in South Africa and Malaysia. Clearly, the hard-working business ethic runs deep in his family. Chutter’s grandfather was manag- ing director of a wire rope manufacturing business in Vancouver and his 35-year-old son, Paul, recently joined WhiteWater as chief business development officer aſter a stint as a sales director at UBS Investment Bank in London, England. Today, about 500 people work at WhiteWater’s Richmond


plant and at a second factory in Kelowna, along with another 40 or so scattered among 21 international offices. The Richmond site is where welding, painting and steel fabrication take place and where the dragons, pirates, baboons and other fantastic crea- tures that inhabit the parks are craſted from huge blocks of Styro- foam. The fibreglass waterslides and other attractions are pro- duced in Kelowna and the Philippines. Chutter, an admirer of Japanese culture, has based the model


2017_CPA-THE ONE_hpg_CBV1701-02.qxp_Ads 2017-08-02 10:37 AM Page 1


for his company on a couple of Japanese business concepts from the management book The Toyota Way: kaizen, a productivity phi- losophy that urges employees to become involved in making improvements; and just-in-time manufacturing, an inventory strategy that aims to raise efficiency and reduce waste. John Bookless, the company’s director of continuous improve- ment, says the goal is balanced loads. “One department only


makes what the next department needs. Products are worked on and moved on very quickly.” WhiteWater now outsources about 60% of its manufacturing to China, the Philippines and the US. Contrary to what one might expect, this has increased the com- pany’s roster of Canadian employees. “Our facility was full,” Bookless says. “The only way we could increase our overall capac- ity was to outsource some of the work. We’re [now] able to take on more contracts and that’s led to more work.” The spread of waterparks has been good for WhiteWater’s


bottom line, but it’s also attracted a flood of imitators. Chutter calls the competition “fierce,” saying, “We have about two dozen competitors in China, and there are other companies in Europe and across North America.” Ironically, one rival in the manufac- turing sector is another Canadian outfit, Ottawa-based ProSlide Technology. Founded in 1986 by Rick Hunter, a former national team skier, ProSlide has collected a slew of awards for its innova- tive rides. Much of the technological wizardry on display at today’s water-


parks is the result of operators seeking razzle-dazzle attractions that will set them apart from their competitors. As Claudio Barrera, WhiteWater’s director of product development, admits, “In recent years, there’s been a push to have the newest, the great-


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