| M.I. Integration Sherbrooke, Quebec http://www.mi-integration.com Industrial molds, injection molding Primary markets: Canada, US, Mexico Number of employees: 257 Francine Guay, president francine.guay@mi-integration.com Breaking the mold in the
automotive sector
Francine Guay, president of M.I. Integration, a three-division manufacturing group, has been building and “breaking” molds all her life. Guay co-founded the company’s industrial mold division, in 1984 with her husband Claude. Several years later she took over operations herself, after Claude began running Plastech, a newly-acquired thermoplastic component producer. Today M.I. Integration makes parts for the automotive and other industries. Guay attributes the M.I. Integration’s success to several factors, notably the full range of products and services it supplies. These include the design and manufacturing of molds and parts, the company’s in-house trials and validation procedures and its thermoplastic injection capabilities. Innovation, particularly training and education also play important roles. The company regularly hosts students in a variety of work-study programs and last year founded M.I. Lab, in which workers develop new processes and technologies. M.I. Integration’s practice of reinvesting profits has also generated results, notably in 2013, when it opened a new 57,000 square-foot facility in Sherbrooke’s industrial park. The ability to adapt to change and work closely with clients was also key. For example when M.I. Integration’s automotive clients began increasingly moving production to Mexico, the company was quick to follow. In 2011 it opened up a plant located near San Luis Potosi. The company’s third division is now known as SLP M.I. Integracion. Another major success factor has been Guay’s ability to work with and to integrate two of her three children, Marie-Claude and Vincent, into the business. They will play a growing role in coming years as M.I. Integration looks to better service clients in the increasingly globalizing automotive sector. -30- |
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