What connects blackberries, Isaac Newton and titanium?
Posted at 8:00 a.m.
In a nutshell: BlackBerry Radar attaches its trailer tracking system to Quebec-based Isaac Instruments’ fleet management platform – named after Newton – and trucking company Titanium Transportation Group is the first to benefit.
Here is.
Founded in 1999, Isaac provides a truck fleet management system that helps carriers optimize the efficiency of their vehicles by remotely collecting data such as fuel consumption, engine parameters, productivity and truck safety. driver or hours of service compliance.
Each tractor connected to the system is equipped with an on-board computer and a WiFi terminal. The driver has an electronic tablet, which he can move around the truck to carry out inspections, take a customer’s signature, take a photo of a load, read a code, etc.
BlackBerry Radar, developed by the well-known Ontario company, is a trailer tracking system using sensors. The driver can thus easily spot the trailer he is picking up in a yard among a thousand others.
With the integration of this system into its open platform, Isaac offers fleet managers a complete overview of their tractor and trailer operations in a single checkpoint.
Titanium, whose fleet includes nearly 900 tractors, was both a customer of Isaac and BlackBerry.
For Isaac Instruments, this progress is not an essential milestone, frankly admits its president, Jacques de Larochellière. “BlackBerry is not a dominant player in this sector, and they are the main ones who made the investment,” he explains.
“It’s important to us, but it’s more important to our customers. What we want is for our customers to be spoiled for choice. The more systems connected to Isaac, the more options our customer has. »
The announcement is nevertheless a new step on the road to growing success.
“It started in my parents’ shed and it has become a serious company: we are approaching 200 employees,” he says.
The company, which had just over 100 employees at the start of the pandemic, has hired 58 over the past year. “At the last internal meeting, I still presented 23 new ones. »
racing history
The creation of the company, in 1990, finds its origin in the – unfortunate – motor racing experiences of one of its three founders.
Passionate about mechanics from childhood, Jacques de Larochellière frequented a garage in the neighborhood at a very young age, run by a mechanic who “tolerated him [parce qu’il allait] look for coffee.
Later studying mechanical engineering, he was introduced to car racing.
One day, faced with his poor test results and convinced that the vehicle was to blame, he asked his mechanic to redo all the adjustments. In the following tests, he had taken the lead position. Very proud of his decision, he then learned that the mechanic had not touched a single screw. “He gave me a hell of a lesson in humility. »
Another lesson: a driver cannot feel, report and explain the behavior of a racing car as well as an electronic system.
He called on his childhood friend David Brillon, an engineer and “computer guru”, to develop a racing telemetry system.
A third engineer, Jean-Sébastien Bouchard, joined them to create what in 1999 would take the name of Isaac Instruments.
They first offered their system to vehicle manufacturers of all kinds, large and small, for their road tests, but the 2009 crisis put a brake on their momentum.
In 2014, the three men decided to focus their efforts on truck fleets.
Until 2017, they limited their efforts to Quebec, where they ended up capturing 50% of the market.
The company then tackled the Canadian market. “Isaac has 40% of the large fleets and 28% of the trucks in Canada,” assures the president.
Jacques de Larochellière is still in the race: a year ago, Isaac set foot in the United States, where it has some 500 competitors. “We have just signed a few large fleets. It begins ! »
But he takes nothing for granted. He once had a lesson in humility.
Taiga delivers its first electric snowmobiles
PHOTO PROVIDED BY TAIGA
Taiga announced on March 18 – two days before spring – the delivery of its first 2022 Nomad electric snowmobiles, the first in its history.
It’s a little late in the season, but Taiga announced on March 18 – two days before spring – the delivery of its first 2022 Nomad electric snowmobiles, the first in its history. They were shipped to Vermont. The sale of these vehicles to American customers launches “the sustainable off-road revolution”, supports the company of the borough of LaSalle, in Montreal. “The launch of our Nomad snowmobiles is the realization of a dream we have been working on for seven years, with the goal of providing snowmobilers with an electric vehicle that makes no compromises in terms of performance, while preserving the environment,” said Taiga CEO Sam Bruneau said in a statement. The company is awaiting certification of its vehicles by Canadian government agencies to begin deliveries in the country, said Bradley Grill, director of communications, in a telephone conversation. “We are in full production,” he said. The 180,000 sq. ft. plant in Montreal2 is able to produce 8,000 electric vehicles per year.
A first internet provider accepts cryptocurrency
They are neither striking nor stumbling nor even crumplable coins. The Montreal company Oxio has become the first Canadian internet provider to offer its customers to pay their account in cryptocurrency. The independent provider is collaborating with Coinbase Commerce, a platform that allows businesses to accept cryptocurrency payments in a decentralized way. By choosing the Coinbase Commerce payment method in their customer area, customers will be able to opt for the cryptocurrency of their choice: Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Dai, Ethereum, Litecoin or USD Coin. Aware that cryptocurrency is a concept that remains vague, even worrying, in the eyes of a large segment of the population, Oxio strives to popularize its origin and principles on its blog. Oxio is a completely cloud-based internet provider, which also offers cable television and telephony in certain regions of Quebec.
Domco acquires Imprimerie Maska
The acquisition of Maska is revealed. The Domco Group, a holding company composed of Imprimerie Domco Cayer, Impression Prioritaire, IDB Communication and the Tapage agency, has announced the acquisition of Imprimerie Maska, which will form a new division. The maskoutaine company was founded in 1971 by Michelle Larivière and Robert Jubinville. Their daughter Valérie had joined them. Imprimerie Maska, which retains its corporate name and its premises in Saint-Hyacinthe, will continue to serve its current clientele. Its president, Michelle Larivière, remains in place to ensure the transition. Domco Group, which next year will celebrate its 35and anniversary, now includes five divisions. The company has more than 50 employees.
30,365
This is the number of vacant positions in Quebec factories, denounces the association Manufacturers and Exporters of Quebec, which is asking the Quebec government for specific measures in its next budget. About sixty companies have co-signed the letter.