The Ontrack history originates in 1960 as the ‘Bottling Development’ division of Joseph Seagram and Sons Ltd (Seagram). Bottling Development, or BD, was responsible for development and management of technology to improve the performance of the Seagram bottling and packaging lines.

Through the 1980’s, BD expanded beyond servicing the Seagram facilities and began selling its technology and services to third party companies.

In 2002, Seagram was acquired by Diageo PLC

(Diageo) which then expanded BD’s business across

all North American Diageo facilities.

Then, in 2005, Diageo made a strategic decision to eliminate all non-core business from their portfolio of distillery brands. This prompted the closure of Bottling Development in July, 2006.  

At that time, three BD management employees,

Ward Flannery, Darren Ste. Marie, and Ed Gardiner, negotiated the purchase of all assets including all equipment, technology, and intellectual property of Bottling Development.

Today, this new company operates under the name “Ontrack Automation Inc” and provides packaging line management components, systems and solutions to a growing list of customers across many industries.

Photos of Seagram distillery/warehouse and bottling plant, courtesy of City of Waterloo Heritage Collection.