A prEsEntAtion of the LAVAL tECHnopoLE international Business Centre

MESSAGE FROM THE MAYOROn the occasion of the 16th edition of the LAVAL TECHNOPOLE International Business Centre’s MercadOr Awards gala, I would like to congratulate all the companies receiving the prestigious honour this year.

Each of the companies that have won in the various categories stands out for its exceptional performance as an exporter. Not only have they all succeeded in increasing their international visibility and presence through boldly innovative business development, but they have also made Laval’s knowledge and expertise known and recognized in markets abroad. That is certainly a great calling card to proudly leave behind the world over!

Laval’s exporting companies, especially those awarded a MercadOr this year, understand the importance and the great value of the synergy established between themselves and the LAVAL TECHNOPOLE International Business Centre. The advice and support they receive enable them to become significant players in the Laval economy, while at the same time see their products and expertise adopted throughout the world.

I applaud the vision, daring, and determination of the business people working in these companies, because it is they who foster—and take part in—our city’s enviable economic development.

I would like to wish all the companies a successful fall, as well as encourage them to participate in the LAVAL TECHNOPOLE International Business Centre’s many activities. Its advisory services seem to me to have been greatly enhanced, and its fall program appears extremely interesting.

Wishing you a wonderful evening and a fantastic fall!

Marc DemersMayor of Laval

MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR LAVAL TECHNOPOLE International Business Centre is proud to present awards to five Laval companies that have distinguished themselves on international markets. Congratulations to the 2014 winners, Blu Sleep Products, GA International, Hydrolico International, Dyne-a-Pak and Montpak International! I invite everyone to learn more about the way in which they approach exporting by taking a look at the articles devoted to them in this newsletter.

At a time when both Laval and Quebec’s economic development increasingly depends upon exporting and international business, we feel that the MercadOr Awards are more relevant than ever. In fact, despite globalization and increasingly greater openness to the world, exporting their products or services to foreign markets still requires major investments and a lot of persistence on the part of SMEs. Even now, in 2014, we should not minimize the extent of the challenges our winners have been able to meet, and their achievements in some ways make them the new heroes of the Quebec economy.

The MercadOr Awards Selection Committee is made up of the LAVAL TECHNOPOLE International Business Centre and its partners, Emploi-Québec, Export Development Canada, Investissement Québec, and Quebec’s Ministère de l’Économie, de l’Innovation et des Exportations. I would like to thank the latter for their invaluable collaboration and support, which have been essential to the success of the MercadOrs and that of Laval’s exporting companies.

Enjoy your reading!

Bruno Séguin, M.Sc. Acting Director, LAVAL TECHNOPOLE International Business Centre

Alex CiCColellAPresident

elizAbeth Dell’ACCioVice-President

www.blusleepproducts.com

“our produCts ArE uniquE in

tHE mArkEt. tHAt’s our

strEngtH, And tHE kEy to our

suCCEss!“

Faced with increasing demand from retailers, the management of Elmo Foam, a company specializing in providing bedding component manufacturers with foam, decided to create a completely separate division for manufacturing pillows, which would include every step in the process, from supplying foam to selling them to retail outlets. Set up in 2010, Blu Sleep Products is now a resounding success, especially in the United States, to which the company exports a range of innovative, top-of-the-line products that appeal to American consumers.

If nearly 40% of its sales now come from the United States, the company owes its success to the fact that it was able to develop a product different from that generally available in the market. The pillows designed by Blu Sleep Products are manufactured using a foam from Italy meeting high quality standards, and which has received OEKO-TEX® certification. The foam adapts to individual body contours. As Alex Ciccolella explains, “Our memory foam has open cells. We punch holes in it that ensure ventilation within the foam. There is a conti-nuous circulation of air, which makes the foam ‘breathe’ more. Management has also leveraged a targeted mar-keting strategy to build the company’s brand image. This includes annual attendance at trade fairs, particularly the one held in Las Vegas, the most important event in the field of bedding; advertising and reports aimed at retai-lers, with the distribution of promotional messages edu-cating them on the importance of a good pillow in boosting sleeping quality and comfort; and the choice of a colourful look carried right through to the packaging, which makes their products stand out in stores. As Elizabeth Dell’Accio points out, “Customers are drawn to these pillows. Once they touch them, their curiosity is aroused and they want to give them a try. And once they do that, they love them!”

While the foam is imported from Italy, all stages of pro-duction take place in Laval, where the company now has some 20 employees, who take care of making, packag ing and shipping the products to retailers. Although Blu Sleep Products enjoys an enviable reputa-tion in the United States, it nonetheless remains that retailers there are sometimes hesitant about buying Canadian products because of high shipping and cus-toms charges. The company also has to meet another major challenge in regard to logistics-related costs and time frames.

In their desire to sell their products abroad, Alex Ciccolella and Elizabeth Dell’Accio were able to turn to the right people, whether those at the LAVAL TECHNOPOLE International Business Centre who advised them on exporting, or the agents met at trade fairs who liked their products so much that they decided to represent the company. Experts in their field and persevering, it should also be recognized that these two executives are forward-looking and constantly on the lookout for innovations that will impress consumers. In fact, they have just unveiled in Las Vegas a new line of mattresses that are designed with the same foam as and match their pillows.

For further information about Blu sleep products, contact Alex Ciccolella and Elizabeth dell’Accio at 450 661-1656, or visit the company’s website: www.blusleepproducts.com.

New exporter

Blu Sleep Products

3

www.labtag.com

“EVEn tHougH it’s not EAsy

EstABLisHing your CompAny

ABroAd And working in diFFErEnt

mArkEts, it’s VEry grAtiFying wHEn

tHE opErAtion is A suCCEss.“

GA International was founded in 1999. At that time, George Ambartsoumian, a researcher in molecular bio-logy, was conducting experiments in a university labora-tory. He began to develop labels for containers that would be stored at extremely low temperatures. Wanting to go into business, the Centre local de développement (CLD) de Laval helped him with the start-up of his own company, to make those labels as well as adhesive tapes available to biotechnology labs and specialized indus-tries. Also receiving support from the LAVAL TECHNOPOLE International Business Centre for its expansion efforts abroad, GA International now has close to 20 employees, and sells its products on-line throughout the world.

GA International’s labels and tapes are exported to some 40 countries. Close to half of the company’s sales are made in North America, followed by Australia and now Europe, where, in 2013, it set up a combined office and warehouse in the Netherlands. What motivated that decision? “Selling in Europe had become very difficult, because shipping charges and times, as well as taxes, made customers very wary of buying from a Canadian company,” explains GA International’s president. To increase sales, it was therefore necessary to enhance the customer experience. All logistics activities are now handled out of the Netherlands, where one person answers any requests for information and takes care of shipping. Although orders continue to be dealt with by the Laval head office, customers no longer have to worry about import duties and taxes, and have the feeling they are buying locally. The strategic location already seems to have delivered results, since new customers and distri-butors now feature in the company’s order book.

Nevertheless, establishing itself in Europe involved a long and difficult process, necessitating, among other things, the hiring of a lawyer in order to settle any local

legal matters. Furthermore, as George Ambartsoumian emphasizes, developing a new market abroad requires major investments, which one has to be able to antici-pate. In this respect, Canada Economic Development was of great help, as it granted GA International a loan of $100,000. Finally, the experience showed the company’s president the importance of carefully checking the classi-fication of products when they are sent to the warehouse. Any mistake in respect to their customs codes can turn out to be expensive!

GA International’s strength lies in the fact that it has the world’s biggest inventory of cryogenic labels, which not only comply with different national standards, but also are available in various sizes and colours, as needed. The company can deliver at any time, and at a competitive price. Its success is based on continuous teamwork on the part of devoted, motivated employees. Furthermore, its products are designed for a specialized clientele that, once they adopt the company’s products, continue to do business with it. In satisfying different market require-ments, its main issue remains the setting up of sales and marketing initiatives to make its products better known, in addition to ensuring customer service. While the com-pany can count on sales representatives, “the challenge is to have the right people,” concludes George Ambartsoumian.

With his company going strong, he is already taking a look at Russia in terms of setting up a similar office and warehouse facility there and opening up another market.

to learn more about gA international, contact george Ambartsoumian at 450 973-9420, or visit the company’s website: www.labtag.com.

Expansion abroadGA International

GeorGe AmbArtsoumiAnPresident

4

Dyne-a-Pak, one of Canada’s biggest makers of foam trays for packaging meat, fruit and vegetables, has embarked on a radical change to its management model. The company, which was acquired by a Quebec owner in 1981 and has been established in Laval since 1995, has close to 125 employees and exports 80% of its products to major grocery store chains throughout Canada and the United States.

It was under the impetus of its senior managers that the shift was begun in early 2013. After having implemented a number of initiatives within their company over the years that were guided by the lean management philo-sophy inspired by Toyota, they wanted to embrace the model in its entirety. What motivated that decision? As Mario Grenier, Vice-President and General Manager explains, “When the Canadian dollar was strong, com-peting with American suppliers was tough. We had to maximize our competitiveness and change our manage-ment model in order to become even more successful.” In this way the “One-DAP model”—DAP for Dyne-a-Pak— was born to ensure the company’s long-term pro-fitability, notably through increased productivity, and provide it with a strategic advantage over the competition.

Japanese in origin, this management model, as Minh-Quan Doan, Director of Operations, says, is “100% human resources-oriented.” It works according to the inverted pyramid principle: the various management groups work to serve employees, who in their turn work to serve customers. The goal is “to assist customers as quickly and effectively as possible, and offer them the best quality customer experience,” points out the com-pany’s vice-president and general manager. Moreover, employees, no matter what their level within the organi-zation, are asked to express their opinions, so that pro-blems can be identified and resolved, ensuring

improvement on a daily basis. “To say that a problem provides an opportunity to do better is really at the core of the management model!” adds Mario Grenier.

In concrete terms, the change has been reflected inter-nally through work on the company’s values (Respect, Teamwork, Enjoyment, Innovation and Customer Focus), and then, with Emploi-Québec’s support, a related training component, as well as a restructuring of work (smaller teams—a supervisor or team leader for every 6 to 8 people—and a staff evaluation, with changes to task and job descriptions as needed).

The keys to its success? According to the two senior managers interviewed, the fact that lean workshops were organized beforehand allowed the power of its tools to be demonstrated. Furthermore, employees sup-port the initiative. To ensure that support, management enabled some forty of them to visit a number of factories where similar management models are in place, which certainly won them over. Finally, that the company has a long-term vision has been essential. Implementing the Toyota management model at Dyne-a-Pak has only just started, yet its performance has already been enhanced. Let’s wish the “young, highly motivated team that loves challenges,” as Mario Grenier characterizes it, that what has been successfully implemented in the first areas of the company to undergo the change spreads throughout the organization as a whole, enabling it to focus on inno-vation so as to meet future challenges, particularly in terms of recycling and market expansion.

to learn more about dyne-a-pak, contact mario grenier at 450 667-3626, or visit the company’s website: www.dyneapak.com.

www.dyneapak.com

mArio Grenier Vice-President and General Manager

“EmpLoyEEs ArE morE motiVAtEd

now. tHEy Bring us idEAs, And ArE

HAppiEr. tHE CHAngE HAs BEEn A

pLEAsAnt onE!“

InnovatIve Human

ResouRces PRactices

Dyne-a-Pak

5

www.hydrolico.com

“you HAVE to BE ABLE to surround

yoursELF witH, And put your trust

in, tHE rigHt pEopLE, As wELL As tAkE

CArE oF your EmpLoyEEs. you won’t

ACCompLisH AnytHing ALL

on your own.“

Established in Laval since 1994, Hydrolico specializes in the manufacture of custom-designed hydraulic cylinders and power units. Its clientele is split mainly amongst the agricultural, forestry, mining and transportation sectors. Constantly investing in equipment featuring state-of-the-art technology, the company has developed innovative products meeting the demands of its market. In addition to offering hydraulic cylinder sales, repair and refur-bishing services, Hydrolico distributes a wide range of utility products.

What differentiates Hydrolico from its competitors is that the company has integrated design, production and distribution under a single roof. While the company was mainly geared toward producing hydraulic cylinders, in 2004 it made a major change in direction by distri-buting a variety of hydraulic products and components, including its own Custom brand. “It had been 10 years since Hydrolico became involved in manufacturing. The market had become highly competitive due to the import of products from Eastern Europe, China, and so on. If we didn’t do something, our product was not going to be competitive, or our expertise was going to be used for copying elsewhere!” explains Richard Désy. In order to offer products at lower cost, in 2006 negotiations began in China. Partners satisfying the company’s requirements were qualified at each stage. A year later, an agreement was signed with a Chinese partner and a first plant was set up in Wuxi. To meet the growth in demand, a second, 80,000-square-foot plant has just started operations in Fuxin, known as the “Hydraulic City of China.” Another of Hydrolico’s distinctive features, according to its president and CEO, is that the company trains its Chinese employees so that products are similar in quality to those made in Laval. Two people from Quebec work practically full time at the two sites.

The Laval plant remains at the centre of the process, since top-of-the-line products intended for a specific market continue to be manufactured there. It also handles remote monitoring of production and the export of its manufactured products. Laval employees are constantly in touch with their counterparts in China. Engineering is carried out in Laval, with the related drawings then sent to China so that products are made according to the Quebec benchmark. A Quebecer of Chinese extraction even takes care of tracking produc-tion in China from the company’s Laval location.

This year, Hydrolico has had a stronger presence on the markets in Ontario, western Canada, the United States—where it participated in a number of trade fairs — and Mexico. The company has solidified agreements with several distributors and expects to see its sales increase, particularly through a new strategic alliance in the United States and the setting up of a branch in Ontario. Where does the strength of this expanding company lie? “The skills of our employees, our expertise and knowing the needs of our market, along with a line of products having an excellent quality-price ratio, has put us in a good position,” points out its president and CEO. To ensure its future success, Hydrolico must not only manage to hold on to its employees, as the competition is brutal in China, but also see to succession planning, since the shortage of skilled workers is already being felt in Quebec.

For further information about Hydrolico international, contact richard désy at 450 628-6644, or visit the company’s website: www.hydrolico.com.

riChArD Désy President and CEO

Expansion abroadHydrolico International

6

hArvey buksbAum President

www.montpak.ca

“our CLiEnts ArE rEAssurEd

to know tHAt tHE produCts

tHEy Buy ArE suBjECt to A

striCtLy monitorEd

produCtion proCEss CEntrEd

on quALity.“

In 2006, Montpak, founded in 1959, joined forces with Transformation Bellivo to form Montpak International, a family-run company specializing in the processing of veal into a line of fresh, frozen and value-added products. Today, close to 250 employees work to satisfy the demands of customers from throughout the world at the company’s modern facilities, which have been located in Laval since 2010. Montpak International is positioned as an export leader in an industry in which competition is fierce, given the current climb in the price of meat.

Most of Montpak International’s export sales are made to the United States. However, the company also distributes its products in Mexico, Dubai and, in its newest market, Asia, particularly Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea. The development of the Asian market is the result of a strategic decision on the part of management. In fact, as Harvey Buksbaum explains, “There is a glut in the market in North America. Instead of trying to get a piece of the same pie and entering into a price war, it was better for us to go after the international market and find new customers.” To do so, Montpak International hired an experienced person who is now in charge specifically of international sales, because an exporter has to be familiar with consumer habits in order to meet the particular needs of markets. As the company’s president points out, “Every market is different. The exact same piece of meat can be prepared in various ways, depend-ing on the place where it is marketed. There are many different types of cut, packaging requirements, and so on.”

In addition to its ability to deliver products suiting various markets, Montpak International stands out for its “farm to table” vertical integration, which enables it to control the quality of its products throughout the entire production process. Food safety is one of the main strengths of the company, whose facilities are regularly inspected by the federal authorities and HACCP accredited. Montpak International has also recently received SQF certification, attesting that its products are made according to the highest international standards. As well as strengthening customers’ confidence in the company, meeting such criteria is a major asset for its doing business internation-ally, as veterinary authorities in the countries it targets conduct lengthy selection processes that take facili-ties’ compliance with Canadian requirements into consideration.

Totally employee-focused, Montpak International can count on skilled, productive workers who know the production process inside out. Its new facilities have been designed so as to increase productivity, while at the same time provide working comfort and safety. Finally, the company has not hesitated to invest in high-tech equipment to satisfy the needs of its customers, something that can prove to be profitable in the long term.

For further information about montpak international, contact Harvey Buksbaum at 450 665-9524, or visit the company’s website: www.montpak.ca.

Export LEadEr

Montpak International

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The LAVAL TECHNOPOLE International Business Centre receives financial support from:

1555 Chomedey Blvd., Suite 100 Laval, Quebec, Canada H7V 3Z1 Tel.: 450 978-5959 Fax: 450 978-5970 info@lavaltechnopole.com | www.lavaltechnopole.com/cailt

Awards Selection Committee

ConGrAtulAtions TO ALL

THE WINNERS!