Stevens Company opens room to grow

Seven red robots were some of the main attractions as Canadian medical equipment and supplies distributor Stevens Company Inc. celebrated the grand opening of its new 42,000-square-foot distribution centre in northwest Winnipeg.

The company invested more than $4 million to create the new space, which includes what it believes to be Manitoba’s first AutoStore automated storage and retrieval system — a robotic technology that will help employees fill about 20,000 orders annually.

More than 80 employees, vendors and customers gathered for the grand opening Monday afternoon. It was held fewer than four years after the celebration for the Stevens Company’s previous Winnipeg facility, a 33,000-sq.-ft. warehouse in Transcona the company quickly outgrew.

Company president Jay Stevens noted the Stevens Company’s long history in Manitoba.

Stevens’ great-great-grandfather started the company in London, England, in 1830, and the company moved to Toronto in 1874. After opening its second Canadian office in Vancouver in 1899, it opened its third location in Winnipeg the following year.

“We’ve been here 136 years in Manitoba and we’re proud of that — having supported Manitoba health care for that long,” said Stevens, the sixth-generation owner of the privately held company.

Today, the Stevens Company is headquartered in Brampton, Ont., and has seven offices across Canada.

The company has around 450 employees, including 23 in Manitoba. More will be hired as needed, said Justin Ferguson, operations manager at the Winnipeg facility.

From paper towels to ultrasound machines, the Stevens Company distributes almost anything one finds in a clinic or hospital, said John Lowerison, vice-president of operations.

The company has 80,000 stock-keeping units in its system, he added. The Winnipeg facility services health-care sectors in Manitoba and northwestern Ontario, including specialty laboratories.

The new building has a 32-foot (10-metre) clear height, allowing the company to store more products than ever before.

“Even though we increased our square footage by 30 per cent, our cubic footprint went up by more than 50 per cent,” Lowerison said. “That’s the main draw to this facility and the design.”

The AutoStore system occupies 1,600 sq. ft. of warehouse space. Products are stored in bins that are stacked on top of each other in a grid. Employees input the products they are looking for into a computer, and seven robots at the top of the grid collect and deliver the bins.

Rather than replace employees, the AutoStore system will increase employees’ efficiency, Lowerison said. They’ll spend more time packing orders instead of walking around the warehouse finding products.

“In health care, it’s important that the right product shows up on time, every time,” he said. “A nurse in Brandon shouldn’t have to open a box and find the wrong size. A person recovering at home shouldn’t have to wait an extra day to get the supplies they need.”

The Stevens Company’s investment in its Winnipeg facility comes at a time when the corporation is pursuing growth. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the company’s annual revenue was $250 million. That’s grown significantly in the last six years, and the company is now targeting $1 billion in annual revenue by 2030.

“We’ll be four times the size in just a little over 10 years,” said Randy Williamson, executive chair. “And I think the evidence of that is how we needed to move from our last (Winnipeg) facility to here in just 3 1/2 years.”

As it pursues its 2030 target, the Stevens Company is changing its supply chain.

Prior to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs regime, the company sourced the majority of its products through U.S. supply chains, Lowerison said. Now, products come primarily from Europe and Asia.

The company’s main competitors are Cardinal Health and Medline Inc., two public companies headquartered in the U.S., Williamson said, adding the Stevens Company’s slogan is “delivering Canadian health-care solutions.”

“Each one of those words is important,” he said. “(We want) to be the most trusted health-care product supplier in the country.”

Jay Stevens said his company will continue to invest in Manitoba. He expressed his appreciation for the corporation’s employees.

“I’m grateful for everyone that we have because they make this thing tick,” he said.

The Stevens Company is in the midst of upgrading all of its locations, Lowerison said. Up next is its Dartmouth, N.S., operation, which will move into a new facility next year.

aaron.epp@winnipegfreepress.com