Canadian Manufacturing Outlook 2012: Optimism

A recent study indicates a sense of optimism within Canada’s manufacturing sector. The survey, “Canadian Manufacturing Outlook 2012: Push and Pull – Reducing Costs and Investing in Innovation,” is based on input from senior Canadian manufacturing executives and indicates a… Read more »

Summer SR&ED activities

In a recent article, Ross Cooper of Excellence in Manufacturing Consortium (EMC) discussed how the slow days of summer are ripe for SR&ED activities as companies are slowing or shutting down production and attending to pesky ongoing production, machinery and… Read more »

Signs of a Recovering Economy

In the fourth quarter last year, Canadian labour productivity experience its largest gain since the first quarter of 1998 (1.4 per cent). As well, manufacturing sales were up 2.4 per cent in January – this was unexpected, as economists had… Read more »

What about failed projects?

We often tell people that failed projects are embraced by the SRED program, and sometimes it can be a little hard to understand exactly why. I mean, isn’t the program meant to promote innovation, and to encourage technological development? If… Read more »

Continuous Improvement in Manufacturing

We’ve spoken a bit about continuous improvement on our blog, but we haven’t yet talked about WHY exactly it is important for manufacturers, and how exactly you can apply it to your business. As a brief reminder, continuous improvement is… Read more »

Lean Manufacturing Principles

According to Wikipedia, “lean is centered around creating more value with less work.” Lean manufacturing is basically creating a more streamlined process where we learn from our mistakes and reduce waste – whether physical waste or wasted time. It uses… Read more »

What Work Qualifies for SR&ED

When deciding whether to gather sr&ed information and make a sr&ed claim many companies often wonder what types of work qualifies for sr&ed tax credits. A sr&ed project is defined by the Canadian Revenue Agency as “a set of interrelated… Read more »