Manufacturers from Eastern Townships: On Their Way to a Smart Factory

VKS (Visual Knowledge Share) was honored to receive visitors from afar who were eager to see a real smart factory in Quebec! The initiative was organized by Merkur, a consulting engineering firm and VKS partner, in association with the Maison régionale de l’industrie (MRI) - Estrie Regional Industry Bureau. The focus of the initiative was on Industry 4.0, the use case of CMP’s smart factory achieving their objectives through the VKS application. Dozens of manufacturers from the Eastern Townships met on February 22, 2017 at our offices in Chateauguay, Quebec. Presentations, a visit of the facility, and an Industry 4.0 conversation were the main activities of the day.

VKS has hosted with great delight several manufacturing managers from the Estrie region on Wednesday, February 22, 2017. Representing companies of various sizes and from different sectors, these professionals shared a common interest: Learn more about industry 4.0 and visit an authentic Smart Factory CMP, the sister company of VKS, has opened its doors numerous times to allow engineers, production directors, and entrepreneurs to concretely observe how a smart factory operates with its prime application, VKS.

Merkur's Training Conference on the Smart Factory and Tools to Become One

The day began with a training conference presented by Merkur under the theme: "How to implement decision support tools while managing ROI and change." Mr. Éric St-Laurent, director of technological optimization and Mr. Pascal Vachon, project manager in industrialization, both from Merkur, explained the concepts and technologies behind the smart factory. They presented the projects to be prioritized, and the concrete benefits that manufacturing companies of various sizes and sectors could gain from taking the leap to industry 4.0. Change adaptation, from both material and human resources, is essential to survive in markets where technological innovation serves productivity and profitability.

VKS and Merkur became partners to help manufacturers improve productivity, quality, and profitability!

CMP, the Family Company with Half a Century of Experience

Mr. Michel Labrecque, vice-president of human resources at CMP Advanced Mechanical Solutions, presented a portrait of the family business founded in 1965. With more than 50 years of experience, CMP is a successful smart factory that has been able to adapt to change over time. Moreover, CMP developed the VKS application to meet the needs of all industries. The loss of knowledge due to an aging workforce and the loss of productivity and profitability are some examples of the problems encountered by a large number of manufacturing companies in North America and around the world. As VKS was successfully addressing these issues, CMP decided to offer its software solution to the industrial world so that it could benefit from this application, which was born from the concrete experience of the Chateauguay manufacturer.

VKS, the Application for Innovative Manufacturers

Mr. Ryan Zimmermann, director of business development at VKS, presented the concrete benefits the application has brought to its customers based in over 30 countries. Increase of productivity, reduction of defects, traceability, standardization of knowledge… All these are advantages that VKS provides to small, medium and large manufacturers. While employee training is often perceived as a burden with traditional learning methods (bulky books and boring instruction manuals), VKS is by definition the digital and intuitive solution that makes the most complex processes easy to understand and follow.

Factory Tour and VKS Observation

Subsequently to the presentations, the guests made a tour of CMP’s shop floor where they saw VKS in action. Divided into small groups, the manufacturers had at their disposal a host for a personalized visit. They could see operators at work, using VKS on touch-screen monitors and even on laptops.

In Conclusion

At VKS, we listen to professionals from various industries and like to organize visits of our facilities, and those of our sister company CMP. We believe that raising partners' awareness of the realities of the marketplace and industry 4.0 is a must, taking into account the major upheavals that the manufacturing sector has experienced in North America in recent years.

Improving its work methods is more than ever a necessity in order to survive in a competitive environment where technological innovation is at the center of operations. Whatever the size of your business, adapting to change will guarantee success and sustainability. At VKS, we want to share our knowledge and see local and international companies on the road to progress.

Contact us to visit a Smart Factory and see VKS in action!

Email: info@vksapp.com 24/7 Customer Service: 1-866-376-6204 Sales (Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5 pm ET): 1-855-201-4656