Lift Blog

Just two days after opening a new factory in Utah, Doppelmayr christened another gleaming building in Quebec yesterday. The 152,000 square foot Saint-Jérôme plant brings together staff from three dated buildings and builds on nearly 50 years of history for Doppelmayr Canada. The investment totals CA$60 million, including a $3 million contribution from Canada’s federal government.

Like in Salt Lake, Michael Doppelmayr first gave the gathered crowd a history lesson. His grandfather Emil Doppelmayr first came to Canada when planes had to stop in both Iceland and Greenland to make the trip. Doppelmayr chose to set up shop Canada before the US in part due to exchange rates. Like with Doppelmayr USA, the northern subsidiary’s major break came in 1985 with the first detachable quads at Mont Sutton, Saint-Sauveur and Nakiska. Saint-Jérôme has been a detachable powerhouse ever since. What started as a joke on a tradeshow floor became the world’s first six pack at Mont Orignal in 1991. The Quebec plant soon built its first cabriolet at Tremblant and the region’s first chondola at Mont Orford. Over 49 years Saint-Jérôme built hundreds of lifts, including towers for Whistler’s Peak 2 Peak Gondola, components for people movers in Las Vegas and even lifts for China.

Members of Doppelmayr’s board, employees, elected officials and partners joined to cut the ribbon on the shop floor. Michael Doppelmayr presented Doppelmayr Canada CEO Luc Guy with an Austrian bell and challenged the sales staff to ring it every time they sell a lift. “Ring it so loud I can hear it in Austria,” he said. In an off-script moment, he checked that he could announce a contract for an Alpenstar quad at Craigleith, Ontario signed that morning. Guy rang the bell and shots of schnapps appeared for all to celebrate.

Saint-Jérôme builds UNI-G detachable terminals, drive platforms, hydraulic systems, evacuation drives and sheave assemblies. The goal for the new facility is not just more space but to produce lifts efficiently with a modern working environment for employees. Unlike dry Salt Lake, a higher percentage of the complex is walled in rather than just covered. The goal is to store 80 percent of raw materials inside, not out in the snow. The vast new production line includes two final assembly jigs for UNI-G station tunnels, up from one previously. There are 27 cranes for moving large components around the factory and outside. Doppelmayr bought the same large plasma cutter as Salt Lake and Wolfurt and expects to take delivery soon on a $5.5 million CNC boring and milling machine. There are several vertical lift modules for storing parts and tools. The plant was fairly empty with moving still underway but we got to see components destined for Mont-Sainte-Anne, Bromont and the Getty Museum automated people mover in Los Angeles. Saint-Jérôme runs two shifts and now has immense capacity to produce UNI-G machines.

Like Salt Lake, everyone is now under one roof including engineering, service, HR, accounting and sales. There’s room for Doppelmayr to perform more service work such as gondola cabin restoration. Upstairs lies an even bigger training room than Salt Lake and another gym. Most of Doppelmayr’s 150 Canadian employees attended the party and seemed stoked with their new home.