Vice President's AGM Report

Ann Janega
Vice President, CME Nova Scotia

Our Members tell us that the last year had some high points for sales, export numbers and industry confidence. This is great news for CME. As your industry association: our success depends on you and of course, we aim to stay ahead of the trends.

Government Seeks out CME’s position

Our highlights over the last year include some great collaboration with provincial government departments. This resulted in positive legislative adjustments; new programming and some ‘tweaks’ to regulation.  It was a super busy year for consultations with government ministers at both the federal and provincial level.  When the decision-makers are anxious to accommodate the CME perspective, this tells us that we are representing manufacturers well. Some of the Federal Ministers who came to us included: the national Ministers of Defense, Public Safety; Foreign Affairs; International Trade; National Revenue and ACOA. On the provincial side, the Ministers of Finance, Economic & Rural Development & Tourism; Labour & Advanced Education among others, have drawn in CME for consultations and policy input. 

Continuous Improvement and Lean – Centres of Excellence

On the programming side, CME Nova Scotia has developed a special focus on Lean and Continuous Improvement tours, training and a new Leveraged Learning Network. Our members tell us that they want to improve productivity using Lean manufacturing techniques. Our partners have recognized this demand and we are pleased to welcome the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, the provincial department of Economic and Rural Development and Tourism (E & RD&T) as well as NRC-IRAP as funding partners for our Lean initiatives.  

Lean Consortium includes Seven ‘High Achieving’ Firms

Our Board and staff take pride in the successful launch of our first CME Consortium. CCI – Consortium for Continuous Improvement includes seven of our most committed ‘continuous improvement’ firms. CCI has become a leader in learning and best practices. We were delighted to join the Newfoundland and Labrador Fluent Consortium, in a customized Consortium-to-Consortium site visit to key plants in Ontario. Our high achievers returned with notebooks jammed with new great ideas, ready for application in a Nova Scotian context.  CCI members include the following firms:

• Maritime Paper Products Limited
• C-Vision/LED Roadway Lighting
• Ultra Electronics Maritime Systems
• PolyCello
• The Shaw Group Limited
• IMP Aerospace Components
• Pratt & Whitney Canada

We are pleased to have the services of Strategic Sourcing International as our Consortium Facilitator. Also, with our Board, we offer our appreciation to David Haire, CME Vice-President for Lean Best Practices. David is a super resource to our Division and is largely responsible for the launch of our Lean efforts.

Best Practice Visits take you to the Best Plants and Sites

Working with our national CME colleagues and NRC-IRAP as funder, we continue to offer highly successful Innovation Insights Best Practice tours. As CME wrapped up its tribute year to the Centennial of the Canadian Navy, we featured two unusual ‘Defense’ related tours. Our visits to the Canada Helicopter Project at Shearwater, as well as the Canadian Forces Damage Control Centre, offered a Disney-like experience as we accessed Sea-Kings, donned gas masks and actually fought controlled industry fires.  Our manufacturing reps learned new best practices from our military colleagues and I’m told that the Navy also appreciates our involvement and feedback.  Other tours included the world class Michelin Waterville plant, the new NSCC Centre for the Built Environment; Dalhousie’s Research Centres; and Precision Biologic. Our visitors are amazed by the generosity of our hosts in sharing their best practices and in inviting feedback from our tours. In the months to come, watch for more tours including a special Richmond County multi-site tour. 

Energy Management, Best Practices and Government Advocacy

Near the top of big ticket items for manufacturing is the high cost of Energy. CME goes to battle on every front: First, working with you, our members, we have an active and dedicated committee of volunteers. Secondly, we collaborate with government and also offer pointed advocacy to key players from the Minister on down. Third, we are at the table as a stakeholder, whenever there is a rate hearing before the regulator, the Utility & Review Board. Finally, we work with you to design practical solutions to aid energy efficiency and in offering education on best practices to reach optimal results. This year we can be proud of our success:

1. Financially, we were successful in getting our message to the Premier regarding the high cost of capturing Mercury emissions. The result: millions of dollars in savings as the anticipated rate increases were reduced and delayed. A clear example of CME advocacy at work.
2. CME’s innovation LEAF: Lean + Energy Efficient program – this is a customized program for manufacturers that allow you to identify energy challenges (or alternatively, Lean or environmental issues), access professional advice and then introduce appropriate adjustments. Our program has matched firms with consultants, provided money-saving corrections and improved access to government and agency programming.  The LEAF program has improved our Energy programming and also allowed CME to grow as a service-providing agency for our members.
3. Best-Practice Energy Conference – In addition to our LEAF education sessions. CME delivered its fourth successful workshop day for industry. Although Energy and Environment are green buzz words these days, CME is unique in providing programming that is customized for an industrial and manufacturing workplace.

To further demonstrate our leadership in ‘walking the talk’; CME Nova Scotia is the first Division in Canada to improve our carbon footprint by powering our office with 100% green electricity, not only for our premises but also for all of our corporate events and conferences.  Watch for new innovations in the year ahead as we offer our industrial members a unique and customized Energy Management System.

The Productivity Investment Program (PIP)

The Provincial Government has recognized the significance and contribution of the industrial sector in Nova Scotia. With our targeted advocacy, the Premier and his Cabinet heard our message this year. A key component of the government’s JobsHere platform is the Productivity Investment Program (PIP) that offers enhanced capital assistance and training measures for manufacturers. The improvements in this program are a direct result of the hard work, meetings, submissions and lobbying offered by our leadership including our Chair Dorothy Rice, Board members including Shawn Levangie, JP Deveau, Robert Patzelt and others. If you are a manufacturer who has not yet explored these exciting new programs, please contact our office and we’d be happy to connect you to the key offices which handle the program.

Affordable Access to Lean Level I Training

A big piece of JobsHere offers new programming to industry associations like CME. Working with staff of the Department of Economic & Rural Development & Tourism, CME was among the first agencies to access the key training support component of PIP. As a result, we are able to offer Lean training to a broader group of firms at preferred pricing.  In the upcoming year, watch for Lean Level II, Team Building and some new Workplace Training initiatives in conjunction with the Department of Labour & Advanced Education. These initiatives are informed by the efforts of our committed volunteers on the Employee Relations and Education Committees of CME. Thank you to our members!

CME values its productive and innovative working relationship with NSCC. Special thanks to Ron Farrell and Abid Ahmad for their commitment to education and training in the manufacturing environment.

Essential Skills Through Safety and Health – ESSH

CME Nova Scotia is very pleased to host the Atlantic component of this national Safety Training Pilot program.  Several of our members are contributing to the program. Once the results are compiled, we expect to benefit from a new curriculum and new style of delivering safety training in the workplace. In the meantime, our services are enhanced by the efforts of Holly Edsall, Principal Investigator for the national HRSDC funded program.

Trade, Export and Transportation

Our members continue to drive this important priority for CME. At our AGM this week, we will feature CME’s Special Advisor to the President, Birgit Matthiesen, based in Washington DC. Birgit will also make a special presentation to an Executive Roundtable of potential CME members.  Working with the Province of Nova Scotia, CME will host a special session on Canada –EU Free Trade negotiations. CME was pleased to be a sponsor of the recent Export Achievement Awards and to recognize 10 more exceptional exporters from our province. As an invitee of NSBI, CME reps will participate in ‘Nova Scotia Day’ highlighting our aerospace and defense capacity, to an Ottawa audience. CME continues to be one of the few non-governmental participants in Trade Team Nova Scotia that acts as a clearinghouse for key Trade activities in the Province.

Key Partnerships and Consultations

Our members benefit from excellent working relationships between CME and such key agencies as the Port of Halifax, Cape Breton Partnership; the Halifax Stanfield International Airport Authority; Workers Compensation, BDC, EDC and many more. During the last year, we were invited to participate in key consultations, briefings and policy sessions hosted by such groups as:

• National Roundtable on Red-Tape Reduction
• Senate Standing Committee on Environment & Energy & Natural Resources
• Corporate Taxes
• Technical Safety measures
• Labour Relations Act
• National Shipbuilding Strategy
• Immigration initiatives
• Halifax and Atlantic Gateway

In short, the importance of our Nova Scotian manufacturing and exporting sector is recognized by these and many more stakeholders. I extend special thanks to our outgoing chair, Dorothy rice, and the N.S. Board Members who are so generous with their time and expertise. As Vice-President of CME Nova Scotia, it is my privilege to represent our members and your significant contribution to our province. Our dedicated staff including Jacqui Squires, Byron Richards and Holly Edsall (ESSH), are a dynamic and committed team who make it possible for CME to accomplish so much. With them, we extend our thanks to you for your commitment to this industry association.

4th Annual Energy Event

CME Nova Scotia Division hosted its 4th Annual Energy Event on March 8, 2011 at the Marriott Harbourfront Hotel in Halifax. The one day event was funded in part by the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) and the Department of Natural Resources. The 2011 Energy Excellence Event was designed for the real (business) world, providing companies and industries the tools to reduce their energy consumption through innovation and best practices. The event was geared towards industry representatives from senior decision-makers to engineers, operations managers and energy practitioners. 

The keynote speaker for this full day affair was Helmi Ansari from Frito Lay Canada. Mr. Ansari helped spearhead the innovative Sun Chips compostable bag. He gave a passionate presentation about the need to reduce our carbon footprint, while providing a blueprint for success that others could follow. Mr. Ansari provided real-life examples of how PepsiCo Canada decreased their energy consumption. Simple solutions such as utilizing the excess heat from baking the chips to warm the plant, using pre-planned delivery routes to save fuel, and creating “green teams” who constantly searched for ways to save energy are just a few examples. 

The conference focused on practical, simple strategies and solutions that any business or commercial operation could employ. All the event speakers shared their expertise and experience to help others learn how to realize energy savings. Attendee response was very favourable, as everyone left the event feeling empowered to make a positive change at their organization.