Suck up

Electrolux moves its cooker factory from L’Assomption to Tennessee. Mabe closes its Montreal facility to manufacture its dryers in Mexico. Is this the end of an era, when a weak dollar allowed Quebec to be competitive in the manufacturing sector, especially in the production of household appliances?

Not quite. Because there are resistance fighters. Those who do not run on the low end, but on quality. Those for whom relocating production to Asia or elsewhere is not the solution.

“We have to get out of our comfort zone and stop doing the same thing again. It's too easy. We have to innovate. Who is speaking like this? A Bombardier executive? A fashion designer? Or a teacher from HEC Montreal? No, Marc Bruneau, president of Industries Trovac, which manufactures Cyclo Vac central vacuums.

Vacuum cleaners are not what Americans call rocket science. It is a well-known technology, which can be reproduced anywhere. But Cyclo Vac is in Blainville, north of Montreal; 85 people work there, and 10 others are employed at the Treffieux distribution center in France. Sales exceed $ 20 million, 30% of devices are exported to Europe and 15% to the United States.

“Globally, we think we're number two [after Electrolux],” says Marc Bruneau, 48. In 2004, he bought the company founded in 1960 by his father. To survive, he relied on innovation and quality. “All the parts that come into our home are inspected. We must always be on our guard, ”he says.

Proximity to suppliers is important to him. “We buy 87% of our parts in North America. They are priced higher than if they came from China, but getting supplies close to home ends up costing less. If the 45-cent coin made in Asia is defective, Cyclo Vac's branding will suffer. “If it has to be replaced in devices that have been exported to Australia, then it will be extremely expensive. "

Trovac Industries are not the only manufacturers of central vacuum cleaners to establish themselves on the market. In Saint-Joseph-de-Coleraine, near Thetford Mines, Soliroc Métal has been producing AspirTech devices since 1977. This company, which has only half a dozen employees, sells its vacuum cleaners mainly in Quebec and the rest of the region. country. Its exports to the United States and Europe account for less than 10% of production. Turnover: about a million dollars. Like Trovac, Soliroc gets its parts mainly from North America, but the engines are imported from Slovakia.

"If we tried to compete with the cheap businesses that come from China, we would certainly not succeed," admits Éric Labonté, 42, who bought the company last fall with a partner, Michel Simoneau. . They too rely on the quality and performance of their devices to stand out. With a small factory and several suppliers outside the large urban centers, where rents are much lower than those in Montreal, they keep their costs under control.

Electrolux and Mabe are packing up and will lay off more than 2,000 workers. “Big conglomerates don't give a damn about everyone. They have no local roots, ”notes Éric Labonté. It is the race for the cheapest products in order to generate the most short-term profits for the shareholders. “Being independent and autonomous helps ensure the viability of our business,” concludes Marc Bruneau. And with our customers, the fact that the devices are made in Quebec is a strong selling point. "

-L’actualité, p.62, 1er mai 2012