Advanced Manufacturing

GoGoPak is an Oakville, ON family owned company specializing in the sale of retail packaging and promotional products. The company has $1-2M in annual sales with services including custom printing solutions on packaging products such as bags, boxes, tissue paper, ribbon, labels, and string tags. In 2018, they were looking to the U.S. for expansion for various reasons. The high employee and power costs in Canada, their high percentage of U.S. sales and raw materials, bridge issues and delays for importing U.S. raw materials and sending orders to U.S. customers were all factors in their consideration of a U.S. facility. GoGoPak was also looking to bring the outsourced manufacturing for both their Canadian and U.S. orders back in house for better control over the product quality.

New Flyer is the largest manufacturer of heavy-duty transit buses in North America with 3,800 employees and thirteen facilities across the U.S. and Canada. As part of the capital plan to upgrade public transportation in the New York City area, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) awarded New Flyer a contract to refresh the entire system’s bus fleet. The contract required a portion of the final product be manufactured in New York State.

Instead of contracting the work, New Flyer decided to establish a manufacturing facility in the State to build transmission and axle sub-assemblies. These high-value parts would then be shipped to St. Cloud, MN for final assembly. To minimize costs associated with shipping parts to the Midwest, the New Flyer facilities team wanted an assembly plant as far west in NYS as possible. By locating in the most southwestern area of the state, the company determined it can save at least $250 per truckload in shipping costs to Minnesota.

SWS Warning Lights Inc. (SWS) is a Canadian-based advanced manufacturing company that assembles safety warning lights for the construction industry. Their product is often found on snow plows, construction vehicles, and road construction signage. As SWS grew, they saw significant opportunities in the U.S. market, especially since their raw materials were being sourced from the U.S. An expansion to the U.S. would also help the company penetrate the larger U.S. market, establish a Made in the USA product, and reduce overall operating costs.

Microart, a company out of Markham, Ontario, manufactures circuit boards used in the aerospace, medical device and electronics industries. The company has a growth mindset, which has allowed the Canadian headquarters to grow to 279 employees and helped drive the need for a U.S. expansion. Acquiring a U.S. company was Microart’s preferred way to start their U.S. operations and they identified a company in Buffalo that was well suited to their operations and needs.

Sentient Science is a materials informatics software development company originally headquartered in Idaho. Founded in 2000, the company invented a testing technology that replaces the physical testing of materials and components used in the manufacture of helicopters, bridges, medical devices, wind turbines and other products. Sentient’s process uses simulators and sensors to determine how the materials will react under various stresses and determines when they will need replacement. Its sensors and software perform these tests in the virtual realm, saving clients time and money.