New Flyer acquires supplier Carlson

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This article was published 01/06/2017 (2513 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

New Flyer Industries has made another move to secure its supply chain by acquiring Winnipeg-based Carlson Engineered Composites for C$13 million.

The Winnipeg company has been a supplier to New Flyer for about 25 years, making fibreglass-reinforced plastic parts for the bus shell. New Flyer was such an important part of Carlson’s business that when New Flyer built a production facility in St. Cloud, Minn., Carlson set up a shop there. It did the same in Anniston, Ala., when New Flyer acquired North American Bus Industries there.

Carlson had sales of about US$38 million in 2016. It has about 300 employees and a total of 235,000 square feet of production space.

New Flyer has acquired other suppliers in the past, including a metal parts fabrication in Indiana in 2010.

David White, New Flyer’s executive vice-president of supply management, said Carlson was a key supplier and also contributes to New Flyer’s ability to comply with increasingly strict Buy America regulations.

“Over the last 10 years, we have focused on improving the reliability and performance of the supply chain,” White said. “Both from the aspect of securing the supply chain and improving performance, as well as when it makes financial sense to take ownership of suppliers that make a part of our design.”

Neil Carlson, founder and chairman of Carlson, said, “We have admired New Flyer and followed their growth into the U.S. with Carlson facilities dedicated to support their operations. Joining the New Flyer family is the next logical step to support further growth and explore new technologies.”