The contract of his life in the United Kingdom

An entrepreneur from center-to-Quebec has come up with the biggest deal of his life, a $ 53 million deal to equip the world’s largest sorting center in the United Kingdom with robots.

“This is the most ambitious project in the world, especially in automation. It is located in the Coventry region of the United Kingdom,” he said in an interview. Magazine Pierre Barre, CEO of Machinex, manufactures and designs sophisticated recycling equipment deployment centers in Quebec.

“This is a sorting plant, which will work with five lineers at a speed of 47 tons per hour,” he said of the contract signed on April 1.

In total, the Machinex sorting system, which will be operational by the summer of 2023, will include 14 sorting robots and 14 optical sequences “Made in Quebec”.

“It simply came to our notice then. We have very automated, optical equipment. We have robots that we have created that work using artificial intelligence, ”explains Pierre Barre.

Work your way up

In recent years, the businessman has teamed up one by one to impose his robots and his Quebec geniuses on the four corners of the planet.

In 1983, Pierre Barre joined the company as a sales representative. Six years later, he became a co-partner of Machinex.

Since 2016, he has been its sole partner.

“We are a Quebec company. We are proud of that. We are flying around everywhere with our Quebec flag, ”he continues.

Today, his company can boast of selling fifty robots worldwide, including two in Australia last week.

Machinex deploys its robots at the Hong Kong airport. It is in the process of installing them at the Violea plant in France and has three projects in the United States.

Maps

However, like many business owners, the sea is not easy for Machinex, which also faces the undesirable consequences of labor shortages, with Quebec losing about 180,000 workers.

“It’s getting harder because small businesses are starting to struggle. We also have people brought in from abroad who are being entertained by other local businesses. It’s sad,” he explains.

Factory Foreman, Maintenance Electro Mechanic, Delivery Clark, Industrial Programmer, Software Developer …

Despite these reversals, there is no question of allowing himself to be bought by the foreign companies around him.

“I have offers almost every month,” he drops during the interview.

“Although we have offices abroad, our factories, our head office and our engineering are in Quebec. We started a technology center here,” he concludes.

– In collaboration with Franசois-David Rulio

► In mid-June, Machinex borrowed $ 3 million from Quebec to expand and modernize its facilities, including $ 2 million from Investment Quebec (IQ) and $ 1 million from the Essore project.

Machinex abbreviated

• workers: 450
• Foundation: 1970
• Headquarters: Blissville
• Switching towards recycling: 1989
• Opened an office in Toronto: 1995

Source: Machinex