Grant: Applied Research and Development Grants - Level 1

RegattaSport (RS) is a Southern Ontario-based manufacturer and designer of sports performance gear, with operations in Hamilton and St. Catharines since 1988. RS produces tops, bottoms, accessories, and official apparel for organizations like World Rowing, Dragon Boat Canada, and 100% of its custom apparel is made in Canada. RS' competitive advantage is that it makes high-quality custom sports clothing with a quick turnaround. However, due to the high level of customization for each order, details must be carefully tracked. Currently, RS utilizes a combination of email, phone, and paper-based processes to handle production from receiving to completion. This time-consuming process is inefficient, and it is currently missing data that could be gathered in a digitized system. Professor Chris Spraakman, from Mohawk College's Ontario College Graduate Certificate in Business Analysis, has the experience and expertise to investigate business processes for needs assessment and process automation. RS and Mohawk will collaborate to investigate the current order process, determine opportunities for improvement, investigate potential technology solutions, and to test the implementation of the solutions. The proposed process improvements and automation have the potential to increase revenue for RS by 5-10% based on being able to process larger orders and clients more efficiently. Canadian Industry Statistics reported that the textile mills industry produced exports of $1.1 billion in 2017. RS exports to customers in the United States, and the results will help maintain and increase these exports and maintain domestic competitiveness by improving their process efficiency.