Wendy Johnstone

President – BCom(Hons), MBA

Wendy has built her expertise in rope through 20 years of hands on experience at all levels within the organization. Her specialty is her ability to take a set of customer requirements, and determine the best product to meet those needs. Wendy’s strength in business organization coupled with her passion for rope drives Cancord to be a leader in the rope industry.

Rob Ludwig

Rob has an unsurpassed technical knowledge and understanding of the rope and fall protection industries. He is an active committee member of the CSA Z259 Committee on Fall Protection.  His ability to develop superior life safety lines comes from hands on experience as Lieutenant and Training Officer at a large Fire Department, an instructor in Cave Rescue, and countless hours using Cancord ropes in real world life safety applications.

A Cancord History

Parade Floats, Hamilton Cotton Co., 1889. Taken in Hamilton Ontario.Cancord is the culmination of more than a century of history. The company was originally established as the Hamilton Cotton Company in 1880. The ambitious venture was undertaken by local merchants and manufacturers in order to capitalize on a new textile tariff structure introduced as part of the John A. Macdonald government’s National Policy.
 
James M. Young, the eldest son of a prominent Hamilton merchant family and his brother Hamilton proved to be the driving force behind this new enterprise. The Youngs had entered into textile production only a few years earlier, after purchasing the nearby Dundas Cotton Company. Initially the Hamilton Cotton plant produced a variety of yarns and fabrics but as the company grew into the 20th century production expanded greatly. Throughout the many changes and challenges of the 20th century, the company grew, transformed, and diversified into other industries eventually reorganizing itself as the Hamilton Group. Cancord remained as the sole connection to the Hamilton Group’s roots in the textile industry. 
 
In 1987 Cancord was purchased by Douglas Ludwig, at which time it underwent a transformation into new, innovative, and highly technical cordage products and applications. Since 1997, Cancord has been owned and operated by Douglas Ludwig’s children Robert Ludwig and Wendy Johnstone. Robert and Wendy are highly regarded and recognized for their expertise in the rope and cordage industry. They continue the focus on quality and innovation which has been a hallmark of Cancord dating back to its inception in 1880.
  • Exceed our customers’ expectations with unsurpassed quality, exceptional service, true value and custom innovation
  • Act with uncompromising honesty and integrity
  • Attention to detail
  • Manufacture using North American made raw materials wherever possible
  • Value and develop our employees’ diverse talents, initiative and leadership
  • Respect our social and physical environment

 

  • ISO 9001 Certified
  • CSA Certified Lifelines
  • NFPA Certified Lifelines
  • Manufacturing cordage products from nylon, polyester, cotton, polypropylene, Polysteel®, Kevlar®, Technora®, and Dyneema®
  • Manufacturing braided wires from copper and stainless steel
  • Manufacturing a complete range of cordage products for use in a diverse range of industries and applications

 

At Cancord Inc. we take great pride in our ability to work with you in producing a custom product specific to your needs. Our exceptional team of dedicated employees, as well as our ongoing investment into the best manufacturing equipment and materials available ensures that we have the ability to create the distinct quality and service that goes hand in hand with a completely original venture. Many of our custom work has gone on to become industry standard. There is no project to simple or to complex for Cancord Inc to not consider with you, a completely customized approach. Confidentiality is assured, experience the opportunities today.

At Cancord Inc, we believe or service is second to none. Our staff are committed to ensuring that your needs are met in every way and in a timely fashion. Feel free to ask for assistance or for information regarding any of our products and in many cases where possible we know there’s o substitute for actually holding the product in your hand so we are happy to make samples available where possible. Review individual product pages to see if samples are available. If you have specific needs and don’t see a product that meets those then please contact us directly and ask about our custom manufacturing opportunities.

Here at Cancord Inc. it’s not just all business and no play, on occasion we’ll find ourselves penning down or in this case typing out a few tidbits of trivia. Now you may or may not find them interesting but we’ll keep trying none the less… If you think you’re above a little lighthearted trivia well… “fraid knot”…  As time permits we’ll make time to post some unique factoids, industry trivia, and I’m sure a little home town fun or more insight into the Cancord family will work itself into the forum. We hope you enjoy our musings. Feel free to drop us a line with some tidbits of your own.

The benefit of a kernmantle rope over other types of ropes is that the load bearing fibers are in the core (kern) of the rope, with a skin (mantle) braided around them to protect them from factors such as dirt, and UV rays. This makes kernmantle ropes the ideal choice for many life-critical applications.

The only way for certain to ascertain the residual strength in a used rope is to complete a destructive test on it. Careful rope inspection and documentation of usage with a Rope Log will give some insight as to the remaining life of a rope. However, particularly in life critical applications, the decision to retire or downgrade a rope must be made conservatively.

Many co-polymer lifelines have come into the market place in recent years. However, none of them compare in quality to the lines manufactured by Cancord – our ropes are always manufactured with Quality You Can Bet Your Life On.

Cancord works closely with the top manufacturers of CSA Certified connectors world-wide to ensure the hooks and carabiners we attach to our lifelines meet the same stringent quality and certification requirements as the lifelines we attach them to.

SETTING THE BAR

The past nearly three decades under the helm of the Ludwig family has seen Cancord Inc. propel itself to the forefront of the industry through quality, innovative manufacturing methods and exceptional service.

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