How Jayco conquered COVID

The numbers hint at the epic scale of Australia’s largest RV manufacturer – 50 acres, 1200 employees, 11,000 units per year – but nothing readies you for the physical magnitude of Jayco’s headquarters and main production facility in Melbourne’s outer suburbs.

Located in Dandenong South, at a facility sizeable enough to command its own street address (1 Jayco Drive), caravancampingsales recently jumped at the chance to tour the company’s main production site.

There we got an up-close-and-personal glimpse into how over 200 recreational vehicles are created each week, moving from single components to final assembly.

For Jayco, a company that usually keeps its manufacturing processes locked firmly behind closed doors, it was not only a chance to showcase what it takes to produce its wide and varied product range, but also to reveal how its processes have been reshaped through the COVID era – and for the better...

The onset of the pandemic impacted Australia’s RV industry in many ways. Almost overnight, the cruise liner industry effectively shut down and overseas travel was off the table, leading to surging demand for caravans, camper trailers and motorhomes.

At the same time, businesses like Jayco had to grapple with extended lockdowns, staff shortages, social-distancing measures, and then supply chain disruption, forcing the company to rethink its operations.

“Our industry represented something that people could do where they were in control of what they could do and where they could go,” explains Scott Jones, Jayco’s National Sales Manager. “In a country like Australia, there are so many places you can go and see in a caravan and you’re in control of your destiny.

“So because of that we were looking at how we could increase production to meet that demand, and in the production facility every square metre counts. So we relocated the pre-assembly areas and we increased and moved production lines, our goal being to meet that demand.”

Jayco has moved through a number of facilities and locations since it began by building a single camper trailer in a suburban garage back in 1975. It has been at its present 50-acre (200,000 square metre) site for just over 15 years, adding an additional 3.5-acre (14,000 square metre) facility for motorhomes just nearby some 12 months ago.

“It’s just become bigger and bigger over the years,” he says.

There are four main buildings on the main site, comprising two production lines along with pre-assembly, chassis and running-gear sections, among others. Donning ear and eye protection and the obligatory high-vis vest, we exit the sleek and quiet confines of the Jayco head office and plunge into the noise and movement of the factory beyond…

According to Jayco Promotions & Competitions Manager, Chris Hooper, who is leading our tour of the Jayco factory, the dark days of the pandemic actually had a silver lining for Jayco.

“During COVID, we had to revisit what we actually produce off the production line,” he says. “We started looking at ways we could fit more things off the production line, like ensuite doors that now have all the hardware fitted before they even go into the caravan.

“So we’re no longer fitting toilet roll holders, towel rails, all that kind of gear, in the actual caravan. It’s now all done off the production line, and then we bring [the fitted unit] to the production line and fit it there.”

The approach was adopted wherever possible, from cabinets already fitted with lights and powerpoints, to plumbing and much more.

“We did some it like that [prior to COVID], but we didn’t do as much of it,” he says. “When COVID hit we had huge demand to meet, so we had to go back to the drawing board.”

This ‘off-line’ method has also benefits beyond efficiency, like reducing instances of accidental damage because workers have more room and time to fit out individual components.

One of our first stops, the cabinet shop, highlights another relatively recent measure where Jayco has experienced success.

“This is one of our areas where we have a lot of parents coming to work; they come for four hours and they do a split shift,” Chris Hooper explains. “People come in here and they thrive because they can drop the kids off, they can leave for after-school pickup or daycare pickup. These people have basically filled a void of [workers] we effectively didn’t have.

“We’re now expanding that throughout the business," he continues. "As an employer, you have to be a lot more flexible now with your staff, firstly to attract them, and then to retain them.

"It’s worked 100 per cent; we’ve seen a lot of positive change to our business through doing that. And it’s not just mums and dads either – it might be someone transitioning to retirement, who only wants to work four hours a day.”

The array of individual parts is staggering, and so the means of keeping track of them is an exacting science. Every item is coded with a unique identifier to ensure each part reaches the right component at the right time, in the correct phase of production.

Also impressive is the absence of heavy manual lifting. Large sections are hoisted with overhead gantries, while big cabinets, kitchens and the like are rolled on trolleys or dedicated rollers.

"No-one is [manually] lifting things up to put them into a chassis,” he says.

Speaking of chassis, Jayco makes all its chassis itself on-site, the only external factor being the galvanising process, which is undertaken at a local provider. Again, everything that can be fitted to the chassis before it reaches the production line – like plumbing, wiring, battery boxes and so on – is fitted first.

The production line we inspect produces Jayco’s dirt-road caravan, the All Terrain, as well as its updated touring flagship, the Silverline, in addition to any other complex builds. The lower-spec Starcraft and Journey caravan models are produced on the other production line, and there are dedicated sections for the pop-tops and camper trailers, including the J-Pod.

The Silverline and All Terrain virtually have an identical chassis design, the main difference being the beefed-up suspension on the All Terrain and extras like jerry can holders. And once each chassis has been fitted out in the chassis aisle, it’s off to the production line proper where the new one-piece PET (polyethylene terephthalate) floor is dropped into place.

Precision cut by a router and offering far better insulation, this new PET flooring replaces the multiple timber ply panels of previous models. Made from recycled and ground plastic bottles, the PET flooring is a tick for sustainability, manufacturing efficiency, and uniformity.

“And it’s a game-changer for the consumer,” says Chris Hooper. “In winter the gas heating isn’t working as hard; you get up in the morning and the floor’s not as cold.”

It’s also far easier to clean if you’ve driven on dirt or muddy roads, he says.

The PET flooring is now incorporated into All Terrain, Silverline, and Crosstrak models, and will be rolled out to other Jayco products over time.

Wandering further down the line, our relaxed stroll is in start contrast with the frenetic activity all around us. It’s fascinating to see these very familiar vehicles taking shape, as side walls are hoisted into place, and more and more furniture, cabinetry, gadgets and gizmos are carefully fitted.

The electrics, too, have changed a lot in recent times, with supplier CMS providing ‘plug and play’ solutions that simplifies matters greatly.

A loom effectively runs the length of each van, while the ‘plug and play’ aspect has cut labour and weight.

“It was almost getting to the point where we couldn’t put the side frames on because of the amount of wiring,” he says.

With the side frame in place, the walls are held uniformly open by jigs until the roof can be lowered in. The roofs are fitted out in a separate area, before being dropped in complete with router-cut openings for hatches and the air-conditioner, along with TV antennas, solar panels and so on. Far easier and safer to fit a hatch or air-con unit at ground level, rather than tackling the job from a height…

With the roof inspected for quality and then lowered into place, and slide-out units fitted if required (another module-style element), almost finished examples of Silverlines and All Terrains are nearing the end of the line.

Their construction is largely a shared platform, with the notable exception of the additional front mould on the Silverline, giving the on-road model its smart and elegant look.

It’s here that Jayco’s Quality Assurance teams get to work, crawling over every centimetre of these vans before giving their approval, or marking up any defects. But that’s far from the whole story here at Jayco...

There’s the saw section, where every bit of timber of Laminex is router cut, often multiple layers thick at a time. And then there’s the press where aluminium extrusions, polystyrene, ply and fibreglass come together to produce sandwich panel walls, for side frames, end frames, roofs and motorhome doors.

And there’s the material cutting department, the extrusion cutting department, the sewing department (where everything from tents to seat cushions are sewn – basically anything that isn’t leather). Indeed, the Jayco facility is like a city in itself, with multiple organs and systems all working together in pursuit of the one objective.

Towards the end of the production line there's a nearly finished 2023 Silverline – one of the very first run of this updated Jayco flagship. One can only imagine the places this, and all these other caravans coming off the line today, will end up – what wondrous experiences their owners will enjoy.

The pandemic, while still fresh in our minds, is fading in the rearview mirror for most. And while COVID wreaked havoc on many levels, it has also forced many companies to evaluate their processes and make changes for the better.

Jayco is a solid case in point. Many more people have been able to enjoy the Jayco experience as a result, and through an era in which many manufacturers struggled to even keep building.