Solmax - page 9

AUGUST 2014
H
business elite canada
9
“We actually build all of the processes and
all of the assistance to be able to operate with
a very low number of people,” recalls Vangelu-
we, whose objective is to strengthen the com-
pany’s profitability and growth. “We’re quite
proud of the award for Best Managed Compa-
nies in 2012, it is the result of all of the energy
and force we put into building a lean, mean,
energy-efficient company to be able to export
so many years ago.”
This meant changing and developing HR
policies in order to retain people and motivate
them to transition from a small company to
one that could serve an international market.
“We actually built a company in Asia, so we
adapted to the Asian culture and managed it
from a distance. It’s one thing to be located in
Quebec with all of your people here, but when
you start to have a company in Chile and a com-
pany in Asia while being as efficient as you are
in Canada, then you need to go through a huge
amount of different issues to be addressed in
all sectors of the business,” said Vangeluwe.
Solmax has been the recipient of numerous
provincial exporting awards over the years, in
part because there is not very many medium-
sized companies in Quebec that are exporting
to more than 60 companies efficiently. While
it is not a big company like Bombardier for ex-
ample, Solmax does have a very similar inter-
nal operational process because is serving an
international market.
Now, as Vangeluwe stresses, the challenge
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