MacKenzie Atlantic Tool & Die…Smart Investment Pays Off

As part of the Forge Ahead campaign we have been visiting manufacturing companies in the Atlantic Provinces, speaking to their teams and documenting their success stories. The videos we have produced can be found here.

One of the companies we visited in Nova Scotia was MacKenzie Atlantic Tool & Die in Musquodoboit Harbour.

MacKenize Atlantic is a great example of an entrepreneur that realized he needed to think differently and take calculated risks to succeed. Matt Mackenzie, President of Atlantic Tool & Die had a vison of what he wanted. It took time, effort and personal investment to make his dream a reality. ACOA was able to help Matt with advice and support and financial assistance once his company was established.

Matt MacKenzie expressed his biggest challenge when switching from manual machining to CNC machining was finding skilled machinists and that is an issue right across Canada.

Robotics and CNC machining were completely new to MacKenzie Atlantic, but they knew if they wanted to be global players they had to innovate. The significant equipment investment can be a daunting challenge but one that has paid off for MacKenzie Atlantic.

Now the company can bid for contracts in the United States and be competitive because they are using world class equipment.   

There is so much opportunity outside the region, but companies need to be looking ahead and using smart technologies or they will get left behind.