Upbeat outlook in Canada

One of the main concerns of the mixing and blending industry in Canada is overseas competition. The problem already exists in many business sectors, says Joe Rotella, Kinecor director of sales & marketing – process division, but has only just begun to manifest itself in the mixing sector. However, he suggests that the costs and duties which apply to imports of equipment from overseas, and particularly from areas as far afield as Asia, may have prevented any great degree of market penetration - so far. 'But never say never,' he adds.

Montreal-based engineering firm Kinecor has grown through the merger of four companies - Wajax Motion Technologies, Wajax Process Technologies, National Bearings, and Spencer Teris - and distributes mixers and blenders for US company Reynolds.

However, Rotella was upbeat about the future. 'For now, the outlook for our industry seems to be fairly stable with average growth. The overall opinion is that, despite the recession, business has been pretty good. Of course, the pharma industry is very resistant to recessive problems, in much the same way as the food industry – people have to eat and people get sick all the time!'

The latest Reynolds mixer being distributed by Kinecor is the powerful and versatile Dual Shaft mixer, which combines a low speed helical blade agitator with a high-speed disperser to provide optimum batch turnover. It helps eliminate hot or cold spots in temperature controlled processes and provides greater control of viscosity, particle size, colour and other qualities affected by the mixing process.