Ships that transport crude oil and other types of cargo around the world are more than 300 yards long and always an impressive sight.

If you can’t see it, you can’t measure it, and if you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it! This is the simple mantra of successful manufacturers the world over. Manufacturing excellence can only come from manufacturing visibility.

MBX Systems has had a clearly defined relationship with its independent software vendor (ISV) customers since the day the company opened for business in 1995. For more than 20 years, MBX has focused on designing and manufacturing custom hardware—so the ISVs can focus on developing and selling their software for mass or niche markets. The setup has benefitted both parties.

Several years before Clearpath Robotics’ founders were named to Business Insider’s “People to Watch in 2015” list, Matthew Rendall, Ryan Gariepy and Bryan Webb were University of Waterloo mechatronics engineering students.