The highlights of GIANT's success
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| 1944 |
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| Lucien Lesage and his brother Jean started a business in their
basement to repair electric irons. Shortly thereafter, on a friend’s
suggestion, they decided to begin manufacturing electric irons
instead of just repairing them. |
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| 1945 |
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| The company moved from its Ste. Catherine St. East residential
location to a virtually roofless building in the municipality of
Montreal East. The factory operated weather permitting. The
company "Giant Electric Manufacturing Co." was born. |
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| 1947 |
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| Giant added two new products – Toasters and Heating Plates. Then
it was time to expand production. Lucien Lesage, who was a man
with manufacturing talents, worked hard to improve the products
and production. The number of employees increased rapidly. During
this period Mr. Lesage kept a constant presence in the factory. |
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| 1950 |
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| Giant began manufacturing electric immersion elements and quickly
followed with assembling residential electric hot water storage
type water heaters. Lucien was then convinced that he had finally
found the products that would become the cornerstones of his
expanding company |
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| 1957 |
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| The introduction in to the market of the premier quality Cascade
40 and Cascade 60 electric water heaters contributed greatly
to the company’s rising success. |
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| 1965 |
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| At a time when the company’s production seemed to have reached a
plateau, Lucien’s only son, Claude, a professional engineer,
joined Giant ushering in a new era that would bring the company to
new heights. |
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| 1967 |
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| Claude bought Giant Electric Manufacturing Co. from his father and
uncle. Lucien stayed on as President and Treasurer. Production
became Claude’s main focus. |
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| 1969 |
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| Giant purchased the tubular element assembly line from
Westinghouse Electric in Hamilton, ON.. The equipment was moved to
Giant’s plant in Montreal – East, QC. Giant soon became a
major factor in the immersion element business in Canada. |
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| 1970 |
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| Having acquired the basic technology & equipment to produce
immersion elements, Giant then invested in new more modern
production equipment. The company quickly became the largest
Canadian manufacturer of immersion elements. |
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| 1975 |
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Giant built Quebec’s first and only glass – lined tank factory
with a capacity of 400 units per shift.
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1982 |
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A disastrous fire destroyed most of Giant’s manufacturing
facilities. The roof was gone and two thirds of the plant leveled.
Many people believed that Giant would, at worst, have to close its
doors for ever or at best, be out of business for at least one
year. However, thanks in large part to the super human efforts of
Giant’s employees and many contractors |
| who worked around the
clock for days and weeks on end, the factory was rebuilt,
equipment re-furbished or replaced. Almost miraculously, in
approximately two weeks time, the production of water heaters and
elements re-commenced. |
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| 1984 |
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| Giant introduced a top quality line of Residential Natural
and Propane Gas Water Heaters plus had a dramatic increase in
its production capacity. Also, to reflect the fact that Giant was
no longer just in the electric water heater business, the
corporate name was changed to Usines Giant Inc. / Giant
Factories Inc. |
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| 1986 |
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| An extensive line of heavy duty
commercial electric water heaters
was brought to market. |
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| 1987 |
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| Giant put its first robot in place to perform some tedious jobs
that employees no longer liked to do and to help boost production
and quality. Other robots followed. New production goals were
attained. At the same time, water heaters of the highest quality
ever seen in Canada were being produced. |
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| 1988 |
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| A components division was created and began manufacturing in-
house with state-of-the-art equipment an expanded line of
immersion elements, as well as numerous component parts that were
previously purchased – in items. |
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| 1993 |
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| A premium quality line of Commercial
Gas Water Heaters which had many unique features was
introduced in to the market place. |
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| 1994 |
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| Due to the effectiveness of the use of robots in the production of
our water heaters dating back to 1987, a major decision was made
and implemented immediately to automate our production facilities
to further improve our quality, to minimize the labor content in
the manufacturing process, and to increase our plant capacity by a
quantum leap. Complex custom machinery was designed and built
in-house which was used in conjunction with several robots made
this all happen. |
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| 1995 |
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| Giant turned
fifty ( 50 ) years old and still was and is fully committed to
its cornerstone values of Integrity – Reliability- Consistency
– Quality and Value. It also remains true to its pledge to make
products that are "Environmentally Safe, Energy
Efficient," and "Built to Last longer". |
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| 1997 |
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Was a mile-stone year in the history of Giant Factories. Not only
was it granted ISO 9002 1994 Certification but we introduced 
insulation.
Giant Factories took a Giant leap forward in technology to help
preserve our precious environment by becoming the world’s FIRST
major appliance/ water heater manufacturer to use truly
ECO-FRIENDLY water- blown
insulation in its heaters. Giant’s unique
insulation contains NO CFC’s, NO HCFC’s and NO VOC’s. As
well, since
insulation is totally re-cyclable, it is considered by many
environmentalists to be a real step forward to help stop the
Greenhouse effect or damage to the Ozone layer. Once again, Giant
proved that it was a Concerned & Responsible corporate
citizen. |
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| 1998 |
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| Domestic
Oil-Fired Water Heaters were added to our ever-growing product offering. As
with all Giant water heaters, these oil-fired water heaters have
several unique features and are very energy efficient. |
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| 1999 |
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| Three sizes of
Residential
Power Vent Gas Water Heaters were successfully introduced
in to the market. |
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| 2000 |
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| Three sizes of Residential
Direct Vent Gas Water Heaters were brought to market and
were an instant success due to a patented "Wind-Tamer"
device that withstands wind gusts up to 60 miles per hour. |
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| 2001 |
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An improved and expanded line of Commercial
Gas Water Heaters - flue dampered and Power Vent - with many
outstanding features were put on the market.
Truly "BUILT TO LAST LONGER". |
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| 2002 |
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| A 75 US gal capacity 75,000 BTU input gas water heaters, both Atmospheric
and Power-Vent
were added to our growing family of top quality products. |
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