen to find synergies for his firm Cimetrix Solutions Inc.
“Most people, when they think about 3D printing it’s small parts — ornaments,” Bernhardt said, who was among the dozen or so on the tour’s first stop at heavy industry manufacturer Ebco Industries Ltd. “We’re into things like aerospace parts, but just a broad range of anything from car body panels to ventilation parts on aircraft.”
Bernhardt, explained his company in Burnaby can provide a valuable link with manufacturers such as Ebco which in the past has been tasked with building massive machines like the tunnel boring machine used to build the “Chunnel” linking Britain with France.
“One of the issues with companies that do things on a mass scale is to show the prototype so they can sit down and go through the engineering process,” Bernhardt explained. “If you can scale those parts down, using a 3D printer, and have a meeting in a board room with the parts you’re manufacturing, there’s a lot more discussions that can happen.”
While still in its relative infancy, Bernhardt said 3D printing has made important advances in the recent past and is taking on an increased profile in the manufacturing world.
“It’s a technology that started in the 80s and we’re at a point now our materials and processing is precise enough to enter the industrial market and call it additive manufacturing versus 3D printing,” Bernhardt said.
The local tour, which included Ideon Packaging and White Water West Industries — which designs and builds amusement park watersides — was organized by the B.C. office of Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, Canada’s largest trade and industry association, and the voice of manufacturing and global business in Canada.
According to CME, the manufacturing industry is a significant contributor to B.C.’s economy, yet it is often overlooked.
With approximately 12,000 manufacturing companies, the sector is the fourth largest contributor to B.C.’s GDP (gross domestic product) at 7.2 per cent.
During Manufacturing Month, the tour of local businesses is meant to show how advanced and innovative manufacturing is in B.C. and dispel common and outdated perceptions about the sector.
The month-long initiative is also designed to allow employers to promote the many job and skilled training opportunities available within manufacturing, today and tomorrow.
CME also points out that manufacturing jobs pay on average 15 per cent higher than other jobs and provide stimulating careers for skilled workers.
That’s why job-seekers were invited to participate in the factory tours and events held at training and education institutions. The tour partners will also be hosting a Manufacturing Jobs job fair Oct. 30 in Surrey.
“These tours are great to actually see, first-hand, what’s happening in B.C. in manufacturing,” said Bernhardt who recently relocated from Manitoba. “Ontario is known as the manufacturing hub in Canada, so businesses out here in western Canada are overlooked.
“But when you come here and see what’s going on in places like Ebco, it’s amazing.”
