JAmec of the five Ss of quintessential success

Seiri, seiton, seiso, seiketsu, shitsuke. The names of five varieties of sushi? Not quite. They are the five basic principles of the 5S system, a Japanese management technique aimed at continuous improvement of tasks performed in businesses. Inspired by this approach, the firm JA Mécanique (JAmec) has developed unique expertise in designing and manufacturing products for effective workstations and workshops. Translated into JAmec jargon, the five words at the beginning of this piece are: sorting, straightening, sweeping, standardizing, and sustaining discipline. By applying this system, baptized JA-5, the company offers its clients a turnkey work organization and needs analysis solution for designing and fabricating custom facilities. True to its system, JAmec also ensures the maintenance and updating of its products, in line with its fifth S, sustain discipline.

S as in Succeeding

JAmec was founded in Normandin in 1987 by Messrs Jasmin Lévesque and Alain Bilodeau. At the time, the two-employee firm was exclusively dedicated to softwood lumber plant maintenance on weekends. Over time, it also developed a specialty in welding and drawing on steel. Fifteen years later, in 2002, Alain Bilodeau bought out his associate and moved the plant to a small garage converted into a welding plant. Alain Bilodeau gave free rein to his creativity and began making original products for his clients. A victim of its own success, the small concern soon had to relocate yet again to bigger quarters.

In 2004, Alain Bilodeau developed the first JA-5 product based on the 5S system: a range of toll racks for ergonomic workstations. It was a hit.

Since 2004, Canada Economic Development has lent its financial support to JAmec for five different projects. The company used this funding to create a number of innovative new products and, as a result, his company has enjoyed impressive growth. Today the JA-5 family boasts more than 10,000 products and JAmec, which recently launched a new high-end industrial furniture line, employs nearly 80 people.

S as in Satisfaction

According to Alain Bilodeau, the company owes its success to the excellence of its team. Thanks to the versatility of its employees, JAmec now provides specialized services to a variety of industry sectors such as aluminum, mining, pulp and paper, the environment, softwood lumber and food throughout Quebec. And as always, the operative words are “client satisfaction”. To attain optimum client satisfaction, JAmec pursues an innovation agenda. Investing heavily in research and development every year, it has set up a flexible and effective R-D division that works specifically on designing and marketing leading-edge products that meet the needs of its clients, some of them large-scale organizations.

S as in Synergy

Thanks to exceptional teamwork and its leader’s vision, JAmec has succeeded in distinguishing itself and diversifying. Its ingenuity and philosophy has fostered the design and development of equipment that appeals to industries in times of crisis. As a result, JAmec has continued to grow and create jobs even when the going was tough.

JAmec’s President and CEO gives credit where he feels it is due: “We would never have become what we are today without the contributions of the members of the team. I am proud to share the qualities of each and every one of them with businesses that can use them,” Mr. Bilodeau concluded.