The Rural Voice, 1987-04, Page 18getting into mass production and
trying to market their product nation-
ally, internationally, or even province -
wide. They end up adding product
lines to serve the local market rather
than the big picture. They may have
a unique product ... but they don't
have those marketing skills."
"Part of the problem ... is that
there is not a strong association on
the manufacturing or the processing
(food processing, which the centre is
also involved in) side," Boyle adds.
"There are strong groups on the retail
side, like ORFEDA. There is also a
manufacturers' association, but basic-
ally they're made up of the represent-
atives of the big three or four." (see
story, Small Manufacturers: Success
in the West)
At the centre which Boyle man-
ages, technicians work on a project
basis with smaller manufacturers who
don't have in-house technical expertise.
A provincial crown corporation, the
centre is one of six originally set up
in 1982 (there are now seven) to deal
with various technologies. The
Chatham centre has dealt with about
200 projects in its four years, Boyle
reports, and has about 23 technical
experts on staff — design engineers,
mechanical engineers, food chemists,
microbiologists.
The CFIEI, "to some degree," says
Brent Hamre, does represent the inter-
ests of shortliners. And small indepen-
dents, says Glen Peart, are welcome at
ORFEDA. "In fact," he says, "we're
looking very shortly at doing some-
thing in a special farmstead division
(for the smaller manufacturer/retailer).
We'd like to put together a special
insurance program — general insur-
ance and also a group benefit program
— that we can offer to these farmstead
dealers. Our bulletin covers most of
their problems, but we would get more
into their particular concerns if it's a
sales tax problem or a tax problem.
And we're also considering doing the
SMALL MANUFACTURERS: SUCCESS IN THE WEST
At its recent convention, the
Prairie Implement Manufacturers'
Association (PIMA), which repre-
sents small and medium-sized farm
equipment manufacturers in the West,
defeated a motion that PIMA be ex-
panded into a national association,
but its general manager thinks that
Ontario shortline manufacturers
might soon initiate their own group.
And if PIMA's success is any
indication, Ontario would do well
to follow its lead.
In fact, says general manager Ron
Zimmer, the motion was defeated
mostly because PIMA has been so
successful. Members reason, Zimmer
says, "that they have a winning com-
bination and the work that we do in
the West is very beneficial to them.
They felt that by going East it would
water down what they were receiving
for the money they're putting in."
But during a recent visit to Tor-
onto, Zimmer says, he met with rep-
resentatives on the Ontario Centre for
Farm Machinery and Food Processing
Technology, a crown corporation that
offers technical services to smaller
manufacturers, and "they're very keen
on maybe getting something organized
there. In fact I met with them to talk
about some of the work that we do as
an association."
T'ne bulk of that work is lobby-
ing, but the organization also offers
services such as seminars and a mem-
bership directory. Its members across
the three prairie provinces total 153,
and PIMA also has the support of 265
associate members.
PIMA's convention this February
marked its 18th year and 17 years of
expansion as an association. "We've
had tremendous growth as an organ-
ization," Zimmer says, "even though
the industry has been stagnant. To
give you a perception of that growth,
in 1980 we had 75 manufacturers as
regular members. Since 1980 we've
basically doubled our regular member-
ship. It bodes well for the type of
work that we're doing."
On PIMA's list of things to do in
the immediate future, for example, is
working toward freer trade for the
shortline manufacturing sector. "We
basically do have free trade arrange-
ments with the U.S. with respect to
farm machinery and parts," Zimmer
says. "We want that to be extended
because there are some duties placed
on parts and some products and wed
like to see that removed."
Other primary concerns, he adds,
are liability insurance and the deregu-
lation of transportation.
PIMA's work in the prairies is
carried on elsewhere by the Farm
Equipment Manufacturers' Association
(FEMA), which draws most of its 600
members from the U.S. but also
welcomes Canadians and members
from other countries around the world.
Despite hard years, Zimmer says
that market share for some small man-
ufacturers has actually increased. Such
manufacturers fill a "niche market," he
notes.
They're also doing well across the
border. "For example, our auger man-
ufacturers have been just chewing up
the competition in the U.S. One of
the main reasons is not only that they
have quality products, but that the
strong U.S. dollar has made it very
attractive for exports in the U.S."
They've had their casualties,
Zimmer says, but the more than
300 products manufactured by PIMA
members find a ready enough market.
While the market for "large -ticket"
items has been depressed, the products
offered by smaller manufacturers —
anything from truck boxes and rock
pickers to soil testers and corrals —
"tend not to be in a price range that
farmers are shying away from."
"The growth of our association and
the growth of manufacturing in the
West is an indication that once this
recession ends — and we will get
through this recession — once the
good times come back to us, while we
may never have the good times as we
had in '79-'80, you're going to see the
industry mushroom in the West,
you're going to see the transformation
of many of our mid-sized companies
into large companies and smaller
companies going into the mid-sized
range.
"And that may include Ontario as
well."OLG
16 THE RURAL VOICE