Aluminum and innovation | The secret… finding the right niches

Quebec companies in the aluminum processing sector are experts in innovation through possibilities. Not having the considerable resources of the major aluminum producers, these SMEs manage to bring new solutions to the market thanks to their ability to adapt their know-how.

Aluminum innovation has two faces in Quebec. There is the well-known one of the major aluminum producers, who are deploying large-scale projects, such as Elysis, which should make it possible to manufacture aluminum from a carbon-free process.

The other face of Quebec innovation in aluminum is that of multiple SMEs in the processing sector, which go about developing their discoveries very differently. “These companies are adopting specific approaches, by launching into niches that they have clearly identified,” underlines François Racine, president of AluQuébec, the Quebec center for expertise and innovation in aluminum.

Tight mesh

To innovate and seduce new markets, these SMEs can rely on the richness of the Quebec ecosystem in the field of aluminum. “Research centers and funding programs can support the development of new products,” says François Racine. SMEs can also rely on the agility specific to their small size, which makes them capable of seizing promising opportunities.

Among these innovative SMEs, A3 Surfaces symbolizes this type of approach combining significant research efforts and the detection of possibilities on markets other than its natural market. This company of 14 employees based in Chicoutimi has filed patents for its antimicrobial surface treatment by anodizing aluminum.

Its UmanProtek process aims to limit and eliminate the risk of cross-contamination of bacterial or viral diseases. The market is considerable: just think of the benefit of a treatment applied to door handles and handrails in hospitals, to grab bars in the subway and to a number of objects frequently touched by different people.

The company is already working to break into the European market, where three employees are developing the business, and for Brazil. His process is currently going through Health Canada’s regulatory process in order to be offered in the country.

Apply your know-how elsewhere

While following this rigorous regulatory process – “very long and very expensive”, specifies Myriam Auclair-Gilbert, general manager of A3 Surfaces –, the company sought a way to adapt its know-how to other markets. And the Chicoutimi SME has noticed that surface treatment by anodizing aluminum is of interest to many industries such as the defense, aerospace, automotive, photonics, optics and laser remote sensing, also called lidar.

These different industries need to treat aluminum parts to make them more resistant, for example to be used in an aircraft, or to comply with certain specifications, such as compliance with ultra-deep black in optics. However, A3 Surfaces already knows how to do such treatments. The company only had to adapt its technology by removing the antimicrobial aspect to be able to serve customers in new markets.

The Chicoutimi SME has just launched its A2 Surfaces division, specializing in surface treatment without the antimicrobial effect. Anodizing makes it possible to apply a layer that can be as thin as five micrometers thick, or five thousandths of a millimeter. The company can thus fully exploit its plant inaugurated in 2021, which houses an automated anodizing line and 21 surface treatment basins.

To approach these new markets, A3 Surfaces was able to count on the tight network of the aluminum industry in Saguenay. ” Everyone knows each other. We all have our role to play at different levels,” observes Myriam Auclair-Gilbert. “For each project, we can find help. It helps to climb the stairs faster, ”she says.