Industries we serve: manufacturing and distribution
ThriveAI works with owners of $5M to $50M manufacturers and wholesale distributors in Ontario and Quebec.
Who that is, by the numbers
About 13,300 companies in Ontario and Quebec fit that description, by our estimate from Statistics Canada data.
| Industry | Ontario | Quebec | Total | Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing, including food and beverage | 3,720 | 2,810 | 6,530 | 5,230 to 7,680 |
| Wholesale distribution | 4,270 | 2,520 | 6,790 | 6,600 to 7,210 |
| Both industries | 7,990 | 5,330 | 13,320 | 11,830 to 14,890 |
How we estimated it: Statistics Canada counts incorporated businesses with $5 million to $20 million in revenue by industry for Canada as a whole, in its Financial Performance Data for 2023. We extended the band to $50 million and split it by province using Canadian Business Counts for June 2026, ISED’s enterprise counts and revenue per employee by industry. The provincial split and the $20 million to $50 million share are modelled, which is why each row shows a range. Food and beverage makers account for about 690 of the manufacturers.
Manufacturing
Machine shops and metal fabricators, food and beverage processors, plastics and packaging, and makers of industrial equipment and building products. The jobs AI takes first:
- Quoting and costing from your own job history. See AI for manufacturing and cost-plus pricing.
- Production scheduling within the real capacity of each machine.
- Purchasing and stock levels for every item.
- Margin by product and customer, kept current from your own sales and costs.
- Reports your ERP does not produce, on request.
- Quality inspection and predictive maintenance where the volume justifies them.
Wholesale distribution
Industrial and MRO distributors, building materials, food distribution, electrical, plumbing and HVAC supply, and equipment dealers. The jobs AI takes first:
- Order entry from emailed purchase orders. See document extraction.
- Pricing against your costs and quote history and the market.
- Margin and SKU decisions by product and customer.
- Demand forecasts, reorder points and warehouse work.
- Supplier follow-up and supplier invoices.
Industries next door
We also write about the industries manufacturers and distributors supply and work with: construction, logistics, agriculture and mining.
How ThriveAI helps
ThriveAI is an AI engineering company in Ottawa that builds private AI systems on a company’s own data. It works with the ERP you run, including older versions installed on your own server, and drafts routine work for a named person on your team to approve. Derik Lawlis, the founder, leads every project and stays close to the build. Services lists what that covers.