What does 50 years of manufacturing for some of the world’s most demanding automotive customers teach you about making medical devices?

Quite a lot, as it turns out.

For decades, Armada Toolworks has built its reputation in automotive through their expertise in designing, tooling, molding and assembling components for customers operating under exacting standards for quality, reliability and execution. Today, Armada remains firmly committed to that market while beginning to apply the same manufacturing discipline to a new one, medical devices.

Armada President Chris van den Berg recently spoke with CBC Radio about what prompted the move, why automotive and medical manufacturing have more in common than many people might think, and how Armada is investing in its people and capabilities to position the company for its next stage of growth.

For us at Zynik, this is a story we are particularly proud to share.

Automotive built the foundation

Automotive manufacturing is an unforgiving proving ground.

Programs can run for years and quality must remain consistent. Automotive customers require full traceability for materials, inspections are ongoing and documentation throughout the process is essential. And when the final finished components reach a vehicle assembly line, absolute consistency is essential.

As Chris explained during the interview, those requirements turn out to be highly relevant to medical manufacturing.

“In the manufacturing of automotive parts, there are a lot of strict standards,” he told CBC. The medical industry, he noted, demands many of those same disciplines with an additional requirement that becomes particularly important – cleanliness.

Armada received recent funding from the Federal Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev) to close this gap. They are using the funding to add modern plastic injection molding equipment, assembly equipment and clean-manufacturing capability to the Lindsay, Ontario facility to support medical-device programs.

This is not a reinvention of Armada. It’s an extension of what the company already knows how to do exceptionally well.

Turning uncertainty into investment

The pivot/expansion strategy also comes at an important moment for North American manufacturing.

Automotive suppliers have been navigating material shortages, labor challenges, cost pressure and, more recently, uncertainty surrounding tariffs and cross-border trade. Chris was candid about the impact. Armada lost automotive opportunities last year despite being competitive because customers were concerned about potential tariff exposure.

But Armada’s response was not to retreat from manufacturing or from automotive.

Armada’s response was to ask a different question: Where else can the capabilities we have spent decades building create value?

Medical devices emerged as a compelling answer.

Supported by Canada’s Regional Tariff Response Initiative, Armada is moving forward with a significant capital program to expand its manufacturing capabilities. Chris described approximately $1.3 million in planned investment, combining government support with Armada’s own capital to add molding, assembly and clean-manufacturing infrastructure.

The federal program itself is designed to help Canadian manufacturers respond to trade disruption through investments that improve productivity, strengthen supply chains and open new markets. These are objectives that define the work Armada is putting into practice.

And this isn’t simply capacity being built in anticipation of future demand. Armada already has its first medical device manufacturing program underway. Chris shared that the company will manufacture a CPAP-related product developed by a local medical device entrepreneur using the new equipment and capabilities being brought online.

Diversification without abandoning what made Armada strong

One of the most important points Chris makes in the interview is that expanding into medical does not mean Armada is walking away from automotive.

Quite the opposite.

Automotive remains the foundation upon which this next chapter is being built.

Armada continues to serve automotive customers and compete for new programs while broadening its customer base so that the business becomes stronger and more resilient over the long term.

There is an important lesson in that approach.

Diversification does not always require a company to become something entirely different. Sometimes the best opportunities sit immediately adjacent to what a company already does well.

Near the end of the interview, Chris offers his advice to other manufacturers facing similar uncertainty: understand your core capabilities first, then look for other industries that need them.

“The more successful you will be at your pivot,” he explained, “the smaller the pivot is.”

It’s a simple idea, but an important one.

Armada isn’t trying to learn an entirely new form of manufacturing. It’s taking decades of expertise in engineering, tooling, molding, assembly, process control and quality and finding new customers who place a premium on precisely those capabilities.

A strong team building what comes next

Ultimately, Chris brings the story back to Armada’s people.

During the interview, he speaks about competing for manufacturing programs against companies in the United States, Mexico, China, Korea and elsewhere and about the confidence he has in the Lindsay team doing that work.

“We have a very strong team of people here,” Chris said. “I would put our team up against anyone in the world.”

That may be the most important part of Armada’s story. Equipment matters. Capital matters. New markets matter. But the most essential capability any company has is its people.

At Zynik, our approach to long-term ownership is built around strengthening the companies we own by giving their teams the resources and support to invest, grow and plan confidently for the future. Armada’s expansion is a strong example of what that can look like in practice.

A proven North American manufacturer is investing in modern equipment.

An automotive team is applying decades of hard-earned expertise to a new and demanding industry.

A Canadian facility is preparing for growth.

And a company with a strong past building an even broader future.

Listen to Chris van den Berg’s CBC Radio interview to hear more about Armada’s investment, its expansion into medical-device manufacturing and what he believes comes next for the company.