When you locate your business in Markham, you can connect to the heart of the second-largest tech cluster in Canada. From startups to global enterprises, you'll find all the partners you need to bring your vision to life. One of those partners is Microart, an electronic manufacturing and design services leader with over 40 years of providing PCB layout, printed circuit board assembly and manufacturing, PCBA testing and design, and box build for everything from prototypes to low-to-mid volume production runs.
Charles Tonna, Executive Vice President at Microart, spent 25 years in the industry building and growing the footprint of large multinational contract manufacturers before joining Microart in 2020. Tonna said after travelling extensively for work, he was looking for an opportunity to help grow a business in Markham. That's when he decided to reach out to Microart CEO Mark Wood to see if he knew of any options locally.
"I was tired of spending 200 days on the road and I wanted to come back home and work locally. So I called up Mark Wood (Microart's CEO) who had just purchased the company and he asked me to come join him to help grow this company," Tonna said.
Microart employs over 300 people in Markham and is actively hiring as it continues to grow its operations.
Choosing Markham for your contract manufacturing needs gives you several options, which Tonna said can be great—and sometimes challenging—when deciding who to partner with. For Microart, the secret is spending the time needed to understand their customers' needs—both today and in the future—to ensure they're a great mutual fit.
"The reality is, everyone knows how to make a peanut butter sandwich. The only difference is the person making the sandwich. We really differentiate Microart with our people," Tonna said.
Even with great people, Tonna said, there is still the challenge of misconceptions about the costs and benefits of offshore manufacturing. He added that more customers and leads are asking about reshoring some of their operations to reduce production and distribution delays.
For every dollar spent on a product, 60% is on material costs and 20% on labour. The material cost is going to be the same no matter where in the world you choose to manufacture your product.
"So when you talk about the low cost labor, you're really only playing with 15 or 20% of that revenue dollar. Yes, you can cut that in half, but what if you have to travel there or send a team there often because there are issues? What is the cost of that? More people are starting to understand that," Tonna said.
By growing Microart in Markham, Tonna said they are creating jobs and generating tax revenue locally—two things critical to making the city a great place to live and work. When it comes to growth, Tonna said they focus on working with customers who care about the community.
