With the growing demand for remounts, it’s clear why they’re becoming a popular, cost-effective, and sustainable option. To meet this demand, we’ve opened the Apex Centre in Saskatoon, which will help us free up capacity at our Wheeler facility. This expansion allows us to accelerate the production of new ambulances and better serve our customers. The Apex Centre spans 7,500 square feet, with 6,800 square feet dedicated to production—nearly double the size of a tennis court in size. In comparison, our existing Jessop and Wheeler facilities each cover about 3,500 square feet.
Reducing Remount Lead Times with a Dedicated Facility
The Apex Centre represents a significant step forward in delivering even better service to our customers and reducing lead times, we’ve implemented several key initiatives.
Increased Capacity: The dedicated 7,500 square feet of production space significantly boosts our ability to handle more remount projects at once, allowing us to process vehicles faster and meet rising demand.
Dedicated Team: We have put in place a reinforced team of fifteen employees to meet increasing demand. With a dedicated focus on remounts, our team, focused specifically on remounts, will help speed up project timelines while ensuring meticulous attention to detail.
Schedule Optimization: We have added a master scheduler to the new facility who will ensure that each remount is planned with precision and runs on schedule. This allows us to maximize efficiency and ensures that deadlines are consistently met.
Proximity to Wheeler Facility: Being close to the Wheeler facility allows for seamless coordination and direct access to the supply chain, engineering as well as critical components.
Engineering Support: Having direct access to engineering support ensures that any technical issues are resolved quickly, preventing disruptions in the production process.
Reducing New Ambulance Lead Times
As the Apex Centre focuses solely on remounts, the Wheeler facility can fully dedicate its resources to new ambulance production and help us hit our target lead times. This expansion is a crucial step in streamlining operations, enabling us to meet growing demand more efficiently and reduce lead times for our customers. By optimizing resources, we are better positioned to serve our clients and continue delivering the high-quality, reliable ambulances we’ve provided for decades.
St-Hilaire Centre in Quebec: A Dedicated Facility for Ambulance Services and Parts
To reduce remount lead times in Eastern Canada, the new St-Hilaire location will take over all servicing for ambulances and parts. This additional location will streamline the service center work, making our other location at 2994 Rue Richelieu focus solely on remounts to help reduce lead times. The new service center will handle preventative maintenance, specialized repair work, and ordering parts. Our customers will have access to our team of technical experts and in-house engineers who will take care of your ambulance services and provide you with an excellent vehicle within an improved timeframe.
Demers and Crestline’s strategic investment in infrastructure, resources, and employees reflects a long-term commitment to growth while ensuring we maintain the necessary capacity to support both our customers and team members. By opening two new facilities—Apex Centre in Saskatoon and St-Hilaire Centre in Quebec—we are taking deliberate steps to expand our operations without outpacing our capabilities. This careful, phased approach allows us to focus on increasing production capacity, reducing lead times, and optimizing resources. Our goal is to invest in the future, one step at a time, ensuring we have the tools, team, and infrastructure in place to meet demand while continuing to provide high-quality, safe, and reliable ambulances to our customers.
