Panel: Breaking Down Barriers: The Future of Canadian Manufacturing

This highly attended panel discussion was a Day 2 highlight. The panel featured industry experts Paul Hogendoorn, Founder of TPI-3; Jeff Bell, Director of Research and Business Intelligence at Edmonton Global; Eli Latak, Founder of Smart Lean Manufacturing Global; Jason Riley, President of Advanced Performance Management; and David Rist, Executive Program Director at MEEE. Moderator Wesley Paterson of Paterson Consulting facilitated the discussion around interprovincial trade barriers, technology adoption, labour shortage and Canada’s manufacturing landscape in 10 years. “I don’t have a crystal ball,” said Rist. “But if I’m trying to be an optimist, we have to become a little more aggressive. We have to become a little less risk averse as well.” The panel emphasized Alberta’s opportunity to thrive as a producer of natural resources and the need to expand its value chain. “In Alberta, you’ve got the oil, the minerals, the lumber, the agriculture,” said Hogendoorn. “Whatever Alberta chooses to do, just add manufacturing to it and you multiply the value of your raw material fivefold or tenfold.” “Edmonton region is the third leader of manufacturing west of Toronto, where we have more manufacturing than any other region,” added Bell. “So that value add is very important for our region. So instead of shipping raw wheat, we should be processing it into flour and selling the fractions or baked goods and trying to climb up the value chain.”