Securing the Future of Canada’s Manufacturing Industry

Despite being hammered by the global recession and competitiveness in the emerging economies, the Canadian manufacturing sector is still making a substantial contribution in the economy of the country and this is quite impressive without any doubt.

However, there is no doubt that the global economy is undergoing a massive change because of the changing technology and its various applications and also because of the growing importance among the consumers and producers.   
Talking about the future trend of the manufacturing industry in Canada, it includes factors like transformative technology, digital infrastructure, market access, and investment in people. The Canadian manufacturers need to recognize these factors and make use of them to win the competitive advantage. We will have a brief look at all those factors.
Transformative technology
The convergence of existing technologies like computers, data science and broadband in the manufacturing industry has been proved to be extremely effective. Now it is time to harness the emerging technologies like 3D printing, advanced robotics and artificial intelligence. The combined application of these technologies along with technologies like computer controlled cutting machine is finding its relevance and uses in this supply chain. One of the biggest advantages of these technologies is the brand new approach to the way products are made and also to the skill sets. Opportunities are there in plenty to harness the existing expertise in robotics software in Canada.
Digital Infrastructure
A big chunk of the improvement in the manufacturing industry relies on the digital infrastructure. Understanding its power and the right implementation can often bring massive changes in the manufacturing industry. The Canadian firms though have understood the ability of this application but the Canadian Telecom or rather the Canadian government is somehow looking not so optimistic about it. Some recent government decisions have created a negative impact on the telecoms to arrange world-class technology.
Enhanced Market Access
Access to the market is always very important. If a company is planning to sell products in any city or country, it is quite important to set up the production there. This improves the quality of service as well as the standard of products. Like what we see in case of Canadian auto parts sector. The access to the U.S. automotive market has been extremely effective and has played a very important role for the development of this industry. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the competitive transportation help largely to the access of this country in the U.S.

Investment in People
There is a very famous saying which goes like “Invest in people who invest in you”. Investing in people is perhaps one of the most effective investments in terms of business. In a developed country like Canada, advanced skills are very much essential to meet the requirements of research and development capacities. Countries, like Germany, make it certain at every step that access to the talents is available at every stage. They maintain a strong communicative network between the private sector, research sector and government sector. They train the talents from an early age and also offer on-the-job training and skills development. This helps to maintain and increase the country’s competitiveness in terms of workforce.