Manufacturing Solutions

Although Alberta has a strong manufacturing sector, it trails other provinces in annual growth of both labour and capital productivity. Advanced technology can provide solutions to reverse that trend and address Alberta’s chronic labour shortages.

The NAIT Shell Manufacturing Centre was developed in response to requests from Alberta’s manufacturing industry for ways to

• reduce operational costs
• improve productivity
• enhance competitiveness.

Manufacturing Solutions Services Meet Industry Needs

The Centre provides industry with exposure to leading edge manufacturing processes and ideas, and the services and support to enable these clients to apply them to their own products and environments. The Centre’s focus is on productivity gains made available through process innovation and advanced technologies such as rapid prototyping, laser cutting, welding robotics and radio frequency identification devices.

The Manufacturing Solutions area serves as a sandbox for industry to conduct applied research in a collaborative environment to determine technology suitability for their operations. In our state-of-the-art facilities and laboratories, industry can test and conduct applied research into:

• rapid prototyping and prototype development
• plan design
• robotics and automation
• fabrication
• ERP software solutions
• control systems
• and more

NAIT's Manufacturing Solutions services benefit a broad range of manufacturing businesses seeking productivity improvements. If your business is looking to cut costs through process innovation, or increase profitability by improving or developing new technological capabilities, talk to us. We have a dedicated team able to access experts from within NAIT's pool of faculty and staff as well as outside specialists to deliver on projects. We can offer unbiased, vendor-neutral solutions and work with you to develop innovative products or processes needed for your growing business.

Projects

Many of our projects support small and medium enterprises in designing, prototyping, testing, and bringing new ideas to market. Examples of recent and ongoing projects include:

• rapid development of prototypes for biomedical devices
• development of an ergonomic chair
• radio frequency identification tagging to track files
• radio-frequency ID applications in cold chain monitoring
• use of our metrology and inspection labs to meet testing and calibration needs
• development of environmentally-friendly engineered polymeric materials
• development of mechanical prototype for oil field applications
• finite element analysis of a new picture-frame hanging device
• design of a new siren
• prototype of a golf ball washer
• prototype of a rotating logo for Help TV
• rotating logo souvenirs
• fabrication of rain barrel lid prototype
• prototypes for automated building panel construction
• design of a cord-saver

Our Facilities

At the NAIT Shell Manufacturing Centre, we not only provide technology training for the next generation of skilled workers and their managers, we also offer dedicated lab facilities, state-of-the-art equipment, and specialized supportive research and development for developing, testing, and commercializing new technologies. Located at NAIT’s main campus in Edmonton, the Centre offers a wide variety of resources under one roof.

The most acute need is in the metal fabrication industries, vital partners in oil and gas related production in Alberta. As a result, many of the Centre’s labs and much of the equipment are designed specifically for that sector.

Facilities include:

• Controls lab
• Advanced computer applications lab
• Advanced manufacturing lab
• Advanced hydraulics and pneumatics lab
• Manufacturing operations lab
• Metrology lab
• Inspections lab
• Plastics testing lab
• CIM Systems research and development lab

as well as smart classrooms and meeting space.

Learn more about our facilities.