The Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing releases online asset- and capability-mapping platform

The TrilliumGIS platform provides information about more than 6,000 manufacturers throughout Ontario

London, Ontario – Manufacturing remains a vital part of almost every community in Ontario, from Kenora to Lancaster and Windsor to Cochrane, a new online platform developed by the Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing demonstrates.

TrilliumGIS (https://trilliumgis.ca/map) provides information about more than 6,000 manufacturing establishments in the province, ranging from large motor vehicle and aircraft assemblers to craft breweries and wineries. This information underscores the diversity and dynamism of manufacturing in Ontario. It shows that the sector is still crucial to the provincial economy, disputing perceptions that its importance is waning.

The open-access platform is available to the general public, but is especially useful for specific audiences. These audiences include manufacturers themselves, as they seek to identify potential customers, suppliers and partners, as well as economic development officials at all levels of government, educational institutions looking for co-operative education and work-integrated learning partners, and site selectors looking for promising locations for new manufacturing investments. 

“Ontario’s manufacturing sector is so large and so dynamic, and we will be constantly adding new plants, changing information, updating information and revising information,” said Dr. Brendan Sweeney, Managing Director of the Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing.

Users are able to identify manufacturers by industry and customize searches according to production networks, supply chains, type of business, Statistics Canada industry codes or location, right down to street addresses. If users, for example, wanted to determine what manufacturers are located in a particular town or on a particular street in all municipalities throughout the province, the tool allows that.

“We perceive TrilliumGIS to be a public good,” said Sweeney, noting that the platform invites feedback from users. Data about several thousand more Ontario manufacturing establishments will be added during the next few months.

TrilliumGIS is also a useful promotional tool for the province and its manufacturers. “As Ontario manufacturers we aren’t always good at marketing our capabilities,” said Ben Whitney, the president of Armo-Tool of London and chair of Trillium’s Board of Directors. “With this simple tool, I can identify potential customers, find new suppliers and more easily understand other areas of the province that I can expand into.”

All of the data in TrilliumGIS are compiled from publicly-available sources of information.

About the Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing

The Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing is a provincially-funded non-profit organization that raises awareness of Ontario’s advanced manufacturing ecosystem, with the intention of supporting growth and competitiveness. The Trillium Network’s offices are located at Western University in London, Ontario. 

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For more information contact:
Nick Persichilli
Communications Officer
Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing
e. npersichilli@trilliummfg.ca

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