That business-plan migration really took hold within the last few years, catalyzed by the construction of a new plant and headquarters for the firm in L’Islet. The facility, completed in June 2023, comprises 91,200 sq. ft. of manufacturing space, with another 13,600 sq. ft. on a second level that houses office space. 
The fabrication push took off early in 2022 when the firm brought in a robotic, 3D laser cutting system, an LT360 unit from BLM Group, “which we immediately tasked with cutting holes in sections—closed tubes as well as open shapes,” Grenier says. The work was for a new and big customer, Lion Electric Co., fabricating electric-bus frames. Prior to adding the five-axis LT360 to its lineup, complex extrusions requiring holes—drilled and machined—took 30 to 35 min. to complete. 
“We run a lot of lower-volume, complex jobs,” Grenier says, “and the ability to change over the Elect80, which uses a quick-change tooling setup, enables very quick changeovers, in as little as 3 min.”
Accompanying the tube bender: BLM’s VGP3D software, for drawing, manipulating and designing tubular parts. The software allows LG Cloutier to import curved tubes developed in CAD and develop a single linear design profile that uploads to the Elect80.
Before bringing in the electric tube bender, stretch-forming shapes—for bus and railcar frames, for example—“was a long and arduous process,” Grenier says, “taking at least 5 to 6 min. per section. Now we can form these in the Elect80 in 2 to 3 min.” Such productivity gains have the firm positioned as a preferred supplier for several transit-car applications, including the Long Island Rail Road and Chicago Transit Authority.
Say “Yes” When Other Shops Say “No”
“All of the new technology recently installed at LG Cloutier has allowed our business to grow, and provide more products to our customers,” Grenier says. “Yes, we always strive to improve productivity and throughput, but I’ve also always sought to become a full-service provider to our customers, a ‘one-stop shop.’ And, we seek to grow on the difficult work: When our competitors begin to say ‘no,’ we want to say ‘yes.’”
That desire led, early in 2024, to the firm investing in yet more metal-fabrication technology, this time a fiber tube-laser cutting machine, BLM’s LT8.20. This behemoth, designed to process tubes and profiles 0.5 to 9.45-in. dia. and as heavy as 27 lb./ft., features a pair of material loaders that LG Cloutier can position at the front or rear tube bundle. The front loader is a step loader that automatically can load different profiles in a programmable sequence. “The setup is completely flexible,” Grenier shares.
Per BLM, the LT8.20 promises to deliver productive cutting operations on large and small batches, and makes it easy for shops to add a job on the fly thanks to the use of dual material loaders. “We easily can, temporarily, shift production back and forth from one batch to another,” Grenier says. “And, using a step loader, we can load single tubes for prototype or small-batch production.”
The LT8.20 runs a dual-core fiber laser, a setup BLM dubs 5+3 AMB: a 3-kW setting for cutting carbon-steel work, and a 5-kW setting for stainless steel, aluminum and copper alloys. Included with the LT8 is BLM’s BLMelements software suite, an Industry 4.0 solution that can work in concert with the tube laser’s software, ArTube. Once LG Cloutier climbs higher on the learning curve with the equipment and software, it will be able to use BLMelements to predict and simulate any deformation that the bending process will cause (springback and elongation), and then send that data to the LT8 laser cutting machine. Then, ArTube will correct the laser cutting path to compensate for the deformation, and provide repeatable, accurately dimensioned parts from first part to last.
Top-End Press Brakes
Last but not least, the newest additions to the shop floor at LG Cloutier: two new electric press brakes, ProBend E-series models from BLM—a 60-ton model and a 200-ton, added early in 2024. “On the bigger brake, we invested in numerous options,” Grenier shares, “including active bend-angle control and sheet lifters to help the operators, in particular when handling large, heavy work. Some of our parts are quite heavy and awkward, with some as long as 12 ft.
“In just a few months of bringing those two press brakes onto the floor, we already have enough new press brake work booked to keep them busy for the next 5 yr., working two shifts,” Grenier adds.
All of this investment clearly has the company poised for success—not only for today but for the long-term. That’s particularly important to Grenier, as he has three children working for the company, preparing to take the reins someday. Son Maxim serves as general manager, while also overseeing IT for the firm; son Sebastian manages the quality department; and daughter Valerie is human-resources manager.
“With Maxim really managing the company day in and day out,” Grenier says, “my role, then, has shifted to ensuring that we’re implementing all of this new equipment in the best way possible. We want to grow, but I am working to manage that growth, getting everything in place while stabilizing our processes. Our customers want to grow with us and continue to award us even more work, so we need to be well-prepared for that and ensure that we can continue to meet our customers’ requirements.”
From a technology perspective, Grenier (as well as his son Maxim) have their sights set on bringing artificial intelligence (AI) on board.
“We’ve just begun to look at AI in our planning software, our ERP system,” Grenier says. “We really function as three business units in one—precision machining, primarily for aerospace customers; sheet metal and tube fabrication; and a medical-equipment business unit added through acquisition in 2010. That diverse product and process range makes production planning very complex at times, when work needs to route through several different areas of the shop. AI helps to manage and schedule those jobs. We’re just moving up the learning curve with this, to enable us to continue to meet our promised delivery dates to customers.” MF
View Glossary of Metalforming Terms
See also: BLM Group USA
Technologies: Bending, Cutting, Management
