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As many of you know, Hugh Sr., Dowco’s founder and President, has been active in promoting the profession of steel detailing for more than four decades. Currently, we work closely with the Workers’ Compensation Board in re-training programs. We have also worked with Employment Immigration Canada and hired people new to our country. We work closely with local colleges, universities and even high schools by providing Tekla Structures software, in class demonstrations and office tours. We have even merged with another detailing company to boost our staffing. Despite all these efforts, we still are unable to meet global market demands for steel detailing services.

Demographics show that in Canada, USA, and in Japan and much of Europe, populations are aging. We know this only too well, as the demand for experienced detailers is increasing. This shortage, combined with the fact that there are very few technical schools in North America offering structural drafting/detailing as part of their curriculum, presents a problem for the North American fabricator and for the detailing company.

In contrast, India is entering a cycle where a large portion of the population will be of working age. To be exact, with more than 550 million people under the age of 25, India offers huge opportunities for ongoing expansion and growth.

How are we doing in India so far? Well, five months have now passed since the opening of our DowcoMAX India operation, and we are much further ahead than we had originally anticipated.   Dowco’s monthly detailing volumes are increasing and we are satisfied with the quality coming out of the India office. The staff in India has proven themselves to be quick learners and good employees. We look forward to what the future holds for us there.

Long time Dowco staff member Patrick Salitra has been working for several months in Kolkata enjoying the challenge of training and managing the new DowcoMAX staff.

At present, we have a detailing crew of 25, and plan to grow that number to 50 and eventually to 100, running in two separate shifts. For this to occur, we will have to grow our domestic operations considerably.

For now, we are still moving cautiously, and to date have concentrated on having some drawing, editing and detailing tasks done in Kolkata. We are now introducing some limited modeling to the crew. All client liaison and project coordination, management and checking is being handled by Dowco’s Canadian offices. 

Although DowcoMax operation’s initial function is to enhance Dowco Consultants’ domestic steel detailing business productivity, we are investigating other opportunities to expand our market, our service offerings and emerge as the world’s leading IT enabled steel solutions company. Stay tuned.

Ewen Dobbie
Vice-President