Jayco employs anti-virus technology
New Smart Badges help keep Melbourne mega-factory running during pandemicJayco is one of the first manufacturers in Australia to roll out new contact tracing technology designed to keep its Melbourne production facility running after already losing around 12 weeks' production time in 2020 due to the coronavirus crisis.
Up to 1000 workers at Jayco's Dandenong. Victoria mega-factory will carry the new 'Smart Badge' bluetooth-enabled wearable technology designed to track worker close contacts, while automatically uploading live data in real-time.
Jayco says the portable 'black box' technology will also enable "social distancing between workers and assists with maintaining capacity limits with ease".
The Melbourne-developed Smart Badge technology allows employers to minimize social interactions between staff as well as trace staff movements, and can be used as a contact tracing tool if a worker tests positive for COVID-19.
Melbourne-based manufacturers including Jayco were recently allowed to re-start production after an eight-week enforced shutdown, albeit at a maximum of 90 per cent of normal daily staff levels.
Just prior to the government enforced shutdown, Jayco reportedly closed both its factory and head office after a number of staff tested positive for COVID-19 in late-July.
“We are extremely COVID conscious and in our large-scale manufacturing environment, diligently managing capacity limits for anyone on site is crucial," Jayco Australia CEO, Gerry Ryan said.
“We’ve also put other significant safety measures in place including automatic touchless doors to reduce touch points, additional toilets, staggering of start and break times, sanitisation stations in all work areas, strict cleaning regimes with cleaners on continuous rotation, additional PPE, restricted movement around the site and so much more,” he said.
With additional factory interruptions earlier in the year due to COVID-19, Jayco currently faces a big backlog of orders with customer waiting times reportedly stretching well into 2021.
Ryan recently told Caravan World magazine that Jayco's annual production numbers would be significantly down due to the coronavirus crisis, predicting a drop of around 1000 units to less than 10,000 RVs for Australia's top-selling RV manufacturer.
“We have had significant loss of production," Ryan said. "70 per cent of our production goes interstate so all our customers and dealers are keen for us to re-open."
Following a cutback in staff numbers earlier in the year, Ryan said that Jayco is now looking to fill 250 new positions as "demand for RVs continues to skyrocket".
"There has been a near-65 per cent increase in sales nationwide since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and this has opened up a range of new opportunities at our head office and factory,” he said.
Jobs available include production assemblers, service technicians, maintenance specialists, team leaders, supervisor roles and office managers.
Related:
Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
