Delivering Industry-Leading Results Since 1997

In the early 1990’s, Al Diggins developed the foundation for what would eventually become EMC. Starting as a project developed through Georgian College, Al chose to focus specifically on identifying and developing the skills that manufacturers needed in their new hires, and strove to culminate the resources and skills necessary to support manufacturers in the Owen Sound area.

Initially, with a small cluster of 18 manufacturers in the Owen Sound area, Al began facilitating discussions amongst manufacturers to help connect and share ideas, best practices and resources, tackling their greatest challenges. These interactions were more than meetings, and quickly became known as Strategic Interest Group’s (SIGs). In addition, member manufacturers began visiting each other’s plants to share ideas and practices.

Facilitating sharing of best practices between members was not the only method by which Al supported EMC members. In the early days, in order to ensure sharing of information was constant, Al spent considerable time on Sundays developing a newsletter that became known as the EMC Update and faxing copies of same out to all members on a weekly basis.

In 2002, government agencies began to take notice of how EMC was helping its members, and FedNor partnered with EMC in order to support further growth in support of members in Northern Ontario. Similarly, EMC was approached by the WSIB to become one of the original sponsors of the Safety Group program, a manufacturers-only safety group that is still in operation today.

For EMC, the 2010s were a period of rapid expansion and heightened development. In the wake of taking on former Textile Human Resource Council executive Jean-Pierre Giroux as National Director, the organization refined many of its most effective member programs and introduced a variety of new initiatives, including MEC training, Manufacturing GPS, and the Lean Management and Productivity suite, to better serve manufacturers in the digital age.

Founded on a commitment to collaboration, trust and innovative leadership, Excellence in Manufacturing Consortium (EMC) stands out today as an inclusive and diverse not-for-profit organization supporting the growth and success of more than 18,000 manufacturing companies representing over 700,000 of their employees across Canada. For more than a quarter-century, now as Canada’s largest and most active manufacturing consortium, EMC is responsible for contributing significant knowledge, expertise and resources towards advancing the Canadian manufacturing sector.