Ontario provides cash to explore software

Sandra Pupatello announces the $600,000 grant to the tooling industry.

Ontario’s tooling industry is optimistic a new provincial government initiative can help it overcome some of the competitive challenges it faces. Allocation of $600,000 to permit assessment of new types of software and the industry’s ability to implement it was announced on April 24 by Ontario’s Minister of Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Sandra Pupatello. Pupatello is also an MPP for a Windsor riding.

The money will be managed through the Canadian Tooling and Machining Association. An equal amount was simultaneously allocated to the Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association, for similar purposes.

The CTMA will use the grant to assess shortfalls in software skills across the industry, and work with suppliers to identify solutions. This will include testing and evaluating software and developing training programs.

“We are facing a number of challenges,” Pupatello said in announcing the award at the Anchor Danly plant in Windsor, Ont. “In addition to the high Canadian dollar, there is increased competition from other countries, the extreme rate of technological innovation, the capital investment necessary, and the cost pressures from customers.”

“The industry needs leading-edge software skills to compete,” added CTMA President Horst Schmidt. “The program we are undertaking with this grant is to assess where the resources are, where the gaps are, and then to assess what’s out there that can be developed in our industry.

“And we have to check that the software will do what the software suppliers say it will. Hopefully, we can move this industry forward.”

A further issue is software obsolescence. New programs or new releases of existing programs are quickly superseded, and many shops are not able to give enough time to assessing the strengths and limitations of these. The grant money should provide a way for shop owners to find out what they don’t know, and what they must do to address the knowledge shortfall.

www.ctma.com