Small and medium Canadian manufacturers have what it takes to weather uncertainty – and build for the future.
By Brad Jackson, Industry Executive, Board Chair, REMAP
Geopolitical shifts. Rapidly evolving global trade alliances. The growing intensity of natural disasters. The ever-increasing level of volatility around the world is causing market disruptions that are felt far and wide. The recent tariffs are just the latest manifestation. Before that it was COVID-19. Earlier still, the 2008 recession.
Looking ahead, advances in artificial intelligence, shifts in global economic power, and intensified climate regulations promise even greater complexity and unpredictability, underscoring the urgent need for resilience and adaptability.
Market disruptions are becoming the inevitable new reality, and their impact on business a huge subject of concern. The lion’s share of news about the challenging market environment tends to focus on big business. But what if you’re a small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) manufacturer?
SMEs make up a staggering 99% percent of the Canadian manufacturing sector. They too are being impacted by market turmoil, with far fewer financial and human resources to fall back on than large enterprises.
But here’s the thing – embracing market disruption is the best first line of defense. After 30+ years working in the manufacturing sector, I’ve never experienced a market disruption that did not present a huge opportunity for companies that were ready, willing and able to embrace it. And SMEs can actually pivot to seize new opportunities much faster than a large multinational.
Todo so effectively, however, requires a shift in mindset. Most companies think they’re adept at managing change, but are they really challenging themselves to examine – and shore-up – their innovation, operational and leadership capacity to seize the opportunities that can come from change? Making different and deliberate choices that set them on a fresh path for growth?
Here’s what that looks like in action.
During the pandemic we saw a number of companies pivot to support different products that lay an interesting new foundation for their future.
A great example was REMAP’s engagement with Microbonds, a pioneer in advanced materials initially focused on wearable technology. When consumer interest rapidly shifted toward health and safety products during the pandemic, Microbonds quickly pivoted to developing innovative antimicrobial solutions for textiles and everyday surfaces. These solutions were designed to integrate into products such as hospital food trays, surgical instruments, compression clothing, and high-touch public areas like escalator railings, significantly enhancing protection against microbial contamination. Microbonds rapidly transitioned these solutions from prototypes to practical, market-ready products. Similarly, other companies diversified supply chains, accelerated digital transformations, or adopted AI-driven forecasting tools to effectively respond to market disruptions.
I have a personal example of how innovation and the ability to pivot can open new doors. During the 2008 financial crisis, I was leading a design engineering organization for a large multinational manufacturing organization. The entire team was at risk of restructuring when the sales pipeline all but disappeared.
However, the courage and creativity put forth by the team to overcome this challenge led to a significant reinvention – not just for the engineering team, but for the entire organization. We pivoted our design and engineering capability to developing product platforms, which unlocked the entire team’s creativity and took us in a whole new direction. Today, that business represents a very significant portion of the company’s revenue.
At the end of the day, no one knows what the future holds. That’s why it’s important to focus less on trying to predict what could go wrong – and more on making good decisions and boosting our capacity to withstand whatever challenges come our way while building for tomorrow.
In my next blog I’ll provide some practical tips to help SMEs on this journey – leveraging the REMAP 2025 SME toolkit to enhance innovation, build productivity and boost agility– and helping Canada’s SMEs to set themselves up for success in today’s challenging environment, and beyond.
