Profile: JEM Technical
John and Sheryl Menge founded JEM Technical in 1984, and in the beginning, the company was a factory representative for hydraulic valve manufacturers. The company soon became an expert in the application of cartridge valve technology and partnered with Hydraforce as a key supplier for the Minnesota and Dakotas regions. By 1995, the company had invested in its own manufacturing – equipment to manufacture manifold blocks for use with the cartridge valves to supply custom manifold designs.
Today, JEM is known for its custom manifold and cartridge valve solutions, operating on a common campus in the western Minneapolis suburb of Orono with over 75,000 square feet of space for manufacturing, warehousing, assembly, test, and business operations. In 2012, the company opened a facility serving the central provinces of Canada based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. In 2013, the Controls Division was launched, focusing on complementary electronics for its hydraulics solutions. JEM has been ISO9001 certified since 2003 and employs over 110 people, serving customers in Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Florida, and the central provinces of Canada. Customers from throughout North America can rely on 30+ years of dependable engineering, hydraulic experience, and manufacturing expertise for robust fluid power and controls solutions for their equipment.
An interview with Ross A. Fisher, CFPHS, Director of Sales and Marketing
What makes JEM stand out in the fluid power industry?
What sets JEM apart is our expertise in the application and design of cartridge valve and electronics technology, along with our inclusive design, manufacturing, and assembly capabilities. We have an experienced staff of design and application engineers who utilize current technology and innovation to create our solutions. And we do the rest all in house – manifold manufacturing, assembly, and test. We also stock a large amount of readily available product. We’re a hybrid manufacturer and distributor with specific expertise and experience in valve and controls solutions.
What makes JEM an attractive place to work?
We are a manufacturer who supplies most of the major OEMs in our regions. This brings excitement to our employees as to our customer base. At the same time, we are relatively small and nimble, which allows us to move quickly and empower our people to be engaged so that everyone makes a difference. We’re ISO certified, as well, so we operate like a big company while keeping a family-friendly environment and workplace.
Why is IFPS certification important to your company?
We strive to have IFPS certified employees in all functional areas of our company. Hydraulics is a technical aptitude, and the more employees who understand the mechanics of hydraulics—from our assembly and manufacturing areas to our sales team—the better we can satisfy our customers by thoroughly understanding their needs and providing the right solution. Our staff of engineers and sales team represents 20 of our employees with certification. We also have seven other employees in our company who are certified. This is key to our core business and to work successfully with our customers’ engineering personnel.
What are the benefits your company has seen since establishing a certification policy?
It is key that our sales and applications teams are CFPHS certified. It’s a requirement and ensures our success by providing our customers with the proper technical and creative solutions. We have to understand our customers’ machines and specific needs. We are the hydraulic experts for our customers, and they trust in our solutions, looking to us for guidance. This is only possible when our sales team is educated, and specifically when they are CFPHS certified. Our sales staff is all certified, and we have over 200 years of collective sales and applications experience in the hydraulics industry.
Why is certification important to the fluid power industry?
As I mentioned above, we feel certification is very important for our own team here at JEM. But, it is also important for our next generation of workers in our industry of hydraulic manufacturers. Hydraulics is a technical expertise, and all of our fellow companies that serve the market need to invest in technical training for their employees. We highly recommend the CFPHS certification for their companies. If we all learn more and bring more expertise and technical support to our end customers, we all benefit by keeping hydraulic solutions in the forefront as a technology of choice.
For more information, contact JEM Technical at 952-473-5012 or at www.jemtechnical.com.
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