ABOUT US:
Have you heard of us? Have you seen our brand anywhere? No, and we like it that way. Unless we are required to, we do not splash our logo all over our products. We work behind the scenes to supply our network of service providers and OEMS with products and solutions that protect lives and property.
If you have bought a Garrison or FOX40 brand fire extinguisher from Canadian Tire, our chemical is in it. When you see all the extinguishers at airports, homes, gas stations, malls, condos, office towers, vehicles, there is a good chance that in the life of that extinguisher, our dry chemical powder is inside.
We have been manufacturing dry chemical powder in Canada since 1984. We have just finished building the most state-of-the-art fire extinguisher dry powder manufacturing facility in the world. This facility allows us to grow with our customers demand and maintain our competitiveness in the global market. We are in a great position as we have more demand than we can supply with our current staff.
Our culture reflects our family business heritage.
- Family is important. We respect and are flexible to the needs of our staff, many of whom have been with us for over 20 years. We have helped bring family to Canada. For those staff laid off during COVID, we paid out bonuses and implemented a top up program to minimize the impact. Everyone was recalled and came back.
- We view our customers and vendors as partners with hundreds of relationships that go back over 40 years. All relationships have their bumps, and we have many stories of helping customers with payment terms or paying vendors early to help with cash flow.
- We are personal with our customers. When you call you get a person and not a machine. Jason has his personal cell phone listed on everything and encourages people to call or text any time. Hopefully you will find that this job posting shows some personality too.
- For many of our customers we are their largest or key supplier. We never, ever want anyone to feel like we take advantage of that position. Any negative feedback is immediately shared with the team and the customer contacted to acknowledge the concern and the outcome. From people to systems and process design, we are focused on delivering Wow.
- We play the long game where decisions are made to maximize the customer experience and not the transaction. If you like stability, we have it in spades. This mindset has meant we have been profitable every year since 1956 while operating with no debt.
OUR CORE VALUES:
- Deliver WOW through customer service
- Challenge the Status Quo
- Be Curious and pursue learning and growth
- Show your Personality, Be Personal (Personal-ity)
- Do more with Less
JOB OVERVIEW
You will be working in a brand new, state-of-the-art chemical production facility. It is not without its growing pains as we learn what works or what needs to be changed. We are working towards a dust free environment, but it is not there yet. And when something breaks it can be a dusty environment.
Ideally you have experience in a production environment where you have been in control of the manufacturing process from raw material in to finished product out. In this role, you largely work independently. You are part of a team though as you will hand off the mill and production to the next team at shift end or work together with others to help production.
As much as we focused on improving the physical environment over the old mill, this is still a physical job. There are some additives that must be hand bombed into the system. Raw material arrives in 1MT bulk sacks from all over the world and are moved by forklift. Even after using our crusher, this material can require some manual crushing to get the material flowing.
We make finished product in a batch process. When everything runs as it should this is a dream job. Other than hand bombing some ingredients, you are managing the processing of materials from one step to another using a computer touch screen, running a lab test, documenting production sheets, and using a forklift to unload raw material and offload finished product. In between, you are keeping the area clean by disposing of empty packaging into a compactor, sweeping, and vacuuming. The day flies by.
Success in this job boils down to three things, ability to multi-task, be quick but don’t hurry and be curious. You will have to manage three batches at different stages within the mill system. Each stage has its own set of tasks, sequencing and time requirements. Being able to manage these separate processes efficiently and productively can be a challenge and costly if not managed by an organized person. By quick, you need to move with pace to keep up with production and housekeeping (maintenance and cleaning) responsibilities. But you cannot hurry. In this job, hurrying can lead to costly mistakes where finished product tips over, product is off batched because recipes are incorrect, or equipment is damaged. When things go wrong this can be a messy, labour-intensive job to correct. On those days, your positive personality will be welcomed by the team.
There are some daily, monthly quarterly and as needed maintenance you are responsible for. This includes changing filters, changing seals, lubricating motors as examples.
The chemical we manufacture is not harmful but requires you to wear PPE which is provided to you. I have included the SDS of the main product we manufacture.
During the training period of two to three months, your hours are Monday to Friday 7:30 to 4pm. After training is completed, you will be on either a morning shift, 7 am to 3:30 pm or afternoon shift, 12:30pm to 9pm, Monday to Friday.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
- Follow standard operating procedures as failure to do so can be costly (lost time, unusable product) and unsafe.
- Safely operate a forklift to load raw material into the system and remove finished products using a forklift.
- Ensure raw material discharged is within recipe tolerances.
- Track in-production statistics for each batch (log time, system settings, equipment output information, test results).
- Manage production process so that productivity targets are achieved with no off batches or production time lost due to operator error.
- Perform test results in the lab and record batch information.
- Perform preventative and ad hoc maintenance on all equipment.
- Perform product line change overs including mill blow downs, filter changes.
- Daily housekeeping to keep the area clean and organized for you and the team.
- Confidence to communicate with a team member or manager before making a decision or taking an action you are unsure of.
REQUIREMENTS
- Job experience where you managed multiple tasks and priorities
- Track record of being available (on time, reliable attendance)
- College diploma
- Valid counterbalance forklift license
- Able to physically lift material up to 60 pounds.
- Math skills as you will have to split recipes between raw material bulk storage bins
- Problem solving – if something goes wrong you understand the process to trouble shoot and correct.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills as you will be communicating with others the in-process status of various batches and producing production log sheets and test reports.
WHY WE THINK YOU WILL LOVE WORKING WITH US
When is the last time you felt proud of something you worked on? The dry chemical powder you are responsible for protects lives and property. If you are like us, you will start looking for fire extinguishers where our product is used and annoy friends and family by pointing them out and explaining what you do.
As part of a small group there is satisfaction of achieving goals as a team and seeing the direct output of your work.
We have a competitive hourly rate, overtime, bonus and benefits plan.
HIRING INFORMATION
We value diversity and are an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to providing reasonable employment accommodation in accordance with the Ontario Human Rights Code and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. If you require accommodation to apply, or if selected for an interview, please email the request.
Please note that your application and any related materials you provide may be processed, stored, reviewed, or otherwise used by systems in our recruitment selection process that may interact with AI tools. This includes any AI integrated functions that may be utilized by the job board through which you applied to our position.
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: From $23.00 per hour
Expected hours: 40 per week
Additional pay:
Benefits:
- Dental care
- Extended health care
- On-site parking
- Tuition reimbursement
- Vision care
Flexible language requirement:
Schedule:
- 8 hour shift
- Day shift
- Evening shift
- Monday to Friday
- Weekends as needed
Education:
- AEC / DEP or Skilled Trade Certificate (preferred)
Language:
Licence/Certification:
- Forklift Licence (required)
Work Location: In person
