Manufacturing

Product manufacturing is extremely competitive industry. Small scale operators can not compete based on price against offshore producers and heavily automated plants. Best to seek out specially niches too small to interest large scale manufacturers. Ideal products would be highly innovative (but not revolutionary) or custom made. Products to be marketed locally should be hard to duplicate, offer high mark ups and be costly to transport.

• Add value or new uses for products manufactured by others.
  
• Auto parts/systems design and manufacturing. Computerized components are probably the best option.
  
• Become a supplier of parts: contact purchasing agents, request for supply notice in newspapers and trade journals, etc.
  
• Battery Manufacturing. All materials required to manufacture lead - acid batteries are available locally at wholesale prices with no freight cost. There are also other possibilities such as zinc - air and lithium batteries.
  
• Boat, canoe, kayak, or sail boat manufacturing.
  
• Book publisher or producer - fiercely competitive.
  
• Bottled water producer.
  
• Canvas products.
  
• Compost bins.
  
• Cosmetics - check into health and labelling regulations.
  
• Custom-made wooden crates for shipping local products.
  
• Customizing trucks and vans for commercial uses - coffee/luncheon trucks, ambulances, etc.
  
• Electronic product assembly for other manufacturers - watch out for scams.
  
• Ice maker for local retailers.
  
• Environmentally friendly products and ones containing recycled materials - people will not pay a price premium for products containing recycled materials but its a good selling feature.
  
• False teeth.
  
• Fishing rods, equipment or lure manufacturing for sale through local retailers, industry trade shows or mail-order.
  
• Furniture manufacturing - must be unique and hard to copy to compete against the mass producers. There are tremendous opportunities in this value added business . The two areas of most importance are design and marketing.
  
• Gourmet food producer - check into health and labelling regulations.
  
• Green House and other pre-fabricated outside structure kits.
  
• Hot Tub and sauna kits.
  
• Identify imported products - look at import publications - that could be produced in Canada.
  
• Light assembly and packaging for other manufacturers-watch out for scams.
  
• Manufactured homes (ie. Mobile homes) production.
  
• Manufacture and market under licence.
  
• Medical equipment, aids and furniture designed for people with disabilities and senior citizens.
  
• Metal creations.
  
• Micro-brewery.
  
• Musical instruments and custom music cases.
  
• Pallet manufacturing - new industry standards required for shipping many types of products.
  
• Pre-fabricated concrete products.
  
• Pre-fabricated log house kits.
  
• Products (ie. Custom or specialty) to meet the needs of local businesses.
  
• Reusable grocery bags.
  
• Specialize in small production runs that larger companies can not handle profitably or markets discarded by other companies.
  
• Specialty carpets, mats and rugs.
  
• Specialty jam and jelly production.
  
• Specialty bicycle production and bicycle parts-the margins on precision bicycle parts is quite high.
  
• Specialty clothing manufacturing. Our experience suggest that opportunities exist in market niches. For example, western wear or golf clothing. Home-based businesses can not handle large enough production runs to be cost effective.
  
• Specialty wood products - doors, windows, fencing, etc.
  
• Specialty and custom sporting goods manufacturing. For example, snow boards or custom golf clubs.
  
• Sub-contract fabrication work for other local businesses.
  
• Unique lawn ornaments.
  
• Utility or tent trailers.