Seen as a solution to the labor shortage, the automation and robotization of Quebec manufacturing companies have accelerated at breakneck speed in recent years.
The number of robots installed annually in factories in Quebec increased by 275% between 2014, which represented a low in 10 years, and 2019, the peak. This is what we can read in a report produced by the Institute for Research in Contemporary Economics on behalf of Investissement Québec (IQ) published Thursday, The duty got a copy. For this period, this is a more sustained growth rate than those of Ontario, China, Japan, the United States, France and Germany.
“We’re on a very good streak,” said IQ President and CEO Guy LeBlanc. In particular, he makes the link between this phenomenon and the increase in productivity in Quebec between 2018 and 2021.
It must be said that we started from afar. In 2014, Quebec accounted for 7.5% of robot installations in Canada, far from its demographic weight within the country, which exceeds 20%. This ratio had become much more representative in 2020. The robotic density of the province’s manufacturing sector, that is to say the number of robots per 10,000 employees, has also exceeded the Canadian average. However, it is still much weaker than that of the Asian and European leaders in this area.
Data from 2020 to 2022 is not available, but several factors indicate that this progression would have continued during the pandemic. In the past two years, IQ has supported 688 digitization, robotization, 3D printing or artificial intelligence projects from companies in various sectors through its Innovation Productivity program, launched two years ago. The organization has already granted 2 billion dollars in loans for these projects, on an initial objective of 2.4 billion over four years.
“If we have to exceed this target, we will do it. There is no brake, “assured Mr. LeBlanc.
A lifeline
Cresswell Industries is one of the companies that has recently embarked on major technological transformations. State-of-the-art equipment is being installed in two plants in the Montreal region, one for beams and the other for mechanical shovel buckets.
“This year, we were forced to refuse between 35% and 40% of the requests from our main customers, because with the equipment we have, especially in times of labor shortages, we could not increase our production as much as we would have liked”, reported the president of the company, Pierre Jauvin.
Thus, Cresswell Industries intends to multiply its production up to six times, but it will only need a more modest increase in its number of employees. “The market for welders is difficult. We knew that we could increase our workforce, but that there would be a limit,” explained Mr. Jauvin. Several welders will thus become robot operators.
According to him, the adoption of new technologies could even allow staff retention. “A 63-year-old employee said to me, ‘You have extended my career by five years, because I won’t have to bend over anymore,'” said the president.
Mr. Jauvin’s project, which represents an investment of $30 million, benefited from a substantial contribution from Productivité innovation. But it is above all the support offered by the program, in collaboration with the Center de recherche industrielle du Québec (CRIQ), that changes the situation.
“We didn’t have the automation and robotics resources in-house. If I hadn’t had the support of CRIQ to plan the project, it would have been very difficult. »
Increased demand
The Industrial Automation Business Group (REAI) also notes that its members, who offer goods and services in this area, are busier than ever.
“People contact us and say, ‘Do you have a system to replace those three positions that I’m having trouble filling?’ “, said Carl Fugère, director general of the REAI.
Mr. Fugère commends the concerted efforts made by IQ and several financial players to support this technological transition, which is time-consuming, costly and not immediately profitable.
So is this the miracle solution to combat the labor shortage? According to the CEO of Manufacturers and Exporters of Quebec (MEQ), Véronique Proulx, automation and robotization constitute an important and strategic lever. In the context of a survey, its members however replied that they had postponed or canceled investments, largely technological, of the order of 3 billion dollars during the past year. She points out that these projects also require workers, who are often specialized and hard to find in Canada.
MEQ therefore reiterates its request to the provincial government to raise the immigration thresholds, as well as to prioritize and accelerate the processing of immigration files for workers in its sector. The association also believes that it would be possible to do more to raise awareness and support small and medium-sized businesses, which lack the resources to embark on such projects.
For his part, the CEO of IQ is determined to ensure that all companies that need it are supported. The Crown corporation wants to continue spreading the word through a regional tour, workshops between entrepreneurs and a podcast, among other things.