Brands such as Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) and Tim Hortons have also trusted the company to produce their signage, including recent conversions of KFC buckets to Tim Hortons coffee cups.
SMC: What type of projects have you been working on recently?
TH: We have national accounts which include Canadian Tire and Tim Hortons. With Canadian Tire, it’s all of their divisions, such as Sportchek, the gas stations, and Part Source. We also had huge infrastructure contracts for the Crosslinx, in amongst the jobs we would get from general contractors. We might do a hospital here and a university building there. For example, we do lots of ongoing work for the University of Toronto (UofT). However, what was really keeping us busy was the major accounts and the infrastructure jobs for the Eglinton Crosstown.
SMC: How much of the signmaking process is handled in-house?
TH: We have everything here. Whether it’s for interior signs, powder coating, or welding, everything can be made here from start to finish. However, if we get really busy, we do have other partners who will make either parts or the whole sign for us.
SMC: What are some of the tools and equipment you use for your projects?
TH: We can mould plastic. We have lasers. We have several computer-aided design (CAD)/computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) cutting machines and three or four router tables. We have two Accu-Bend machines to form the letters. We also have lots of other things most companies would have, including radial saws and band saws. We have two paint booths, in addition to the powder coat booth. We have welding equipment, for both aluminum and steel. Plus, trailers as well as our crane trucks.
BK: We have pretty much everything you would require in the sign industry, and beyond.
TH: We have cranes which run the length of the building. You can use them to move things anywhere in the plant.
SMC: How have technological developments changed the way you operate the business?
TH: Probably the largest difference is so many of the activities involved in making signs were labour intensive and you needed craftsmen. For example, forming the letters. Everything used to be done by hand. Now, we have the Accu-Bend machines. The router tables can cut out faces for letters and various shapes, whether it be plastic or aluminum. Previously, this was done by hand on a band saw, and someone would physically follow around the template and feed the material through the saw blade, to make sure it was done properly. The lasers do the same thing as the router tables, they just do it quicker. We still have more people than we’ve ever had, because we’ve grown larger over the years, but in many cases, they’re mostly assemblers. We don’t have people who specifically form stainless steel letters, because so many things have been automated.
SMC: What is the key to staying successful in the industry for 75 years?
TH: You can’t fall asleep at the switch. Someone has to be gainfully involved in the day-to-day operations of the company. If you coast, or you think you can go play golf three days a week and just come in occasionally, you’re going to miss something. Either there’s a new technology you’re not aware of, or a customer didn’t get looked after the way he used to, so he’s going to move on to somebody new. You have to be on the job.
BK: When you start a business and you have the fire, that fire needs to continue. You always have to remember, you might be a leader today, but to continue to be a leader, you still have to think the same way you did when you started the business.
TH: You have to be excited and passionate about it.
