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Bourque Industrial: the art of exceeding expectations
For a company that once enjoyed a reputation as one of the best custom fabricators nobody ever heard of, Bourque Industrial sure has a funny way of keeping a lid on its achievements. There’s a 12-foot, scrap-metal T-Rex of its own manufacture sitting on the front lawn of its Saint John, N.B. digs.
“We wanted to do something different,” President and owner John Bourque says. “We thought this would be cool. We’ve had folks stop and get pictures taken. Covid hit and we added a mask and gloves and put a needle in his hands. He’s had thousands of likes on all social media platforms.”
The homemade dinosaur may be an odd sign of the times – Jurassic Park meets Facebook, no less! But it’s also the perfect sales symbol of Bourque Industrial’s essential “have tools will travel” ethos.
The company – founded by John’s grandfather as Bourque Welding in 1946 – custom fabricates carbon steel, stainless steel, nickel alloy, and aluminum for local and global markets. It manufactures new, and replaces or repairs old, equipment for customers in power generation, petroleum refining, process equipment, and structural steel and renewables.
“We are a service provider and not really a product company,” Bourque explains. “Our clients are looking for someone who understands their needs. In many cases timelines are short, and details are not clear. They trust that our knowledge across a wide variety of sectors will fill in some of those gaps.”
Innovation, nimbleness, and skill are the watchwords the firm unpacks at every job it undertakes. “I think the fact that we act as a team here and solving problems is what we do – our customers appreciate that.”
A sense of fun doesn’t hurt, and neither does the chance to show off the occasional prehistoric monster. “We’ve never been a company to brag. But over the years we have learned that we need to show what we can do.”
GOW Group: specializing in mechanized solutions
If GOW Group, a steel fabrication and equipment manufacturing company in Grand Falls, N.B., has a motto, “bring it on” might be it. As the company’s co-owner Marco Gagnon says, “We’re not scared of new technologies or processes, so we’re willing to challenge ourselves with complex projects.”
When it comes to custom fabrication, for example, its team of engineers and draftsmen use cutting-edge technologies and software to generate solutions that fit every need no matter how unusual or intricate. Says Gagnon: “Dedication and creativity are two of the ways we’ve built a client base throughout North America.”
Moreover, with five decades of experience in the structural field, it designs, prepares and erects building and support steel of any size, including overhead crane girders. For mining, sawmills, papermills, food processing and aggregate plants, it designs and delivers equipment that’s specific to particular needs. Some of the products it’s known for include: silos, weight conveyors, drum dryers and mixers, drag slats, bag and control houses, wet scrubbers, and aggregate and recycle hoppers. The company also designs its own agricultural equipment for dealers across North America.
Meanwhile, its tailored approach to solving problems and finding solutions also makes it an ideal partner. Parts and products it has subcontracted for other companies include: barriers, mechanized fabricated pieces, pipe supports, staircases and railings, structural frames, support steel, and turnkey products. Says Gagnon: “We view and value the cooperation of similar companies to grow and complete projects. We tend to play well with others.”
Add to this a commitment to quality and cost competitiveness: ISO 9001-2008 certification; and a full stock of industrial, agricultural, electrical, and hydraulic supplies and parts. Its experts will even come and set it up at a customer’s site.
“The bottom line is that we adapt to our customers’ needs and wants,” Gagnon says. “We love to find solutions for our customers and simplify their jobs.”
Johnson Enterprises: delivering premium innovation
Mathieu Johnson, Maxime Johnson, Jesse Johnson and President Joey Johnson
Equipment manufacturer Johnson Enterprises’ first patented tool was a clever device that improved a sawmill’s productivity by reducing the amount of bark in its finished product.
The Val D’Amour, N.B. company has come a long way in 30 years. But innovation is still at the heart of everything it does.
“Our bottom-line commitment to customers hasn’t changed,” says Director of Sales and Business Development Corey MacDonald. “We manufacture quality parts to specifications in a timely and cost-efficient manner to be their preferred supplier and partner.”
It’s a worthy goal that also happens to pay dividends. Today, the company serves a wide variety of industrial sectors, including: aerospace, defence, shipyards, offshore oil & gas, mining, railway, energy and forestry. It specializes in CNC (computer numerical control) machining, abrasive water jet cutting, fabrication, heat treating, painting, refurbishing, and hard surfacing coating application.
The key, MacDonald says, is the company’s extensive research and development. “This means near-constant innovation. This, in turn, means we are able to produce an array of specialty products quickly, efficiently, reliably, and competitively.”
Take, for example, its chuck housings, jaws, spindles, pistons, cylinders, gear boxes, housings, and winches for the mining industry. Or its pins, bushings, sheaves, cylinders, stop tubes, and gripper arm assemblies for the oil and gas sector. Then, there’s the detailed custom work it does for workplaces as diverse as nuclear power plants and peat-processing facilities.
This “total quality system” conforms to ISO 9001-2015 standards that bolster its nimble, turnkey capabilities and enable its staff to take orders, purchase raw materials, machine, fabricate, warehouse, and ship finished products anywhere in the world.
That’s why Johnson Enterprises enjoys a reputation for exceeding both industry standards and customer expectations, providing what MacDonald describes as “unrivalled personalized service… It’s really what we’re known for.”
That may be a long, winding road from a log debarker, but it’s also a straight path to yet-imagined innovation.
Maritime Hydraulic: products and relationships built to last
Of all the qualities custom equipment manufacturer Maritime Hydraulic brings to the marketplace, well-earned confidence is high on the list.
“There are few limits to the sort of systems we can supply,” says the Moncton-based company’s president Kim Carruthers. “We’re proud of all that we can offer to our clients.”
It’s hard to argue with success. For more than 40 years, Maritime Hydraulic has catered to an array of industries – for clients in aerospace, defence, oil & gas, mining, renewable energies, and marine and offshore sectors – with its advanced hydraulic, mechanical, structural, and electrical designs and unique motion control solutions and custom equipment.
Today, it employs in excess of 85 dedicated, highly skilled professionals with a combined industrial experience of some 350 years, and operates with the latest technology in more than 60,000 square feet of manufacturing and service facilities in Moncton, Houston and Malaysia.
All of which keeps its competitive edge keen. Says Carruthers: “With state-of-the-art design, manufacturing, and technical know-how, we are able to produce equipment that meets any critical regulatory compliance. We strive to carefully understand the customer’s needs and build machinery and equipment that satisfies its exact requirement while being environmentally and socially responsible. Ultimately, it’s about building trust.”
Certainly, Orbital Sciences Corporation trusted it to design and manufacture cylinders and gimbals for four successful NASA launches. The US Army Corps of Engineers trusted it to produce 13-meter extended-length dam gate cylinders for the Olmsted Locks and Dam. And ATP Oil & Gas trusted it to deliver a ram-style production riser tensioner system (equipment for deep-sea drilling platforms) with a per unit 1.6-million-pound capacity.
The key, Carruthers says, is “thoroughly analyzing our clients’ requirements, and then applying a rigorous engineering process in order to optimize the design and manufacture equipment that stands the test of time.”
Which only makes sense since that’s another quality Maritime Hydraulic, itself, brings to the marketplace: Built to last.
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