The adage “Location, location, location” is still one of the most important factors to consider, no matter what your industry is. It’s especially important for electronics manufacturing services leader Creation Technologies. The company is headquartered in Boston and has facilities in Canada, the United States, Mexico, and China. In Canada, Creation Technologies has facilities in Vancouver, Mississauga, and Markham.
Creation Technologies focuses on three strategic verticals—aerospace and defence, medical, and tech and industrial. William Robinson, Vice President & General Manager of Creation Technologies’ Markham facility, said the Markham location was chosen due to the density of tech and industrial clients across Ontario, Quebec, and the northern U.S.
“Our Markham facility focuses on communications customers, especially in Quebec. We choose locations based on being within a one-hour flight or drive of our customers,” Robinson said.
Creation Technologies opened its Markham facility in 2003, and Robinson said they have grown to be the largest contract manufacturer in the area. Today, Creation Technologies has 77,000 square feet of space and over 300 employees in administrative and manufacturing roles.
Many of the projects Creation Technologies work on for its clients are low-volume and highly complex. Its clients include laboratory science leader PerkinElmer, lighting control system provider Wattstopper, and streaming and video encoding firm Haivision.
“We have the technical expertise and experience to take their plan and materials and build those products. We can ship to them or via direct order fulfillment to their end customers as required,” Robinson said. “Our strategy is a little different than that tier-one mentality of lowest cost. We're focused on finding the best solutions for our customers.”
When it comes to talent, Robinson said the company has benefited from the rich pool of experienced manufacturing, project management, and technical talent in Markham.
“We've been able to attract and retain great talent with contract manufacturing experience. That's benefited us both on both the engineer and direct labour sides, where there are people who have built products before with soldering, assembly, and testing skills,” Robinson said.
While Markham’s talent pool has helped Creation Technologies serve its customers, Robinson added that the company knows it can’t depend on the existing talent pool forever. The firm actively engages with local post-secondary institutions to help them train and graduate the next generation of engineers, designers, and other needed skilled trades.
“We want to retain and keep our people here, but attracting new people means going in a different direction. We're working with local universities and colleges to develop more skilled workers,” Robinson said.
Robinson added that the company is experiencing eight to ten percent growth per year. As its business grows in Markham, Creation Technologies is expanding its footprint to better serve its customers.
Staying in Markham was an easy decision, but the search for a new space wasn’t made lightly. Robinson said they spent two years looking at spaces to find the right mix of location, parking, and services.
“We've been able to contain our current growth within this building, but looking ten years out, we know we’re outgrowing the space. We’re moving to a new building on 14th Avenue in Markham. It will give us more manufacturing and office space, allowing us to support corporate and regional headcount and better serve our customers,” Robinson said.
