Did you know October is Manufacturing Month in Canada?
Here in southern Ontario, manufacturing is a major economic driver and is a leading sector in terms of investment in R&D. SONAMI (the Southern Ontario Network for Advanced Manufacturing,) supports innovative R&D by collaborating with manufacturers across southern Ontario – especially small- to medium-sized businesses (SMEs).
SONAMI is a Niagara College-led network of eight post-secondary institutions across southern Ontario with the expertise, equipment and workforce in place and ready to collaborate and problem solve with manufacturers. Partners have a range of expertise and capabilities to support innovation in product automation, 3D technologies, testing/validation, Internet of Things (IoT), process optimization and simulation & modelling, to name just a few.
Did you know that…
The Top 4 Reasons our SME partners work with SONAMI are:
- Available funding (SONAMI covers up to 50 per cent of project costs)
- Access to expertise
- Access to specialized equipment
- Past Success Working with SONAMI
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- • SONAMI serves as a single-window or one-stop-shop for R&D. Areas of focus include the integration and use of disruptive technologies (e.g., plastics and metals-based additive manufacturing), tooling adoption for use with new advanced materials, and flexible manufacturing.
- • SONAMI has the expertise to work with companies on shorter, closer-to-market product-development projects, saving companies time and money.
- • SONAMI has supported more than 135 different industry projects since 2019, including 32 devoted to supporting COVID-19 response and recovery.
- • 67% of surveyed SME manufacturers say they spent money on R&D last year. Their top tier focus: developing or improving technology, products or services and developing prototypes. These are SONAMI specialties.
- • SONAMI supports projects across southern Ontario: from Essex to Prescott and Russell and in between.
- • After learning more about SONAMI and the funding available, 88% of manufacturers say they’re interested in the services of the network partners.
The Southern Ontario Network for Advanced Manufacturing Innovation (SONAMI), is a Niagara College-led consortium of eight academic institutions (soon to be nine) and backed by the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev). Partner members include: Centennial College, Conestoga College, Fanshawe College, Lambton College, McMaster University, Mohawk College, Niagara College, and Sheridan College.
