Introduction
Established in 1974 and trading as Jenkin Bros. Engineers until last year’s 50th anniversary, the new trading name Jenera pays homage to the company’s founders Bob & Graham Jenkin, whilst looking forward to a new era in the company’s evolution.
Some key developments in the company’s history occurred with a buyout of management in 2004 by a group including Frank Taranto and Jamie Macaulay, who are the current business directors and owners. The acquisition of Arthur Ward, a fabrication business, in 2009 greatly boosted the company’s capabilities. The transfer of around two million dollars’ worth of Kenworth parts business from Australian Engineering (previously Elliott) in 2013, significantly increased turnover. Simon Bowen is the current CEO and staff numbers today are around sixty.”
Operating primarily in Melbourne, Victoria, Jenera’s key services include precision CNC machining, laser cutting, welding, bending, thread rolling, folding, and painting. A dedicated finished assembly area brings manufactured components together, providing customers with a one-stop-shop for all their sheetmetal needs.
Serving various industries
Its machining centre features nine CNC lathes, five VMC mills and two CNC saws. On the fabrication side its equipment includes press brakes, welders and laser cutters along with brazing and painting capabilities.
The company operates under the ISO 9001:2015 certified quality management system and has experience across numerous industry segments including transport, defence, mining, construction and energy.
Its specialised products for the defence industry include vehicle roll bars, handrails, valves, brackets, and pipe fittings with a commitment to ensure these projects are delivered to specifications, on-time and on-budget.
An understanding of the mining industry and the requirement for products that can endure the harshest environments has seen Jenera contracted to manufacture a number of metal engineering services including fabrication, repair, and refurbishment.
However, the largest part of Jenera’s business involves metal fabrication services for specialised products within the transport and logistics industry.
As a 100% wholly Australian owned and operated company, Jenera strives to work with and support local businesses. Evidence of this is the company’s long and successful association with Kenworth Australia – a subsidiary of global truck manufacturer Paccar.
Kenworth is Australia’s leading heavy duty on-highway truck which is built at their manufacturing facility in Bayswater Victoria. In all Jenera supply around 2,000 parts to Kenworth which includes body and cabin panels, chassis parts, specialist engine components, engine mounts, gear box supports, clutch levers and more.
Applied Machinery took us to China to view the Yawei plant and see the fiber laser in action.
Partnership with Applied Machinery
Nearly a decade ago, the purchase of a 2.5kW CO2 laser allowed for faster cutting speeds, combined with the precision and accuracy that only a laser can offer. It also expanded the company’s ability to do more complex and larger metal fabrication such as whole cab sections for Kenworth.
The performance of the initial machine led to the company firstly upgrading to a 6kW fiber laser, and more recently the purchase of a high power 12kW Yawei HLF series machine.
“We did a lot of research before deciding to go with the Yawei brand and in particular a high powered 12kW HLF model,” Senior Engineer, Kevin Youliang Yi said. It was a big investment for us, and we wanted to ensure the laser we chose would not only satisfy our current requirements now but also in five years’ time.
“Applied Machinery took us to China to view the Yawei plant and see the fiber laser in action. It proved to us how impressive the machine was and along with Yawei’s willingness to provide an extended warranty, really gave us the confidence to procced. Yawei’s very competitive price was obviously an important factor for us too.
“Dealing with Applied Machinery has been a pleasure. Daniel Fisher, their Sales & Marketing Manager is extremely knowledgeable, very helpful and most importantly understands things from a customer perspective. Likewise, Applied’s technicians have been quick to respond to any issue or question – that’s one of the benefits of having a relationship with an Australian based supplier who has been around for many years,” Kevin added.
The number of options available for the laser source and cutting head of the fiber laser were also a significant attraction to Jenera, who opted for the German brand Precitec for the auto-focus cutting head.
“Given laser cutting is such an important part of our business, we also wanted to protect ourselves against downtime for planned or unplanned maintenance. The new Yawei gives us that security and ensures we can maintain delivery times and not let our customers down,” Kevin went on to say.
After just a couple of months the new Yawei fiber laser has proven its worth, reducing cutting times, improving productivity and empowering Jenera to further expand its product portfolio and capabilities.
Over the past 50 years Jenera has certainly made a big impact in the precision machining and fabrication sector. With a focus on customer service and investment in cutting edge equipment, Jenera’s new era is assured.
After just a couple of months the new Yawei fiber laser has proven its worth, reducing cutting times, improving productivity and empowering Jenera to further expand its product portfolio and capabilities.
