Process Innovation and Resilience at the Lunenburg Industrial Foundry and Engineering (LIFE) Production Plant

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The Lunenburg Industrial Foundry & Engineering (LIFE) has been offering a full range of manufacturing, repair and renovation services for all sorts of vessels including yachts, private commercial, and public offshore throughout Atlantic Canada and beyond. While manufacturing has earned its place as a mainstay of the recovery strategies of post-COVID-19 economies, the new normal requires us to rethink the way we produce and to shed more light on manufacturing and its role in resilient diverse economies. In this context, LIFE is experiencing challenges related to: (i) A labor-intensive manufacturing process on propeller and underwater gear products; (ii) An aging workforce which could result in a lack of qualified craftsmen familiar with traditional machining practices; and (iii) A facility layout not ideally configured to maximize manufacturing efficiency, leading to increased cost and limited manufacturing capacity. The company now seeks Nova Scotia Community College's (NSCC) help to support a custom-design layout of a more efficient and cost-effective manufacturing plant and process flow.NSCC's Engineered Technologies Applied Research Lab specializes in product development and process optimization. The Lab is equipped with product design and advanced manufacturing assets, which will be used to enable the collaboration with LIFE, and help enhance their process flow and increase their productivity. Opportunity will also be available for knowledge translation to benefit other companies in the sector, with the goal to elevate overall quality and productivity in the region, directed to export markets. A successful outcome in this project therefore has a tremendous potential to benefit Atlantic Canada's marine industry, by contributing in maintaining the position of Nova Scotia as a world leader for high quality marine services.