JB Caravans officially opens mega-factory

JB Caravans has officially marked the opening of its new multi-million dollar factory, with a special event held on the large 5.1 hectare site that it purchased last year in Melbourne’s northern suburbs.

Described by the eight-year-old Melbourne caravan builder as “one of the largest caravan manufacturing facilities in the country", the new factory complex at 2040 Sydney Rd, Campbellfield employs more than 120 workers and includes separate buildings for the reception and offices, as well as production lines for manufacturing JB’s own galvanised steel chassis and range of touring and off-road caravans.

Not unlike New Age and Concept Caravans, JB received a government grant of $3.63 million towards the cost of the new facility, which included the purchase of expensive new equipment such as CNC machinery, edge banders and plasma cutters.

The grant also contributed to employing 55 additional factory staff, many ex-automotive workers following the closure of local production facilities by Toyota, Ford and Holden.

Around 80 JB employees downed tools for the formal proceedings, which was also attended by state and national caravan industry executives, local politicians and industry suppliers.

In a speech, JB Caravans founder Alex Pi recalled how the company had “started from scratch” in 2010, building one caravan a month, and grown to today become “one of the fastest growing caravan manufacturers (in Australia)” including seven factory-owned dealerships across the country.

JB Caravans marketing manager Matt Aleksoski said JB Caravans had bold, medium-term plans to double its current annual production from 600 to 1200 units, through further expansion of its model range to include more on-road models, as well as new pop-tops, camper trailers and even motorhomes.

The company recently introduced a new entry-level on-road model called the Marlin, featuring fibreglass sandwich panels for the walls and roof -- a first for JB.

The plan is to roll out similar composite construction across other models in its range, as well as introduce a one-piece fibreglass roof and composite floor. JB’s other semi off-road and off-road caravans are built using more traditional timber frames, clad with either aluminium stucco or aluminium composite panels.

The company is also implementing automotive-style production lines and lean manufacturing processes at the new factory, and when volume permits, hopes to set up an in-house manufacturing facility for the sandwich panels, which are currently sourced from an Australian supplier.

There are also plans to add an indoor retail showroom in one of the buildings, along with a fabric shop. JB’s Melbourne dealership has also been relocated to the new factory premises, with room currently on an outside display area for up to 30 vans.