Alta Precision, a Montreal machine shop serving the aerospace manufacturing industry, has doubled its operation to meet growing demand. The modernized $11 million project has seen the CNC manufacturing business go from 40,000 sq ft to 80,000 sq ft. The company held an inauguration on June 21. Alta Precision will be featured in Shop Metalworking Technology’s upcoming August issue.
The acquisition of new state-of-the-art equipment will enable the company to position itself as a leader in the manufacturing of critical metal components for landing gear systems.
This event completes a business initiative launched in 2014 after the award of a long-term contract from Brazilian company Embraer to supply the main landing gear components of its new E2 aircraft family.
“These major investments will significantly increase our annual production capacity and therefore ease the process to meeting the current strong demand for our high-tech and first quality products. The expansion and modernization of our facility will also propel our expertise to another level and allow Alta Precision new bright perspectives for the future” says Guillermo Alonso, president of Alta Precision.
With this contract for the Embraer E2-190 and E2-195 critical landing gear components, and the many other contracts Alta Precision is already involved with, it is expected that the company will double its sales within three years.
Alta Precision intends to become a world-class provider of landing gear components and the number one choice for global aerospace manufacturers and Tier 1 suppliers, says Alonso. The investments in the expansion of the plant included the acquisition of high technology equipment allowing more modern fabrication methods. This will allow Alta Precision to rapatriate some steps of the production that were previously outsourced. Also, within the new section of the facility, about 15,000 sq ft of space are still unassigned, leaving an important opening in production capacity for potential contract awards and renewals the company is currently working on securing.
Alta Precision is already an important employer in the Eastern Montreal area, but the facility expansion will create jobs for machinists, which will raise the number of employees to 105 in the short term. Then several key positions among the production management department will be created as well.
Alta Precision has received a funding of over $1 million from the Quebec Economic Development Program, granted in the form of a repayable contribution. Canada Economic Development is one of six regional development agencies under the responsibility of the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, the Honourable Navdeep Bains. “Our goal is to help companies like Alta Precision Inc. to grow, innovate and export, so that they can create quality jobs and wealth for Canadians,” says Bains.