PLNT61_2011

$5.50

Volume 6, No. 01 >> Supplement, Canadian PLANT >> March/April 2011

www.plant.ca

Return undeliverable items to Plant Circulation Dept., 8th Floor, One Mount Pleasant Road, Toronto ON M4Y 2Y5 PM 40070230

GREEN

GOLD

Catalyst pilots MicroSludge plant to create value out of pulp waste

HIGHLIGHTS Forest industry continues to bio-diversify Oil exporting is missing a billion-dollar score Use foreign exchange to your advantage Autodesk’s suite spot for plant design

THE WAY WE WORK: no.

2

IT’S ABOUT STAYING POSITIVE

BUSINESS BANKING IS ABOUT A SHARED PERSPECTIVE. Being headquartered in the West has its advantages. We know your business environment better, understand local markets and make timely decisions.

More importantly, we can work closely with you to find solutions perfectly suited to your business banking needs. Learn more at theworkingbank.ca.

Poor monitoring erodes confidence in the oil sands

5

PHOTO: iSTOCKPHOTO

Editorial

6

W

ith the escalating uproar among citizens and would-be revolutionaries in the Middle East and Libya, Alberta’s so-called “dirty oil” should be looking a great deal more attractive to America these days. Too bad the Alberta government’s confused method of measuring environmental impact on, for example, the Athabasca River, will do little to clean up that dirty image.

Environmentalists have focused their carbon ire on Alberta’s black gold because extracting it from the earth is energy-intensive and the bitumen has to be processed from its heavy form to a lighter grade before it can be processed into gasoline for our carbon-emitting vehicles and homes. And let’s not forget the pollution, contamination and the dead ducks.

This really upsets the carbon accountants and green warriors who would like to see activity in the oil sands halted or at least slowed down. Their efforts of late include an attempt to hang up the 2,700-kilometre Keystone XL oil sands pipeline to Texas with a report released by Washington’s Natural Resources Defense Council. It suggests Alberta pipelines are 16 times more likely than US pipelines to spring leaks because of internal corrosion. Opponents say a spill could damage key drinking water sources.

Alberta’s Energy Resources Conservation Board has invoked the apples and oranges defence, calling the comparisons between pipeline systems unfair, and it suggests the failure rate of Canadian pipes is actually less than half the US figure.

Not that it matters. Repairing the public relations damage is an uphill battle when the oil sands is involved, which is why the Alberta government’s fumbling of how it monitors the impact of the oil sands on the Athabasca River has been so disappointing.

Alberta has said contamination in the river comes from eroding oil sands deposits along the riverbank, but is stable and at low levels. A government-appointed scientific panel begs to differ, backing independent research that has traced hydrocarbons and heavy metals found in the land and water to smokestack emissions.

The problem, it seems, is the government’s monitoring efforts weren’t actually looking at where pollutants were coming from, despite the puffing and spewing of a massive industrial development in the otherwise pristine north, but to what extent the water quality was affected. Nor was water and air monitoring well co-ordinated.

So far, Athabasca’s level of contamination is “well below” human health guidelines, although the fish may not be so lucky.

After several less than complimentary reports from several scientific panels, the Alberta government appears to be getting the message and it’s presently overhauling the way it monitors the industry’s impact on the environment.

In December, a seven-member panel from the Royal Society of Canada noted both the federal and Alberta governments, particularly the province’s Environment and Resource Development ministries, have not kept up with the industry’s growth. The panel advises a “serious” review of their ability to effectively maintain “the specialized technical expertise needed to regulate industrial development of this scope and sophistication.”

The oil sands will be with us a long time. Alberta needs to take the Royal Society’s advice to heart.

Joe Terrett, Editor Comments? E-mail joe.terrett@plant.rogers.com.

Editorial Advisory Board: Robert Hattin, Hattin Holdings • Ron Harper, Cogent Power • Greg MacDonald, Wentworth International Services • Roy Verstraete, Anchor Danly

Vol. 6, No. 01, March/April 20110 A supplement to Canadian PLANT Publisher: Tim Dimopoulos 416-764-1499 tim.dimopoulos@rci.rogers.com Group Editorial Director: Lisa Wichmann 416 764-1491 lisa.wichmann@rci.rogers.com Editor: Joe Terrett 416-764-1546 joe.terrett@plant.rogers.com Contributing Editors: Ron Richardson, Steve Gahbauer Art Director: Kathy Smith 416-764-1542 kathy.smith@rci.rogers.com Junior Web Producer: Jessica Mirabelli 416-764-1316 jessica.mirabelli@rci.rogers.com District Sales Managers: Amanda Bottomley 647-339-1666 Amanda.bottomley@rci.rogers.com Catherine Martineau (Quebec) 647-988-5559 Catherine.martineau@rci.rogers.com Deborah St. Lawrence 416-319-3227

www.plant.ca

Deborah.stlawrence@rci.rogers.com Derek Morrison 905-409-6976 Derek.morrison@rci.rogers.com Ilana Fawcett 416-829-1221 ilana.fawcett@rci.rogers.com Production Manager: Jennifer Reinhardt 416-764-3842 jennifer.reinhardt@rci.rogers.com Circulation Manager: Celia Ramnarine 416-764-1451 deokie.ramnarine@rci.rogers.com ROGERS BUSINESS & PROFESSIONAL PUBLISHING Senior Vice-President: John Milne Vice-President, Financial Publishing, Brand Extensions & Online Services: Paul Williams Director of Audience Development: Keith Fulford 416 764-3878, keith.fulford@rci.rogers.com Executive Publisher, Industrial Group: Tim Dimopoulos CORPORATE SALES General Manager, Corporate Sales: Sandra Parente 416 764-3818, sandra.parente@rci.rogers.com WEB General Manager, Online Operations: David Carmichael 416 764-3820, david.carmichael@rci.rogers.com RESEARCH Senior Director, Rogers Connect Market Research: Tricia Benn 416 764-3856, tricia.benn@rci.rogers.com

7

8

Features

>> SUSTAINABILITY

5 BIO-ENERGY Paradigm Environmental Technologies’ transportable MicroSludge plant will help Catalyst Paper turn pulp waste into nutrients and biogas to generate electricity.

>> TRENDS

6 FOREST PRODUCTS Canada’s forest industry receives more guidance on travelling the biopathway as two companies apply federal funding to projects that will generate power and strengthen plastics.

>> IINDUSTRY

7 ENERGY Canada’s oil and gas sector must do a better job of tapping into emerging markets where prices are higher and billions of dollars await.

>> MANAGEMENT

8 FINANCE Currency risk doesn’t have to hurt. Put a strategy in place that makes cash flow more predictable so financial decisions are easier and growth sustainable.

>> TECHNOLOGY

8 CAD Autodesk has combined plant design products, bringing all the important elements together in a single suite of 3D splendour.

Departments

4 Industry View 4 PLANT Pulse 9 Product Showcase 9 Events 10 Postscript

EVENTS General Manager, Conferences & Events: Stephen T. Dempsey 416 764-1635, steve.dempsey@mtg.rogers.com Subscription Department: For subscriptions services e-mail: rogers@cstonecanada.com 416-932-5071 Fax 416-932-1620 Outside Toronto 1-866-236-0608 Mail: Canadian PLANT, Circulation Dept. 7th Floor, One Mount Pleasant Road, Toronto ON M4Y 2Y5 Subscriber Services: To subscribe, renew your subscription or to change your address or information, please visit us at www.rogersb2bmedia.com/plnt. Mail Preferences: Occasionally we make our subscriber list available to reputable companies whose products or services may be of interest to you. If you do not want your name to be made available, please contact us at rogers@cstonecanada.com or update your profile at www.rogersb2bmedia.com/plnt.

Canadian PLANT—established 1941, is published by Rogers Publishing Limited, a division of Rogers Media Inc., One Mount Pleasant Road, Toronto, Ontario, M4Y 2Y5. Montreal Office: 1200 avenue McGill College, Bureau 800, Montreal, Quebec, H3B 4G7.

Subscription Price: Canada $69.00 per year, Outside Canada $141.00 US per year, Single Copy Canada $5.50. Plant is published 8 times per year except for occasional combined, expanded or premium issues, which count as two subscription issues. Contents of this

8 publication are protected by copyright and must not be reprinted in whole or in part without permission of the publisher. Publications Mail Agreement #40070230. Performance claims for products listed in this issue are made by contributing manufacturers and agencies.

No responsibility for the accuracy of these performance claims can be assumed on the part of Canadian PLANT or Rogers Media and its agents or distributors. Contents copyright© 2011 by Rogers Publishing Limited, may not be reprinted without permission.

Canadian PLANT receives unsolicited materials including letters to the editor, press releases, promotional items and images from time to time. Canadian PLANT, its affiliates and assignees may use, reproduce, publish, re-publish, distribute, store and archive such unsolicited submissions in whole or in part in any form or medium whatsoever, without compensation of any sort. This statement does not apply to materials/pitches submitted by freelance writers, photographers or illustrators in accordance with known industry practices. Our environmental policy is available at www. rogerspublishing.ca/environment. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund CPF for our publishing activities.

TM

ISSN 1923-6646

Canadian PLANT WEST 3

Departments

>> Industry View

An interior view of Westport’s High Tech Centre in Vancouver.

PHOTO: WESTPORT INNOVATIONS

$9.3M for clean tech projects VANCOUVER: Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) has provided funding worth a total of $9.3 million to Ballard Power Systems for a hydrogen power plant and Westport Innovations Inc. for high-horsepower natural gas fuelling.

Ballard, the Vancouver-based hydrogen fuel cell developer, gets up to $7 million to extend the operating life and lower the product cost of its FCgen-1300 fuel cell power plant for the CLEARgen distributed generation system.

A sodium chlorate plant in North Vancouver, BC operated by BC ERCO Worldwide (Superior Plus Corp.’s specialty chemicals division) will host the first application. The plant generates large quantities of hydrogen as a by-product of sodium chlorate production, which can be used to power the CLEARgen system to generate clean electricity. Electricity represents over 70% of the plant’s input costs.

Using heat created by the CLEARgen system for district applications in North Vancouver will also be studied.

Manufacturing and site commissioning work is planned for 2012-2013 once agreements are in place.

Westport will be putting its $2.3 million of the SDTC funding toward development of its Westport HD technology using liquefied natural gas (LNG) for high-horsepower applications.

The Vancouver-based manufacturer of alternative fuel, low-emissions transportation technologies, intends to significantly improve the cost structure for operators of high-horsepower equipment such as trains while complying with stringent emission regulations and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by up to 25%.

It notes roughly one fifth of Canada’s energy related greenhouse gas GHG emissions come from industrial freight transportation and emissions, and they're increasing by 13% per year.

Dmitry Lyubimov, president of Buhler Industries, a Winnipeg-based agricultural equipment manufacturer.

Ezee-On’s assets include a 140,000 square-foot plant sitting on 18 acres in Vegreville that employs 70 people, and a set-up and distribution warehouse in Billings, Mont.

Buhler said it intends to commit additional resources for research and development at the Ezee-On facility.

Buhler Industries has plants in Morden and Winnipeg, and Fargo, ND, where it builds tractors, front-end loaders, augers and compact implements.

China led the way in EDC’s involvement in emerging markets.

PHOTO: iSTOCKPHOTO

More exporting to emerging markets

M

Buhler acquires Ezee-On assets WINNIPEG: Buhler Industries Inc. has purchased the assets of Ezee-On Manufacturing, a Vegreville, Alta.-based precision seeding and tillage manufacturer, for $14.5 million.

Ezee-On, an operating division of TerraVest Income Fund, manufactures air drills and air carts, offset and tandem discs, post-pounders and front-end loaders.

“Our goal is to be able to offer a complete line of equipment to large acre growers in North America and around the world. Tillage and seeding equipment is essential for that growth,” said

Stacked RStandard utility pole modules.

Photo: RS Technologies

Composite poles heading for Norway CALGARY: A Norwegian utility will be getting the poles for a new transmission line from RS Technologies Inc., a Calgary-based developer and manufacturer of composite products.

NTE Nett AS is installing a 50-kilometre, 132 kV transmission line and will be using 170 of RS Technology’s RStandard 50- to 82-foot poles in H-frame and three single configurations, for the first 20 kilometres.

The poles, produced in Tilbury, Ont., are made with the company’s patented polyurethane resins and e-glass fibre. RS Technologies describes the composite as having ten times the strength of steel and is more capable of surviving violent storms than steel, wood or concrete.

NTE’s Fiskumfoss-Bogna transmission line represents RS Technologies’ sixth installation in Norway, and is one of the company’s biggest projects. It also received a first order for a pilot installation in Sweden.

Day4 poised to enter UK solar market BURNABY, BC: Day4 Energy Inc. is set to break into the UK solar market with its new solar modules.

The global provider of solar photovoltaic (PV) products based in Vancouver, said it has received Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) status, which allows it to sell its 60MC-I solar PV modules in the UK. MCS certifies micro-generation technologies used to produce electricity and heat from renewable sources, and is required for end users to benefit from a feed-in tariff (FIT) launched by the UK government in April 2010.

Day4, referring to a recent industry report, said the UK experienced unprecedented growth in solar PV demand with installations reaching an estimated 45 megawatts last year, up from just 4 megawatts the previous year. Demand is expected to exceed 146 megawatts this year.

4 Canadian PLANT WEST

Economic developments and trendS

ore Canadian exporters are looking beyond North America for business.

Export Development Canada (EDC) helped develop $84.6 billion worth of business volume last year, of which a record $24.7 billion involved emerging markets.

The federal export credit agency reports its products, services and matchmaking expertise in those markets rose 32%, with China, Brazil and India leading the way.

“This is encouraging not only because Canadian companies are actively diversifying, but it also shows they have a longer term strategy for these markets,” said Stephen Poloz, president and CEO of EDC. Brazil, Russia, India, China and Mexico accounted for $11.4 billion of the volume and EDC-supported trade to Asia increased 21%, which the agency said indicates a much higher penetration into a traditionally challenging market for Canadian companies, but one that is expected to lead world growth.

EDC’s Canadian direct investment abroad (CDIA) reached a total of $4.7 billion, a 12% increase over 2009. The number of CDIA transactions reached 573, which is 79 more than last year. CDIA transactions include loans to help companies open facilities in new markets or participate in joint ventures, as well as insurance for Canadian-owned foreign affiliates.

Alberta exports dip in 2010 Trade is a huge part of the Alberta economy, but in contrast to a strengthening domestic economy, exports largely trended downwards in 2010, says ATB Financial.

Alberta companies exported just over $6.09 billion worth of goods in November 2010, a decline of 1.4% from October. The Edmonton-based financial institution said although the decline was fairly small, it was enough to bring exports to their second lowest monthly reading for 2010.

Imports also dipped by a more substantial 5.8%, leaving the provincial trade surplus unchanged at $4.4 billion.

ATB Financial economist Dan Sumner said the flatness in Alberta trade figures emphasizes the impact of the weak US economy; commodity prices have perked up (except natural gas), while exports have stagnated.

But this year, if oil stays above US$90 per barrel, exports will pick up. He said an improving US economy will also provide a boost.

March/April 2011

Pulp sludge is green I

Making pulp at Catalyst Paper's Crofton mill on Vancouver Island.

environmental discharge, but during this process they grow and become a disposal problem.

Paradigm aims to materially reduce the volume of that waste for disposal and convert it into renewable energy.

O’Connor says it used to take 20 to 25 days to get the organics compressed down to methane. That meant you needed a very large tank. “But with MicroSludge that number drops to five to seven days.” FP also found that at five days, four days or even as low as three days, they got more biogas than they got at 20 days. “That makes it more attractive from a cost point of view,” he says.

“That’s very important because if you can reduce digestion time from 20 days to five days, it means the tank is one-quarter the size. That means it’s far less expensive to construct and far less expensive to run,” says Skene.

The system has another advantage. It creates more nitrogen and phosphorous than an anaerobic digestor could without it. “Pulp mills have to add nitrogen and phosphorous to keep these bugs working,” says O’Connor, adding a medium-sized pulp mill would easily spend $500,000 to

Global biomass energy investments 2005-2009 EU Central & South America US

44% 7% 10% 23%

China 9%

Rest of Asia 5%

Rest of World Canada

2%

0 10 Source: New Energy Finance

www.plant.ca

20

30

gold

BC pilot project turns production waste into nutrients and bioGAS

By Kim Laudrum t began, as Gordon Skene tells it, with a chance meeting in Leeds, England at a soccer club during a water treatment industry conference a few years ago.

Skene is president and CEO of Vancouver-based Paradigm Environmental Technologies Inc., a private clean tech firm with 14 employees and the patent for MicroSludge. Developed by Paradigm’s chief technology officer Ron Stephenson, MicroSludge is a green technology that converts waste sludge – very efficiently, as it turns out – into biogas and fertilizer. Municipalities use it at wastewater treatment plants.

Paradigm was in England to expand its market and make contacts when he met Allan Elliott. He’s a scientist with FP Innovations, a not-for-profit research and development organization with 600 employees across the country, based in Pointe Claire, Que. FP helps develop and implement innovative and safe solutions to improve the global competitiveness of Canada’s forest products industry. In the pulp and paper sector, FP Innovations identifies new product streams by extracting chemicals and energy from forest biomass, or wood fibres.

Could Paradigm help Canadian pulp and paper mills realize economic and environmental benefits using MicroSludge in their anaerobic digestor systems to treat waste-activated sludge (WAS)?

Paradigm was encouraged, among other companies, to submit a proposal to participate in a research project helmed by FP Innovations.

The research project in 2008 was designed to find economically viable ways to effectively manage the sludge that’s created during the anaerobic digestion of the pulp mill’s effluent; recapture and recycle nutrients used in the process; reduce the amount of WAS shipped to landfill or for incineration; and capture CO2 and convert it to biogas, a highly marketable commodity. Paradigm’s MicroSludge technology out-performed all the others in the study, says Brian O’Connor, FP Innovations’ program manager, environment.

Anaerobic digestion is not a new technology, even for the pulp and paper industry. Decaying organics are eaten

by WAS microbes. As they consume the decaying organics they grow, and they clean up the effluent, making it safe for

Bio-energy << Sustainability

40

50

Economies around the world are very active in the bio-energy area, establishing policies, providing financial incentives and attracting investments. Different regions are focusing on different bio-energy forms (biofuels in Brazil; biomass in Europe; and both in the US).

PHOTO: Jim Miner

$600,000 per year – if not up to $1 million – on these two nutrients.

Making biogas The noteworthy benefit to pulp mills is the whole process used to treat their sludge actually generates nitrogen and phosphorous. “Here you are generating a waste that you can put back into the process to offset your purchases of nitrogen and phosphorous. MicroSludge technology breaks up the cell wall so the sludge is more of a soupy mixture that’s more easily chewed up by the microbes.

So you can generate more methane, too,” O’Connor says.

FP Innovations found the methane content actually improved materially from 65% to close to 75%. This biogas can often be used just to replace natural gas that the plant has purchased. Alternatively, a pulp plant could take the biogas, remove the carbon dioxide and other gases from it and create another product that's at least 98% or 99% methane. “That becomes pipeline-grade or fuel-grade natural gas.”

There’s a developing market for this biomethane gas in many areas of the world including BC and certainly in Southern California, and it’s typically fetching high price rates from buyers looking for “renewable” energy. In Southern California, with a spot price of natural gas of about $4.25 a gigajoule, biomethane is getting between $11 and $13 per gigajoule.

But that’s all theoretical for now. So far MicroSludge has been proven only in FP Innovations’ lab. Yet the potential benefits have attracted the attention of investors keen to see the rejuvenation of Canada’s forest products sector and the develop-

US power generation from biomass will rise from 60 million megawatt hours in 2008 to 188 megawatt hours in 2020. In other words, it is expected to triple in 12 years.

Source: The United States Department of Energy

ment of a Canadian bioenergy sector.

A scaleable pilot project is now underway to test MicroSludge at the Catalyst Paper mill in Crofton, BC. Investors include Natural Resources Canada at $2.5 million; the BC Ministry of Forests, Mines and Resources at $1 million; and a $1.5-million contribution from the BC Bioenergy Network to Elemental Energy Inc., the industrial lead on the project.

In-kind contributions of $1.12 million from Elemental, Paradigm, Catalyst and the University of British Columbia bring the total investment to $6.2 million.

The fully automated, transportable demonstration plant at Crofton includes a MicroSludge unit, sludge thickening equipment, anaerobic digesters, and a laboratory. A 15-month demonstration aims to replicate mill operations to measure the operating savings at full scale.

Then the unit will be moved to other pulp mills for further trials.

Crofton was selected as host because it’s a large plant, with three operations: paper making, thermal mechanical pulp and a kraft mill that make 1,000 tonnes of market kraft pulp and about 800 tonnes of paper used for telephone directories and newsprint.

“There are not a lot of plants out there that have both pulp and paper,” says Bob Ericksen, Catalyst’s utilities manager at Crofton.

Another important consideration was the Crofton site’s size. Skene says it could be a secondary treatment plant for a community of half-a-million people.

The demonstration project is testing just one per cent of the plant’s flow. “This little plant is processing what would be the effluent for about 5,000 people. So, it’s a pretty decent size.”

Catalyst has some environmental cred in its own right. With a 100% recycled fibre mill in Snowflake, Ariz., it’s one of the premier recycled paper operations in North America. It specializes in lighter basis weight papers, an environmentally sound choice because they require fewer resources to make. Catalyst maintains a low carbon footprint by using 86% renewable energy at its BC operations, and it has reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 85% from a 1990 baseline, allowing the company to offer manufactured carbon-neutral specialty papers.

“All of the other technologies we looked at in the past have really been focused on reducing the cost of disposal,” says Ericksen. “This is the first one to hold the promise of being a net energy benefit to the plant. And then reducing Continued on page 6

Canadian PLANT WEST 5

Trends

Paradigm’s transportable MircoSludge demonstration plant.

RENDERING: PARADIGM ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGIES

>> Forest Products

More value from each tree Catalyst and Domtar invest in producing bio-energy and new materials

Continued from page 5

our chemical impact is certainly a plus.”

In the past, the need for a very large vessel prevented many plants from installing anaerobic digesters. But Paradigm’s technology uses a vessel that’s one-quarter the size of others, which greatly improves the economics.

Michael Weedon, executive director of the BC Biotechnology Network, a notfor-profit group that invests in bio-energy projects, says what drew his organization’s support for the project was the technology being transportable to at least 13 similar facilities in BC alone. “Across Canada the numbers are even larger. It has fairly broad applications for the pulp and paper industry; not every mill, but the vast majority of them.”

But the technology could be used in other industries as well, says Skene.

Meat-packing plants, breweries and distilleries, petrochemical plants, and pharmaceutical plants – all have large wastewater treatment processes.

“This is the first such project in the hard-pressed pulp industry, which has been under pressure the past few years.

We hope to introduce something to help them be more competitive, sustain jobs and do it with less of a carbon footprint,” says Weedon. “In the face of higher fuel costs I think you’re going to see a lot more of this type of activity and this sort of thinking. We just need to be better at how we use our resources.”

Almost felled by the mountain pine beetle, the great economic recession, and the drawn-out trade dispute with the US over softwood lumber, the Canadian forest products industry is now optimistic about its role as a “pivotal force in Canada’s efforts to become a clean energy super-power,” according to Avrim Lazar, president and CEO of the Forest Products Association of Canada.

The association recently undertook a study, The Future Bio-Pathways Project, which examines renewal options for the industry. It places traditional products, especially lumber and pulp, at the heart of a new green business model.

“If we follow this new model we will be able to produce power on the scale of nine nuclear reactors, enough to meet the energy needs of 2.5 million homes, or one out of every five homes across Canada,” says Lazar.

MicroSludge is one of many projects to come that will contribute to a greener forestry industry as this new era unfolds.

Kim Laudrum is a writer and editor based in Toronto who specializes in sustainability issues. E-mail klaudrum@rogers.com.

Comments? E-mail joe.terrett@plant. rogers.com.

6 Canadian PLANT WEST

BY PLANT STAFF

C

atalyst Paper will be applying $13.3 million in federal funding to a new green-energy project at its Powell River mill in BC that will produce lowcarbon electricity through waste wood co-generation. The Richmond, BC-based manufacturer of specialty printing papers, newsprint and pulp is funding the whole project with $18 million worth of Pulp and Paper Green Transformation Program (PPGTP) credits, earned through the production of black liquor at its Crofton pulp operation in 2009. And the electricity will be certified under the federal EcoLogo program.

Ditto for an upgrade at Catalyst’s Port Alberni mill, which is getting $4.7 million in funding for upgrading the main power boiler (PB4), a new secondary air system, a larger economizer or heat-exchange Paper manufacturing at Catalyst Paper’s mainland Powell River mill on BC’s coast.

PHOTO: CATALYST PAPER system, and a new gas monitoring system.

Both these projects are tangible examples of big changes in Canada’s forestry industry as it combines than being trucked away, the sand will be screened and rebio-initiatives with its regular operations, an evolution that is cycled on-site, reducing the total volume needed. described in part two of a “biopathways” study released by the The paper company also received PPGTP funding of $4.7 milForest Products Association of Canada (FPAC). lion for a capital upgrade at its Port Alberni mill to improve the “A number of companies are integrating bio-energy applicaefficiency and reliability of its biomass-based energy generation. tions to their industrial operations,” says Andrew Goodison, Upgrades involve the main power boiler (PB4), a new secondproject manager of financial components for the study, the ary air system, a larger economizer or heat-exchange system, second part titled, The New Face of the Canadian Forest Inand a new gas monitoring system. dustry: the Emerging Bio-Revolution.

Installation of larger and better-designed air nozzles will deThe first phase of the study released a year ago highlighted liver more efficient boiler combustion and reduce fuel requirehow investment in new bio-technologies will add value to Canaments while improving the operational reliability of the existing da’s already high-valued lumber and pulp and paper industries. equipment, reducing the need for a back-up natural gas boiler.

The second phase shows there are markets for these add-on products, and how to incorporate them.

Advanced materials Catalyst is doing its bit by installing new waste-wood hanDomtar, a Montreal-based paper maker, is producing nanocrysdling equipment, a sand recycling system, it’s upgrading an talline cellulose (NCC) extracted from pulp fibres that is used existing power boiler and putting a steam condenser on the to strengthens plastic, thus reducing the amount needed by generator. Work is to be completed within 12 months. half.

“One of the great strengths at the Powell River operation is our FPInnovations, a not-for-profit R&D outfit based in Pointe clean-burning power boiler. Emissions and air-quality monitoring Claire, Que. that helps develop bio-friendly forest products for demonstrate that,” says Bob Lindstrom, Catalyst’s vice-president global markets, has teamed up with Domtar to invest $32.4 milof supply chain, energy and information technology. “Factor in lion in a pilot plant at at the company’s Windsor, Que. pulp and our marine access to waste-wood supplies, and our Powell River paper mill to produce almost a tonne of NCC a day from hardmill becomes one of the most logical and low-impact places in wood chips. This nanomaterial improves strength and density Canada to generate green energy from biomass.” of plastic while reducing damage from wear, humidity and UV The waste wood – or biomass – is mostly tree bark and will rays, and it has virtually no damaging environmental effects. be burned in a PB19 power boiler to create steam for both Once extraction processes are fine-tuned and NCC is more paper making and electricity generation. The new steam conwidely available, it will be used in more commercial applicadenser will allow the PB19, under used since 2001, to operate tions. For example, optical films enhanced with NCC could be at capacity, and the G12 electricity generation increase from used in specialty packaging, biosensors and security devices between 14 and 18 megawatts to between 32 and 36 megawatts. that prevent counterfeiting. And it could be used as filler in Electricity from this project will displace natural gas generatmagnetic paper or electronic memory cards and readers. ed power for a net annual reduction of 96,500 tonnes of carbon Catalyst and Domtar are plugging into a burgeoning global emissions. The company expects air emissions to be within bio-market worth $200 billion where extracting additional ecoapplicable permit levels while the mill’s carbon footprint will nomic value from each tree harvested is good environmental remain at approximately 88 kilograms of CO2 equivalent airstewardship, but also really good for business and the future of dried tonnes (e/adt) of production. The same amount of fossil the industry. fuel-generated electricity would typically create nearly 100,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions each year, equivalent to the Matt Powell, an online writer for CanadianManufacturing. operation of 25,000 cars. com, provided files for this article.

Installation of a recycling system will improve the use of sand fed into the boiler bed to ensure combustion efficiency. Rather Comments? E-mail joe.terrett@plant.rogers.com.

March/April 2011

Energy << Industry

By Erika Beauchesne

C

Oil and gas need to

diversify

anada’s oil and gas sector needs to do a better job of drilling into emerging markets that could be worth an additional billion dollars or more. Scotiabank’s economics group says Canada’s oil sands exports are too US-focused and producers could be reaping higher prices from swelling demand in other economies.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) is the standard pricing reference for oil in North America. Limited pipeline capability from Cushing, Okla. to refining centres in the US Gulf region has created a supply glut, bringing the WTI far below the Brent crude index, which influences pricing on two-thirds of the world’s oil supply. Brent prices are based on oil from the North Sea in Europe, where petroleum demand is surging due to production decreases and a colder-than-normal winter. By late January, the gap between the two pricing systems had widened to US$12 a barrel.

Patricia Mohr, Scotiabank’s vice-president of economics, says the difference is costing Canada’s oil industry more than a billion dollars in lost value. “We export about two-thirds of our oil production to the US – there’s really a lot of money involved here.”

Open-pit oil sands mining in Fort McMurray, Alta.

TransCanada Corp. and Enbridge are of oil per day to Asian markets off Vancouver’s inner each proposing pipeline projects – Keystone XL and the port, although he says the US remains Canada’s most Monarch – that would extend shipments to the Gulf, re“natural” market. “It’s close, it’s friendly and we already lieving some of the North American pricing depression. have the infrastructure in place.”

But Mohr says building the pipelines would take at least But those times are a changing, says Todd Crawford, a another couple years while the wide price differences Conference Board of Canada economist who tracks nacould continue. tional energy industries for the Ottawa-based research “If you look at the lumber industry during the US firm. housing market’s downturn, that was devastating for “Asia and India are going to be the driving force of Canada’s exports, the bulk of which had been going to demand over the next 35 years and it would benefit the US,” Mohr says, highlighting the consequences of Canadian producers to secure that long-term market.” relying too much on one market.

With Canadian oil production likely to hit 2.9-million The sector is just now showing signs of recuperation barrels a day by 2020, Crawford says logistics investafter spending the several years diversifying exports to ments would pay off. other markets such as China, where rising demand is fuelling higher prices. She says Canada’s oil and gas industry could do the same.

Chinese oil consumption increased by 12% last year ® and Scotiabank predicts demand will continue to climb this year as the country’s economy expands by 9.5%; however, Mohr says it’s going to take significant POLIFAN®-CURVE is a new PFERD innovatiodesigned to quickly achieve a smooth, consistent surface finish ofillet welds. infrastructure investments to transport Canadian oil to the Pacific Rim. The unique radial constructioshape (PFR) offers a superior solutiofor this commotask.

“We have some access now,” says Travis Davies, media relations manager at the Calgary-based Cana■ Tough and aggressive - removes scale and bead from all metals: steel, stainless steel, aluminum and alloys. dian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP).

■ Works faster thagrinding wheels without the risk of undercutting Canada can ship between 80,000 and 100,000 barrels the workpiece.

Billion-dollar exports beckon overseas

Despite potential gains, the issue of transporting oil has been a polarizing subject in Western Canada, says Will Kimber, vice-president of research with the Canada West Foundation, a western-oriented research group. “There are very strong views both for and against increasing our oil sands trade with China and India, in part because of what it would mean for pipelines and tanker traffic here.”

Economic risk

Enbridge is planning a $5.5-billion pipeline system to transport oil from Edmonton to a new marine terminal in Kitimat, BC for shipping overseas, but the proposed “Northern Gateway” has met opposition from many environmental, research and First Nations groups.

On top of environmental concerns, there are economic risks to consider, especially in Alberta where 40% of the economy is driven by the oil and gas sector. It will feel any swings in global commodity markets.

Recent turmoil in oil-producing Libya is both helping and hindering producers here, says Peter Buchanan, senior economist with CIBC World Markets. Albertabased Suncor has operations in Libya; “however, Canadian producers should benefit from the significant risk premium, resulting in higher prices so long as the situation there remains unsettled.”

PHOTO: iSTOCKPHOTO Even if the crisis in Libya is resolved, Buchanan says it’s just part of a larger unsettled political picture in the Middle East that could affect other producers such as Saudi Arabia.

These kinds of emerging issues underscore the country’s need for a national energy strategy, according to Kimber. “There are huge economic opportunities here that can’t be ignored and we have to figure out how best to position Canada to take advantage of them.”

Erika Beauchesne is an online writer and section editor with CanadianManufacturing.com. E-mail erika. beauchesne@rci.rogers.com.

Comments? E-mail joe.terrett@plant.rogers.com.

POLIFAN -CURVE Flap Discs Special Line SGP

■ Precise grinding out of fillet welds provides a superior surface finish.

Oil sands opportunities Looking to do some business with Alberta’s oil sands developers and suppliers?

The annual National Buyer Seller Forum in Edmonton March 29-31 will lay out the new oil sands supply chain and where you fit in.

Sessions will cover mining projects, engineering and procurement, carbon capture and sequestration, reclamation and water management, specialized supply chain strategies, tailings pond opportunities, and global investment.

This event is presented by Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME), the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), and the Alberta and Canadian governments. Visit www.nationalbuyersellerforum.ca.

www.plant.ca

Steel/Stainless steel (INOX) Type SGP-ZIRKON-CURVE

■ Smooth finish allows easy visual inspectiofor defects, such as porosity and inclusions.

■ Ideal for repair applications to remove defects without damage to adjacent areas. Leaves ample room for new weld bead.

■ Excellent tool life, including the radius edge of the disc.

■ Multi-purpose – may be used as a conventional flap disc, and also for underhand applications using the top of the disc.

Recommendatiofor use: The best results are achieved ohigh-performance angle grinders Medium for fillet weld widths > 3/16”(5 mm) Large for fillet weld widths > 5/16” (8 mm)

The POLIFAN® SGP ZIRKON-CURVE is a high-power tool for demanding grinding work with particularly high machining capacity.

Abrasive: Zirconia alumina Z: Grit size: 40 Workpiece materials: Steel, stainless steel (INOX) Application: Fillet weld grinding, chamfering, deburring

Diameter (inches)

Disc Thickness (inches)

Fillet Weld Width (inches)

Grit size

Unthreaded Arbor Hole Bore (inches) EDP No.

Threaded Arbor Hole Thread EDP No.

Max. RPM

4-1/2

9/16

Medium > 3/16

40

7/8

67192

5/8-11

67212

10

13,300

4-1/2

5/8

Large > 5/16

40

7/8

67339

5/8-11

67359

10

13,300

5

9/16

Medium > 3/16

40

7/8

67196

5/8-11

67216

10

12,200

5

5/8

Large> 5/6

40

7/8

6743

5/8-11

6763

10

12,200

PFERD CANADA INC. • 5570 McAdam Road • Mississauga, Ontario L4Z 1P1 • tel: (905)501-1555 • toll-free:(866)245-1555 • fax: (905) 501-1554

Canadian PLANT WEST 7

Management

>> Finance

Global opportunities,

global risks Make foreign exchange a competitive advantage

By Karl Schamotta

T

he world is getting smaller for many Canadian manufacturers. Supply chains are stretching around the world and companies are venturing farther afield, seeking opportunities in places that have long been the exclusive preserve of large multinationals. Of course, operating in this smaller, more integrated world means rapid shifts in the foreign exchange markets can have a significant impact on the bottom line.

The ultimate objective of a currency risk management strategy is to mitigate the negative effects on a company’s value from adverse foreign exchange movements. The idea is to make cash flows more predictable so strategic financial decisions are easier to make and growth is sustainable.

Take a step back from day-to-day trading and assess your operations from a strategic perspective. Start by identifying your long-term objectives. Writing a formal policy is often the most effective way to ensure that your trading framework matches your goals.

A simple and effective formalized policy can be created relatively quickly and easily, and modified over time as conditions change. Most risk policies are brief but cover the following areas:

Technology

• articulate the company’s risk tolerances and objectives; • outline the process for measuring currency exposures; • create responsibilities and internal controls for personnel; • identify when and why financial hedges should be executed; • specify which tools may be used to cover exposures; and • implement an ongoing review and analysis process.

Building your strategy around this framework should help to ensure trades precisely match exposures, they’re placed for the right reasons and are the right tools for the job.

A manufacturer with an organization spread across the world has a range of currency exposures. Managing the risks requires open and clear communication, and everyone must be aware of the consequences associated with foreign exchange transactions. Ensuring that the disparate parts of your organization are keeping decision makers informed on a timely basis will reduce the possibility of dangerous surprises.

In many cases, effective communication turns a risk into an opportunity.

Understanding implications of market movements and cross-currency transactions adds value to the negotiation

>> CAD

Autodesk’s suite plant designs

For the typical manufacturer, currency movement represents an asymmetric risk: the potential for material losses far outweighs the benefits to be gained from a favourable move in exchange rates.

PHOTO: iSTOCKPHOTO

stage, making your company far more competitive, particularly when bidding on projects or buying products internationally. Also, the longer the timeframe between incurring the exposure and the point at which funds must flow, the more opportunities will be available to execute trades at favourable levels.

Risk protection There are two primary ways to protect your company from risk.

To reduce long-term risk, a natural hedge will match your revenues and expenses. This can involve building a production facility in a country where your revenues are generated, or denominating debt in a currency that mirrors your income stream. Paying salaries or bonuses in US dollars when revenues are earned in the US is also a common practice. Avoiding the need to buy or sell foreign currency not only reduces exposure, it eliminates significant transaction costs. Diversifying your operations often lowers long-term risk, while building a foundation for sustainable growth.

If natural hedging isn’t possible, companies will typically turn to shorter term,

Aerial view of a process plant designed with Navisworks and 3ds Max. PHOTO: AUTODESK

E

ngineers and industrial designers that use CAD software to design plant operations often need to employ additional programs for extra elements, but a lot of the software isn’t compatible, hence the inspiration for Autodesk’s Plant Design Suite 2011. It combines AutoCAD, AutoCAD P&ID, AutoCAD Plant 3D and Autodesk Navisworks.

“We have products from across many different technologies and many different industries that belong together or are often used together,” says Robert Shear, director of plant industry marketing for Autodesk, the global design software developer based in San Rafael, Calif.

AutoCAD P&ID and Plant 3D form the foundation of the suite because they are both specialized applications for plants and with the Plant 3D application, you get a 3D virtual tour of the design that’s much cleaner than a 2D CAD drawing.

Having Navisworks on every desk clearly communicates what’s happening, combining multidisciplinary data in a single integrated project model.

“Navisworks enables seamless viewing from AutoCAD to Navisworks,” explains Shear. “For example, you can be in Navisworks navigating through the design and get to an area where you want to do some work or make some changes. You can switch right to AutoCAD in the exact same view, except now you’re in an editing window.”

AutoCAD P&ID is built directly on top of AutoCAD, while AutoCAD

8 Canadian PLANT WEST

Plant 3D shares the same code base as P&ID. And Navisworks not only supports AutoCAD DWG file format, it now has new features that enable seamless plant design-to-review workflow.

Another big benefit is one license and one install, making it easier to update and deploy across an entire company.

What makes it an even sweeter deal is price. The premium suite is $9,500 and the advanced suite is $12,500. That’s a significant cost savings considering Plant 3D as a standalone application is a $9,000 product, and you get a better view of your projects. — Noelle Dickey Comments? E-mail joe.terrett@plant.rogers.com.

transactional tools.

The use of financial derivatives is the most common strategy employed by successful manufacturers. A broad variety of tools and strategies are available, from the simple to the highly complex.

Forward contracts enjoy the most widespread use, allowing companies to buy and sell foreign currencies today for settlement in the future. Forwards are highly efficient and extremely flexible, allowing you to easily specify settlement periods, amounts and delivery methods.

Tools such as swaps, structured options and non-deliverable forwards also provide protection against foreign exchange risk, helping to achieve business objectives such as redeploying capital globally, capturing upside potential when favourable moves are expected, and doing business in nations with protected currencies.

The only certainty in currency markets is that exchange rates will move, but in both directions on a daily basis so obtaining incremental gains is easily accomplished using specific tools and a disciplined approach.

Many global manufacturers achieve this by initially hedging less than 100% of their expected needs. Ensuring your margins are fully protected is vitally important if you wish to remain sustainable, but leaving part of your cash flow unhedged allows you to enter the market at a later date. Without taking a directional view, use tools such as limit orders or structured option products to increase protection over time.

Harness short-term volatility by seeking small gains rather than attempting to capitalize on large, long-term market shifts. Many small gains add up to more than one big move, and can be achieved with much less risk.

Canadian companies have access to some of the world’s most advanced financial machinery. Pair this with a robust currency strategy and you will out-compete international firms while dramatically improving domestic performance.

Karl Schamotta is a Calgary-based senior market strategist for Western Union Business Solutions (business.westernunion. ca). E-mail karl.schamotta@business. westernunion.com or call (403) 827-9741.

Comments? E-mail joe.terrett@plant. rogers.com.

March/April 2011

Product Showcase << Departments Safely enclosed lift Pentalift’s customized Triple Scissor Lift Table provides a safer lift with a four-sided, gated 72-in. safety mesh enclosure.

The lift in the photo was designed for a recreation facility where the application Mesh guardrails protectrequired a platform ing the raised enclosure’s width of 84 in., a occupant. length of 108 in. and a 4,000-lb. capacity.

A remote 3 HP unit drives the lift speed and gate assemblies are interlocked to the power unit control circuit, so both gates must be completely enclosed and locked before the enclosure can be raised or lowered.

Pentalift makes the lifts at its 120,000 square-foot manufacturing facility in Guelph, Ont. www.pentalift.com

isolated inputs, eight high-power isolated outputs and eight low-power isolated outputs. You can distribute multiples of these on an ethernet network to expand the I/O and the two-letter programming is easier using Galil Tools for servo tuning and analysis, or for Visual Basic users, the ActiveX Tool Kit. Housed in a 3.9- x 4.3- x 1.3-in. package, this compact PLC has a powerful RISC processor for fast I/O handling and includes ±10 V analogue I/O, program memory with multitasking, PID process control loops, timers, counters, web interface, e-mail alerts, data logging, Ethernet 100Base-T and RS232.

It’s distributed by Electromate Industrial Sales, based in Woodbridge, Ont. www.electromate.com

F U E L

>> Events National Buyer/Seller Forum, March 29-31, Edmonton Connect with the new oil sands supply chain. Presented by Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME), Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, and the Alberta and Canadian governments. Visit www.nationalbuyersellerforum.ca.

Measure Up for Success 2011, June 6-10, Calgary The Association for Manufacturing Excellence and Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters host this regional lean conference featuring six keynotes from business and lean leaders, 36 practitioner presentations and 15 workshops. Visit www.ameconference.org/2011-calgary.

Western Manufacturing Technology Show, June 14-16, Edmonton The Society of Manufacturing Engineers presents the Western Manufacturing Technology Show (WMTS), a showcase for manufacturers of products ranging from machine tools, welding equipment, design engineering and plant maintenance to process control and automation. Visit www.wmts.ca.

Y O U R

F U T U R E

JUNE 14 – 16 | NORTHLANDS AGRICOM, EDMONTON, ALBERTA

Tablet PCs improve outside viewing DAP Technologies has added two new Windows CE 6.0-based rugged tablet computers to its line-up that improve viewing in bright sunlight.

The Tempe, Ariz. tablet manufacturer’s 7-in. M8930 and 6.2-in. M8940 feature optically enhanced touch screens that harness ambient light to enhance viewing in all light conditions. They’re also built for tough handling such as direct impacts, scratches and chemical spills, and they perform in extreme temperatures.

Both models conform to MIL STD 810F, they’re dust and water sealed to IP-67 standards and they’re engineered to withstand multiple 4-ft. drops.

Windows CE version 6.0 runs on a Marvell PXA-300 624MHz processor with 128 MB SDRAM and ample memory for storing data locally, including 512 MB SSD and an expansion slot supporting up to 16 GB. Power comes from dual LI/ION batteries; one internal and a second that can be hot-swapped as needed.

Options include 3G/GPRS/GSM, Bluetooth and Summit wireless LAN 802.11b/g radios; a low-power SiRF star III 3GPS and 1D laser or 1D/2D imager scanners; and a vehicle cradle for easy mounting on a vehicle or forklift. www.daptech.com

“Canadian Chamber of Commerce predicts Alberta poised to lead the way in economic growth”* Manufacturing. It’s your industry and it’s on the rise! WMTS 2011 is the ultimate forum for manufacturing professionals from Alberta and all of Western Canada.

Get prepared and equip yourself with the tools to succeed; • See the latest new products and technologies • Meet industry experts • Watch live demonstrations of the latest machine tools, automation technologies and production methods • Mingle with your peers

PLC packs ethernet punch The RIO-47100 pocket PLC from Galil, an intelligent input and output controller for the ethernet, is compact, packed with I/O and it communicates with many devices including the Rocklin, Calif. company’s DMC-40x0 ethernet motion controllers.

The RIO-47100 contains a fast RISC processor for handling I/O logic and is programmed using Galil’s easy-to-use, two-letter command language.

Each self-contained unit has eight analogue inputs and outputs, 16 optically

www.plant.ca

Canadian PLANT WEST 9

It’s your industry. Celebrate it. Make your plans to attend or exhibit today

ATTEND | EXHIBIT | LEARN * ctvcalgary.ca Organized by:

wmts.ca

Register today Sponsoring partners

888-322-7333 Follow us!

Departments

>> Postscript

Ten reasons why the west has won

By Todd Hirsch

I

t’s been ongoing for decades already, but the westward drift in Canada’s economic centre of gravity will gain even more momentum in 2011. Here are the top 10 reasons why.

10. Better fiscal environment. Saskatchewan is running a surplus. BC and Manitoba are close. Although Alberta is still running a pretty hefty deficit, the province is debt free and has plenty of savings. Ontario, on the other hand, is in some trouble. It’s not comparable to

Except for natural gas, almost all of Canada’s natural “resources are enjoying high prices in 2011... ” Greece, but big spending cuts and/or tax increases will eventually hit the province – and probably Quebec, too.

9. Agriculture. Crop farmers in western Canada may actually be smiling this spring. If moisture conditions hold up (and the snow pack this winter suggests they will), it could be a very good year for wheat, barley and canola growers.

Prices are stellar.

8. More diversified exports. The west-

ern provinces are somewhat more oriented towards China, India and the emerging economies than provinces east of Manitoba. This is especially true in BC, which sent only 45% of its exports to the US in 2010 (compared with 80% from Ontario).

Even the Prairie Provinces, with all their energy exports piped south of the 49th parallel, sent slightly less (78%) to the US. 7. The soaring loonie. The higher Canadian dollar will be a disproportion-

ately painful kick in the face to central Canadian exporters whose bread and butter is the US market. The story is really not so much about the loonie but the depreciating US greenback, which will continue to decline.

6. Fort McMurray. The oil sands have generated more than their fair share of controversy and problems, but the largest engineering projects on the face of the earth have taken on a life of their own. That is lifting the fortunes of northeastern Alberta and the manufacturing heartland of central Alberta. For example, a new upgrader is set to be built near Edmonton.

5. Conventional oil drilling. Western Canada’s conventional oil drillers are also having a great year. Forecasts for wells drilled have been revised upward for 2011. Prices well above US$80 per barrel certainly help. But improved technologies in horizontal drilling – many of which were developed in Alberta – are giving new life and adding reserves to oil fields drilled decades ago.

4. Non-oil resources. Except for natural gas, almost all of Canada’s natural resources are enjoying high prices in 2011. That will boost activity in potash, base metals and even forestry.

3. Jobs, jobs, jobs. Through the recession, employment in Saskatchewan and Manitoba didn’t drop, and with the recovery in 2010, job creation has picked up. BC hit a soft patch post Olympics and Alberta suffered during the downturn, but unemployment rates across western Canada remain lower than in central or Atlantic Canada. That will help pull job seekers to the West.

2. Growing cities. They may not be the size of greater Toronto or Montreal, but western Canada’s urban municipalities are showing some of the fastest growth rates in the country. Saskatoon took the top spot as the fastest growing population in Canada, and two other western Canadian cities – Vancouver and Regina – placed second and third.

1. A global glow. With the surge in mergers, acquisitions and equity sales for Canadian energy companies, Calgary is gaining tremendously in global investment banking. According to a study by one large global financial player, Canada now ranks fourth in the world (behind the US, UK and Japan) in terms of generating investment banking fees. Toronto still accounts for the lion’s share, but the big growth has been in Calgary as players like Barclays Capital, Credit Suisse and Citigroup scoop up talent and office space.

All of this will put western Canada on top of the national growth chart in 2011 – and in an enviable position among most global economies.

Todd Hirsch is senior economist with the Edmonton-based ATB Financial.

Comments? E-mail joe.terrett@plant. rogers.com.

10 Canadian PLANT WEST

March/April 2011

Why not tweak your business with the help of our productivity experts? Answering straightforward questions can unlock a better way of doing business – because sometimes you just need to see it from another angle.

THINKPRODUCTIVITY.CA

Well, pretty darn close. The recession was hard on everyone, but especially on those who weren’t productive.

But we learned our lesson – right?

Warm and Dry. On-Site Portable Climate Control Turn up the heat and get your projects done no matter what the weather.

With ICS on your side, you have the leader in portable climate control creating solutions that are safe, reliable, efficient and easy to set up.

At ICS we provide the best on-site services in the industry.

Maybe that’s why we have become the single largest independent portable climate control provider in Canada!

We design and deliver innovative systems to meet any challenge on any jobsite, including oil & gas, construction, event facility heating and cooling, or flood and fire restoration. Bring us your toughest projects - we will keep your project warm, dry, and on schedule.

For unparalleled expertise and the best service in the industry, contact ICS.

CALGARY EDMONTON FORT MCMURRAY WINNIPEG

WWW.ICSGROUP.CA 1-866-247-4460