Summer SR&ED activities
In a recent article, Ross Cooper of Excellence in Manufacturing Consortium (EMC) discussed how the slow days of summer are ripe for SR&ED activities as companies are slowing or shutting down production and attending to pesky ongoing production, machinery and process issues as well as integrating improvements to increase efficiency for the rest of the […]
EVERY DROP COUNTS: Green Week Conference 2012 – Conserving water through innovation.
Water is essential for sustaining life, as well as our economy. With less than one percent of the world’s fresh water currently accessible for direct human use, water supplies are now a major global concern impacting not only our daily lives but also our business strategies. Throughout last week, thousands of individuals had gathered for […]
Signs of a Recovering Economy
In the fourth quarter last year, Canadian labour productivity experience its largest gain since the first quarter of 1998 (1.4 per cent). As well, manufacturing sales were up 2.4 per cent in January – this was unexpected, as economists had been expecting a 0.6 per cent gain. (Source) So what does this mean for us? […]
What about failed projects?
We often tell people that failed projects are embraced by the SRED program, and sometimes it can be a little hard to understand exactly why. I mean, isn’t the program meant to promote innovation, and to encourage technological development? If so, then why are projects that don’t result in a more innovative product or process […]
Continuous Improvement in Manufacturing
We’ve spoken a bit about continuous improvement on our blog, but we haven’t yet talked about WHY exactly it is important for manufacturers, and how exactly you can apply it to your business. As a brief reminder, continuous improvement is the process of constantly making your business run more efficiently, with better effectiveness and producing […]
What is the CME Smart Program and how can it help you?
Continuous improvement in manufacturing is vital to help our businesses continue to grow and stay competitive in the global market. Have you thought about implementing changes to make your manufacturing process more lean? Are you working towards improving the quality of the product you manufacture? What about reducing a negative impact you may have on […]
Lean Manufacturing Principles
According to Wikipedia, “lean is centered around creating more value with less work.” Lean manufacturing is basically creating a more streamlined process where we learn from our mistakes and reduce waste – whether physical waste or wasted time. It uses both innovation and problem solving to produce better results. The concept of “lean principles” comes […]
What Work Qualifies for SR&ED
When deciding whether to gather sr&ed information and make a sr&ed claim many companies often wonder what types of work qualifies for sr&ed tax credits. A sr&ed project is defined by the Canadian Revenue Agency as “a set of interrelated activities that collectively are necessary for the attempt to achieve the specific scientific and/or technological […]