On 17th September 2021, an innovative company highly specialized through its revolutionary technology, A3 Surfaces launched its first plant in the industrial park of Haut-Saguenay. The company is known for marketing antimicrobial anodized aluminium. For the Saguenay Company, this initiative will open a new way for the international deployment of their technology.
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The inauguration happened at the new factory in front of the audience from the political background, industrial figures, famous tennis player Félix Auger-Aliassime, the official ambassador of the Saguenay SME and 11th racquet in the world. Other famous people like the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing of Quebec, Minister for the Saguenay, Lac-Saint-Jean region, as well as Lucie Lecours. The inauguration also had Rio Tinto one of the business partners of A2 Surfaces.
According to Jean-Sébastien Lemieux, CEO of A3 Surfaces, “The factory project has been underway for two years and work began a year ago. We are feverish today because it is the achievement of a very important step in the history of our company.”
Situated in the warehouse of the former Gagnon Frères in the Haut-Saguenay industrial, the A3 surfaces team owns a space of around 45,000 square feet.
According to the General Manager, “We kept the structure and we have redone all the floors, the exterior, the offices and we prepared the building to receive the equipment. In addition to the anodizing line, several avant-garde technologies have been developed. Among other things, a laser engraving robot to ensure product traceability and a water treatment system designed with the latest equipment available on the market. Rio Tinto is also involved in the optimization of certain components to reduce the environmental footprint as much as possible.”
He also stated, “The equipment was designed by a well-established Montreal manufacturer and we assembled it here at the factory. Operations have already started and we are in the break-in period. You have to familiarize yourself with the new facilities before starting large-scale production.”
The anodizing is 150 feet long and can process around 5,000 dm 2 of aluminium per hour, which means around 625 medium-sized products. According to the manager of A3 surfaces around 30 million dm 2 of anodized aluminium can be produced, which means an economic spinoff of around US$100 million annually.
According to the managers of A3 Surfaces, “Sending and bringing in parts from Europe to anodize them is a short-term solution. What we have in mind is to find a partner who has infrastructure there and who could license our technology.”
The current business model of the company is to anodize aluminium surfaces to come up with antimicrobial agents. This new model will allow the metal parts to several forms and can also be used for many other operations or applications.
According to A3 Surfaces, “We produce some aluminium components; however, we specialize in the anodizing of parts supplied by our customers. The future is not set in stone, however, and we are working with players such as the Quebec Metallurgy Center (CMQ) to develop new avenues. Moreover, with the CMQ, we are experimenting with an aluminium alloy that could be anodized and die-cast.”
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