About Savaria

Savaria Corporation designs, engineers, and manufactures products for personal mobility in Canada, the United States, and internationally. The company provides accessibility solutions for the physically challenged to increase their comfort, their mobility and their independence. The company designs, manufactures, distributes and installs accessibility equipment, such as stairlifts for straight and curved stairs, vertical and inclined wheelchair lifts, elevators for home and commercial use, as well as ceiling lifts. It also manufactures and markets a selection of pressure management products for the medical market, medical beds for the long-term-care market, mattress overlays and foam pillows for the retail market and certain products for the industrial market. In addition, the company converts and adapts vehicles to be wheelchair accessible. The company records approximately 75% of its revenue outside of Canada, primarily in the United States. It operates a sales network of approximately 500 dealers worldwide and 26 direct sales offices in North America, Europe (Switzerland, Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic, Poland and the United Kingdom), Australia and China. Accessibility segment Through its Accessibility segment, Savaria designs, manufactures, distributes and installs accessibility products, such as stairlifts for both straight and curved stairs, vertical and inclined wheelchair lifts and elevators for home and commercial use. The products are manufactured, assembled and customized at the Brampton, Ontario, plant, and through the acquisition of Garaventa Accessibility AG (Garaventa Lift), at the Surrey (British Columbia) and Milan (Italy) plants. The products are offered through a network of approximately 500 dealers worldwide and a network of 26 direct sales offices in North America, Europe (Switzerland, Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic and Poland), Australia and China. Opened in 2007, the Huizhou (China) plant is the main supplier of parts and components for the Brampton plant; also, it assembles product components and finished products mainly for the benefit of the Corporation and for the sale of products on the Asian, European and Australian markets. Through its Silver Cross division, the company operates a network of franchises and corporate stores in which new and refurbished accessibility equipment is sold. The products are sold on both the commercial market and the residential market. Production Savaria designs, manufactures, and tests its accessibility products and elevators at its plants located in Brampton, Ontario, Canada, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada and in Milan (Italy). Components Savaria acquires a majority of the standard parts from external suppliers, as well as from its wholly-owned subsidiary Savaria (Huizhou) Mechanical Equipment Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (Savaria Huizhou) located in China. New Products The company operates four research and development centers. The most important one is located in Brampton, Ontario (Canada). The other ones are located in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, in Magog, Quebec, Canada and in Huizhou, China. Patient Handling segment In 2016, the company designed and launched a ceiling lift product line from its research and development center in Magog, Quebec. The products are designed to move patients safely from wheelchair to bed or bath areas using an overhead hoist. In 2017, the company acquired Span-America Medical Systems (Span), makers of medical beds, therapeutic support surfaces and pressure management products used in healthcare facilities such as long-term care and nursing homes. The company manufactures in Greenville, South Carolina (surfaces), and Beamsville, Ontario (beds). Span sells the Savaria ceiling lift into the home care and institutional sales channels in North America. In 2019, Savaria completed the acquisition of Silvalea Limited and its sister company D-ansermed Limited (Silvalea), a manufacturer of patient transfer slings and accessories, based in Newton Abbot, UK. Silvalea specializes in the design and development of requirements and complex patient transfer solutions, with a catalog of approximately 800 sling designs. This acquisition complements the company’s product offering and provides additional distribution channels for the patient lift segment. Production At the Greenville facility, it designs and manufactures therapeutic support surfaces, patient positioners, mattress overlays and wheelchair cushions for the medical market; mattress pads and pillows for the consumer market; and various foam products used in the industrial market. At the Beamsville facility, Canada, the Corporation designs and manufactures bed frames for the medical market. The major production processes include metal cutting and fabrication, welding, assembly, painting, testing and packaging. All component parts for the beds are either manufactured directly by the company or purchased from suppliers based on the Corporation’s product specifications. At the Newton Abbot facility, the company designs and manufactures slings. New Products The company maintains engineering departments in its Greenville, South Carolina, USA, Beamsville, Ontario, Canada and Newton Abbot, UK locations for new-product development. The research and development efforts are focused almost entirely on the medical business for the creation of new products, new features of existing products and product design improvements. Adapted Vehicles Through its Adapted Vehicles segment, the company converts and adapts minivans to facilitate the transport of mobility challenged people through its Van-Action (2005) Inc. (Laval, Quebec, Canada) and Freedom Motors Inc. (Toronto, Ontario Canada) subsidiaries. Its Silver Cross Automotive Inc. subsidiary distributes converted vehicles in the provinces of Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia, Canada. The product line-up includes models with rear entry, side entry or dual entry. Production This segment designs, develops crash-tested designs, manufactures, tests and distributes lowered-floor minivans to accommodate wheelchairs. The line includes stages starting with disassembling the interior and mechanical components of the van, cutting open the floor welding a new floor in place, painting, rewiring the electricity, reassembling the mechanical components and interior of the van and performing road tests. History Savaria Corporation was founded in 1979.