Jmar Engineering 30th Anniversary Feature

30 years of cutting and fabricating innovative service

THIRTY years is a cut in time for Jmar Engineering who have been on the leading edge of design and component manufacturing in the Goulburn Valley. Established in 1994 by Mark and Janice Hooper, Jmar Engineering manufactures component parts for agribusiness, food processing and irrigation industries, along with general repair and maintenance. With the focus on the best quality and customer service at the forefront.

From their humble beginnings when Mark and Janice opened Jmar on April 1, 1994, in Mariem Street Shepparton, they have built their family business to the size it is today in local engineering, with 16 employees, some of whom have been with Mark and Janice for over 25 years.

Their work in fibre laser cutting to produce

component parts and robotic welding has meant they have had to adapt and innovate to continue to be leaders in their field.

In 1996 they started manufacturing the Christopher Dairy Bails under a licence from the Christopher family which is a retrofit to existing herring bone dairies and 28 years later we are still manufacturing the same product. In 2004 they were given the opportunity to design and build On-Farm Overhead Fuel Tank Ladders when the fuel industry needed to comply with OH&S legislation for on-site delivery to bulk tanks and establish safe access for filling, which is a product they also build and supply today. It was the breakthrough Jmar Engineering needed and allowed them to build the factory they occupy at 6 Broomfield Street.

Jmar’s work in the community has been integral for their success, and giving back to the community has been important for Mark and Janice.

“Our family business revolves around strong relationships with our employees, suppliers and customers, these relationships are an integral part of our longevity,” said Mark.

“Over the years we have been involved in some amazing projects, none more important than helping to build our local churches. Our Christian faith has seen us involved in supplying steelwork for two local churches as well as managing the Christian School Stadium build. We are now privileged to manage our own church with the flood recovery restoration works at Life Church in Mooroopna.”

It is the ability of Jmar to continuously adapt and

The Goulburn Valley is very rich with engineering rms, so we’re always asking ourselves what is the point of difference? So, innovation for us is important

Mark Hooper Jmar Engineering Owner

invest in new technologies over 30 years to improve the service they provide for their clients.

“The Goulburn Valley is very rich with engineering firms, so we’re always asking ourselves what is the point of difference? So, innovation for us is important,” said Mark.

INNOVATIVE ENGINEERING... Established in April 1994 by Mark and Janice Hooper, Jmar Engineering has been a leading manufacturer of parts in the Goulburn Valley. The pair celebrated 30 years of Jmar which has seen many changes over the years with the company always striving to be at the technological forefront of the industry. Insert, a young Mark in the Mariem Street workshop. Photo: Emma Harrop

THE success of Jmar Engineering over the last 30 years rests in large part due to the hard work in the office by director and accounts manager , Janice Hooper.

Janice brought years of administration experience to the team from her time working in the office at Stanhope Primary School. It was a massive endeavour to begin a business with three young children. Janice and Mark’s oldest daughter Alex was in prep, a son Stuart was in kindergarten, with one-year-old Georgia

A FREE thinker from a young age Mark Hooper knew he wanted to control his destiny even back in his younger days as an apprentice with Sheptec Tools, in McGill Street Shepparton, working for Gerry Van Zeist.

After seven years working for Sheptec, Mark’s continued need to grow and expand in his field saw him pack and head to Melbourne for two years to gain more experience in prototype machining.

In 1986 Mark married the love of his life Janice and the pair soon began a family, with three children enriching the life of the pair. On the day Jmar Engineering opened in 1994 their youngest daughter celebrated her first birthday.

Outside of the day-to-day rigger of Jmar, Mark fancies

under arm, who grew up in the workshop because she refused to go into daycare!

Janice first met Mark when he was working at Sheptec Tools through her brother Murray who was an apprentice there, but it wouldn’t be until years later for romance to blossom. They married in 1986 and have not looked back in nearly 38 years of marriage. With her three children grown, Janice loves spending time with her four grandchildren, while still being an integral part in Jmar’s success.

himself a bit of a “hot rodder,” with a passion for cars. Starting a 1932 five-window coupe “still to be completed”, but he also knows when to trust the experts, and sought

Andrew Hooper Plate Division Manager/ Workshop Foreman

TWENTY-EIGHT years ago, a fresh-faced 16-year-old

Andrew Hooper got a job with his Uncle Mark and Aunty Janice at Jmar Engineering and couldn’t imagine working for anyone else.

I was very fortunate after the accident because I still was able to come back to a trade that I love.

Andrew began his time on the shop floor working with tools and learning and applying his trade when a tragic accident left him in a wheelchair meant he had to shift into an office role as Plate Division Manager/Workshop Foreman.

because I still was able to come back to a trade that I love. I didn’t have to change, I just had to change what I did. Instead of being out on the workshop floor, I'm in the office. I'm still in my trade, and that’s what I love.”

Andrew Hooper Jmar Engineering Plate Division Manager/Workshop Foreman

Andrew is across it all at Jmar, but when he clocks off, he’s on the open road to car shows, out on the rifle range or skimming waves in his boat with his mates.

“I was very fortunate after the accident

“The boys throw me in the boat, and I’ll drive it all day long,” said Andrew. journey

The team at Insurance House would like to congratulate Mark, Janice and the team at JMAR Engineering on your 30th Anniversary.

Keep up the great work!

interesting part of my job,” said Maleesha.

Maleesha Perera Mechanical Engineer

“I get some parts, I have to get the dimensions, draft them up, or sometimes customers come in and tell me what their idea is, and I have to get everything from their head and make it into a 3D model. So that’s pretty exciting.”

Maleesha’s passion extends beyond Jmar, with his love for sport and playing the guitar, but he won’t be trading in his day job and hitting the open road on tour

“It’s been a really good journey I’m looking forward to working here in the coming years as well.”

Mark Gibson Fibre Laser Leading Hand

GOOD apprentices are hard to come by, but after 16 years, it’s fair to say Mark Gibson has been a great fit for Jmar Engineering.

Mark completed his apprenticeship in metal fabrication, before working his way up in a few different roles in the company and is now a Leading Hand, managing two laser cutters for Jmar. Depending on the thickness and materials, he can oversee 30-plus sheets cut or two to three tonnes

Mark and Janice are great to work for. I’ve got a young family myself, and they’re really family-orientated and understanding with family.

Mark Gibson Jmar Engineering Fibre Laser Leading Hand

Brendan Ginnane Assistant Manager MEET THE TEAM

FITTER and machinist Brendan Ginnane began working on the floor of Jmar Engineering 25 years ago. After a time, he was asked to take over as foreman of the workshop.

Brendan’s quiet resolve and great work ethic soon saw him promoted again to Assistant Manager by Mark and Janice, a post he has held for 20 years. The role keeps him busy day to day making sure almost every aspect of the manufacturing side is taken care of from the quote to organisation of

materials required, overseeing the job run through the workshop, and out the other side to invoicing.

It’s a good environment. It’s a family-owned and run business and those family values extend throughout the company

Outside of Jmar, Brendan loves spending time on his farm at Wunghnu with his wife, where he runs a few “beefies” and some wheat. An outdoorsman who would rather let his work do the talking for him, which he backs by years of service to Jmar and their clients.

“It’s a good environment. It's a familyowned and run business and those family values extend throughout the company,” said Brendan.

AT JMAR ENGINEERING

Tim Noonan Tradesmen machinist

Dave Collins Trades Assistant machinist

Connor Watters Tradesmen machinist

WHAT does an engineer do in his downtime at the end of the day to unwind? For Mark Hooper, it is tinkering with odd projects and building clocks.

What began as a gift for Andrew Hooper to celebrate 20 years of service for Jmar Engineering has turned into part hobby and part passion for Mark. Caught in a bit of uncertainty whilst looking for the anniversary gift, Mark stumbled upon an overpriced clock of poor design and knew he could make something better.

The finished product couldn’t have worked out better.

“This is what I love, my hobby is

“This is what I love, my hobby is engineering. Seeing how something works and trying to replicate it and improve on it,” said Mark about making the clocks.

Mark Hooper Jmar Engineering Owner

ENGINEERING CLOCKS... Trying to nd the perfect gift to celebrate 20 years of service, Mark Hooper discovered a passion for making clocks. He has made clocks for some of Jmar’s biggest clients with custom-made brand logos, as well as exploring his more artistic

Clocking up time is the

engineering. Seeing how something works and trying to replicate it and improve on it,” said Mark about making the clocks.

“Since I first walked into technical school and looked at the machinery and smelled the oil, I’ve always looked at a piece of steel or plastic or aluminium, whatever it might be, and seen the part within.”

Since that first clock, Mark has made 25 for various people over the last few years, including promotional gifts for some of Jmar’s biggest clients with custom-made brand logos. Before he reached out into his more artistic side and began designing clocks with an Indigenous flair. Mark commissioned Sam

Trevor, Elizabeth & Staff congratulate

Mark, Janice and Staff on 30 years of continued success

Catering to all types of General Engineering, Steel Fabrication & Machining

the iceberg of what Mark can create with his clocks. His ability to design something unique for individual tastes can make them a perfect gift for any special occasion.

Walker Wilson of BNYM Indigenous Designs to decorate and complement his craftsmanship. Company logos and Aboriginal imagery are just the tip of

side by designing clocks with an indigenous air. Photo: Aaron Cordy

1996 was the start of an amazing manufacturing relationship between Christopher Dairy Bails and Jmar Engineering that continues to this day. The late Mr Theo Christopher walked into the office of Mark Hooper looking for someone to take an interest in an invention that has given an advantage to many operators in the dairy industry. He could not have found a better partner in the project

The Bail system offers a simple retrofit out to existing herring bone dairies to position the cows at ninety degrees to the milking rail. It also allows for tagging for specific bail feeding.

Theo would be absolutely amazed and thrilled at the technology used today” and to see the system still in production, now offering the system in stainless steel

Today Theo’s son Steve continues the legacy and together with Jmar they have added value to the original design implementing technology such as CNC machining, cutting with Fibre Laser and pressing with computer aided Brake pressing and now welded with the Kuka Robotic welding arm.

“Theo would be absolutely amazed and thrilled at the technology used today” and to see the system still in production, now offering the system in stainless steel,” said Mark.

“Both Janice and I would like to acknowledge the association and personal relationship we have with Steve and Ali Christopher and can contribute our ongoing success to the Christopher Dairy Bail system.”

Christopher Dairy Bails

CHRISTOPHER DAIRY BAILS... When the late Theo Christopher wanted to improve the milking process of his dairy, he couldn’t have found a better man than Mark Hooper, and Jmar Engineering. The partnership continues today with Theo’s son Steve Christopher on the right with Mark. Photo: Supplied

Mark Hooper Jmar Engineering Owner

Innovative thinking drives Jmar’s continuous growth

FOR Mark and Janice Hooper of Jmar Engineering, it has always been about serving the now, with an eye on innovation and improvement in the future to deliver the best outcomes for their clients.

“I'm a free-thinking person. Change management for me is easy to orchestrate. That’s what I've built the company model on, it’s all based around change. We can ebb and flow instantly if someone wants something done. Can we fit it in now? Can we not? Let's figure out a time frame,” said Mark.

“I’ve always been passionate about engineering since I was a boy when I first walked into technical school

and saw the part within. It's about how we get it out. How do we get that part out and do it effectively, efficiently and accurately? So, it’s always been my passion.”

The constant strive to update their machinery and continuously grow and learn as individuals and a company keeps them relevant in the field of engineering. With the introduction of the Kuka robotic arm for flawless welding and the latest computer aided machinery, Jmar continues to build and develop within the Goulburn Valley.

“We talk about what’s in the future, and I’ve gone from drawing technical drawings with pencil

and paper to now crafting parts using SolidWorks 3D modelling within that drafting program. It's been a quantum leap over my forty-seven years of being within the industry. Technology fascinates me, so, I don’t think I'll ever get tired of what the next frontier is. That’s as far as engineering, and as far as what Janice and I as a partnership within the company, is what we look forward to investing in. That investment is always driven by our client base.

opportunity to congratulate Mark, Janice and the JMAR Engineering team on 30 years of trading success in the Goulburn Valley.

Thank you for successfully servicing three generations of Schoots’s – you are an integral part of our business and the high level of detail and quality service you deliver means we can too – nothing beats a local partnership.

PERFECT TEAM... Mark and Janice Hooper’s vision for Jmar Engineering has evolved over the years as they continue to innovate and grow to better service their clients. Photo: Emma Harrop

THIRTY-YEARS-OLD... Jmar Engineering has been a leader in their eld in the Goulburn Valley for thirty years. Find their o ce and workshop on Broom eld Street Shepparton. Photo: Emma Harrop