Top 5 Canadian electronics manufacturer ramps up for commercial-scale printable electronics production

Toronto—May 23 2018—The intelliFLEX Innovation Alliance announced today that Varitron Technologies is joining its eco-system and making a substantial investment to develop its capabilities in flexible and hybrid electronics (FHE).

This demonstrates how Canada’s established electronics design and manufacturing industry can chart a new path for growth with FHE.

The news comes on Day 1 of CPES2018, at Centennial College’s Conference Centre in Toronto. Organized by intelliFLEX, CPES2018 is Canada’s premier conference and trade show exhibition for flexible and hybrid electronics (FHE).

Varitron is an integrated electronic manufacturing services (EMS) provider with two plants in Quebec and one in the U.S. Over the past 25 years, Varitron has carved out a select place in its market because of its manufacturing expertise and cutting-edge equipment, for clients in the energy, telecommunications, aerospace, medical, military and automotive industries. With 375 employees and more than $90 million in annual revenues, Varitron is among the top five Canadian EMS providers.

“EMS providers like Varitron—faced with stiff competition from overseas—have a substantial opportunity before them to sharpen their competitive edge and diversify their revenue base by tooling up for FHE manufacturing,” said Peter Kallai, President and CEO of intelliFLEX. “Canada has some 2,000 firms in electronics design and manufacturing that can take advantage of new additive manufacturing processes, fast prototyping tools, 3D printable electronics to print PCBs and new conductive materials that are environmentally friendly. They can also add new and unique electronics features and applications based on FHE to their toolbox.”

Over the past several years, Varitron has consulted with intelliFLEX members and other industry stakeholders to evaluate its opportunity in FHE, understand where this emerging market space is headed and determine how best to make a strategic investment.

“As part of our Destination 2020 strategy, Varitron is now moving ahead with four new advanced manufacturing initiatives, one of which is inkjet production of printable electronics,” said Patrice Lavoie, Vice-President, Sales and Business Development, at Varitron. “We see a great opportunity for expand our business in this space as clients in many of our industry verticals, such as aerospace, automotive and medical, consider how FHE solutions can meet new requirements for performance and functionality which traditional silicon cannot.”

In addition to printed electronics, Varitron’s advanced manufacturing technologies include nano protection of electronics, low pressure encapsulation of electronics, and advanced cooling for high-power and high-processing electronics.

“We look forward to working with intelliFLEX and our fellow members to overcome the challenges of manufacturing scale-up of FHE technologies and leading the charge on their mass adoption,” Lavoie added.

About intelliFLEX
intelliFLEX, a not-for-profit industry alliance, is a vital partner for accelerating the growth of the printable, flexible and hybrid electronics sector of more than 300 organizations across Canada. Our technologies add intelligence and connect ordinary objects to enable the Internet of Everything. We unite our growing global membership to build an effective ecosystem of supply chains for flexible, 3D printable electronics, 2D large area printable electronics, wearable electronics, smart textiles and hybrid electronics including related semiconductors, integrated circuits and software. Our programs accelerate the adoption of these innovations for Smart Packaging and Retail, Intelligent Buildings and Connected Homes, Aerospace and Defence, Automotive and Industrial Applications, Health and Wellness, Intelligent Documents and Wearables.

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