LThe Roy Street company first received confirmation of additional options valued at US $ 1.5 million for the GE 1,598 capacitor module refurbishment project for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority in Boston.
“We had the basic option of the project a year and a half ago worth US $ 1.3 million and there we have just won the following options, underlines Benoit Lefebvre, president. The capacitor modules are used to propel the red line commuter light trains in Boston. “
Electro-Techno also won the repair contract for 540 Swartz brand electronic relays for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). This contract is worth US $ 500,000.
These two projects will be spread over a period of 2 years. All the parts will be sent to Sherbrooke for refurbishment.
“We don’t sell new parts,” says Mr. Lefebvre. Damaged or obsolete parts are sent to Sherbrooke. We take them in hand, repair them and send them back to the customer in the United States ”.
It was not easy for the Sherbrooke company to win these contracts south of the border.
“It always depends on the funding,” explains Benoit Lefebvre. If it is a city, it is simpler, if it is the state, there are additional parameters and if it is federal funding, it is more complicated. It’s always a question of price. What we charge to customers is mostly repair time and being in Canada with the exchange rate, we have a gain at this level. And we are still in a niche market and there is not a lot of competition apart from the big manufacturers. For them, the small projects that we have won do not interest them. ”
Electro-techno employs 20 people, including 11 full-time electronics technicians. The company performs between 4,000 and 5,000 repairs per year on parts sourced from Canada, the United States and Brazil. Electro-Techno is also looking for electronics technicians.
“It’s really a team effort,” sums up the president. The technical knowledge of our employees means that we can have contracts like these. ”
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