Podcast with PwC

Serge Gendron, Eng. FEC, President of the AGF Group, accepted PwC’s invitation to participate in a podcast with Yves Bonin, Partner and Leader of Private Company Services at PwC.

In this interview, he discusses how a company in a so-called traditional environment is rethinking its business strategies to adapt to new technologies, labour shortages and the impacts of the pandemic.

> Listen to the podcast (exclusively in French) 

SUMMARY

Several topics were discussed during this chat, including:

The organizational impact of the pandemic:

Managing the onset of the pandemic
While some industries were hit hard over the past year, the construction and rebar sectors continued to do well, even breaking some records, as was the case for AGF Group. This is due in large part to the numerous infrastructure investments, including for seniors’ residences, which have generated many new construction projects.

We also want to thank AGF’s employees, who can take pride in their accomplishments. They showed resilience and worked hard throughout the year. We have supported them through this unprecedented situation, including our extensive mental health program.

The good news from 2020
First of all, the pandemic has created new synergies among our divisions. When some of them faced difficulties with workers in lockdown, others lent a hand to provide uninterrupted service to our customers. We will definitely encourage our teams to continue supporting each other in the years ahead.

Second, the many projects under development in Greater Montreal strengthened our resolve to open our 14th plant in Laval at the end of 2020.

Lastly, the pandemic has underscored the importance of our role as a corporate citizen. Beyond our mission as builders, we need to give back to the society that has contributed so much to the growth of our company. With this in mind, we will continue our efforts to promote community involvement and the activities of the AGF Group Foundation among our employees in order to support the organizations that need our help, even in times of crisis.

The digital transformation

The construction industry is facing enormous technological challenges. To catch up, AGF established a “4.0 committee” in the spring of 2020. Its mission is to integrate new technologies into the company’s value chain through, among other things, the judicious use of the reams of data (production output, orders, inventory, etc.) generated every day by the organization’s
various departments.

We have set up a technology to keep an eye out for anything that can be applied to our business. We are constantly evolving; there are great opportunities to grow within the company through the transformation that is under way. Our wish is for AGF to expand its position as a leader in reinforcing steel—already well established in Quebec—to all of Canada by 2025, and this
includes digital transformation and advancing the skills of our current and future talent.

AGF is not moving toward complete automation or robotization of its production. We are not a high-tech company: we are in a traditional industry.

Machines will not replace employees. They will make their work easier and safer. Technology will help them make better decisions. There is an added element of safety when work is supervised by artificial intelligence, and it reduces accident risks.
The goal is to alleviate the labour shortage by making the work of our employees better, easier and safer.