Founded in Terrebonne in 1990, the printer Nita was bought in 2002 by Normand Lord, a finance and marketing graduate from HEC Montreal who had previously worked for Bell and Nexxlink. In 2008, the first of five generations of automatic labelers was launched with a simple objective: “A machine that is easy to use,” summarizes Charles Magnan, bachelor in mechanical engineering and holder of a master’s degree in technology management from Polytechnique Montréal. He became CEO of the company in February 2023, succeeding Mr. Lord. Nita is still based in Terrebonne and has around fifty employees.
Affixing self-adhesive labels to everyday consumer products such as dish soap, motor oils or Windex bottles is the last step in the factory, and it is particularly delicate. “It’s complicated to put the right label on the right container, and sometimes you have several labels,” says Mr. Magnan. If you have 20 different products, not one container alike, someone needs to adjust the line. If he makes a mistake, you lose a lot of material. »
Nita’s three labeling system models, billed as “the easiest, smartest, toughest and most advanced on the planet,” make this last step simple.
“You press a button, everything self-adjusts,” says the CEO. You go from an adjustment time for a new product of 30 minutes to 1 or 2 minutes, you avoid all human errors, you greatly reduce rejections. »
Each Nita machine, priced from $25,000 to $400,000, is custom-designed for the client company and delivered within 8 to 20 weeks, depending on the level of customization. Nita sells around 200 per year for a turnover of “around 20 million”, specifies Mr. Magnan.
The world of labeling has experienced an era of consolidation in which the small Quebec company has not participated. “It’s a challenge to fight against big groups that have big resources,” notes the CEO. At trade shows, they have 10 or 20 times more space than us. »
In a stagnant market, growth necessarily comes at the expense of other players. “We are growing, so we are taking market share from others. »
By 2023, 90% of Nita’s business is in the United States. The Quebec market is obviously underexploited.
In “the next four or five years,” Mr. Magnan announces, the company wants to double turnover.
Promising segments such as cosmetics and pharmaceuticals offer great business opportunities. In oils and chemicals, we want to consolidate the customer base. “We have very efficient machines, but we have maybe 10% of the market. We want to target niches where we are very strong, but not present enough. »
Finally, innovation is continuous and Nita invests considerable sums in research and development. “We want to release new products, still in labeling, which could meet market needs. »