Communicator

22 COMMUNICATOR "We've also gained a reputation for being able to handle midnight emergency calls, which is aided by us having a huge parts inventory," he says. "It's all part of our goal to help what we call 'keeping industries in motion.'" Simard himself is noteworthy in that he became Motion Canada's youngest shop manager at the age of 23. "For 18 months I received training in finance, management, pneumatics and hydraulics in Motion's Bir- mingham headquarters, and that's why now, at the age of 36, I tell my younger colleagues that Motion isn't just a job, it's a career," he says. Conversely, Mario Robitaille, conversion shop manager for QC16 and QC38 in Pointe- Claire, Quebec, playfully refers to himself as "one of the oldest shop managers around, having been with Motion for 24 years now – and I'm very much old school in that I stress the importance of following through on promises, whether it's repairs for customers or buying inventory from suppliers." Robitaille also maintains a focus on thor- ough crew training in as many fields as pos- sible. "As a result, even though our facility is a relatively small 6,000 square feet, all the big manufacturers of gear reducers rely on us," he says. "And because two years ago we installed a lathe about the size of a large desk in our shop, we're getting shaft work from across Canada." The volume of work Robitaille and his six- member crew handles is impressive, to say the least. "This year has been a busy one but certainly not unusual in that right now we're handling about 55 jobs," he says. Hamilton ON09, which in October was anticipating the merger with Motion's Lon- don shop, is uniquely structured to serve the maintenance, repairs and operations market. "We do everything from boring and broach- ing a sprocket to designing, fabricating and installing a hydraulic system in its entirety," says Steve Pieterse. Given that ON09's local clientele includes Hamilton's big steel com- panies, there's a steady stream of jobs that must be handled to exacting standards in a timely manner. The Hamilton shop was acquired by Motion in 2000, by which time it had a 25-plus-year reputation as the area's premier fluid power service company. "Motion allowed us to stretch our wings by virtue of being able to support multiple sales branch- es, which is why today major industry sectors such as food processing, renewable energy and automotive-related manufacturing are a massive part of our day-to-day business," Pieterse says. With a talented team led by shop foreman Simon Tudball, Hamilton is adept at design- ing and building one-off projects, the newest example being a lubrication filtration system for the steel industry that circulates gear oil. "We literally started out with a concept that was hand drawn by the end-user customer on a piece of notepad paper, and we provided the end product in less than a month," says Pieterse. Pieterse goes on to say, "Since our initial © iStock / Highwaystarz – Photography The ability to take a customer's concept and then design and build out one-off projects differentiates Motion Canada's value-added services. F E AT U R E

• Cover