JEA Steel Industries Through the Years In the pursuit of Excellence in the LSF Industry
It was a historic day when Mr. Johnny Ng instructed Mr. Renato H. Tan the first official employee of JEA to set-up the plant of JEA Steel Industries at Samonte Quezon City with the sole purpose of servicing the steel requirements of Zeta, owned by Mr. Ruben Ong. This day will prove to be the start of a long and success laden path that will shape the history of what made JEA the company it is today.
Armed with this vision and the focus of producing good quality products JEA Steel Industries was officially born and incorporated on July 27,1994.
Starting with only 2 roll forming machines JEA embarked on a long and historic journey into the light steel frame industry. Under the guidance of the new incorporators Mr. Ng and Mr Ong and the leadership of Mr. Reynaldo A. Monzon who heads sales and marketing the company forged ahead with the sole vision of being the market leader in the LSF category known for superior quality at a value for money price.
After a year in 1995 due to the increasing market demand in the LSF category and JEA’s products another roll forming machine was added to fulfill the market demand which is now on the upswing. And with this increasing demand came an opportunity to expand market penetration, seeing this opportunity the management team invested further into a mobilization program for key sales personnel to maximize market saturation efforts and grow JEA’s list of clientele.
1996 marked a year of significant growth for JEA, with increasing sales and clientele such as World Home Depot and others, additional investments were made to strengthen the delivery capacity of JEA thus 1996 was the year were the first Elf Truck was purchased. This signified JEA’s commitment to providing the best service to its customers.
With an upswing in sales the company in 1997 gave up the rented Samonte warehouse and bought a 2500 sqm in Kaligtasan Quezon City. To support the increasing installation requirements and further educate the clients of JEA with regards to the proper installation of JEA’s LSF, the management created Frame Specialists Inc. JEA also streamlined its delivery process by using forwarding companies already to support JEA’s in house deliveries.
A milestone in 1997 was the registration of JEA Span 45 Hat Type Purlins, the first JEA product registered under the Philippine IPO office. With the upswing and sales and the strong acceptance of the market for JEA’s products, the management decided to hire additional sales personnel to further saturate the market. Marketing was also given a boost with the hiring of new marketing personnel with the focus on demand creation and introduction of new products.
At this point management saw another opportunity to further bolster the claim of JEA as the benchmark in the LSF industry. JEA bought a new machine that made JEA’s LSF according to the proper specifications prevailing in the world. With the new direction of producing products at par with the world, new clients and projects were added to the growing list of JEA. One of the biggest projects for this year was the addition of Riviera Filipina Inc.
Armed with a strong surge in sales 1998 brought about the divisionalization of the Project Sales Team of JEA into Projects 1 and 2. This effort gave focus to the sales team and gave JEA further strength in the saturation of projects in the Metro. The biggest project for this year was Rockwell Business District which is considered as one of the most affluent business district in Makati and in the Philippines.
In 1999 with the introduction of CMT JEA’s brand for the T-runners segment the Samonte warehouse was rented again. CMT is the first branded product of JEA introduced in the Philippines under the wing of the strengthened Marketing Department. With the total corporate sales and demand for JEA’s products peaking the company felt that this is the right time to invest anew in a bigger plant and warehouse. This direction was started by the purchase of a 7700 sqm lot in Trece Martires which will be the site of the new plant and warehouse completed in the first quarter of 1999 with an area of 2100 sq.m. This year is the testament that JEA is now reaching new heights with its biggest investment ever in terms of peso value undertaken to cope up with the strong showing of JEA’s products in the Philippine Market.
With the new plant in its initial production capacity and JEA’s commitment to continuously improve its management processes to better its service to its customers, JEA’s intention to get ISO certified was born. The Opcom members comprised of key people of its management team had their first ever ISO certification awareness seminar, signaling JEA’s pursuit of ISO certification. This year also marked the tie-up of JEA with multinational companies such as James Hardie for their fiber cement boards and Boral for their gypsum boards. The tie-up with these companies was in line with JEA’s philosophy of only offering products with superior quality at a value for money price. This alliance aimed for JEA to offer a complete package for its ceiling and walling systems. Making Jea a one stop shop in these categories.
In the year 2000 with the entry of the new millennia also came a new vigor for JEA’s production and sales. The TMC plant’s operation is running at full capacity. Full integration was also successfully done at the plant wherein coil slitting capacity is already done in –house and this is the first company in the Philippines which does its own coil slitting. This full integration also opened the doors for the offering of coil slitting services to other companies in the Philippines. For sales one of the biggest projects in the Philippines was also closed and this is the Hanjin project, the major contractor for the MRT which gave the Filipino people an effective public transport system that made a huge difference in so many Filipinos lives. JEA is very proud of this accomplishment as this did not only bring tremendous sales to the company but also brought prestige to JEA as a company for being a part of a project that made a big difference in the lives of the ordinary Filipino.
In 2001 with the market in NCR already stabilizing JEA needed to expand it’s business in the other regions of the country. This expansion earmarked the birth of 3 provincial branches in Cebu, Davao and Ilo-Ilo. This expansion made servicing these regions easier, faster and more economical. These branches were considered as SBU’s with their own accounting, warehousing and logistics in which the branches were treated as a separate cost and profit centers. All production activities were already transferred to TMC. Samonte at this point has evolved into a full service warehouse to house the stock requirements of NCR and the Luzon areas.
2002 was marked by further investment in the mobilization program of the sales force with the purchase of additional brand new cars. The plant in TMC expanded to an additional 1350 sq m. And sales were able to close other big projects such as Vistaland and Ayalaland which are 2 of the biggest and most aggressive developers in the Philippines. Missionary selling is now being done to test the markets in new target areas such as North Luzon and South Luzon. Indeed JEA is slowly but surely saturating the whole of the Philippines proving that the country is getting small for the reach of JEA.
In 2003 frame specialists was closed due to the numerous installation companies already in the market. Management decided already to focus on the core competency of JEA which is production, sales and marketing and leave the installation business for good. By this year retail outlets in the North were growing and the delivery capability of JEA is now in full force growing to a total of 10 trucks including ten wheelers to compliment the forwarding companies already being utilized by JEA. To further improve the company image of JEA as a major player in the LSF category the head office was now transferred to a big building in Quezon City, the JOCFER Building. A milestone for this year was the birth of the Steel Frame Alliance of the Philippines were Mr. Reynaldo Monzon was elected Chairman. The members of this organization already recognize JEA as the market leader in the LSF category.
The tenth year of JEA in the year 2004 was celebrated with a lot of firsts. The biggest ever anniversary celebration with our valued clients.
