C2MI and Varitron inaugurate first Advanced Manufacturing Centre in Canada dedicated to electronic card assembly and printed electronics

 

C2MI and Varitron have officially announced the opening of the first Advanced Manufacturing Centre in Canada dedicated to electronic card assembly and printed electronics. Set in the C2MI research centre facility in Bromont, Québec, the Advanced Manufacturing Centre will offer 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. This announcement was made during CPES2019, the largest Canadian conference on printable, flexible and hybrid electronics (FHE), hosted in Bromont on 16 and 17 May by intelliFLEX.

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 commercialisation. 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.

The Advanced Manufacturing Centre project, a total investment of $6.5M, 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 $1.4M 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," said Normand Bourbonnais, C2MI's CEO.

"This Advanced Manufacturing 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," commented Michel Farley, President and CEO of Varitron. "Varitron is proud to see this project come to life after more than four years of planning and fine-tuning."

Caption: From left to right: Patrice Lavoie (Varitron), André Dion (Institut des communications graphiques et de l’imprimabilité), Chloe Bois (NSERC Industrial Research Chair for Colleges in Functional Printed Applications Manufacturing), Normand Bourbonnais (C2MI), Michel Farley (Varitron), Marie-Josée Turgeon (C2MI), Louis Roy (Optel), Helene Fortier (Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada) and Vincent Aimez (Université de Sherbrooke). (CNW Group/C2MI - Varitron) (photo: C2MI/Varitron)