While the company has a great product, trying to grow their sales and transporting these buildings to locations local and international has been their challenge. Xavier knew he needed to find a way to transport them in the most cost-effective, repeatable, sustainable, and safe way possible.

Throughout the industry, many companies use what is called boat wrap or shrink wrap (think what you see around boats in the marinas over winter), however, this produces a lot of waste plastic that ends up in landfills. So, this “typical” option wasn’t something the company wanted.

Not having the time or resources in-house to tackle this challenge, he was connected to the Walker Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Centre (WAMIC) by the City of St. Catharines Economic Development team.  Due to the growth of the company, Xavier knew he needed a team of experts that had the time and resources to research and understand what the most efficient solution would be for them.

Dave Lawson, Advanced Manufacturing Scientist, was the first one to suggest using shipping containers as a potential transportation solution, and the idea took off. The team looped in Oliver Douglas, who at the time was a Junior Co-op with WAMIC, and another colleague, who really took the lead on researching this solution.

The research team were given a tour of the factory to get an understanding of how the process works. They took measurements of the buildings and weights to fully capture the Axe Buildings process. From there, the Research Assistants investigated what shipping containers are most common; did they need to modify the containers to fit these building; and many other questions.

“Axe Buildings was the first project I worked on at WAMIC,” said Oliver. “I was given a brief to modify a shipping container to safely transport a modular home without damaging the finished walls while protecting them from weather and transportation hazards. The design also had to minimize single-use dunnage (loose wood, matting, essentially large-scale bubble wrap).

“I researched Ministry of Transportation Ontario and Transport Canada regulations to ensure my design would meet their strength requirements.”

“At multiple points in the project, I was able to visit their factory to see the modular homes in person. This helped me and my team to better understand the options available to secure the wall panels without damaging their finished surfaces. This was a great opportunity for me to work with a client and use the skills I learned in my Mechanical Engineering Technology classes. Working on this project improved my confidence in my design and drawing skills and allowed me to practice communicating with a client, managing a budget and following a work schedule,” added Oliver.

The decision was made to make some design changes to their panels so they could fit inside the commonly available container because it was cost-effective, readily available and they could be reused again and again.

“Having the WAMIC team onboard for this project was a really big help, and putting some fresh eyes on the solutions was great because it allowed for more time to be dedicated to properly investigating the different options,” said Xavier.

Not only did the Research Assistants get to meet and engage with Xavier, but they were also connected in with Axe Buildings design team and worked collaboratively. While the Axe Building design team of course advocated to keep the panel design the same, the WAMIC team came with their suggestions as well. Everyone brought their evidence-based suggestions to the table and the final decision came down to what option was the most cost-effective.

“I think this was a great learning experience for the students. In the real-world, you may come up with ideas that are great, but maybe not as practical for the businesses bottom line. You evaluate as a team what’s been brought to the table and try to get the final solution to something that is usable. I really appreciated the way the team were ready to do pivot and find solutions that worked for our business,” said Xavier.

He also noted that the team never treated the students as students. Rather, they were the experts providing our transport solution and they deserved our attention and respect. “We would definitely recommend WAMIC to others,” said Xavier.

With this transportation solution in hand, Axe Buildings now has been able to move forward with several of their client projects. They’re currently finishing a small Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) in St. Catharines and a six-plex in Espanola. The six-plex was shipped from their factory in Thorold to Espanola across two days, with the building coming together in a week. The goal is to get the build done even faster, and Xavier and team will keep working on making the process even better.