Bombardier must shape up to avoid tumbling like 'house of cards,' says expert

Bombardier will have to step up its game, and fast, if it wants to hold onto its Metrolinx order, and secure future contracts, says one business expert.

Last week, Metrolinx filed a notice of intent to cancel a light rail contract with the beleaguered company, which in recent years has fallen far behind in its delivery of vehicles under another contract with the TTC.

• Metrolinx files notice to terminate Bombardier contract worth over $700M

That doesn't mean that the contract will be cancelled, but it does send a serious warning to Bombardier,said William Mitchell, a professor of strategic management at the University of Toronto'sRotmanSchool of Management.

"I really, deeply hope that Bombardier is treating this as much more than just normal negotiations that will be resolved," he said.

"Metrolinx is under real pressure to deliver on time," Mitchell said."If it has concerns that Bombardier won't be able to keep up its part of the game, then it makes sense for it to say 'we need to look for somebody else.'"

Metrolinx is the provincial agency that oversees transportation in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area.

Bombardier must finda better way to manage it's supply chain tospeed up production, Mitchellsaid. Otherwise,therewill be consequences for the company, including for workers at its plantin Thunder Bay, Ont.

"If Bombardier can't get contracts, it can't employ people," he said. "If Bombardier can't deliver ... it's not going to get the contracts and it's going to be a house of cards that comes tumbling down."

Time for 'actions, actions, actions'

There is still time for Bombardier to turn things around, but in order to do so, the company will have to start delivering the goods, saidMarvinRyder, a professor of marketing and entrepreneurship at theDeGrooteSchool of Business atMcMaster University.

"Right now ... it's not about verbal reassurances," he said. It's about "actions, actions, actions."

"The more you start showing people that you really can fulfill orders on a timely basis with good quality, the more you're going to win customers back," Ryder said.

"I am hopeful, I really am hopeful that this is just a temporary session that [Bombardier is] going through and not a sign of things to come," he said.