Kumi Canada Corporation is recognizing 25 years in business and in Bradford this Saturday with a celebration for staff, family and guests.
Located at their 200,000-square-foot facility at 55 Reagens Industrial Parkway, the company specializes in creating automotive parts and components using plastic injection, automation and 3D printing for customers including Honda Canada.
While it started in 1998 with about 20 employees, Kumi Canada has since grown to about 275 staff.
This weekend’s festivities are set to include a ceremony recognizing the 11 employees who have been there from the very first year, sharing their 25-year anniversaries with the company.
Among those is current president Justin Moreau, who started as night-shift supervisor in March 1998, before moving through the ranks of assistant department manager, department manager, then overseeing multiple departments, plant manager, vice-president and then becoming president in March 2021.
“I’ve seen massive changes,” he said.
Moreau said when he first started with the company, the factory had just been built and his team was just three operators and himself.
“I could have a shift meeting at a round table with four chairs and I could bring the whole shift a coffee in one Timmies tray,” he recalled.
While they started out small, the company took on challenges as opportunities to grow and evolve, adding more staff, tools, systems, policies, and procedures.
Moreau explained that the company started with manufacturing small plastic covers, like those seen around the seats and doors of automobile interiors.
“Just after 2005 or 2006 and through the 2008 financial and supply issues, we took a drastic turn and started focusing on larger and more complicated assembly parts and getting away from the smaller and simpler parts that we stared with,” he said.
Because Kumi Canada was having trouble competing on price for smaller components, Moreau said they shifted to bigger pieces for the Odyssey and Ridgeline as well as under-body plastic panels.
“We recognized that the bigger the parts we had, the more expensive it was to ship from the U.S.A. or Mexico, so that gave us a cost advantage,” he said.
The company’s ability to rapidly build and mass produce those parts allowed them to pivot further between 2008 and 2011, when they refocused their approach and began investing more in robotics and automation, which allowed them to take on larger and even more complex jobs, according to Moreau.
“To be honest, every year I think I won’t learn as much as last year, but I learn more every year. ... It can be exhausting and, of course, it can be such a high motivator and it can be exciting,” he said while praising his team for being willing to shift gears, regroup and support changes to help the company evolve.
Those efforts include looking outside of their own industry for ways to improve, like studying warehouse management strategies at places like big box stores and even Amazon.
“We thought, they’re the experts at material handling, so why don’t we look at that industry and investigate how we can improve. I’ve been fortunate to be able to grow a team that’s passionate about these advances,” Moreau said.
Another innovation was switching to 3D printing, which the company president explained was initially adopted to create the fixtures used to hold and carry parts as they’re being assembled, but quickly led to other benefits, such as rapidly reducing the time required to trial new designs, but also modifying existing equipment.
“If we bring in a machine and we find that one of their components isn’t reliable or it just doesn’t work for us, then our engineering team can design a replacement and have it built, sometimes in less than 24 hours,” he said, noting the abilities of the engineering team and each department’s ability to collaborate on solutions.
Despite being a manufacturing company, Kumi Canada isn’t just about production, and since he’s become president, Moreau has tried to focus more resources on creating an environment that keeps long-term employees happy while also making new hires feel welcomed, especially as the company competes with others for a limited labour pool.
“We know that the current workforce, especially the millennials, they have a higher passion about the kind of environment they want to be in, more than just money. ... We want them to feel a pride in the company and what we’re trying to do — not just making parts, but being involved in the community and having good programs for our associates,” he said.
Some of those programs include ice cream days, community gardens, pizza days, and Toronto Blue Jays days.
Moreau has also tried to foster an environment where people are able to take time to spend with their families, deal with health issues or be there for family, and he expects it’s going to “pay back in spades” because those employees are able to be more productive, and has already seen that supportive corporate culture lead to a higher rate of retention and improved recruiting.
“Without being detrimental to the company’s needs we want to put their personal well-being above and beyond what their job is,” he said.
Additionally, the company president is working with the county, the town and Georgian College to get the word out to younger workers, and let them know what Kumi Canada is like, which he found also required an updated website.
“Our young graduates and the younger workforce that we generally get applicants from, the first thing they do is go online and look you up, and we just didn’t have very good media that showed who we are and what we do,” he said.
Now that things have been updated, “when we’re interviewing applicants, they have consistently said in the last couple years, the reason they applied is because of the growth, the technology and the culture that they see online," Moreau added.
That culture and mindset extends to outside the workplace as well, with Kumi Canada participating in food drives for the Helping Hand Food Bank, toy drives and clothing collections.
The company also offers employees the option to sign up for automated payroll deductions of any amount with which they’re comfortable.
“That supports the United Way, which we chose because they have a long reach in the community, and the Bradford food bank, we’re passionate about that, because we know food banks are increasingly needed in our community year over year. ... We really feel proud about being able to support those things,” Moreau said.
The company president took a moment to express his appreciation for the staff, but also for their families who he said have been supportive, especially when staff take the extra time and energy to work through changes or obstacles at the company.
“The company and the success that I’ve got to enjoy over the last 25 years were due to the great people that were on my team, and they always find a way to get through any challenge that comes our way. ... When you have a team that respects each other, cares about each other and is willing to back each other up when things are tough, it just makes all the difference and that’s one thing that’s been consistent over the 25 years,” he said.
To learn more, visit kumicanada.ca.
