Calgary, Alberta - Okaply Industries is pleased to announce the opening of their new factory in Calgary, Alberta which will better serve their customers in Western Canada. The company has been an important supplier to the manufactured housing and commercial modular building sectors, for more than 46 years. Okaply is a value added finisher of pre-finished gypsum, plywood, particleboard, MDF, shelving and mouldings. Their products are used for the walls, ceilings and cabinets of factory built homes and commercial buildings.

Okaply is based in Oka, Quebec, just north of Montreal and services all of Canada, parts of the USA, Chile, Peru and Argentina. According to company president Craig Starke the time was right to establish a manufacturing presence in western Canada. "We have developed some strong relationships with customers in western Canada and we felt that to better serve them and reduce their costs, we had to manufacture our products closer to the market"

According to Dale Mcilveen the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for western Canada, Okaply's arrival has already had a major impact. "Our competitors lowered their prices the day we opened our doors. The market is enjoying price reductions of 20% as the price of raw materials has risen recently."

John Fehr from Builtrite Structures in Lacrete, Alberta said "we are happy to have another supplier in this market. We have been very happy with Okaply's quality and customer service out of their new factory in Calgary. There is obviously a reason they have been in business so long and we are glad they have made their products and services available in western Canada".

Marc Boily, senior vice president and general manager North America of ModSpace said “we were happy to hear that Okaply Industries, a long time supplier to all our Canadian branches has opened a lamination facility in Calgary. It’s always comforting to have a second source of supply to avoid delays and keep prices competitive”

Okaply is also pleased to announce that it has recently made some new investments in their operations with the help of a loan from Investissement Quebec. The company has purchased some new equipment including a moulding wrapper, and a large robot that will feed their lamination line in their factory in Oka, Quebec. The company also purchased a lamination line for their factory in Calgary, Alberta.

According to Mr. Starke, the rise in commodity prices has created a very good market for their customers who are building large infrastructure projects for the resource sector. "We are one of the companies in the supply chain that is benefitting from the rise in commodity prices for raw materials such as oil, and precious metals. Setting up shop in Calgary is part of our plan to be closer to our customers and grow our business. We believe the industry has many good years ahead."

Source: Okaply Industries