Kobay Enstel Limited
“Our Canadian roots will always be our foundation.” — Gavin Galansky, President
Located in Scarborough, Ontario lies a quality manufacturer of automotive stampings and sub assemblies that has come to be known for its specialization in the manufacturing of intricate, progressive die stampings, mig welded sub-assemblies, seating assemblies and tube bending.
Founded in July 2006 after the merger between Kobay Tool & Stampings and Enstel Manufacturing, Kobay Enstel Limited has since risen to constantly challenge the standard operating procedures of the industry. The company prides itself on operating under lean manufacturing practices, building a strong team and finding innovative, cost-efficient manufacturing techniques.
“Our company is all about the strength of our people,” said President Gavin Galansky in a recent interview.
“We want to show that we are adding value to our customers by developing innovative processes that reduce cost and enhance the quality of the product,” said Galansky.
A world-class team
Kobay Enstel’s design team is a group of dedicated professionals with over 40 years of combined experience. Constantly striving to exceed customer expectations, each associate at the company is in constant communication with one another.
With customer satisfaction being a top priority, Kobay Enstel follows the Japanese model of Q.C.D.D.M. (Quality, Cost, Delivery, Development, and Management) in its production processes.
“Each function of the organization has specific action plans that all go into the Q.C.D.D.M. model,” said Galansky. “Everything from developing our processes further, to becoming more efficient, to driving out costs from the system—the whole way the company is run—follows the Q.C.D.D.M. model, and everyone on the floor understands it.”
In terms of management, Kobay Enstel prides itself on developing its people. In doing so, it allows the company to take on projects that most others would shy away from due to their challenging engineering aspects.
Kobay Enstel recently secured contracts to complete seating assemblies on the next model of the Honda Civic in 2016, and 17-model Honda CR-V.
This means two things for Kobay Enstel.
“For one, it secures our future,” said Galansky. “And the second half of the equation is that we’re being recognized and rewarded, allowing us to venture into greater things.”
Due to the scope of these projects, Kobay Enstel expanded its current facility by adding roughly 21,000 sq. ft. Brand new state-of-the-art robotic welding cells are being installed alongside state-of-the-art hydraulic tube benders.
According to Galansky, a second plant will also be opened in Alabama, U.S. around February 2016 to begin Kobay Enstel’s expansion efforts into the U.S. This plant will be around 35,000 sq. ft. and will start production in 2016 to support the Honda Odyssey, Honda Ridgeline platforms.
“The primary reason we’re expanding is to support our customers,” said Galansky. “There is a lot of automotive activity in the southeast U.S. and our goal is to grow the plant in Alabama with our Japanese and North American customers.”
Further expansion efforts
Upon the initial entrance into the U.S. with a plant in Alabama, Kobay Enstel wishes to grow its North American footprint by opening a plant in Mexico and Indiana as well. In five to 10 years, the company’s plans are to enter Mexico and establish a plant there, as well.
“Honda has a big plant in Celaya, Mexico and for the next model of Honda Civic we’d like to be able to support that,” said Galansky.
“[In the next five years] we’d like to grow our footprint, secure more business and grow with our Japanese customers, particularly on vehicles like, the Honda Ridgeline and the Honda Odyssey—which are all made in Alabama,” added Galansky.
Kobay Enstel would also like to develop its process technology specifically with laser welding and tube bending.
“Kobay Enstel, in the last few years, has shifted away from just being a stamping company as stamping is becoming more and more of a commodity,” Galansky said. “We’re moving more into welding and sub assembly—more complex sub assembly and tube bending.”
Looking ahead
“It’s a very exciting time for Kobay Enstel,” exclaimed Galansky.
With the North American automotive market growing, Galansky sees a lot of potential in the growth of the company, as well.
“We’d like to grow our business to become the go-to as the number one Tier I and a half,” said Galansky. “We’re somewhere in between Tier I and Tier II—we have a little bit of a Tier I aspect to us in the assemblies that we’re doing, but we like operating in the Tier II space.”
“By not going full Tier I, we are able to keep our costs and overhead very competitive,” he continued.
Despite the growth that Kobay Enstel is looking forward to in the US and Mexico, it will always remain true to its Canadian roots.
“We will always be a Canadian company,” Galansky concluded. “We want to always support our Canadian customers and so there will always be a plant here.”
