24
25
canadian industry Online - NOVEMBER 2014
drives us, we must choose appropri-
ate strategies and tactics that lever-
age the advantages of what we have
already built. In Canada, we know
what it takes to run a world class in-
dustrial sector. We have what it takes
to compete – cooperative government,
a hungry and highly skilled workforce,
innovative and globally relevant sup-
plier companies, and over a century of
continued success.
Ford Motor Company recently
decided to award the Fiesta engine
program to its Mexican operation in-
stead of to Windsor, Ontario. Before
reaching that decision, Ford of Canada
and the leadership at Unifor gathered
to think of ways to bring that program
to Canada. Together they worked with
the provincial and federal govern-
ments to aggressively make the case
for Windsor as the place to make that
Fiesta engine. And while Canada ul-
timately did not win, there are strong
lessons to be learned from that collec-
tive effort:
·
Canada is most competitive when
all stakeholders agree on the objective
and are willing to find a new way to
achieve it together. Private sector, pub-
lic sector, labour – everyone.
·
Canada’s two levels of govern-
ment understand the value of being
competitive in automotive, and are
willing to invest in it.
·
It is extremely difficult to succeed
if we simply react to opportunities
while our competition proactively cre-
ates them.
·
It is not enough just to have a col-
lection of strong players on our side.
Our side needs to determine a hierar-
chy of our key players and what their
roles will be.
This is why we need an automo-
tive strategy. Canada has all the tools
it needs to flourish, and on a long-term
basis and we can support significantly
more investments and opportunities.
The time is now for all stakehold-
ers to agree that we are all chasing the
same objective, to be realistic about our
own strengths and weaknesses, to de-
cide who will aggressively lead us, and
what we will all bring to the collective
effort. Ultimately, we need to show
competitors that we have re-organized
our efforts and that we are, and will
continue to be, a threat to their success.
We must stand strong, keep our
heads held high, and collaborate to
form a team that will bring us back to
the manufacturing prominence. These
ships may be slow to turn, but make
no mistake, they are turning. Getting it
started can be daunting, but even the
smallest successes can build upon one
another, creating an eventual surge of
momentum to keep pushing us on-
ward and upward.
---------
About APMA
APMA is Canada's national asso-
ciation representing OEM producers of
parts, equipment, tools, supplies and
services for the worldwide automotive
industry. The Association was founded
in 1952 and its members account for
90%
of independent parts production
in Canada.
APMA's fundamental objective is
to promote the O.E. automotive supply
manufacturing industry both domesti-
cally and internationally. The Associa-
tion provides important representation
to both Federal and Provincial Govern-
ments, supports regional government
initiatives and creates and executes
global marketing initiatives in order to
develop trade and business opportuni-
ties for the membership.
APMA has working agreements
with our counterparts in Brazil, Eu-
rope, India, Japan, Mexico, China and
the United States. These agreements
have been formed to promote an ex-
change of market information and to
create strategic alliances to strengthen
Canada's position in the global auto-
motive industry.
Visit
for more information
on industry news, events, and member-
ship.
APMA
