Ontario_Canada

Sterling Industries contracts with Federal Government to supply millions of faceshields in Canada as COVID-19 response

Sterling Industries Awarded Contracts from Federal, Ontario and Alberta Governments For 27 Million PPE Face Shields

(Concord, ON – June 9, 2020) – Following announcements from Federal Procurement Minister Anita Anand on May 3rd, and Ontario Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade Victor Fideli on June 2nd, Sterling Industries is pleased to announce that it has been awarded contracts by the Federal Government of Canada for 15 million personal protection equipment (PPE) face shields, and from the Province of Ontario for an additional 11 million face shields, as part of the governments’COVID-19 response. These contracts are in addition to an agreement with the Province of Alberta for an additional 1 million units of PPE face shields.

Sterling Industries, a Canadian-based contract manufacturer of medical devices and equipment, rapidly developed the new PPE face shield in cooperation with MPC, a Canadian injection molding company, and was aided by funding from advanced manufacturing alliance, NGEN Canada, as well as the Ontario Together fund. In addition, Sterling received additional logistics and automation support from Honda Canada. Production of the Class 1 Medical Devices will be on an accelerated schedule, with all 27 million face shields expected to ship by mid-August, 2020.

“We knew we had the capabilities to fill the critical shortage in PPE that has resulted from the COVID-19 crisis. We have been working long hours to iterate our design and prepare our manufacturing workflow”, said David Van Slingerland, CEO of Sterling Industries. “We want to give Canadian healthcare workers the tools and security they need to safely continue their frontline care.”

Sterling Industries is applying their expertise in high volume and automated manufacturing of FDA and Health Canada Registered medical devices, and plan to produce as much as 2 million units per week, once they realize full production capacity. The new Shield-U PPE face shields meet the U.S. and Canada’s requirements for emergency healthcare equipment, and are made from 100% bio-compatible (ISO 10993) materials, as well as 100% recyclable. 

The company has already donated 3,000 of the face shields to CAMH (Canadian Center for Addiction and Mental Health) in Toronto, and committed another donation of 3,000 to Mackenzie Health Centre in Vaughan, Ontario. 

“We’re grateful to our partners for helping us get fully certified PPE face shields into the hands of Canadian healthcare workers so quickly”, added Van Slingerland. “By working together, we’ve gone from sketches to a fully certified product — produced with cutting edge, automated manufacturing technology — in a matter of a few short weeks.”

Sterling Industries will continue producing their Shield-U PPE face shields after the initial contracts are fulfilled, and is proud to be part of a secure and responsive Canadian supply chain for emergency medical supplies. The company will continue to supply markets across Canada, the United States and around the world.

Sterling Industries is an ISO 13485:2016 Registered contract manufacturer of medical devices, equipment and PPE.  Established in 1984, its facilities are FDA and Health Canada Registered and are located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA.

Dale Morgan, Director of Global Quality at Sterling Industries

Dale Morgan

Director of Global Quality

Dale is our Director of Global Quality. He brings a career’s worth of experience and leadership in Medical Devices, with deep expertise in quality management systems, regulatory submissions, quality engineering, and more.  Dale has worked with both established medical device OEMs and start-ups, as well as product certification and audit organizations. A licensed professional biomedical engineer, Dale is also certified as an ISO 13485 auditor/MDSAP.

Tim Doyle | Quality Manager, U.S. Operations

Tim Doyle

Quality Manager, U.S. Operations

As Quality Manager of our U.S. Operations, Tim brings over 30 years of experience in computer-aided surgical devices, electromechanical devices, metal fabrication and assembly processes, including clean room assembly and packaging for sterilization. He has extensive international experience, partnering on quality and supplier development projects. Tim holds the ASQ CQE designation. He also proudly served 7 years in the United States Air Force.

Patrick Tam | Quality Manager, Canadian Operations

Patrick Tam

Quality Manager, Canadian Operations​

Patrick serves as Sterling’s Quality Manager, bringing over 20 years of Quality Systems Management experience in the Medical Device and Pharma industries. He leads our Quality Management proactive, bringing a tactical and strategic focus to ensure consistent, repeatable quality for our clients. Prior to joining Sterling, Patrick served as Quality System Manager at Integra LifeSciences where he was responsible for maintaining Quality in their Canadian operations.

Jeff Kiel | Manager, Engineered Solutions

Jeff Kiel

Manager, Engineered Solutions

Jeff serves as Manager of our Engineered Solutions. He works closely with clients to evolve and refine their Medical Device designs — sometimes from the idea stage — through to a fully-optimized, scaleable, ready-to-ship product. He uses his engineering and technical expertise to design our production processes. Prior to joining Sterling, Jeff worked with Toyota in their Prototype Weld Group.

Libni Cano is our Toronto operations’ Regulatory and Quality Manager, responsible for quality and regulatory.

Libni Cano

Regulatory and Quality Systems Manager​

Libni serves as Regulatory and Quality Manager for Sterling’s Canadian sites, responsible for both quality and regulatory compliance. She has over 14 years of experience in medical device quality management systems, with expertise in FDA and Health Canada regulations as well as electronic QMS implementation. Libni is a BSI-certified Lead Auditor for ISO 13485:2016.; she is also ASQ certified with CQE and CMQ designations, and holds a BSc in Industrial and Systems Engineering.

Ronitt is our Director of Business Development with 25 years of experience, and is responsible for Sterling Industries' global business development.

Ronitt Katz

Director of Business Development

Ronitt serves as Sterling’s Director of Business Development, bringing 25 years of experience. She has an extensive background in the tech industry, having worked for IBM, TIBCO and several software companies, from startups to industry leaders. Within the Medtech space, She has vast experience in partnering with Fortune 100 organizations, early stage startups, and everything in between.

Jojo Wang is our Engineering Manager, responsible for leading our Sterling Engineering Team.

Jojo Wang

Engineering Manager

As Engineering Manager, Jojo is responsible for leading the Engineering Team. She brings a wealth of experience in Project Management, Lean Manufacturing, and Product Development, and expertise in designing manufacturing solutions and driving business improvements. Prior to joining Sterling, Jojo served as a process engineering leader for Boston Scientific, focused on electrophysiology solutions. She holds a BSc in Mechatronic Engineering & Automation, and a Masters in Engineering Management.

Lilian So is the Director of Finance here at Sterling Industries.

Lilian Soo

Director of Finance

Lilian is the Director of Finance at Sterling. She is a seasoned professional with over 15 years of progressive experience in Finance, and a talented CPA/CGA who unites operations with finance continuously improving company performance. She has extensive experience with fast paced environment, driving innovations and process improvements to help drive positive changes and optimize profitability.

John Pleskina is the Director of Global Operations for all our facilities, responsible for manufacturing operations.

John Pleskina

Director of Global Operations

John is the Director of Global Operations for Sterling, responsible for manufacturing operations. John has over 25 years manufacturing experience in a variety of leadership roles, most recently as VP of Manufacturing at Southmedic Inc.  Previously, John was Director of Operations for Scapa Healthcare where he was responsible for the effective operation of sites in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K.  A graduate of the University of Waterloo, John served over 14 years with the Royal Canadian Navy.

David Van Slingerland, CEO of Sterling Industries

David Van Slingerland

CEO

David assumed the role of CEO in 2007 and has led Sterling Industries through transformative growth. He brings over 30 years of executive experience, with deep expertise in change management and growing organizations through innovative technology and human capital. At Sterling, he has introduced an agile manufacturing model, built an industry-savvy leadership team, and is responsible for driving customer-focused end-to-end solutions. Prior to Sterling Industries, David held a variety of executive positions with Manulife Financial and Shoppers Drug Mart.