William Crooks
Ezekiel Godfrey, technical director; André Bachand, MNA for Richmond; Christian Noël, president of Engrenages Spécialisés; Patrick Guilbault, senior regional director for Centre-du-Québec at Investissement Québec; Ermina Babajic, director of quality and continuous improvement; and Laurence Rivard, controller, stand in the factory at Engrenages Spécialisés following the July 9 tour.
Engrenages Spécialisés gets major government support
By William Crooks
Local Journalism Initiative
Richmond-based manufacturer Engrenages Spécialisés is receiving a $675,000 boost from the Quebec government and Investissement Québec to improve productivity and expand its operations. The announcement was made July 9 during a factory visit that included a tour of newly installed equipment made possible by the investment.
“We’re going to show you around, we’re going to do a factory tour, but we’ll mainly be looking at the project that Investissement Québec helped us carry out,” said company president Christian Noël in remarks before the tour.
According to a press release issued the same day, the $1.3 million project includes the acquisition of three new machines installed in production cells to increase the company’s capacity to produce transmission shafts. The upgrades are expected to reduce manufacturing and assembly time by 25 per cent.
Engrenages Spécialisés specializes in custom machining and supplies high-precision components for original equipment manufacturers. “We’re a machining shop, and we supply parts to equipment manufacturers,” Noël explained. “We work mostly in industrial markets—with our clients who build lifting equipment, a lot of lifting equipment because of the gears, in agriculture, in energy, and a little in transportation.”
“Right now, energy is booming, so we do a lot of energy parts,” he added. “Recreational has gone down a lot in the last two years, but we didn’t go down because we don’t do recreational.”
The company distinguishes itself in a niche market by producing its own gears. “The particularity of a gear is the teeth,” Noël said. “Not everyone does that. Not every machining shop does that. That’s what sets us apart from the others.”
The new equipment is largely dedicated to meeting growing demand for splined transmission shafts, especially from regional agricultural manufacturers. “Mainly for making shafts—we have a lot of demand in agriculture,” Noël noted. “We have several machines here that allow us to do everything.”
Most of the company’s operations are done in-house, except for heat treatment. “All the rest of the operations, we can do here internally,” said Noël. “That lets us have a competitive price. We sometimes even manage to compete with China.”
Founded in 1999, Engrenages Spécialisés now has about 30 employees and supplies customers across Quebec. “Ninety per cent of our sales are delivered in Quebec,” Noël said. One of the company’s key clients relocated outside the province but still builds parts destined for Hydro-Québec.
The investment includes a $337,500 loan from the ESSOR program and a matching loan from Investissement Québec. “This investment of $675,000 will allow Engrenages Spécialisés to optimize its operations and strengthen its strategic role with many equipment manufacturers in Quebec,” said Economy Minister Christine Fréchette in the official release.
Richmond MNA André Bachand described the company as “a source of pride for Richmond,” while Patrick Guilbault of Investissement Québec said the project shows “major productivity gains can be achieved by Quebec SMEs through concrete actions and our support.”