Please tell us about Janicki Industries and provide some background history on the company.
Janicki Industries is a privately owned engineering and manufacturing company that specializes in large precision tooling, parts, and prototypes utilizing composites and metals.
We have 425,000 square feet of fabrication floor space sitting on 116 acres. There are currently 710 employees, and approximately 20 percent of those are engineers in a variety of disciplines. Production sites are located in Sedro-Woolley, Washington; Hamilton, Washington; and Logan, Utah.
A core competency for Janicki is in milling large 5-axis components, an area where we have designed and fabricated our own machines. This is paired with a variety of complementary capabilities to meet the needs of our customers that include project management, engineering concept development, design and analysis, large scale welding and metal fabrication, numerically controlled cut wood fabrication, full spectrum composites fabrication capabilities, and the assembly of large critical structures.
Janicki’s industrial team has worked with wind industry partners ranging from startups to major OEMs for more than 10 years with emphasis on production rotor tooling, prototype rotors, fabrication process equipment and material development and general fabrication support to help our partners meet their goals. I have led this team for six years.
How do Janicki’s products and services meet the needs of its customers in the wind market?
Janicki’s technical engineering base, fabrication capabilities, and industrial diversification provide broad-based exposure to many industries and their current technologies and processes. This allows us to support a wide variety of customers and apply current and appropriate levels of technology in a cost-competitive environment. Our wind customers receive high-quality, capable support, whether the request is a problem in need of an engineered solution or built to print.
Janicki is the kind of company every passionate engineer dreams of. We’re fortunate to participate in so much of today’s leading-edge innovation on so many fronts. The technical challenges we’ve overcome and the accomplishments we’ve made keep us excited for what’s next. Our friends in the wind industry have the same culture, and it’s a pleasure to work with these talented people in their ambitious pursuits.
What would you say is Janicki’s chief mission to its customers and the wind industry, and how can people benefit from doing business with your company?
We deliver solutions based on a strong value proposition with optimized balance of cost, quality, and schedule that exceed our customers’ goals and expectations.
The wind industry is aggressive in terms of its expectations for technology development and implementation. One example of how Janicki has been able to exceed those expectations and best serve our customers is with the combination of our large-scale North American-based facilities and vast experience that allows for faster delivery of bigger programs than our competition and unique engineered solutions.
What role does Janicki play in wind projects and the development of wind farms and wind energy?
Janicki primarily supports turbine suppliers with product and process development of the tooling and equipment to meet the wind blade-manufacturing sector. The scale is ever-growing, and so are the challenges that come with that scale.
Is there anything new Janicki is working on that you would like to mention?
Externally, we are working with multiple organizations pursuing alternative technology and processes to reduce costs, improve efficiencies, and fundamentally change the current turbine paradigms. We’ll let our customers divulge the outcomes of these efforts when they feel it is time.
Tell me about a time when a customer came to Janicki with specific needs and how Janicki was able to meet those needs?
Many of the programs we participate in start with the customer coming to us with an approach they would like to pursue for the fabrication of a component. While they are finalizing the design of their component and its construction, Janicki is collaboratively developing the equipment to support their production process. This allows the supplier to focus on the component’s design and validation so it meets the equipment on the shop floor for the start of production.
