Business North October 2021

68 | to page 0 John’s ethos drives firm forward Jay Cee Welding provides structural steel, fabrication and welding services and adding value to this suite the company also has a dedicated team of steel erectors. Jay Cee Welding ENGINEERING H enderson-based heavy engineering company Jay Cee Welding, has been in business since 1985 and over those years, John Fraider has steered it to become an industry leader. In the past year, John has stepped back from full-on day-to-day management to in- stead concentrate more on mentoring of staff now taking over those responsibilities. It’s a situation he is happy about. “Over my working journey, I have been employed by quite a few companies and I was frustrated by the way they worked, so when I went out on my own, I was determined we would do things better, for our clients and our team,” John explains. John goes back to the era when large workshops were heavily unionised and the work ethos was built around ‘you can only do so much work on any given day, then tools down’. When he realised that this fit didn’t serve the sector well he decided it was time to go out on his own, taking a couple of young weld- ers with him. The company owns the building it operates out of and John says, it’s situation is perfect in terms of size and location. Jay Cee Welding provides structural steel, fabrication and welding services and adding value to this suite the company also has a dedicated team of steel erectors, making it somewhat unique in the industry. “It means that our clients don’t have to engage a separate entity to actually build the steel structures we’ve made on site. There’s a consistency for them in terms of who they are dealing with and because we’ve made the structures, we understand how they are best erected on site.” John says a key strength of the business now is its management structure, with a dedi- cated manager with networking strengths, and contracts and construction managers to see the projects through. All welders are fully qualified and non-de- structive testing is undertaken on the welding of all components. “I have a very good workshop capability as well and all up there are 20 of us. It’s a size Sue Russell that suits the workshop area and the kinds of projects we get involved with.” The company has a Peddinghaus beam line drill, MIG welding equipment, gantry cranes and a 140 tonne CNC punch and shear. The bulk of jobs come from the massive amount of multi-storey construction projects underway in Auckland. Having the history it has in the market John says a large proportion of work is from repeat clients. When Business North spoke with John early June the company had recently completed two large projects; the 16 storey Queens Park Residence which had 200 tonnes of steel and St Kents Boys School with 300 tonnes. John’s proud of the company culture, de- scribing it as like a family, where the input and work of everyone on the shop floor is valued. “I think we treat everyone equally. We have got people with young families and I impress upon them how important it is to have a good work/life balance at this stage of their lives.” Keen to help support the next generation, Jay Cee Welding takes on Gateway students from the local high school. Covid has brought a degree of uncertainty as to steel supply and price and John says he makes it clear to prospective clients that in order to secure an order at today’s prices, it’s important they commit to the purchase as soon as possible. “In two or three weeks, the price will have gone up again; it’s that impor- tant developers understand how the market is operating these days.” And when looking at the qualities that go into making a good employee, John says above all, he’s looking for attitude. The shop foreman also meets prospective staff and offers his input into that assessment. “We have staff from overseas who carry the right attitude and we don’t always get that with kiwis. There is a real shortage of skilled operators and I’m pleased we have retained a core of staff who have been working here for many years now.” Proud to supply quality welding wires and machines to Jay Cee Welding Ph 09 634 1949 | www.weldingengineers.co.nz LORCH 500 Amp MicorMIG • Up to30%fasterwelding speeds • Designed for ease of use • Futureproof, upgradeable with Paywave • 100%German manufacture, quality assured • Industry 4.0 capability For all your purlin and girts enquiries send to: purlins@steelandtube.co.nz or call 09 280 6694 28 Business Parade North, Highbrook www.steelandtube.co.nz Steel and Tube is proud to be the preferred supplier to Jay Cee Welding for all their Purlin and Girts requirements.