The Assembly
Canada's distributed on-demand manufacturing network. Digital inventory, sovereign IP protection, and AM navigation for Canadian manufacturers.
Company Overview
The Assembly is a distributed on-demand manufacturing network based in Canada. We connect manufacturers with a vetted network of Canadian AM service providers for prototyping, spare parts, and short-run production.
Our core innovation is digital inventory: converting physical parts catalogs into digital files that can be produced on demand, eliminating warehousing, carrying costs, and minimum order quantities.
What We Do
Digital Inventory
Convert physical parts catalogs into digital files. Produce on demand. Eliminate warehousing, carrying costs, and minimum order quantities.
IP Protection
Files stay on Canadian soil, within a vetted network, with controlled access. Three-vault security architecture from upload to finished part.
AM Navigation
Process matching, material selection, and vetted Canadian shops. One point of contact. Parts in 3-5 days. We guide manufacturers through their first AM experience.
The Problem We're Solving
annual inventory carrying cost that manufacturers pay to store parts
of stolen manufacturing data is intellectual property
of SMEs consider AM "not applicable" to their business
annual cost of counterfeiting to the Canadian economy
Digital Inventory is Already Happening
Global leaders proved the model. Canadian organizations are adopting it now.
Deutsche Bahn
Rail / Germany
Built digital spare parts warehouse with 1,000+ virtual models. Cut lead times from 9 months to 2-3 weeks. 200,000+ parts produced.
Daimler Buses
Transportation / Germany
Digital catalog of bus spare parts with decentralized mobile 3D printing centers. 40,000 parts digitized. 75% faster delivery.
Canadian Navy + Dalhousie/DRDC
Defence / Halifax, NS
On-demand submarine spare parts via metal AM. $3.7M program reverse-engineering naval alloys. Replacing a procurement process that took years per part.
Burloak + MDA Space
Aerospace / Burlington, ON
8-year partnership for satellite constellations. 50,000+ metal AM flight hardware components for Telesat Lightspeed program.
Canadian Army
Defence / Forward Deployed
3D printers deployed on NATO operations (Op Reassurance + Op Unifier). Spare parts and equipment produced in hours vs. days/weeks through supply system.
Mosaic Manufacturing
Digital Inventory Platform / Toronto, ON
Array platform lets companies maintain inventory digitally and produce on demand. $28M raised. NGen-funded.
From Our Founder
"We're not another print shop. We're a manufacturing network. We don't compete with Canadian AM shops. We connect them to customers who need them."
"Most manufacturers are paying 25% a year to store parts nobody ordered. Digital inventory means you keep the design file and produce the part when someone actually needs it. The warehouse becomes obsolete."
"The moment a design file leaves your control, the IP is at risk. Our model keeps files on Canadian soil, within a vetted network, with controlled access. That's not a feature. It's the architecture."
"The first AM experience is everything. If a company tries 3D printing and gets the wrong process, wrong material, bad results, they write off the entire technology. We make sure the first experience is the right one."
"Burloak has produced 50,000 flight components for MDA. Dalhousie and DRDC are printing submarine parts. The Army has 3D printers deployed on NATO operations. The capability is world-class. The gap is adoption. Most SMEs still think AM doesn't apply to them. It does. They just need someone to show them how."
Canadian Manufacturing Context
IP Security Imperative
CSIS Director David Vigneault stated China's effort to steal Canadian IP is "mind-boggling." Canada is the 3rd largest trafficker of counterfeit military parts from Asia.
Defence Reshoring
Canada's defence industrial strategy targets 70% domestic sourcing within ten years. $6.6 billion in investment. Buy Canadian threshold dropping from $25M to $5M.
Tariff Pressure
65.5% of Canadian manufacturers report negative tariff impacts. Companies establishing Canadian supplier relationships now will have a structural advantage.
AM Adoption Gap
NGen's AM Demo Program engaged 100+ companies and completed 54 projects in its first year. The demand exists. Companies just need someone to walk them through it.