Nexal Aluminum Inc. is an aluminum welding electrode manufacturer founded by Bernard Masnyk in 2005 in Toronto, Canada. Nexal Aluminum is the producer of Nexalloy aluminum welding consumables.
Bernard’s career in the aluminum industry began much earlier, in 1974, in the small town of Saguenay, Quebec, Canada. Saguenay was a long distance however from Bernard’s home in France. Born and raised near Lyon, France, Bernard served in the French army before going on to study material sciences at the University of Nancy. It was as a student that Bernard met a Canadian girl living in France who would become his wife. Bernard completed his engineering degree with a thesis in aluminum casting, a new high speed method of producing primary aluminum products. During a visit to his fiancée’s family in Montreal, Bernard interviewed and was offered a job upon graduation with Alcan, one of the world’s first and largest primary aluminum producers. A region with mighty rivers and gorges providing the hydroelectric energy needed for the electricity intensive process of aluminum production, the region of Saguenay was the world capital of aluminum production. It was here that Bernard began his career and continued to grow his new family.
With one child born in France, Bernard’s family had two more children in Saguenay, one of whom would later go on to join Nexal. Bernard began work as a metallurgical engineer in Alcan’s melting and continuous casting division, a new technology at the time. Over the next seven years with Alcan, Bernard progressed through the company, finally in marketing and sales in Toronto. Within 2 years, in 1982, Bernard left Alcan to start a semi finished aluminum goods manufacturing operation in the industrial suburb of Mississauga. Industrial Alloys, or Indalco, was born.
Focusing on the growing but underserved welding market, Indalco was a pioneer in the aluminum welding wire and mechanical wire products industry. In 1985 Bernard opened second plant in Dijon, France, Migal, to serve the European market. With experience in continuous casting from Alcan, Indalco acquired a rod mill in 1986 to produce its own alloyed rod and provide rod to international markets. In 2000 Indalco was sold to Lincoln Electric of Cleveland, Ohio.
Bernard spent the next several years developing an improved process for the production of aluminum welding electrodes. With this new technology he incorporated Nexal in 2005, to produce the Next Generation of Aluminum Welding Consumables. Since then, Nexal has grown into serve the global market with state of the art aluminum welding consumables. In 2016, Bernard’s son, Oleg, joined Nexal Aluminum in the sales department. After 8 years of progression within the company, Oleg is now the CEO of Nexal with responsibility over all aspects of the company. Bernard remains president and is still active in special projects.
Today Nexal Aluminum serves the global aluminum welding consumables market as well as producing specialty aluminum wire and strip products, including for the 3D printing market.
NEXALLOY aluminum welding consumables, produced exclusively by Nexal Aluminum Inc., meet and exceed international standards with their unrivalled feeding and low porosity performance. Nexalloy products are often the preferred aluminum welding electrode for the most demanding applications. Discover Nexalloy today!
